What I've been reading

The Power of Habit  "Why we do what we do in life and business"
by Charles Duhigg

Ridiculously fascinating!  In depth examples of how habits are formed, kept, and changed such as:  How P&G marketed a failing brand, why AA works, how Tony Dungy taught an apathetic NFL franchise to win, Paul O'Neill's remarkable turnaround of Alcoa by focusing on worker safety, what about Rosa Parks' refusal spearheaded a change in Southern segregation. 

"Every McDonald's, for instance, looks the same- the company deliberately tries to standardize stores' architecture and what employees say to customers, so everything is a consistent cue to trigger eating routines.  The foods at some chains are specifically engineered to deliver immediate rewards- the fries, for instance, are designed to begin disintegrating the moment they hit your tongue, in order to deliver a hit of salt and grease as fast as possible, causing your pleasure centers to light up and your brain to lock in the pattern."

Think
The Life of the Mind and the Love of God
by John Piper

Read this one starting with the appendices first, and read  it slowly.....

"Focusing on the life of the mind helps us to know God better, love him more, and care for the world. Along with an emphasis on emotions and the experience of God, we also need to practice careful thinking about God"

This is a Soul
The Mission of Rick Hodes
by Marilyn Berger

A book recommended to me by my pediatrician as we were talking about special needs adoption.  This heart doctor "pioneered" taking pictures of his patients and placing them front & center in their charts as a reminder to everyone that the diagnosis are real, live people with faces.  He has personally adopted 8 ( and counting!) of the hardest spine and back cases in Ethiopia, where he has lived the past 28 years.

A Praying Life
by Paul Miller

A book that has been on my "want" list for about 6 months finally came to fruition at my birthday and has not disappointed.  I've read through it once and intend to read it again this summer in a "workbook" fashion.  Miller is clear, vulnerable, and practical in his exposition on life lived in prayer.  Highly, emphatically recommend.

"Prayer mirrors the gospel.  In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation.  In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and give us his gift of help.  We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us.  God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers."

Bringing up Be'be'
by Pamela Druckerman

My favorite thing about books is the fact that they keep your world "BIG"!  Druckerman is an American living in Paris and wondering why, how, and is it possible for my kids to behave like these French kids?! Super fun and eye-opening to read, especially as I get caught in my rut of living in a small world.  She is a journailist by trade, keeping the book from being to research intensive and dry.  It is filled with personal  anecdotes, but I have to wonder, do the French want it's counterpart??

Scones!! (have no fear)

I've never had a good scone. 

Dry and crumbly; they make me think the bakery scraped their board off into

triangle portions to trick us into paying $3.25 for it's equivalent of spam.   

Until this week.

I had clipped a recipe from Southern Living from December 2010 promising

"Easy and Irrestible Scones".

The recipe had a basic recipe with 4 sweet variations.  The subtext said that

"a buttery-rich scone is nothing more than a glorified biscuit". 

What?  Well, what were those things in the lit cabinets then? 

I guess they are doorstops, b/c I haven't found a better use for them.

So, my friends, let me heartily recommend this recipe to you, as foolproof.  Proven by a fool.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/ 2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup whipping cream

(this variation includes dried cherries and dark chocolate- meticulously measured)

(um... grabbed by the handful)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in a large bowl.  Cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly and resembles small peas.  Freeze bowl and contents for 5 minutes.  Add most of cream and stir just until the mixture is completely moistened.

Note:  I added a little extra cream to make sure it was cohesive

 and easy to work with- I don't like "shaggy" dough. 

Turn dough out on a non-stick surface (wax paper, cutting board, countertop...whatever)

Pat into a smallish circle, about the size of a pie pan, and cut into 8 wedges. 

Place them a little apart on a cookie sheet, and brush with any remaining cream.

Add a little turbinado sugar if you like the bling. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes at 450 until golden. 

Convice your husband not to leave well enough alone. 

 He will whip out the immersion blender and take cream, powdered sugar, vanilla,

 and beat into a frothy frenzy.

Congratulate him on his initiative.  Offer to be a taster.

PS.  The other 3 variations? 

• Dried apricot and crystallized ginger (yes, it is awesome),
• cranberry and pistachio, 
• brown sugar and pecan

Meticulously measured of course. 

End of School

Today was Madeline's last day of school as a young 4, and as I thought back over the year, one conversation with our director keeps coming back to me. 

(Keep in mind our director looks like one of the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty)

Director:  "She (Madeline) has such a sweet, soft voice and and such an angelic look to her."

Me: "Oh! Yes, well, ...thank you." (mind you, I know the truth)

Director:  "It totally belies the fact that she is stubborn."

(Me to myself:  Oh, She KNOWS)

Director: "If she doesn't want to do something, she simply is not going to do it.

She's just stubborn."

Me:  "Absolutely, no argument here.  She will put her foot down in cement

 and dare you to move it."

Mind you, I LOVE that the director of our school knows my daughter.  It means that she is involved and aware and not afraid to speak her mind.  I couldn't be happier with our little preschool. 

But, as a case in point, I thought I'd give you this illustration.  This is Madeline's chef cover photo for the annual cookbook; a tradition for these teachers. 

This is the photo that the teacher snapped after the chef gear was removed. 

 "I didn't want to wear that, Mommy. I wasn't happy." 

Girls!  On and off like a light switch.  Can't wait for adolescence. 

Here's Madeline's rendition of a recipe from my kitchen:

Translation:

Go to Kroger (free cookies in the bakery)

Weirdness:

• we make our dough at home
• we buy pepperoni approximatelly .2% of the time when Jeff begs
• I don't think she has ever had a bagel. 

Recipe from her favorite classmate; note the time and temp.

Ms. Melissa and Ms. Jody;

the face in the middle you already know