It Was So Good, but...

No pictures of the chili,
so here's one of a young Theo.

Theo likes to cook. Partly because he likes to eat good food but partly because he enjoys the science and creativity of cooking. So for Christmas, we got him a gift certificate for a session at a cooking school - the real thing with big-time chefs, good equipment, and helpers. He recently went to a class for one-pot meals. I'm not sure if that's what he wanted to learn about the most from the wide variety of classes, but that's the one that fit into his work schedule. He said he learned a few things and had other things that reinforced what he knew, like the importance of layering flavors. They made three dishes: Morrocan chicken, mushroom risotto, and southwest chili. 

He came home and said he'd like to try making the chili for us. That required a trip to the grocery store and five hours of his time. He roasted peppers, he chopped peppers, he ground peppers. Five kinds of peppers in all. He roasted a whole head of garlic in olive oil. He chopped, he browned, he braised. And the end result was delicious. There are almost as many ways to make chili as there are cooks, and I've tasted many of them. This batch may have ranked at the top. But was it worth the effort? We all agreed that it wasn't. None of us have enough time in our schedules to cook this way, even with the excellent results it provided. Theo said that he would be looking at ways to streamline the process and still maintain the rich blend of flavors.

I hope he didn't get too discouraged by his efforts because I'm looking forward to some Moroccan chicken. Not sure exactly what that is, but I hope I get to find out soon. :)

P is for Pill bugs

Pillbugs, or roly-polies, as some people call them, are small, 11-sectioned bugs that curl up into a ball for defense. They are arthropods and are more closely related to shrimp and crabs than insects and worms. But this is recent knowledge to me. For most of my life, I thought of them as bugs. And that's what I thought when Theo took a liking to them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidium_vulgare

When he was a toddler, Theo went through a phase where he was fascinated with pill bugs. We had an abundance of them around the edge of our patio and Theo would pick them up and promptly put them in his mouth. We did everything we could to discourage this, but he persisted. One day I saw that he had a dozen or so in his mouth, and I shouted to get them out of his mouth. And do you know what he did? He promptly swallowed them all. I guess I should have been more specific about what I wanted. 

However, I've recently learned that they are edible and taste like shrimp. Maybe if I had known that then, I would have cleaned them up and let Theo eat all he wanted. But then again, maybe not. We don't eat manly insects in this country, and it just seems wrong.

Have you eaten any exotic insects?

Theo's Questions

In the style of Tuesday 4, I've asked Theo to give me four questions to answer with essentially no parameters. Just like with Ward, I gave the example of asking, "What did you have for breakfast?" And just like his father, he came up with a completely different set of questions than I suggested. Which by the way, require more thought than Ward's did. Here it goes. Join me if you'd like.

My mother was in a nursing
home at this point.

1. What's one good aspect of something bad that happened recently? The first thing that comes to mind is that I spilled something on the kitchen floor. Very annoying, but when I was done cleaning it up, the floor was cleaner than it had been. A good aspect of a bad thing.

On a more serious note, my mother suffered from dementia during the last years of her life. It was a heart-wrenching thing to watch as the changes happened. But also while watching her, I learned that there is happiness to be had during all phases of life. Even when she was no longer able to communicate with words, she still expressed happiness in everyday things such as the warmth of the sun or the smell of bacon. She would do this with a little smile or a glimmer in her eye. Definitely a very valuable lesson in a difficult situation.

In general, bad things provide an opportunity to learn, always a good thing.

2. What's one bad aspect of something good that happened recently? About a year and a half ago, I got a new position at the library. The new position gave me an increased salary, as well as the ability to do more creative things. However, now I  have to work some nights and weekends, making it harder to coordinate time with Ward.

 3. What was the last new or novel thing you saw?

When we were visiting Annapolis last week, we found parking meters where you could only pay with an app on your phone. Cash or credit cards were not accepted. We couldn't get the app to load, so we had to drive around until we could find another place to park. During this search, we saw more parts of the city than we might have otherwise. I guess this is another example of a bad thing/good thing.

Last year, our first good snow was in Dec.

4. What is something you haven't seen for a while?

I haven't seen snow in a while, and that's a good thing. But that may change soon.

In general, I found these questions difficult to answer. They don't sound that hard, but I drew a blank on every one of them, I thought about them for a full day before I could come up with any answers. That makes me think, I'm not a good observer of my everyday life (I just realized that's the tag line on my blog. That needs some more exploration.)

And not to mention, I got confused with the first two. I switched my answers a couple of times before I got the right combination of bad/good, good/bad. Sometime, I will have to write my own questions and I will start with, "What did you have for breakfast?" :)

Until next time...

Snow

View in my backyard this morning.

It's snowing again here today. This time is with big, heavy flakes that stick immediately to everything. This got me thinking about a poem Theo wrote when he was little. So for my pleasure, here's another post from the files.

_______________________________

The Joys of Winter

by Theodore

Snowflakes falling onto the ground,

Into your yard without a sound.

When you wake up, they will

Cover the ground to your window sill.

Break out the shovels, winter has come.

Clouds have just blocked out the sun.

Backbreaking labor, isn't this fun?

It's snowing again before you're done.

Scrape the ice off your car

Then start cursing when it won't go far.

