What stories are authentic folktales?

I was trying to remember the name of a story, then the name of the audiobook on which it was recorded. The story was called, "The Bear Child." The audiobook was called Lessons from the Animal People. The storyteller was Dovie Thomason. It occurred to me to look for independent confirmation, any other sign on the internet, that the stories on this album were not simply stories Thomason had written herself. So far, I haven't found the stories anywhere else, but I still love the stories. These stories are probably old tales whose origins are not visible through a Google search.

The story that broke my heart, and then tried to put it back together, was the one I mentioned above. "The Bear Child" is about a boy whose uncle walls him up inside a cave, because the uncle doesn't want to care for the boy anymore. The boy gets help from other animals, notably, a mother bear. At the end of the story, the storyteller states that bears live near humans, and that humans respect bears because they have the ability to sniff out child abuse, and to do something about it.

My daughter, Phoebe, loves this album. She likes to sing the chant from "The Bear Child." Also, she thinks "The Making of the Animals" is funny, with the different animals being shaped differently by their creator. The animals try to describe how they want to look, but they keep talking over each other and confusing the creator, who then gets impatient. Mistakes come next. We listen to the copy from the library, often. Maybe we should get our own copy.

Baking on the Grill

It is humbling to find inspiration to write my blog in the movie, "Julie and Julia," a movie about a writer and her blog.

To Beatrice, some notes on my recent experiments in baking on the grill

The first try was Saturday, August 8th.

On Saturday, we were going to cook on the grill anyway, so I quickly threw together some bread dough made from half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. I gave the dough one rise in the bowl and one rise in the baking pans. I put the loaves on the grill when the temperature was around 250-275F, closed the lid, and tried to use fuel and venting to increase the temperature to 375F. I think the temperature never went above 350F.

The resulting loaves of bread were edible, and about 7/8's of this baking was eaten. The bread didn't brown inside the pans, only on top. The bread tasted quite yeasty, I assume from spending much time in the grill below 300F. I don't know at exactly what temperature yeast dies, but it appears to be at around 300F.

The second try, on August 16th, I again chose to bake on the grill at a time when the grill going to be used anyway. This meant that, as the grill was preheating for baking, it could be used to make burgers, so there would be less wasted fuel.

This time, I took Brad's suggestion and made rolls. Rolls are smaller, take less time to bake, and have more surface area exposed. Therefore, rolls should brown more easily and use less fuel.

I put a cookie sheet, one without any coatings, on the grill, to help with browning. The dough this time was 1/4 whole wheat flour, 3/4 bread flour, and I used kefir (plain yogurt drink) instead of milk. Again, I let the dough rise once in the bowl and once after shaping. I weighed the rolls as I shaped them to make sure they would bake evenly, and I placed them on another cookie sheet. After about 15-30 minutes of rising, I put the rolls on the grill, one cookie sheet on top of the other, and closed the lid. This time, the grill stayed above 300F during baking, sometime rising as high as 400F. After 15-20 minutes, the rolls were done.

I thought the rolls tasted extremely mild. Eleanor said they tasted like kefir, and didn't like them. There are some strong advantages to making loaves of bread. A loaf of bread can be used for lots of things. The rolls were quick to prepare, though, and I liked how they turned out. We have eaten almost all of them.

For both experiments, I used a recipe that was quick to prepare, that I had used several times. It would be interesting to see how baking would work on a gas grill. I understand that heating would be much more even, but that the bottoms of the loaves might burn. There is some kind of raised, aluminum sheet available that is supposed to keep burns to a minimum, by allowing air to circulate between the food and the grill surface. Another option would be to turn off the gas directly under the food.

The point of baking on the grill is to keep the house cool while still having homemade bread. the grill-baked bread is inferior to oven-baked, but it is still good to eat.

I Wish I Hadn't Missed the Sock Summit

Here's a picture of my last project, completed just in time to give the socks as a gift to my daughter, Eleanor.

I just watched a video at the Oregonian newspaper's Web site, in which a crowd of 935 broke the world record for the number of people in one location, knitting. The previous record was 256. This record-breaking event occurred at the Sock Summit, in Portland, OR, earlier this month. I couldn't go, but I was amazed at the speed at which classes for the summit filled. The server broke down on the first day, in the first few hours of the registration period. So I've known, ever since two days after that, when I tried to register, that I would not be attending the summit. Next time, for sure.

