Food preservation day with 4H and a happy mom

The girls spent most of their Saturday learning about the various methods of food preservation with 4-H during a county-wide (Cumberland county) program.

They learned about the science of pickling and preserving, dehydration, pasteurization, canning and ice cream making.

Let's just say the day allowed for a lot of great taste testing for both kids and adults.

The kids made their own blueberry freezer jam (time didn't allow for actual canning with sterilized glass containers) and each took a small container of it home. We've already eaten G.'s entire container and we're working on L.'s now.

Matching dehydrated food with it's whole food counterpart was an interesting challenge. It was not nearly as easy as you'd think, especially when you throw in papaya, which is a less familiar fruit to some kids and looks an awful lot like a bunch of other more familiar stuff. 

But pickling, that was the most fun for my kids - and their taste buds. Fino is a HUGE fan of pickled anything. He has been the one to encourage the girls to try his pickled treats because I don't touch the stuff. (I actually had an allergy to a preservative in pickles and condiments when I was a kid and although I've outgrown the allergy for the most part, I never developed a taste for this kind of stuff). My kids however are making up for my pickle-deprived childhood.

G. was hardly a year old when Fino turned over a jalapeno to her (Fino eats them at EVERY meal, including breakfast) and she actually liked it. Neither of the girls are big fans of overly spicy pickled items these days but it's not uncommon for them to eat a bit when they're in the mood. They certainly spent their early years eating plenty of jalapenos (while mom got stuck with some majorly stinky diapers ... thanks daddy).

The pickling workshop included a blind taste testing with Q-tips. Dipping the Q-tips into various containers and then dabbing it on their tongues to guess the flavor prompted a lot of smiles and laughs from all the kids. Kids really do love dipping action.

The true highlight for the 30+ kids at the workshop though was the ice cream making. From measuring out ingredients to churning to the unveiling of the finished frozen product, they enjoyed every step. The kids added crushed cookies (my kids thought that Pampered Chef chopper to crumble the cookies was awesome and are begging me to buy one) and once mixed, very much enjoyed licking the ice cream makers' bowl before really cleaning it up (with soap and water instead of their tongues).

It should not be a surprise that most kids enjoy cooking and learning about food because it's a hands-on (-in) experience. There are some great science and math lessons in the kitchen for kids as well, not to mention a great self-esteem boost to follow recipe from start to finish and have the outcome taste great (which I do admit requires a bit more prep time for the adult to ensure success when the kids are younger).

Over the years I allowed the girls to help me in the kitchen when they were interested, even when it wasn't convenient. Now that they're older, they can actually prepare family meals and it frees me up to get other stuff done. That little bit of extra time early on has far outweighed the benefits these days.

Since this workshop, the girls have been in the kitchen more than usual cooking and baking ... and I couldn't be happier about it.

XC skiing season is in full swing

Last week I took the girls to the groomed trails of Twin Brooks in Cumberland for our first cross country ski trip of the season. The $2 trail fee per person is a good deal and the trail conditions are always great when we go there (check out a more detailed trail review we did last year, which includes directions).

The trails here offer a bit of everything for the kids - open field track to skate ski and a wooded area to escape the wind (it was quite windy last Thursday so escaping to the trees was nice). The girls like to see how fast they can skate ski out on the open track and with the grooming machine having just finished his run in the field the day we visited, the track could not have been more ideal.

The wooded trails here offer up a few small hills, just enough to keep the girls happy with the speed of going down the hills and the mild duck walk (the name my girls use for the v-shape ski walk to walk uphill) back up them.

Even while xc skiing, the girls wear their backpacks to carry snacks and water. If they ever decide to xc ski on a team (neither has a particularly competitive spirit for racing right now), they'll probably double their speed when they aren't wearing the packs. I figure it's good training for them ... and simplifies our snack break by carrying our stuff with us and not having to trek back to the car to get it.

 L. always seems to choose heavy snacks like applesauce and yogurt along with her water bottle. But she carries it all and doesn't complain ... and I can't knock her choice of healthy snacks for the trail.

And the added incentive of carrying these packs is the new patches they got for Christmas. I'm still working on getting a Baxter State Park patch but they're enjoying expanding their collection of trail and activity patches.

Below is map of our ski path around the trails of Twin Brooks. We xc skied just shy of 2 miles during this visit, a solid first outing distance for us I thought.

Cross Country Skiing: Twin Brooks at EveryTrail

If your family is new to cross country skiing, L. made a "how to" video on cross country skiing for her 4-H project last year. She offers a few helpful tips - and kid-friendly terminology - for kids interested in learning the sport (and of course includes some ski jumping from last year).

Ski jumping ... with bubbles on top

Just in case you thought L. limits her high jumping on or near mountain tops like Burnt Meadow Mountain

or at the river

or at the ocean

or after a 10-mile bike ride...

... I thought I'd let you know that she is also a fan of jumping while wearing her cross country skis too.

As you can see, L. does not jump off things (though with a bit of trick photography, she'd like you to think she does). No, she jumps while standing still wherever she might be just for the fun of it. Sort of like 2bie&newbie's notion of finding life's bubbles, L. jumps for the simple enjoyment she finds in doing it.


