Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup)

Ahh.... Pasta e Fagioli! An easy, delicious soup for any time.

This recipe comes from my favorite Italian cookbook:Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Pasta e Fagioli is a very flexible recipe, but hers is the best. I don't use it exactly as she has it here, but it is an excellent starting point.

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 T chopped onion
3 T chopped carrot
3 T chopped celery
3-4 pork ribs or ham bone with some meat on it (I totally skip this, because hubby doesn't eat pork)
2/3 c canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juices (or fresh tomatoes, peeled and cut up)
2 lbs fresh cranberry or red kidney beans (or 3 c. canned or cooked dried beans - drained) (I use whatever beans I have on hand - often canellini, always canned)
3 c (or more if needed) beef broth (1 c. canned broth diluted with 2 c. water) (We don't eat beef either, so we use Chicken Stock.)
Salt
Black pepper (freshly ground)
1/2 lb small tubular pasta (I use whatever I have on hand, but never anything long like spaghetti/fettucini/linguini)
1 T butter
2 T freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Put olive oil and onion in soup pot and turn on heat to medium. Cook the onion, stirring, until it is pale gold. Add the carrot and celery, stir once or twice to coat them well, then add pork. Cook for 10 minutes, turning meat and vegetables from time to time. Add the cut up tomatoes and their juice, adjust the heat so that the juices simmer very gently, and cook for 10 minutes.

If using fresh beans: Shell, rinse and put in soup pot. Stir 2-3 times to coat well, then add the broth. Cover the pot, adjust the heat so that the broth bubbles at a steady, but gentle boil, and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beans are fully tender.

If using canned (or cooked dried) beans: Extend the cooking time for the tomatoes in Step 3 to 20 minutes. Add the drained cooked or canned beans, stirring them thoroughly to coat them well. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the broth, cover the pot, and bring the broth to a gentle boil.

Scoop up about 1/2 c of beans and mash them and return to the pot. Add salt, a few grindings of black pepper, and stir thoroughly.

Check the soup for density: It should be liquid enough to cook the pasta in. If necessary, add more broth or, if you are using canned broth, more water. When the soup comes to a steady, moderate boil, add the pasta. Stop cooking when pasta is tender, but still firm to the bite. Before turning off the heat, swirl in the butter and grated cheese.

Allow it to settle for 10 minutes before serving as it tastes better when warm rather than piping hot. Serve with a nice, crusty bread!

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Classical Conversations - Science Lessons - Cycle 3

Finally, I'm getting the promised science lessons online today! I'm sorry I didn't get this posted prior to so many CC groups starting up. And thank you to the commentor who gave me the gentle reminder recently!

This is only the first semester. I was planning on posting the second semester history and science plans by the end of the month, but with the adoption picking up some speed, I've got to focus on that for the next month. I will have those plans posted as soon as we've completed the next batch of paperwork, which we expect to be late October or early November. Be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed and you won't miss those posts!

So, without further ado....

Classical Conversations - Cycle 3 - Semester 1 - Science Lessons (That is a link to the file on Google Documents.)

The books I'm using are:

• The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body: Internet Linked (Complete Books)
• Science Encyclopedia (Usborne Internet-Linked Discovery Program)
• Brown Paper School book: Blood and Guts (Brown Paper School Book)

If you have any problems downloading it, please email me. Please leave a comment letting me know you've downloaded this file, thanks. This just helps me know my work is useful to others.

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Fingerprints!

Late last week, we received our fingerprint appointment! I'm amazed! We go next Saturday, September 20th for our "biometrics" - fancy word for fingerprints - at our local USCIS branch.

So, to update the timeline I gave in the last update:

8/15- submitted our i800a to our local USCIS branch office (Charlotte)

8/22 - we recieved a notice from our USCIS branch office that the i800a had been received

9/2 - recieved an I-797C, Notice of Action form from the Hague Unit (US Dept. of Homeland Security, USCIS, National Benefits Center, Hague Unit - in Lee's Summit, MO).

