Fathers and families and fairies

In case you missed all the signs in the stores, the sappy (or funny) television commercials, the reminders on the radio or Google's doodle of the day, today is Fathers' Day.  There is controversy over who is to get credit for the first Fathers' Day, but we can pretty well agree that it came after the first Mothers' Day.  Woodrow Wilson was the first President of the United States to actually declare it a holiday.  Fathers around the country were honored for one day for all that they do all year long.  Children knelt at the knees of their fathers and basked in his wonderfulness.  And then the retail industry got involved. 

Personally I loathe these Hallmark holidays.  It's like someone had the bright idea that we would give dad a special day wherein we buy him lots of (sometimes useless and often times cheap) things like ties, aftershave, soap-on-a-rope, and rotary saws which will go unused, become dusty or slice a finger off.  (By the way all those things happened to my dad and his gifts when I was a child.)  Fathers don't have to cook, do the lawn, or wash the car on this one Sunday of the year.  They can sit in front of the television and hope there is at least a baseball game on.  Who thought that the middle of summer was a good time for Fathers' Day?  Hockey and basketball are over, Football won't begin any time soon and baseball is just getting started.  There isn't much exciting going on sports-wise.  (No, do not mention golf.  That is the. Worst. Sport to watch on television, much less in person.)  Where I live it is already too hot to go outside and do anything really fun (our heat index today is supposed to be over 105°F).  Which boils down to aside from a card and some "OMG I need to buy dad something" gifts, today is pretty much like any other day.  Except it is Fathers' Day.  Like that is supposed to mean something.

In the Judeo-Christian scriptures it says to "Honor thy mother and father."  It doesn't say to "Honor thy mother and father on one appointed day of the year."  Nope.  It just says honor.  Perhaps if we honored our parents more throughout the year we wouldn't have this need that we need to do something special one day out of the year to make them feel like we care about them.  We wouldn't have to single them out for the work that they are doing all year. 

Now granted many of us have dysfunctional families.  Some of us have not just dysfunctional families but ones that are so broken and hurt that they resemble a jigsaw puzzle where the dog has chewed on a few of the pieces so they will never fit together correctly again. My own family (that being my parents and siblings) are more like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces missing (I'm afraid the dog might spit them out later, but that has yet to be verified.  My baby brother could be hiding them in his pocket so he can be the one to put the last pieces on the board and thus "win" at the family puzzle.)  My created family (that being my spouse and three children (and four cats and one hamster and a tiny elephant named Tippy)) are more like a new box of puzzle pieces.  All the pieces are there and we even have the border built now and most of the fun parts are done, we are just working our way through all the sky.  There are a few pieces that fell on the floor and the cat batted around so they are dusty and one one has a little crease on the corner, but they all fit.  I like how we have worked together.  We are comfortable with each other and like being together. 

One of the things that we have done has been to basically ignore Hallmark holidays.  We don't really celebrate Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day and Valentine's Day.  Why?  Aren't we supposed to honor and love each other all year?  Does it really prove we love someone when we buy them flowers or boxes of chocolates or soaps-on-a-rope just because some industry said we should?  We joke in our family that we have a Valentine Fairy.  She comes on February 15th bearing clearance chocolates.  (She's almost as closely loved as the Easter Fairy who comes bearing clearance candies and 25¢ egg dying kits which is then used to dye fabric and yarn.)  We generally greet each other on those "special days" and give each other a kiss.  However, that is how we begin most of our days.  "Good morning.  I love you." Smooch. Smooch.

And that is how I think it should be.  Honor each other every day.  Honor your mother.  Honor your father.  Honor your lover.  Honor your friends.  Honor your family.  Respect each other.  Be good to each other.  Love each other.  And then we don't need to feel that we should go out and purchase stuff.  Stuff. Stuff. Stuff.  I really don't like stuff.  I want relationships that work and people I love surrounding me.  Not just on the third Sunday in June, but every day.  Now go be good to each other.

Ratatouille!

