Progressive Pioneer

Lacy Underthings

No one likes to see a grown woman's knees, I mean, really knees are the least good looking part of legs anyway.  A lot of my skirts hit right at the knee, not quite long enough for me to relax and feel adequately covered.  When I saw this lonely eyelet lace bed skirt at the thrift store I knew just what to do with it!  It was so easy to just cut a length of the ruffle, sew up the side and add an elastic.  If I were to do another I'd make the waist fitted, rather than elastic and add a zipper, because it's a little bulkier than I'd like at the top.  But otherwise I love seeing the sweet lace peeking out below my skirts.  And I love the extra inch or two of coverage! 

Giveaway: Oliver + S Patterns

One of the few places to get beautiful, charming, well-designed patterns without digging through bins at your local flea market is at oliver + s.  Their patterns are so timeless. 
If you're not a sewer yourself, don't despair, you can get outfits made from oliver + s patterns from several retailers on their site.  They also have a great blog; if you're in a creative rut it's the perfect place to get your creative juices flowing again.
Leave a comment below and let us know what your favorite pattern is, and you just might be one of TWO winners who will get a free pattern from oliver +s!  Now wouldn't that be a lovely surprise to get in the mail?

As usual, comments, tweets, blog links and button adds get you an entry, up to four.  Good luck!

Pioneer Papa: Grapes of Wrath, Tobacco Road

From time to time I'll have Clay share a few thoughts, progressive pioneering from the papa point of view.  Here is his very first post!

“Grapes of wrath, tobacco road” is a phrase my Grandpa used to use.  He used it to describe the broken-down, the destitute or those who had suffered a string of hard luck.  I’m not going to make an extensive accounting of the current economic ‘dustbowl’ to punctuate my point.  I’ll only say that many people are down if not plain down and out. 

With that in mind Amy and I take pleasure in activities that remind us that life is still good.  We can be simultaneously broke and  happy.  It is surprising how much mileage you can get out of a cheap can of paint; that cleaning up some trim on the front of your house can be such a satisfying endeavor.  Working with one’s hands, slowly making improvements on the house or apartment, enjoying the company and conversation of friends, all basically free.

What do you do that reminds you that life is rich? This Sunday after church we drove to visit our friends.  We had a picnic in a park with a pond and ducks and poison ivy.  We talked forever. Sam played with our food and we learned that our friends are expecting their first baby.  We ate grapes. We played Bocce.  Amy and I won.  It took a long time to finish the game because Sam kept stealing the Jack.  We were really living.

Book Review: Gone With the Wind

If you haven't read it, do.  I read it once as a teenager, and bawled my eyes out.  It was the first book that made me cry.  Now I'm in a book club with some friends in LA; we discuss the book via email, no jet-setting for me.  I was behind for awhile since I couldn't find my copy of the book.  But I finally broke down and went to the library to pick up a copy.  And once I cracked the cover I have been one foot in Georgia ever since.  I can't stop thinking about it, can't stop sneaking little paragraphs whenever I get a moment.  The characters are so fascinating, so real.  It's an amazing voyeuristic glimpse into a time and culture that is completely foreign.  I've always loved books about the South, and this is the queen of all southern themed novels.  Scarlett O'Hara is the most fascinating character, you're torn between liking her and being utterly appalled.  And don't be intimidated by the large size; you'll only wish it were longer by the time you get to the end.  It's an absolutely delicious read, completely worth reading again even if you also cried your eyes out over it as a girl.

10 to Buy Organic

I've been thinking about fruit a lot lately, and whether or not I ought to be buying more organic.  I have a few that I always buy organic based on what Sam eats (he gets organic, while Clay and I settle for conventional) and what's available (Costco always has organic apples).  Celery, I always remember that's one of the biggies you're supposed to buy organic.  But I have trouble remembering the rest and often just buy what's available or relatively inexpensive.  So, I finally looked it up and made myself a list, which I'll share with you!

