Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Beatrice Goes to Camp


Today was Beatrice's first day of summer camp - a day camp at the Stough Canyon Nature Center in Wildwood Canyon in the Verdugo Mountains.  The Burbank Parks and Recreation Department runs week-long themed camps all summer - this one is called T. Rex Trackers.


Beatrice loved her day at camp, hiking and doing crafts, though for the rest of the day all she wanted to talk aboutat lengthwas how she got to pet a turtle.

"Did you learn what dinosaurs eat?" I asked.

"I petted a turtle!"

And so on.


But just when I was thinking she hadn't taken much away from her day, she launched into a long, long story about "duck-billed dinosaurs," explaining that they are "unpleasant*" and how she would violently evict one if it were to come into our house.

"What the hell, duck-billed dinosaur?!" she said at one point, "Stay out from my work project**! Stay away or I will kick you down! Stop it duck-billed dinosaur, get it lost!"

So in conclusion, today she pet a turtle and learned to fear duck-billed dinosaurs.

Beatrice standing next to a chalked dinosaur footprint, part of a dino trail they followed today.

*Beatrice loves to play the game Pleasant or Unpleasant? where one person imagines a scenario and the other says whether they'd find it pleasant or unpleasant.  Another variant is Possible or Impossible?

**Her "work project" was a workbook page she was doing at the time.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Beatrice Day


Beatrice rarely gets time alone with me or with Dev, so on Saturday I took Beatrice with me to the Americana shopping mall where I had to do an errand.  That quick errand turned into an entire afternoon as we went to the farmer's market, had lunch on the lawn, played on the playground and in the bookstore, looked through the shops, had lemonade at Jewel City Diner, watched the fountain water show, and rode the trolley. 

I remember I used to hang out with Beatrice at the Americana all the time when she looked like this:

Beatrice at the Americana, 7 months old

And here she is there again now:

With just the two of us - and no stroller! - going shopping was a real pleasure.  It was a glimpse into how it feels to spend time with a "big girl" instead of a toddler.


After we'd exhausted all there was to do at the Americana we went back home and Beatrice helped me make chicken soup and biscuits for dinner, as well as strawberry ice cream for dessert.  I love cooking with Beatrice and I must say, I am so proud of how much she knows already! How many three-year-olds can tell "macerate" from "marinate," distinguish chopping from mincing, or recite all the ingredients in ice cream? (And on Saturday she learned what an ice bath is, too.) 



Beatrice stirring the cream in the ice bath

Beatrice is very interested in cookbooks lately - she loves to look at the food illustrations and have me read the recipes aloud to her - and on Wednesday we saw an outdoor screening of the movie "Ratatouille" which only made her more interested in cooking.


Beatrice practicing her knife skills

At the end of a long day of shopping, cooking, and eating, I realized that Beatrice had gone the entire day without crying, whining, or getting in trouble, making it a rare and special day indeed.  I added July 28 to the calendar for Beatrice Day next year.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Grand Park


Today we took the kids to the brand-new Grand Park which just opened yesterday downtown.  This park is right across from the Dorothy Chandler Music Center, where the L.A. Opera performs, and near the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the MOCA, and the new Broad Museum currently under construction.


The multi-level park has food pavillions, a stage, a guided garden walk, and yes, a Starbucks, but the highlight is definitely the fountain and splash pad.





There has been so much revitalization of the downtown L.A. area since I was a kid, it's wonderful for me to see all the new restaurants, bars, shops, concerts and film series, not to mention all the new housing.  Now if only they would re-open the old downtown Children's Museum I used to love when I was Beatrice's age ...

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Cooking from the Garden


My first experiment with pickling! I made these pickled beets from beets we grew in our garden and I have to say, they turned out wonderfully! Even Dev, who doesn't usually like beets, liked these.  We've already eaten the entire first crop of beets but I'm starting a second round so we'll have more opportunities to experiment with pickling recipes in the fall. 

