Generations

In August, when Paige's grandmother died, we lost the last living grandparent either of us had. Martha Smith was a grand lady. She kept house, home and three daughters together during her husband George's Navy career. Growing up, my mother-in-law moved 18 times before leaving home (a record that makes my traumatic childhood of 7 Salvation Army moves sound amateur). Her ability to maintain a lovely home while on the move that much really impresses me. By the time I met her, when I was in college, she was a playful grand dame who loved to dance and play tennis and was never without a book. When dining out with her, we all knew she would order a perfect Manhattan on the rocks with an olive and a glass of ice on the side; she would spoon the extra ice cubes into the drink in a slow rhythm to dilute it, talking and laughing and enjoying (enduring?) George's madcap personality

When "Mama" passed, our kids lost their last great grandparent. I never had any living great grandparents; they had 3 until two years ago and one until they were 8 and 4. Charlie is named for Martha's father, Charles Mathis.

Of all that happened in a weekend of family memorial gathering late last month, I suspect I'll remember one moment the most. The priest led us outside after a short service. We processed around one end of the church to a memorial garden in the church yard with the urn of Mama's ashes. After a short liturgy and the recitation of a poem by Paige's cousin, Mama's daughters took turns spreading some of her ashes. The sheer physicality of it surprised me; it's always so graceful and ethereal in the movies. These ashes required a few healthy whomps on the bottom of the urn to free up clumps. Next, Paige's brother and cousins took turns, one representative from each family in their generation. Realizing that Charlie was the oldest great grandchild present, I whispered "Do you want to spread some?" He immediately answered that he did.

Paige accompanied him to step forward and take the urn. With an appropriate seriousness, he followed in the footsteps of his uncle and second cousins and grandmother and great aunts, spreading his great grandmother's ashes. Charlie is a sentimental person who loves all the branches of his family very deeply. It made me proud and happy to see him so ready and willing to participate in an irreplaceable ritual.

In fond memory of Martha Mathis Smith, 1923-2010

I'll Show you Mine if You Show me Yours

My list of podcasts, of course. What did you think I was talking about?

Occasionally, a Facebook status update gives me a peek at the podcasts to which my friends listen. In general, though, podcasts make me feel like an audience of one. I'm sure others listen to the same ones I do or good ones I should know about, but I have little way of knowing. So, I'll bare my MP3 soul in hopes that you'll share your podcast playlist in the comments.

[Editor's note: podcast is not in blogspot's spell check dictionary. Nor is Facebook or playlist. Nor, I should add, is blogspot. Natch.]

Breaking them down into categories, I'll cover the vegetables first (good for me and informative), then move to the fruit (good for me, but tasty and zesty, too), and finally to dessert (brain candy).
Informative, good-for-me Podcasts
NPR's Planet Money - The Economy, Explained. They do a really good job breaking down what's been happening in the economic crisis and the signs of recovery. It's economics for the common listener. Participation by the team that produces This American Life ensures that this is story-driven and character-focused. Some of the players from the dear departed Bryant Park Project work on this show, giving it a refreshing irreverence. 20-30 minute episodes, twice a week.
American Public Media's Marketplace Tech Report - A few weeks ago, this podcast changed its name from Future Tense to (yawn) Marketplace Tech Report. It also recently replaced its founding host, Jon Gordon with the equally likable John Moe. Only Johns need apply to host a quick look at the world of technology from new devices to privacy policy hi jinks to security threats. 5 minutes, 3-4 per week.
Brainstuff from How Stuff Works - The improbably named Marshall Brain takes listeners through a quick but thorough explanation of various things supposedly populated by listener questions. I remember "How does bulletproof glass work?" He hasn't taken on my question "Why do many children who start out blond end up having darker hair in later life?" HSW reminds me of a 5-minute lecture from my Uncle Larry, an engineer who does seem to know how everything works. 5 minutes, 3-4 per week.

