Lulu announced to me that she wanted to dress up as a Pilgrim this Thanksgiving. Sure! She wanted to wear the dress she used for her Halloween costume, a used/vintage dress I'd originally bought cheap for myself in the summer. My plans for the dress quickly fizzled out, but its been worth every penny as Lulu adores wearing it all the time around the house and to bed and as you can see here, a crucial costume element.

Thanks to Grandma Mary (I think, maybe one of Eddie's aunts) the smock-style apron I was given a few years back worked PERFECTLY turned inside out as the pinafore to the dress. A belt I've had since the early 90's around the waist. Voila!  A flour sack dishtowel made the head wrap. 

Eddie always loves when I pull together these great outfits/costumes out of thin air at the last minute, and truth-be-told, I'm always pretty proud of myself as well.

Lulu does look more Mennonite or Amish than Pilgrim, though, don't you agree?

Of course, it wouldn't be a proper Lulu pictorial without a hilarious pose from the master pose-maker herself! I'm serious, she does these completely on her own without any prompting. 

 I told Lulu she was in charge of helping make the Thanksgiving appetizer: a cheese ball decorated as a turkey. I printed out some examples, bought crackers and pretzels and then let her go at it with all her artistic license.

The artist at work, below...

Cheese (and crackers)!

Lulu was the genius to use the two slivered almond slices in this manner for the mouth...

 The artist in residence and her creation.

 The finished product. He was tasty! Two packages of cream cheese mixed with Dijon mustard, chopped garlic and 2 tbsp. chopped chives and thyme.

 The dining room table set for dinner!

 I gave Lulu an additional task, writing out the table place cards. Perfect!

 Lulu's artwork also graced the dinner buffet, her turkey in the style of Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar). I wrapped her picture in cling wrap so it wouldn't get splattered and ruined once the food was set out.

The following email arrived today in my work inbox. I'm sure this has nothing to do with Lulu, but my inner-conspiracy theorist suggests differently.

From: David W.
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2014 1:15 PM
Subject: Fire alarms at RCP today

Dear Axxxx and BC @ RCP Families –

Today, an electrical fault in RCP’s fire alarm panel caused our building to be evacuated 3 times – at approximately 10:00, 11:00, and 12:20 p.m.  Each time, Axxx and BC staff helped all students to evacuate the building safely according to our emergency plans.   All students were accounted for and safe in each evacuation.

After the first evacuation, PPS Facilities personnel responded and thought they had solved the issue.  As I write this, electricians are working to resolve the ongoing problem.

We know events like this are disruptive and we are working closely with PPS Facilities to ensure our building is safe and ready for school tomorrow.  Your students should be congratulated for their flexibility and responsibility in this difficult situation.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Administrators MD, or David W.

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

My co-worker mentioned during a recent office lunch outing, a salad recipe that he and his wife make regularly. It sounded really good and pretty easy so I asked him for the recipe, thinking I could also make it for Thanksgiving dinner. Last night, I did a test run and Eddie and I are sold, Sold, SOLD on this dish. It's amazing and a true kitchen sink recipe between ingredients on hand at home and at the supermarket.

Our version last night varied from the written recipe by our using both red kale and Lacinato kale, toasted pecans, and adding crispy prosciutto. We swapped the goat cheese for grated Parmesan-Regganio cheese.

As Eddie exclaimed between mouthfuls, "Stellar!!!" It really was. And so good for you, too!

I love that it can be served as a warm salad by letting the squash cool slightly or at room temperature, and that it can be made ahead of time. (I'm doing that for Thanksgiving Day dinner.) We'll tweak the recipe a little further though, by making it as we did last night, but also adding dried cranberries and then rustic croutons for added crunch.

My co-worker said that he's had equally delicious results trying/using different salad greens instead of the kale and using whatever cheese one had on hand in the fridge.  I would think that this salad would be even quicker if you're not using kale (letting it sit for 20 minutes in the olive oil and lemon juice helps soften the kale leaves, not something needed for regular salad greens).

Enjoy!

