July 4th Goodies

We had such a wonderful July 4th and I've been meaning to post pictures but I took so many that it's taken me some time to download them all! I have a lot of fun things to share but I thought I'd start with our goodie bags.

My parents live in a small town that has a parade right down their street every year, and it has long been our tradition to have a huge parade-watching party with a cookout afterwards. There are always tons of kids and of course they love the parade! We always fill up hundreds of water balloons and throw a few fun sprinklers on the lawn for them to enjoy while lunch is cooking. A few years back I started a tradition of providing goodie bags for all the kiddoes. I prefer to personalize them with each child's name but a lot of times we don't know who is going to show up!

The last couple of years it's been fun to have my stepkids help pick out the goodies for the bags. I think I have as much fun planning and putting it all together as the kids do ripping them apart to find their treasures!

This year my stepdaughter chose tie-dye fabric bags to put the goodies in...at first I would have preferred them to be exclusively in July 4th colors, but these actually turned out really cute! I painted the names that we knew on some of the bags and left the rest blank.

The goodies inside this year included:

• sparkly pompom (chosen by my stepson)
• bubbles
• star ring
• two necklaces 
• 2 tattoos
• small inflatable ball
• colorful sunglasses 

My sister added a bunch of glow-in-the-dark bracelets as well. 

What a hit! Sadly the threat of rain kept several families away, and our favorite-large-family-of-many-boys (hi Mrs. B.!) were away on vacation, so we didn't have as many kids as usual. We had several bags left over...but as always my motto is better too many than not enough!

We all had so much fun, and I'll be posting soon about some of the other party events!

Cynthia Ann Parker

I think I might be the only girl in the world who would buy an Indian history book and a People magazine at the same time...the checkout clerk at Barnes and Noble looked at me like I was crazy. Quite possibly I am.

My destiny as a nerdy history major began long ago when I was a little girl and first heard the story of Cynthia Ann Parker. She was a white girl kidnapped at the age of nine by the Comanches in 1836. She grew up with the Comanches, fell in love with their chief as an adult, and became the mother of the last (and most famous) Comanche war chief, Quanah Parker. She was tragically recaptured by the white people 24 years after her initial kidnapping, and forced against her will to return to white society. Her two year old daughter, Prairie Flower, died of influenza at the age of six and a few years later Cynthia Ann died as well (some say of a broken heart), having never seen her two sons again.

I've always found her tragic story fascinating, particularly because it's long been family legend that we are distantly related to her on my mother's side. Though we certainly have Parker blood my mother's genealogy research in the 1990's was never able to establish a clear connection to Cynthia Ann. She was able to establish a definite connection (by marriage) to Rachel Parker Plummer, who was also kidnapped by the Comanches along with Cynthia Ann.

Rachel's story is much darker than Cynthia Ann's: she was 17 at the time and had a two year old son with her. Rachel was also four months pregnant. She spent 13 brutal months in captivity as a slave, terribly mistreated, and her toddler son was taken away (he was later ransomed, but she never saw him again). The baby she later bore was brutally murdered by the Indians. Rachel was eventually ransomed and returned to her husband, who by all accounts had not done much to look for her and was not all that thrilled at her return. Rachel died in childbirth less than a year later at the age of 21.

I've long been fascinated with the Parker story and with Texas history in general. My college senior thesis was on the subject of female captivity by various Indian tribes, particularly the fearsome Comanches. By the grace of genetics and my mother's research I am a proven descendant of one of the first families to settle in Texas with Stephen F. Austin, and a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Though I consider it a glorious heritage it is not without its dark moments in history.

Recently I heard the author of the new book Empire of the Summer Moon speaking on NPR and I couldn't wait to read the book! I'm about a hundred pages in and it's enthralling. Grim, but absorbing. I highly recommend it.

Oh, and the People magazine was good, too. :)

Blueberry Cookies

Not to turn this completely into a food blog, but I just have to share these wonders. Blueberry cookies may sound kind of weird, but trust me, these are some of the most delicious cookies you will ever eat! I think it's the combination almond flavor and sweet fresh blueberries that make them so good. This recipe isn't exactly nutritious (egads, shortening? ewwww), but if you can forget about that intellectually, your mouth will thank you! As my stepdaughter says, taking a bite is like taking a little walk in heaven!

Here's the recipe. (I always skip the lemon zest, and I add a teaspoon of vanilla because I like it).

More Pickin'!

Have I mentioned lately how much I looooooove blueberries? Seriously, I eat them every day. I would eat them with every meal if I could. I love them any way you prepare them. Thank goodness they are so healthy because otherwise I'd be in big trouble!

I'm so lucky to have a husband who not only puts up with my blueberry obsession (and resulting kitchen experiments, some of which don't go so well) but who also willingly and somewhat eagerly agrees several times each summer to go blueberry picking with me. We go to several local farms, including Blueberry Hill Farms in Edom and Baileys' Berry Patch in Sadler.

Last weekend was the best picking we've ever experienced! The berries were so sweet and ripe; the bushes were bursting so full that you could easily grab an entire handful of berries at once. It hardly took us any time at all to fill up two huge baskets. The weather was nice: cloudy, not too hot, and we had a nice breeze. We laughed at how lucky we were that literally the minute we closed the car doors to drive away, it started to pour buckets of rain. What luck!

Alas, our good luck didn't hold as we ended up stuck in 2 hours of diversion traffic through small east Texas towns due to a semi turning over on the highway. That was quite the frustrating adventure!

But look at the oodles and oodles of yummy blueberries we have! We've all been eating them like candy. I made some delicious blueberry cookies. I can't wait to try more recipes!

Green Sesame Salad

Lately I've been into making unique "salads" that go farther than simple lettuce with the usual toppings. We've been experimenting with all sorts of yummy veggies; I must say I love summer fruit and vegetable season! One of our favorites is Healthy Garden Salad.

We tried a wonderful new one the other day: Green Sesame Salad. I found the recipe in a cookbook and modified it somewhat to our tastes. This was quite possibly one of the most delicious salads I've ever tasted! It might look a little funny and sound a little weird, but if you're trying to get in more healthful foods I highly recommend giving this a try! I think next time I am going to add some edamame.

Green Sesame Salad

4.5 oz fresh bean sprouts
6 celery sticks
1 large green bell pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1.5 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Chop pepper, cilantro, and celery. Rinse and drain bean sprouts thoroughly. Place sprouts, pepper, and celery into a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Toast the sesame seeds lightly in a toaster oven or on a cookie sheet under the oven broiler.

To make the dressing, combine lime juice, chili powder, sugar, salt, and cilantro in a small bowl and whisk together thoroughly. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss/stir well to mix. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!

July Crafts

I've been so busy with traveling and general summer fun I haven't had much time to post lately! I'll be updating more soon (I hope) but in the meantime, here are pictures of my July crafts for StepMom Magazine. These are so fun and easy! I say this nearly every month, but these are my new favorites...

Baggie Ice Cream
(homemade in Ziploc baggies...did I mention delicious, too?) 

 

Carton Boat

(yes, it floats!)

Vacation Map Frame