Golden day

I wish I had a term for a day that makes all other days of work worth it. It's a day when everything aligns - the kids are in a good mood; the weather is picture-perfect; and Jeremy and I are just living in the moment.

Yesterday was one of those days. We started our day with the most perfect food: Doughnuts.

 

I thank my lucky stars I live in today's world...a world with over-priced fancy doughnuts. Glazed and Infused is great - ridiculous varieties (maple with bacon, chocolate chip cookie and salted caramel crunch), strong coffee, and a relaxed vibe. Except when children are there. Especially children who have just eaten a lot of sugar.

Best Friend has always been raving about The Morton Arboretum in Chicago's western suburbs. I finally took her words to heart and off we went after our power breakfast. We were incredibly lucky that one of my work colleagues/friends was also there with her family - they welcomed us as we arrived and set us on our way of fun.

Hi, gorgeous...yes, spending a day at an arboretum at the height of fall is the bee's knees. And the Children's Garden there was great fun - a ton of mazes, tree houses and great climbers.

 

Jack asked me if I "made this place." One of the causalities that comes with having a mother who works in the conservation field!

How does one end a perfect day? Well, with pumpkin of course. I 100% stole this recipe from this clever blog. This recipe is so easy and gives you bite-sized, portable pumpkin pies.

Impossible pumpkin pie cupcakes

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon cloves)

1 15-oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup half and half (or evaporated milk)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or silicone liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and half and half until well combined. Add in dry ingredients and whisk until no streaks of flour remain and batter is smooth.

Fill each muffin cup with approximately 1/3 cup of batter.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan. They will sink as they cool.

Chill cupcakes before serving. Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Makes 12.

Yum!

Roots

Yesterday, Openlands' staff and some special guests toured a patchwork of community-powered food-growing gardens, small and large, throughout Chicago.

I was struck by the blighted Englewood neighborhood in Chicago. It's notorious for being the murder capital of Chicago. Boarded-up buildings are the norm, and even on a beautiful, sunny June day, it just has a beat-down feeling to it.

However, in the middle of this neighborhood is a little oasis - Hermitage Street Community Garden. This one-year-old allotment garden is fueled by the neighbors' passion - families each have a plot to plant their strawberries, squash and tomatoes. The chief community organizer told us that the space is also used for gatherings - a neighborhood safe haven. Other neighbors are being inspired to claim other abandoned lots to make their own gardens.

We also visited the Chicago Botanic Garden's Green Youth Farm in Chicago's Washington Park (Chicago had proposed this park as a major site during its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.) The coordinator of this education/summer job program told us many stories. One was about the daily routine of going around the group of high school students, where they'd receive feedback on things they were doing well and one thing they needed to work on. One student broke down in tears, the coordinator recounted. Not because of the room-for-improvement feedback but because of the positive feedback. She explained no one had given her that reinforcement before.

And so.

I can always relate these things back to parenthood, can't I?

Chicago has lots of week-long camp options. You could be a superhero one week and a zoo explorer the next. This week, Jack is participating in his first day camp experience at our tennis club. I was nervous - I've been to the club but I didn't have a chance to meet his counselors or see what he'd be doing. And Monday night, Jack was whispering into his plate, "you're bad." This set off a tiny alarm for me.

I pressed him to tell me more. In my head, I'm imagining older, bigger boys jeering my son and his clumsy ways (he has my genes, let's be frank). I briefly considered homeschooling.

In reality, he and a girl  apparently got into a row about a water bottle, and this little girl declared him "bad."

Jack and I talked about how he can behave with this fellow camper and then just overall about how he feels about himself. We can't control what people say to us, I told him, but we can control how we think about it and how we act.

Who knows what sank in.

This morning, I related the high school student's reaction to positive feedback to Jeremy. In the next breath, I asked Jack what makes him special. He just hugged me.

My kids know they are loved and how to love. I hope this helps to build them a strong foundation to rely upon as they grow. I can't be at every thing Jack will take on in life, nor should I be. He will need to rely upon his own foundation of what he believes....kind of like the hope and strength the gardeners in Englewood are cultivating and propagating.

Slow summer days

While I'm not a fan of retro-blogging, I do have to say, we had a nice weekend from my Monday evening vantage point. This blogger has published a book, has a strong following and is thin and pretty, and I still like her. I appreciate her love of family and friends and her positive outlook on life. Anyways, she has been doing more with video on her blog and has provided a tutorial on YouTube. She, along with the new desktop computer Jeremy bought us, inspired me to make this video from our visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden Saturday afternoon with a little something added to the end.  I literally followed the tutorial step-by-step; more creativity to come as I get more comfortable with my movie editing skills.

June 2012 from Jennifer Mullman on Vimeo.

Sunday was a day to rest and be lazy for my family. We thought it might rain; it didn't. We treated the day as if it was a rainy day anyways, reading books and doing inside things. Jack got into the cozy, lazy spirit of things by wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants (while it was nearing 90 degrees outside, mind you), and Roscoe the cat is always ready for a good snooze.

Jeremy and I tried a new slow cooker recipe from this blog Sunday night.

Easy slow cooker carnitas
2 pounds pork shoulder
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 large orange)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 large lime)
7 cloves garlic (whole intact)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup beef broth
corn tortillas
sour cream, salsa, sliced avocado, limes (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the salt and cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into the slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Squeeze on the citrus, and pour the beef broth evenly over the top.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds quite easily with a fork. If your meat is still fully intact after 8 hours, remove and cut into chunks, then return to the crock and flip to high for about an hour or two.
Shred meat fully and serve on warmed corn tortillas with desired toppings.

One of our favorite appetizers is the guacamole from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which went perfectly with our pork tacos.

Guacamole
4 ripe Haas avocados
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
8 dashes hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium tomato, seeded, and small-diced

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out of their shells into a large bowl. Immediately add the lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and toss well. Using a hand mixer, blend avocado mix to your liking. Add the tomatoes. Mix well and taste for salt and pepper.

And for anyone who thinks I edit my life for my blog - well, okay, sometimes I do - and now I'm getting into video! Just to keep things real, here's a picture of my life taken by Jack.

Here's to slowing down to enjoy our happy, messy lives, gentle readers.

Doing what you love

I'm working my way through this article - I know I've limited myself in my professional pursuits to ensure I have had flexibility for my family life. And in other ways, I feel unlimited in my personal pursuits, being in control of my work schedule, never traveling for work and having a full-time caregiver who loves my children like her own.  In my own small way, I am hoping I am doing my part for women's equality, being a mostly happy mother who has found balance and meaning at work.  I do not have it all but I'm happy for what I've worked hard to have. 

And the irony that I type this one-handed as I cradle Jossie in my other arm is not lost on me.

I'm high on work right now. We had a retreat Thursday afternoon to talk about the "why" of Openlands. The how and what of our organization's work are easy to describe but why do we do what we do is much more complicated. It's intensely personal, as the staff and board in this point in the organization's history help shape these concepts. The closest we came Thursday to a draft was that we believe nature is essential to our well-being. Agree or disagree?

As my BFF pointed out, Openlands is a nice place to work. On Friday, we held our summer picnic at a neighborhood garden that we helped protect in Chicago's South Deering neighborhood. Typically, on these summer picnic days, we unofficially have the morning off and then come together in the midday for a picnic. Jeremy took the day off as well, and he and I had breakfast alone at Milk & Honey Cafe, one of our favorites. Then it was time for the picnic. There was shade, white wine in plastic glasses, and a contained area for the children to play. The weather's heat had broken and there was a nice breeze and milder temperatures.

We all bring something, and I brought a cake that BFF had made for us the weekend before. This is a cake you could make any night of the week - simple and all of the ingredients you probably have on hand, even buttermilk (to make your own buttermilk, mix 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice with 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes). You could use any type of berry you have available.

Raspberry buttermilk cake
Adapted from Gourmet

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
8 oz fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Enjoy with ice cream or whipped cream.

Good weather and happiness continues

Openlands participated in another school garden dedication this morning for a school in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. What have I learned over the past two days? There are still good kids out there and school principals are charged with a lot of responsibility. 

Great few days out in the sunshine and now looking forward to another summer weekend in the city.

Today's charms

Today is St. Patrick's Day. It was 80+ degrees in Chicago, and when I ventured out, I saw many a green-clad person dancing through the streets.

I project there will be many sunburnt hungover people tomorrow.

We probably couldn't be further away from the revelry of St. Paddy's Day celebrations, and that is certainly fine. We spent the morning hosting a play date between Jack and his school friend Charlie. Charlie is Jack's first friend he hasn't know since the crib - he is such a sweet boy from a thoughtful family. He showed up with a fistful of daffodils for Jack's mommy.

I loved having a pirate and a Superman run around, looking for monsters and laughing when I told them their pirates' treasure was called "booty." (Admit it, you smiled too.) 

I kind of love play dates, as the kids entertain themselves. With Jossie napping, I had time to try my hand at an omelet. Yes, City Sweet has not conquered omelets. And I did not do it today - letting the egg burn on the outside while the inside was still runny. I do love this book however - Cook's Illustrated is trying its hardest to give me step-by-step, scientific-based instructions to cooking perfection. 

