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http://nanaandgramps.wordpress.com/
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Latin is Alive and Well
As some of you may know, Norma is teaching a Latin class this year!
So it was with more than just a little enthusiasm that she noted an Article in last Tuesday's New York Times indicated that Latin is alive and well! For those of you who missed it, here it is:
A Dead Language That’s Very Much Alive
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — The Latin class at Isaac E. Young Middle School here was reading a story the other day with a familiar ring: Boy annoys girl, girl scolds boy. Only in this version, the characters were named Sextus and Cornelia, and they argued in Latin.
Enrollment in Latin classes here in this Westchester County suburb has increased by nearly one-third since 2006, to 187 of the district’s 10,500 students, and the two middle schools in town are starting an ancient-cultures club in which students will explore the lives of Romans, Greeks and others.
The resurgence of a language once rejected as outdated and irrelevant is reflected across the country as Latin is embraced by a new generation of students like Xavier who seek to increase SAT scores or stand out from their friends, or simply harbor a fascination for the ancient language after reading Harry Potter’s Latin-based chanting spells.
The number of students in the United States taking the National Latin Exam has risen steadily to more than 134,000 students in each of the past two years, from 124,000 in 2003 and 101,000 in 1998, with large increases in remote parts of the country like New Mexico, Alaska and Vermont. The number of students taking the Advanced Placement test in Latin, meanwhile, has nearly doubled over the past 10 years, to 8,654 in 2007. While Spanish and French still dominate student schedules — and Chinese and Arabic are trendier choices — Latin has quietly flourished in many high-performing suburbs, like New Rochelle, where Latin’s virtues are sung by superintendents and principals who took it in their day. In neighboring Pelham, the 2,750-student district just hired a second full-time Latin teacher after a four-year search, learning that scarce Latin teachers have become more sought-after than ever.
On Long Island, the Jericho district is offering an Advanced Placement course in Latin for the first time this year after its Latin enrollment rose to 120 students, a 35 percent increase since 2002. In nearby Great Neck, 36 fifth graders signed up last year for before- and after-school Latin classes that were started by a 2008 graduate who has moved on to study classics at Stanford (that student’s brother and a friend will continue to lead the Latin classes this year).
Latin is also thriving in New York City, where it is currently taught in about three dozen schools , including Brooklyn Latin, a high school in East Williamsburg that started in 2006. Four years of Latin, and two of Spanish, are required at the new high school, where Latin phrases adorn the walls and words like discipuli (students), magistri (teachers) and latrina (bathroom) are sprinkled into everyday conversation.
“It’s the language of scholars and educated people,” said Jason Griffiths, headmaster of Brooklyn Latin. “It’s the language of people who are successful. I think it’s a draw, and that’s certainly what we sell.”
Adam D. Blistein, executive director of the American Philological Association at the University of Pennsylvania, which represents more than 3,000 members, including classics professors and Latin teachers, said that more high schools were recognizing the benefits of Latin. It builds vocabulary and grammar for higher SAT scores, appeals to college admissions officers as a sign of critical-thinking skills and fosters true intellectual passion, he said.
“Goethe is better in German, Flaubert is better in French and Virgil is better in Latin,” Dr. Blistein said. “If you stick with it, the lollipop comes at the end when you get to read the original. In many cases, it’s what whets their appetite.”
Latin was once required at many public and parochial schools, but fell into disfavor during the 1960s when students rebelled against traditional classroom teachings and even the Roman Catholic Church moved away from Latin as the official language of Mass. Interest in Latin was revived somewhat in the 1970s and began picking up in the 1980s with the back-to-basics movement in many schools, according to Latin scholars, but really took off in the last few years as a language long seen as a stodgy ivory tower secret infiltrated popular culture.
Harry Potter books use Latin words for names and spells, and at least two have been translated into Latin (“Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis”), as have several by Dr. Seuss (“Cattus Petasatus”). Movies like “Gladiator” and “Troy” have also lent glamour to the ancient world.
“Sometimes you need to know Latin to understand that part,” said Adrian McCullough, 10, a sixth grader in New Rochelle who plans to reread the Harry Potter books now that he is learning Latin.