(This is the pickle recipe I used, and we also used some of the pickled beets to make the Pickled Beet and Arugula Salad mentioned on the same page.  Both are from The Art of Preserving, a cookbook I've been wanting to buy.)

I also turned six pounds of our tomatoes into pasta sauce using a combination of this recipe and this one.  Specifically,

Ingredients
Olive oil
6 pounds fresh tomatoes
3 heads garlic, peeled and minced
12 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup vermouth
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the baking dish with baking spray, or rub lightly with olive oil. (I used olive oil spray.)

Chop the tomatoes roughly but evenly. Spread them on the baking sheet. Top with minced garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter evenly over the tomatoes.

Bake the tomatoes for 2 to 3 hours. (I baked mine about 2.5 hours but probably could have gone longer.)

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and process them through a food mill to remove seeds and skins. If you don't have a food mill, try pressing the tomatoes through a mesh sieve using a rubber spatula.  (I used the sieve technique and it worked very easily.)

Pour tomato pulp into a large saucepan and add vermouth, then add water to reach desired consistency.  Bring this to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for an hour.

The sauce turned out great but didn't make nearly as much as I'd envisioned it would - I had planned to freeze what was left over but it really only made enough for one meal.  I had been inspired by Mina canning 40 pounds (!) of tomatoes but unfortunately even though I can generate forty pounds of tomatoes over the course of the summer, I can't do so all at once, so 5-6 pound batches are about my limit.

I started out the summer with the laughable fear that I would have so many vegetables that I'd have to pickle them, can them, or give them away just to keep up, but the reality is a bit different. Some things, like tomatoes, are pretty abundant, and for other things, like zucchini, we were lucky to get a single serving's worth of produce. The garden is so much fun, but I don't think it will replace the grocery store any time soon.  Still, it's a great hobby and it's certainly been very educational for Beatrice to follow a tomato all the way from seed to spaghetti sauce.


Tomatoes, peppers, and okra from the garden (it's not as much as it looks)

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Beatrice's Imagination

Beatrice says so many wild things every day I almost feel silly trying to capture them here on the blog anymore.  Lately she's told Dev and me that the clouds are pink at sunset because the sun is driving his pink car to Target to go get green meat for his dogs, that there are groups of mice that disguise themselves as chandeliers in order to steal food from babies, that fairies leave dew on the lawn in the morning to give wine to worms, and that some owls she saw at the Dallas Aquarium were sad because they missed their mother who had gone off to work at a balloon factory.  She also told Dev this morning to "please speak quietly" and "go play someplace else" because she had to make a "business phone call."  She then proceeded to call In n' Out on her play phone and pitch to them her new invention, green french fries with "color-changing hair."

Beatrice is pretending to breastfeed the doll under her shirt.

What's more, Beatrice is not Beatrice anymore but "Olivia" (or occasionally, "Penny," "Llama," or "The Pigeon") - she absolutely insists on everyone calling her Olivia after the little piglet character from the books and TV show.  And whenever she changes her own name she changes all of ours, too, so Arthur becomes Olivia's little brother William (or occasionally Ian, as Olivia has two brothers); Dev is simply "Olivia's Dad;" I am Mathilda, Olivia's stuffed toy companion; and even Shackleton and Cromwell are renamed as Perry (Olivia's dog) and Edwin (Olivia's cat).  Other people in Beatrice's life play supporting parts, from Mrs. Hoggenmueller to Uncle Garrett.  In fact, whenever Beatrice shows up at school in the morning now her teacher Mr. Ricardo asks her, "Who are you today?"

Beatrice also has an imaginary friend, an imaginary older sister, and an imaginary infant.  The infant is named Baby Franny and Beatrice is constantly telling us to keep the noise down while Baby Franny is sleeping.  Baby Franny is often sick and requires near daily visits to the pediatrician.

You may remember Arthur was an owl for Halloween last year. Ask Beatrice now and she will tell you that she vividly remembers when Arthur put on his owl costume and then flew up in the sky, and she will tell you all about how he flew above us and we all clapped and waved and how all her school friends came to see Arthur flying around, and how he hooted like an owl, and on and on. 

