Do You Know Your Ice Creams?

I was flipping through the new issue of Mother Earth News and found a wonderful article on Ice Cream and I realized I didn't really know the differences between types of "ice cream".  Luckily Tabitha Alterman has set me straight.

Ice Cream is made with mostly cream.

Ice Milk is made with mostly milk.

Frozen Custard is essentially a frozen pudding made with eggs. (It's my fave!)

Gelato is made with whole milk instead of cream and is slow churned so less air is whipped in.

Semifreddo (I had never heard of this one) is ice cream or gelato combined with whipped cream or meringue. It has a marshmallow like texture and is usually served in slices rather than scoops.  It is an Italian dessert and the name means half (semi) cold (freddo).

Sherbet- milk or cream mixed with sorbet

Sorbet/Sorbetto is made with fresh fruit and water. Sorbetto has less water.  They are whipped to be lighter.

Ice- frozen fruit puree (or vege puree)

Granita- Sorbet with larger ice crystals and not stirred but scraped with a fork

For recipes and ingredient ideas check out the Real Food (Eat In Season) section of August/September's Mother Earth News.

And now we wait....

 

We had a busy day, yesterday.  My oldest had tryouts for the Grand Rapids Homeschool Performing Art's Production of Peter Pan. She said she did well.  Not perfect- I guess the dance portion could have gone better- but she is content with her audition.  Now we wait for the e-mail that tells her if she got the part or not.  She could know as soon as today or as late as the end of the month.  Many thanks to family and Mr. Herrick Kimball of the Deliberate Agrarian for their financial donations to make this happen for her and to the Weber family for hiring her for childcare.

 

She isn't after any specific part. In fact she'd prefer a smaller one since this would be her first production but I know she hopes to get A part.  Even just part of the pirate chorus.  I told her I know she tried her best and now all we can do is ask the Lord to guide decisions.

I also am playing the waiting game. I applied (via essay) for a scholarship to a local writer's conference this fall. Deadline for entries is 8/15/13 and then I might not hear till the end of the month also.  Don't you just love waiting?

Homeschool Season Is Fast Approaching!

 

 

It's almost that time of year again.  Back to home-school!  I've got schedules made. (Notice mine- up above- starts at 3:00am in the morning. Yuck! But that is what time Farmer John has to get up for his new shift so, why not.  I hope to accomplish much in the wee hours while children slumber.) I also have subjects and curriculums picked out.  Now I need to individualize assignments and purchase the remaining things we need.

This is my first year schooling all five.  Last year I did start pre-school with my littlest but it was quite lax.  This year I'm starting her in Kindergarten so we'll see how she does. If she was in public school she wouldn't start until next year since she turns 5 after labor day.  I figure if she needs a couple of years of Kindergarten we're okay.

So here is the break down:

Seven (Junior in Highschool)

Algebra - Alpha Omega Life Pac
History/Geography- Great Courses Daily life in the Ancient World
Spanish - Instant Immersion
Biology-  Apologia
Personal Bible Study- her choice
Personal Reading- her choice
PE/Nutrition- Work out videos/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
Theater- Homeschool Performing Arts group
ACT Preparation/Study Manual
plus she has her general chores and homemaking/entrepreneurial skills to work on
(I'll assign writing/language arts based on her history course study)

Andi (Sophmore in Highschool)

Algebra- Alpha Omega Life Pac
History/Geography- Far Above Rubies
Spanish- Instant Immersion
Science- Far Above Rubies
Bible- Far Above Rubies
Personal Reading- her choice
Reading- Far Above Rubies
PE/Nutrition- Work out videos/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
Practical Arts- Far Above Rubies
Decorative/Perfoming Arts- Far Above Rubies
Health- Far Above Rubies
Writing- Far Above Rubies
plus she has her general chores and homemaking/entrepreneurial skills to work on and she will be teaching cursive penmanship to her little sister to refresh hers

Remington (Jr. High)

Math- Spectrum
Guitar- Private Lessons
Typing- Typing Instructor Platinum
Bible- Blessed Is The Man
History/Geography- Blessed Is The Man
Reading- Blessed Is The Man
Writing- Blessed Is The Man
Science- Blessed Is The Man
Health- Blessed Is The Man
Personal Reading- his choice
PE/Nutrition- Work out videos/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
plus he has his general chores and entrepreneurial skills to work on

Reagan (4th Grade)