Meanwhile, Afghans for Afghans is asking for baby blankets for their fall campaign. No smaller than 30 inches by 40 inches, and no longer or wider than 45 inches. No fringe, no light colors. Wool only. I may knit a blanket for this. It's just a matter of finding the right amount of wool in my stash. My hoardings are heavier on the acrylics, because I don't use them often, but I do have some wool, including some leftovers.

I'm still working on my socks for myself. I'm using a beautiful, variegated green yarn in washable wool. I also decided to extend this yarn, with some leftover light green yarn from an earlier project.

Mountains Beyond Mountains

Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder, is my most recent read. It is about Paul Farmer, a doctor who treats individual patients in Haiti, and also plans ways to combat tuberculosis on a grand scale. This book made me think that it is essential for all people to have access to good medical care, in order to fight outbreaks of TB, AIDS, and other diseases. The book also shows the relationships between clean water, good nutrition and good medicine. Get your copy of this book today, or borrow mine.

Review of Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea, by Mortenson and Relin, was a fast read. I loved reading about building schools for boys and girls in Pakistan. I loved hearing about mountain climbers. I loved hearing about a good excuse to move to Montana.

This book made me understand the importance of health care, oddly enough. There was a certainty about how people in remote areas need extra help, and those who can help lose their humanity when they say, " No."

I want to keep track of ikat.org to see how the various projects progress.

No more liberals, no more conservatives

I reject the practice of labeling people as Conservatives or Liberals. After refreshing my memory about a man who shot people in their church last summer and left a manifesto calling on more people  to do the same, I've decided that it is wrong to allow ourselves to be divided into different camps. While it's obvious among friends that people all have different views, for some reason on a grander scale we forget that the world is not composed of two enemy camps. We're all people, and, clearly, we should all talk to each other more often.

Recipe: Beautiful Oatmeal Bread

Revised 12:25p.m., 5/26/9, Note.

Note:  Add author of Crust and Crumb. I would like to reduce the size of these loaves, but the size should not drop as low as 1 1/2 pounds. I have to add less liquid to my next batch.

This recipe is based on working with the White Sandwich Bread recipe in Crust and Crumb, and with the Home-style White Bread with Poppy Seeds in Baking Bread: Old and New Traditions, by Beth Hensperger. The loaves are 2 pounds apiece, with good color, soft squishy crumb, and a delicious smell. This bread makes good pbj's, and great toast. 

Beautiful Oatmeal Bread

makes 4 loaves

Ingredients

2 scant tablespoons instant yeast

2 pinches sugar

1 cup warm water (105-115F)

Your choice:

either 3 cups warm milk (105-115F)

or

3 cups warm water and

3/4 cup nonfat powdered milk

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into about 16 pieces

5 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal, cooked in 2 1/2 cups of water, cooled to room temperature

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

8-9 cups unbleached bread flour

3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method

Clean off the kneading surface beforehand so it is clean and dry by the end of step 2.

1. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the cup of warm water and let this yeast mixture sit for 10 minutes.

2. In a very large bowl and using a wooden spoon, combine the warm milk, butter, salt oatmeal, whole wheat flour and yeast mixture. Add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time, stirring to wet all flour with each addition.

3. When the dough is too thick to be stirred, sprinkle 1 or 2 cups of flour onto the kneading surface. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Before kneading, pour vegetable oil into the mixing bowl.

4. With hands dipped in flour, knead the dough for 5 minutes, sprinkling a tablespoon or two of flour on the surface below the dough when it sticks, and sprinkling a tablespoon or two of flour onto the top of the dough when it sticks.

5. With the end of kneading, form the dough into a large ball and dip it into the mixing bowl, oiling the bottom. Flip the dough over so that the top and bottom are both greased. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel.  Let rise 1 hour.

6. Knead dough for 5 minutes, let rise 1 more hour.

7. Grease the bottoms and sides of 4 loaf pans. Shape the dough. To make 4 sandwich loaves:

Divide the dough into 4 parts. Use a scale to ensure all parts are the same weight, for even baking.

With each piece of dough, which will weigh 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, turn it out onto the kneading surface, and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 8 x 15 inch rectangle. The important thing is for the width to be the same as the length of the loaf pan, and for there to be no large air bubbles in the dough. Roll the dough up into a tube that is 8 inches long. Place the dough into a greased loaf pan. Repeat with the other pieces of dough.

8. Let the loaves rise under the damp towel for 45 minutes to 1 hour. During the final 20 minutes of rising, Preheat the oven to 375F. If you have an oven stone, use it with the oven rack set in the bottom position in the oven.

