Saturday Morning Dispatch No.1
It’s Saturday! In our house that means cartoons and brightly colored breakfast cereal, which my husband and I hope will buy us an extra hour twenty more minutes of sleep. Also this newsletter!
This is the time of year when I walk around my yard with pruning scissors and look for dead things that I can stick into vases (Plants. Dead plants.), and Ryan and I watch Grumpy Old Men because we’re in the mood for Christmas movies but it’s too early to watch Christmas movies. I also remember that I’ve forgotten to keep up with my bedtime gratitude practice, and I try to start doing that again.
I made you a mix tape.
Actually, it’s a Spotify playlist, but it’s made with love like a mix tape. It’s got pie, turkey, mashed potatoes, and a side of Bruce Springsteen. I’m realizing that lots of the music I share with my kids is an attempt to channel Mrs. Gillespie, my kindergarten teacher in 1988 who played guitar and wore long denim jumpers and her whole face was wrinkled from a lifetime of smiling. She was a gift, so hopefully you feel a little of that Mrs. Gillespie magic when you listen, and you and your kiddos have as much fun with these songs as me and mine do.
Say yes to the mess: painting pine cones.
My four year old collected about twelve thousand pine cones on a walk with her grandparents and decided she wanted to paint them. I kept putting her off, because it just seemed like such a PROJECT. And it would be such a MESS. And do I even have the right kind of paint and paintbrushes and what will we dry the pine cones on? I need time to make a PLAN. And then I walked downstairs and my awesome husband had covered the table with butcher paper (we have a giant roll of it for exactly this purpose), pulled out the acrylic paints leftover from Halloween costumes, and he was painting pine cones alongside our daughter. I’m pretty sure he didn’t think about any of this until he was actually doing it. Less than five minutes of prep for almost an hour of activity. Note to self: be more like husband. (We dried the pine cones on a paper towel in case you were worried about that.)
Bonus science opportunity: As the pine cones were drying in our warm house, they opened up! Nature is so cool.
I should say that this child is precise and deliberate. She’s tidy. We have other children (well, one other child) who’s into more of a full-body experience. When she’s participating in activities where paint or mud or glue is involved, I like to ensure an unobstructed path to the shower for a hose-down. But even then, it’s rarely as bad as I think it will be, and frankly, when it is that bad, it can make for a great story. Consider this a gentle nudge to say yes to something with your kids that seems like it might be a mess. #usuallyworthit
Storytime.
One of my favorite memories from growing up is of my dad doing a turkey gobble. Aside from the fact that it was disturbingly accurate, part of what made it so fun is that it was so unlike him. He’s a pretty serious fellow/lawyer. But he’d let out this hilarious, loud, very realistic turkey gobble, and it was a little scary and pretty much the best thing ever. He would only perform at Thanksgiving, so we looked forward to it almost as much as we looked forward to pie. These days, Dad claims he can’t make that sound anymore without choking on his own throat, so sadly the gobble has retired. Thank goodness there’s still pie.
Remembering this story sent me down a rabbit hole of turkey calls, and I found this guy and this guy and my day is made. Turkey calling competition as new Thanksgiving tradition? I think yes. If you share those videos with your kids I bet they’ll organize the whole thing.
Why do we think turkeys are so goofy? Look at this guy! He’s gorgeous!
Speaking of pie.
What are you bringing to Thanksgiving? Or do you host the whole shebang like a grown-up? We go to my in-laws’ and I bring the Pie-fecta: pumpkin pie, apple pie, and bourbon pecan chocolate chip pie. Sometimes I go rogue and bring unauthorized side dishes, like Corn Casserole. People. If you haven’t met Corn Casserole yet, you are in for a treat. It’s pure comfort food and it is dead easy to make. So easy you can even let your kids help. If you need a last-minute side dish, this is the one.
CORN CASSEROLE RECIPE
ingredients:
1 cup sour cream
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) creamed corn
1 box (8 oz) Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
1/2 tsp salt
directions:
Spray an 8x8 square pan with nonstick spray, or grease it with butter. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk sour cream and melted butter together in a big bowl. Whisk in the corns. Then whisk in the muffin mix and salt. You can also just dump everything into a big bowl and mix it up.
Pour the mixture into your square pan and bake it in your hot oven for about 45-55 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the middle is set.
If you’re organized enough to do this ahead of time, you’ll want to reheat it before serving. To reheat, let sit at room temperature for about half an hour. Cover with foil and pop in a 300°F oven for 15-20 minutes until heated through.
letting kids help:
If the idea of cooking with kids gives you hives, this is a great recipe to try. It involves minimal measuring, no egg cracking, zero technique aside from mixing, and is really hard to mess up. Kids can:
Open cans and drain whole kernel corn.
Unwrap butter and melt it in a microwave safe bowl.
Dump ingredients in the bowl.
Mix ingredients.
Pour mixture into the pan.
“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.”
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, eat pie for breakfast, and be thankful. I’ll see you next week. Gobble gobble!
Love, Kathryn