And let me clarify that jumping from a standing still position on cross country skis is no simple task. I gave it a whirl and it was a bit trickier than L. made it look.





During the recording of my ski jumping clip, G. offered a challenge. "Now for the moms who watch this. You must try it."

It might not be everyone's idea of fun but it made me laugh and I'd rate it as a "bubble" moment in  my life.

And <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=10355>Sharon on the Bootstraps blog...</a> at least your rollerskating funky grooving didn't have video evidence.

KidTracks column: School of Rock

“You can do it. You almost got it.”
“You did it! You’re a really good climber.”

These words spoken between siblings are music to this mother’s ears, so when my girls ask to visit the Maine Indoor Rock Gym, I’m hard-pressed to deny them.

Each time we visit the rock gym, we enjoy the challenges and celebrate the accomplishments of climbing the walls with all the various angles and holds. But there are so many other positive things we gain from our visits there.

At 11 and 12 years old, the girls are more deliberate and focused about the walls they climb now (unlike when my younger daughter enjoyed pretending to be a fast-climbing monkey when she was 8). They set their own goals (without realizing that’s what they’re doing) to climb challenging walls that take more upper body strength as well as agility to find and grab their holds.

But their beaming smiles and the self-esteem boost that comes from climbing to the top of a particularly difficult wall, as well as the encouragement they offer to each other, makes each trip to the gym well worth the cost of this not-so-cheap outing for a family of four (about $20 each for climbing shoes, harness and admission; parent belayers who choose not to climb are admitted free).

Because we have found this activity to be a great family team-building experience, the kids talked their 4-H club into taking a trip to the rock gym recently.

Not all the 4-H club members had climbed previously, but a helpful and knowledgeable gym staff member worked with our group to cover basic safety issues for climbers, and the importance of communication between the climber and his/her belayer while on the wall. And all the kids who were 12 and older were given a chance to serve as a belayer as well as to climb.

At the Maine Rock Gym, unlike most free-climb walls at fairs, amusement parks and indoor play centers, belayers are required for every climber and are secured to the floor with an anchor rope attached to their harness along with the climber’s rope.

As climbers ascend, the belayers pull up the slack rope through the carabiners to keep them secure should they lose their footing or hold on the wall. With a taut rope, belayer and climber are less likely to be jolted from a slip. It also helps climbers feel more secure.

When descending, the climber sits back and lets go of the wall to hold onto the rope. The belayer manages the carabiner to let the rope out at a slow and steady pace as the climber rappels down the wall. Even the smallest of our belayers handled this aspect easily because the gym’s carabiner was easy to use.

The rappelling is the part most kids and adults (myself included) find the most anxiety-provoking the first time. After that initial introduction, letting go of the wall is a lot less scary. And as my 11-year-old will tell you, “Jumping down the wall is the best part of climbing.”

During our trip with the 4-H club, the kids kept gravitating to one particular wall for the swing factor. After climbing this wall, the climber has to let go of their handhold and is forced to swing away from the wall due to the way the rope is looped through the ceiling to the belayer. After trying this wall myself, I had to agree with the kids that swinging from the rafters was a lot of fun.

After a dozen trips up and down that wall, my 11-year-old modified her feelings about rappelling.

“Swinging down that wall is even more fun than jumping down the other ones!”

Indoor rock climbing is a great family activity, especially when the weather makes for a less than enjoyable day out on the hiking/skiing trails. And your kids may just learn that doing something together as a family – especially with their tween/teen siblings – can be a whole lot of fun.

MAINE ROCK GYM
LOCATION: 127 Marginal Way, Portland
CLIMBING PASS: $15 for adults and kids
SHOE & HARNESS RENTAL: $5
WINTER HOURS: 2-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 2-8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday;
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday

My Charlie's Angels are back in action

The girls have been honing their aim and accuracy with their 4-H shooting sports club since early November in anticipation of the NRA's Postal Leagues (I know, a weird name but I did a bit of research last year that explains it) starting next week. This year the girls' team has graduated to shooting in all three positions in the league (prone, kneeling and standing).

The girls practiced the prone position last night, the one they shot exclusively last year (and the one that all beginners start with since it's the easiest) before moving on to kneeling and standing.

G. particularly likes standing because it's makes her feel more like a Charlie's Angel. (Last year she shot a pistol and I jokingly referred to the old TV show and G. very much enjoyed the association. I believe she watched every single episode of that show this past spring/summer on hulu.com).

"Those Angels are girls but they're strong and can shoot and know karate and they can do all kinds of other stuff."
(That 70s feminist message still resonates even if the Angels' wardrobe has a bit to be desired.)

L.'s got a good eye and a steady hand and has done well with the new shooting positions as well. Since she's a bit of a light-weight with pencil thin arms, her rifle is a bit heavy to manage so her stance is a bit off typical form to compensate for her size. I love the hip action she has going while she's still learning this position. I think that even though shooting is typically a boy-oriented sport, she's able to add her own girl-ness to it.