Marty Abbott, education director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, said it was possible that Latin would edge out German as the third most popular language taught in schools, behind Spanish and French, when the preliminary results of an enrollment survey are released next year. In the last survey, covering enrollment in 2000, Latin placed fourth. “In people’s minds, it’s coming back,” she said. “But it’s always been there. It’s just that we continue to see interest in it.”
Ms. Abbott, a former Latin teacher, said that today’s Latin classes appeal to more students because they have evolved from “dry grammar and tortuous translations” to livelier lessons that focus on culture, history and the daily life of the Romans. In addition, she said, Latin teachers and students have promoted the language outside the classroom through clubs, poetry competitions and mock chariot races.
In Scarsdale, N.Y., where Latin enrollment rose by 14 percent to 80 this year, the high school sponsors a Roman banquet on the Ides of March during which students come wearing tunics and wreaths in their hair. Seniors serve bread, olives, roasted chicken and grapes to younger students, and all of them break bread with their hands. Dr. Marion Polsky, the Latin teacher, said that former students still send her postcards written in Latin and that at least three have gone on to become Latin teachers.
Here in New Rochelle, the district introduced a Latin class for sixth graders last year and is now adding a second Latin class for seventh graders. Richard Organisciak, the superintendent, said the district had spent $273,000 since 2006 to promote foreign languages including Latin. Last month, the district also started a dual-language English-Italian kindergarten and a Greek class at the high school; it is considering offering Chinese next fall.
The high school principal, Don Conetta, said he had encouraged more students to study Latin, though he acknowledged that he was hardly “a stellar student” himself in Latin and came to appreciate its value only later in life.
“If my Latin teachers could hear me now,” he said. “I took three years in high school, and four semesters in college, and I can’t remember the first line of Cicero’s orations.”
Students like Ciera Gardner, a sophomore, started Latin three years ago with two friends who have since dropped out because of the workload. But Ciera, an aspiring actress, said that she had persisted because Latin would look good on her college applications and that in the meantime, it had already helped her decipher unfamiliar words while reading scripts. “It’s different,” she said. “Everyone says ‘I take Spanish’ or ‘I take Italian,’ but it’s cool to say ‘I take Latin.’ ”
Max Gordon, another sophomore, said that he had learned more about grammar in Latin class than in English class. And he occasionally debates the finer points of grammar with his mother, Kit Fitzgerald, a video artist who studied Latin, while washing dishes after dinner.
“In some ways, it’s really frustrating,” he said. “I’ll hear someone say something that isn’t grammatically correct and I’ll cringe.”
So you can only guess how excited she was to see the Editorial Page of Sunday's New York Times where Maureen Dowd wrote half her column in Latin.
Again to save you the $5.00 price of the Sunday Times, here it is for your reading enjoyment!
Op-Ed Columnist
Are We Rome? Tu Betchus!
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: October 11, 2008
With modernity crumbling, our thoughts turn to antiquity.
The decline and fall of the American Empire echoes the experience of the Romans, who also tumbled into the trap of becoming overleveraged empire hussies.
As our sand-castle economy washes away under the tide of bad gambles and debts, this most self-indulgent society lurches toward stoicism (even bankrupt Iceland gives us the cold shoulder and turns to a solvent superpower). It’s going to require more than giving up constant infusions of stocks, Starbucks and Botox.
As Seneca, the Roman Stoic who advised treating the body “somewhat strictly,” wrote in a letter: “Avoid whatever is approved of by the mob, and things that are the gift of chance. Whenever circumstance brings some welcome thing your way, stop in suspicion and alarm ...They are snares. ... we think these things are ours when in fact it is we who are caught. That track leads to precipices; life on that giddy level ends in a fall.”
The study of Latin and Greek, with illuminations on morality, philosophy, mob rule and chariot races, reached a nadir in the greedy ‘80s and ‘90s, when it seemed irrelevant for kids who yearned to be investment bankers and high-tech millionaires. But now we’ve learned the hard way that greed is bad — avaritia mala est — and the classics have staged a comeback. Amo Latinam, so I was happy to see last week’s Times story about the soaring enrollment for Latin classes in New York.
In high school, I translated swatches of Julius Caesar’s “The Battle for Gaul” from Latin to English while nibbling cheese crackers. To boost the felicitous new trend toward Latin, I enlisted Gary D. Farney, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University, to translate (loosely and creatively) from English to Latin “The Battle of Gall,” my take below on why the hyperventilating Republicans are not veni, vidi, vici-ing.
