Sandy at Maple Grove wrote about Madrigal Memories, which brought up my own memories of madrigal singing in high school.  A madrigal is Renaissance music about love sung in parts. My audition madrigal, Come Again, has permanent residency status in my brain. 

Sandy asked about a favorite rare Christmas Carol.  No hesitation on my part: Gaudete fits the bill.  Sung by a boys choir called Libera, this carol captures the joy of the Incarnation. 

Reading over last year’s Christmas letters (yep, I keep them and re-read them), I saw this quote.  It is especially good, I think, for homeschool moms to ponder.  The part about stones being “sacred because our hands have touched them” makes me think of the music books I prize because my mother wrote my name on the cover.  Having her handwriting on those books makes them precious to me. 

~ from the archives – and especially for my friend Hope at Worthwhile Books ~

This morning I grabbed a book to read while I worked out on the elliptical machine.  The biggest requirement was that it would lay flat on the little stand.  A hardback would do better, especially one with a loose binding.  A quick check of the stacks of books waiting to be read made Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather my choice.  It is set in Quebec in 1697.  The main characters so far are the widowed apothecary and his daughter.

Many of you know that I lost my mom suddenly when I was 10 years old.  I read this passage with tender emotion.  I’ve abridged it here and there.

After she began to feel sure that she would never be well enough to return to France, her chief care was to train her little daughter so that she would be able to carry on this life and this order after she was gone.

[explanation to her daughter about foods, linen, household duties.]

Madame Auclair never spoke of her approaching death, but would say something like this:

      “After a while, when I am too ill to help you, you will perhaps find it fatiguing to do all these things alone, over and over.  But in time you will come to love your duties, as I do.  You will see that your father’s whole happiness depends on order and regularity, and you will come to feel a pride in it.  Without order our lives would be disgusting.”

She would think fearfully of how much she was entrusting to that little head; something so precious, so intangible; a feeling about life that had come down to her through so many centuries and that she had brought with her across the ocean. The sense of “our way,” –that was what she longed to leave with her daughter.

The individuality, the character, of M.Auclair’s house, though it appeared to be made up of wood and cloth and glass and a little silver, was really made up of very fine moral qualities in two women: the mother’s unswerving fidelity to certain traditions, and the daughter’s loyalty to her mother’s wish.

Isn’t that wonderful?  The last paragraph is so lovely.  Have any of you read Willa Cather?  My Antonia is my favorite, but this is perhaps the fifth book of hers that I’ve read.

 
This takes me right back to the late sixties, early seventies: Audrey, Ethel, and the black gospel I grew up with. This was mother’s milk to me, musically speaking. I practiced my scales, Hanon and Beethoven.  But I thrived on gospel. 

Odetta. 

She is the hero of my hero, Eric Bibb.
She has a regal bearing.  She wears dignity.
She makes you want to stand up.

Odetta.

December 31, 1930 ~ December 2, 2008

During the “dark months” Saturday night is Pizza Night at our house.  I keep all the ingredients on hand (many in my freezer) so I don’t have to dash to the grocery store.  I despise dashing to the grocery store. 

It takes about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, although in a crisis of forgetfulness, I’ve zipped pizza out under two hours.  We love the quality of the pizzas, there are endless combinations, and it has been an economical way to feed our family and have fun doing it!

I shop at Costco (~ Sam’s Club) and Grocery Outlet (~ Winco) for the ingredients. 

I vacuum-pack the pepperoni in small portions and freeze them.  The cheese I store in the freezer and get out about an hour before I need it.  I break off what I need and put it back in the freezer.

You are looking at the prices and muttering…Pizza on the cheap?  Hold on!  This will make dozens of pizzas.  You could buy the ingredients in smaller portions, which I recommend if you are a beginner. (I recall the first time I bought whole wheat farina–a 25 pound bag–and served it to my guys. The words gruel, cruel, strangle, choke, and monstrous all got thrown around; my husband got all magisterial and forbid (!) whole wheat farina ever again appearing on our table, and I had 24.9 pounds left.)   

There is one other necessary purchase: a baking stone. You can spend $40 at a home party or you can buy one for $15 at a box store.  I bake bread, pizza, scones, focaccia, and hot pockets on my stone.  As you can see, it is well seasoned.  The stone will make the difference in the pizza crust.  You gotta have a baking stone.   

Cornmeal Crust (message me if you’d like recipe for basic crust or whole wheat crust)
Stir and let mixture stand until it foams.

Mix:

Add yeast mixture and

to cornmeal mixture. 

Mix and knead the dough by hand, in food processor or electric mixer.
Let dough rise in well-oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap until doubled, 45 minutes – 1 1/2 hour.
(You can halve this recipe.  I like to utilize the hot oven and make enough for leftovers. This will make six smaller pizzas or 4 larger pizzas.)

Pizza Sauce

Simmer 10-15 minutes (or longer).