To Buy Organic (the numbers to the side show the percentage of washed fruit that still contains pesticides):

1. Nectarines – 97.3%
2. Celery – 94.5%
3. Pears – 94.4%
4. Peaches – 93.7%
5. Apples – 91%
6. Cherries – 91%
7. Strawberries – 90% 
8. Imported Grapes – 86% 
9. Spinach – 83.4%
10. Potatoes – 79.3%

Probably Okay to Buy Conventional:

1. Asparagus
2. Avocados
3. Bananas
4. Broccoli
5. Cauliflower
6. Kiwi
7. Mangoes
8. Onions
9. Papaya
10. Sweet Peas

Notice that most of the ones that are not so scary to eat conventional are those with tough skins.  So, that's probably a good rule of thumb, if it's protected by inedible skin, save the money and buy conventional.  Then spend your savings on good organic raspberries!

image via

Beebee Mod Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Beebee Mod gift certificate is...
Cesmathair, who said "That cookie shirt is SO cute! I'd love anything from their shop. Thank you!!"
Congratulations!  Email me with your address and I'll forward it on to Beebee Mod.

No Knead, Whole Wheat Bread

I'd been hearing about no-knead bread all over the place, but it was always a white flour recipe.  But, lo and behold, a google search brought up a whole wheat version!  I have to admit, our taste testers didn't like the flavor or texture as much as the Peter Reinhart breads I've been making.  But I'm not giving up!  I've got another batch sitting on the counter with 1/4 cup of honey added to it, so we'll see if that makes a difference.

Basically all there is to it is mixing the ingredients, letting it sit on the counter to get nice and bubbly, then tossing it in the oven.

About two hours before you bake it you fold it one way, then the other and let it sit another couple hours in a greased bowl (I also sprinkled sesame seeds in the bowl so they were on top when the dough was flipped out).

The directions had me heat my cast iron dutch oven and then bake the bread in it.  Only problem is that I can also roast a turkey in said oven, so the bread had plenty of room to spread out.  And spread it did.  I think I'll try a smaller vessel next time. 

The crumb was actually pretty airy and light, which I was impressed by.  The recipe I found here.  There are also more to be found if you search.  If you try it, consider adding a little honey.  And be generous when it tells you to add extra water; I added about 1/2 cup more. 
While this won't replace my regular bread baking, I am a bit seduced by the simplicity of it all and will definitely be willing to exchange a bit of flavor for convenience now and again.

Fried Lily Blossoms

You could probably fry grass clippings and they'd taste pretty darn good; it's hard to go wrong with crispy and fattening.  Here's just one more way to use the yummy day lily blossoms in my yard.

The blossoms that are a day old close in on themselves, but are still tasty, so I gathered up a bunch of these and dipped them in beaten egg.  I figure you can fry squash blossoms, you can fry lily blossoms.  I rolled the dipped blossoms in a combination of Italian bread crumbs, flour, seasoning salt and Parmesan cheese.  They fried up nice and crispy and would've made a perfect appetizer, if I hadn't immediately scarfed them all down while catching up on reading emails. 

It's really satisfying turning something that would ordinarily go unused, or that isn't even generally considered a food, into something exotic, delicate and, dare I say, fancy.  I would definitely think these were fancy if I were served them at a party, well, at least the ones I didn't burn...  The pan got a little too hot in that last batch above, but they were tasty nonetheless.

Make Your Own BabyLegs

I love those BabyLegs.  I use them on Sam all the time, not so much in the summer, but still sometimes on chilly evenings or rainy days.  They're great because baby pants always ride up and baby socks are so short, so the BabyLegs cover their little bare shins.  And I often use them in place of pants, just BabyLegs and a onesie.  They're perfect if you're trying diaperfree or infant pottying because then you don't have the hassle of wrestling them out of pants every 15 minutes to sit on the potty.  However, at $12-15 a pair it can get expensive to have a whole stash. 
About a year ago, I was about to throw out a pair of striped knee socks with a hole in the heel, when a light bulb went on.  The heel was ruined, but the rest of the sock was just fine, and pretty cute too.  So, I snipped off the bottoms and voila! a pair of leg warmers for Sam.  Simpler patterns without lots of threads on the inside work best (argyle, for example, doesn't work very well).  Most socks don't fray, the ends just curl up and look neat and tidy.  I've made Sam several pairs and often if I see a cheap pair of knee socks with a fun pattern I'll get them with the intent to immediately chop off the bottoms and use them for baby leg warmers. 

You can see I tried using the chopped off parts as footie socks for me (this was a new pair), but they didn't stay on very well.   Oh well, the tops still look squeeze-ably adorable on Sam's sweet little legs.