This year L.'s also taken on an executive board position in the club as secretary (which I know is a bit cliche to be the only girl elected to the board and for this particular position). But she wanted to do it because she likes writing and organizing things (this is one of those apple-not-falling-far-from-the-tree things). It is a unique experience for her because for this club, the writing and recording she does is done on the back of old targets between her rounds of shooting at the gun club.

I'm glad that my girls are enjoying target shooting, that they know how to be safe with a firearm, that they make their daddy proud by sticking with a sport (it's their second year) that he very much enjoys, and that they are starting to understand that being the minority gender in the room doesn't mean they have to be different. They can be girls and feel more confident about themselves for learning something that's not in their gender's typical realm of experience.

NOTE: I'm not sure which gun clubs in Maine sponsor NRA junior leagues (for youth 9-18 years) but you can contact a club near you to inquire about it.

A visual - and rowdy - New Year's Eve

Our night of celebration began with a trip to the Pirates hockey game with Grandpa.

Which required that we make a lot of noise well before midnight (during the game and afterward for their win).

Beach balls flew through the stands after the game while we waited for the fireworks to be set up.

Then we enjoyed the light show.

We left the Civic Center to move on to the next venue for more festivities. Our friends had quite a spread of munchies for the army of kids at their New Year's Eve party.

The kids ate while they watched movies before heading outside...

... for some sparkler fun. (And with a below zero wind chill, the sparklers were less keen on lighting in the cold weather but we did manage it with the help of some candles. This was an activity I learned was better suited for 4th of July after all.)

And the kids discovered that the sparklers did make good hand warmers.

Then out came the pots and pans to bang at midnight (a few zealots really enjoyed making a whole lot of noise with that) ...

... followed by a toast of root beer floats to ring in the new year.

A kick line to New York, New York started after the ball dropped in Time Square ...

... while the little ones fell asleep under the tree in spite of all the raucous.

Here's to a healthy and happy 2009 ...

Kid Tracks Column: School of Rock

“You can do it. You almost got it.”
“You did it! You’re a really good climber.”

These words spoken between siblings are music to this mother’s ears, so when my girls ask to visit the Maine Indoor Rock Gym, I’m hard-pressed to deny them.

Each time we visit the rock gym, we enjoy the challenges and celebrate the accomplishments of climbing the walls with all the various angles and holds. But there are so many other positive things we gain from our visits there.

At 11 and 12 years old, the girls are more deliberate and focused about the walls they climb now (unlike when my younger daughter enjoyed pretending to be a fast-climbing monkey when she was 8). They set their own goals (without realizing that’s what they’re doing) to climb challenging walls that take more upper body strength as well as agility to find and grab their holds.

But their beaming smiles and the self-esteem boost that comes from climbing to the top of a particularly difficult wall, as well as the encouragement they offer to each other, makes each trip to the gym well worth the cost of this not-so-cheap outing for a family of four (about $20 each for climbing shoes, harness and admission; parent belayers who choose not to climb are admitted free).

Because we have found this activity to be a great family team-building experience, the kids talked their 4-H club into taking a trip to the rock gym recently.

Not all the 4-H club members had climbed previously, but a helpful and knowledgeable gym staff member worked with our group to cover basic safety issues for climbers, and the importance of communication between the climber and his/her belayer while on the wall. And all the kids who were 12 and older were given a chance to serve as a belayer as well as to climb.

At the Maine Rock Gym, unlike most free-climb walls at fairs, amusement parks and indoor play centers, belayers are required for every climber and are secured to the floor with an anchor rope attached to their harness along with the climber’s rope.

As climbers ascend, the belayers pull up the slack rope through the carabiners to keep them secure should they lose their footing or hold on the wall. With a taut rope, belayer and climber are less likely to be jolted from a slip. It also helps climbers feel more secure.

When descending, the climber sits back and lets go of the wall to hold onto the rope. The belayer manages the carabiner to let the rope out at a slow and steady pace as the climber rappels down the wall. Even the smallest of our belayers handled this aspect easily because the gym’s carabiner was easy to use.

The rappelling is the part most kids and adults (myself included) find the most anxiety-provoking the first time. After that initial introduction, letting go of the wall is a lot less scary. And as my 11-year-old will tell you, “Jumping down the wall is the best part of climbing.”

During our trip with the 4-H club, the kids kept gravitating to one particular wall for the swing factor. After climbing this wall, the climber has to let go of their handhold and is forced to swing away from the wall due to the way the rope is looped through the ceiling to the belayer. After trying this wall myself, I had to agree with the kids that swinging from the rafters was a lot of fun.

After a dozen trips up and down that wall, my 11-year-old modified her feelings about rappelling.

“Swinging down that wall is even more fun than jumping down the other ones!”

Indoor rock climbing is a great family activity, especially when the weather makes for a less than enjoyable day out on the hiking/skiing trails. And your kids may just learn that doing something together as a family – especially with their tween/teen siblings – can be a whole lot of fun.

MAINE ROCK GYM
LOCATION: 127 Marginal Way, Portland
CLIMBING PASS: $15 for adults and kids
SHOE & HARNESS RENTAL: $5
WINTER HOURS: 2-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 2-8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday;
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday

Originally published in Raising Maine Magazine, January 2009