Today at lunch with a former teammate the four ladies to the left of me were going on and on about what great mom’s they were patting each other on the back and gossiping about the PTA (O) and how lucky their child’s teacher was to have them as a helper in the classroom. I did kind of choke on my food a bit. See, when I was a teacher I was not in favor of the parent volunteer. Come observe my classroom all you want, feel free, that’s not what bothered me. What bothered me is that most of them are there for the wrong reasons.

Ask most teachers and they will tell you that the biggest gossips at school are the homeroom mom’s and PTA members. The ones who pop in during lunch or who ease drop while they ran the copy machine. I was mean and often had a plan to get rid of our extra gossipy moms, a litmus test of sorts. Our copy room was where our mailboxes were, many homeroom moms of the younger kids were always copying papers for their teachers…as well as listening in to what you had to say. So I would start the rumor that the PE teacher had knocked me up (don’t worry he was in on it and would play along, we were good buddies…still are). And sure enough within a few days the rumor that I was with a child who would be well versed in the rules of dodge ball was spread. I would politely give our vice-principal (who was in charge of the joy that is the PTA) the heads up and that volunteer wouldn’t get to be in the copy room.

My parent volunteers used to get so mad at me because I did not allow them to grade papers. Really mad, because that’s what most of them were therefore. I watched too many a parent gossip about how a kid was doing in class, that he failed a test, or that their child was doing better, etc. Then of course there are the parents who conveniently fix their kids paper for them while they grade. I see no point in having someone else grade papers for you. How can you know how a child is progressing and where they are struggling if someone else is grading the papers. This never sunk in to say the least. Sigh.

I once had a homeroom mom (we had no choice they were assigned). Every day she would come by, usually complain about having no money and I of course would point out that all the time she spends here at the school could be at a job, that you know, pays money. But she couldn’t do that to her kids. Oh but how I wish she would have. While she was there her daughter could never get anything done in class, she was fixated on her mother, at one point crawling into her lap while I taught class….EIGTH GRADE. EIGHT GRADE. They aren’t children anymore at that age and shouldn’t be crawling into your lap when they outweigh you.

After dealing with homeroom mom’s I often needed a drink, but usually had to go to my afterschool job so that wasn’t going to work. The other option of course was that of ice cream. Not quite as effective, but works fairly well. This here is a Belgium Milk Chocolate Ice Cream. There are no add ins (you can if you like), just pure and simple good quality chocolate. The kind I like to have on a cone (I don’t like chunks when I have an ice cream cone). I made this awhile back but found out that today was National Chocolate Ice Cream Day and so I rushed to put it up. Usually I miss these things, but caught it just in time.

*I have had a couple of really good parent volunteers, but for the most part that was the exception and not the rule.

Belgium Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

8oz Belgium Milk Chocolate (the best you can afford), finely chopped
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks

Combine the milk chocolate and cream in a large, heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted, then remove the bowl from the saucepan. Set it aside with a mesh strainer over the top.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk chocolate mixture, and mix together. Stir until cook custard and place in a bowl  over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Adapted from Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

I must admit that when all this started on April 12th I kind of had it in my mind that this little adventure might end up being more of a disaster than a success. I thought I could get a few things to grow but am just in awe of how my little farm has taken off! Just look at the difference since my last post!!!!

Just like kids, it seems like my plants store up and almost overnight grow while I am sleeping. I walk out some mornings just amazed. As most of you know I was down and out for almost two weeks and am just now recovering which is kind of the topic of today’s post. No, not about me being sick, but about how plants are living things and if you are going to be gone or do get sick, you will need to find a caretaker for your plants.

For almost a week, I was unable to get up and move around and so I had to have someone every day (because that week we actually got sun) come over and water my farm. They also needed to come and move my containers around (I still have to have someone do this as they are too heavy and I am still recovering) in order to get maximum sunlight. I was actually sad that I wasn’t getting to interact with the farm, but it was kind of cool to see how much everything had grown in just the week I was out of commission.

(My Lemon Verbena is in too small of a pot and dying )

Sadly because I was out of commission the palate farm I wanted to try didn’t happen. And might not, since I currently am not supposed to be lifting anything over 5 pounds and soil bags and what not all are over 5 pounds. I’m not giving up hope yet, there is still plenty of time and Seattle really hasn’t had summer weather yet (it’s currently cloudy and 51F at noon).

Since everything has been growing so nicely, with the exception of my Lemon Verbena which is dying (I read up and found out that my pot size is way too small for it) I figured I need to start doing things with it. I have mixed feelings about this. I’m so proud and happy that everything is growing that I almost don’t want to use any of it. But that is silly since the whole point of growing your own farm is to have your own fruits and veggies right there. Yet in some ways my home farm and plants feel like my babies. I decided to start small and make something with herbs. I had already used my parsley and its growing back just fine, so I am hoping my dill will be doing the same.

This is a Cottage Cheese and Dill Bread. When I used to teach cooking lessons it was one of the recipes I liked to teach because, though it was yeast bread, it was one that even basic scared of yeast cooks could find success with. If you aren’t quite ready to dive into the world of bread baking, Triscuit Home Farming website has some great and easy recipes to try. This New Potatoes in Creamy Dill Sauce looks good, and would make a great side for any upcoming BBQ’s you might be hosting or going to.

Cottage Cheese and Dill Bread

2 TBSP active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (110F)
1 cup cottage cheese (can be full-fat or reduced), at room temperature
2 TBSP granulated sugar
1 heaping TBSP fresh onion, minced
1 ½ TBSP fresh dill, minced
1 TBSP salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. olive oil
5-6 ½ cups Better for Bread Flour (or all-purpose)

Dissolve yeast in the warm water at the bottom of the mixing bowl. Let sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes creamy in color.
Add all the ingredients except the flour and mix well.
Attach the dough hook to the mixer. Add flour 1 cup at a time until you have soft dough…it’s pretty sticky too. Knead bread for 5 minutes. If you are doing it by hand, knead for about 8 minutes.
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Let rise until dough has doubled, about 1 ½ hours.
When dough has doubled, punch it down and shape into a log shape the size of your loaf pan. Place into a greased 9-inch loaf pan.
Cover loaf with plastic wrap and again place in a warm place. Let rise again for about an hour.
When loaf has risen, preheat oven to 350F.

Bake loaf for 30 minutes, and then cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning and bake another 15-20 minutes longer. Let cool for 5 minutes and then remove from pan and continue to cool on a rack.

How about you? How is your farm coming along? What are you finding to be your biggest challenge? Remember if you don’t have one, it’s still not too late. It doesn’t have to be a container garden either. If you are interested in seeing other ideas, please visit the other bloggers who are participating in the Home Farming Movement which you can find at the Better Homes and Gardens Home Farming Challenge Page.

As always, Triscuit compensated me for this post, but the ideas, words, bad grammar, and opinions are all mine.