Hafla

Hafla? I know it isn't an incredibly common term, especially if you aren't involved in the bellydance community. Bellydance community? I know, you wouldn't think it, but there are bellydancers everywhere... your book keeper, your store clerk, your Barista, your cousin's roommate, your fill-in-the-blank. You get the idea.

Back to the hafla! A hafla is a bellydancers party for family, friends, and other dancers. There is music and dancing and food and drink. Pretty fun eh? The Camster attended her very first hafla last night at Minnie's in Modesto. It started at 7:00pm BST (bellydance standard time) which was really more like 8:12pm and included solo performances as well as group/troupe performances.

Camster loved the fast paced dances best. She was mesmerized by all the sparkles, makeup, and eyelashes the girls were wearing. Camster has been onstage bellydancing since her time in the womb, so she felt quite at home with the music and trills.

Garden Love

Being a "stay at home" mom, I hate staying home. Sometimes you just have to get out and see the world. I'm not sure going to my parent's house classifies as seeing the world, but what are ya gunna do? For the last two months my parents have been working on a huge garden and lately it has been producing food ready to pick. It is full of crookneck squash, kale, lettuce, eggplant (why is it called that again?!), cucumber, green peppers, turnips, radishes, carrots, beets, watermelon, cantaloupe, and blueberries. I'm sure I've forgotten some things, but as you can tell from that list, it is a substantially large garden.

Yesterday when Camster and I ventured over to visit, Pops was out picking various veggies for lunch. I used my handy-dandy iPad to search Epicurious for some turnip recipes since there was an abundance of ripe turnips. Do you use the term "ripe" for roots? Anywho- we discovered that you can eat turnip greens too! Who knew? Here is what we came up with for lunch entirely out of the homegrown garden... With the exception of the butter and garlic salt. It was delish!

Delicious Garden Love
Serves two very hungry people

2 medium turnips chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups of turnip greens, chopped
1 cup of kale, chopped
2 yellow crookneck squash, sliced
1 tbsp butter
A pinch of garlic salt (substitute with minced garlic if possible)

Heat a large fry pan on medium and add the butter. Once melted, toss in the chopped turnips and garlic salt and sauté until slightly golden brown. Add the squash and continue to fry the mixture for roughly 2 minutes. Add the turnip greens and kale. Cover and reduce heat to simmer until leaves look wilted. Serve and enjoy!

Playtime is Serious Business

Playtime is hardwork around this house and Camster takes it VERY seriously! She acts like playing is equivalent to long division or filing taxes. It always involves lots of sighs, various grunts, and odd facial expressions that always include exasperated eyebrow movements. I suppose for babies playtime is handwork... lots to learn and figure out in this world... one wooden block at a time.

All-American

We started off our Fourth of July holiday with good intentions- check out the happenings at Columbia State Park, go over to my parent's house, do a little grilling perhaps. Hmmm, well, it didn't quite turn out that way.

We did start out by going to Columbia. Husband and I had never been to their Fourth of July celebration before, so we thought we would see what it was all about. While we were browsing around the shops I found a set of school books that were originally published in 1836. Neat-o! Buying the first two of the six book set was in my budget so I snagged 'em. Score! After saying hello to my girlfriends at Kamice's Photographic Establishment (notice the name drop?), we decided it was a bit too crowded for the Camsters and left. Next year maybe.

As we headed up the hill to my parent's house we decided we were too lazy to pick something up and hoped my mom had something to grill. Does anyone else use that expression frequently? "Up the hill"? As if there were only one hill... THE hill... that everyone traveled up and down. I digress.

The five of us spent the afternoon under the grapevine filled pergola chatting and reading the odd old expressions in my new books. No one felt like cooking and everyone just sat outside until dinnertime came. My mom went and picked up some burritos from the nearby Mexican restaurant and we were all quite content with that. Now THAT is patriotic! Mexican food on the Fourth of July. I guess I expected all-American fatty cheeseburgers or something. Maybe next year.

Father's Day

The only problem with having a spectacular party for one person, is that then you have to have a party of equal or grander proportions for the other person. Take Mother's Day for example. We had the best kabobs, "Cami's Great-Grammy's Lambies", a fabulous mousse cake, music, and family. Now comes Father's Day... *insert ominous music here*.
We somehow managed to pull together a somewhat bettered party for the boys (Pops, Husband, and Brother #2). It included lamb kabobs, grilled corn on the cob, pickled cabbage, and grasshopper mousse cake. The lamb kabobs, I have a feeling, are now a family event staple. Which is fine since they are so easy to make and so delicious to eat! For anyone scrunching up their face at the mention of pickled cabbage... I am soooo with you. It wasn't my idea I swear! As for the grasshopper mousse cake- it was yummy. I would include the recipe, but I cheated and picked it up from Safeway. In my defense, I already had to dissect all those lamb cuts for kabobs so I didn't feel like making it from scratch. Maybe head over to Smitten Kitchen and see if they can whip one up for you. Or do what I do and just eat whatever is on the front page.
Hope everyone had a delicious Father's Day!

Arts Camp in Columbia

So I have blogged about Columbia State Park and their various shops before.... candy.... BUT I have not blogged about how our little community pulls together every year for a summer arts camp. Every June for the last seven-ish years the local Arts Council puts together a week long Arts Camp for kids ages 7-12. There are three classes every day in various visual and performing arts with local artists. There is a group performance and student art show at the end of the week.



Anywho-- every year I volunteer to help setup as well as teach a class. This year I decided to do "Chinese Brush Painting" as my class. The kids really loved it and the results were phenomenal. We used concentrated liquid watercolor instead of boring ol' black ink and I think they are more interesting for it. If you happen to live in the area, look into this yearly summer camp!

Other than my hectic day of teaching whilst leaving my little Camster in the hands of my granny (who also volunteers every year), the Camster and I did "administrative work". Which really translates as spending the week signing in late campers, administering the occasional band-aid, and managing daily sign outs. Still fun work though... plus, Camster and I got to sit under the shady trees enjoying the beautiful Columbia scenery and watch the stagecoach with the big dark horses walk by each morning. Camster loves horses!

Breastfeeding in Public

I am proud of being able to nurse and sustain my child by breastfeeding, but unfortunately it is not the norm in America. Don't get me wrong, breastfeeding is not right for everyone and I'm not on my way to a "breast is best" rant. I am simply feeling at odds with the general public. The majority of adults and almost all children haven't been around a nursing mother and therefore don't know how to act. To be fair, I was one of those people.

For those of you who do breastfeed in public- do you end up feeling inappropriate? I have been lucky enough to have a supportive family in this new world, but I can't help but feel like the people around me don't know what to do with me. Do they sit down and continue the conversation as usual.. Or do they sit three tables away until I'm finished? Do they give a "good job" nod.. Or do they shove their nose in a magazine for a few minutes? I personally rather people go about business as usual.

It just seems that the lack of exposure (no pun intended) to breastfeeding mothers in America has made us as a people unprepared for these situations. What have been your experiences as either the feeder or the friend?