A Tasty Exploration

Zoe's first grade class (goooo Mrs. Whitehead!) is going to be doing some science projects with apples this week, as well as doing some writing about taste, texture, color, etc. She was asked to bring her favorite apple to class on Monday. Huh, I thought...how is it that I don't know what is Z's favorite apple? Well, never to early to start the science...

So, we purchased two each of the following apple varieties: 

Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and Fuji

Ready to begin the taste test?

(she looks ready to me)

First, the Red Delicious...it's kinda hard to bite apple slices with NO front teeth!

Z claimed this one tasted "vanilla-y"

It's important to cleanse the palate between samples.

Next, the Golden Delicious...which was described as "yummy" and "juicy"

 "This is kinda fun, mom!"

 (See...no front teeth!)

Third, Granny Smith...

The facial expression was rather descriptive, but Z clarified that she meant "sour"

And finally, the Fuji...

Z said that it tasted "a little like vanilla ice cream"

Our little taster enjoyed each of the samples, but, in the end, pronounced Fuji apples "the winner." :)

And thus, our tasty exploration ends, and a fresh Fuji is in the backpack and ready for Monday!

Thanks for reading xo

~beth

Our Safe Place

A momentous occasion occurred for the Bryant-Claxton clan this week. Some of you know that a tornado hit our neighborhood last April. Now, I was raised in the South, loved in Tulsa, and went to grad school in Florida, so I am not unfamiliar with severe weather, but this...this was different. I have heard storms rage past, but this time I FELT IT. Actually felt the tornado touch down as I huddled in the bathtub of our trailer with Zoe. I wrote about our experience and its aftermath here...please take a moment to check out the words and pictures (if you have never seen it), so that you might understand why this week was so exciting to all of us:

"A Mighty Wind: Our Storm Story in Words and Pictures"

The weather people say that you'd be safer OUTSIDE IN A DITCH than in a trailer in a tornado. Even with ties downs, a brick foundation, and porches built on, it is still on a crawl space, and apparently, the winds can go up under the house and launch it and its contents into the air. Ugh. And although our family was divinely protected last April, it was a terrifying experience for all of us, and not one that we EVER want to go through in that way again. So, in the year and change since that event, we raced to the car, drove to our landlord's house, and crammed ourselves into their storm shelter with all of their family members on 4-5 occasions, not counting the days before they put in their shelter that we went to a hotel when our area was at high risk for tornadoes. Ok, so this week, we were finally able to afford OUR OWN TORNADO SHELTER! It turned out to be kind of a cool process, during which I took a few pictures for Zoe...and I thought I would share.

My heart leaped when I heard the sound of the big truck coming down the road! It carried a small backhoe, a crane, and our safe place (in two pieces).

 While the backhoe started digging, the huge truck backed into our yard

They dug and dug and dug...and made a big big hole!

Measured it, of course, to make sure that it was even so the concrete didn't crack.

 And more digging...

Then the crane began to lift the concrete "box" from the truck...you should have heard the creaking from the strain...that thing is HEAVY!

Swung it out over the hole...

And began to lower it down...would it fit?

Yup, it did! Lower it went...

 And lower...Until it was fully seated, and dirt shoveled in to fill the sides.

The ridged edges of the box were prepped with concrete "glue"...and the crane lowered the lid until it settled snugly on top...

And one man piped the glue around the seam on the outside, while the other did the same on the inside...

And then they used the backhoe to build up the sides with the dirt from the hole.

Voila! The finished product!

Naturally, Z had to check it out as soon as she got home...

And pronounced it AWESOME!

And so today, we put down some foam mats on the floor...

 

put in our emergency kit, a sleep mat, and a little potty :)

drew some pictures on the walls with Sharpies... (yes, that is our family lol)

and last but not least, included a prayer...