Father's Day Weekend

Did everyone have a lovely weekend showering their dads with love?  We spent ours in Idaho with Clay's dad and had the nicest time.  We're all recovering from colds, so it was such a treat to be in Clay's mom's comfortable house, and Sam was kept occupied the entire time by his ten year old Aunt Abby.  He thinks she is the bees knees!  No one is as funny, as fascinating or has as cool as Abby in Sam's eyes.  All I had to do all weekend was the occasional nursing and diaper changes, otherwise he was happy as a clam being Abby's shadow.
Clay made the most delightful card for his dad.  He brought his watercolors up to Idaho and whipped up the charming card pictured above.  It was a big hit.  Abby framed a beautiful silk painting she made for him (below).  Along with presents, cards and cherry tarts, we made homemade pizza and home fries, and homemade ice cream with almond milk and coconut milk that was sooo delicious.  We watched movies and lazed around and read; I made some serious headway in Gone With the Wind and Clay got deeper into his Father's Day present.  It was the perfect Father's Day weekend.

Giveaway: Beebee Mod

Have you seen Beebee Mod's shop yet?  I've been seeing them all over the web lately and was so thrilled when they agreed to do a giveaway!  Here's a little sample of what you could get, should you win,...

 

... with your $25 gift certificate AND 15% off!  Check out their shop, you're going to love it!  Natural toys, darling clothes, cute softies, even a section full of Oliver + S patterns, wonderful fabric and other odds and ends to get mom's creative juices flowing.  Everything they choose for their shop is top notch.  Good luck and thank you Beebee Mod!

Entries will close Wednesday this week; as usual you can enter with comments, by adding a button, blogging, tweeting, skywriting etc.  Good luck!

Baby Bear Shop Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Karen M, who said,

Love this! Please enter me! Fingers crossed.

You are the winner of a gift certificate to the Baby Bear Shop; happy shopping!  Email me with your address and I'll forward your info on.

Father's Day Book Review: The Dangerous Book for Boys

Sam got The Dangerous Book for Boys for his dad as a random surprise present awhile ago, everyone needs random presents every now and then. But it would also make the perfect father's day gift, especially coming from a son he can share it with, because really, that's the ideal way to read it. It's full of fun interesting facts and fun projects that little boys (and girls!) love; making toy sailboats, kites, identifying things like rocks, bugs, animals and plants, key phrases in other languages, knot tying, even a little section on how to treat girls. It's a great book, as is it's sister book The Daring Guide for Girls.
This father's day we gave Clay an early present as part of it was a plant and that would've been hard to hide, plus, I get too excited about giving presents and always want to give them early. We got Clay a Martha Washington geranium; it has pointy leaves and deep burgundy blossoms, and a book called Selected Works of T.S. Spivet. The book is about a boy genius cartographer and the whole thing is riddled with sketches and maps and little notes in the margins. We've been reading every night before going to bed (I'm rereading Gone With the Wind) and Clay is already hooked. I can't wait until he's done so I can borrow it!

Father's Day Cherry Tarts

Something sweet for sweet dads this weekend; we're spending Father's  Day with Clay's family and I'm making a bunch of these little cherry tarts, plus one big one.  That will be for Clay and his dad:)

Cherry season is one of my favorites.  I have no qualms about buying pounds and pounds of them and gorging myself silly.  This is one of my favorite cherry recipes, one of those sinfully rich ones that you can't eat every day, but that's perfect for special occasions.

This one is actually a trial run tart I made last week; I had to make sure it was as good as I'd remembered...  Oh, it was.

Happy Father's Day everyone; give the sweet dads in your life an extra big squeeze this weekend!

Potato Thank You Cards

Clay cut some stamps out of potatoes and then made these lovely thank you cards to send to the friends and family we stayed with in San Francisco.  Didn't they turn out great?  Now I just have to find time to write the thank you notes...

The True Cookie

In our house growing up, this was known as the true cookie.  The best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever.  I've changed a few things, as every generation tends to do as recipes get handed down.  They still get gobbled up hot from the oven (or straight out of the freezer as my dad likes them!).  One of the benefits of only having one sibling was that my mom would often let us have as many cookies as we wanted, within reason, no worrying about saving enough for anyone else as they were always piled high on the cooling racks in the dining room.

