One of the things I will remember most about 2009 is that our government began to take over more of our daily lives: for instance, it now owns General Motors, and it’s trying to take over our health care.
Why should homeschoolers care about this? Read Dr. Samuel Blumenthal’s take on this issue and you’ll see why.
The December issue of “The Imperfect Homeschooler” newsletter went out last night. It asks questions like:
Why do homeschooling parents need to go “Back to Basics in 2010”?
Can your kids pass the “Einstein Quiz”?
Why do schools have holiday gift shops and ban Santa from them?
And there’s also a little Christmas present from me to you….check out this new issue HERE. Get the next issue in your email: SUBSCRIBE HERE.
You won’t want to miss this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling post. It’s the “Christmas Ornament Edition,” and it’s packed with entries related to homeschooling. Check it out now!
With four kids and eight nieces and nephews, we’ve wrapped a lot of Christmas and birthday gifts over the years. Wrapping big gifts and small ones leaves lots of odd-sized scraps of gift wrap, which eventually get wrinkled while stored and eventually thrown out.
So why didn’t I think of doing what home management expert and mom-of-five Deniece Schofield does? She cuts up some of her rolls of gift wrap! For instance, she cuts a 30” roll of gift wrap into two rolls, one 18” and one 12”. Then she stores them in empty aluminum foil boxes to keep them unwrinkled and to make them easy to use.
I can see using the 12” paper for wrapping DVDs, the 18” paper for books and puzzles, and saving the full-size rolls for the big gifts. Super idea!
Of course, I’m not surprised, because Deniece Schofield is one smart mom. I have one of her early books, but it looks like I need to get up to speed because I’m missing out on some great tips. Here are her top-selling books:
After so many years of reading homemaking tips in books and magazines, and later on at websites, I thought I’d read them all. But this week I stumbled onto two tips that I’ve never heard of, and now I wonder why I never thought to do them? They make so much sense!
The first tip is in this beautiful cookbook I’ve been reading called Organic and Chic: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets That Taste As Good As They Look. (Seriously, it’ll give you a sugar buzz just flipping through it.)
Author Sarah Magid shares this tip along with her brownie recipe:
I like to be resourceful and eco-friendly by covering the bottom of the brownie pan with butter wrappers, butter side up. (Save butter wrappers by placing them in a plastic freezer bag whenever you go through butter sticks. Simply defrost when you’re preparing your pan.)
Later in the book, she elaborates a bit:
They make the perfect coating because they’re already covered with a thin film of butter. Just fold each one in fours and snip the corner off in a rounded shape and place it in the pan, buttered side up. It will open up into a round that’s perfect for smaller pans.
Ever since I learned about what’s in margarine, I’ve used butter for all of my baking and cooking, so I know I could amass a nice little stack of butter stick wrappers fairly quickly. And using them in baking pans would save money on parchment paper. Again, why didn’t I think of that?
By the way, did I mention that this is one gorgeous cookbook? Her cakes are works of art. Those concerned about the sources of their food will appreciate the fact that she bakes with only organic ingredients, and shares her sources for them as well as for her equipment.
I’ll share the other great tip next time 🙂