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The Demise of a Barbie Zipline on this Fantastic Friday

The Demise of a Barbie Zipline on this Fantastic Friday

What happens when you combine 2 girls, 1 Barbie doll, a huge tree, a clothes hanger, and a second story bedroom? A Barbie Zipline, of course.Hard as it may be to believe, our staid yard used to be home to a zipline that provided ours of entertainment for our daughter and her friends. This Fantastic Friday post shows how a tree, a clothes hanger, a toy, and two creative little girls can make memories to last a lifetime.

Bye, Bye, Barbie Zipline

In last Friday’s post about the felling of a huge sugar maple in our yard, I neglected to mention a major repercussion of the grand tree’s demise.

The Barbie zip line is no more.

Yes, you read that right. The Barbie zip line. Anne’s Barbie zip line, to be exact. Of course, it hasn’t seen much action in the last decade, but in it’s day, my daughter’s rope and clothes hanger contraption provided hours of entertainment.

At the time I wondered why Anne and her friends kept running in and out of the house.

Turns out, the little girls, many of them Anne’s cousins, had taken the screen out of her second floor bedroom window. It was located about six feet below the peak of the highest roof in the above picture. She and her partners in crime creativity would then throw a long rope out the window, and finally run downstairs and outside to tie the end of the rope around the huge trunk of the old sugar maple. Then they would run back upstairs, strap Barbie dolls to metal clothes hangers and send them down the zip line. Once all the Barbie’s had succumbed to gravity’s relentless pull, the girls would clump down the stairs, and run outside to retrieve the Barbies and haul them back upstairs for another ride.

Had I known, I would ended their fun, worried the girls might fall out the window.

But, I didn’t investigate too closely since they happy since they were occupied so I could do my own thing–work on scrapbooks or freeze meals for the start of school. Besides, none of the children fell out the window, and they still giggle and grin when the subject of Barbie zip lines and bungee jumping Barbies (that’s a subject for another post) enters the conversation.

Today, looking out the window at the fallen tree, I’m homesick for the Barbie zip line days.

I miss my summer-tan little girl flashing her self-conscious smile as she runs past me and out the door. I miss her little friends saying, “Hi, Mrs, Philo!” and her cousins yelling, “Aunt Jo, this is so much fun!” as they rush by. I miss Anne’s tissue boxes lined with torn paper used to house her Beanie Babies. I miss her tempera paint all over the bathroom sink.

Those days are long gone, but until Friday the Barbie zip line tree stood tall.

Why, I wonder, as I lean my head against the window and gaze at the fallen memories littering my front yard, do the best things have to end?

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Fantastic Friday: Queen Anne’s Lace

Fantastic Friday: Queen Anne’s Lace

Today's Fantastic Friday post will forever and always be one of my favorites. I think you'll see why.This post, written a few days before my daughter’s wedding on July 11, 2010, will forever and always be one of my favorites. I think you’ll see why it is this week’s Fantastic Friday choice.

Four days until the wedding, and what did I find? A dandy patch of Queen Anne’s lace, swaying tall and graceful, in an easy-to-reach spot by old Highway 30 east of town.
The flower lady, also known as my sister, plans to gather the the lovely weed, to use as an accent when she creates bouquets and boutonnières on Sunday morning.

She sees an accent flower, but I see my three-year-old daughter standing on the pew at a long ago wedding. Looking like she’d died and gone to fairy tale heaven, my little girl watches the first bridesmaid glide down the aisle. My little girl leans toward me, her eyes wide, and whispers, “She’s a princess.” As bridesmaid follows bridesmaid, she whispers the same words.

“She’s a princess.”
“She’s a princess.”
“She’s a princess.”

Then the organ music swells, the guests rise to their feet, and I lift Anne into my arms so she can see the bride, lovely in her white gown. My little girl gasps, clasps her hands, and her sweet, high voice floats above the rustle of the crowd and the music.

“Mommy, look. She’s the queen.”

Her voice swirls around the Queen Anne’s lace beside the road, and the memory of her childish face shifts, I see a bride, wearing my wedding dress and carrying a bouquet trimmed with small, delicate white flowers. A sweet, high voice floats out of the past and across the meadow to where I stand beside the road, staring at the patch of wildflowers.

“Mommy, look. I’m the queen.”

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Whole Wheat Tortillas

IMG_4525

Today’s recipe comes from my daughter. She’s the ultimate DYI cook who makes almost everything from scratch. During our last visit, she whipped up a batch of whole wheat tortillas that were absolutely scrumptious. So yesterday, when I gave the crockpot chicken fajita recipe another whirl. Since I had proactively scribbled the recipe on the back of a sales receipt and stuffed it in my purse during our visit, I didn’t even have to call and ask her for advice.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water

Mix salt and flour together in a bowl. Add oil and work it in. Mix in water until the dough holds together (add a little more water if needed).

