Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Gardens, like rebellions, are built on hope.

Garden planning is one of my annual goals. Planning generally starts in January or February, since some indoor planting can start as early as mid-February, depending on what I’m growing that particular year. This year was a late start for me, I didn’t plant anything until almost mid-March.

I try to use up my old seeds first, so I sort through them when I begin garden planning, and then see what I need to fill in my planting gaps. This year, I have a lot of leftover seeds, so all I bought was a couple varieties of large tomatoes. This is where hope starts kicking in… I hope the old seeds will still germinate. This was the last year for the pepper seeds, none of them sprouted.

Seed starts, from planting (top half) to seedlings (bottom half). With luck, many tomatoes will be produced and consumed. — Seed starts, from planting to seedlings. With luck, many tomatoes will be produced and consumed.

As they sprout, I hope I remember to open the curtains, to get some sun in on the new growth. I’m actually fairly good at that. As it warms up, I hope the forecast is accurate… I check it each morning and decide whether to put the pots (well, yogurt cups) all the way outside, just outside the front door (where they’re partially covered), or leave them in the house. Every day they’re in the house, I hope the kitten doesn’t decide to knock any of them down or destroy any of the seedlings. Especially the tomato plants, since the leaves have a nice bounce to them. And I hope I pick the right days to put them out, and the right nights to leave them out to harden as it cools, but hopefully not too much. Here in Illinois, the nights can vary wildly – we may see a 10 degree drop one night, and a 30 degree drop the next – so I have to choose carefully.

They don’t all survive. You can see in the photo that I started with more cups than I have now. Some sprouted and then faded while still tiny. I planted at least 3 cups of basil; I have one left. And while there’s an overwhelming number of tomatoes, half of those are cherry tomatoes that are more likely to make it into the mouth than the house when harvested.

At some point soon, I hope I pick the right time to move them outside. As you can see, they’re getting a bit tall for those little yogurt cups, but we’ve had a couple nights where the temperature was still in the 40s. Once they’re big enough, they’ll probably be OK with a night or two that gets that low, so it’s entirely possible they relocate to a couple different spots this upcoming weekend. I think it’s safe… I took a gamble and planted peas about 10 days ago, and those are coming up nicely.

Whiskey Acres, an Illinois distillery

I recently visited Whiskey Acres, a distillery in Dekalb, IL. As I’ve mentioned before, I do like a good whiskey, and by chance had tried a Whiskey Acres Rye at Hardware recently. It was a bit of a random choice at Hardware, given that there are over 400 whiskeys to choose from, and I try not to repeat the ones I’ve had before. I mentioned to a friend that I had tried a rye from Illinois; he responded by telling me about this distillery that he wanted to visit at some point… I looked at the name and realized it was their rye. And it’s only 30 minutes away!

Whiskey Acres buildings, still (her name is Flo), casks, and the array of bottles for tasting.

We decided to meet for the last tour on a Friday night – it starts at 7pm, lasts an hour, and they close at 8:30. The weather was beautiful (not to be confused with “the weather is here…”), and apparently everybody else decided not to be there that night… we were the only people on the tour. And we learned a lot!

With the exception of the malted barley, Whiskey Acres grows all of their own grains. When they’re ready to start preparing the mash, they notify the farmers of how much corn they need, so it’s fresh off the farm when the start using it. The mash will sit for a few days before being introduced to Flo, their still. (Apparently all stills should be named. Please take note if you have an as-of-yet unnamed still.) The still is a full day process, unless they’re preparing vodka, in which case it goes through the still 3 times, so it’s a 3 (continuous) day process. We didn’t meet Nick, but apparently the vodka is made with his tears… 3 days of continously running the still is a long time.

After the distillation, the alcohol is barreled. We learned that to qualify as a bourbon, it must be 125 proof or lower at the point when it’s barreled, and the barrels must be new. The barrels for bourbon are burnt on the inside before the alcohol is added; that’s where it picks up the brown color.

The aging process of a whiskey varies. The smaller casks age faster, they may only take 18-24 months; the large casks can take 5-7 years. And some poor soul has to check them periodically as they approach the potential ready date. Part of me would love that job, but to be honest, my palate is not particularly discerning, so I suspect I would be bad at it.

The tour wraps up with a tasting of their rye, bourbon, and vodka. I am not generally a vodka drinker, yet was pleasantly surprised at how drinkable it was. It didn’t outweigh my normal preferences… in the end, I walked away with a bottle of their bourbon. (And yes, I am sipping some while I type. It seemed appropriate.) You get a souvenir shot glass with the tour, they’ll even wrap it up for you after your tasting.

