Self-evident

I picked up The Rainbow Dictionary (©1947, 1959) at a garage sale back when I was an art student in San Francisco. I remember the sale well, because I also scored some Playboy magazines from 1968 (the year I was born), and some Bibles. At the time I was into making one-of-a-kind art books, and had visions of the witty/ironic/acerbic statements I would make by juxtaposing my new finds.

Flash forward about 20 years. Sorting through books to sell this week (part of a massive home purge I've got going on) I ran across the Dictionary (the Playboys and Bibles long ago discarded). Frankly, I had forgotten all about it, and was pleased to find it since Anna's the perfect age for such a book. Picking it up, I flipped it open, to find this sandwiched between needle and neighbor:

And I thought, how bizarre. On the weekend that we're celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, with Barack Obama in the White House, to come across this (weird, sad) piece of history. But it's also a good reminder.

Today Anna and I attended a celebration of Dr King's birthday at a church in town. We two white, Jewish girls were were unremarkable in the mixed crowd. And it made me very thankful that my daughter will never understand how such a thing as segregation (and worse) ever happened, because she takes for granted that all people are created equal.

Perhaps it is naive of me to say this, but today I felt that just maybe we are beginning to live the Dream.

“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

***

P.S. This post happens to be my 200th. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Flowers in my mind

Although it may seem that there's not much going on around here, the opposite is true. There's a lot going on, but much of it is still in my head. What I can share with you is that change abounds, and there are a few major influences at play.

You may already be familiar with The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin's blog and new bestselling book. If not, check it out. I have decided to host my own Happiness Project group, and we're having our first meeting in a couple weeks! If you'd like to host your own group, you can download materials from Gretchen here.

Another site I've been spending time on these days is Leo Babauta's Zen Habits (there's a best of 2009 cheat sheet here). In 2009 Leo started another site, mnmlist, which I can tell you is going to figure prominently into the coming year (and more) for us.

Also, Wardrobe ReFashion (thanks, Leslie) which is all about either creating or recreating your clothing. This one has my head in a whirl. All of a sudden that Goodwill pile looks more like an awful lot of potential!

Are you sensing a theme?! I'll probably be blogging more about all of these things in the coming months. I'm feeling excited and inspired. How about you? What's on your plate for 2010?

Systems

I am someone who does well with structure. I am not someone who does a good job creating or maintaining that structure, however, which is a problem since no one else is going to do it for me. I crave order and simplicity, yet it's hard for me to motivate myself do the work to keep order. Basically, I lack discipline.

The good news is that the beginning of the year always gives me a jump start. Not sure why this arbitrary date works, perhaps it's akin to a placebo effect, but I'll take it.

There's been a lot going on both in my house and in my head the past few weeks. I've been creating systems that, I hope, will make it easier for me to stay on track. The falling-down piles of fabric have been replaced by neatly rolled and tied bundles; all the random bags of flour, grains, beans, and nuts purchased from the bulk bins are now labeled in glass jars. And after years of resisting, I've started implementing a meal plan for dinner (this was actually prompted by discovering that our groceries cost us $3000 more in 2009 than in 2008!).

As for my head, there's a fair amount of change going on there as well. I love to always have projects going, the more the better. In the past 2 years I've taken on learning French, our France house-swap, learning to sew, starting this blog, launching an Etsy site, and our trip to Japan, to name a few. I'm still sewing and blogging, but I'm craving something new. Some new way to stretch myself, especially since I think work will be slow coming this year. I'm not sure what that is right now, but I'll keep you posted!

I don't know… I just have a sense that this is going to be a different type of year for me. One that requires a little more thought and planning. One where having the structure I crave firmly in place will help in dealing with all the elements I can't control.

What about you? I'd love to hear what's motivating you these days. What are your feelings about how 2010 is going to be different for you?

Double-chocolate gingersnaps

There's been a lot of baking going on here. A lot. In addition to the amazing cookies featured above, we've indulged in an outrageous chocolate mousse, a divine pumpkin-ginger cheesecake, and more cookies than I can possibly mention.