Most of these far-out stories are just for fun, but Beatrice also uses imaginary games to work through real-life issues that are bothering her.  Somewhat heartbreakingly, she projects her own worries and fears onto stuffed animals, dolls, and storybook characters.  Just today, for example, she said about the stuffed duck she was cradling, "William the duck is very brave, he isn't scared of swimming in a pool.  But he is a little sad because he misses his mimi [pacifier].  He gave it away to the hospital babies but now he misses it and wants it back.  Maybe it would feel him better if we went to Target and got him some new mimis for his birthday.  He can't have his old mimis, they are at the hospital now, but he might like a new one for his birthday...." and so on.

Of course, not all of Beatrice's imaginings are as sweet and mild as pink sunset cars and solicitous dew fairies.  For someone who has never seen a violent cartoon or read a violent story or even picked up a water gun, she imagines some very weird, dark things.  Just today she said about an imaginary friend, "I love him so much, I am going to eat him up, and tear him apart with my sharp teeth."

Another time, she used stickers to cover the faces of the characters in one of her picture books.  I asked her, "Why did you put stickers on all their faces?"

"I buried their eyes," she said.

Even more disturbing was a conversation we had shortly after Beatrice transferred into the next grade in preschool, a transition that was extremely difficult for her:

Summer: So do you like your new friends in the Green Room?
Beatrice: They are nice, but they don't blink.
Summer: They don't blink?
Beatrice: Their eyes are just glued on their faces.

Definite horror movie material there.  But as creepy as these things are, I've always believed that children are naturally drawn to dark and violent images that mythologize the many anxieties and fears of early childhood, and that drama and imaginative play are great ways to transmute these fears and anxieties into manageable forms.  Or maybe I'm just telling myself that so I don't worry that Beatrice is a dangerous lunatic.

Arthur Speaks

Arthur is a very communicative baby.  Since he was a few months old, he has loved to make and repeat sounds, but now that he is almost 14 months, he's a non-stop babbling machine.  He "talks" constantly, and what's more, he accompanies his babbling with dramatic hand gestures.  Sometimes he'll even grab your face or clothing to force you to listen to whatever he's talking about.




Unfortunately, he's also recently taken to shouting to get people's attention, but at least when he's done shouting he'll "shush" himself again.  (Apologies that this video isn't rotated, I'm sorting out some technical difficulties with my video editing software.)


In addition to all the shouting, babbling, and gesticulating, he has learned quite a few new real words, including "ball," "boat," "cake," and the phrase "what's that, Mama?" which he employs (with pointing) whenever he sees something that interests him.  Of course, he still calls all animals "doggie" and pretty much all food "nana," so he's still got some work ahead of him.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Summer Vacation: Arizona





Our last two days on the road, we made a few fabulous detours in Arizona.  In particular, I wanted to spend one night in Holbrook, Arizona, sleeping at the enchanting Wigwam Hotel - and I got my wish! (Surprisingly, they had same-day reservations available.)





After a restful night in our own private wigwam*, we were up early to explore Petrified Forest National Park before it got too hot. 


 Beatrice named him Bernie the Lizard

 Can you spot Beatrice in this picture?



 





 Native American petroglyphs


Then in Williams, Arizona, we went to a wildlife park where we saw bears, bison, wolves, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, beavers, owls, hawks, and other North American animals (including two bears fighting over an orange within a few yards of us).

 

Pile of sleeping beavers

This bear lost the orange.

 
This bear won the orange. 








We also stopped and photographed a ghost town, and Dev got a beer with the locals at the Honolulu Club bar in Yucca, Arizona (where it was 112 F).













Then, back on the road to Los Angeles and home!

"Los Angeles 488 Miles"


*Holbrook, Arizona, is in Navajo County.  The Navajo never slept in wigwams, nor do the structures at the Wigwam Hotel resemble wigwams.  They are large concrete tipis.
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