9. Bake the bread on the lowest rack of the oven for 45 minutes.

10. When removing the loaves from the oven, remove them from the pans immediately and let the loaves cool on a wire rack.

Mothering

I tell you. I never meant to write a Mother's Day piece, but I have to write about what I just read in the Washington Post's Book section. 

A new book is coming out that I must read, Ayelet Waldman's Bad Mother. 

One of the strangest things about being a mother, for me, is discovering that my mistakes, which I learn from, are not as detrimental to my children as I had supposed. I seem not to be able to make any progress without making mistakes. Meanwhile, I try to set an example for my kids, to show them how to do things, to show them how to live a good life, and I make mistakes doing these things. It's funny. Maybe the finest thing I do for my girls is to show them how to make mistakes, and to learn from them. At least, I hope that is what is happening.

All this is on spec, of course. I won't know how well they turn out until my children grow up.

CPAP, Compassion at 9 a.m.

I started using my CPAP machine again last night. I haven't used it in over a year, I think. I don't remember when I stopped using it, only that I stopped shortly after receiving a humidifier accessory for the device. I couldn't figure out how often I was supposed to clean the humidifier, and it seemed like a lot of work. At the time, I weighed 10-15 pounds less than I do now, and I didn't snore as much, so I stopped using CPAP. Now I weigh more, snore more, and have to make a different choice. I used the machine last night, and cleaned everything cleanable, this morning. Now I hope to find my care instructions, and to put a cleaning schedule on my calendar.

Meanwhile, I read something that focused my mind in a new way. I read a book by David Foster Wallace, This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life. This book was short, so I read it at the bookstore where I found it. I didn't buy the book, instead choosing to try the author's Infinite Jest. Wish me luck. IJ is a weighty tome, comparable in size to War and Peace. 

Wallace writes that people automatically think on a self-centered level most of the time, living in the center of their worlds, with the perspective that they are surrounded by bandits trying to ruin their days. An example he could have used comes from George Carlin:  I drive down the road in my car, mad at the driver in front of me for driving to slowly, and equally mad at the driver behind me who seems to be driving too quickly. Wallace wants us to leave this kind of perspective and see the other people around us, to see the pain in other people's lives, which I say we can easily infer by remembering the details of our own lives. Wallace plays with cliches in this book, including using the phrase "teach you how to think" to explain how going to college, or simply living in the world of humanity, can change the subjects of your thoughts, and the ways you think about them. Compassion comes when you see that every person has pain, when you are changed by the  knowledge of that pain. Compassion can change you, and what you do with your life. Other writers who are called to my mind right now are Descartes, who couldn't tell if the people outside his window were real or merely automata, and Mary Pipher, who has written powerful stories about refugees (see The Middle of Everywhere).

Around the same time, I noticed that after a week of Brad and me together at home working with the girls on household chores, the girls seem happier when they have work they have to do every day. Instead of being happier when they have few chores and plenty of time for open play, the children seem happier or more satisfied when they have to do chores and help their parents with work--even if the task is unwelcome to them, like putting dishes away or sweeping the floor. Obviously they like to do things with their parents rather than without them--kids would probably enjoy doing just about anything if they could do it with their mother or father. In addition, though, they respond well to having work they have to do; it seems to make them feel less bored, more satisfied. 

Do compassion and work fit together somehow? Stay tuned.

Is a storm coming?

We watched the weather change today. I had heard that a thunderstorm was coming. I still don't know if we'll get that storm, but the sky has darkened, and large clouds are moving in from the west. It may or may not be raining. I still imagine hiding under a table to avoid falling tree branches. I guess that was a really exciting and anxious moment for me, so it is vivid in my memory.

The Treat Shop

I am recommending the Treat Shop, on Cranberry Road in Westminster, Md.  They have lots and lots of Easter chocolate for sale, including a larger-than-life chocolate bunny that's very expensive. I chose something smaller than lifesize, plus some candy-covered malt balls. You can watch people make candy in the back of the store. This place is a real candy store. They also have ice cream, coffee and tea (loose, by the ounce).

Phoebe is asleep. Every day she comes home from school cranky. Today was no exception. It occurred to me that she should take a nap when she gets home, so I lay down for my own nap. Eventually, she took my bait and climbed into bed with me. After she dozed off, I got up to write this message.

