muscial genius

i hate to be one of these parents whose all like, "ohmygod! look what my kid can do!"
but...well...oh my god! look what my kid can do!
he's been working on the piano for a while now (about a year), and this week, he made the leap. he had the ah-ha moment, and now he can follow along to music (if the letters are printed above the notes) and play it on the keys, if the letters are on the keys. and, best of all, he loves it. it is all self motivated. he sits down several times a day, on his own, and works on stuff. he's very pleased when he can play songs that he recognizes, but also still enjoys improvising, and just pounding on the keys. i just posted a bunch of videos on youtube, of his process, but here is one from the day he got it:

keep yer forks...there's pie!

one of cosmo's familiar favorite songs is "turkey in the straw." he once wrote his own version punkin' in the pie, which basically goes:
"punkin' in the pie...do do do doooo,"
i consider it his first song, and, of course, i love it.



i sing it to myself whenever i make pumpkin pie. like today. one of the best things about november (other than barak obama being elected president of the united states), is pumpkin pie. this one turned out as yummy as i remember from last year. i bake the pumpkins beforehand (or, carl sweetly bakes them for me), and then puree them. the crust gets pre-baked, with pie weights (i have a jar of dry chickpeas that i keep for just this purpose) so it doesn't get soggy.



today we were talking about stocking up on pumpkins while we can still find them at the farmer's market, and storing them in our garage-turned-workshop/studio-space. it's insulated. carl loves to bake pumpkin bread, and i do like me some pie!

update: the recipe
my notes:
i bake the pumpkin ahead of time. i simply cut a pumpkin in half, place it face down on a cookie sheet, and bake it at 350F, for an hour and 15 minutes, to an hour and a half. once it has cooled a bit, the peel comes off easily. then i puree it in the food processor, but you could also use a potato masher.
i sometimes make the crust the night before, stick it in the fridge, and make the pie in the morning.
this crust rocks. i use it for all sweet pies now. the little bit of sugar gives a lot of flavor, and helps with browning.

Flaky Crust
for any single curst pie, 8 to 10 inches in diameter. double the recipe for a two-crust pie.


Ingredients

	1⅛	cups (about 5 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus some for dusting work surface
	½	tsp. salt
	1	tsp. sugar
	8	Tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 8 pieces
	~	About 3 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed

Steps

1. Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in the container of a food processor; pulse once or twice. Add the butter and turn on the machine; process until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.
2. Place the mixture in a bowl and sprinkle 3 tablespoons of water over it. Use a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula to gradually gather the mixture into a ball; if the mixture seems dry, add another ½ tablespoon ice water. When you can make the mixture into a ball with your hands, do so. Wrap in plastic wrap, flatten into a small disk, and freeze the dough for 10 minutes (or refrigerate for 30 minutes); this will ease rolling. (You can also refrigerate the dough for a day or two, or freeze it almost indefinitely.)
3. You can roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, usually quite successfully; sprinkle both sides of it with a little more flour, then proceed. Or sprinkle a countertop or large board with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it on the work surface; sprinkle its top with flour. If the dough is hard, let it rest for a few minutes; it should give a little when you press your fingers into it.
4. Roll with light pressure, from the center out. (If the dough seems very sticky at first, add flour liberally; but if it becomes sticky only after you roll it for a few minutes, return it to the refrigerator for 10 minutes before proceeding.) Continue to roll, adding small amounts of flour as necessary, rotating the dough occasionally, and turning it over once or twice during the process. (Use ragged edges of dough to repair any tears, adding a drop of water while you press the patch into place.) When the dough is about 10 inches in diameter (it will be less than ¼-inch thick), place your pie plate upside down over it to check the size.
5. Move the dough into the pie plate by draping it over the rolling pin or by folding it into quarters, then moving it into the plate and unfolding it. When the dough is in the plate, press it firmly into the bottom, sides, and junction of bottom and sides. Trim the excess dough to about ½ inch all around, then tuck it under itself around the edge of the plate. Decorate the edges with a fork or your fingers. Freeze the dough for 10 minutes (or refrigerate it for 30 minutes).
6. When you’re ready to bake, prick it all over with a fork.
   

To pre-bake the crust

preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
tear off a piece of foil large enough to fit over the entire crust when folded in half. smear butter on one side of the foil, then press it into the crust. weight the foil with a pile of dried beans or pie weights or a tight fitting skillet or sauce pan--anything that will sit flat on the surface.
bake 12 minutes. remove from the oven, reduce the heat to 350 F, and carefully remove the weight and foil.
bake another 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is a beautiful shade of brown.

start the filling while the crust is baking

when crust is done, turn the oven to 375 F

filling:

3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
pinch salt
2 cups pureed pumpkin (can use canned, if you wish)
2 cups half-and-half, light cream or whole milk

