Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It’s because I absolutely love turkey, stuffing, root vegetables, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and staying home with family. And I have been captivated for years by the book Cranberry Thanksgiving.

Written in early seventies it dishes out plenty of vintage charm. While there is a main plot to the story, I was always more interested in the imagery and coziness of the book. Set in New England (I would assume in Cape Cod) Maggie and her grandmother live in an idyllic cedar shingled house at the edge of the sand dune. They invite two odd ball guests to their thanksgiving dinner and the beautifully sketched images that follow continue to capture my imagination: Maggie presenting the cooked turkey to the guests, Mr. Whisker’s half eaten turkey bone, and the black silhouettes of grandmother, Mr. Whisker’s and Maggie set against a roaring fire with the white whipped cream visible on top of the their pumpkin pie.

Images of a peach colored November sky with black trees, the ocean, turkey, pumpkin pie and home. Can’t you just smell Thanksgiving now? This book is the equivalent of The Night Before Christmas for Thanksgiving for me.

We borrowed our copy from the library. On Amazon it says that a used copy is $44! I guess the book it out of print right now. But it's still worth it to keep your eyes open.

double use and butternut squash

I do think I’m quite smart with my mashed butternut squash trick. Well, it’s not really mine. I read about it somewhere… Owen informed me that he does like squash. Once I roasted butternut squash and I told him that it was a pumpkin and he happily ate a little. Well, it IS from the same vegetable family.

But the best, sneakiest way is adding mashed butternut squash to macaroni and cheese. It creates a beautiful orange color, subtle sweetness and a nutritional boost.

Since we are currently living in the apartment, I can't locate my ice cube tray to freeze the left over butternut squash. So, I took a plastic egg carton (I use these for Owen’s paints—they are the perfect easel) and froze the squash in there. I actually liked it better than an ice cube tray because it created smaller cubes of frozen squash.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about reusing the egg carton. I now have two great uses—first the paint easel and now for freezing purees. and I'm sure there are others...

falling

family of ghosts made by me--a mom, dad and an owen. here

Halloween parade

falling

falling together

view from falling.

goodbye fall--always too short.

but I'm finding solace in

falling back tonight.

ramblings of news

So, I am going to try and get my blog up and running again, after all it is on the verge of disrepair…

There’s been many new developments since I last posted. The most exciting is that I was declared in remission! Not to burst my own bubble in anyway, but I still do have some detectable cancer. But it’s a low number that has remained completely stable (hence a meaning of the word remission) and because of my cancer type it should remain inert. So, I am feeling blessed, especially as I was given the ok to try and have another child. I recently read an article about a pregnant woman who was in remission for a different cancer with completely different protocols. She was ok and now onto trying for her second baby. While I was reading her story I thought “what a strong woman, can I be like that?”

Certainly getting your doctor’s approval is necessary as is feeling comfortable with your decision. As trite as this will sound there are just so many unknowns in life. We can only do our best to try and navigate around but most of the time it’s through them. There is a part of me that worries—what if I need more treatments? Can the doctors assure me completely that being pregnant is 100% benign? No, but what is 100% benign anyway? Do know that I am not putting myself in any kind of medically documented harm’s way… I'm taking this scientific ok and building on my faith to conquer the “ifs” and know that it will be ok.

home

I haven't posted in so long because we just sold our....

!!!!!!!!!

in fact, we sold it ourselves! In the meantime, we are looking for a dream house which is not going so well... pack, and say goodbye to our very sweet home of 4 years!

new camera

I am very happy with my new camera. Thanks to my friend Liz, who turned me onto the d 40! I love saying 'the d40' because I feel like I'm talking about a chain saw! Now, I just need to figure out how to make my pictures bigger...

tee-he, my first subject...

'art on art'

my house is looking cleaner with the d 40!

easter decor

Here's a simple Easter tree idea. I looked all over for one online with no luck, so I decided to make my own.

1.) I took branches--mine are from a craft store and they have a clear varnish on them.

2.) Stick the branches into the green foam stuff that is used for floral displays. Also at the craft store!

3.) Place into a sturdy vase. I was lucky enough to have one with polka dots, my favorite...

4.) decorate with eggs! I got my eggs from various stores, just be on the look out around Easter for light eggs that you can hang...

enjoy a festive Easter tradition....

Irish Soda Bread

I had no idea that making Irish Soda Bread is so easy. I had a craving--and I remember a very tasty tea (served with this bread) that I had at my friend Claire's house three years ago. So, I got the recipe, made it with Owen (it's that easy) and then made just a few modifications. You still have time for an Irish treat for St. Paddy's Day!

3 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour
1 cup of buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/3 of a cup of currants (do NOT use raisins!)

