Tuesday, November 9

November Baking....Pumpkin Muffins

















Even though Halloween is tucked away until the earth turns 'round once more, pumpkins are still featuring large around here! We are still making Pumpkin Pies...they don't last long around here. And a few days ago, we cut a pumpkin in half and used one part to make Pumpkin Soup...the other half, we baked and saved for Pumpkin Muffins - one of our very favorite things to eat!

Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 of a pumpkin, baked and scooped from its shell ( about 2 cups)
1/3 c coconut oil (or melted butter)
2 eggs
1/3 c applesauce
2/3 c raw sugar

1 1/2 c white wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cinnamon

















-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.
-Stir first 5 ingredients together in a bowl, mixing well and making sure the pumpkin is beaten quite smooth.
-In a separate bowl, blend the last 8 ingredients together.
-Add wet ingredients to dry ones and very gently mix...just enough to bring the ingredients together.
-Spoon into prepared muffin tin and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
-Makes 1 dozen

















These are also good with a handful of pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, chopped pecans, etc) thrown in with the dry ingredients...a sneaky dose of protein to go with all that secret vitamin A :)

Monday, November 8

November Painting.....The Storm

















THE STORM

In my bed all safe and warm
I like to listen to the storm.
The thunder rumbles loud and grand -
The rain goes splash and whisper; and
The lightening is so sharp and bright
It sticks its fingers through the night.
                                      -Dorothy Aldis

(paint freely with blue)

Friday, November 5

The14th annual Elves' Faire...

Every Autumn, our local Waldorf school, Linden Waldorf, hosts a festive community celebration called the Elves' Faire. It is a joyous tumble of outdoor games, crafts, storytelling, music, food, puppet shows and wonder...all staffed by the parents of the school. This has been going on for 14 years here in Nashville...for some of those years we've had children enrolled in the school and at other times we haven't...either way, we wouldn't miss it for the world!

















The school grounds and classrooms are used to house the different craft activities and games, etc...children's artwork and beautiful lazured walls are everywhere

































Toucie and Daddy rolled candles to bring home using sheets of beeswax ...there was also a room for candle dipping, but we will save that for another year when Toucie is older.  With all that beeswax, this whole part of the building smelled like warm honey!

















There were opportunities for folding beautiful window stars out of translucent kite paper...there are several tutorials out there for making these at home.

































...making exotic fairy wands woven with fanciful threads and embellished with feathers....

















...there was a wood-working room where you could build a wooden boat or a dancing Limberjack...

































Here is the one Toucie and Daddy made...I love him!

















Outside, there were student performances by the different grade levels...these 5th graders, who are studying Ancient Civilizations as part of their curriculum this year, are performing a dance from India.

















The 8th graders could be seen walking around on stilts all day long!

















8th graders are also considered mature enough to help staff all the activities...here is one helping Toucie in the Face-Painting booth....so sweet! (I remember him in pre-school!!!)






















There were unique and fabulous things to do like this...those kids are using this elaborate wooden machine to twist colorful acrylic yarn into a jumprope...so cool.

















Here's the "manly" one daddy made last year with black, grey, and green yarns.

















The school operates a little store called The Linden Seeds Store where local folks can come to purchase Waldorf toys, art supplies, books, and handwork goods. They stock it to bursting for the Elves Faire...here you can see the merchandise spilling out onto the driveway outside the storefront. (Its open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 - 4pm if you are local!)

















There are a lot of talented musicians and artists who are parents here...and they pitch in just like everyone else! These fellows provided some great background tunes for the festivities :)

















This is Pockets, the elf. Many Waldorf schools celebrate the fall or winter with an Elves' Faire, and Pockets is a common feature at most of them. Dressed in huge overalls, with zillions of pockets stitched on (full of tiny wrapped treasures), Pockets strolls the grounds, passing out little treats to the children.

















...some treasures from Pockets...

































Jousting, Jacob's Ladder, archery, face painting, puppet shows, a storyteller, a beanbag toss, and probably some other things that we missed....so much to do and see, all on a beautiful autumn day!
I am so grateful for the continued relationship my family has with this school. Being a part of this community is a blessing. :)

Thursday, November 4

November Handwork...Heavy Sandbags

 















During handwork this week, Toucie and I made half a dozen 5 pound sandbags to use during circletime. Right now we incorporate them into our movements as we sing about hauling corn and meal to and from the mill, but they have endless other uses for Toucie to discover.

















There is not much to them...they are just like giant beanbags (filled with sand instead of beans). To make the project child-friendly we took it slow...worked 2 days to complete them. I divided the steps of construction like this:
1) I measured the fabric, Toucie tore it into the rectangles needed
2) I stitched the pairs of rectangles together on three sides to make a "pillowcase", Toucie turned them all right-side-out
3) Toucie filled each "pillowcase" 3/4 full of sand, I stitched them closed as she completed filling each one.
4) I put away all the materials and supplies, Toucie swept up all the stray sand with her wisk broom.
Voila! Done...

















I like to have alot of ideas in my pocket for indoor movement and exercise as the cold months approach...playing/working/building/pretending/stacking with soft, safe, heavy sandbags (great to pair with beanbags!) are some ways to get muscles moving indoors :)

Wednesday, November 3

Pumpkin Soup...for eating and reading

















This is an autumn favorite of mine...I'll be so sad when Toucie outgrows this book! Pumpkin Soup is written and illustrated by Helen Cooper. It is the story of a cat, a squirrel, and a duck - three friends who live together, make music together, and cook pumpkin soup together, each contributing their special talents to the work.





















Cat always peels and chops the pumpkin, squirrel always stirs in the water, and Duck always adds a pipkin of salt...what happens when their peaceful rhythm gets shaken up?






