Beat eggs with the sugar, then add the spices and salt. Stir in the pumpkin puree and the the half-and-half. While the curst is baking, warm this mixture in a medium saucepan over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is hot to the touch; do not boil.
Place the pie plate on a baking sheet. Pour this mixture into the still-hot crust and bake 30-40 minutes, until the mixture shakes like jell-o but is still quite moist. cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

from the book How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman

visititresistitadmititlistentoit

in answer to a call from MEP at not to brag, here is my post

visit it:
youtube. look at postings on youtube of vintage (1970's) sesame street segments. cosmo is really obsessed with marble mazes these days. he likes to make them out of household objects like tubes, spoons, old copper pipe fittings, cardboard, etc. and he recently spotted a new roller coaster type at a goodwill, which we've been setting up daily. he enjoys playing with them, and watching them on youtube.



we found videos of some really elaborate constructions, but usually they are not of the highest quality, filmicly, and can be difficult for a little one to follow. but those old counting pinball animations from sesame street not only fit the bill for exciting ball runs, they have a deliciously funky soundtrack, sure to please the adults too. i was thrilled to find "lady bug picnic" on there too.

resist it:
the toy museum in zionsville (indianapolis suburb). it sounds great (antique carousel, bumper cars etc.), but like so many privately owned and operated, small town museums, it's a rip-off. first of all, the website indicated that kids under 4 were admitted free. not so. they claim they've been trying to get that changed online, but still make you pay. after you pay your entrance fee, you are led downstairs, to the place with all the coin-op, ride-on toys--the kind you sometimes see in malls, used to find them outside of grocery stores. they have a large, windowless room filled with them, and they cost fifty cents per ride.



cosmo was excited about them, and we spent a couple of bucks riding them, but what's really strange is the environment. there's nobody else down there. so you feel like you are just playing around in someone's private collection, which is, of course, what you are doing. one ride on the bumper cars is included with the admission, so we tried them. but again, with no one else to bump into, what's the point? cosmo asked to get off after about 45 seconds. i cannot put my finger on why it felt almost creepy to be down there (with only the old guy who operates the bumper cars), putting coins into slots and watching cosmo go sort-of-up-and-down, sort-of-back-and-forth on a fiberglass dinosaur. it was sad, really. it felt like we were TRYING to have fun. trying too hard maybe? we took an elevator up two floors to a room with a carousel, and an arrangement of vitrines filled with antique toys. the toy collection was amazing. but who wants to look at a bunch of precious playthings that you can't play with? cosmo got frustrated when we came across some marbles and marble games. he didn't understand why he couldn't get them out.


the girl on the right, on the box looks as though she is threatening to harm herself if she can't have this toy mixer.

we did ride the merry-go-round (as they called it), which was pretty fun. i took a bunch of pictures. when i tried to climb on the pig, i was told there was a weight limit. oops. could've mentioned that before i made an ass of myself.


the guy that worked there was also annoying. he assumed cosmo's favorite things were disney characters. cosmo doesn't know anything about disney characters. they had this weird talking tree which spewed all kinds of nonsense, and was hooked up to an erratic motion sensor. cosmo was enchanted by it. i was mesmerized by this turn-of-the-century relic:



the only redeeming thing about the place was the ice cream parlor. they had a jukebox with miniature animatron figurines of jazz musicians playing at a night club. we both enjoyed that, and played it over and over (again, with the quarters!) somehow, eating ice cream all alone, and listening to fifties pop songs wasn't as disturbing as the rest of our experience at the toy museum.
take my advise, if you're in the area, skip it.




admit it:
i have a junk collecting addiction. i experience bouts of anxiety if i ride my bike past a pile of stuff someone has put out by the side of the road. i make a mental note to come back with the car, to sift through it (it's difficult to carry a wooden chair while riding a bike, but i have done it). sometimes i get distracted, and don't make it back before someone else has taken all the good stuff. i feel compelled to stop at yard sales, and i dislike going with carl. he has no patience for the kind of browsing i like to do, and might pass judgment on what i deem suitable to take home with us. in fact, i don't like to go with anyone. yard sale shopping puts me in a sort of trance-like state. it is a semi-systematic looking and touching of almost every item there.
i've found some great things too. in dumpsters, on the roadside, yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores. in fact, most of my favorite and most useful possessions came to me second hand. but i have begun to recognize that i am unreasonable, and a little out of control with it. perhaps i need to establish some rules. a couple of months ago, i asked carl to stop the car, and i hopped out and threw some boards in the trunk. he asked what i was going to use them for. i said, "i have some ideas, but in general, if you see solid wood by the side of the road, you should not pass it up. on the other hand, if you see particle board, or anything made from it, you should definitely not stop." i think that's a good rule to start with.


cold frame made almost exclusively from salvaged materials

listen to it:
oneida. i'm not talking about the flatware company, or the indian tribe. i won some tickets from the college radio station (WIUX) to go see this band at the bluebird. we had a great time, and became solid fans. i'm not sure if many readers of this blog would like it, and i am no good at describing sounds, or putting music into genres, so check it out for yourself.
we've also been listening to a lot of children's music. current favorites include hoosier hotcakes (who we see live every saturday at the market) and elizabeth mitchell. there's some lovely songs on her cd "you're my little bird."

