I’ve been substituting olive oil for other types of oil (and even butter) in my baking and may I just say that it is an earth-shatteringly delicious discovery. Thus far, I’ve tried the olive oil substitution in chocolate cake, blueberry muffins, banana bread, and these pumpkin muffins I made for my brother’s birthday. A pumpkin muffin with a dollop of excellent organic vanilla ice-cream will make any birthday celebrant happy. Here’s the recipe, with my ingredient notes included: PUMPKIN BREAD (one loaf or 12 cupcakes/muffins) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl first. Mix wet ingredients in bigger bowl and then add small bowl of dry…
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Laugh About Math
This is a picture of me in sixth grade. I’d been sitting at the kitchen table puzzling over the pre-algebra problems in my textbook, which was very good at asking ridiculous (but supposedly relevant) questions, but wasn’t ever able to answer my question “WHY?” WHY is a negative times a negative a positive? WHY is multiplying by a fraction’s reciprocal the same as dividing? WHY does cross-multiplying work? After half an hour of reading the same problem over and over all I could do was cry. My dad came to help me answer the questions and looking at the word problem, said, “Is Fred crazy? What’s he thinking cutting a…
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Are we anxious? Or is there a better word?
Natalie was reading a section of my novel in-progress when she asked about the “hand towel” one of the characters had placed in the bathroom for her guests. “Might it be an embroidered linen hand towel?” asked Natalie. “That is so much better!” I exclaimed appreciatively. Finding vivid words to describe feelings, not just objects, can actually be helpful when going through emotional times. In fact, finding accurate words to describe one’s state of mind can be critical to solving acute states of unease. For example, can the over-generalized word “anxiety” to describe almost all sensations of uneasiness be ultimately unhelpful and unhealthy for us? I am reading (for a…
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Dear Teachers,
Note from Pamela: I recently found these messages Natalie wrote to her teachers at the end of sixth grade, when she was leaving the elementary school where she had been a student since kindergarten. She composed the notes in her computer and then she selected cards to handwrite her message to each teacher. I’m so glad we can go back and read them, as each note conjures up a memory of a specific and lovely learning moment. They also remind me that kindness, reassurance and confidence-building are just as important as science, math, and reading. Do you have a memory of a special teacher and the special something you learned…
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The Non-Toxic Couch
A recent New York Times article evaluated the pluses and minuses of buying the high quality vs. okay-quality couch. The article focused on user’s lifestyle, design, construction, and price. A high quality couch will last decades or longer and will cost a pretty penny; it might even turn into an heirloom. An okay-quality couch can look great, but it is not usually purchased because of its solid construction or heirloom potential. It gets purchased because it fits into a budget, isn’t desired for long-term use (think small children or pets), or for use in a rented apartment. The article doesn’t mention one huge reason for hanging on to an old “heirloom…
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Ask Questions!
“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Albert Einstein The risk one runs when being a “question-asker” is that you might realize that the answers you thought were true, aren’t. In other words, “knowing” the answer makes people disinclined to question their answers. The world is then divided into right and wrong answers. New solutions are less likely found, because believing one is right prevents one from seeing something newly…
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Choosing Our Worries
In our house we remind ourselves and each other to — “Choose Your Worries” We ask ourselves: is whatever it is we’re worrying about worth worrying about? And will our worry lead to a solution? We know that it’s natural and normal for all of us to worry from time to time, but worries can too easily take over and smother clear thinking. What good is that? It’s best and much more enjoyable to figure out how to deal with the feelings that lead to worry, so that we can get on with living. One of my favorite passages about worry is from Alice Steinbach’s travel memoir Without Reservations. She…
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Starting the Day with a Bell
At the beginning of our two-year home school adventure, Natalie and I initiated a ritual of ringing a pleasant-sounding bell to mark the beginning of our day, and chose a hand-held bronze bell from Tibet, used by Buddhists to focus the mind. Later on, we learned the meaning of the two pieces: the bell and the dorje. Representing the masculine and feminine principles in the cosmos and in the individual’s energy body, the dorje is always held in the right hand and the bell in the left. The bell’s gentle ring was a pleasing contrast to the neighborhood middle school campus’ ear-piercing buzzer. When the breeze blew west from…
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Natalie’s Immune System Comic Strip
Understanding your complex immune system in seven simple comic strip panels (inspired by the world of “Harry Potter”)
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Braided Rugs & Lives
The title of The Los Angeles Times article, “Soothe psyche with a good book,” says exactly what I figured out when I was a teenager. One of the coping mechanisms I learned (thankfully) was the vital importance of always having a good book standing by next to my bed. I knew by then that books were as much a tonic as they were entertainment. I knew they had a magical way of helping soothe my fears, loneliness, and anxieties. When I was going through surgery for breast cancer three years ago, the book that got me through it all was My Life in France, Julia Child’s autobiography, which she wrote with…
