Tortillas rock. My son challenged me to make tortillas. In his quest for whole foods, he told me he would not eat store-bought tortillas anymore. Could I please learn to make tortillas for him (and the rest of the family)?
My homemade tortillas, which do not break anymore
When there is a will, there is a way. I first made a tortilla recipe from an old cookbook I have. Not good. They came out tough and breakable. Continue reading
On August 14 we start our 11th year of homeschooling. Our son is in 10th grade and our daughter in 8th grade this year, 2023-2024. We have homeschooled them exclusively – a journey of faith and audacity.
Visiting the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA – July 2023
On August 4, 2013 I published my first blog post here, on this blog. So my blog is as old my homeschool. The two go hand in hand and one has inspired the other. Honestly, I needed to blog just as much as I needed to respond to God’s calling to homeschool my children. Continue reading
On August 4, 2013 I pushed Publish on my first blog post here at Homeschool Ways. Ten years ago, we started homeschooling our oldest from Kindergarten on up and my sister suggested I document it all in a blog. A blogger herself, she understands the therapeutic power of writing about one’s experience. So thank you, sis, for planting that seed of an idea in my head a decade ago.
Photo op at the Pittsburgh Zoo, July 2023
In that sense, this blog has helped me a lot. From the feedback I have received over they years, Homeschool Ways, the blog, has also helped many readers. That was the point, really. As I received help in the beginning of my homeschool career from other moms who have gone before me, I wanted to help others. Continue reading
Driving Force is a Dick Francis novel, i.e. a thriller from the world of horse racing. Queen Elizabeth II loved these novels and Mr. Francis wrote about 40. His son continued the legacy with more titles in the same vein, after they co-authored a few titles.
I read Driving Force by Dick Francis on Libby, the library app, on my phone, in dark mode to protect my eyes
A few years ago, I read a Dick Francis novel and liked it, so I decided to try a few more. Well, I could not stop until I read four of them in row. Driving Force was the first in my little Francis cavalcade. Continue reading
One book leads to another. As I read Angela Gheorghiu’s autobiography, she mentioned the most famous cake in the world: the Sacher torte from Vienna. This lead me to discover a whole series of books about rich desserts and wealthy people. Talk about a unit study. That is how I discovered a historical novel titled The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe.
I read it from READS, Tennessee’s electronic library
Have you ever wondered who the richest man on the Titanic was and if he made it out alive? The answer is John Jacob Astor IV (net worth $2.6 billion in today’s money) and no, he did not. He put his wife on Lifeboat #4. Continue reading
In a previous post, I shared how our son has started a whole food revolution while I was also finding myself pushed in the same direction by a podcast. It just seems like the winds of change are blowing toward more healthy choices in the kitchen.
I used heavy cream, 365 brand, to make butter
So… in this context… our son has decided he wants homemade butter. Last Thanksgiving, we went on a field trip to Sam Houston Schoolhouse. They made butter in mason jars over there. He loved the taste of it. Now that he is interested in whole foods, he wanted me to research how to make butter faster. Continue reading
This post will start a new series, in which I hope to detail many of the changes we are making to our cooking and eating philosophy. Yes, a health reform is underway at my house!
I made einkorn banana bread – with einkorn flour from Whole Foods
Our son, in his awakening to all things leading to self-improvement, has stumbled upon the concept of “whole foods.” Not the store, but the concept of unprocessed, as close to nature as possible, whole foods. Continue reading
Learn Chess by John Nunn gave me great insight into the game of chess. Written for absolute beginners, the book provides the rules and all the strategies needed to become proficient in chess and go to the next level.
This book will take you from absolute beginner to worthy opponent
I thought I knew how to play chess and taught my children the way the pieces moved when they were very little. My father had taught me how to play when I was a child. We even had a book about it (Primii Pasi in Sah by Elisabeta Polihroniade). I never finished that book as a child though. Continue reading
Lettres de Mon Moulin by Alphonse Daudet (Letters from My Windmill) is a book I had bought for myself a long time ago, when I was a dreamy high school senior in Romania, hoping to become a French and English student at the University of Bucharest. We are talking 1992, folks.
My copy of Lettres de mon moulin
It sat in my parents’ home for decades until 2016 when I brought it to my home in the States. What a journey! Continue reading
Homeschool mamas do not pack lunches, right? We are at home with our children and teach them in the morning while our instant pot or slow cooker prepares lunch for us, right? Or we cook with our children, thus checking two boxes: home ec and lunch prep, right? Wrong.
Our new bread box
These days, homeschool moms find themselves on the road with their children. A lot. Co-op, music lessons, orchestra, errands… All of a sudden, you have to pack a lunch because you do not want to have another fast food meal. Ever. You are done with that folly. Continue reading