Welcome to spring in Chicago

welcome to spring

Language of origin

Spelling season is over for the year. Rahel came in 11th or 12th place this year in the regional finals (along with a whole host of kids who bounced out on the round). We consider it her greatest accomplishment that, unlike last year when she was entirely hysterical after misspelling her word, she went out with a big smile. See for yourself -- here are the highlights:

SLP? No, AAE

We use a lot of nicknames and acronyms in our family. Rahel, aka Cooper, had the original nickname, but everyone has one or more. Ava is Aviator (AhVeeAayTor) or just simply Ator (rhymes with gator). Clara is Pinchie Pie, Miriam is Bugs, John is Carter, and so on. We use a lot of acroynms too -- time to do your HW (homework), you're in BTT (big time trouble), sometimes I call the kids SLPs (stupid looking poundables).

Yesterday morning I asked Ava, "Are you an SLP?" and she said "No, I'm AAE - Awesome and Intelligent".

Caroling at Cloudgate

For the last couple of years, on one of the days before Christmas, we have dragged the family out to Chicago's most famous sculpture Cloudgate -- known by locals as "The Bean" -- to see the Chicago Children's Choir caroling in front of the sculpture. We went again a couple of days ago and it was cold (though this year was comparatively balmy at 30 degrees) and absolutely fabulous. We all stand holding candles, in awe of the mixture of the kids' beautiful voices, the city's skyline, lights and sirens, mirrored in the sculpture and enveloped in the snowy weather. Chicago is a difficult city to live in, but this (together with Opera night in Grant Park)
is the city at its best.

Here is a (very badly made) homemade movie, which does not do justice to the event, but pick out Rahel in the choir if you can...

Honey, it's coooold outside

Forecast in Chicago this morning

Today... Windy. Cloudy with intermittent light snow and flurries. Areas of blowing snow. Bitterly cold. Highs 1 to 5 above. Wind chills as low as 20 below to 30 below zero. West winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph at times. Chance of measurable precipitation 40 percent.

Boiled custard

My grandmother Mama always boiled a giant jar of boiled custard each Christmas, and she passed the recipe to my mom who continued the tradition, and for the last several years we've made several batches each Christmas. It's a custard, so the trick is to cook it not to too hot until the custard just thickens and coats the spoon, and then quickly take it off the heat. In the first picture, you see Miriam is hamming a bit for the camera, posing with a whistle as if she doesn't have a care in the world. By the time I took the last photo, she was deadly serious, annoyed with my picture taking, asking "is it coating, is it coating?" Here's the recipe, which is a minor variant of the one handed down (fewer marshmallows, less sugar)

• Heat 1 Qt whole milk in a heavy pan until scalding. Don't let it skin over
• Add 6 whole marshmallows once the milk is hot
• Whisk together then add: 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp flour, and 4 whole eggs

• Stir until the marshmallows melt and the custard covers the spoon. Strain into a glass jar to which 1tsp vanilla has been added and chill

Kids love it, grown ups have been known to mix with brandy or rum. Fun for the whole family!

Families that surf together...?