•
Bellum Gallium
Manes Julii Caesaris paucis diebus aderant — “O, most bloody sight!” — cum Ioannes McCainus, mavericus et veteranus captivusque Belli Francoindosinini, et Sara Palina, barracuda borealis, qui sneerare amant Baracum Obamam causa oratorii, pillorant ut demagogi veri, Africanum-Americanum senatorem Terrae Lincolni, ad Republicanas rallias.
Rabidi subcanes candidati, pretendant “no orator as Brutis is,” ut “stir men’s blood” et disturbant mentes populi ad “a sudden flood of mutiny,” ut Wilhelmus Shakespearus scripsit.
Cum Quirites Americani ad rallias Republicanas audiunt nomen Baraci Husseini Obamae, clamant “Mortem!” “Amator terroris!” “Socialiste!” “Bomba Obamam!” “Obama est Arabus!” “Caput excidi!” tempus sit rabble-rouseribus desistere “Smear Talk Express,” ut Stephanus Colbertus dixit. Obama demonatus est tamquam Musulmanus-Manchurianus candidatus — civis “collo-cerviciliaris” ad ralliam Floridianam Palinae exhabet mascum Obamae ut Luciferis.
Obama non queretur high-tech lynching. Sed secreto-serventes agentes nervosissmi sunt.
Vix quisque audivit nomen “Palinae” ante lunibus paucis. Surgivit ex suo tanning bed ad silvas in Terram Eskimorum, rogans quis sit traitorosus, ominosus, scurrilosus, periculosus amator LXs terroris criminalisque Chicagoani? Tu betchus!
“Caeca ambitio Obamana,” novum rumorem Palina McCainusque dixit. “Cum utilis, Obama laborat cum amatore terroris Wilhelmo Ayro. Cum putatus, perjuravit.” McCainianus bossus maximus Francus Keatinx vocat Obamam, “plebeium,” et ut iuvenum snifferendum cocaini minimi (“a little blow.”)
Cum Primus Dudus, spousus Palinanus, culpari attemptaret “Centurionem-Gate,” judices Terrae Santae Elvorumque castigat gubernatricem Palinam de abusu auctoritatis per familiam revengendum.
Tamen Sara et Ioannes bury Obama, not praise him. Maverici, ut capiunt auxilium de friga-domina, hench-femina, Cynthia McCaina Birrabaronessa, (quae culpat Obamam periculandi suum filum in Babylonia), brazen-iter distractant mentes populares de minimissimis IV 0 I K.ibus, deminutione “Motorum Omnium,” et Depressione Magna II.0. Omnes de Georgio Busio Secundo colossale goofballo. “V” (because there’s no W. in Latin) etiam duxit per disastrum ad gymnasium.
Gubernatrix (prope Russia) Palina, spectans candidaciam MMXII, post multam educationem cum Kissingro et post multam parodiam de Sabbatis Nocte Vivo atque de Tina Feia, ferociter vituperat Obamam, ut supralupocidit (aerial shooting of wolves) in Hyperborea.
Vilmingtoni, in Ohionem, McCain’s Mean Girl (Ferox Puella) defendit se gladiatricem politicam esse: “Pauci dicant, O Jupiter, te negativam esse. Non, negativa non sum, sed verissima.” Talk about lipsticka in porcam! Quasi Leeus Atwater de oppugnatione Busii Primi ad Dukakem: “non negativus, sed comparativus.”
Now I recognize that not all of you are Classicists, so for a little translation help, you can check out this website:
http://dowdreport.blogspot.com/2008/10/lost-in-translation.html
Amazing how the simple things in life can be fun.
So it was with more than just a little enthusiasm that she noted an Article in last Tuesday's New York Times indicated that Latin is alive and well! For those of you who missed it, here it is:
A Dead Language That’s Very Much Alive
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — The Latin class at Isaac E. Young Middle School here was reading a story the other day with a familiar ring: Boy annoys girl, girl scolds boy. Only in this version, the characters were named Sextus and Cornelia, and they argued in Latin.