The Whiskey Acres tasting room is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through November. They don’t serve food, but have plenty of space for a picnic, if you pack one, or you can drive into downtown Dekalb for some lovely sushi or other food options.

Judging a book by its cover

Occasionally, I receive multiple review books together. They usually have different due dates, so I prioritize whichever one is due first. If they share a due date, I have to decide which one to read first, and I generally take a “save the best for last” approach. At that point, I only have the cover to go by, and since it’s an advanced copy, that’s usually the back cover, with the blurb, rather than a fully illustrated front cover.

This worked for me well last time, when I read a fantasy book before Side Life. This time, well, after the first chapter of the first (of two) book… I considered that I may have gotten them in the wrong order. The first book had an illustrated front and plain back cover; the description alluded to an existing world that I had no concept of. With no solid expectations going into it, I was rolling in laughter before I finished the first chapter. There were so many quotable quotes, I chose not to flood my Facebook friends with more than a couple. So I confess, I totally misjudged that book (and I’m not telling you which it was) based on the back cover.

And yet, as much as I liked it, I enjoyed the second book I had received that much more. This was what I’ll call a true review copy – plain covers on the front and back – so I only had the blurb on the back to judge by before I started reading. I may share that review at some point in the future; they publish elsewhere first. Based on the blurb, I knew that the protagonist was a half-orc, defending a borderland between the humans and the orcs, and that he discovers during the story that there are things he doesn’t understand. The character development is particularly well-written, you can understand both why the character is missing information and how he adapts as he learns. If you get the chance, read The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French. Then add the sequel to your want to read list; it doesn’t appear to have a publication date yet.

Experimenting with HelloFresh

As I mentioned in my post about Blue Apron, I also tried out HelloFresh. I actually plan on trying a couple other delicious looking meal kit options, just to see what sort of variances are available, but in the end, I only really need one (if that).

My first impression of the HelloFresh recipes was that they were blander than the Blue Apron ones. I rescinded that impression with the second set of recipes; it must have just been the particular recipes I picked.

HelloFresh bags ("This bag is greener than a salad") and selection of meals — HelloFresh bags the ingredients for their meals (other than meats), and here are some of the results.

There are many similarities between the two meal kit services. You log in and pick from a variety of menu options for a given week. The typical box has ingredients for three recipes. In the Blue Apron box, most of the fresh produce is separate from the “knick knacks” bag for each recipe, and any meat is packaged separately; you store the produce as appropriate and refrigerate the knick knacks and meat. The HelloFresh box splits out the meat from everything else; all of the other ingredients for a given recipe are in a brown paper bag (labeled “this bag is greener than a salad”). An interesting difference between the two is that HelloFresh will send you two peeled cloves of garlic in the bag, whereas Blue Apron will send you an entire bulb even if you only need two cloves. We’re three Blue Apron boxes in… we’re never running out of fresh garlic.

The meals in both cases are tasty, and the recipes are easy to follow. In fact, there’s a real pleasure as a parent of being able to hand over a single sheet and pile of ingredients while I run off and do other chores.

There are minor differences in the website that could sway you to one or another – the HelloFresh website lets you skip meals far ahead of their menu planning, whereas Blue Apron dates become available as the menus are posted. We’ve decided to stick with Blue Apron for the moment, more because it was the first of the two we tried… that and I like their Mediterranean recipes.

Coming sometime soon… our thoughts on Meal Village, where instead of a meal kit, somebody else does all the work and you just have to reheat the meal.

Cho Dan Essay

Tonight, I will test for my Cho Dan, or 1st degree black belt, in the World Tang Soo Do Association. As part of our preparation, we take a written test (up to twice, if needed; I passed on my first attempt… both times) and write a thousand words about Tang Soo Do.

I failed my sanity check and wrote it as a poem. Enjoy!

Twas two weeks before Dan Camp when my teacher and friend,
as I was leaving the dojang after a fabulous class,
asked “Are you testing this cycle” Thus the planning began.
Was this a thing I could do, could I make it and pass?

If I test in September, and again in the spring,
I would visit Tikal as a new Cho Dan Bo.
Pre-Testing next Dan Camp could be a real thing,
But I found in October one goal had to go.

January’s test is usually late,
So we relearn what holidays help us forget.
Last year it fell on my own birthdate,
Testing so soon would be a close bet.

With regular practice and no real chance to rest,
Was I being too ambitious or just slightly insane?
I gave it my all, I gave it my best.
My knife skills were iffy; my shoulder, in pain.

My breaking was lousy, I can’t say that’s new.
But my one steps were solid, and I knew all my forms,
I was happy to pass and then learn Sip Soo.
But how did I reach this point that transforms?

