For our new readers — welcome! Start here! And — there is plenty for you in the archives (on the sidebar, you will find the chronological archive as well as categories to search; on the menu bar up top, things are somewhat organized for you as well).
We are not posting as much as we used to — the girls as I like to call them have lots of littles to chase after now, and I am writing my book. But do drop in on old posts!
This feature, {bits & pieces}, is my little way of having a conversation of sorts with you about what I'm reading and thinking about this week; sometimes I come across something online that I think I would have enjoyed using or discussing in my home school and/or at the dinner table. Feel free to join in the comments!
What's on my mind right now is that I have been striving to learn to make sourdough bread from my own starter. If you look at my Instagram you can see some of my efforts.
I've been making pizza for 35 years or so, and I think I had a pretty good system going and some pretty good crust — until the sourdough thing… After weeks and weeks of fairly good bread but not great pizza, last night I just decided to make it my old way, no starter involved, and it was yummy. This loaf was from the dough that I had left after making three big pizzas.
Sometimes you just have to do what you do best! I'll try again another time!
On to our links!
In upcoming events:
- Are you nearby, or do you have a handy jet or something? Come to the Thomas More College Open House this weekend. Tomorrow (Sunday) evening, Phil and I will be at the banquet and poetry contest (always a blast, with our very own LMLD Bridget representing the senior class in the “serious” poem category). Then Monday there's a great lineup of events. Do come!
- Join me (and a nice line-up of speakers, including William Fahey, president of Thomas More College, speaking about the importance of a liberal arts education) on Friday for Refresh, which is “the Annual Midwinter Virtual Conference for you to get inspired – with 100% free content – provided online by Homeschool Connections to grow your ideas and grow your family’s strength.”
The schedule is in that link — see if something interests you! My episode is on at 12:45. Let me know in the comments here if there is anything in particular you'd love me to talk about!
Around the web:
- Attention, gardeners! My grandmother would take her kitchen waste outside after she cleaned up in the evening and, digging a hole with a trowel, would bury it in her flower garden. Which was amazing. Here is a little article about this and other composting practices that seem pretty simple!
- For the homeschool or for you: This article about the great physicist Richard Feynman's approach to learning anything at all, the “notebook technique,” might spark something. I suggest just letting your young ‘un read it and mull it over during these dragging days of late winter. And maybe have an appealing stack of new notebooks on a shelf…
- For your student who is doing macrobiology, an in-depth article about C. S. Lewis' objections to the creative power of natural selection (in other words, evolution as an explanation for the origins of species, as a philosophy of man). His thoughts are in turn based on those of the French philosopher Henri Bergson, and the objections have never been answered. (This is a long series, as a commenter below points out — the whole thing is linked in the last one, here.)
- Fr. Schall on basically how we come to know everything: A Short Catechesis. (For those of you who haven't been introduced to him yet, Fr. Schall is a Jesuit priest who used to be a professor at Georgetown University, but don't let that fool you. He is a veritable fount of wisdom, all delivered in a dryly witty and accessible way.)
- If you are interested in what's happening to free inquiry and truth in our universities, this book review sheds some light.
- For the medieval buffs among us, one professor's quest to reunite the separated pages of “book of hours” manuscripts. Apparently the individual pages net the owner more than the intact book, so, sadly, this is the new practice, to sell them off.
From the archives:
- Do you need to get your meals under control, both organizationally and spending-wise? I have a complete plan for you. Here's the theory (scroll down for all the posts) and here's the worksheets to put it all into practice.
- What we do “in here” — in the family, in the home, and why it matters for the wider world.
Today is the feast of the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites.
Don't forget the Seven Sundays devotion to St. Joseph — it's not too late to get to know this great saint in the weeks before his glorious feast!
Quilter Mom says
Composting with kitchen waste is a great idea! I’ve found a way to do it that does not smell bad, and makes the food break down faster. Here is a blog post about it: http://em-bokashi-composting.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-make-bokashi-for-food-waste.html
Ann says
Hi Leila,
I’m looking forward to the Refresh Conference and hope to hear your talk. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts about homeschooling in the high school years.
God bless!
priestswife @byzcathwife says
on composting- digging a hole in the garden seems to be the only way I can dispose of veggie/fruit scraps- ‘real’ composting is too complicated!
Lisa says
That wedding homily is amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. As someone closing in on a 20 year anniversary, what a fantastic reminder of what the purpose of marriage is. Thanks for posting that.
Anamaria says
Definitely share if you find a sourdough pizza recipe. I am on the hunt for one as well. I’ve got good sourdough recipes for two different breads, waffles, and pita, but so far no luck with the pizza- though perhaps I shouldn’t also demand that it be 100% whole wheat to start?
Julia says
Is there a particular advantage to making your own sourdough starter rather than purchasing it? (Other than the small cost of purchasing?)
Leila says
Julia, the advantage is that the bread is different. It lasts longer and has a different texture and taste (not necessarily sour, but more robust and complex). In addition, it is more fermented and thus the difficult parts to digest are more easily assimilated by the body. That said, it’s tricky!!
James Anderson says
Your link to the interesting article about C. S. Lewis’ comments on evolution links to the third part of the four part series. That part has links to Parts 1 and 2 but not Part 4. It would be better for you to link to Part 4 https://evolutionnews.org/2013/11/darwin_in_the_d_3/ which contains links to Parts 1, 2 and 3.
Helen Hawersaat says
Who would do that to a medieval manuscript??? That’s crazy!