Enrollment in Latin classes here in this Westchester County suburb has increased by nearly one-third since 2006, to 187 of the district’s 10,500 students, and the two middle schools in town are starting an ancient-cultures club in which students will explore the lives of Romans, Greeks and others.
The resurgence of a language once rejected as outdated and irrelevant is reflected across the country as Latin is embraced by a new generation of students like Xavier who seek to increase SAT scores or stand out from their friends, or simply harbor a fascination for the ancient language after reading Harry Potter’s Latin-based chanting spells.
The number of students in the United States taking the National Latin Exam has risen steadily to more than 134,000 students in each of the past two years, from 124,000 in 2003 and 101,000 in 1998, with large increases in remote parts of the country like New Mexico, Alaska and Vermont. The number of students taking the Advanced Placement test in Latin, meanwhile, has nearly doubled over the past 10 years, to 8,654 in 2007. While Spanish and French still dominate student schedules — and Chinese and Arabic are trendier choices — Latin has quietly flourished in many high-performing suburbs, like New Rochelle, where Latin’s virtues are sung by superintendents and principals who took it in their day. In neighboring Pelham, the 2,750-student district just hired a second full-time Latin teacher after a four-year search, learning that scarce Latin teachers have become more sought-after than ever.
On Long Island, the Jericho district is offering an Advanced Placement course in Latin for the first time this year after its Latin enrollment rose to 120 students, a 35 percent increase since 2002. In nearby Great Neck, 36 fifth graders signed up last year for before- and after-school Latin classes that were started by a 2008 graduate who has moved on to study classics at Stanford (that student’s brother and a friend will continue to lead the Latin classes this year).
Latin is also thriving in New York City, where it is currently taught in about three dozen schools , including Brooklyn Latin, a high school in East Williamsburg that started in 2006. Four years of Latin, and two of Spanish, are required at the new high school, where Latin phrases adorn the walls and words like discipuli (students), magistri (teachers) and latrina (bathroom) are sprinkled into everyday conversation.
“It’s the language of scholars and educated people,” said Jason Griffiths, headmaster of Brooklyn Latin. “It’s the language of people who are successful. I think it’s a draw, and that’s certainly what we sell.”
Adam D. Blistein, executive director of the American Philological Association at the University of Pennsylvania, which represents more than 3,000 members, including classics professors and Latin teachers, said that more high schools were recognizing the benefits of Latin. It builds vocabulary and grammar for higher SAT scores, appeals to college admissions officers as a sign of critical-thinking skills and fosters true intellectual passion, he said.
“Goethe is better in German, Flaubert is better in French and Virgil is better in Latin,” Dr. Blistein said. “If you stick with it, the lollipop comes at the end when you get to read the original. In many cases, it’s what whets their appetite.”
Latin was once required at many public and parochial schools, but fell into disfavor during the 1960s when students rebelled against traditional classroom teachings and even the Roman Catholic Church moved away from Latin as the official language of Mass. Interest in Latin was revived somewhat in the 1970s and began picking up in the 1980s with the back-to-basics movement in many schools, according to Latin scholars, but really took off in the last few years as a language long seen as a stodgy ivory tower secret infiltrated popular culture.
Harry Potter books use Latin words for names and spells, and at least two have been translated into Latin (“Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis”), as have several by Dr. Seuss (“Cattus Petasatus”). Movies like “Gladiator” and “Troy” have also lent glamour to the ancient world.
“Sometimes you need to know Latin to understand that part,” said Adrian McCullough, 10, a sixth grader in New Rochelle who plans to reread the Harry Potter books now that he is learning Latin.
Marty Abbott, education director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, said it was possible that Latin would edge out German as the third most popular language taught in schools, behind Spanish and French, when the preliminary results of an enrollment survey are released next year. In the last survey, covering enrollment in 2000, Latin placed fourth. “In people’s minds, it’s coming back,” she said. “But it’s always been there. It’s just that we continue to see interest in it.”
Ms. Abbott, a former Latin teacher, said that today’s Latin classes appeal to more students because they have evolved from “dry grammar and tortuous translations” to livelier lessons that focus on culture, history and the daily life of the Romans. In addition, she said, Latin teachers and students have promoted the language outside the classroom through clubs, poetry competitions and mock chariot races.