Math- Spectrum
Reading- Mom's choice, her choice, sister's choice
Cursive- Handwriting Without Tears
Grammar- Up With Language
Spelling- All about Spelling
Science- Apologia
History- Various sources following topics listed in what your 4th Grader Needs To Know
Bible- Character Building For Families
Art- What your 4th Grader Needs To Know
PE/Nutrition- Work out video/Nutrition 101 Choose Life
plus she has general chores and homemaking skills

Taylor (Kindergarten)

Math- Alpha Omega Horizons
Reading- Alpha Omega Horizons
Writing- Alpha Omega Horizons
Bible- Character Building For Families
Art- What Your Kindergartener Needs To Know
PE/Nutrition- Work out video/Nutrition 101
plus she has general chores and homemaking skills

Whew!  There done!  It's not as heavy as it looks really except for my oldest who has decided to go to college at this point.  I really only work with the younger two as the olders teach themselves! I very much love homeschooling and am glad God led us in that direction.

What do you all use/do?  How do you fit it all in? Do you schedule or fly free?

God's Plan For Us

 

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

 

Ephesians 5:22-24

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time...

Then

When we planted our tomatoes this spring we put them fairly close together.  My thought process was that this might crowd out the weeds and we'd have less weeding.  Well, we certainly don't have a lot of weeds in the tomato patch  and we have tons of tomatoes on the vine waiting to get ripe.  The problem?  They've grown into an impassable tomato forest.  Short of sending in the four year-old with one of those little flags you put on the back of bikes, I don't know how we are going to harvest our crop.  We can't get to it. I'm also paranoid of tomato horn worms which could travel (actually slink) from plant to plant very easily in our vege jungle. Next year I guess I will fight weeds and space out my plants properly.  Sigh. I hate weeds.

Now

Friday Read & Write

Recently I invested in the most wonderful book on writing.  If you are even thinking of entering the Middle Grade (MG) or Young Adult (YA) market then this is a must read.  I feel like I've gotten a full college course for the $20 price tag.  Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole is the real deal.  The subtitle is The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers and I would say this is not an exaggerated claim.

Ms. Cole is not only an author with a MFA in Creative Writing, but she is also a literary agent at Movable Type Management (MovableTM.com). This positions her to not only teach you how to write but what to write if you're looking for the best chance of publication.  I'm only half-way through the book and I've learned so much.

She gives you a market overview, a MG/YA mindset, story building ideas, storytelling foundations, character development, plot development, advanced kidlit info and career advice.  There are writing exercises throughout the book to give you an opportunity to put what you're learning into action. It is published by Writer's Digest Books which I have found to put out superior products.

Another equally valuable book by Writer's Digest Books is Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, by Christina Katz.  I originally checked this book out of the library and knew I had to purchase it because it is just that good.  She leads you through; finding the easiest routes to publication, networking, writing cover letters and queries, choosing your writing speciality, creating web presence, setting up office, and making time for everything.  It is all from the viewpoint of a mom for moms.  This book too has lots of practical exercises for you to work on.  It retails for $15.

I've read a lot of books about the craft of writing but these two are tops!

UPDATE: Just found out that as of 7/31/13 Mary Kole has left Moveable Type Management and is no longer a literary agent.  She is however opening her own freelance editing biz and is still blogging at kidlit.com.  You can read about these changes HERE.

Does This Qualify As "Red Neck"?

You see this bucket sitting neatly under the tree?

Yeah... this one...

My husband saw road kill on the side of the road last night on his way home from work...

yep...

He stopped and scooped it up and brought it home.  At least he had the decency to inform me before I wondered why a bucket was sitting under the tree and opened it!

Actually, Farmer John has a good reason for bringing road kill home as disgusting as it sounds.  He will put it in our "protein out of thin air" chicken feeding program.  NO... the chickens don't eat the road kill.  You can read about the process here.

I recently read a book by the CEO of Duck Commander, Willie Robertson.  He said when he was little and his dad ran a crawfish fishing biz that they would always scoop up road kill to use as bait.  They had an entire freezer full of it.  Ewwwww!!!!!! I'm gonna have to put my foot down if Farmer John wants to do that. I think one bucket is my limit. But I guess we are in good company  Maybe we should start a biz called Chicken Commander and we could have a reality tv show called Chicken Dynasty? Whadda ya'll think? Red neck enough for you?