I loved The Swiss Family Robinson as a kid. It was one of my favorite stories, along with Robinson Crusoe and the Little House books. I remember going to Disney World long before I read the book and wondering what the treehouse was all about, but I understood once I was old enough for the book. After reading this abridged edition, I realize that the cornucopia of flora and fauna on the island is utterly outlandish, but as a kid it seemed perfectly normal for an exotic island to have lions, tigers, elephants and ostriches. The story is still a blast, and M enjoyed it quite a bit too since it was a special ‘Daddy & M’ book. Along the way, I got a nice flashback to some of my dreams and fantasies as a kid and realize that some things don’t change but are slowly forgotten.
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What would Ma do?
Lately that is the question I am asking myself whenever I am cooking. And, no, I am not talking about my own mother. I’m talking about Mrs. Ingalls, of course. Ever since I finished reading The Long Winter, I seem to be filtering many things through the eyes of Ma. Yesterday’s example: I had a package of blueberries in the fridge that were a good 3 weeks old. For some reason, they hadn’t gotten moldy. They were just mostly very dry and very shriveled. Now, there was a day not too long ago when I would have just thrown them out. But now, I find myself unconsciously thinking in my head, WWMD? She’d use them, of course! The blueberries weren’t really bad, and they were great for muffins. In fact, they were almost better than the plump, fat, new blueberries that I usually use because they didn’t make the muffins as soggy (I tend to have trouble holding back and just using the 1 cup of blueberries that the recipe requires - I always throw in an extra handful).
I think this new outlook is actually going to be a good thing. We’ve been trying to buy more local produce and be less wasteful. Those blueberries were not local, and had probably been shipped from quite a ways away. Throwing them out would have been quite a waste. Anyway, just look at how much J loved those muffins.
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