Today I learned a new 'do to add to the list.

When I had my Waybums, she was born with a full head of hair.

It was dark and soft and required little care.

I'd wash it, comb it, trim the bangs every once in a while. . . and it was good.

Well, except that one random and really bizarre hair-day.

We don't really know what happened there. She woke up this way.

I think the aliens that abducted her were doing electroshock experiments.

But all other days it's been wash and wear and cuteness.

And then three years later . . .

Another baby came to live with us. We didn't know how long she'd be here.

We just knew she was adorable and we wanted to take good care of her

while she was with us. And that included a crash course in AA Hair Care 101.

I bought books and did research online. And I was overwhelmed.

Thankfully her initial baby-fine hair was easy to care for. . .

And it just got cuter with every little tendril curl that started popping up.

I was a little nervous when I read one of my books on the subject that

"washing too frequently will dry hair, lead to breakage and cause hair to fall out."

I was especially concerned because she thought that barbecue sauce not only

worked well as facial toner, but was great for hair gel as well.

I told her that while it effectively glued the hair in place,

it seemed a little too stiff for her to use regularly.

With the help of special shampoo and hair lotion and tedious and gentle combing

we survived the toughest part of the baby months with her hair in tact.

And to our delight, we found out that she would be living with us for good.

We adopted her in November and she just had her second birthday on Sunday.

And now that I've accepted the position as permanent Mom/hairstylist

and now that her hair is finally long enough for me to play with it a little

I've really been wanting to learn new ways to do it. Variety is fun. 

So today I scoured the web looking at pictures of adorable little children for ideas.

And I came up with a style called The Four Rosettes.

Tonight was hair-washing night, so I started with freshly washed
and conditioned hair. I adore her curls. They are so spunky and beautiful.
Just like her. I love it loose and natural like this, but being a baby sometimes
having it up makes it easier to take care of it.

I always comb it with a wide-tooth comb after its been conditioned.
And I have a stack of books for her to read so that it's a fun experience.
She used to hate having her hair done until I figured this trick out.
Now, she'll bring me a stack of books and say, "Make so pretty?"

First I section the a little bit in front for her "bangs" because her little curls are so cute.
Then I section the parts and put the hair-ties in to make the two "puffs" on top.
And of course, you have to use the special rubber bands so they don't break the hair.
I also always cut the hair-ties instead of pulling them out. Less stress = happy hair.

You just wind the puff around your finger into a larger curl, and wind that into a rosette.

And then you repeat the process for the bottom two rosettes.

It didn't take very long to do, and it looks pretty cute.

It might look sweet with some little flower clips or barrettes, too.

And of course, she wanted to show off her new 'do.

She's kind of shy sometimes around the camera.
But she was actually asking me to take pictures tonight.
She kept grinning and asking, "Say cheeeeeese?"

Making a tidy pile of books for her bedtime stories.

And she was even hamming it up tonight.

Look at those smiley eyes.

While I was looking through hairstyles today, Waybums sat with me.
We got to a photo of a beautiful African woman with big, puffy natural hair.
Waybums was speechless, "Mother! It's so beautiful! Can Kodi have that hair?"

I love Waybums' straight and long and light brown hair.
And I love Koda's short and kinky dark black hair.
Waybums will probably want to curl hers someday. And that's fine.
And Koda will probably want to straighten hers someday. That's fine too.
There's nothing wrong with wanted to change the way you look.
Just as long as you're comfortable with who you are.

Both my girls are beautiful. And unique.
But I hope they understand that their truest beauty
comes from their character . . . .
. . . the mind under the hair, and the soul under the skin.

I'll keep you posted.

Today I learned that libraries are still relevant.

Can you remember the last time you set foot in a library?

The last time I visited a Library was when I lived in San Diego. I was a newlywed with a LOT of spare time on my hands because my sailor was gone for long stretches and I didn't know many people out there. My goal was to check out the thickest books in the place and spend my lonely nights trekking across the wilderness with Sacajawea or giving War and Peace yet another chance. Three times I've tried to make it through that book. Three. I own it now, and I still haven't gotten through.

I remember the library program I attended when I was a kid. I devoured books, so it was a piece of cake for me to complete the goals. And there were other kids to do crafts with, and Sonya the Librarian. She was so sweet and relatable and she knew a lot about books. She had pretty blonde hair. And I didn't realize it then, but she was also a little person. It was probably less noticeable because I used to be little then, too. And little kids have this wonderful ability of seeing people as just purely people, regardless of color, size, age, physical ability, or economic status.

And from Pre-K to high school, I loved visiting the library. It was sometime around college and Internet access that I stopped going. And then after I got married we moved around so much that we never settled anywhere long enough for me to get really acquainted with the local library.