"Angels, protect this safe place and those who shelter in it. AMEN"

The Veteran that I Know Best

It was in between my dad's tours of duty in Vietnam. My mom went into labor as my father was packing our belongings to move my mom from Ft. Devons, MA, back home to Memphis to be with her family until I was born. The story about my birth reads like a movie plot: with my mom going to the hospital and them saying that she could not be in labor, as it was 3 months too early, then when they got back to base housing, her water broke. My dad flagged down a cab to go to the hospital, and he and my mom piled into the front of it, with three terrified GI's in the back, and the cab driver begging my mom, "Lady, Please don't have that baby in my car!"

I wouldn't have believed the story except that I heard it from each parent separately and it ran the same way. And indeed, on March 9, 1969, I was born at Ft. Devons Army Hospital, almost three months early, weighing in at just 3 lbs., 9 oz.

After I was born, my father was deployed again to Vietnam, and we lived in Memphis until he returned stateside, in November of 1970.

No one knew much about what my father had done in Vietnam, other than that he was Army Intelligence, and was stationed in Korea (my mother said that he spoke Korean in his sleep after he returned).

It was not until the Carter Administration that his assignment in Vietnam was declassified. I learned (if I remember it correctly) that he was a communications officer, and made forays into Vietnam and back, gathering intel and radioing it into their strategic command. He and his partner took turns carrying a heavy radio pack every other day. I also learned that one day that my father was carrying the pack, they came under heavy gunfire, wherein my father's partner was killed and the radio pack, which was riddled with bullets, saved my dad's life.

After optometry school, my father re-entered the service, Air Force this time, and spent his time checking the flyers' eyes, and teaching survivalist training, night vision goggle training, how to set up field hospital (i.e., MASH) units. He also got to go to jump school and F-16 fighter pilot school as part of training for military medical officers. As an aside, he used some of his GI Bill money to learn sign language, and served as an interpreter on base.

When I was in college, my dad, who at that point was a Captain in the Air Force Reserves, was called up to go to Iraq. He served in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, primarily running field hospitals. It was in Turkey that he met my stepmother, also an Air Force optometrist. When they were released from duty in Iraq, he spent time at the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Headquarters in Omaha and active duty in Louisiana before going back into the Reserves. He even got a job offer at the Pentagon at one point.

My father recently retired, with the rank of Lt. Colonel (my stepmother is also a Lt. Col!). I know that he is enjoying his retirement, but that he also feels very strongly about the service that he has given to our country. And although I didn't love with him for much of my childhood and teens, and our relationship has undergone a number of  transitions, I nonetheless am very proud of him. And also very thankful, as I will remind him (and Sharon too!) again, when I call him as I do every year on his birthday, November 11^th…Veteran's Day.

Thank You, Colonel Neil B…Thank you, Dad.

Sweet Pea...Zoe

I have a friend named Joshua that often sings and records songs for his friends, even sometimes writing them as well. He does this as a gift, and I have seen how much it has touched people, usually at a time that they needed it most.

Well, he did it again, and this time for me. Lately, I have been traveling a lot for work, and find it hard to be away from my family (even though Russ and Z take such good care of each other!). This has been compounded by the momentous occasion of Zoe starting Kindergarten. She has been so excited, and I am really really glad for that. But I do feel the wee sadness of my little girl growing into a big girl, and maybe not needing me quite as much :)
I hope you all enjoy this half as much as we did!
xoxo,
~M~

Cooking at Chez Bryant-Claxton: Tres Leches Cake!

TRES LECHES (THREE MILK) CAKE
Popular in parts of Latin America, this cake has been one of my favorites since the first time I tried it at a little dive in Miami. There are numerous variations on the preparation, but to make life easy, this time, I used the following recipe from the Food Network:
 

OK, here we go!

Grab "Lil Chef"

Ready

Cake Mix

Water

Oil

Stir

Eggs

Stir

Stir

Stir (call in reinforcements)

Supervise

Sample

Approve

Spray

Pour

Sample

Share

Sample

Savor


{{{BAKE}}}Leche #1

Leche #2

Leche #3
Stir

Poke

Drench


{{{CHILL}}}
Assemble

Drool

Cream

TRES LECHES CAKE--DONE!



Correction... NOW it's DONE!