No, not the Pixar movie.  The food.  What exactly is ratatouille?  Basically it is peasant stew.  Sometimes made in a pot sometimes baked in an oven.  Most people associate ratatouille with eggplant.  Why?  Eggplant is nasty and slimy and putrid.  (Apologies to those of you who like eggplant.)  There is no hard and fast rule that ratatouille must be made with eggplant.  It's not Eggplant Parmesan which, by virtue of its name, would imply that eggplant is a big part of the pot. 

Ratatouille is a French Provencal stew.  And guess what grows really well in Nice?  Yep. Eggplant.  It is Nice's answer to the Pacific Northwest's zucchini. When I lived in Oregon, I used to wake up to find that someone had gifted me random zukes on my back step quite often.  People had so much of it that you had to actually either pay people to take it off your hands or gift it to people, thus making them feel obligated to use it. 

They key ingredient in ratatouille is actually the tomatoes.  Everything else is whatever you have on hand.  It can be eggplant (although I never have random eggplant just hanging around in my refrigerator).  But it can also be onions, garlic, zucchini, summer squash, carrots, bell peppers, celery, and mushrooms.  Go look in your pantry and see what you have available.  It probably can be made into this tasty stew.

There is also a big debate over whether ratatouille should be made from vegetables thinly sliced and layered or whether the vegetables should just be cut into chunks and all jumbled together.  Personally I prefer the thinly sliced variety of ratatouille, but I am not opposed to something that more resembles stew.  In fact I would bet that most housewives in Provencal France had more glop than layers. 

Here is my recipe for ratatouille:

6-7 medium sized squashes (this can be all one variety or a mix of zukes and summer squashes or if you so decide to eggplant)
1 pound of mushrooms, sliced

1 - 28oz can of diced tomatoes. (I prefer the petite diced, but have no prejudice to regular diced)
1 small onion diced
1/2 a head of garlic (I like garlic.  You may decide that this is too much garlic for you.)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
herbs  (whatever you like although basil and thyme are nice as are oregano and rosemary)

Slice your squashes.  I like using my mandolin (which I call my guillotine) for nice even thin slices.

In a medium sautee pan, heat your oil and add your onions and garlic (this would be an ok time to throw in celery as well).  Cook until the onions are tender.  I actually like to caramelize them just a bit, but that's up to you.  The important thing is to cook them so that the onions lose their bite and are sweet.  Add the entire can of tomatoes to the pot.  Do not drain them. Just open the can and dump.  Stir and add in your salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish (I like to use my Pampered Chef baker, but whatever you have will work).  When the tomato mixture is hot, spoon some of it into the bottom of your prepared dish.  Layer your squashes and mushrooms.  You can make them all neat and prettyful or you can just put them in there so that they are all just all flat.  This is peasant stew.  Don't stress about it.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the squashes and mushrooms.  Cover (I prefer using parchment paper, but if you must you may use aluminium foil).  Bake at 350°F for about 25 minutes or until the squashes are tender.

Words for Friday

According to my self-appointed schedule, today is supposed to be about writing.  I like writing (duh).  I've been asked many times why I have a blog, though, that isn't just about writing.  Well, to be perfectly honest, that would be boring.  No, seriously.  Do you know how many blogs there are out there about writing?  I don't know either, but there are many.  Maybe even too many.  I follow or am subscribed to quite a few of them.  I probably get around to reading about ten posts a week.  That's on a good week.  Usually it is more like three.  It isn't that I don't enjoy the blogs.  I mean I followed them initially for some reason.  It really boils down to not having enough time to read all the blogs I follow.  To be even more painfully honest I tend to skim more than I read.  I glance through them to see if there are any interesting words, look at the tags to see if they are of interest to me and sometimes it is as brief as reading the title.  Ouch.  I know.  Sorry. 

The other Big Reason is that I am more than just about writing.  Thus the name of my blog KnitCookWrite.  I'm actually much more than those three things, but those are the three most prevalent things in my life after my children and trust me, you do not want another Mommy Blog talking about snotty noses, dirty diapers, and five hundred ways to upcycle a used paper towel tube into children's art.  (Fortunately my kids are all teenagers - or will be on June 30th, so I wouldn't talk about snotty noses or dirty diapers and we  merrily recycle our paper towel tubes.) 