I was looking online for new things to learn when I stumbled upon an article asking:

Will libraries become obsolete? It's an article from 1999.

When I read the title, I was a little worried. After all, I loved my library experiences as a kid. And so today I set out to discover if libraries were all that I remembered them to be, and whether or not they'd become an abandoned gas station along the Information Superhighway.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the library was that this place has a really nice building. Three stories, (LoL - Oops, I mean levels... It would be a short article if there were only three stories at the library), comfy chairs to lounge in while you read and very friendly people at the circulation desk. We felt immediately at home.

The first stop was getting our library card. One for me, and one for Waybums.

She was so proud.

I didn't realize what a right of passage it would be to her.

I started looking around for books and the kids were pretty good about keeping quiet and not running around like crazy. Within five minutes I felt like I had won the "learning-things" jackpot. I've already added "vermiculture" and "geocaching" and "dairy farming" to my to-learn list. And I found out that our library has an immense selection of pretty cool-shaped cake pans that you can check out. So, I see cake decorating lesson in my future, as well. :) After perusing around for a bit I decided to take the kids to see the youth area. After five seconds I felt like I had won the "kid-entertainment" jackpot. Wow!

They even had a Lego table so Kodi-Pie would have diversion.

No, wait - what's this? A whole PLAY AREA??

With wooden trains and Dr. Office beads and The Works!

I had been worried that our trip would be short

because Little One would get bored.

With Kodi occupied right there,

Waybums and I start looking around at the books.

There were so many. This is just a tiny section...

It was like a reunion with old friends. Ramona. Barbar. Clifford. She looked around in wide-eyed wonder. "Mother! It's just like when Beast gives Belle a library! There's so many books everywheres!"

But her indecision came to a swift end when we found the dinosaur section. She did a little happy dance and started making a pile. Once she'd selected her books, she brought them over to a plastic playhouse castle where an adorable little girl asked if she wanted to come in. They sat there looking at the books and giggling. Kodi continued playing with the Lego table. I sat down and checked over a few articles in a Parenting magazine. It was delightful and laid-back and I enjoyed it, too!

The only thing I didn't account for was that it would be too fun.

So fun nobody wanted to leave.

Poor kid was heartbroken when I told her we had to go.

She was on the brink of tears when a nice young fellow on staff saw her sadness and reappeared with a special treasure that brightened her day immediately. Her very first bookmark. :) It said, "My heart belongs with books" and he gave it to her because he could tell that she loved books a lot to be so sad to leave the library. She smiled shyly and gave me a huge hug and we went home with our glorious loot.

She read herself to sleep, and cuddled with her bookmark.

The Internet is great and so full of information, but the trip to the library offered one thing that the Internet could not. A connection with real people, in real time. I had a chance to chat with other moms, and the girls had a chance to play with other kids. We got to know the librarians, and one of the staff even made my daughter's day a little brighter. We haven't really been plugged into our community here. My husband goes to college and works in our previous town and I used to commute to get the kiddo in our previous town. We visit family out of town often. I feel like we had a chance to get to know our community better today. And that's a lesson worthy of note.

As far as which cake pan I'm picking out first...

I'll keep you posted.

Today I learned how to make bouncy balls, and shared a photo essay.

Put on your lab coats and safety glasses, readers, because we’re about to get scientific. :) After my long evening of Turkish Delighting I decided to stray from cooking for a bit to do an easy science experiment and make a different kind of recipe:

Bouncy Balls ala Borax

Here are the ingredients you'll need:  

1 tbs. white glue

1/2 tsp. borax

1 tbs cornstarch

2 tbs warm water

Food coloring

 2 plastic cups

2 stirring sticks (chopsticks work fine)

A quick note is that borax is an irritant in its powder form and shouldn't be kid-handled.

It's fine for kids to play with it after it's made as long as they're old enough to know

not to eat it, slobber on it or otherwise ingest it. (Which is true of all bouncy balls.)

Step # 1- Put glue into cup and mix in whatever color you like. Waybums picked pink.

Step #2 - Mix the borax and water in the second cup with the other stirring stick.

Step # 3 - Add cornstarch and borax solution into the glue cup

and let it sit for 15 seconds.

We forgot to let it sit but it still turned out ok.

Step #4 - Stir the mixture with one of the sticks until it's hard to stir

and then begin rolling it into a ball.

It's sticky at first and hard to roll,

but give it some time and it'll get going.

Step #5 - Get bouncing!

It's not going to bounce as high as your average superball,

but you can't help but feel a little cool and MacGyver-like to have made it.

And that's how you make bouncy balls from household supplies.

*cricket-cricket*

That's it?

Really?

Hmm.

I thought it would be more difficult.

Uhhh, Something to stretch it out a bit....? Oh! I have just the thing.

 - Photo Essay on The People in the Background-

I've been a lot of touristy places before and when I've looked at the photo afterwards I always seem to notice the people in the background. I don't know these people, but here is a picture of them captured in the same place that I went. It makes me think...

"How many people have photos of me in the background of their pictures?"

Provocative thought, eh?

Well one day when we lived in Japan we took my visiting mom-in-law to Kamakura. It was a particularly busy holiday weekend and there were throngs of people everywhere. Kamakura used to be the capitol of Japan and so the place we took mom-in-law to see used to be the palace.

There were a lot of stairs.

And Waybums was still a baby in a stroller then . . .

 . . . asleep.

So I told Hubby and Mom-in-Law to go ahead. I'd just stay behind.

And I shot pictures of them on the steps and at the top.
And I started thinking about those people in the background.
Why not let them be the focus of a few pictures?

Mom taking pictures of her kids.

Teenagers glad to have a day off from school.

Tired couple.

Dad and daughter.

Ladies and their pups.

Beautiful woman in purple.

Kid in the red hat.

Man left behind at the bottom of the stairs.

There at the steps of Kamakura it was just us. People going through our day.

A lot of people get so caught up in what they're doing that people become part of the background to them. The cashier at the grocery store. The childcare worker at daycare. The person sitting at the next table in a restaurant. Static. Extras in the film of their life. And what I learned that day is that just because someone isn't the focus of my picture, doesn't mean they aren't part of that moment.

Just something I learned...

I'll keep you posted.

Today I learned HOW-TO Make Turkish Delights!

After my drastically failed attempt, and then a LONG evening of dedicated do-over,
I have done it! So here's the learning process in action:

The Ingredients

You know, I learned with this recipe that one of my pet peeves is when recipes lump together a sum of an ingredient when it's actually added in various increments throughout the recipe. I very nearly had 1 1/4 cups of cornstarch in my gluey mixture because of this practice. Who wants to stop and do mental math at a critical juncture of the process when every second counts?

I broke down the recipe for you according to the steps of the process:

To Coat the Pan

extra light olive oil

Sugar Mixture

4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 tbs. lemon juice

Jelly (Gluey) mixture

1 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. cream of tartar

3 cups water

Last Ingredient

3 tbs. rose water

Powder Coating

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

This recipe is very close to the last recipe I tried with a few minor exceptions that made a big difference. The last recipe I tried, while quite close to this one, was not as clear in its instructions and contained some inconsistencies. For instance, the video told me I needed 1 1/2 cups of corn starch, the written recipe told me that I needed 1 1/4 cups of cornstarch, the instructions told me to add 1 cup of cornstarch, but that recipe never told me what to do with the remaining 1/4 or 1/2 cup of cornstarch after making the gluey. So one of the most important things I learned is to study the recipe before you ever get started. I probably would have noticed earlier but I was distracted by the video with its cool bop-iddy-bop-bop Middle Eastern music in the background and the tutorial lady's charming accent.
 
Before you start, I would recommend measuring all the ingredients and having them ready to go. You need a larger pan and a smaller pan. Start the sugar mixture in the smaller pan because you'll be pouring it into the larger pan.
 

Step #1 Make the Sugar Mixture

   

Tah-Dah! My lovely new Tramontina stainless steel saucepan!

I'm not getting any endorsements from Tramontina or anything,

(LoL!) but I have to say that they make nice, heavy-duty cookware.

They're thick bottomed, heat evenly and are great quality.

There are some purchases where you can pinch pennies,

but I have learned that a quality product is worth the extra.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way...

*Sniffle*

I bought this a month ago because it was a big beautiful shiny wok for my stir-frying.

Be sure to look for stainless steel because the only thing this is good for now

is gonging intruders over the head.

 

Anyway, back to Turkish delight...  

This is the water, lemon juice and sugar mixture over medium heat.

(I began this process at about 10:15 p.m.)

You keep stirring this until the sugar dissolves and it starts to boil.

Then you turn the heat to low and let is simmer

until it reaches 240F on the candy thermometer.

 

This part took MuCH LonGeR than I anticipated.

I probably spent a good hour waiting for that blue vein to rise.

I stood there listening to Enya music and watched this sort of hypnotizing bubble ballet.

 

The bubbles would appear from nowhere within the mixture.

They'd form and then pop up to the surface.

Sometimes there would be little bubble geysers.

I spent a lot of time watching the hypnotic bubbles.

After about an hour of watching the little bubbles and not

seeing any temperature increases I decided my "low" setting was too low,

and that these bubbles were lazy. I turned up the heat and finally got to 240F.

 

Step #2 - Make the Gluey Mixture

Now you mix the cornstarch, water and cream of tartar over medium heat.

