All posts by Nichole

Domestic Blitz

Thoroughly annoyed

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I’ve been working on a sewing project, friends, and it is driving me up the wall. Not the project itself, really, but my sewing machine. To be more specific: my lack of skill and knowledge regarding said sewing machine. The thread keeps going “thwang!” and snapping and tangling up and I’m ready to chuck this project — and the sewing machine. I’m thinking I need to find a new hobby to persue. Something for which I have a skosh of natural aptitude. Before I do that, though, I might try to sign up for a sewing class.

Until then, I’m going to watch some HGTV. Unless I can figure out how to watch “Project Runway” online.

(I think the “Color Splash” guy was shopping at TJ Maxx. Awesome.)

Eating

Not a sushi fan

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I think Amy may be trying to make me quit our Recipe Roulette project. Or maybe this is retribution for the Crab Tortilla.

Whichever the case, I was not excited about “Jay’s Potato-Crusted Fish with Mango Salsa.” I rarely make fish, because the smell of raw fish pretty much kills my appetite. (Maybe I should remember that next time I try to lose weight.) But I made it anyway. Mostly. I didn’t make the mango salsa because (a) I didn’t want to buy a mango and (b) I had a jar of mango salsa in the refrigerator.

Some day, I’ll actually taste our Recipe Roulette dish. But this wasn’t the day for that. (See: Raw fish makes me gag.) My chief recipe tester wasn’t impressed. “It tastes like potato flakes and fish with salsa on top,” he said. “The flavors don’t really blend.” Later, he added: “It was awful.”

I think the take-home lesson here is that instant mashed potatoes and fish don’t mix. And that Recipe Roulette is off to a questionable start.

I have high hopes for next Monday’s recipe, though. It was Random Recipe Week, and Poppy was our random-number picker. Her choice should be equal parts delicious and fraught-with-peril.

Homeschool

School days

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We started homeschooling last year with the preschool curriculum from Horizons. It wasn’t a bad curriculum — in fact, Poppy really enjoyed it — but it was very structured and worksheet-driven, and I wanted to try out something a little different this year.

We started our second year of prehomeschool (homepreschool?) this week, and so far I really like the program. The general concept of “Five in a Row” is that you read the same storybook five days in a row, each day focusing on a different subject. This week, using “The Story About Ping,” we did a little bit of geography, we discussed and wrote a bit of fiction and — P’s favorite part — we did a couple of science experiments. For which she insisted on wearing safety glasses. She is her daddy’s girl.