Lose your key and get locked outside,

Winter time, it's so divine.
_________________________________________________________

Theo's thoughts on winter when he was nine.

Theo's Graduating!

Today we will be celebrating Theo's graduation from horology school with his classmates. Tomorrow we will be celebrating with family. We are all very happy. Below is a repost from a year ago that talks a bit about the journey brought him to his graduation today.

Our Thinker's Courage

Theo was an interesting child. He was always thinking and seemed to be several steps ahead of most people especially his parents. He loved to read. But most of all, he loved to think. To analyze. To take ideas to their logical conclusion. To learn. To think.

But so you don't get the wrong idea, he was also a very active child. Hyperkinetic was the word one doctor used for him. He loved to experiment. That might mean cracking a dozen eggs on the floor at age two to see how they would blend with a pot of chili or filling his room with an entire spider web of yarn. That might also mean taking his toys apart to see how they worked but never putting them back together. Why bother, he told me many years later. He had already seen what was inside and didn't need to know anymore. And he never slept. Most people agreed. He was amazing and also a handful. Most people would have rather heard stories about him than try to keep up with him.

As I said, Theo was an interesting child. Everyone, parents, grandparents,and teachers had great plans for him. He would go to college, get at least a doctorate degree and come up with some great invention or business. The sky was the limit.

So he started college. He changed majors a few times and settled on Financial Economics. That was a topic far from my interests, but he and Ward would have great debates on the merits of different economic policies on the financial health of the world. Some classes interested him and some didn't. So college went along and had it's ups and downs. However, everyone still agreed that he was a great thinker. That was why we were shocked when he came to us in his final year of college and said that he was dropping out to become a clock and watch maker.

We had the typical parental reaction. A what? What are you thinking? Just finish the degree and then you can do something else. I was thinking about the plans everyone secretly had for him. Our thinker wants to work with his hands? Maybe Wally who was always tinkering and building things, but not Theo who rarely built things. But our thinker had thought it through. This was not a whim. For a while, he hadn't liked college or his major and when he started to interview for jobs, he knew that was it. He would not be happy in his field.

So our thinker thought about what kind of job he wanted. What kind of working conditions he desired. How much money he wanted to make and what kind of lifestyle he wanted to live. Then he researched to find a job that would satisfy those needs that there would always be a demand for. And he came up with clock and watch repair. He told us about his plans the day before he had an interview at the horology school. He started a week later and has never looked back. This all happened a year ago and he has totally embraced his new profession and is happier than he's ever been.

So I could say a lot of things here about following your passion or marching to the beat of your own drummer. But mostly I want to say that I admire my son for the courage he had to change the course of his life despite the unknowns. I also admire him for listening to what he really wanted and needed and not to what others wanted for him. Those are things I don't do easily. I hope that I can remember Theo's example then and again and make my life fit better who I really am.

Our Thinker's Courage

Theo was an interesting child. He was always thinking and seemed to be several steps ahead of most people especially his parents. He loved to read. But most of all, he loved to think. To analyze. To take ideas to their logical conclusion. To learn. To think.

But so you don't get the wrong idea, he was also a very active child. Hyperkinetic was the word one doctor used for him. He loved to experiment. That might mean cracking a dozen eggs on the floor at age two to see how they would blend with a pot of chili or filling his room with an entire spider web of yarn. That might also mean taking his toys apart to see how they worked but never putting them back together. Why bother, he told me many years later. He had already seen what was inside and didn't need to know anymore. And he never slept. Most people agreed. He was amazing and also a handful. Most people would have rather heard stories about him than try to keep up with him.

As I said, Theo was an interesting child. Everyone, parents, grandparents,and teachers had great plans for him. He would go to college, get at least a doctorate degree and come up with some great invention or business. The sky was the limit.

So he started college. He changed majors a few times and settled on Financial Economics. That was a topic far from my interests, but he and Ward would have great debates on the merits of different economic policies on the financial health of the world. Some classes interested him and some didn't. So college went along and had it's ups and downs. However, everyone still agreed that he was a great thinker. That was why we were shocked when he came to us in his final year of college and said that he was dropping out to become a clock and watch maker.

We had the typical parental reaction. A what? What are you thinking? Just finish the degree and then you can do something else. I was thinking about the plans everyone secretly had for him. Our thinker wants to work with his hands? Maybe Wally who was always tinkering and building things, but not Theo who rarely built things. But our thinker had thought it through. This was not a whim. For a while, he hadn't liked college or his major and when he started to interview for jobs, he knew that was it. He would not be happy in his field.

So our thinker thought about what kind of job he wanted. What kind of working conditions he desired. How much money he wanted to make and what kind of lifestyle he wanted to live. Then he researched to find a job that would satisfy those needs that there would always be a demand for. And he came up with clock and watch repair. He told us about his plans the day before he had an interview at the clock school. He started a week later and has never looked back. This all happened a year ago and he has totally embraced his new profession and is happier than he's ever been.

So I could say a lot of things here about following your passion or marching to the beat of your own drummer. But mostly I want to say that I admire my son for the courage he had to change the course of his life despite the unknowns. I also admire him for listening to what he really wanted and needed and not to what others wanted for him. Those are things I don't do easily. I hope that I can remember Theo's example then and again and make my life fit better who I really am.

Is change hard for you or are you excited when you try something different?