I've also been asked why I don't have three blogs: one for knitting, one for cooking and one for writing.  Please!  Have you seen how difficult it has been for me to keep up with one blog?  How the heck do you think I am going to remember to update three blogs let alone one?  I would be constantly referring to things from my other blogs in each of the other ones because my life is so much more than just about writing or knitting or cooking or even snotty nosed non-diaper-wearing teenagers waving glitter-encrusted paper towel tubes.  Plus I would have to put on my Big Thinking Hat and come up with three witty blog names and it was not easy coming up with this blog name. (Do not remind me that it is my Twitter and Ravelry name.  It was hard I tell you.  Hard!) 

I was also encouraged by Kristen Lamb's recent blog about why writing blogs are fairly boring and not helpful to writers.  I don't have to worry about being too diverse because my blog is about me and I am diverse.  I can't blog just about writing because that is not who I am.  I feel very justified in my decision because of Kristen's blog. Thank you Kristen! 

You may be saying to yourself, but today is Friday why isn't she talking about writing?  I will.  Maybe not as much today as you might hope.  This week has been an exercise in getting used to a new blog schedule (which is now further compromised by the fact that I just got a job at my local Barnes and Noble Booksellers).  Introducing myself and my readers to what is coming up in the next few months.  And while Friday is Writing Day, I may not blog about writing as an art, but more about what I am writing and my journey to being published. 

However, if you feel that I must say a few words on writing, then here's my Big Idea on Writing: What are you doing reading this blog? Go write something. 

Book Review: Shades of Grey

Shades of Gray by Jasper Fforde Genre: Dystopian (Young Adult Appropriate)

I enjoy dystopian novels.  I believe part of it is because they play into my biggest fears. What would happen if there was a nuclear war?  What if the religious right were to take over the world?  What if our government collapsed?  In Jasper Fforde's novel Shades of Grey, the question is: What happens when people are subjugated to a certain lifestyle because of the colors they can perceive? 

I found this theme quite unnerving.  We already deal with discrimination based on what color a person's skin is, but what about when we further discriminate because of what colors a person can actually see.  The idea that one could only see shades of blue, or green, or yellow, or purple, or, Munsell save us, grey was eerie.  I can't imagine my world being limited to seeing 72% blue.  Not even the full blue spectrum, just 72%.  And what makes someone who can see 29% purple better than my 72% blue? 

I enjoyed following the changes that Edward Russett (even your name is delegated to your color perception) as he begins his journey as a compliant follower of the Great Munsell.  He is poised to marry up-color and is on a pointless task to make up for a practical joke at school.  He follows his father, a healer, to a town on the outer-edges of their world where he starts to see things differently out here further away from the big city.  And lo and behold he has to go and fall in love with a Grey!  Oh the shame!  But Jane Gray (love the name) doesn't just steal his heart.  She infects his mind with new thoughts and challenges his way of thinking.  Soon young Edward finds that life isn't so black and white.

Tinted with fabulous double entendre using color words to not only describe people, but also to help the reader see what life would be like with a limited color spectrum, Shades of Gray is a fabulous read, even for people who don't normally pick up dystopian books.  About the only thing that I can say that bugged me about this book's writing was the use of "artificial color."  I am still having a hard time understanding how if someone has a limited color spectrum how they can see "artificial colors" but not real colors.  But then my world is surrounded by color and my eyes function as they should (provided I am wearing my glasses!)

What I'm currently reading:  Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Knitting in my office

My office is my writing space.  This is where I come to pen words.  I have a variety of dictionaries (my favorite being the Merriam-Webster's Compact Visual Dictionary - is very useful for answering the question, "What is that thingy called on a bell that makes it ring?").  I have books and magazines on the art of writing.  I have character development workbooks and books of quotations.  I have sticky notes for plot development.  My calendar is even one of women reading. 