Budget Backwards

I'm lucky. I have enough money to buy groceries. Given this fact, how do I plan my food spending, now and in the future? I have decided that the best thing to do is to see how much money I spend, at first without budgeting, and then to maintain the same level of spending. It might be fun, a good idea, or wise, to lower this amount of money over time, but striving to keep the same level of spending is possible and realistic. My method for keeping track of spending is simply to gather the week's receipts in my purse until they add up to the magic number (I was five dollars under, last week!!), then stop spending on groceries. I will have to increase the degree of challenge by adding in restaurant meals, but I'm not ready for that yet. I'll be lucky if I remember to add in receipts from my trips to High's. At present, my plan for restaurant dining is to make sure I'm not dining out at the end of each grocery week, after I've run out of grocery money.

One result of seeing how much I spend is that I can think about this money as one chunk of the household spending, instead of as many dribs and drabs. If I know that I spend $600 a month on groceries, I can think about how much it would cost to spend some of it on home milk delivery, and how much money would be left to spend on the rest of the groceries. I can also think about how much less I would spend on milk (about half) if I switched from organic milk to regular. Thinking about the real makes it easier to think about the possible and the impossible.

I learned, probably from reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, that Americans spend about 10% of their income on food, whereas Europeans spend about 17% of income. I wonder how much my household spends? I would have to multiply that $600 by 12 to get $7,200, then add all restaurant spending, then compare that to our annual income. This is a homework problem that will not be solved for a while.

Knitting Affects My Whole Life

This morning I discovered that what I have learned knitting can apply to other parts of my life. I tried a new pancake pattern, I mean, recipe. I thought I had all the right yarns, in the right fibers, but it turned out I needed to replace meusli with something from my stash: oatmeal, oat bran and wheat germ. Then, when I was following the pattern, I discovered I had added the flour before grinding the oatmeal. So I frogged back a couple of rows. I put the flour and the oatmeal into the blender to grind. It all worked out. Now I have a full stomach.

My Personal Economy

I try to listen to the news, and to read the paper once in a while, but I get scared when I hear that the economy will keep getting worse until next year, or the year after that, or the year after that. I hear one person's solution is another person's curse, and vice versa. I hear that I should spend, in order to save the economy.

I can't spend to save my country's economy. Here's why: I spent about fifteen years of my life spending, eating out twice a day (no lie), buying clothes and movie tickets on credit. I never saved a dime, except for what my employer put into my retirement account. It was a lot of fun, that life, although maybe not as much fun as it could have been. I could never seem to plan to use a large sum of money, because I never had that money. I was afraid to take out a big loan, because all my little loans were always on my back.

For better or worse, I will never live that way again. I'm not saying I never spend on personal entertainment, or that I only eat rice and beans. I don't sew my own clothes, nor do I grow a big vegetable garden. The fact is, though, that the way I spent in the 1990s is not possible for me now. I can't do it anymore. I desire to send my kids to private school, which is kind of like Home Economics 101 all by itself. I want to keep working at home. Therefore, I am gradually learning how to save instead of spend, and how to plan my spending.

I am very, very lucky to be able to send my kids to private school, to live in my own house, to have my own car, to have heat and electricity and clean water, a yard for the kids to play in, a safe town and county. I am very lucky that Brad has a good job. There is a great deal to be thankful for. I want to always feel lucky. Part of feeling lucky means, not wasting the day, not wasting money, not wasting time, not wasting my life.

I don't know what the larger economy will be like in three or five years; I assume it will get better with time, like a broken bone. If everyone across the country has changed their spending habits the way I hope I have done, then the economy will never be the way it was. Maybe that will be okay, not because we'll be better people (we won't be), but because, on an individual level, we'll be more financially secure. I hope so.

Brad's socks are still coming along, but slowly. I will post a picture soon, when I'm near the camera and the socks.

Today will be muffin day. Phoebe and I will make muffins for her to take for the class snack, tomorrow. Phoebe likes to cook.

It's My Birthday

It's my birthday, so I will:
Drink a cup of my favorite tea,
Be taken out to lunch,
Have dinner made for me,
Receive gifts and cards.

I'm so pleased to have all of this today.

I can't sleep any longer. First, Eleanor got into bed with me and my husband. Then, Phoebe got into bed with us. Then, I got up. I put the girls' blankets back on their beds (they had fallen off), and put the girls back in their own beds. Now they have decided to share a bed. Whatever.

