The leaves that are green turn to brown

(A disclaimer--I copped this picture from the Internet b/c I wasn't sure I could actually catch leaves mid-fall using my camera.)

Every year, about this time, I sit in my recliner and watch the leaves fall to the ground, sometimes one by one, sometimes as a large group. And I always have the following thought: Each leaf will only fall once. For some reason, this surprises me every year. There seem to be so many coming down, but each one only makes one trip. Then I think about rain and snow and compare them, because I never think about the finitude of rain and snow (except when I'm comparing them to leaves). And really, each drop of rain and flake of snow only drops once, too, which then reminds me of how I also can't believe that each snowflake is unique.

I have always been fascinated by finitude, even from a very young age. In third grade, they showed us a filmstrip about how fossil fuels will run out someday. The urge to protect and preserve, for me, extends from fossil fuels, to teeth (I did finally throw away my baby teeth but I take meticulous care of the teeth in my mouth)!, to my hearing (I'm the one with flourescent orange earplugs at church), to clothes (I still wear a few things I bought in eighth grade), to food (I love batch cooking for freezing), to books. Recently I have started reminding myself that there will always be new books, magazines, recipes, etc., so I don't need to make sure I store enough now for the rest of my life!

There's got to be a balance between on the one hand, the grasshopper who scorns storing up for the winter, and on the other hand the rich man who builds bigger barns to store up for himself, only to be struck by God. What a challenge this is when I look around the house and think, "I need more bookcases, or organizers, or shelves for all this stuff..."

Lemon Proscuitto Pasta

I realized I've been posting mostly homey recipes, which are great, but I do make quite a few fancy recipes as well and thought I would share one today. I love the combination of flavors in this pasta dish. I think it could use a little fine-tuning in the amount and type of pasta and maybe the other ingredients, and serving size is subject to your taste, but overall it's a definite repeater. If you haven't ever used proscuitto, this is a great place to start. Have your butcher slice it really thin, then just slice it into strips. It tastes like fancy ham. So here's the recipe.

Lemon Prosciutto Pasta
from Midwest Living (they called it Tagliatelle ala Hudson)
4 servings
20 min

Lemon peel
2 T butter
12 oz fresh/dried noodles
1 cup whipping cream
¼ lb. thinly sliced prosciutto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese—about 1 cup

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Soften the butter for 30 sec in the microwave in a small bowl.
3. Finely shred the lemon peel to get at least 1 T; combine it with the butter.
4. Cut the prosciutto into small strips.
5. Warm a large serving bowl with warm water.
6. Warm the whipping cream.
7. Boil the pasta at a rolling boil according to package directions.
8. You will probably have time to make a salad and set the table.
9. Drain pasta well when done; transfer to serving bowl.
10. Add lemon butter and cream; toss gently to coat. Add prosciutto.
11. Serve pasta sprinkled with about ¼ c freshly grated Parmesan per serving.


This is easy, tasty, and impressive. I think the cream would stick to the noodles better with fresh pasta. If you like meat, you may want to increase the amount of prosciutto.

A Funny One for all You Moms (and everyone who has a mom!)

Periodically Mark the Metropuritan (http://metropuritan.blogspot.com/) posts links to funny youtube videos and such. I can't remember if he posted this one or if someone just told Alex about it, but it's so hilarious I've been laughing about it for weeks. In this video, Anita Renfroe (a Christian comedien) takes everything a mom says in 24 hours, condenses it into less than 3 minutes, and sings it--to the William Tell overture. It's masterful. The link I've provided

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6P2w5GkXmU is the link to a version that has the lyrics printed as captions at the bottom of the screen, so you can catch every word. If that bugs you, there are many other versions available on youtube without the captions and they'll show up on the right side of your screen.



We watched a few of her other videos (just search Anita Renfroe--there's a Dad version of the song now too); they were pretty funny, too. Enjoy!

Salting the earth

(This post is an extension of the previous post.)

I should have known--if I have a question about most anything (especially historical, theological, and often scientific), I should ask my dad. I mentioned the salting the dirt thing to him, and he said, "Oh sure! That's what Rome did to Carthage in the Punic Wars!" Obviously. So, with that new information and detail, I was able to find the relevant wikipedia entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salting_the_earth

It is interesting, though, that historians are unsure whether this particular incident really happened or not.

Also, my master gardener mother notes that if you put enough salt on your ground to kill weeds, you won't be able to grow anything else for a very long time, either. Dad noted that there must be some way to desalinate dirt because the Netherlands does it when they reclaim land from the sea, but we think this process may be beyond the reach of the average home gardener.

Random trivia--salt and snot

Lately I have been learning that there are many things I don't know yet. It's been surprising to learn things that everyone else thinks I know. One example is that salt, if poured in copious quantities on the ground, will kill weeds, their roots, and any other other plants. Apparently the Romans did this to the nations they conquered in order to render their fields unusable. My entire women's craft group was aware of this, as was my husband (no surprise there, really), but I had never heard of it. BTW, I haven't been able to externally verify this either.

Another quick fact--if your nose runs when you eat spicy food (mine does!), you experience gustatory rhinitis. Don't you love words?

Family Read-Alouds

A few favorite read-alouds for the whole family:

Ramona Quimby series and Ralph S. Mouse series by Beverly Cleary
Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pippi Longstocking and 2 sequels by Astrid Lindgren
Holes by Louis Sachar (for older kids)
Clementine and two sequels by Sara Pennypacker (shorter than most of these)
The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Please share your favorites!

If you're looking for more, I highly recommend _The Read-Aloud Handbook_ by Jim Trelease. There have been 6 or so editions; any one would be fine. He gives age recommendations, short descriptions of each book, and research on why reading aloud is so important. Your local library should have a copy. I'll also continue to post favorites as I think of them.

overheard at the library

I thought I'd occasionally share with you things I hear while working in the children's section in our public library.

Yesterday ...

"But Mom, it got all wet!"
"I know, but dear, we do not take our shirts off when we're in the library."

Trip to Benton Arboretum

My sister Kristin (yes, we both have sisters by that name) visited Ames from BC this summer. One fine summer's day, she, my mom, and I packed up the car and drove down to Adel. We spent a ton of time in a great little shop called The Atherton House. It was kind of a cross between The Octagon and Worldly Goods--basically they had art pieces for your home or gifts from all around the world. It's very well organized and the shopowners can tell you stories about all the artists and artisans who created the pieces. I definitely plan to go back for Christmas shopping--every piece is tasteful, interesting, and reasonably priced. Not cheap, but reasonable. Highly recommended.

We had lunch at Cafe in the Park, which required us to walk through the cemetary department and was housed in an old Parks and Rec building. The food was a cross between an Iowa church potluck (jello salad on the salad bar) and a women's club--we had croissants, quiche, and strawberry soup.

We also went to a great quilting shop (http://www.adelquilting.com/; cute little blog here http://www.adelquilting.blogspot.com/).

On the way home, we visited the Benton Arboretum and saw the sights above. Mom especially loved the Grant Wood-esque rolling hills. The statue is of St. Francis. And Kristin is examining what makes the tree so silver--its name plate was in Latin, so we don't know what it is. We hope to go back in the fall--I think it would be beautiful. There are driving and walking trails. (We decided to save Picket Fence Creamery and Prairieland Herbs for another day.) If you decide to go to the Arboretum, get a detailed map. Ours was not so detailed, but the lady in the post office was very helpful. We love small town Iowa!