Here are some of the highlights, as well as the recipe for the double-chocolate gingersnaps, my personal favorite:

A tower of gingerbread.

The mound of 73% cacao that went into the mousse.

Baking, and decorating, with friends.

Sneaking sprinkles when she thinks Mama isn't looking!

My dessert plate a few nights ago, featuring pumpkin-ginger cheesecake, a chocolate gingersnap, and two kinds of Julie's frozen yogurt (I love that stuff!).

Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies (adapted from a 1997 Martha Stewart Living recipe)

(makes about 2 dozen)

7 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1.5 cups flour

1.25 t. ground ginger

1 t. cinnamon

.25 t each cloves and nutmeg

1 T. cocoa powder

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 T freshly grated ginger (optional)

.5 c. dark brown sugar, packed

.25 c. unsulphered molasses

1 t. baking soda

1.5 t boiling water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, spices, and cocoa.

Use an electric mixer to beat butter and grated ginger. Add brown sugar and molasses and beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water.

Beat half the flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture, then add remaining half of flour mixture.

Add in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 1.5" balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake 13-15 minutes. (13 will make a chewy cookie; 15 gets into crunch cookie territory).

Christmas Fairy

This week is filled with activities that may very well keep me away from the blog world (yours, too, I imagine). So I'm sending a little Christmas fairy to spread some joy your way!

Thanks for a great first year of blogging (my blog anniversary happened while we were in Japan)!

XO,

Julie

P.S. I do have at least one amazing cookie recipe I have to make this week, so do check back if you can manage another chocolaty-gingery treat!

Pumpkin-Gingerbread

These days I often have leftover pumpkin puree hanging around. Usually I add it into pancake batter, but I was feeling the gingerbread urge coming on and the two seemed an obvious match. I like my gingerbread on the less sweet side—moist, dark, and spicy, with molasses and ginger. A dusting of powdered sugar at the end gives it the perfect balance.

This makes a lovely tea time treat, though I can definitely see having it with coffee first thing in the morning. Hmm, might have to do that tomorrow, after Anna's at school and there's no one to see me eating cake for breakfast!

Pumpkin-Gingerbread

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. canola oil

2 eggs

1/3 c. molasses

1.5 t. ground ginger

.5 t. cinnamon

.5 t. cloves

1 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or white, if you prefer)

1 t. baking soda

.75 t. salt

.25 t. baking powder

a few tablespoons of powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat over to 350 degrees F (175 C). Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray*. Combine sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin, and eggs: beat until smooth.

Combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder, and spices. Stir into wet ingredients until just mixed.

Pour into loaf pan and bake until center is set: about 1 hour, perhaps a bit more.

Once cooled, place powdered sugar in a mesh strainer and tap over surface of gingerbread. Then try not to eat the entire thing in one sitting!

* An alternative is to use a square baking pan, which would likely cut down on baking time since the cake wouldn't be as deep.

Enjoy!

WIP: my first shirt (and another skirt?)

In an attempt to expand my (very limited) sewing horizons, I am working on a turtleneck for Anna for Christmas. The pattern is Jalie 2805 and, I have to say, it's pretty simple. Also nice is that one pattern makes both women's and girl's sizes, with a variety of necklines to choose from. (Full disclosure: I was originally going to sew a long-sleeve T for myself, but decided to try a smaller version first so as to waste less fabric if I screwed up.) The fabric is an interlock knit that I picked up locally at Bolt, my favorite shop for all things sewing. It does seem that finding interesting knits can be a bit challenging, so let me know if you've got a good source.

The mermaid fabric I found online at The Fabric Farm. I bought a half yard of each of the two color options, but now I wish I'd bought more. There's only so much I can make with a half yard. I'm thinking another of the Oliver + S “Lazy Days” skirts (free pattern download here), but Anna has so many of those. Again, I'd love suggestions if you know of some cute (easy) kids patterns to try. I do think she's love the pink mermaid skirt with the teal turtleneck, though. That girl doesn't shy away from color! Oh, and the little "A" detail is just an iron-on patch I picked up at Fabric Deport. It's actually supposed to be more 3-dimensional, but apparently I'm iron-on challenged!