9/3 - recieved an email (in response to an inquiry on my part to the Hague Unit) letting me know that the processing time for the i800a is 90 days.

9/6 - heard from other adoption friends that the Hague Unit was processing i800a forms at around 60 days

9/7 - received fingerprint appointment for the 20th of Sept.

Today, I pulled out our dossier information to start getting that ready and realized that many of the doucments may need to be updated before we submit the dossier to Armenia. (They must be no more than 6 months old - which some will be.) So, the next couple of weeks, my focus will be: gathering documents, getting old ones reissued, and sending stuff off to be apostilled.

Baked Butternut Squash and Apples

Oh, the color is gorgeous! We'll see how my kids like it...they'll groan when I say "squash", but the brown sugar glaze may get their attention.

2 lbs butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and fibers removed; cubed)
2-3 baking apples (roughly chopped)
1/3 c brown sugar
3 T butter, melted
1 T flour
1/4 tsp allspice

Arrange squash and apples in baking dish. Combine next 4 ingredients in a small bowl then sprinkle on top of apples and squash. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until squash is tender, 40-50 minutes.

This recipe is from one of my FAVORITE seasonal cookbooks: Simply In Season (World Community Cookbook)

Updated to add: Oh, by the way, the kids LOVED this!


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Balsamic Marinated Chicken

This is easy and delicious! My kids rave about this and they can be picky eaters. It is so easy to fix, but you do have to think ahead in order to get the 2 hours of marinating done. Not a last minute supper...but almost!

1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c honey
1/4 c olive oil
2 T fresh rosemary
1 tsp salt
3 lbs chicken (breast, thighs, legs)

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add chicken. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove chicken, and place in a lightly greased baking pan (13x9); pour marinade over chicken.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until done, basting often with pan drippings.

Serves my family of 6 with leftovers.

I like to make extra and have this for lunch the next day, too. It is quite good over rice or couscous - and save some of the good pan juices to pour over that rice!

Simple Woman's Daybook - Sept 8th

You can find out more about the Simple Woman's Daybook here.


For today, September 8th, 2008

Outside My Window... after a couple of mild-ish summer weeks, we seem to be in store for a sweltering day today. It is steamy and sunny and the screeching bugs are really singing this morning.

I am thinking ... about learning more about traditional French cooking.

I am thankful for... my special friend, Susie.

From the kitchen ... check out my menu plan for the week at To Every Meal There Is A Season (Balsamic Chicken, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Pasta e Fagioli).

I am wearing ... oh, I hate to admit this, but I'm still in my PJs. Well, I have "upgraded" them by putting on a hoodie.

I am creating ... nothing much right now.

I am going ... to be getting ready for my Dad's visit. Need to clean the kids' bathroom, change the sheets, do a quick vacuum and dust, and get the kids to take some of their junk upstairs.

I am reading ... "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See.

I am hoping ... for a nice 16th anniversary on Friday.

I am hearing ... hubby passing out vitamins to the kids.

Around the house... there is a stack of cookbooks on my kitchen counter that need to be put away. I was going through them last night to make my Autumn meal plan. You can read more about that at my other blog devoted to seasonal and local cooking: To Every Meal There Is A Season.

One of my favorite things... my French Press. I was recently telling someone how we'd made the switch to the French Press when our coffee maker's carafe broke. We happened to have the Press and started using it...and ended up giving away the coffee maker!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

• My Dad is coming for a visit today. We have a lot of stuff planned for only a short visit: a trip to the airport to look into flight lessons for my eldest, catching a movie, and a trip to the planetarium.
• Need to make plans for my middle son's 9th birthday on Monday. We keep them pretty low-key except for the "big" ones (1, 5, 10, 13, 16, 18). DH always takes them out for a special breakfast.
• Our 16th anniversary is Friday! We have a special date planned next week, so we may just make a special meal at home on Friday. Or maybe go out for a dessert date.