Infotainment, Glad-I-heard-that Podcasts:
NPR's Fresh Air - Wow, can that Terry Gross interview. And now the others she uses for relief some days can, too. I love hearing Fresh Air on the radio, but often can't listen to the whole thing or join it half way and have trouble understanding what they're talking about. Now, if I don't catch it on the radio, I get it here. Fresh Air gets so TV-heavy when the new season starts, which is a bit of a bummer for one who watches TV only rarely, but overall the show produces such a terrific mix of news, entertainment and literature coverage. 1 hour on the air magically becomes 45 minutes on a podcast, daily.
NPR's This American Life - Quite possibly the best radio show ever made. Hear that, Murrow? Ever. Each show collects stories on a selected theme, mixing mostly true stories of the memoirish variety with short fiction that fits the theme. Creating 50 shows as good as this would be an accomplishment. Over 400 is simply staggering. I would have put this in the straight entertainment category, but I do learn important things listening to This American Life. 1 hour, occasionally posting reruns.
Kunstlercast - James Kunstler wrote Geography of Nowhere and several other books - non-fiction and a novel series - that focus on how suburbs are evil and the car-based world has to be going away. For the podcast, a lackey/former graduate student named Duncan Crary interviews Jim about his crazy worldview. I agree with most of his analysis of what works in older urban development and what doesn't work in the suburbs; I just feel like the way he packages this stuff often makes him sound nuts. Oh, and he uses bad language, which gives this totally straightforward and informative podcast the "Explicit" tag in iTunes. 20-40 minutes, about weekly.
Freakonomics Radio - The concept that was a great NY Times magazine article and became a pretty good book and has become a movie (!) also produces a half-hearted podcast that attempts to explain - through rogue economics - the hidden side of everything. Steven Levitt's mind works in fascinating ways, but whoever had this idea can't get enough Levitt to the subscribers for this medium. If they did it, this podcast would be better than the best parts of Planet Money and Brainstuff; it's a shame they lack the discipline to achieve that. They last posted at the World Cup. 20 minutes, when they feel like it.
NTEN Podcast - The Nonprofit Technology Network, a professional organization to which I belong, puts up a poor-audio podcast about once every never. They do a ton of good stuff, and this may just stretch a small staff's resources too thin. 1 hour, 10 minutes, 2-3 times a year.
NPR's Storycorps - Well-produced true stories from real people. 5 minutes, weekly.

Getting long here, so I'll speed up for the brain candy.

Entertainment Podcasts for Savoring and LOLing
ESPN's the BS Report - Bill Simmons calls his friends from college and LA and Boston and talks sports and pop culture in a mesmerizing way. 1 hour, 2-3 times a week.
The Moth - True stories, told live on stage without notes. Captivating from the funny to the touching. This is the podcast I save until I really want a treat. 15 minutes, once a week.
Dial-a-Stranger - Listeners submit open-ended questions (e.g. "Tell me about when someone saved your life"), and the hosts call a random listener (who has supplied his/her number) and ask them one of these questions. Zen-like interviews. I was on Episode 93, Baseball Angst. Yes, they called me. Hoo wa. 15 minutes, once a month when they're not overwhelmed.
The Absolute Peach - A couple of English guys chatting about everything and nothing in a way that's totally entertaining. Lots of inside jokes and references. Warning, if you start, you'll want to go back to the first of six series and listen to every one. They answered a question I posted on their facebook page on a recent episode. Yup. I'm everywhere. 1 hour, weekly.
The Pod F. Tompkast - Paul F. Tompkins just started this, and it's not for everyone. It's not always for me. Mostly, I think it's for my friend Jason H., who has a very similar sense of humor to PFT. Sometimes, I wish he would just get on with that and other times, I am practically (but not literally), ROTFL. 1 hour, bi-weekly or whatever.
Ricky Gervais - Mostly video casts, so I don't have time to consume them. Gervais is that English guy from the real Office and all the other squirm-worthy humorous content he produces. 2-10 minutes, monthly.

OK, if you're still reading and alive, let me know what's in your ears.

Recipe: Skillet Apple Pie

Hopefully, I've timed this post to coincide with a moment when you're looking at a pile of apples on your counter and wondering what to do with them. You could bake up the apple bread recipe that my friend Mary sent me. I haven't managed to test it yet, so do tell if you try it.

On the other hand, I have made and can heartily recommend Skillet Apple Pie. It takes a lot of the crust-handling stress out of making an apple pie and enables a really juicy filling that would likely overwhelm the bottom crust of a standard pie. Easier and delicious? Sign me up!