Assembly 
It takes a bit of practice to get the pizza into the oven in one piece.  Roll out dough into a circle.  Transfer dough to flat (no lip) cookie sheet or a pizza peel (looks like a massive spanking paddle) or a flat cutting board or if you are desperate a plastic chopping sheet.  Critical: sprinkle your board generously with cornmeal.  This keeps the dough from sticking.  You will slide the pizza into the oven.  Another flat cookie sheet or plastic cutting sheet is good to persuade naughty pizzas onto the pathway of righteousness.  Another hint: start by making smallish pizzas.

Preheat oven and stone to 500°.  Add sauce and toppings according to taste.  My man likes more sauce and less cheese. Adding a sprinkling of Parmesan on top of the Mozzarella adds a little zip.  Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes.

Variations
Ranch dressing for the sauce on a chicken garlic pizza.
Just brush the crust with olive oil for a caramelized onion Gorgonzola pizza.
Chevre (goat’s cheese), sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted garlic
Black olive and red pepper
Smoked salmon and mushroom
Jackrabbit and pheasant (we live in the wild west)
Vegetable Extravaganza: onion, pepper, olive, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, herbs

The photo at the top is my son’s first attempt at making pizza.
Everything in this blog post was taught to me by my brother Dan. 
He bought my first pizza stone, gave me a pizza peel, and made many pizzas in my oven. Thanks, bro!

  

My son and I are studying the 20th century this year in our final year of History/Literature.  Although the 20th century is chock full of atrocities and evil, I can honestly say that I’m really enjoying our study.  Hardly a day goes by without an “aha” moment.  I have always loved connecting the dots.  •-•-•

This two volume set by Edward Kantowicz was a random purchase several years ago from a book wholesaler.  I think I spent $5 for both of them.  Although each book retails for $40, you can pick up used copies for about $5 each. When I perused my shelves for books relevant to our studies, these fit the bill.  The writing has been excellent and engaging.  Collin is 350 pages ahead of me; he agrees that the books are eminently readable.

The subject is vast – how does one cover 100 eventful years in 900 pages?  Kantowicz does a great job of paring down the information to what you need to know. The contents are accessible through Google Book Reader. I have particularly enjoyed learning about the Meiji Restoration in Japan, a brief history of the Balkans, the birth of Turkey, modern history of the Middle East (I’ve read about the Balfour Declaration but never quite knew what it meant), the independence of Ireland and the Mexican Revolution.  And I haven’t even gotten to the Great Depression yet!

The title of the first volume comes from Handel’s adaption of Psalm 2: Why do the nations so furiously rage together?  Kantowicz declares his point of view: “I was raised and educated with Catholic Christian values and a deep revulsion against warfare, based on Christian teachings about war and peace.” 

From the introduction:

Though citizens of the world need to know the facts about the twentieth century–the who, what, when, where, and why–it is even more vital that they ask the next question, so what?  Why should anyone care about these events?  What is the context that makes them meaningful?  What connections do they have with everyday life?  How do they challenge or confirm our deepest values? 

Each chapter (about 20 pages) could stand alone.  The set would be a great addition to your reference books giving you more than a Wikipedia article and less than a book on many historical events.  

The suggestions for further reading is very helpful and – oh my! – sure to keep my shelves groaning under the weight of books.  He recommended the film Michael Collins to understand the Irish war for independence.  We watched it last night: gripping, but not for the faint of heart.

Finally, the guy is a word bird.  If you love seeing words explode into technicolor you will enjoy this book.  Soviet means council.  Caliph means successor.  Sherif is an honorific title given to all Arabs descended from the prophet Mohammed.  Yugo mean south.  Slavs and Yugoslavs. 

I just ordered a brand new book – a children’s book – by Wendell Berry: Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World because the opening paragraph was just too wonderful.

Isn’t it just….delicious?  I have been a “serial clicker” this morning – clicking Suprise Me! in the Amazon Reader to see more, no matter the random order.

One more paragraph! 

Contented sigh….

I. Love. Wendell Berry.

Yesterday I got to spend an afternoon with Gavin the Great, my 3 year old grandson.  His dad and mom have been doing a great job preparing him for the new baby due to come Christmas Eve.   When they cut a tree (in our family a Christmas tree isn’t a Christmas tree unless you cut it down) they got him a cute little tree for his bedroom.  Something extra special for this extra special Christmas.

A job on my list was to string lights on Gavin’s tree.  In a moment of inspiration I decided to do this before he took his nap.  As I strung the lights around his bed and tree, Gavin went into hyper-wonder. 

“Look at the lights, Nana!” he kept repeating. 

I thought about how one string of lights (price tag: $8) brings a bit of magic and delight into a child’s life.  One of those tips I wished I had figured out twenty five years ago!

This picture is wretched photography, but it gives you an idea.  The tree is to the left.

The funny moment of the day came when Gavin looked at a picture of himself as a toddler. 

“I miss myself as a baby.” 

He was serious.  But I think the outfit he was wearing might have been a favorite.

Three years old is bit young to be nostalgic, wouldn’t you say?