Intertwined, though, in all these words are parts of my other life.  My knitting side.  For instance in the cup of pens, markers, pencils, and other office supplies are a pair of knitting needles and a crochet hook.  There is a ball of yarn on the desk as well.  I have a painting that my son made for me of sheep grazing on a field and I own a Sheep Incognito print (Silence of the Lambs) which hangs on my wall.  And then there is my Intwined Pattern Studios software on my computer.  It is the best knitting design software I have found on the market and Heatherly is one of my friends, so I love supporting her creation.  It is a great break sometimes from when I am at a loss for words.  I pick up my needles and will go cast on and try a new stitch or new cast on technique that I read about.  The other thing that I find myself doing in my office is watching movies on my laptop while I knit. 

Sometimes I think that I should limit my office to only writing, but this area has always been a space of art long before I decided to seriously put my stories into print.  When we first moved into this house I was deep into rubber stamping and so the remains of that craft are all over the shelves in this room.  I rarely use them anymore and keep thinking I'm going to drastically pare down the rubber stamp, inks, paper (oh the paper), and the plethora of embellishments and turn this little nook into a "real office and fiber arts design studio."  It's just hard to let go of stamps that I fell in love with.  I have Very Much money invested in all those wood mounted rubber stamps. 

I have this vision of having my stamps confined to a small area while the rest of the office is dedicated to books and knitting.  I'll have baskets of yarn on the shelves instead of paper cutters.  There will be all my needles, neatly organized instead of a jumble of colored markers.  I will replace the tool-turn-around full of spritzers and bone folders with knitting implements.  And the back wall will house even more books.  I should do it.  I have too much unused crap as it is.  Books would be used (I pull down my aforementioned visual dictionary at least daily).  Fiber would be used.  This space would become a place that fulfills me in so many ways than just writing and feeling peered down on by neglected and spiteful Past Crafts. 

Ten on Tuesday: Love Songs Edition

Love songs.  Le sigh! Love songs are old.  They date back to, well, a really long time.  The Greeks and Romans wrote love songs to their lovers.  Unfortunately, they didn't have a good way of recording or notating their music, so we don't know the melodies, but we have some of the words left behind as poetry.  The Song of Solomon is one big love song written almost one thousand years ago.  In fact Solomon apparently loved to write love songs.  The French troubadours went around singing their little love ditties (and probably breaking hearts everywhere they went).  Sort of like medieval Beatles. 

Most of the love songs I love are fairly old as well, although not as old as Solomon or the troubadours.  I just don't have many current songs on my list of ten favorite love songs. So brace yourself, you are heading to Retroville:

1. Michelle by the Beatles (Hey, if my spouse had Paul McCartney sing Michelle to me I would be so thrilled!)
2. As my Guitar Gently Weeps (the Beatles)
3. In My Life (yep the Beatles again)
4. And I Love Her (Do you see a theme here?)
5. Love Me Tender (Elvis, although Norah Jones' cover of it was very good too)
6. Only Fools Rush In (Elvis)
7. Don't (Elvis - can't you just imagine those words being pleaded in your ear :shiver:)
8. When I fall in Love (Nat King Cole - I also like Linda Ronstadt's version is good, too)
9. Have I told you Lately that I Love You (Van Morrison version, although Rod Stewart will do in a pinch)
10. Anything for You (Ludo - hey, it's from this century - even this decade!)

The Sweater Survey

Alrighty roo cowgirls and cowboys! Here's a link to the survey. Please fill it out and pass the link on so I can get more sizes. For those who don't remember, back on April 25th (you do not need to remind me that that was nearly two months ago) I ranted about how sweaters didn't seem to be any kind of real size, so I wanted to know what people's sizes were.  Real people, not what Brand XYZ said a size is.  I was frustrated at how patterns for knitting never seemed to match up with what real people wore.  And that sweaters (in particular) seemed to be built around some odd formula that was applied to one size without test knits being done on other sizes.  So now I'm wanting to collect people's measurements.  You can remain anonymous.  I'm not going to come hunt you down with a measuring tape to verify, but I would appreciate if you are honest (you should be anyway because otherwise you knit sweaters for yourself that don't fit correctly). 

If you get a message that says something like "exceeded monthly limits" let me know and I'll send the survey to you another way. 

Thank you!