Monthly Archives: May 2012

Shake it off, and get right back on the bike

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

One of the new buzz words in education is “resilience,” and even though this notion of helping students build inner strength to deal with the obstacles, failures, and disappointments of life seems like a good idea, I wonder why it … Continue reading →

Posted in biking, children, class, coaching, education, experience, growth, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Double chocolate and banana tart: putting the pieces back together

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

For once, I thought I’d easily conquered not only the tart dough on round one, but also the entire multi-step process without incident, aggravation, mistake, or calamity. Surprisingly, despite the fact that I had to make an appetizer and the … Continue reading →

Posted in children, family, food, mistakes, motherhood | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

“oh antic God” By Lucille Clifton

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

oh antic God return to me my mother in her thirties leaned across the front porch the huge pillow of her breasts pressing against the rail summoning me in for bed. I am almost the dead woman’s age times two. … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, family, loss, motherhood | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Sticky business: pecan sticky buns

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I made these pecan sticky buns from Baking with Julia so long ago that I barely remember what I need to say about them, except that despite my enduring love of butter, these buns had maybe more butter than I … Continue reading →

Posted in family, food | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Provencal olive [sun dried tomato] fougasse

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I love baking bread, and Dorie Greenspan‘s provencal olive fougasse recipe came at just the right time.  It was a challenge to mold the bread into a leaf shape — and my first attempt was satisfactory, but next time,  I’ll be … Continue reading →

Posted in bread, food | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Back to basics: almond flounder meuniere

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

One way to define basic cooking is as simple, unsophisticated, or plain. When I investigated the title of this dish, almond flounder meuniere (from Around My French Table) I learned that “meuniere” means “Miller’s wife” and thus refers to the rustic … Continue reading →

Posted in children, family, family meals, food | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Hungarian shortbread: getting a workout

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Necessity is the Mother of Invention

This recipe was not quite as simple as it seemed. First, I didn’t know much about rhubarb, having never cooked with it before.  The rhubarb I’ve seen in photographs looked much redder and thinner than the giant stalks I found … Continue reading →

Posted in food | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments