7 Quick Takes Friday

~~~1~~~

American Heritage Girls last night.  Big meeting.  Lots of paperwork.  Does the GSA and BSA have this much paperwork?  It's totally foreign to me.

~~~2~~~

My two youngest have been totally croupy all week.  3 days of no school which is unheard of around these parts.  I usually manage to make them work while lying around so we can count it.  If the state of Georgia can shorten their school year by 3 days, can't I?

Actually, I assume I'll be able to next year.  But think about this:  I have to keep attendance records for my kids and turn them in every month.  I have to check off each day that they spend 4.5 hours in school (and doesn't that tell you that your kids in public school are spending a lot of time sitting around, not learning?).  What happens when they're sick?  Did you ever wonder?

If your school-child misses a few days, do they get tacked on to the end of the year?  Why, no, of course not.  They just have to make up the work.  My kids always get the work done, too; we just pick up where we left off, but I think we're supposed to fill in those missed days somewhere.  Somehow, it just doesn't seem fair.

~~~3~~~

Leila had a great post yesterday that inspired me to make biscuits with my leftover acorn squash.

Here's my (edited) comment to her:

I just made THE BEST BISCUITS EVER! The dry half of my recipe is

2c flour

1T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c butter

Then I added the acorn squash (1.5 c?  But I had doubled the dry ingredients) and mixed it in. I didn't want to sour my brand-new farm-fresh milk so I used the yogurt I had made the day before and added it just like you said. Again: THE BEST BISCUITS EVER! Light, fluffy, amazing, and that little hint of je ne sais quois!

I just did what Leila said and added a few big spoonfuls of yogurt and mixed it well.  I'm not sure, but I think it's the yogurt that gives that extra-light, fluffy texture as it did with our pancakes.  I don't know if buttermilk gives the same effect because I never have it on hand.  I just add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk as a substitute.

There is nothing like a good biscuit with butter on it.

Deadly, but yummy.  The biscuit, that is.

~~~4~~~

Playoff football game tonight which I won't be attending.  It's 2.5 hours away from here which is just a leetle bit far with kids who have been sick, and one who is newly sick, and a mom who is getting sick.  Dh is going to support the team and Madden.  He's awesome like that.

~~~5~~~

I read a book the other day that I thoroughly enjoyed:  When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.  It was a children's book that dh brought home from the library when I asked him to pick up the books I had reserved.  I do not remember requesting this book.  Mostly likely I did it because of Melissa's recommendation, something her kids were reading.
Yep.  Just found it on her sidebar in September.

So, I read it, not knowing what it was.  It was a mystery.  Miranda is a 6th grader in New York City who  loses her best friend suddenly as he stops spending time with her and walking home from school with her.  She's helping her single mother prepare for being on the $20,000 Pyramid (with Dick Clark, not Donny Osmond), and she's receiving mysterious notes from a stranger who is coming back to save her friend and himself.  If you are a fan of A Wrinkle in Time, as Miranda is, you'll find this a very interesting book.

Or  your kids will.  I happen to like reading good children's books.  They don't require as much of the old brain.

~~~6~~~

Cake Wrecks is coming to town on Monday for a book signing!  I'm dying to go.  For the past few weeks Cake Wrecks has been an important part of my daily blog reading.  There are the occasional boring days where they post pictures of simply beautiful cakes---like the ones you see on Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes.  But for the most part, Cake Wrecks is good for a serious belly laugh every day.

I'm sure it will be entertaining, and there will be beautiful cakes there for people to eat.  I know I'm weird, but I want to know what it's like to eat one of those perfect cakes.  Are they as good as they look?

~~~7~~~

Pioneer Woman is also going to be at the same bookstore, I think, in December.  I might have to go to that one, too, and see if she'll do her Ethel Merman impression.

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