When Cassandra, my daughter, had turned almost four,
we went to the fair to enjoy rides once again,
stopped at some booths, thought about them no more,
till a phone call came in, we stopped to think then.

Was karate something she wanted to try?
It’s truly hard work, not like Kung Fu Panda,
while really quite fun, Po’s too goofy a guy,
earning a black belt’s more than Hollywood propaganda.

Cassandra's first karate class — Cassandra’s first karate class

Her first class looked great, she had a fabulous grin,
When I look back at it now, I see many a friend.
Some still do karate, others have left it since then,
I didn’t know yet that our hobbies would blend.

I promised her when I saw the first buddy week,
I’d try it with her, take my turn on the mat,
I didn’t know then that my body would speak,
to say my appendix was a bit of a brat.

I woke up that Christmas in a hospital bed,
worried in two months for my stair climb,
ninety-four flights up I would tread,
forty-some minutes was quite a slow time.

I sat three more months with my books or my hook,
crocheting or reading as she learned some new skills,
watching the classes my daughter partook,
while I thought about crafts and paying the bills.

Hugging Cassandra after my first karate class. This was before I even had a uniform.

Winter became spring, as May rolled around,
I was invited to class, to my delight and surprise,
not just for a week, a whole month I had found,
celebrating mothers with some pain in my thighs.

There was pain in push-ups and again in each crunch,
though I’m flexible enough, I always could kick.
I found there’s no pain in one single punch,
unless there’s a board or even a brick.

I know that my desk job does me no good,
sitting all day is hard to offset.
Needing more exercise, I understood,
karate was something I could not regret.

Training beside that cute smiling face,
spending time exploring one steps together,
driving towards one or other new place,
these are things that we would certainly weather.

I trained most of a year, and at a regional event
saw Grandmaster destroy a piñata with skill,
after our demo teams to great lengths had went
to show their moves, devotion, and will.

The next spring was a setback, unfortunate for me.
It would not quell my passion, this thing with my shoulder,
I pulled something wrong when cutting a tree,
it felt more like I had lifted a boulder.

Six months I sat out, sad to just watch,
knowing it would take time to achieve,
the skills she would learn as she stepped up a notch,
knowing my health would give no reprieve.

On the plus side I’m older, I had a clear goal,
she wasn’t quite six, she was quite content
to learn something new, she was on a roll,
as a Little Dragon, she made her ascent.

The next summer, my health again wasn’t that great,
I wound up in therapy for pulling my hip,
I sat for two months, as it messed with my gait,
and acquired a walking stick on our road trip.

Two thousand fourteen was a year full of jaunts,
Disney, Hawaii, and Guatemala anew,
some were a first, some were old haunts,
this time though, my skills travelled too.

With some consternation and also great joy,
after extensive searching and some interview pain,
I quit my old job for a new employ,
not working at home, but still, quite a gain.

The downside I found was I had a commute,
the length of which would not let me teach;
the earlier class I would overshoot,
the later classes just in my reach.

As time went on, I found my job shifted,
I bought a new house, left for an earlier drive,
the timing restrictions were happily lifted,
I could plan out karate, make sure I arrive.

I knew by this point that I do like to spar,
and I’ve come to enjoy even hapkido.
I’m not quite the addict that my instructors are,
that may be a change I yet undergo.

It took some time, moving’s always a mess,
and a birthday piñata claimed some of my time,
my first Prep class helped me obsess
on the skills I would need to advance my belt climb.

October added another workout,
bimonthly, with black belts, all of them skilled,
I gather there could be a larger turnout,
the space we were using is nowhere near filled.

The day crept closer to the August pre-test,
one skill, then another, I learned on the mat,
with time to spare, I completed my quest,
Ninety one-steps were learned, some fell a bit flat.

There was just one month till the test in the Dells,
just enough time to refine and improve,
and appear before judges with no whistles or bells,
working hard that day to make them approve.

Three days before, a crash dragged me from the mat,
my car was totaled by a distracted pick-up truck.
The doctor said your concussion will prevent testing for that.
Between the diagnosis and car shopping, I was stuck.

At Valpo, five months later, I pre-tested – again,
enjoying myself despite a horrible cough.
I’m ready for April, it’s time to ascertain –
can I break two boards in this final face off?

Whirlwind

Sometimes, words get in the way. Or they aren’t right to convey the meaning. That’s when we turn to more creative expressions. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, what’s a song worth?

This song was composed on Noteflight.com, which is a pretty amazing website.