In Scarsdale, N.Y., where Latin enrollment rose by 14 percent to 80 this year, the high school sponsors a Roman banquet on the Ides of March during which students come wearing tunics and wreaths in their hair. Seniors serve bread, olives, roasted chicken and grapes to younger students, and all of them break bread with their hands. Dr. Marion Polsky, the Latin teacher, said that former students still send her postcards written in Latin and that at least three have gone on to become Latin teachers.
Here in New Rochelle, the district introduced a Latin class for sixth graders last year and is now adding a second Latin class for seventh graders. Richard Organisciak, the superintendent, said the district had spent $273,000 since 2006 to promote foreign languages including Latin. Last month, the district also started a dual-language English-Italian kindergarten and a Greek class at the high school; it is considering offering Chinese next fall.
The high school principal, Don Conetta, said he had encouraged more students to study Latin, though he acknowledged that he was hardly “a stellar student” himself in Latin and came to appreciate its value only later in life.
“If my Latin teachers could hear me now,” he said. “I took three years in high school, and four semesters in college, and I can’t remember the first line of Cicero’s orations.”
Students like Ciera Gardner, a sophomore, started Latin three years ago with two friends who have since dropped out because of the workload. But Ciera, an aspiring actress, said that she had persisted because Latin would look good on her college applications and that in the meantime, it had already helped her decipher unfamiliar words while reading scripts. “It’s different,” she said. “Everyone says ‘I take Spanish’ or ‘I take Italian,’ but it’s cool to say ‘I take Latin.’ ”
Max Gordon, another sophomore, said that he had learned more about grammar in Latin class than in English class. And he occasionally debates the finer points of grammar with his mother, Kit Fitzgerald, a video artist who studied Latin, while washing dishes after dinner.
“In some ways, it’s really frustrating,” he said. “I’ll hear someone say something that isn’t grammatically correct and I’ll cringe.”
So you can only guess how excited she was to see the Editorial Page of Sunday's New York Times where Maureen Dowd wrote half her column in Latin.
Again to save you the $5.00 price of the Sunday Times, here it is for your reading enjoyment!
Op-Ed Columnist
Are We Rome? Tu Betchus!
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: October 11, 2008
With modernity crumbling, our thoughts turn to antiquity.
The decline and fall of the American Empire echoes the experience of the Romans, who also tumbled into the trap of becoming overleveraged empire hussies.
As our sand-castle economy washes away under the tide of bad gambles and debts, this most self-indulgent society lurches toward stoicism (even bankrupt Iceland gives us the cold shoulder and turns to a solvent superpower). It’s going to require more than giving up constant infusions of stocks, Starbucks and Botox.
As Seneca, the Roman Stoic who advised treating the body “somewhat strictly,” wrote in a letter: “Avoid whatever is approved of by the mob, and things that are the gift of chance. Whenever circumstance brings some welcome thing your way, stop in suspicion and alarm ...They are snares. ... we think these things are ours when in fact it is we who are caught. That track leads to precipices; life on that giddy level ends in a fall.”
The study of Latin and Greek, with illuminations on morality, philosophy, mob rule and chariot races, reached a nadir in the greedy ‘80s and ‘90s, when it seemed irrelevant for kids who yearned to be investment bankers and high-tech millionaires. But now we’ve learned the hard way that greed is bad — avaritia mala est — and the classics have staged a comeback. Amo Latinam, so I was happy to see last week’s Times story about the soaring enrollment for Latin classes in New York.
In high school, I translated swatches of Julius Caesar’s “The Battle for Gaul” from Latin to English while nibbling cheese crackers. To boost the felicitous new trend toward Latin, I enlisted Gary D. Farney, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University, to translate (loosely and creatively) from English to Latin “The Battle of Gall,” my take below on why the hyperventilating Republicans are not veni, vidi, vici-ing.
•
Bellum Gallium
Manes Julii Caesaris paucis diebus aderant — “O, most bloody sight!” — cum Ioannes McCainus, mavericus et veteranus captivusque Belli Francoindosinini, et Sara Palina, barracuda borealis, qui sneerare amant Baracum Obamam causa oratorii, pillorant ut demagogi veri, Africanum-Americanum senatorem Terrae Lincolni, ad Republicanas rallias.