Here's the recipe as I make them:

cream 2 sticks butter

with 1 cup brown sugar

and 3/4 cup white sugar (evap. cane juice)

beat in 2 eggs

add 1 teaspoon vanilla and set aside wet ingredients

combine 1 cup white flour

and 1 cup whole wheat flour

with 1 teaspoon baking soda

and 1 teaspoon salt

then combine with the wet stuff and add

2 cups rolled or quick oats OR rice crispies, coconut, nuts, basically two cups of anything in any combination that sounds good (I LOVE it with oats and coconut)

then add 1 cup chocolate chips

and cook at 375 for 8-10 minutes until brown; the middle will look not set, but it will set afterwards and be nice and chewy in the middle.  Clay loves it when I accidentally leave them in too long and they turn out crispy and crunchy, so sometimes I do a batch longer.

I like to bake one sheet and then freeze a bunch of pre-scooped dough balls (freeze them on a cookie sheet, then transfer them to a freezer bag) so later we can just pop a few into the oven at a time and enjoy them hot.  Plus you get to enjoy the cookies without the big mess in the sink that making the dough produces.  It also keeps us from inhaling the entire batch at once! 

Fort Building for Babies

Remember when having your own little space made it possible to create your own little universe?  We were visiting friends last week whose little girl has a playhouse.  Sam couldn't get enough of the miniature dwelling and had such a blast opening all the pint-sized cupboards and peering out the windows right at eye level.  I'd never known anything to occupy him for longer than fifteen minutes so I decided a Sam-sized play place was in order.  Drawing upon all my fort-making skills of yesteryear I rigged up a pretty decent hideaway.  We used sheets, a rope and various pieces of furniture.  Then we brought in a laundry basket of stuffed animals so they could enjoy the fort too.

 

Flower Salad

Along with the veggies in our garden, there are a bunch of delicious, edible flowers in our yard.  We have a ton of day lilies which last, of course, only a day.  So each evening I gather up that day's blossoms and put them in our salad.  I love the way they taste, a bit like you'd expect a flower to taste, but not quite so floral.  Not like a rose, a little more celery-like.   Sam's even started picking them off the plants to sample!

The beet greens are up and are making an appearance in our salads.  I try not to pick too many though, so the roots can keep growing big; I love beets!

I even put a few pansies in this batch!  We don't have as many of those though, and they don't replenish themselves as quickly as the lilies, so they're more of a treat.  I also tossed in whatever herbs needed to be pinched off and trimmed back; basil, dill (my favorite!), cilantro...

Last night we baked up some home fries, put a little goat cheese and turkey on the salad and had it with a fried egg; it was the perfect quick and satisfying summer meal.  I love summer food!

Women of Earth, Take Back Your Birth!

The above is a quote from a great documentary I recently watched called Orgasmic Birth, which, by the way, you can get on Netflix.  Slightly scandalous title aside, it was an amazing, empowering movie.  The idea they espoused is that all the same body parts and hormones involved in making love are involved with giving birth, so there is potential for much more pleasure than most women experience.  Makes sense.  What really struck me was the idea that you couldn't very well make love on a surgical table, under bright lights with a bunch of strangers coming in and out, serenaded by the beeps and whirs of machines and monitors, so it makes sense that women have an equivalently less ecstatic birth experience in those very same conditions.  Thompson baby #2 will likely be born at a local birthing center or at home.  Home would be ideal, but our neighbors are awfully close...
Another thing I've been hearing about lately is hypnobirthing.  I really want to look into this in preparation for the next one.  Did anyone read the great story about Finnian's birth on Sew Liberated?  I'd already been interested and then I read her story and figured it was a sign that I definitely need to do it for our next baby's birth!
What I love about both of these approaches is that they empower the mother.  She is the expert when it comes to her body.  So much of the birth culture here is isolating, takes the power away from the mother, operates from a basis of fear rather than trust and is stressful rather than celebratory.  No one knows better than I do the need for competant medical professionals in the case of a high risk birth; Sam was born via scheduled cesarean due to some rearranged organs of his which were spotted via early ultrasound and required almost immediate surgery.  A vaginal birth would likely have ruptured said organs and he may not have made it.  However, there is a time and place for medical intervention and most natural, healthy, low-risk births are not the place for anyone but a woman, a midwife and whomever else she chooses to support her.  

More info about peaceful, empowered births here, here and here.

image via

Strawberry Basil Popsicles

Poor Sam is teething, so I thought he might like some nice, cool popsicles.  Martha had a recipe for some sort of strawberry basil cocktail, so I thought, why not popsicles?

I combined frozen strawberries, a few handfuls of Thai basil from the garden, some blueberries, honey and half a plum Sam didn't finish, whizzed it up and poured it into star popsicle molds.  They turned out pretty tasty; the basil isn't too overwhelming, just enough of a surprise to be interesting.