The Return of Blue Apron

Shortly after moving into this house, I tried Blue Apron for a little while. Unfortunately, I tried it as we moved into harvest season with a surprisingly large number of squash… I couldn’t keep up with both of them, so I cancelled my Blue Apron subscription.

Blue Apron ingredients, recipes, and meals — Blue Apron ingredients, recipes, and some of the meals produced from two boxes.

Last summer was… complicated. I never got around to re-starting the subscription. Now that things have finally calmed down a bit, we decided we could try it again.

Each box comes with ingredients and recipes that you order – my box had three recipes for two servings each. You can pick recipes each week or accept the defaults (if you forget to log in), or skip weeks when you won’t have time to cook them. All of the ingredients arrive in a freezer bag, with a pack of ice by the meats to keep them extra cool.

In addition to pretty pictures, the recipes are available on the Blue Apron website when you select your menu options for the week, so you can get a feel for how long each meal will take to cook. Two of this week’s recipes were 45-55 minutes, so I had to make sure I had that time to cook.

All of the recipes come with step-by-step directions, so you just follow along, preparing bits and cooking other bits generally in the recommended order. In my case, I occasionally add steps like “hide raw meat in microwave until oven is heated” and “hide cooked meat in microwave until side dishes are ready”… anything to protect the food from Arwen.

I normally cook from ingredients, rather than prepared foods, so that part isn’t really a change. The big differences are having the exact amount of ingredients needed to prepare the meal, and the ease of access to a variety of recipes, particularly with their recent addition of Mediterranean recipes. It allows me to explore new ideas – such as including capers and raisins in the same dish – without a remnant jar of capers remaining in the fridge. (To be honest, I think I already have one.)

So far, it’s a successful experiment. For comparison, I’m working through a HelloFresh order. In the end, I only want to order recipes and ingredients from one website… watch this space for my thoughts on HelloFresh.

We packed up and went.

Several months ago, a co-worker of mine mentioned a website she had heard of – Pack Up & Go – that will plan a 3-day vacation for you. The catch is that you don’t find out where you’re going until you go. We thought that sounded like fun, so as a spring break option we picked a price range in the “plane, train, or bus” option and filled out their survey about our interests, recent trips, and upcoming trips – they want to avoid places you’ve gone recently or are going to soon.

One week before the trip, we received some hints so we know what to pack, the weather forecast, and when and where we’re departing. Based on the weather and departure details (flying out of Midway and we’re allowed two free checked bags each), I guessed we were heading to Baltimore – Southwest (the airline for free checked bags) had four flights leaving at 8:00 AM that day, and the other three were to warmer climates. Cassandra’s guess was Philadelphia. You're going to Philadelphia! PA As it turns out, she was right – that flight was at 7:55.

We woke up at 4am and opened our envelope before heading to the airport. By the time we parked, we had an email with our boarding passes and some additional details. I glanced through the sightseeing and food recommendations before breakfast, and really dug into them on the plane.

Our package also included directions to our hotel, a dinner reservation and gift card, museum tickets, and an Uber credit. And most importantly, a map of the downtown area. I marked our hotel and dinner spot, and scoped out where the recommendations landed on the map.

We stopped at the hotel before lunch, planning to leave our bags with the concierge, but lucked out because our room was ready. We took a little longer as a result, then hit the streets heading towards the Reading Terminal Market. It was lunchtime and the whole market felt packed, so instead of exploring its’ entirety, we slipped out the other side and found a lovely Ramen restaurant in Chinatown.

After lunch, we wandered towards the Liberty Bell with a stop in a chocolate shop. Despite three chocolate shop stops, we didn’t buy any chocolate on this trip! (Self-restraint is easier when traveling carry-on only.) When we reached the Liberty Bell, we saw a long line inside the building. And outside. And turning the corner. We decided to wait our visit until Sunday morning, though we did pick up postcards at the gift shop. We wandered our way around town and back to the hotel before our dinner reservation at Garces, and managed to visit a couple shops on the way to that.

Dinner was amazing, starting with sourdough bread and a selection of olive oils and vinegars, then appetizers, soups, and entrees that landed at our table. We even saved room for dessert, which went nicely with the Auchentoshan Three Wood (Scotch) I selected. As we strolled back to the hotel, we laughed as a young gentleman sang to someone in his group, then asked who else needed to be serenaded.

Sunday morning, well before the Liberty Bell opened, we descended to Urban Farmer, the hotel’s restaurant, where the waiter talked me into having a homemade English muffin… because it came with the blue crab omelette. The muffin was easily double the size I expected. It made a lovely lunch; I barely finished the omelette.

