The Garden School Tattler

Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest. Rest for me is down time just like anyone else. People go round and round about what constitutes down time, and for me, down time is always creative. Movie watching, lunching out, Mass, shopping, visiting, a ride in the country, physical activity, sports events are up time for someone like me. These activities take a kind of effort and are a kind of distraction from what I really want to do. I'm a writer, and writers love to write to see what happens next. I could sit and fuss over a sentence for an hour or a single word for at least an hour. "What does it mean; where did it come from; what use could it be in this or that situation; what can I do with it creatively that would be new and different and would anyone understand my use?" These are the things creative writers like to do in their "down" time. An ice storm is conducive to a great period of down time.

I often watch the children at play to see just what constitutes a child's work and his "down" time. Hadley is a thinker - she likes to figure things out. Abby is a doer - she likes to see how something will work. Daymon is a watcher - he wants to see what people will say or do in any given situation. William is a doer, but his doing is stress related - how much will something bear and how much will an adult watching bear. Faith is a watcher- participant. She's a quiet thinker at school and likes to see how well people do things. It all takes thought and composure and a kind of earnestness about life. Letting them have time to explore their personality and others' takes some engineering, but it's always worth the effort.

"Can I go into your room and work on the puzzle?" I always let the doers go because invariably they will get something done.

Getting something done is a joy to some and a chore to others. The question to ask about children and adults is "How well do they like work?" And detailing that "What work do they like?"

Some children are creative workers and some are task doers. Some children will rip out every toy to play a remarkable five second game. Putting back the toys is another story. Some children rarely take out a toy but will laboriously struggle to clean up with such precision it's frightening.

Where does this go? I think it goes into the personality banks for a later work out. Ask yourself: would you rather cook dinner or clean up the mess? Would you rather go to school than just get a job? How do you spend ordinary time? Would you rather clean a room or paint it? Would you rather rearrange a room or clean it? Would you rather read trade or fiction? Are you a fact person or a fiction person? When you go to bed at night do you dream the impossible dream, or are you thinking about the 2.95 mistake in your check book?

It all starts in early childhood - that's why I love this age so much.

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And since it's Sunday, here's some fun:
Chicken the kids just love: Take a chicken, give him a short bath in cold water; put him nicely into a deep bed; sprinkle him generously with salt and Mrs. Dash, and bake him for twice the length recommended by poundage. If he's three pounds, bake him at 350 for about three hours.

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Here's a recipe for bread sticks the kids love. For family use, use 1 (of 3) package of yeast, 1 cup warm water, a couple of tablespoons oil, a teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast, some salt for taste, and enough flour to make a wet dough. Dump onto a floured board or stone and kneed enough flour to make the dough dry. Let rise .5- 1 hour. Pull chunks off, roll between fingers to make short snakes, and then twist and bake at 400 for about 10 minutes.

Makes pizza crust as well. Bake at 450 on lowest oven rung for pizza.

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Here's a quickie chicken pot pie. Take enough frozen chicken breasts for the people you are making this creature for. Saute small bite sized chicken pieces and whatever vegetables you are interested in eating in the pie, but don't over cook. (Chicken can be cut up with clean kitchen sheers - makes cutting chicken so much easier.)

Make pie dough: 2 cups flour, 1/2 up white Crisco, 1 tsp salt and mix until the stuff looks like sand. Then add enough boiling water to make a dough.

Roll out dough on floured board or stone and add chicken and vegetables and then five or six slices of cheese or a cup of shredded cheese. Parmesan is good too. Roll, fold, or spindle and at least crimp your edges and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Slice and serve.

Have a great day!