Every Child......

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man." - Rabindranath Tagore.

photo credit:  Jeff taken by Kerri MacIntyre, June 12, 2005

Cold Comfort Farm - Review

Since I reviewed the gothic tale of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall last week, I thought I'd review one of my favorite satires this week.  Cold Comfort Farm is a 1995 British miniseries starring Kate Beckinsale.  It's based on a novel written by Stella Gibbons.

The movie is set in the 1930's.  Kate Beckinsale is Flora Poste, a recently orphaned 20 year old girl, who has been left only 100 pounds a year to live on.  Flora is a Modern Woman, who fancies herself a writer.  She wants to write a novel equal to Jane Austen's Persuasion when she is 53, and plans to observe people until then, as fodder for her book.  Flora is trying to find a relative to take her in, but she has 'only 100 pounds and doesn't play bridge', so none of her London relatives will do.  She sends out letters around the country to all her other relatives, and finds a promising answer from her family at Cold Comfort Farm.  Apparently, according to her Aunt Judith Starkadder, a wrong was done to Flora's father by Judith's husband, and the family owes her a great debt, so they will take her in.

Flora moves in with the Starkadders, who live at Cold Comfort Farm, which is an extremely grim, gothic, run down old place.  The family is run by the matriarch, Ada Doom, who saw 'something nasty in the woodshed' many years ago, and has ruled the family by fear ever since.  She rarely leaves her bedroom, but her word is law.  The rest of the family is equally crazy, with Ian McKellan putting in a great turn as the fire and brimstone preacher of the family, who warns all that there is 'no butter in hell to sooth your burns'.  Rufus Sewell is equally wonderful as the dumb, handsome cousin who works on the farm, but secretly wants to be a film star.  Flora marches in to the family and takes over, much like Jane Austen's Emma.  By the end of the movie she has turned everything and everyone upside down, fixing things just to her liking.

Be warned, this film is very quotable!  If you're addicted to great movie quotes you'll find yourself talking about woodsheds, and how there've 'always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm', while everyone else looks at you like you're crazy.  This film is very tongue in cheek, making fun of those grim, dark English dramas.  You can watch it episode style on youtube. It has such a great cast, including Stephen Fry, who never disappoints. If you're addicted to period drama, and feel like a good laugh, this is the film for you!

Changing Seasons

"Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons." - Jim Bishop, writer

Commodores

My life has been very pie-centric lately.  Strawberry-rhubarb (pictured above), apple, blueberry, you name it, I've made it. 

A result of making so many pies is lots and lots of scraps of pastry left over, once the pie is trimmed and crimped.  I don't like to waste things, so I try to use up those little bits of pie pastry when possible.  One thing my mother-in-law makes is something called Commodores.  I have no idea why she calls them Commodores, neither does Scott.  All I know is my husband loves these, and I like to make him happy! 

It's pretty easy, you just smoosh together the leftover scraps of pastry, and re-roll them out.  I know this is technically a no-no, but please remember we're being thrifty here!  Once the dough is rolled out again, I use a big round cookie cutter and cut out lots of circles.  Try and roll the pastry as thin as possible, it tastes better.  Once they're cut out place a spoonful of your favorite preserves in the centre of the pastry.  Either top them with another circle or fold over to make a semi circle.  Then pinch the edges closed, brush with a little egg white and sprinkle with sugar.  Place on a cookie sheet, and pop in the oven while the pie is baking.  Keep an eye on them, it only takes five or ten minutes until they're done.  These are yummy little things!

Another use for leftover pastry scraps is to gather them all together, smoosh them up and roll them out into a rectangle.  Spread some softened butter on the pastry, and then sprinkle generously with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Roll up like a skinny jelly roll, cut into little circles, and bake as above.  These are yummy, tiny little cinnamon buns.

This is a fun job to give to your children.  Let them have a whack at rolling out the dough, and making little treats.  They can be very creative! 

Tip Tuesday - The Tooth Brush - not just for hygiene!

  I have old toothbrushes hidden under every sink in the house.  These are one of my favorite cleaning tools!  They are great for getting around the taps and faucets in the sinks, and any other grungy, hard to reach spot that needs some heavy duty cleaning.  They're good on grout as well.  I also use them on my diamond ring, which I never, ever take off, and therefore gets totally gross with bread dough and other mixtures when I'm cooking or baking.  The soft bristles of a toothbrush get right in there and clean out all the gunk.  I keep them hidden because I don't want anyone to think, 'hey, there's my old toothbrush', and then put it in their mouth, unaware of where that toothbrush has been since it was retired from active duty.  Blech!  So that's my tip, save your old toothbrushes for hard to get at cleaning jobs, and keep them hidden!

Teaching Pre-schoolers How To Pour

When I was a young(er) mother with small children, I wanted to help them be more independent.  Things like washing their hands, eating with good manners, clearing their plates from the dinner table.  Little children love to do things for themselves, also known as "Me do it!!"

A neat way to help children learn how to pour a drink for themselves is to get a tray, a small pitcher, a cup, and some rice.  Fill the pitcher with rice, place it on the tray with the cup, and let the children practice pouring the rice in the cup.  There's a little more control with the rice and the tray, nobody gets wet, and it's easy to vacuum or sweep up the rice if it spills.  Plus, they can do this activity over and over (and over) again.  This builds those important neural pathways.  Practice makes perfect!

Birthday Boy

Jason turned nineteen this Saturday, and I'm finding this birthday hard.  Some people find turning forty difficult, I find it more difficult facing my children's birthdays and other milestones.  Such as, my baby turned ten this summer.  Not a baby anymore.  My first baby is now nineteen, even worse!  It helps that he's turned into a fine young man, responsible, hard working, kind and intelligent.  Happy Birthday Jason!