Mix everything very well. You don't need to knead or let it rise... Just put it on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 24-27 minutes! Insert a cake tester to make sure it's cooked in the middle. You must serve with butter and tea... If they are really lucky, my co-workers MIGHT get some tomorrow...enjoy!

the petite gourmet

You can shape your child into a petite gourmet—or at least try! I make some foods from scratch, but there is simply no way to keep this up as a working mom. Here are a few of my easy, secret weapons for children over one year:

1.) Frozen peas, beans, corn or edamame (especially in the winter) from Cascade Farms. Find in the natural or organic frozen section.

2.) Frozen pureed winter squash also from Cascade Farms. Add this to Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese (or any other Mac ‘n Cheese). It makes it sweeter and more nutritious!

3.) Gerber Graduates Fruit bars. These are really soft (even enough for a one-year old) and are made with 100% fruit—no sugar added! We are addicted! Find in the baby section of your grocery store.

4.) Sweet Potato Fries. I love the Alexia brand (also in the natural or organic section of your grocery store). Sweet Potato fries are fun for kids to eat (because they are fries), but are much more nutritious than white fries.

5.) I always have a few of the Earth’s Best frozen dinners in my freezer “just in case.” They have fewer add-ins and fillers than other pre-made dinners and they are “all natural.” They’re also taste test approved! Also in the natural/organic section.

6.) Robert’s Pirate Booty. These cheese puffs are fun to eat and are made with all natural ingredients. They even make a spinach and kale variety!

7.) My two dairy tricks are cottage cheese and goat cheese. Cottage cheese is a great snack that is high in protein and calcium. You can serve it with fruit or applesauce. If you start this around one year (small curd) and the child will eat it, you have an easy alternative to yogurt. Goat cheese is actually quite mild—Owen is a big fan (as are his parents). Serve it on crackers! I like the Chavrie brand for its mildness, “spreadability” and high quality for the price. Find it in the cheese section of your grocery store.
8.) Meat—I have not found acceptable frozen or pre-made meat. I will do another post on this… I make my own chicken nuggets, turkey meatballs and poached salmon and freeze for later use. And it's very easy. Recipes coming soon!

Boys, play with dolls?

I read a wonderful article in the recent issue of Mothering Magazine (my dear friend Raissa kindly bought me a subscription to the magazine when Owen was born). The subscription has since expired, but then a co-worker picked up a copy for me. I guess people have been drawn to give me the magazine. Anyway, there’s an enlightening article about the benefits of doll play for boys. The article was written by a skeptical male, who in the end succeeds that doll play is a wonderful way for boys to learn how to nurture and father. Jeff is not as enthusiastic as the author, but he’s on-board and amused.

Nurture, mmmmm… I thought it would be perfect for Owen, because like other 2-year- old boys, he could use a bit more of that. I also am a big fan of gender neutral toys—and mixing it up—trucks for girls, kitchen/doll for boys, etc…..

So, Owen has “baby” now. Is it his favorite toy? No, it’s not. But he does enjoy playing with baby—feeding him a bottle, burping, changing clothes, pretending to change a diaper, etc. Also, he likes wearing him in this homemade sling for a little while.

Half the time he’s nurturing, the rest, well, I guess testosterone gets the rest. Baby is thrown across the room, bopped on the head or he’ll perform a wild rendition of “rock a bye baby.” These are the hide your laughter, and try and teach moments.

One very interesting coincidence about the doll’s arrival…Potty training miraculously started! mmmmm…

snow painting

All you need to paint snow is food coloring, water, and a squeezable and empty condiment container (like from a restaurant) to make the "paint," + snow. Note that I had red and Owen had blue.....

Owen requested that I take a pictures...then I thought I'd put them here.

The artist.

This is a highly recommended activity (about 2 yrs plus) for both enjoying the outdoors, beating the "winter blues" and being artistic. On top of that, it costs almost nothing!

my (very brief) thyroid cancer story

This is my less than ordinary journey through papillary thyroid cancer. Papillary thyroid cancer is known as “the best” type of thyroid cancer to have—basically because it’s a ‘garden’ variety cell and is well differentiated—meaning that it’s more like a normal cell then a poorly differentiated one. It’s also usually very slow growing. But not all papillary behaves so cordially. First of all, there are several subtypes of papillary and a few of those can be a bit more difficult to treat than just plain old papillary.

There is the possibility that papillary can, over time, change into a different, more aggressive cell type then what it started out as. Like any other cancer, there is the chance that it can spread—even though these numbers are pretty low, it does happen.So, without getting into every little detail of my experience like how many lymph nodes were affected (ok, so there were quite a few) what my thyroglobin level (which in my case is the cancer blood level) was and is now—it’s not a zero, YET—you can assume that it’s been an atypical experience.

I’m not sharing all the minutia, because besides select friends and family, who really wants to read a dictated report of your trip to Dr. X, Y & Z anyway? This is about the process of healing, snapshots of choosing to live a life above cancer and the cast of characters that support me along the way.