Ralph’s been working on the seven times table and whenever he gets 7 x 4 or 4 x 7 he says, “28 — because of February,” which always makes me smile.
Read
My top two books of February were both non fiction and I just noticed that they both centre on the year 1978.
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown was fascinating. Candace Fleming did a great job showing how people were sucked into Jim Jones’ orbit before things got gradually worse and worse. I kept thinking about the book after I finished reading, especially feeling sympathy for those who died and for those who managed to survive being part of the Peoples Temple. I’m going to keep asking people I know if they remember hearing about the Jonestown massacre on the news back in the day.
I just finished The Brendan Voyage: A Leather Boat Tracks the Discovery of America by the Irish Sailor Saints, which we spent several months reading aloud for school. This memoir is set in 1977-1978 and the subtitle says it all. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history or adventure.
Eat
In the quest to use up my sourdough discard I discovered Pantry Mama’s muffin recipes. So far the lemon muffins were especially good (we added poppy seeds).
The young people at church hosted a chili cook-off and I was the runner-up! Unfortunately I don’t have a recipe, though I’m sure I could recreate something similar.
A friend from church came over to learn how to make bread and we also made apricot chicken together.
One Saturday Andrew pampered me with a full day of meals: pad kra pao (Thai basil chicken) with fried eggs and tropical fruit salad for breakfast, wedge salad with steak and blue cheese for lunch, and seafood paella at Little Barcelona for supper. (He also gave me a gold necklace with birth month flowers of the kids and me!)
Here’s my modified orange almond recipe in case anyone is interested: Whisk one egg white with 1/2 tsp salt and juice of half an orange, then mix in 5 cups of raw almonds. Stir zest of two oranges into 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup white sugar. Stir the almonds into the sugar, then pour onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 1 hour at 200 degrees, stirring every 20 minutes.
Do
Besides the food-related events already mentioned, here’s what we got up to in February.
We did a few activities in Star Lake and Wanakena for the Adirondack WhiteOutWeekend: crafts, cookie decorating, fairy village, snow croquet. The same day we watched the parade at the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, then went on the carousel and visited the ice palace.
Last weekend was our annual congregational meeting one night and a church skating the next night. (I had to miss the skating because of a sick toddler, but it had a great turnout and I’m glad the rest of the kids got the chance to skate and share treats they baked and hang out with friends.)
Watch
This month Andrew and I watched season three of The Gilded Age. I’m here for the costume design if nothing else!
Listen
Andrew and I finally finished listening to the Pack One Bag podcast: “The epic true story of an Italian Jewish family, split apart by love, fascism and war. Through shocking discoveries – and Stanley Tucci’s artistry – an enthralling personal history comes to life.”
Last but not least, two lovely songs.
Meditate
“A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.” – Proverbs 10:4-5