The magical illustrations plus the recipe at the end of the story make us want to run into the kitchen and stir up some soup!

Mado did the all the chopping.

















Toucie found a tiny doll's teacup (it held a scant teaspoon) to use as a "pipkin" for our salt.

















We all took turns stirring :)

















Here is our own recipe for Pumpkin Soup:

1 medium onion chopped
3 Tbs. butter
1/2 of a jack-o-lantern pumpkin (because that's what we had), peeled and chopped (about 6 cups)
6 cups of water or broth
1 scant tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
milk or cream to taste

-In a stockpot, saute onion in the butter until soft
-Add pumpkin and water or broth and salt
-Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently until pumpkin is soft (about 30 minutes)
-In a blender, puree soup in batches, adding milk or cream to get desired consistancy, and returning soup to the pot when all is smooth
-Stir in black pepper to taste and adjust salt
-Serve immediately (serves 6-8)

(PS) we baked the other half of the pumpkin and refrigerated it to use next week for Pumpkin Muffins...it is much easier to scoop baked pumpkin out of the shell than it is to peel and chop a raw pumpkin!)

Tuesday, November 2

November Baking....Favorite Cornbread

















I tend to gravitate towards themes in our kindergarten "lessons". Since our circletime revolves around the themes of autumn wind, grinding corn, and millers...baking cornbread seemed the natural thing to follow. Some of the fall harvest festivals around our area include old-fashioned, steam-driven corn mill demonstrations. What a thrill to take home cornmeal that was ground before your very own eyes and then turn it into bread!

This is our family's go-to recipe - its adapted from Jeanne Lemlin's book, Vegetarian Pleasures:

















Cornbread

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
3/4 cups flour (we use white whole wheat)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup honey
3 Tbs. melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 if using a glass pan)
-Grease an 8" or 9" iron skillet or an 8x8 baking pan
-In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients
-In a smaller bowl, thoroughly mix together the wet ingredients
-Add wet ingredients to dry ones and stir just until blended
-Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
-Serve immediately (6-8 servings)

Monday, November 1

November Circle....

















photo by Mado

Here are the rhymes and songs from our November Circle (the bits in italics are notes to myself about movement or how to link one song/verse to the next) :


Good morning dear Earth
Good morning dear Sun,
Good morning dear stones 
And flowers, every one.
Good morning to the bees,
And the birds in the trees.
Good morning to you
And good morning to me.
(from Waldorf parent-tot group)

To the mill today, to have our corn harvest ground into cornmeal! Let us find Boy Blue to help us!

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn.
The sheep’s in the meadow! The cow’s in the corn!
Where’s the little boy who looks after the sheep?
He’s under the haystack fast asleep!
(traditional)

Oh, Blue! We will sing you a song about children who were not so lazy as you! (drumming)

In the fields, golden morn,
Indian children gather corn.
Dance to the sun,
Dance to the rain,
Dance to the earth who gives us grain.
Indian children put feathers in their hair.
Indian children string beads to wear.
Dance to the sun,
Dance to the rain,
Dance to the earth who gives us grain.
Indian children walk softly as the deer
To the tipi with the golden ear
Dance to the sun,
Dance to the rain,
Dance to the earth who gives us grain.
A little fire they will make.
Bread of golden corn they will bake.
Dance to the sun,
Dance to the rain,
Dance to the earth who gives us grain.
Bread of golden corn they’ll eat,
Then Indian children fall fast asleep.
(from Wynstones Autumn book)

now to our task... but feel that cold autumn wind !

Ali, ala, le vent chantonne
Deci, dela, voici l’automne
La terre qui tonne, l’automne est la,
Ali, ala, ali.
(from Recueil de Poemes...)

gather up the sacks of corn and we can be off to the mill... (happily marching, carrying heavy sandbags)

Blow, wind, blow !
Go, mill, go !
So the miller can grind our corn !
So the baker can take it
And into bread make it
And bring us a loaf in the morn!
(traditional)

…the miller is asleep…(mime sleep then large windmill movements with arms – vary speed and direction)

Meunier, tu dors ! Ton moulin, ton moulin, va trop vite!
Meunier, tu dors ! Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop fort !
Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop vite
Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop fort
Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop vite
Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop fort
(traditional French nursery song)

here is the miller...now we will have our cornmeal...(again with the sandbags)

Blow, wind, blow .....

Thanks to the good miller for grinding our corn! Now we can enjoy our walk home…

The wind came out to play today
It swept the clouds out of its way.
It blew the leaves, they flew away.
The trees bent low, and said hooray!
(from Suzanne Down’s Autumn Tales)

Five little leaves so bright and gay
Were dancing on a tree one day.
The wind came blowing through the town
(whoosh!)
One little leaf came tumbling down.
Four little leaves……
(from waldorf parent-tot group)

The North Wind came along one day,
So strong and full of fun.
He called the leaves down from the tree
And said, “Run children, run!”
They came in red or yellow dress,
In shaded green and brown,
And all the short November day
He chased them round the town.
They ran in crowds, they ran alone,
They hid behind the trees.
The North Wind laughed and found them there
And called, “No stopping, please!”
But when he saw them tired out
And huddled in a heap,
He softly sang, “Goodnight, my dears,
Now let’s go to sleep.”
(from Suzanne Down’s Autumn Tales)

(settle into seated position as poem winds down) …we can sing the little leaves a lullaby…

Ali, ala, le vent chantonne
Deci, dela, voici l’automne
La terre qui tonne, l’automne est la,
Ali, ala, ali.
(from Recueil de Poemes...)

(be still for a moment before moving on to candle-lighting and storytime)