There are, however, a few things that make this time of year kind of nice deep in the heart of Texas, though they may not be as traditional as an apple pie-scented candle:

• It’s cool enough in the mornings to drive to work with my windows down.
• Our electricity bill is smaller.
• Lettuce is in season again.
• On that note, we  get CSA shares again, after several months without.
• It’s finally not too hot to cook soup.

Happy fall, whether you enjoy it with lettuce or pumpkin muffins.

Because I am a teacher…

• the big thrill of each week is getting to wear jeans to work on Friday.
• part of my morning was spent painting the faces of students for a school spirit event.
• by lunch time I had a wrist full of confiscated rubber bands.
• it is completely normal that I went home with dry-erase marker dust on said jeans.
• I will spend tomorrow night chaperoning the school dance.

]]> http://thewhirlygirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/because-i-am-a-teacher/feed/ 0 candace http://thewhirlygirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/food-for-the-masses-pancakes/ http://thewhirlygirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/food-for-the-masses-pancakes/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:57:33 +0000 candace http://thewhirlygirl.wordpress.com/?p=485 ]]> Scott and I regularly find ourselves in situations that require us to feed a large group of people, with a.  We’ve gotten kind of good at this.  Our latest food for the masses meal was the church life group meal we hosted last week: pancakes, which were to be supplemented by other breakfast-y things brought by the rest of the group.

My recipe is slightly adapted from the More-With-Less cookbook and I’ve been making it since I was first learning to cook in my mom’s kitchen.  I felt very nostalgic as I made them, especially for the white, cinder-block house on 40 acres that we lived in for several years in south Mississippi, when my sister and I were both young.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

Combine in a bowl and mix with a fork:

1 cup buttermilk (I usually use yogurt)

2 tablespoons oil (coconut oil gives a delightful flavor)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add and mix only until moistened:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

Fry in hot, lightly greased skillet (cast-iron, of course)

I love it.  I have time to go for a walk in the mornings before work, and then maybe do a chore or two in the afternoons when I get home, before making dinner.  I can get the chores and errands done in the afternoon during the week, so we don’t have to worry about it on Saturday.  I have been able to sit down and read.  Not during summer vacation, in September.  I can’t remember the last time that happened.

I also feel a bit guilty for loving it.  The guilt is two-fold.  First, the practical guilt: I earn a noticeably smaller amount now.  Plain and simple.  I chose to do this and still feel a little weird about it.  Second: Given the turn or events, am I allowed to keep my hyphenated last name?  Do I have to turn in my feminist card, now that I’ve chosen to spend more time doing housewife things?  Why don’t I want to use my degree anymore?

Regardless, I love it.  ”It”, I think, is the balance that has, at least for now, been struck.  The joy of the balance outweighs the amount of a paycheck and speaks louder than the whispers of my confused inner-feminist.  Plus, I have fewer papers to grade and get to sleep later.  Can’t complain about that.

Hello, late-twenties...

...so far, you are delicious.

I’ve been contemplating how I will do life this school year, primarily because it will look slightly different from years past.  For the first time since graduating from college, I’m not working full-time.  No, we’re not having a baby and Scott didn’t change jobs.  The part-time teaching is an attempt to do several things: maintain my sanity, begin weaning our budget off of two incomes, make time for more homemade/hippy endeavors, etc..  Truthfully, maintaining sanity was the reason I initially decided to take the part-time plunge, with the others resulting naturally from the decision.  And, truthfully, it could go very badly–but I don’t think it will.

Lots of things made part-time work even a possibility, namely working at a small, private school that is willing to exercise flexibility and a marriage in which both spouses are generally okay with the other doing what they want (it helps that what we want basically includes him playing poker with the boys once a month and splurging on the occasional steak, and me creating more time in the day to make homemade cheese and grow tomatoes for pizza).  So, two weeks from now I’m starting the experiment of splitting my days more evenly between school and home, and we’ll see how it goes.  Until then I’ll be remembering how to write a lesson plan and eating all those pears.

Monday

chicken w/ maple-orange glaze

green beans

steamed new potatoes

Tuesday

red quinoa w/ avocados, black beans, and corn

**Note: First time to cook/eat quinoa.  Huge fan.

Wednesday

red curry-like mixture of leftover vegetables and chicken

brown rice

Thursday

pizza w/ homemade mozzarella and Mom’s garden tomatoes

spicy corn salad

watermelon

Friday

leftover pizza

These two fall into the small category of people I can spend two weeks with in a car:

If we got vacation reports cards, we would get an E for ‘playing well with others.’  Pictures of our adventures are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2338404&id=9210346&l=3dc164ed8a

Sunday

out (notice a Sunday supper pattern, or lack thereof?  we both ate for $6.77 though, which is an accomplishment)

Monday

pizza w/ mozzarella and zucchini

Tuesday

life group meal @ a friend’s house

Wednesday

grilled chicken, grilled zucchini and squash, brown rice

…

After Wednesday our cooking petered out and we turned to our favorite restaurants.  Since we’re about to drop some cash on a vacation, why not warm up our wallets now?