Molasses Cookies

Last Friday night was another fabulous unschoolers potluck hosted by our friends Eileen and George.  I spent the better part of the week trying to come up with something yummy to make for the gathering and after much contemplation finally settled on these delicious molasses cookies.  We'd had them at the lantern walk we went on last November and I had held on to the recipe ever since (why? I have no idea). We gathered the necessary ingredients (including our first jar of coconut oil) and got to work.  They came out as delicious as we remembered and were a total hit at the party!  Should you be looking for a new cookie recipe, especially one that really "goes" with the season look no further (the recipe is below)!

Molasses Cookies

2/3 cup Coconut oil (heat until liquid)

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups whole wheat or spelt flour (or some combination of the 2)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Spoon full of sugar (or two) on a plate to roll the dough balls in before baking

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together oil and sugar. Add egg and Molasses. Lastly, stir in flour and spices. Add more flour if necessary to get a firm dough. Roll into balls and roll around in sugar before putting on baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until the tops crack. The cookies will seem doughy and undercooked when they come out of the oven, but they harden up nicely as they cool- don't let this fool you into over-baking them!

Unschool Monday::Pumpkins (And An Update)

When David arrived home from work this afternoon he suggested that we should go get pumpkins.  There was much rejoicing in the land as we headed to our favorite local small farm (home of our CSA this year).  Emma had a large pumpkin in mind that she had discovered a few CSA trips ago and couldn't wait to show it to David.  Ultimately that pumpkin did not come home with us as it was decided that it would not be a good one to turn into a Jack-O-Lantern.  Pumpkins were picked up, checked out, considered, put back, decided on, put back again and finally chosen.  Farmer Tim came out to weigh the pumpkins, and as always had much to chat about with the girls.  We picked up a few other fruits and veggies and headed home feeling that October has truly arrived now!

 

An Update:  Last week I posted that I had been pondering lots of things, one of which was how things just seemed off lately.  After much contemplation and discussion with friends and family (and thank you all for your thoughts) it seemed as if maybe a new rhythm was in order.  In all my searching on the internet for ideas or thoughts of others who had experienced something similar I came upon this lovely post on this beautiful blog. The quote below just resonated so deeply within my soul:

 

"Why Rhythm? Because we hate routine. We like our days to flow, but we'd rather that it become second nature. Something we don't have to think about. Something that is always there, setting the day's pace, while we dance to the beat of our own drums. Rhythm is good for our little family and ensures everyone's voices are heard. It reminds me to pause. It makes time for all the things to happen. And it sets a clear, seamless boundary for when it's time to flow on to something else."

 

This post too was also something that I found great comfort in.  And while Big Owlet is clearly a couple of years older than Grace they indeed sound very similar (and the mention of Mount Washmore was something that I couldn't help but smile at too).  It is always so comforting to know that there are others who have "been there" too. 

 

So today, we reinstated Family Meeting.  Held each morning it was something that we all loved doing and somehow got away from.  With everyone having a chance to share what their hopes were for the day it surely helped us fall into a lovely rhythm today and made this day feel much better than the ones prior. 

 

*Participating in theUnschool Monday link-up over at Owlet today.  

{This Moment}

{This Moment} - A SouleMama Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. We wish you a lovely weekend!

Pondering

Lately, I've been spending lots of time pondering all sorts of things but one of the things that's been most on my mind is the notion that I think we need to get back to our Waldorf roots.  Over the last year we seem to have drifted away from it and it seems that in that drifting that something has been missing from our days.  Sure, we still have our nature table and our daily rhythms and our verses and our lovely open ended toys and sweet cooperative games but something just seems....off.  Something seems to be missing.  I don't know if it's just the time of year (autumn although a wonderful season always seems to be a time of change for me) or if there is something more to it, but the one thing I keep coming back to is that the major thing that's different from last year to this year is that we have left behind our connection to the Waldorf world.  We've never been truly Waldorf.  We have allowed media in our days and home (where many pure Waldorf families don't) but we've never been purely radical unschoolers either.  I have often said that we are unschoolers with a Waldorf flavor to us, though in the last year it seems that our Waldorf flavor has lessened considerably.  Perhapse getting reconnected with the Waldorf homeschooling community will help.  Perhapse returning to the way our days flowed before will help.  Perhapse it's just one of those things that will figure itself out.  Regardless, if any other mamas have wrestled with something like this I would love to hear your stories/wisdom/advice. And if not, no worries, I am sure one of these days I will have clarity on this topic of "who we are". 

"Play is the Beginning of Knowledge."

Lately there has been a lot of butterfly play going on.  From the girls reenacting the Monarch migration to them acting out the butterfly life cycle, it's a rare day that goes by without some kind of butterfly play going on. 

Caterpillar Grace. 

In her chrysalis.

She hatched!

Caterpillar Em.

In her chrysalis.

Hatching.

Being a butterfly is serious business.

 

A couple of sets of butterfly wings and a tunnel and you've got yourself the butterfly life cycle!  I love that they have taken such an interest in the life cycle of the butterfly that they have incorporated it into their play.  Of course this just further supports what we already know and believe in our hearts:  That play is an essential part of childhood and learning.  In the words of Mr. Rogers: "Play is the beginning of knowledge.“  We couldn't agree more.

 

 

*My sincere apologies for the graininess of these pictures.  It seems as if no camera "likes" the living room at nighttime.  :(

Apples to Applesauce

became

became



Geography. Amazing Race Style.

Last night began the new season of The Amazing Race.  And since we happen to have this awesome map on our wall we figured why not put it to good use once again.  We had so much fun using it for our Olympic Medal Count that Dave thought it would be great to use it to chart the Amazing Race route this season. So, with dry erase marker and rule in hand we plotted the first leg of the journey.  The race began in California (a new location for the girls) and took the teams to China (which both girls remembered the location of from our Olympic Medal Count.  The race is off to a great start!  We're psyched to see the Beekman Boys competing and can't wait to see where this race around the world takes us!