A day to cook

As a parent I am learning to go with the flow. I don't make many plans, although I still do have my things to do list handy. It just sticks around for a bit longer than it did in the past.

Today turned out to be a day to cook and prepare food. The boys were very interested in helping, and I somehow felt energized enough to be on my feet all day.

The other thing I am coming to accept as a parent is that children are not neat! I have had to let go of my compulsion to keep things neat and tidy (no joke, mom, i do like to have a clean house!) and find peace them to make their messes. I understand that these "messes" as an important part of the learning process, but I sometimes get frustrated when things are not orderly. Another downside to conventional education is that teachers are always looking for the "right" answer which does not leave much room for experimentation or "messes." But one never truly learns without taking risks and experimenting with ideas. I didn't. I remember being so worried about having the right answer for my teachers that I rarely participated in class discussion and panicked while answering test questions. I didn't care what I learned, only that I told the teacher what they wanted to hear and therefore, got good grades as a result.

So breathe, Lisa, when the boys "help" grind the grains while running their hands through the flour, draw with the flour, spoon the flour into a jar--well, at least 1/2 of it made it, etc. It was actually enjoyable cleaning up the kitchen after all of their projects today because I thought of how much fun they had while helping me. They laughed and played as they cooked. Liam was so proud to shred some of the kim chee veggies with his hands and then organize them into piles. Patrick loved taking what I had chopped and adding it to the bowl. They both loved pounding the vegetables for the kim chee to get the juices out. They loved climbing on the counter from their learning tower to check to see how many grains were left in the mill and then report it back to me. At one point they got out some of their smaller construction vehicles and played with all of the flour that had ended up on the floor. Loading their tiny little dump truck w/ flour and creating elaborate construction zones.

So today we ground (or is it grinded?) lots of flour! A bunch for a new sour dough starter that I am starting, inspired by my friend, Jill, who recently did the same: /blogginrobins2.blogspot.com. We ground up a bunch of local wheat berries which I purchased at the farmer's market yesterday. We soaked the wheat flour w/ yogurt to make a pizza dough for tomorrow night. Yum! Our new raw dairy co-op (www.windsordairy.com) makes fresh mozerella so we have been having pizza every week! We also made a jar of kim chee w/ local onions and carrots.