Rabidi subcanes candidati, pretendant “no orator as Brutis is,” ut “stir men’s blood” et disturbant mentes populi ad “a sudden flood of mutiny,” ut Wilhelmus Shakespearus scripsit.
Cum Quirites Americani ad rallias Republicanas audiunt nomen Baraci Husseini Obamae, clamant “Mortem!” “Amator terroris!” “Socialiste!” “Bomba Obamam!” “Obama est Arabus!” “Caput excidi!” tempus sit rabble-rouseribus desistere “Smear Talk Express,” ut Stephanus Colbertus dixit. Obama demonatus est tamquam Musulmanus-Manchurianus candidatus — civis “collo-cerviciliaris” ad ralliam Floridianam Palinae exhabet mascum Obamae ut Luciferis.
Obama non queretur high-tech lynching. Sed secreto-serventes agentes nervosissmi sunt.
Vix quisque audivit nomen “Palinae” ante lunibus paucis. Surgivit ex suo tanning bed ad silvas in Terram Eskimorum, rogans quis sit traitorosus, ominosus, scurrilosus, periculosus amator LXs terroris criminalisque Chicagoani? Tu betchus!
“Caeca ambitio Obamana,” novum rumorem Palina McCainusque dixit. “Cum utilis, Obama laborat cum amatore terroris Wilhelmo Ayro. Cum putatus, perjuravit.” McCainianus bossus maximus Francus Keatinx vocat Obamam, “plebeium,” et ut iuvenum snifferendum cocaini minimi (“a little blow.”)
Cum Primus Dudus, spousus Palinanus, culpari attemptaret “Centurionem-Gate,” judices Terrae Santae Elvorumque castigat gubernatricem Palinam de abusu auctoritatis per familiam revengendum.
Tamen Sara et Ioannes bury Obama, not praise him. Maverici, ut capiunt auxilium de friga-domina, hench-femina, Cynthia McCaina Birrabaronessa, (quae culpat Obamam periculandi suum filum in Babylonia), brazen-iter distractant mentes populares de minimissimis IV 0 I K.ibus, deminutione “Motorum Omnium,” et Depressione Magna II.0. Omnes de Georgio Busio Secundo colossale goofballo. “V” (because there’s no W. in Latin) etiam duxit per disastrum ad gymnasium.
Gubernatrix (prope Russia) Palina, spectans candidaciam MMXII, post multam educationem cum Kissingro et post multam parodiam de Sabbatis Nocte Vivo atque de Tina Feia, ferociter vituperat Obamam, ut supralupocidit (aerial shooting of wolves) in Hyperborea.
Vilmingtoni, in Ohionem, McCain’s Mean Girl (Ferox Puella) defendit se gladiatricem politicam esse: “Pauci dicant, O Jupiter, te negativam esse. Non, negativa non sum, sed verissima.” Talk about lipsticka in porcam! Quasi Leeus Atwater de oppugnatione Busii Primi ad Dukakem: “non negativus, sed comparativus.”
Now I recognize that not all of you are Classicists, so for a little translation help, you can check out this website:
http://dowdreport.blogspot.com/2008/10/lost-in-translation.html
Amazing how the simple things in life can be fun.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Final Day in Alaska
Tuesday was the final day in Alaska. Amy had to go to work and Karina went off the school, so Tom and I got to spend some time together. It was an enjoyable day!
She really does enjoy her evening stories.
Amy joined us, and reminded Karina that Gramps used to read her stories when she was a little girl!
The story was so engrossing that Willow was anxious to hear how it ended!
The highlight was, of course, the final story.
She really does enjoy her evening stories.
Amy joined us, and reminded Karina that Gramps used to read her stories when she was a little girl!
The story was so engrossing that Willow was anxious to hear how it ended!
But nothing is better than goodnight kisses!!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Karina and Willow
Wednesday afternoon was a rare sunny afternoon, so Willow and Karina played in the yard after school.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Gramps and Karina's adventures
So today (9/22) Amy and Tom left for Oregon and will be back the night of the 29th, so Karina and I get a second try at our great adventure.