After good-byes to Charlie, lunch, a grocery trip and an afternoon nap for Jossie, Jeremy and I took the kids up to the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve in Lake County. The capital campaign for the Preserve started two months before Jack's birth, so I like to think of both of these projects as things I've seen grown, myself maturing too. I played a small role overall in this project, but I can certainly take credit in front of my kids, right? "Mommy helped make this place," I told Jack as we strolled along the sunny lake bluff trail, with glittering views of Lake Michigan to our left. (Though I realized I may have led him too far, after Jack asked me if I made Lake Michigan.)

I proudly took in the many visitors we passed - mostly military families who reside at Fort Sheridan, cyclists and a couple getting their engagement pictures taken by a photographer.  "Mommy," Jack observed. "People like your place!"

I'll take that as a working-mama validation any day.

The sun and warm temperatures are so refreshing - it was great to play outside. I was struck by this picture however - look at those long shadows from the sun. Those are winter shadows despite our summer temperatures.

Jeremy had heard good things about Real Urban BBQ in neighboring Highland Park and is always excited to try a new BBQ joint, so we took the kids for an early dinner. The food was good - we would recommend it. They featured Carolina-style of BBQ - smoked meats and you can add your own sauces - which you ordered cafeteria-style. The kids and I love the sides, and they had an unsweetened peach iced tea that was very refreshing. People say that Jossie girl is my mini-me because of our looks but I saw the way that girl eyed her brother's mac and cheese - that is all me, baby.

They have seating outside, and I'm always quickly reminded how beautiful al fresco dining is with kids. Once you're finished, you just stand up, brush everyone off and go, go, go.

We finished our night at Homer's Ice Cream in Wilmette on our way home to the city. I like to think of it as really good birth control - the place was extremely loud, overrun by families and groups of tweens. While Jossie has had other sweets, this was her first bite of ice cream - despite her early startled reaction to its coldness, she loved it. And as I watched the tweens laughing with each other, pulling out iPhones and acting goofy, I pulled Jack's chair close to me. Grateful he's still mine, and he still wants to spend his time with Mommy.

An Irish blessing for today:

These things I warmly wish to you-
Someone to love
Some work to do
A bit o' sun
A bit o' cheer
And a guardian angel always near.

Still standing!

So my best intentions for chronicling the weekend through photo and video were dashed by the madhouse of activity that ensued. You know - the typical insanity of driving around the North Shore, terrorizing little bakeries to make me cookie platters RIGHT NOW, which comes with special events planning.

I'm grateful to my parents for keeping Jack and Jossie, so Jeremy could fly (safely) to New York to do his thing and I could do the aforementioned bakery terrorizing. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

And without further adieu, here are the two pictures I did take this weekend with my phone. The first is the fully accessible trail that winds along the lake bluff, with majestic views of Lake Michigan. I was walking the path with my best friend Amy and her daughter Cate when I took this.

And this one is from our Sunday night benefit, which had the theme of a French country picnic. We rolled up the sides of the tent and let the delicious lake breezes in. My phone was in one hand and a glass of white wine was in the other.

And here's a picture I stole from a board member - my favorite part of the weekend was seeing the almost-full moon's reflection off of Lake Michigan. Heavenly.

Mixed emotions

It's 6:45 a.m., and I'm checking email, nursing a baby and writing a blog post. Sounds about right for myself these days.

Our grand opening of the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve is today and tomorrow - hence the lack of posts in the last couple of weeks. I've been working on this opening since I returned from maternity leave in early April. I'm honored to be a part of a wonderful team who is making this weekend and the Preserve happen. The weather is looking good, and we are ready.

As the retrospectives for 9/11 play on TV, I enter this weekend with one part concern and two parts feeling blessed. My concern is that Jeremy has to fly tomorrow on 9/11 to New York for business. He will be fine, but I don't love it nonetheless.

Okay, on to the fun stuff: I'm blessed that my parents are driving here right now and I get to spend the weekend surrounded by them and my children, spending time looking inward and being reminded of what's most truly important to me.

I also get to participate in a weekend of activities at the Preserve. The Preserve is situated on a working military base. About 400 Naval families are stationed here, and we've invited them to participate in our open house today. It's nice to be part of something bigger than my own little life this weekend, spending time looking outward, enjoying nature with a lot of people.

I'm armed with my camera and my Flip - hopefully to capture some of the weekend for you. And after this weekend, I'm looking at some exciting things for my writing here - beautifying the blog design and I'm potentially entering a partnership to learn more about local farming, so I can bring you some original, firsthand information about feeding your family local, healthy foods without breaking the bank.

Happy Saturday! Here's a picture from the Preserve's lake bluffs, which my colleague just took: