From Strawberries to Jam

 

This kid's Happy Place is a berry patch, any berry patch:

For a kid like that, then, summer is a glorious time to be alive and in a u-pick strawberry patch. It's an all-you-can-eat strawberry buffet, with take-home containers handily provided for you!

For some reason, I didn't pick up enough cardboard trays for us each to have our own (???), and so here I am, staining my T-shirt like a boss:

It was really gorgeous weather on this day. Just a few weeks later would find me at the u-pick blueberry patch at the exact same time of day, about to pass out from the heat, but on this morning the overcast skies and the rain that would start to fall just a few hours later (and not let up for days) kept the temperature just about perfect.

The fact that this was one of our first field trips of summer vacation made it even more precious. Spending time with both my kids at the same time, on a weekday morning of all things, is something that I very much missed during the school year.

And now that they're older, I can sit on my butt in the middle of a strawberry patch taking cute pictures on my phone... and strawberries still get picked!!!

We left for home with over eight pounds of picked-by-us strawberries (and some pepper, tomato, and chard plants... oh, and some flowers!), and to be honest, we probably could have eaten all eight pounds fresh--I mean, we also came home from the blueberry patch with over eight pounds of picked-by-us blueberries, and all that's left of those after a week are a half-gallon of frozen berries waiting to be made into muffins--but Will is working on a homesteading project, and so I wanted to teach both kids how to make jam.

And a mess. Because we mostly made a mess:

I taught the kids how to make both freezer jam and cooked, canned jam. I'd never actually made freezer jam before, and so when we did, and I tasted our finished jam, I accidentally unlocked a core memory: Mama made freezer jam every year, and froze huge batches of it in little plastic butter tubs. I liked toasted Wonder bread with lots of butter and strawberry jam on it the best, but I also liked to eat it with Papa's buttermilk biscuits. I never helped make it, or was even in the kitchen, really, when it was being made, and I couldn't have told you that it was even specifically freezer jam that I was eating all those years ago, but one spoonful of this homemade strawberry freezer jam that I made with my kids and I was back in my childhood kitchen, sitting in the breakfast nook and eating toast and jam for breakfast.

I wonder what sensory cues my kids will one day experience that will take them right back to their childhood homes... and to me? Not gonna lie, it's probably going to be something like the scent of Pizza Rolls in a half-broke oven, or chicken strips in the air fryer. Vinegar and tea tree oil in a spray bottle, maybe. An Arctic Monkeys song on the radio. Overhearing a stranger say "Bless their heart" right before proceeding to talk trash about someone. Walking into the house of a new friend and seeing that they've got too many books on their bookshelves. 

Whatever brings them back for that second, to this childhood home and to me, I hope it feels precious to them, too. I hope it's as sweet as the taste of strawberry freezer jam eaten in my kitchen with my daughters, and my kitchen with Mama and Papa, both all at once and 40 years apart.

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Turn a Coloring Book Page into a Postcard

This tutorial was originally published on Crafting a Green World in 2017. 

 Drowning in cute, completed coloring book pages? Here's a fun way to give those pages another life while spreading some joy around. All you need to transform your coloring book pages into fun postcards are: 

  completed coloring book pages. As I've probably mentioned before, we photocopy all of our coloring book pages onto cardstock before we color them, but I've also made a postcard out of a vintage Archie comic book page, at the bottom of the pic, so that you can see how this method will work even with thin, cheap paper. 

  cardboard/thick card stock and adhesive. Adhesive-backed cardstock makes this job even quicker and easier, but almost all of it that you'll find has a texture that means you'll have to write your postcards using ballpoint pen. If you want to use your own cardstock or cardboard, choose a thin, even adhesive for this. I have an emergency can of spray mount (which is not eco-friendly) that I try to whip out only when it's absolutely necessary, but you can use regular glue, if you apply it lightly then press the postcard between pieces of waxed paper with a weight on top. 

 The only thing that you need to do to turn your coloring book pages into postcards is apply an adhesive backing (I do this first, making sure to cover a larger dimension than I'll want, so that I don't have to painstakingly match two perfectly-sized pieces afterwards), then fussy cut your postcard to the correct dimensions. There's even a little wiggle room in postcard dimensions, so you can be sure to capture the perfect part of your graphic. 

 If my kids are going to be using the postcard, I'll flip the finished postcard over and then, with a ruler and a pen, draw the line separating the address from the message, and the lines for the address. Sometimes I'll even ink in a little square for the stamp. If I don't do this, the kids will be sure to run over the space for the address, and it sucks. 

 These quick-and-easy little postcards are especially nice for sending to loved ones who will appreciate your beautiful artwork--I like to build up a stash,  then let my kids use them for thank-you notes and quick messages to grandparents.

June Favorites: Sci-Fi, YA, and Teaching the Elderly to Avoid Scams

 

Will and I each tend to read her textbooks independently, but we leave notes for each other in the margins.

Not gonna lie: I mostly watched hockey in June. And when I'm not watching hockey, I'm massively enjoying this summer with the kids. 

Summer hits a lot different when you've got a kid in public school! Syd only has something like eight weeks of summer vacation, total, and this after ten months of one of the most miserable experiences of both our lives. We've already had to start talking about school clothes and lunch boxes and bus stops, and I am already so over it. So every day that I can take these kids strawberry picking or blueberry picking or to ride roller coasters or host their friends for sleepovers or playdates and feed them homemade snow cones... well, that is what I'm going to do.

And when I wasn't doing any of that, I was watching hockey. And when hockey wasn't on, I was reading escapist fiction, because SUMMER!

I got interested in Vision's other story arcs while watching WandaVision so I requested this from the library--

--and it is SO GOOD! I love a lot of the Marvel characters but since I was introduced to most of them through the movie franchise, I often get frustrated when I try to dip into their comics and find myself in the middle of some monumentally tangled plotline with references to 40 other monumentally tangled plotlines that you absolutely must understand to appreciate this plotline, and characters that have fifty billion other backstories that you should probably update yourself on if you like that character, etc.

Like, all I really want to do is see if Captain America and Bucky ever kiss, but instead I've got to figure out who's aged and who's de-aged and who got a promotion and who took over what and who died and came back to life and how many times and these fifteen things they used to fight about and these other fifteen things they still fight about... It's exhausting. Better to just read the Wikipedia page. 

Anyway, The Vision definitely references major plotlines that I know nothing about, but not in a way that's distracting or that makes it seem like I have to go back and read four hundred comics to catch on. It's more like, "Here's a weird plant thing. We got it from my ex-wife's bestie. It has creepy-ass magical powers." 

See? Totally enough to go on!

And it's awesome. It's got a similar vibe to WandaVision, so I won't be surprised when I bet I learn that this was a template for the show's overarching plotline, but the similarities were more along the lines of "If you liked that, you'll like this," and not like spoilers. 

The rest of the Avengers come off like assholes, though.

Here's another book that was a LOT better than I thought it would be!

I liked Ready Player One well enough the first time I read it, primarily because I had fun looking up all the references and I thought the immersive retro video game premise was clever. But when I checked it out again before Ready Player Two came out, I got maybe two chapters in and then just... returned it to the library. I realized that I had absolutely zero desire to re-read it. I mean, I'd already looked up all those video game references!

But Ready Player Two fixes so many of the problems from the first book that I kind of wonder if Cline made deliberate changes based on reader feedback. I don't think there's a way to keep the retro immersive game premise from feeling gimmicky now that it's been done for a second, but the depiction of the main character, Wade, is so much better that it's worth slogging through the silly bits. He still starts off with his character flaws from the first book, but here they're very overtly depicted as flaws, and better yet, we're given some good reasons for them. In particular, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Wade is neurodivergent, and it makes a lot of things make a lot of sense. He also sees real consequences for his bad behavior and his flaws, and his story gives him the chance for growth. 

Overall, it's a much more thoughtful depiction of what a world like Wade's might actually be like, when revolutions that seem like they would be a happy ending instead just escalate society's problems.

Here are a couple of children's books that I read this month:

I didn't love Spinning--although it was interesting to learn about synchronized skating, all the rest of the main character's relationships were frustrating and sad and I'm not sure what my takeaway was--but I LOVED Mostly the Honest Truth. It's for children, sure, so you ought to see the plot twist coming, but the character depictions felt very solid, and it was an excellent change to see a non-traditional schooling method presented in a positive, accurate light. 

In other news, I have found so many good podcasts this month! I'm still barreling through Double Love while I'm exercising and doing housework, but when I'm reading or mindlessly scrolling TikTok, I've started putting this podcast on:

It's the background music to random Disney attractions, and it's weirdly... soothing, I guess? I like ambient noise players (I used to put on a great Gryffindor Common Room one all the time once upon a time), and this is the same type of thing with a mildly nerdy edge.

Because Matt and I are VERY boring, on evenings when we're not watching hockey we like to work crossword puzzles while listening to podcasts. Sometimes, if we're feeling extra spicy, we'll also add Cheez-Its and cocktails to the adventure. The kids often consent to join us (especially when there's Cheez-Its!), partaking in their various on-screen pastimes. I do NOT agree with the negative connotation of parallel play in adulthood!

One one of these evenings, I queued up a random podcast recommendation--

--and now Syd and I, in particular, are totally into it. Because it's produced by AARP, I *think* it's mainly geared toward the elderly, but every episode is a deep dive into how one particular person got scammed, with interviews with the victim and an analysis of what that person did right and wrong. Syd and I are so judgmental that it is the perfect podcast for us! At one point, I literally said, "I hope nobody ever judges me the way I'm judging this lady," and I meant it, but also... she paid over $16,000 to rent a ski cabin, sight unseen, using contact information she got off Craigslist. I mean, come on.

Seriously, please don't judge me for MY mistakes as harshly as I judge other people for theirs!

P.S. Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page for more book recs as I read them!

We Spent Her Fifteenth Birthday at a Cat Cafe

 Because she adores cats, all cats, and always has. 

Because we adore her, and we like cats, too, even though our love for them can't compare to hers.

Because she still couldn't quite have the big birthday party or sleepover with best friends that were her favorite parts of birthdays of yore. 

Because none of us had ever been to a genuine cat café, and it is something that Syd and I, at least, have wanted to do since the very first second that we heard of it.

Because after this long, disappointing year-and-counting, I wanted my kid to have a little magic in her life, so I made us a reservation, made plans to meet up with one of her besties and her mom who were available that day, and didn't tell my almost-fifteen-year-old where we were going or what we were up to until we got to the front door of Nine Lives Cate Café and she saw her bestie beloved friend hopping out of their car to go there, too.

It's pretty hard to wow this teenager in particular, but I think I might have managed it!

We got a whole hour with these charming, cute, delightful fur babies, most of whom were available for adoption--and we got to see one old dude get adopted while we were there!

Some cats were super playful--

--and some were more chill:

Some cats wanted to be snuggle buddies--

--and some were happiest being admired and worshipped from a distance:

Will's coat is menacingly disgusting, I know, and I couldn't even hazard a guess about what on earth is all over it... but it's warm!

I think all the humans managed to become good pals with a kitty or two by the time we were required to leave so the host could sanitize for the next human guests, and I hope that all the kitties had a pleasant time making our acquaintance. They stayed there to become acquainted with some more charmed and admiring humans, and we went home for take-out Mexican food, cake, and presents. I bought this awesome sticker and magnet maker for Syd--

--but other than a morning spent with cats, I think my actual winning presents were this giant stuffed baguette (?!?) and a twelve-dollar 5XL hoodie, formerly used by some linebacker in our local university's football program and then sold out of a giant bin in the university surplus store.

Come to think of it, I might need to head back there and get her the matching grey sweatpants for Christmas...

How to Make Postcards from Food Packaging

This tutorial was originally published on Crafting a Green World in 2017.

Save those empty cookie and cake mix boxes! Here's how to make postcards from your empty food boxes. Ones that you can really mail! 

 If you thought that my DIY coloring postcards were easy, then you're in for an even bigger treat, because postcards made from food packaging? Kind of the easiest thing EVER. Seriously, you don't even need a tutorial for this business. All you have to do is grab yourself some cardboard food packaging, the dorkier the better (check out my Funfetti, Friends! I can't tell my daughter no!).

How to Make Postcards from Food Packaging

Cut the postcard to any of the dimensions allowable in the USPS postcard regulations. These regulations call for a postcard height between 3.5" and 4.25", and a length between 5" and 6". Cardboard food packaging already meets the USPS regulations for postcard thickness. 

 As long as your postcard stays within these allowable dimensions, you can play a bit with the edges. I like to round the corners (although if you don't have a corner rounder, which is, I admit, a kind of ridiculous tool to own, it can be tricky to get these rounded corners to look completely even). You can also very lightly scallop the edges of your postcard (check out this postcard of the Grand Canyon to see what that looks like), although be sure that you stay within the allowable dimensions. 

I like to draw a line separating the message of the postcard from the space for the address, and sometimes I like to also draw guidelines for the address and a square for the stamp, just to make it look more balanced. If you have Sharpies or paint pens, you could also embellish the front of your postcard--doesn't Tony the Tiger want to wear a golden crown on his head? 

Cooking with Teenagers: Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

 

Sugar is the best way to bond with teenagers. Maybe that's my own sweet tooth talking, or my unhealthy Southern "food is love" dysfunction, but my teenagers and I have a lot of happy moments together making weird, sugary treats and then consuming them.

Considering how many other moments we have together that consist of them being mad at me for, like, existing, I am happy to indulge my sweet tooth and pass along one of my many specific food dysfunctions if it means peace and pleasant memories!