I didn't get any photos of this part of the process,
mostly because it was the part that left me wary.

Basically you stir like crazy until it starts to boil.
 After it boils it will start to become gluey.

I found a trick is in the sound of mixture.
Stirring sounds less splishy as it gets thicker.

Early warning signs are extremely helpful to the process
and I'm glad to have tagged this one.

 

Now as soon as it starts to become glue-like you pour the Sugar Mixture
into the cornstarch mixture.

Stir it like crazy for five minutes until it starts to look like this:

Kind of reminds me of the goo from lemon meringue pie.

 

Now comes the labor-intensive part. You stir. And you watch. And you stir some more. And you watch. And you stir until your arm feels like it's going to fall off and you watch until your brain cells will start dying off from lack of stimulation. Having done this solo, I would recommend having someone available to relieve you. About 45 minutes into this part of the process (about midnight) I realized it wasn't really simmering, it was just warm, so I turned up the heat. It probably varies from stove to stove. While I was waiting for it to heat, I became so bored for something to do that I decided to learn how to make lemonade from lemon juice.

 

I was into a rhythm at this point and knew I had about two minutes before it started bubbling and I'd have to stir again. I stirred and ran to Google "lemonade from lemon juice." As soon as I found a recipe, I dashed back and stirred the goo. After stirring, I ran back to the computer and copy-pasted into a word document and popped the Turkish delight recipe print-out in so I could print the lemonade recipe on the back. I printed it and dashed with it back to the kitchen, glad to be done with the back and forth part of it. I looked at the Lemonade recipe:

 

AAAAAAH! OH NO!  

 

No Lemonade Recipe and now no Turkish Delight Recipe! SO back and forth I dashed again until I reprinted the Lemonade Recipe and the Turkish Delight recipe. I used my sugar mixture pan to make the simple syrup, stirring my Turkish Delight every two minutes or so. I added the lemon juice and water it asked me to add, mixed it up and stuck it in a cup with some ice cubes.

 

Ah! What a refreshing-looking diversion.  

Of course when I took a big gulp my face turned to a permanent pucker and

I immediately sprouted 37 chest hairs. Whoo! So, I won't be sharing that recipe with you.

Unless you have some furniture that needs stripping...

 

So, back to the Turkish Delight,

I noticed as I waited that the mixture began to lose its cloudiness

and become much more gel-like and thicker.

It was also harder to stir.

Either that or my arms were giving up on me and going to fall off.

I amused myself by making up songs about life with no arms.

They were quite inspirational, I'm sure.

 

The mixture also became a slightly darker golden color,

and I could tell that it was a lot closer to the consistency that I was looking for, although it said in the recipe when it "has become a golden color"
so I was looking for some sort of notable change.

When I realized that the consistency was right where I wanted it,
my gut told me if I kept stirring, waiting for some color change

 that I would have missed my mark.

 

I added the rosewater and poured it into my prepared pan
and waited for morning to come.

I'm pretty sure I was stirring with an imaginary spoon in my sleep.

I had a dream about stirring Turkish Delight over a fire
in a huge cauldron with a giant spoon.

When I woke up I remembered it was a real spoon I saw in Hakone (Japan).

 

Waybums is in this picture, too. Sort of. Behind the spoon.

 

And then came the morning!

It looked perfect and gelled. So I followed through the rest of the recipe.

Turning it on a surface was easy.

I would recommend a light layer of olive oil to keep it from sticking.

Close-up of the Delight and its waxed-paper wrinkles.

Coat in cornstarch and powdered sugar...

Be sure to mix the cornstarch and sugar well first.

 

Turkish Delight!

I tasted a piece after I had them all powdered and put away.

I was most surprised at how smooth and creamy they are.

Yum-may!

So, I gave my sample plate to the most discerning palate in the house.

She took a bite and regarded the candy.

And then declared it "the best most tasty ever in the world."

Even our house-rabbit Jazzy tried to steal a piece.

I thought he was going for the rose petals but he hopped away with a candy in his mouth!

Hmm. Related to the Easter Bunny?

 

Waybums suggested all the flavors she'd like to try.

Cherry. Strawberry. Orange.

You can make it any flavor you want.

As it is, it tastes like a rich honeyish lemon flavor.

 

This recipe can be found here.

So, all-in-all not a bad experience. Turkish delight dates back to 1500s so it's kind of cool to make an ancient candy recipe the traditional way. I won't be making it every day, but I can definitely see making it again for special occasions. Waybums has already put an order in for her birthday.

 

I know you had to wait a while for me to post this lesson, but one great thing I learned from this experience is that whether something turns out or it doesn't, waiting for the outcome will at least grant you more patience.

And Tramontina - feel free to have your people call my people. ;)

 

I'll keep you posted.