Encouraging good thoughts
With harvest coming to a close and Thanksgiving drawing near, it seems an appropriate time to talk about gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness.
Early in January this year, Don and I flew to Houston for a weekend to spend time with our friends Jim and Vera. We had also hoped to have a warm reprieve from the cold winter, but ended up there on the coldest weekend in history with icicles on the palm trees and pictures to prove it.
Vera, also a book lover, introduced me to a book, Simple Abundance – A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, by Sarah Ban Breathnach. This is my book of the year, a year of delight and self-discovery.
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At first, I liked the accompanying journal of gratitude better. I found it hard to take the time to read the daily page or so of writings in the Simple Abundance book. Instead, I would read the shorter quotation of gratitude in the journal, and then on the five lines below, write what I appreciated about the day, or was thankful or grateful for in my life.
I thought I had always had a fairly positive attitude about almost everything. I have always felt that attitude rules but this daily ritual of writing down grateful thoughts starting Jan. 1 makes a world of difference. One tends to really appreciate the best things, the simple things in life, the things we take for granted.
It brings out the “stopping to smell the roses” attitude, which is a difficult task for someone like me who likes to dovetail tasks and, as Don says, “overbook the airplane.” It encourages gratitude for the scent, the sight and the opportunity to appreciate the beauty in everything. It’s about getting closer to that goal of inner peace that so many strive to achieve.
In the book, the quote for Sept. 23, my birthday, is by Oprah Winfrey. I love it. It reads, “When I look into the future, it’s so bright it burns my eyes.” Talk about optimism.
Helen Keller said, “No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”
Another quotation is one about risk taking that I have also seen on posters and pictures. The French writer Andre Gide warns us, “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”
The Simple Abundance book and journal are on my list of gifts to give to others at Christmas. They are published by Warner books and are available at most book stores.
Children and reading
Speaking of books, we received an article from Bev Jaremko, a teacher from Calgary, who has created a reading course for her son and three daughters. Her philosophy was to make reading logical from the child’s point of view, not just a guessing game.
She decided to teach one letter at a time, not all 26 at once. She taught only lower case letters first, so as not to confuse the child with the upper case. She simplified the task further by teaching the sound the letter makes rather than the actual name of the letter.
Bev said she took years to put together the progression, lesson by lesson, but it works. She has received an outpouring of interest from parents and schools, and has put the material into books and on video. Here is a summary of the progression:
- To encourage appreciation of reading, read to the child from birth, before naptime and at bedtime. Let her or him be involved in turning pages, feeling the books, admiring the pictures, predicting the outcomes, and stopping when he (she) wants.
- At about age three, when the child shows an interest in the printed word, play a guessing game of what the word would be from the starting sound, so the child cues in to listening for the beginning sounds of words.
- Teach one letter, eg. the letter O. As on Sesame Street, find the letter O everywhere. Make O cookies and cheese slices, find O cheerios and Os on street signs, and call it “oh.”
- Teach another letter, eg. h. Sing songs with h in them, eat foods with h (hamburgers), do actions (hug), label objects (hat), and find hs in signs.
- Continue teaching letters and put together logical words based on letters known to date.
- Create a poem of memory devices, adding a line with each letter, eg. O is for octopus.
- Eventually, make possible combinations with the learned letters and short vowel sounds. Print these words around the house.
- Teach the child that the letters were small, but as they got older they grew up. Start logically with letters that look the same only bigger, like C, O, K, P, S, V, W, K, Z.
- Teach stories for the shape of the other capital letters.
Bev continues with her description of teaching a child to read. As I see it, the greatest benefit may be the appreciation of reading that is acquired while the parent is spending time playing with letters and words and having fun with the child.
For more information, contact Bev at 403-283-2400, or write 521 Ð 18 A St. N.W., Calgary, Alta., T2N 2H3.
Doodle bread
Another way to have fun with your children is to make a variety of doodle breads. Everyone takes great delight in eating home-baked goods. Bread doodling is an activity that delivers great fun and delicious bread for a snack after play or as part of a meal.
With doodle bread, kids can design simple shapes creating objects, spelling their name, or making letters and numbers. It’s a fun and nutritious way for kids to enjoy cooking.
You can make sweet doodles with a hint of honey and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, or savory doodles with sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, or chilies to accompany soup and crunchy vegetable sticks. Even my teenagers loved to be creative with this doodle dough.
Sweet doodle bread
Makes 16 doodles.
Dough:
3-3 1Ú2 cups all- 750-875 mL
purpose flour
1Ú2 cup rolled oats 125 mL
(old-fashioned or quick)
2 1Ú4 teaspoons 11 mL
Fleischmann’s quick-rise instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
1 1Ú4 cups water 300 mL
3 tablespoons 45 mL
honey
2 tablespoons 25 mL
butter or margarine,
cut up
Topping:
2 tablespoons 25 mL
butter or margarine, melted
1Ú3 cup sugar 75 mL
3Ú4 teaspoon ground 3 mL
cinnamon
In large bowl, combine 11Ú2 cups (375 mL) flour, oats, undissolved yeast and salt. Heat water, honey and butter until very warm 120-130 F (50-60 C). Gradually stir into dry ingredients. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about five minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
Divide dough into 16 equal pieces; roll each to 20 inch (50 cm) rope. On greased baking sheets, form ropes into desired shapes, such as letters and numbers. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 20-40 minutes.
Brush doodles with melted butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over tops. Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
To make a variety of doodle shapes, follow directions below.
Pretzels: Roll dough pieces to 16 inch (40 cm) ropes; curve each to form a circle, crossing ends over at top. Twist ends once; pull crossed ends over bottom of circle.
Twists: Roll dough pieces to 12 inch (30 cm) ropes; fold each in half and twist 4-5 times. Pinch ends to seal.
Knots: Roll dough pieces to 10 inch (25 cm) ropes; tie each loosely in centre to form a knot.
Holiday shapes: Form ropes into hearts, shamrocks, pumpkins, bells and candy canes.
Numbers and letters: For an educational twist, form ropes into letters and numbers.
Fleischmann’s Yeast offers two cookbooks: Best Ever Breads for traditional bakers and Bread Machine Favorites for bread machine enthusiasts.
Each book at $5.99 (including taxes, shipping and handling), can be ordered by cheque or money order from: (Book title), Box 5080, Paris, Ont., N3L 3W5, 416-979-1120, Ext. 312.
You can also access Fleischmann’s Yeast expertise on the internet by visiting its website at www.breadworld.com.
Chicken industry
For readers who are on the internet and are looking for information on the Canadian chicken industry, contact the Chicken Farmers of Canada at http://www.cdnchicken.com.
Fan cake request
TEAM Resources hasn’t had any luck locating a recipe for fan cake for H.G., Hodgeville, Sask. Do any readers have this recipe?
