laurushka.org/blog

Many years ago, I was listening to a Phillies game on 1210 The Big Talker (before they moved to WPEN and back to 1210) but fell asleep.  I woke up to Rollye James, and instead of her libertarian or whatever her views are talk, she was talking about music.  She announced that whomever called in and told her the name of the artist who sang the following song would win a prize.

My Momma she says it’s silly
My Poppa says “you look like a fool”
But, baby, I don’t mind the criticism
Because we’re doing it every day in school

Groggily, I grabbed the phone and called up to say that it was Solomon Burke, the King of Rock N Soul, of course!  They made me go on the air to claim my prize, and a few weeks later, I received a package of 45s– mostly on Lost Nite, and most were 70s doo-wop songs I hadn’t heard.

This afternoon, I put on WKDU as I drove to West Philly to pick up Joe and drop off some stuff at the Second Mile Thrift Shop.  I listened as the DJ told the young ‘uns to check out the Rotunda tonight, and heard her say that she would give a prize to whomever could name the next artist. I was driving, and figured I wouldn’t know anyway, but guess what?  It was good old Solomon Burke, singing Cry To Me. I was so excited that I could have had the chance to win something TWICE due to the King, and glad to hear the young ‘uns giving props to Solomon Burke.  The DJ’s next song was another favorite, Biz Markie’s Just a Friend, and I was hooked. Then the next song had the N word in it, although I at first thought they were saying “Where are my Knickers at?”  I suffered through some more crap, and waited for the DJ to come back on and announce the winner. But she never did! It’s like she forgot there was a contest! She talked some more about the young ‘uns at the Rotunda tonight, and used a whole bunch of verbs I was not acquainted with, such as Crumping. Or is that Krumpin’?

Anyway, I came home and looked up her playlist, and look at this, she says that it was OTIS REDDING singing Cry to Me!  GOOD GRIEF!!!  Did she get the song from the Internet? Did it not say Solomon Burke? My respect for the young ‘uns has faded.

I am so old.

Good grief, this was the title of an email I got from iVillage today. I don’t even know why I get these emails, I rarely look at the contents. But how do you read a sentence like that?

What kind of mom are you? (You know, are you a disciplinarian? are you the fun mom? etc, and probably the true intention of the sentence)

or

What kind of mom are you? (You know, ACCUSATORY! This might as well say, What kind of monster are you?!)

Or maybe that’s just me. Maybe I’m feeling touchy about my “maternal competence” since we let my dairy-sensitive daughter eat pine nuts… and then watched her suffer for 2 days with hives.

What I want to know is, what does it matter what kind of mom you are? Why do we need labels? And why does iVillage care?

The only thing good about this email was that it reminded me to unsubscribe to future emails.

As I was getting ready to leave for class Friday night, I saw a movement in the backyard that looked unusual. I peered out the window and saw this:

S/he flew to the wire, and we took several pictures of him/her there:

I couldn’t tell what it was by looking at The Sibley’s, so I asked some online bird and urban nature communities. The verdict was:
Cooper’s Hawk, unless it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk (they are easily confused). I have a lot of pictures of this guy’s tail, and I’m pretty sure it was a Cooper’s Hawk.

Living in Philadelphia, you would think you would see pigeons and rats before you’d see a cooper’s hawk in your backyard. But that is the beauty of our neighborhood. We live very close to the Wissahickon and Fairmount Park, and even though we live in the middle of a long string of row homes, and have a postage-stamp sized backyard ourselves, we get to gaze out upon the backyard of the house behind us. The yard’s lot would normally have at least 4 row homes on it, but instead, there is a grove of evergreens.

For my first grad class in 2006, I created a powerpoint guide to enjoying nature in the city. I just uploaded it to my website, if you are interested: Exploring Nature in the City: A Guide to Finding Natural Resources for Philadelphians

The cooper’s hawk sighting is a new addition to the list of wildlife we have seen in our backyard. Here are a few we have caught on film:

A Deer! To be truthful, that is not OUR yard– the tree in the foreground is our boundary.
Here is the deer with our cat, Boo:

A Pheasant! When was the last time you saw a pheasant wandering around the city? I suspected this guy was a pet, but who knows!

This guy thinks he’s a bird, huh?

And a Downy Woodpecker… taken through glass/screen with digital zoom, sorry for the quality.

We’ve also seen other hawks (probably red-tails), and opossums.
We regularly have goldfinches, house finches, chickadees, mourning doves, juncos, sparrows, cardinals and squirrels at our bird feeders. A few grackles showed up last week– they are very cool looking, but I don’t like to seem them on my feeder– they are much too big and awkward. When our mulberry tree has berries in May, we will have Cedar Waxwings.