 

 

Lacinto Kale Salad & Squash

1 lb. squash in 1/2 cubes

6 Tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

4 shallots, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1.5 bunches of kale

4 oz aged goat cheese

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

 Preheat over to 350 F. Toss squash in 1.5 Tbsp. oil, salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet & roast in oven until golden brown (up to 45 minutes).

Meanwhile, toss shallots 1.5 Tbsp oil, salt & pepper. Roast in oven until brown (up to 30 minutes).

In a large salad bowl, combine lemon juice, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt & pinch of pepper. Chop kale into 3/4 ribbons. Toss dressing and kale together in bowl. Let stand for 20-30 minutes. 

Add roasted vegetables, cheese and nuts to kale and toss well to combine.

Bean told me she wants to be a veterinarian.  Specifically, a caterinarian.

Bean has been complaining about her stomach hurting now, this past week. I had to leave work at lunchtime on Wednesday to take her out to urgent care to get her checked out. After a urine test and a tummy prod, they are stumped as to the cause. It didn't help that Bean was her usual bouncy self in between complaining of her stomach hurting. And her appetite has not suffered, either.

Last night, Lulu coined a new phrase to describe her and her sister between Lulu electrocuting herself at school and Bean having the mysterious stomach ache. The girls are now to be [also] known as the TWINS OF DISASTER!!!

Awesome.

We love it! :D

"Hi Melissa sorry hi Melissa and Eddie this is Sadie. Sorry my voice sounds awful. I was just calling to touch base about a little incident at school with Lulu today. Today Lulu took a paper clip and put it in to the light switch and it's somehow connected circuit and she broke her finger on a couple spots with from the sheet of the paper clip. She told me right away that she's gotten hurt but she wouldn't tell me how she done it took a little while and then she finally kind of explain what happened and how it gone(?). So I would love to talk with you guys further if you'd like to I just wanted to give you a heads up. If you guys have any questions or wanna talk to me some more about it. My cell phone 503-XXX-XXXX. Again 503-XXX-XXXX. Give me a call if you have any questions or you wanna talk about it. Thank you. Bye." 

You can imagine my surprise when I read this above transcribed voice mail from Lulu's teacher in my email inbox before leaving work yesterday. So the story goes, when Lulu's class returned from the library yesterday morning, they put their books away into their backpacks in a room referred to as the 'closet,' a shared room outside Lulu's and another 3rd grade class where their coats and backpacks are stored. Lulu's teacher noticed Lulu sitting on her hands at her desk (looking guilty of something) and when she asked her why she was sitting on her hands, Lulu remained stone-faced and wouldn't tell her. It wasn't until about 45 minutes later that Lulu came to her crying that her finger hurt. But she still wouldn't tell her why or what had happened. (I told her teacher this is what we refer to as part of the phenomenon known as "Classic Lulu:" an unbelievable behavior/action that is followed with an awful poker face and then once the guilt becomes too overwhelming, complete confessional.)

So her teacher sent her down to the office to see the secretary. Kelly has known Lulu since kindergarten, and all her itches, rashes, hives and kindergarten bad behaviors. Somehow, Kelly was able to get the truth out from her. Lulu had stuck a paperclip into a light stitch in the coat closet, and the resulting electrical shock had burned the image of the paperclip onto her finger in three places. Lulu proceeded to spend her lunchtime missing recess, filling out a timeout report on herself, and speaking with the Dean of Students as to why she was to never, ever, do that again. (Lulu's teacher said she asked the Dean to "scare her straight!").

Oh, and it gets better. They had to call an electrician to turn off the power and remove the paperclip from the light switch, as the custodian refused to touch it himself.

Do we blame him?

I apologized to Lulu's teacher about the electrician part. Ai yi yi!!!

Lulu said that she "...didn't think it through..." [before] she stuck the paperclip into the switch. She assured me (like I've never seen her do before) that she would NEVER, EVER do this again. I truly believe she has learned her lesson.

But if you know Lulu, then you also understand, this whole incident was so CLASSIC LULU!!!

Never a dull moment around here, that's for sure. Of course, it would be awesome if Lulu could not accidentally kill herself before she reaches adulthood, too.