Giveaway: Baby Bear Shop

Do you ever find yourself lost in the cosmetics aisle reading the labels of each and every bottle, searching for just one that's labeled "natural" or "organic," that actually is what it claims?  I get so frustrated flipping over those bottles only to find them riddled with chemicals, artificial fragrances, colors, preservatives and a whole host of things I'd rather not slather all over myself and my babe.  Let me introduce the Baby Bear Shop...

The company was founded by a mom, she started it because she too was at a loss in the grocery aisles.  Unable to find something pure and lovely to rub on her babies and onto her own skin, she made it herself!  In the Baby Bear Shop you'll find wonderful, rich Mama Belly Oil, Cheeky Baby Butter for the little ones, delicious lip balm, delightful handmade, organic softies and beautifully packaged gift sets (in case you know a mama-to-be or a mama-already that could use a little TLC).  Leave a comment to win a $25 gift certificate.  As usual extra entries by tweeting, blogging, button adding etc.  Good luck and thank you Baby Bear Shop!

Healthy Dutch Babies

As long as I'm thinking about pancakes, I have to mention these delicious Dutch Babies.  I use the regular recipe in The Joy of Cooking, but substitute wheat flour for half the white and use coconut oil instead of butter.  I cook it right in my big cast iron skillet and it's so dramatic coming out of the oven all puffed up and golden.  The picture above is a few minutes after when it's already significantly deflated.  Now don't think this is going to taste like health food or that you'll feel righteous eating it.  It still tastes sinfully delicious.  It just doesn't put you in a food coma as soon as you set your fork down after that last delicious bite.  I'm all about eating healthy, but not if it means sacrificing taste.  I'll just eat something else if I can't make something tasty and healthy.  So, trust me on this one, way yummy and not nearly so naughty.  Although it is still 90% eggs... 

Outdoor Pancakes

Food definitely tastes better outside, maybe there's something about fresh air that heightens the sensitivity of our taste buds or maybe it's all the unavoidable running around and playing that builds up such a voracious appetite that even ash sprinkled hot dogs taste amazing...  Whatever it is, Clay's pancakes tasted great cooked up on the griddle outside.

 

This past weekend Clay took a bunch of boy scouts camping up in the canyon.  He wanted to do a practice pancake run ahead of time.  I was game, especially as it meant I didn't have to plan anything for dinner.  We went over to Clay's brother and sister-in-law's house who lent us their fire pit and company.

For ease of transport Clay made the batter ahead of time and stored it in a recycled soda bottle.  Pretty clever of him, I thought.  I filed the idea away for future family camping trips.

Blush Topless Undershirt Winner

Hooray for our winner Renae who said...

Oh, these are wonderful. I'd love to have one (or four!)

This is going to become your new favorite piece of clothing!  I had to get one in every color.  Email me your size, color choice and address and I'll have them send one out right away.

Book Review: These is My Words

My own words are still molding themselves to the manner of speaking of the main character in These is My Words.  Does that ever happen to you?  You get so engrossed in a book that you start thinking in their speech patterns and using words or phrases from another era? 
I haven't gotten swept up in a romance for quite awhile, although to call this simply a romance would be defining it much too narrowly.  It is, perhaps, more the story of a woman's physical and emotional journey from childhood to womanhood, from poverty to security, from a mere shadow of love to the real thing. 
The story, in Sarah Prine's words, is written like a diary.  It's actually based on the author's own great grandmother.  It's set in the frontier west in Arizona and Texas.  I couldn't help marveling over and over at the sorts of things frontier women endured and thanking my lucky stars that I face challenges of a different stripe.
One reviewer compares the main characters to Rhett and Scarlett, calling it a "three hankie love affair."  I will admit, I did get choked up.  Several times.  Somehow the author just weaves her characters right into your guts and when they hurt, you hurt. 
Sarah, the main character, is most definitely a progressive pioneer, which made me really love her; she's hardcore, she shoots and wrangles cattle and raises babies, but she also reads voraciously, educates herself, rejects social norms that would have her shun people for the color of her skin and isn't afraid to take things into her own hands that would traditionally have been left to a man.  You can't help loving her and cheering her on.
This is the perfect summer read.  It's the perfect anytime read really, and I promise, if you read it, you will love it!

PS Remember to enter the giveaway before the end of the weekend.  We'll have a new one up on Monday!