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Art History for Homeschoolers - September 2008

Frida Kahlo exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

George Eastman House has some fantastic online photographic collections.

Artists respond to Genesis: "In the Beginning..." from the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

A "zoomable" and searchable online collection from The Frick Collection. The zoom gets close enough to show your the brushmarks! Pieces in the online collection also feature a short essay discussing historical, artistic, and thematic aspects.


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Coming up for air

Whew...ever have a week or two like that? Mostly good stuff, but even the good stuff can wear you out...or at least it can wear me out.

As I mentioned a while ago, my eldest son went on a 10-day trip with his grandmother (my MIL) to Sweden. They flew in to Stockholm and spent a few days there visiting the city and enjoying the sites: Old Town, museums, palace, etc. Then they ferried over to the island of Aland that sits in the Baltic ocean between Sweden and Finland. This is where my MIL was born and where most of her extended family still lives. They visited the family home (now a B&B, but still owned by family), Kastelholm (13th c castle), Mariehamm (main port city), a few churches (from 13th and 14th c), and many family members.

They had a WONDERFUL time and every thing went well (other than a parking ticket). My son got to meet some lovely family members and had a fantastic time. My MIL took my husband when he was a young boy and I got to go when we were engaged. She plans on taking my other kids as they get a bit older, too.

Before they left, Classical Conversations started up for my eldest - so he attended the first day, but then missed the next one, so he has quite a bit of catching up to do. Some of it I'm letting slide - but not Latin and Math. Poor kid!

While he was gone my Mom came for a visit. Things are very rocky for her right now, so it was good to have her hear where I could "dote" on her a little bit. She's also always so good about helping me catch up on laundry. I don't know why - she hates it as much as I do. :) Actually - that isn't true. We both don't mind doing it and folding it...but forget it when it comes time to put it away! Oh, well, at least I know I get it honestly.

MIL and eldest son arrived home Monday evening. We had a wonderful reunion! All three kids crammed into the back of the van, again, and chitter-chattered the whole way home. I particularly loved looking back and seeing my 6-year old daughter with her arm slung around her big-brother's shoulders. So sweet.

All the grandmas left the next morning and while I wished they could have stayed for another day, it was good to have things a little back to "normal". It also gave us a chance to get ready for our Wednesday Classical Conversations day.

Everything went really well on CC day - middle boy and youngest girl both loved their new tutors, as do I. However, after lunch my little girl started to wilt, so we called Daddy to come pick her up. She's been on the verge of getting sick, so I chose not to push her.

Their CC classes end at 12, but we stay on campus to wait for big bro. I have them signed up for French during this afternoon time. My middle son was not too enthusiastic about it, but went and found it fun. I knew he'd like it!

Last night I had the first Women's Retreat meeting. This will be our first women's retreat as a new church, so it's exciting! We are going back to a very much loved location in the mountains of North Carolina in November. It should be a really lovely weekend. But, there is a LOT to be done! Came home and stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching the Republican Convention.

Today was a bit of a tough day. Kids are a bit bickerish - boy, those good feelings of having "brubby" back didn't last long. :) Actually, I think most of it is just exhaustion...doesn't make it ok, though.

My daughter had a bit of a melt down and wound up on my bed asleep at 10:00 am. She slept the rest of the morning, so no school for her today.

Middle son had a bit of a "stress session" during his school. He got frustrated when he didn't have the whole Latin lesson memorized on the first day. But we seemed to redeem the day when we moved on to reading about Science (Human Body - pretty cool) and working on ideas for his CC presentation.

Eldest son did an awesome job on his first day of independent CC work (Challenge A) until he hit Math. Math is the subject he tends to "wig out" on, even though he is pretty good at it. If he encounters any "hard" stuff, he seems to have a hard time with it. He's not used to having to struggle through understanding school - and math this year is a bit harder. :) But, with a little help from Daddy (and reading the text - wow, amazing how that helps) he was able to get through it.