What wildlife have you seen in your backyard?

No, I’m not referring to Peeps, that awful Easter treat that everyone seems to love. I’m just peeping to say Hello, I am still alive on this planet, but I am struggling with balancing schoolwork and mothering and life and maintaining a blog.  Remind me that I have a post in my head about “maternal competence”… someday, maybe after I make some more progress on the schoolwork, this post will come out.

But now, let me talk about food again.  It’s funny how someone who loves food so much is still afraid of the kitchen. But I am working on overcoming my fear! If I could learn how to drive a stick-shift after five years of being a passenger, I can learn how to cook, right?

And I will make mistakes in both cases… for example… I double-parked to unload the car the other week, and turned off the engine and left the gear in neutral. I kept a remarkably level-head when the car started rolling down the hill towards me while I was pulling things out of the trunk, and was able to quickly hop in the driver’s seat and put it in first-gear.

Recent debacles in the kitchen include: burning my arm on the inside of the oven while heating up frozen burritos; slicing my index finger while trying to halve a bagel; and then there was the chicken broth incident. I figured I had broth-making down-pat after making two batches, but oops, I must have had the temperature too high, because the whole pot turned to a congealed fatty mess. Blech. I haven’t made a chicken since!

But let’s talk about kitchen success!  Last week, I was inspired to go through my  two-year’s worth of Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazines. I picked out two recipes: Ginger Carrot Soup and Roast Beef with Peppers, Onions, and Potatoes, and we tackled them this weekend. I handled the Roast Beef myself, but made Joe slice the carrots and puree the soup.  I liked both meals very much. We hardly ever cook red meat, so it was a bit nerve-racking to take the temperature and wait for it to hit the magic safety number. And then the next day, we ate the rest of the roast beef with a mango and black bean sauce, loosely following this recipe for Beef and Mango Wraps (we didn’t have any wraps). I think it was the first time I ever sliced a mango– what an interesting pit!  And today, I am enjoying Ginger Carrot Soup for lunch.  Unfortunately, Lilia doesn’t believe me that this is soup. I think her definition of soup requires NOODLES. Ah, well, she can enjoy a hard-boiled egg instead.

Well, I may disappear back into the ether now, as I have class this weekend, and quite a lot of schoolwork to do in the next few weeks (and into MAY!). But I will leave you with the wise words of Mr. Roger Miller:

Ya can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
Ya can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
Ya can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

Ya can’t take a shower in a parakeet cage
Ya can’t take a shower in a parakeet cage
Ya can’t take a shower in a parakeet cage
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

All ya gotta do is put your mind to it
Knuckle down, buckle down, do it, do it, do it

Well, ya can’t go a-swimmin’ in a baseball pool
Ya can’t go swimmin’ in a baseball pool
Ya can’t go swimmin’ in a baseball pool
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

Ya can’t change film with a kid on your back
Ya can’t change film with a kid on your back
Ya can’t change film with a kid on your back
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

Ya can’t drive around with a tiger in your car
Ya can’t drive around with a tiger in your car
Ya can’t drive around with a tiger in your car
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

All ya gotta do is put your mind to it
Knuckle down, buckle down do it, do it, do it

Well, ya can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
Ya can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
Ya can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

Ya can’t go fishin’ in a watermelon patch
Ya can’t go fishin’ in a watermelon patch
Ya can’t go fishin’ in a watermelon patch
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to!

It warms my heart to see Lilia enjoying a bowl of her Great Aunt Rose’s Italian Wedding (or Birthday!) Soup. She’s not eating the meatballs, because of the cheese.

Here’s the Recipe:
Aunt Rose’s Italian Wedding Soup

2 48-ounce cans of Chicken Broth (or home-made chicken broth)
2 stalks celery finely chopped
1 small onion (optional) finely chopped
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat (turkey or beef/pork combo)
2 large eggs
1 cup dry Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic
2 teaspoon dried parsley (or fresh finely minced)
1/2 cups grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 medium heads escarole, cleaned and chopped

Acini de pepe (pasta) about 3/4 cups
=======================================================
Simmer broth, celery and onion till tender.
Combine the ground meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, basil, garlic, parsley,
Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
Mix well and form into bite-size balls. Drop the balls into the broth.
Cook the acini de pepe in a separate pan, strain it, and add to soup.
Add escarole into broth.
When meatballs rise to the top, they are cooked (about 6 to 7 minutes).
When escarole is wilted it is done.

(Soup in photo played by Famous 4th Street Deli’s Matzo Ball Soup)