The first try was interesting indeed. Here was the plan: Monday morning drop Karina off at day care (so she can maintain her schedule) and pick her up in the afternoon. Gramps then basically has the days to himself to get to a meeting and explore Juneau! Not too shabby of an assignment. So Monday morning at about 11 as I was getting ready to head out to a meeting I get a call from the day care saying I have to pick up Karina because a child had tested positive for whooping cough! Oh by the way you need to take Karina to the doctor as she must be on antibiotics, and again by the way so do you. So off to the doctor we go. Fortunately Amy left names and numbers and we even drove past the doctor's office on Saturday before she left. When we get to the doctor's, she is kind enough to rx antibiotics for me as well, and Oh by the way, you guys have to stay in for five days without contact with other folks. Swell!
Well we did indeed have a good time!
She like to work at her table.
Loves dressing up!
But Gramps was able to tucker her out!
Lena Beach in Auk Bay has got to be one of my favorite places. It is so serene and beautiful, I simply love it.
Amy got home Thursday night and on Saturday while Amy was getting caught up with stuff, Karina and I went up to the Mendenhall Glacier. You may recall as similar picture from about two years ago!! Only Karina is a bit older!
Oh, did I mention that Willow and I have become buddies!
The first try was interesting indeed. Here was the plan: Monday morning drop Karina off at day care (so she can maintain her schedule) and pick her up in the afternoon. Gramps then basically has the days to himself to get to a meeting and explore Juneau! Not too shabby of an assignment. So Monday morning at about 11 as I was getting ready to head out to a meeting I get a call from the day care saying I have to pick up Karina because a child had tested positive for whooping cough! Oh by the way you need to take Karina to the doctor as she must be on antibiotics, and again by the way so do you. So off to the doctor we go. Fortunately Amy left names and numbers and we even drove past the doctor's office on Saturday before she left. When we get to the doctor's, she is kind enough to rx antibiotics for me as well, and Oh by the way, you guys have to stay in for five days without contact with other folks. Swell!
Well we did indeed have a good time!
She like to work at her table.
Loves dressing up!
But Gramps was able to tucker her out!Wednesday of the second week was the first day we saw any sunshine at all. I figured we could go for a drive and visit Lena Beach and not come into contact with anyone, so we did.
Lena Beach in Auk Bay has got to be one of my favorite places. It is so serene and beautiful, I simply love it.Amy got home Thursday night and on Saturday while Amy was getting caught up with stuff, Karina and I went up to the Mendenhall Glacier. You may recall as similar picture from about two years ago!! Only Karina is a bit older!
Oh, did I mention that Willow and I have become buddies!Well, I'll let you know how this week's adventure goes! More Later.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Alaska Recipes!
In preparation for my trip to visit Amy and Karina, I thought I'd post of few recipes that I will probably use while I am up there. If nothing else, we will eat well! These are all nice recipes, so feel free to use them.
Recipes for Alaska!
Navy Bean Soup
1 lb. dried navy beans
5 c. water
1 can beef consommé
1 chicken bouillon cube
4 potatoes, diced
2 onions, diced
¼ cup butter
4 carrots, diced
2 c. chopped ham
Bay leaves and seasoning.
Place navy beans, water, consommé and bouillon cube in large pot. Bring to boil and simmer 2 hours. Add potatoes. Saute onions in butter until partially cooked.
Add to soup with remaining ingredients. Add more water if needed. Simmer and serve.
Lentil Soup
2 c. lentils
8 c. water
3 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
½ c. celery chopped
¼ cup carrots, diced
Garlic to taste
Seasoning
Rinse lentils, drain. Place all ingredients in large pot, bring to boil and simmer about 3 hours.
Whole Wheat Bread (PS - this is my favorite bread!!)
2 ¾ lukewarm milk
¼ cup honey
1 ¼ oz dry active yeast (5 packets)
5 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp salt
1 large egg
¾ unbleached flour
Egg wash: 1 egg, 1 tbsp water
1. Pour milk in large bowl and stir in honey. Sprinkle in yeast and let dissolve. Add 3-4 cups whole wheat flour and beat hard. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Beat salt and egg into above sponge and add one or more cups of whole wheat flours. Add butter and remaining flour.