I'm supposed to give a lesson on Noah's Ark tomorrow. I'm bored by the idea. I don't know why. I guess that I don't feel much like teaching, right now. I'm pretty sure I'll have between eight and twelve kids, plus an assistant. It will be a time when I definitely have to have a plan. I don't want to make a Noah plan though. I hope that expressing my feelings will free me to think of a plan.

I got to see Mom's new knitting project yesterday, a brown tweed sweater. It has a great texture. On 10-1/2 needles it's very easily identified as a knit. Phoebe finished her new project, a loomed potholder. Eleanor made one too. I thought Eleanor or Phoebe would knit yesterday, but they didn't. I worked on the swatch for Brad's socks. I corrected a measuring error. When I measured my swatch across my knee, it was half an inch too short. Measured on the flat, the swatch was the right length. No more measuring on knees. Now I have cast off for the first sock. I feel at a disadvantage because this will be the first sock made according to Bordhi's two circular needle method. I just need some time to adjust to it.

I feel good

Here is a picture of a three-year project: a scarf, a hat and a pair of mittens for my friend, Katharine. By making one part of the set each year, I was able to give each part as a separate gift. I call it "gift stretching." The mittens don't match the hat and scarf because they were made with different yarn. I had run out of the Lion Brand Homespun by then, so K. and I used this as an excuse to buy something really special for the mittens: purple alpaca with silver threads running through it.

Yesterday, the girls didn't go to school because of a snow day. We only had about an inch and half of snow, but it was enough for an itty-bitty snowman, several snow angels in the driveway, and some time with the snow shovel. Note to self: buy a new snow shovel.

I had meant to embark on a new plan of personal organization with the new year, starting when the girls returned to school. The world did not cooperate. P. got sick, E. got sick, there were appointments and houseguests, and now, snow days. But, happiness: when I tried to start the housekeeping part of my scheme, yesterday, when the girls were home, they helped me. E. swept. P. dusted. E. earned five dollars by washing twenty windows. The girls also helped me shovel the driveway. I emerged from this experience feeling really in love with my family.

I will only mention in passing the movie that the girls watched and the play that P. put on, with the help of E. I do need help around the house, and often, there is no help. Yesterday made me feel like I wasn't so alone. Brad will come home tonight. Yea!

I'm reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's *Yarn Harlot* these days. I gave Pearl-McPhee book to my mother for Christmas, and, when she was done reading it, she lent a different book by the same author to me. She says they contain much of the same material. I can't tell, possibly because I've only read one of the books. I say "possibly," because I can't remember if I've read the other one or not. *Yarn Harlot* is a fun series of essays about knitting foibles. One is about leading a beginning knitter astray by beginning a mammoth project with him, then wishing she hadn't. I like this book. It's probably most appropriate for somebody who has knit for awhile.

Saturday, at last

I took E. for her annual check-up with the cardiologist yesterday. E. spent a few days worrying over having to wear a Holter monitor. I don't like it went she continually worries about something, because I think the worrying makes it worse. I knew though, that if I commented on it too much, that would just add to the worrying. In the end, she allowed the monitor to be attached, and has slept just enough tonight to be able to wake up in the morning refreshed, I hope. After 11am, she'll be happy again.

I hope to have the girls write a couple of thank-you notes today. We had to follow an unexpected path this week because P. was sick for a few days. The thank-you notes are now officially late, but that's just how it has to be, this time.

I was just wondering how we would take our exercise today. It's been so cold that I'm reluctant to go out. Now I see that snow is expected in the morning. I can't wait. I love snow.

The latest sculpture fad at our house is the happy machine. E. made two happy machines yesterday and showed P. how make one this morning, as well as making a third machine, herself. The happy machine exists to make somebody happy. The first machine, Happy Machine 1, contains a Happy Zoo, a Happy Wheel, and a Happy Flower (accessible only if you lift the ramp for the Happy Wheel). The machine is contained in a shoe box. The thing I liked about Happy Machine 1 was that it was like a miniature world, and even the inanimate wheel seemed imbued with some cheerful emotion. I asked E. what to do if a person didn't want to be happy. She said that was okay.

I feel a song coming on ...

In "The Sound of Music," Julie Andrews started at the very beginning. I'm starting here, right now. I can't jump in a time machine and return to the moment of my birth so I can live the perfect life. I will live my life now.

My great aunt turned 100 last year. Do I have what it takes to live to be 100 years old? Nobody knows. Optimism must be a part of it.

Perfection gives me something to reach for. Optimism helps me reach out.

Feel lucky. Look around, see the good things in your life. Don't ignore the bad things, but let your perspective also include the good things.