As are most of these projects, homemade ice cream sandwiches were originally Syd's idea. This kid has a sweet tooth bigger than mine, and she's far more creative than me, too. This sometimes results in some unholy, sugar-drenched concoctions, but she hit this one out of the park.

The base for these homemade ice cream sandwiches is, of course, homemade cookies. As far as we can tell, you can use any homemade cookie recipe, although soft cookies work best. Crispy cookies get messy when you bite into them with that layer of ice cream in between, and since you'll be eating them nearly frozen, thinner cookies work better than thick ones. 

Here are the cookies we've tried and like best:

• peanut butter cookies
• chocolate chip cookies

You can also use any ice cream that you want for these ice cream sandwiches. For Will's birthday last year, I bought her this ice cream maker--

--and we use the snot out of it all year round!

And yes, I did buy a second bowl, because I am just that extra. And also, some of us have very different taste in ice cream (meaning they don't like chocolate?!?), and with two bowls we can make two different batches one after the other without having to wait for a bowl to re-freeze.

Our favorite part of making homemade ice cream is adding mix-ins, but you could do the same thing with store-bought ice cream by letting it soften a bit, stirring in your mix-ins by hand, and then putting it in a larger container to accommodate the additional volume.

When you assemble these ice cream sandwiches, you can also add lots of other gourmet components. We've rolled the edges in sprinkles or chocolate chips, frosted the cookies, etc. My absolute favorite combination is to bake peanut butter cookies and make chocolate ice cream with mini peanut butter cup mix-ins. Then when I assemble the sandwich, I spread peanut butter on the bottom of one cookie, jam on the bottom of the other, and put the chocolate ice cream in the middle. 

It's absurdly indulgent, and absolutely delicious! 

The project as a whole is time-consuming, but most of that time is just waiting for stuff to freeze. The process goes basically like this:

1. Make the homemade ice cream, then put it in the freezer to harden.
2. Bake the homemade cookies, then spread them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer, too.
3. When both components are frozen, assemble the sandwiches. Take each pair of cookies out of the freezer only long enough to assemble the sandwich and wrap it in plastic wrap, and then immediately return it to the freezer. I keep an open Ziplock baggie in the freezer while I'm doing this so I can just pop the finished ice cream sandwiches into it as they're finished.

Confession time: this Mother's Day, I was feeling very bummed out. As a person whose love language is, ashamedly, Gift-Giving, I was sad and disappointed that nobody got the magical unspoken memo that it would be nice to plan out a day all about Making a Fuss Over Me. My feelings were hurt when no presents appeared, and no special activities were announced, and then to make myself feel worse I got on Facebook and looked at all the other magical Mother's Day celebrations happening out there on social media. Glad y'all are having such a great day, Everyone! I'm sitting over here eating a sandwich that I made myself and it turns out we don't even have any chips!

So there I was, sort of bumming around the house feeling bored and unloved, when out of nowhere Syd was all, "Let's make ice cream sandwiches!"

And so we did! We baked the cookies, we churned the ice cream, we assembled the sandwiches while listening to music. It took the entire day, off and on. 

I think it was while we were finishing up the ice cream, and Syd was thoughtfully polling me about my preference of mix-ins, that I realized what she was doing: she was deliberately making sure that I had an excellent time. We were making my favorite cookies and my favorite ice cream with my favorite mix-ins. We were listening to music that I liked. I was being steered towards all the fun parts of of the project, and she was the one digging out the correct measuring cups and looking through the entire pantry for the vanilla. 

A better Mother's Day present couldn't be found than getting to experience what a kind, compassionate kid I have. And maybe I have, indeed, passed down my "food is love" and "sugar heals all wounds" guiding principles, but just know that when I tell you that food is love and sugar heals all wounds, THIS is what I mean. I mean that making food together is a great way to demonstrate our love for each other, and that making and eating something sweet with your teenager is a great way to have, in fact, a magical Mother's Day.

P.S. Here are a few of the other ways that my teenagers and I bond together over food!

• Hot Chocolate Bombs
• Fancy Coffee
• Boba Tea

And here's my Craft Knife Facebook page, where you can often see the cooking with sugar happen in near-real time!

Pollinators Love My Milkweed

 

I am loving how happy my common milkweed is in the side yard that I've allowed it to overgrow. Now that it's blooming, I'm even happier to see all the pollinators also loving it!

I really like this photo of the bee that I accidentally caught in flight:

The butterflies don't quite sit still enough to get their pictures taken:

All the pollinators are going to be even more thrilled when my perennial sunflowers begin to bloom!