Our line strategy worked – we strolled right in when we reached the Liberty Bell shortly after 9:00 am. Next on the agenda was The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, a block away from our hotel. There were casts of dinosaurs fossils as we entered, and information on any number of animals elegantly displayed in life-sized dioramas, as well as an indoor butterfly exhibit. We bypassed the live crocodiles, since we had already decided to visit both the Adventure Aquarium (across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey) and the Philadelphia Zoo. We stopped at the hotel to grab my leftover English muffin from the room fridge and summoned a ride using Uber. Our driver did warn us that the area surrounding the aquarium is unsafe, and to get our return ride directly from the entrance.

We arrived just in time for the hippo feeding. I don’t know about you, but I’ve mostly seen hippos lounging at zoos, so this was a treat. Both hippos were in the water. From the below water level viewing area, we could see them pushing off the floor to snatch half a head of cabbage in their mouths. We moved from there to the shark exhibit, glancing at jellyfish and other creatures on the way. The final part of the shark exhibit is the optional Shark Bridge – a rope netting bridge with metal supports over the shark tank. (Yes, we most certainly did walk it.)

Then it was time for a hands-on exhibit, reaching into a tank of rays before popping outside for one of the two penguin enclosures. And back inside for the touch-a-shark tank – significantly smaller than the ones below the shark bridge – and an exploration of reptiles and amphibians. We went back outside with the crowd at penguin feeding time before visiting the hands-on kids area. (Yes, we’re above the target age range. But still welcome.) That included yet another touch tank, this time with starfish, shrimp, and fish.

An Uber ride later, we were back at the hotel trying to pick a dinner spot from the long list Pack Up + Go provided. With assistance from my phone (“that one doesn’t have an available table for two hours”, “that has no openings tonight”), we selected El Rey as our destination, and enjoyed interesting Mexican food, including a rice pudding flan.

Having reached our final morning without, we decided a Philly cheesesteak sandwich was an appropriate breakfast option at the appropriate named Spataro’s Cheesesteaks restaurant at Reading Terminal Market. And having already walked over 40,000 steps during the weekend, we chose the reasonable option of… no, wait, we walked some more. You can’t really sit down while exploring a zoo. We packed up, checked out of the hotel, and spent the next few hours at the Philadelphia Zoo. (With our luggage. Good thing it was just carry-on.)

They have some pretty interesting exhibits, including their 360 view tunnels for various animals. I can’t emphasize enough how cool it is to walk under the jaguar or the red pandas. Sadly, the trip had to end, so we headed to the airport, thoroughly satisfied with our first Pack Up + Go experience.

Tiger on my toes

I was in the shower, singing about the tigers that come at night and reflecting on Arwen’s latest attack on my toes when I remembered this poem I wrote a couple years ago. That particular tiger was far less painful than the kitten.

The kitten, Arwen, exploring the just-emptied freezer bag from Blue Apron — Arwen exploring the just-emptied freezer bag from Blue Apron

There’s a tiger on my toes,
I’m scared it will bite my feet.
I was sleeping beneath the stars
and now a tiger wants to eat.

I want to call for Mom,
but I think it fell asleep.
Maybe it won’t eat me
if I don’t move or make a peep.

I’d like to shift my foot,
but I may have felt a claw.
Will it wake the creature up
if I jostle its mighty paw?

As I lie awake in fear,
I reach to touch its fur.
I can feel the furball shift
and unleash a massive purr.

There’s a Tiger on my toes,
he sleeps there every night.
But when I’m half asleep
he gives me such a fright.

Well, that was unexpected.

Sometimes, life throws you for a loop; other times, it feels like you’re being hit by full-on plot twists, like a sudden death or an unexpected pregnancy. It can feel like stepping sideways into your own life, as things shift around you that you never saw coming.

For Vin, the main character of Side Life, by Steve Tougonghi, it’s worse than that… he flat out doesn’t remember some of the loops (a cat?), and would swear the plot twists were exactly the opposite (why doesn’t his best friend’s phone number work?). It all started when he was forced out of the software company he founded, and his father referred him to a house sitting opportunity. The house, and the opportunity, don’t seem quite… right.

Vin does what any bored genius would do… he obsesses about the issue. With nothing else holding his attention, he delves into the mystery of the house and it’s owner, Nerdean. To his credit, he doesn’t climb into one of the caskets he finds in the secret basement immediately; he waits until he can log into the computers and get some information about the caskets. When he does experiment with the casket’s basic settings, his reality shifts and confusion reigns as he tries to understand what’s happening to him.

I can’t say much more without getting into spoilers. Suffice to say, I recommend this book; it will be released on May 8^th. This book will keep you guessing, including deciding whether you like the main character or despise him.