visititresistitadmititlistentoit is not a meme, but i challenge my fellow bloggers to give it a try.

what's your hobby?

we can (not) stop canning! after blueberries, we made some incredible peach chutney, some green beans with lemon and tomato (a slow cook recipe from bittman, where the beans just melt in your mouth), last night we did some spicy pickled green beans (the kind that go great in bloody marys), and we expect to make salsa, maybe this weekend.



i also tried making some fruit leather with peaches i got at a great discount from the farmer's market, because they were quite ripe. i am not sure of the results of the fruit leather yet, since it is still drying, and we haven't tried the green beans either. the peach chutney is to-die-for though, and i am tempted to make more while the peaches are on. apparently we aren't the only ones around here with canning fever. i looked for some books on food preservation today at the library, and all but one were checked out, some with holds 3 deep! i know that part of this mania for me is inspired by reading animal vegetable miracle by barbara kingslover. a couple of people recommended it to me, so i finally started reading it.

(a recent garden and farmer's market haul)

the book is all about eating local, and since we are so privileged to live in a place with an abundance of local food available all summer and fall, it makes sense to put some of it up for the winter months. that way we won't have to buy as much food that is shipped from far away. besides that, we are having a blast.
---
in other news, cosmo got a balance bike called skuut. it costs about a third of the german made like-a-bike, but seems to be about as well designed and built. cosmo has never been crazy about vehicles, generally. he tries to ride his trike now and then, but he wasn't one of those kids who was pushing himself around on those little toddler cars all the time. so, we weren't sure how he'd take to the bike. after a day of awkwardly walking it, his heels getting run over by the back wheel, he quickly got the hang of it. i couldn't believe it when i saw him picking up his feet and coasting the next day! now he has a taste for speed.

the great thing about it is that he has so much control. he almost never falls because he can catch himself with his feet, and he can steer it and pick up the front tire when he encounters a step or other obstacle. i love this thing, and feel like it was well worth the money ($90, with free shipping*). it works great on grass, gravel, and pavement, and is really fun on hills and inclines of any sort. it is also light and easy to carry, in case he's tired of riding on the way home from the park.

cosmo has been blowing us away with how grown up he seems. it seems like major transformations take place every couple of days or so. i guess it has always seemed that way. he really digs music, likes to sing, and knows a lot of songs now.

(cosmo, carl and maggie at music class)
he's been making up new words, and new verses to songs that he knows. while they rarely rhyme, they do make some sense, and usually they crack us up: have you ever seen cosmo, eating edamame...down by the bay? (down by the bay).... he's developing an imaginative world, which is wonderful to witness, and he draws simple faces on a regular basis now. he calls them people, and sometimes some ghosts.



we went to the county fair a couple of times. first to see the animals and the precious 4H crafts. we went back one afternoon, with shawna and justin, to check out the rides. to my surprise, he loved the rides. there were many that just went round and round, maybe a bump or slope along the way, but rather tame, and suitable for his age.

he went from motor boats, to crocodiles, to flying saucers, to dragons, to trains and trucker convoys. his favorite thing though was the bounce house. he went into that one at least ten times, and jumped and laughed and fell down, and contended with other kids bumping into him, and kept coming out saying "i want to do it again!" luckily the line was relatively short. unfortunately, it was right in front of the funnel cake stand pumping greasy fumes into the air all around us. cosmo also played a couple of games on the midway, one of them involved throwing darts at balloons on a wall, and he popped one and got a prize. all the others were incredibly easy. everyone's a winner, basically. and for a kid whose not yet three, that was just fine. we came home with more shwag than we knew what to do with. (fair photos by shawna bean)

cosmo also got properly introduced to the world of candy at the fair (someone at a booth handed him a dum-dum) and now, it is all he talks about. for the first two and a half years of his life, he didn't know that those brightly colored small things in intricate wrappers were edible. the cat is now fully out of the bag.
---
well...this post sat around for a week or so, unposted. by now i have some updates: the fruit leather turned out great. it was a wonderful use of a whole lot of very ripe peaches. cosmo, naturally, loves it, and it packs great for snacks on the go. here's a couple of photos of the one i spread out onto a round pizza pan.


we also canned two batches of salsa, one red, one green. they both taste incredible. carl said, of the heat in the red salsa, it's slow in coming, in the back of the mouth....
i said, i may never eat store bought salsa again! carl and i consider canning our new hobby. we lucked into a bunch of canning jars at the goodwill, at bargain prices, and snatched them up.

i should point out that our new hobby is something we carry out after cosmo has gone to bed. it takes some focus, and there are a lot of burners going at once. not a safe place for little ones.


* typo stating the bike was $80, corrected 12/29/2008

harmonious

cosmo spontaneously grabbed the harmonica as he took to the keys today. this was my favorite of the clips i shot.

if you haven't already, you can see more videos here.