Draft 2021

Sometimes, out of the blue, something happens to remind me of how radically different my family relationships are than the typical. It’s always such a surprise when this happens; so much so that I rarely speak up to say that family strife does not have to be the “norm.” Last night my dd, 14, and I took a knitting class. I’m the one who wanted to learn how to knit; my dd came along as my security blanket. I have very little self-confidence when it comes to learning how to do something new in front of other people. Anyway, the class was taught be a lovely Australian woman. Our classmates included two middle-aged sisters and one of their daughters and another young woman who was far too skilled to be in our beginner’s class! Altogether it was a delightful evening, but at one point, the conversation turned toward children and teenagers. Our teacher talked about how her adult sons know nothing about her as a person; don’t even really think of her as a “person.” She

Lately I've been on a bread-making jaunt. My last one was in January. They usually last a couple of weeks at a time, but I'm hopeful I'll be able to sustain this one for a longer period of time. I finally found a good all-purpose whole wheat bread that my youngest dd will eat. It soft and mild tasting, with no added crunchiness. This is essential to her favorite breakfast - a piece of bread with peanut butter and chocolate chips; milk-chocolate, not semi-sweet. So far this week I've made bread three times; a whole grain oat bread, Vienna bread and easy overnight-started bread, all from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. I never used to have much success with many of the breads from this cookbook. Now that I have a Kichenaid stand mixer, I realize I never kneaded the bread long enough by hand. Making bread is part of my desire to live my principles and eat as locally as I can. I have to be careful, however, as I tend to easily place myself in a box and then feel ho