Cooking on a hearth

Last weekend my sister and I learned how to do hearth-side cooking at Pioneer Farms.

The cabin we volunteer in has an outdoor kitchen, with only a stone hearth to cook on. You can see the 'kitchen' behind me, it's the roofed structure on the right. Can you imagine cooking in inclement weather?! Even the kitchen table is outside...it would be so hard to keep the food clean...imagine chopping veggies on a windy day. Yikes!

I was a bit disappointed at first, only because it seemed much easier and sophisticated to cook on the big cast iron stoves in the other cabins. Our little cabin is the only one on the farm with a hearth kitchen. This class helped me appreciate what an ideal kitchen it really is! I wouldn't mind having one in my own backyard.

 We also learned how to cook on a cast iron stove.  Cooking on the hearth is SO much easier than working with the iron stoves. I had NO IDEA that cooking on cast irons stoves was so labor-intensive. The stove requires a one hour preparation period and a one hour shut down period, and it must be waxed every time it's used, and 'blacked' every week. All for a loaf of bread? Yikes. No wonder people hired full-time cooks. Preparing a simple dinner would take at least 3-4 hours every day!

During the class the students were unanimous in thinking the hearth was much easier to cook on, which I wouldn't have expected. I'm looking forward to getting more experience with it. It's just fascinating to me to learn how our ancestors lived. It sure gives me a deep appreciation for how easy it is to cook on a 'modern' stove with gas burners. There's no need to feed the fire and tend it constantly. Just CLICK and the fire is ready. No ashes to deal with, and no cast iron utensils to lift.

After the class we explored the premises. I love the wooded path near the Tonkawa Indian camp. It's so beautiful and peaceful. This is my favorite spot in the farm.

Delights of summer

Here is our weekend in review:

We did a  family field trip to the Austin Nature and Science center and traded in our 'treasures' from nature with the Naturalist's Desk. Matthew redeemed his points for a new deer antler and a cow tibia bone. He's immensely proud of it because it looks like a caveman's club. Sarah is saving her points so she can eventually turn them in for a full cow skull. Yikes. We headed over to play in the fossil pits.

I love seeing little tiny toes playing in warm sand.

Even my sister Rachael had a turn.

We enjoyed a picnic in the shade before heading out into the heat again to explore the zoo.

The children were drawn to the little stream we passed over, so we stopped to splash our feet in the cool water.

Daniel ended up falling in the 2-foot deep part in the quick currant. The algae-coated rocks were too slippery for him to get a good foot hold and he fell back in several times. There was a bit of panic and drama as his shoes started to float away in the currant, but Matthew leaped to the rescue and all was well.

We enjoyed a wonderful summer party at Marti Gaye's home, who was a MOPS mentor for us last year. She is one of those friends that is a real gem. Her home was a perfect 'grandmother' home, and the children begged to stay forever. There was a large playscape, swings, sandbox, and a HUGE backyard for running. 

She set up 3 slip-n-slides in the backyard, which were a highlight.

She also let the children each make a pizza for lunch. The table was spread with all the toppings and they had so much fun building custom pizzas.

As if this wasn't all wonderful enough, she took the children over to her neighbor's house to play in the magical backyard. There we discovered a collection of tire swings, a zip line, fountains, and a  carousel of all things. There was also a bubble machine filling the yard with floating bubbles. The yard was dotted with antiques from zoos and colored glass balls. The music from the carousel added to the surreal atmosphere. The entire backyard was just so magical; the perfect place to have a childhood adventure hunting for fairies. The children were delighted and exclaimed that they've never seen a personal-sized carnival before. 

I remember drinking out of these fountains in my childhood at the Hogle Zoo. It was so strange to see it in a backyard.

The zip line was a favorite, and Marti was so sweet to help the children over and over again. 

Sunny Moments

Here are some recent 'sunny moments' from my life.

Our barn swift family roosting over our front door had 5 chicks this year, and they ALL lived! This past week has been such a special treat to watch all the babies learn to fly. It was so neat to watch them exercise their teeny wings while they parched precariously on the window ledges. I've really loved watching them grow. The children and I often tell the birds 'good morning, chicks!' and 'good night, little birds!'.

On a recent date night, Nathan and I were treated to complimentary drinks and dessert from our waiter. Dessert at this restaurant runs a hefty bill of $32, so this was no small gesture. We were surprised and delighted with the addition to our meal.

Earlier this month our dishwasher stopped working. I was talking with the repairman when he worked on fixing our problem (which included completely dismantling literally every piece on the inside of the machine). When I asked for the bill, he said it was free since we were a home schooling family. I was speechless.

Nathan and I started talking with a frisbee golf team we met in the park. Upon asking where to purchase discs, an older gentleman immediately gave us two of his own (a long-range disc and a short range disc) and proceeded to enthusiastically tell us where the best local ranges were. He had only known us for 2 minutes. I was touched by the generosity.