Sprinkle a little corn meal on the counter and turn out dough. Knead a few times. Divide the dough into 12 balls. One at a time, press each ball into a pancake shape.

IMG_4517Roll out into a very thin circle. (Getting the hang of rolling them into a circle takes practice. I nailed it by the 12th tortilla!)

IMG_4521

Place a little olive oil in skillet. Heat skillet on stove (medium to medium high heat). Put tortillas in skillet one by one. Cook for a minute or two, until the tortilla gets a bit bumpy.

whole wheat tortilla 5Then flip and cook for a minute longer.

IMG_4523These are best served fresh and warm with fajitas, tacos, or anything else that uses tortillas. They can also be stored in a Ziplock bag in the fridge for several days.

Bye, Bye, Barbie Zipline

Bye, Bye, Barbie Zipline

Barbie Zipline

In last Friday’s post about the felling of a huge sugar maple in our yard, I neglected to mention a major repercussion of the grand tree’s demise.

The Barbie zip line is no more.

Yes, you read that right. The Barbie zip line. Anne’s Barbie zip line, to be exact. Of course, it hasn’t seen much action in the last decade, but in it’s day, my daughter’s rope and clothes hanger contraption provided hours of entertainment.

At the time I wondered why Anne and her friends kept running in and out of the house.

Turns out, the little girls, many of them Anne’s cousins, had taken the screen out of her second floor bedroom window. It was located about six feet below the peak of the highest roof in the above picture. She and her partners in crime creativity would then throw a long rope out the window, and finally run downstairs and outside to tie the end of the rope around the huge trunk of the old sugar maple. Then they would run back upstairs, strap Barbie dolls to metal clothes hangers and send them down the zip line. Once all the Barbie’s had succumbed to gravity’s relentless pull, the girls would clump down the stairs, and run outside to retrieve the Barbies and haul them back upstairs for another ride.

Had I known, I would ended their fun, worried the girls might fall out the window.

But, I didn’t investigate too closely since they happy since they were occupied so I could do my own thing–work on scrapbooks or freeze meals for the start of school. Besides, none of the children fell out the window, and they still giggle and grin when the subject of Barbie zip lines and bungee jumping Barbies (that’s a subject for another post) enters the conversation.

Today, looking out the window at the fallen tree, I’m homesick for the Barbie zip line days.

I miss my summer-tan little girl flashing her self-conscious smile as she runs past me and out the door. I miss her little friends saying, “Hi, Mrs, Philo!” and her cousins yelling, “Aunt Jo, this is so much fun!” as they rush by. I miss Anne’s tissue boxes lined with torn paper used to house her Beanie Babies. I miss her tempera paint all over the bathroom sink.

Those days are long gone, but until Friday the Barbie zip line tree stood tall.

Why, I wonder, as I lean my head against the window and gaze at the fallen memories littering my front yard, do the best things have to end?

Baked Oatmeal with Carrots, Pears, and Nutmeg

Baked Oatmeal with Carrots, Pears, and Nutmeg

Over the weekend, we went to Wisconsin to visit the daughter and new son who just moved to that fine state. We ate like kings at every meal, and I’m pleased to say the younger generation is carrying on the following family cooking traditions in fine style:

  • The oatmeal as a food group tradition.
  • The never-be-content-with-the-recipe-as-is tradition.
  • The non-dairy tradition.
  • The what-should-I-substitute-for-the-missing-ingredient tradition.

Sunday morning, the daughter did herself proud in all categories by taking the baked oatmeal recipe, shared previously on this blog, and adapting it for ingredients she had on hand. She substituted mashed pear for applesauce and shredded carrot for an apple. She used almond milk instead of cow’s milk to be nice to her mamma. Then, she slam dunked by using fresh, grated nutmeg (more on that in a future post) for cinnamon.

It was so delicious we all had second helpings before I came to my senses and remembered to take a picture! And here’s the daughter’s version of our traditional baked oatmeal recipe. Click on the link to see the original.

Baked Oatmeal with Carrots, Pears, and Nutmeg

1/2 cup brown sugar                            1/4 cup Stevia
2 cups almond milk                              1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. salt                                              2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. fresh, grated nutmeg               1 mashed pear
3 ½ cups old-fashioned oatmeal           ½ cup grated carrot
1 teaspoon vanilla                                 1/2 cup chopped nuts
¼ cup dried fruit*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients and stir well. Add apple, nuts and dried fruit. Pour into greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

*Craisins, dried cherries, and dried blueberries are our faves. Blueberries are divine!