If I do say so myself, this pie was the dessert highlight of our family Thanksgiving weekend last year.

From Cooks magazine September/October 2008, green comments mine:

Skillet Apple Pie
Serves 6 to 8 (plan on smaller pieces than a regular pie if you have more than 6 people)

Crust
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoon vegetable shortening, chilled
6 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, but into 1/4 inch pieces
3-4 tablespoons ice water

Filling
1/2 cup apple cider (see note at right)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon (as if - bottled lemon juice is usually in my fridge; lemons, not so much)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional) (Right. I'm making apple pie without cinnamon.)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 lbs. sweet and tart apples (about 5 medium - see note below), peeled, cored, halved and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (see note)

1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons sugar

1. FOR THE CRUST: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined. Add shortening and process until mixture has texture of coarse sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and process until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer mixture to medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if dough does not come together. Turn dough out onto sheet of plastic wrap and flatten into 4-inch disk. Wrap dough and refrigerate 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling out. (If dough is refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.)
3. FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to upper middle position (between 7 and 9 inches from t heating element) and heat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk cider, syrup, lemon juice, cornstarch, and cinnamon (if using) together in medium bowl until smooth. Heat butter in 12-inch heatproof skillet over medium-high heat. When foaming subsides, add apples and cook, stirring 2 or 3 times until apples begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes. (Do not fully cook apples.) Remove pan from heat, add cider mixture, and gently stir until apples are well-coated. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface, or between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap, to 11-inch circle. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll over apple filling. Brush dough with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. With sharp knife, gently cut dough into 6 pieces by making 1 vertical cut followed by 2 evenly spaced horizontal cuts (perpendicular to first cut). Bake until apples are tender and crust is a deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes; serve.

Sunday Haiku: Traveling Togetherness

In 1 hotel room
Family sleeps in nearly
til seven a.m.

A new Sunday ritual

Our family has recently stumbled upon a new ritual on our way to church on Sunday mornings. We observe a period of silence for at least half the ride. Despite the short time of this silence (our whole ride takes about 15 minutes), the significance is striking. I haven't polled the others, but I know I feel less distracted and more prepared for worship when we arrive. The fact is that I don't allow much time for silence in my life in any context. There's almost always a radio or mp3 player on, especially when in transit. Short of that, if this whole family is together, chances are someone has something to say, even if it's "why is there a tractor on the street?"

I say that we stumbled upon the ritual because it arose not from a family meeting or a parental epiphany. We parents just called for silence on a particularly back-seat-babble-heavy day . We weren't intending to start a tradition, but we noticed the calming results immediately. The next Sunday, we just said "okay, we're going to be silent now".

We would likely have more trouble enforcing this if our youngest hadn't just turned four. An eight- and four-year-old are capable of the discipline it takes to remain silent for even a few minutes. Of course, they're actually rather good at enforcing rules, so they have sometimes reminded (shushed) mommy or daddy when one of us has forgotten and felt like we had to say something this minute. We might all do well with more silent times, but I'm glad we've at least carved out this little niche in our week.

Sexist dryer

In our new house, we inherited a dryer that believes in very traditional gender roles. I don't know how long it's been there, but apparently it hails from an era in which we believed the dryer was an appliance to brighten a lady's day. No more high-effort clothes-wringing. No more backyard clothesline. For you, the fortunate lady, this machine lightens your load and frees you up to do more interesting things with your time.

It reminds me of the "Lady" school sports teams like the "Lady Lions" or "Lady Bears". I wonder what a "Lady Kenmore" mascot would look like and whether the team would rally behind her.

Aside from the dryer's intrinsic bias, I take issue with the design of the door. For the last ten years (and probably longer in apartments), I've had a side-hinged dryer door that swung open and tucked against the front of the washer. This little lady has this Murphy bed/diving board affair that makes it rather challenging to get back into the back of the dryer and get the last few stray items. I see no advantage to this design; if I had younger kids, I'd worry about them putting their weight on there and bending/breaking it.

But what else would you expect from such an unenlightened appliance?

Sunday Haiku: Lawn Party Ploy that Would Work

But Mama! I don't
Need to go potty. Child, hush!
Let's check out their house.