3. Turn out onto floured surface and add while flour while kneading until dough is no longer sticky.
4. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover, let rise 60 minutes
5. Punch down dough, divide in half. Knead and shape into two loaves., cover and let rise for 45 minutes.
6. Heat oven to 375°.
7. Brush each loaf with egg wash, make 3 or 4 diagonal slashes on top of loaf.
8. Bake approximately 40 minutes.
Sugar Cookies
Cream together 1 stick of butter and one cup of sugar.
Add 2 tbsp cream and 1 tsp vanilla
Add 2 cups of flour and 2 tsp baking powder.
Shape into mound, cover with waxed paper and chill for two hours.
Roll out on floured board til ¼” thick.
Cut into shapes.
Bake at 375° for 8 minutes
Glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg while
A drop of vanilla
Food coloring
WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA
CRUST:
1 to 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour1/2 tsp. sugar1 pkg. Rapid Rise Yeast1 tbsp. vegetable oil1/2 c. whole wheat flour1/2 tsp. salt3/4 c. waterPam vegetable oil spray
In large bowl combine 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, salt, sugar and yeast; blend well. In small saucepan or microwave, heat water and oil until very warm (120-130 degrees); add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour to form a stiff dough.
On floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Place dough in bowl; cover with cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80-85 degrees) until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Divide in half. Press each half into 12-inch pizza pan (that has been sprayed with Pam). Let rise 15-30 minutes.
VEGGIE TOPPINGS:
2 c. Ragu 100% Natural Pizza Sauce1 c. julienne-cut carrots1 c. sliced fresh/canned mushrooms2 tbsp. oregano1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese1 lg. bunch fresh broccoli, chopped1 c. diced green or red bell pepper1/2 to 1 c. chopped onion4 c. shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
Spread 1 cup pizza sauce over each crust. Arrange 1/2 of the broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, onion and oregano (in that order) over the sauce of each pizza crust. Sprinkle 1/2 of the Mozzarella and 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese over each pizza. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Yield: two 12-inch pizzas.
Calzone
Crust:
1 to 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour1/2 tsp. sugar1 pkg. Rapid Rise Yeast1 tbsp. vegetable oil1/2 c. whole wheat flour1/2 tsp. salt3/4 c. waterPam vegetable oil spray
In large bowl combine 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, salt, sugar and yeast; blend well. In small saucepan or microwave, heat water and oil until very warm (120-130 degrees); add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour to form a stiff dough.
On floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Place dough in bowl; cover with cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80-85 degrees) until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Shape into small circles.
Filling:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med. Onion, chopped
Garlic
½ cup mushrooms
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp chopped parsley
½ cup
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
1. While crust is rising, sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms 5 minutes and let cool.
2. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and set aside. Add sauted veggies when cool.
3. Divide dough into 10-12 equal parts and shape each into a 5” circle. Add filling, fold over, moisten edges with water and seal by pressing wit fingers.
4. Place on greased cookie sheet.
5. Brush calzones with egg and water wash.
6. Bake at 375° for approximately 20 minutes.
This popular recipe produces a clay that can be used over and over again and will remain pliant for weeks. A child just learning to model will appreciate how soft and cooperative this dough feels in her hands, especially when it's still warm. MATERIALS:
1 cup flour 1 cup water 1/2 cup salt 1 tsp. vegetable oil 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar Food coloring (optional) Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture holds together (keep mixing or it will stick to the bottom of the pan). When the clay is cool enough to touch, your child can knead it on a floured board.
WHAT TO MAKE:
This recipe's long drying time makes it most satisfying as a play dough (it's easy to roll into ropes and balls), but sculptures will dry eventually. DRYING TIME:3 to 5 daysSTORAGE:Stored in an airtight container, this dough will last--refrigerated or unrefrigerated--for 2 to 4 weeks.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Reunion
Well, here are all of us kids in 1958!
Sure is interesting to see how we have all wethered the last 50 years!
The weekend was enjoyable. There was a terrific picnic at Beth's!
Other cousins met for the first time!
The tour guide was terrific and made the adventure very enjoyable!
Sure is interesting to see how we have all wethered the last 50 years!
The weekend was enjoyable. There was a terrific picnic at Beth's!
Some cousins got to renew acquaintance.
Other cousins met for the first time!
The exploration of the Lockport Caves (which none of us had ever even heard of!) turned out to be a delightful trip.
The tour guide was terrific and made the adventure very enjoyable!
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