I'm not sure we'll continue with math with CC. I've never made him do *all* the problems in a Saxon lesson. I pick and choose the ones I know he needs more practice with...or the ones that are building up to future lessons. (ie. I skip the stuff he's got down, but even there, I do have him review some of those, too) But with CC they are expected to do all the problems, which I find a bit too much for my son. I may just talk with his tutor and see if she is bothered by that. If she is than, I'll just have him sit out of Math and we'll do it at home. I love that this is an option with CC - the parent is still in charge.

So, that is where we are.... My husband will be none-too-thrilled, but I'm considering making a run to McD's for dinner for the kids. Oh, I hate to let them eat there, but we really RARELY do anymore, so I don't feel guilty. That or I'm making pancakes. Hmmm.... maybe the pancakes are really the better option.

Anyway - posting has been sparse lately, and may continue that way for a bit...but I am still here!

So, how has your week been?

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i800 Process Update

Well, things are moving along and it looks like we should have our i800a approval around Thanksgiving!

There are lots of questions about how this new process works floating around the adoption websites. For any of you who are also in the adoption process, here's what our timeline has looked like:

8/15- submitted our i800a to our local USCIS branch office (Charlotte)

8/22 - we recieved a notice from our USCIS branch office that the i800a had been received
(During this time, we heard from others in our adoption agency that these were being forwarded on to a special unit set up to handle these called the "Hague Unit". Wondered if ours would be forwarded on quickly or if USCIS Charlotte had to do some processing first. Stressed that this might mean an even longer wait time for the i800a to be processed)

9/2 - recieved an I-797C, Notice of Action form from the Hague Unit (US Dept. of Homeland Security, USCIS, National Benefits Center, Hague Unit - in Lee's Summit, MO). This form was notifying us that they'd received our application (as of 8/25), assigned a case number and we'd be assigned a fingerprint appointment with our local USCIS office (of which we'd be notified by mail).

9/3 - recieved an email (in response to an inquiry on my part to the Hague Unit) letting me know that the processing time for the i800a is 90 days.

This is shorter than we would have had if the process had been done through USCIS Charlotte - unless their are issues with our i800a. I've heard that many, many, many have been returned for further documentation or wording changes (in the home study). I'm very hopeful ours will be accepted without further adjustments as our agency has achieved a successful i800a approval recently, but we'll see.

If you are in the middle of this process and have questions, comments or information, leave a comment! Let's help each other out!

Simple Woman's Daybook - Sept 1st

You can find out more about the Simple Woman's Daybook here.

For today, September 1st, 2008

Outside My Window... bright and sunny, 84 degrees - lovely! But I'm looking at the disaster my dogs made of the garden plot we are planning for next summer.

I am thinking ... about my son and Mother-in-Law getting home from Sweden today!

I am thankful for... my friends who had my middle son over for a playdate yesterday. He's missing his brother and needed some "friend" time to get his mind off it!

From the kitchen ... Nothing special today - but for dinner we are planning Bok Choy Stir-Fry and Chinese Dumplings.

I am wearing ... Tan pants, peach top - this is a super comfy outfit. The pants are a "swishy", lightweight cotton. Oh, and frizzy hair.

I am creating ... a landscape plan to improve our yard. We'll have to do it in stages, since we can't afford to do everything we want to right now.

I am going ... to the airport to pick my my MIL and son TONIGHT!

I am reading ... my Mom just gave me a new book (I finished Gilead, finally! It was so good, I'll post a review later this week.) - "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See.

I am hoping ... the first day of Classical Conversations goes really well on Wednesday.

I am hearing ... my dryer humming along, thanks to my Mom.

Around the house... trying to get everything cleaned up and straightened for the "homecoming". Oh, we finished painting the kids' bathroom today!

One of my favorite things... my new LARGE format (Monarch) planner pages!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

• Classical Conversations - first day for Foundations kids on Wednesday.


• Having friends over for pizza Friday or Saturday.


• Doing all the laundry my son will be bringing home.


• Getting ready for my Dad's visit early next week.

Here is picture thought I am sharing:

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