I can’t tell you how many ‘kid’ versions of tools have met their end in our donation bin. We toss the plastic screwdriver that doesn’t actually work with screws, the cheapo watercolors that have no pigment, the child-friendly measuring cups that are cute but hard to use.

Use the Real Thing
What’s wrong with allowing children to use the real thing? If your child is distractable, keep your hands on the binoculars as they use them. Use the DSLR camera together or give them an outdated but still functional digital camera. Your ancient point and shoot is far superior to the kiddie version.

Buy genuine artist supplies at the craft or art store. Paints and brushes might be more expensive but they outlast and outperform the kiddie versions. While you are there, invest in some real artist paper or canvases.

Provide lightweight but real hammers and let children practice aim with the possible natural consequence of hitting their thumb. Because they are performing a real and honest task, chances are good they won’t even complain about a small hurt.

Process Not Product
Young children (and most adults) learn more from the process of an activity than enjoy the eventual product. Sure, kids have great imaginations and should pretend to fly rather than actually attempt it. But when we can give our children real experience in the process of creating something, they will feel empowered. They will gain true skills and competence that faux tools do not allow.

Too Young or Too Expensive?
I have high expectations for my six year old because she has been handling real tools from the moment she could handle tools at all. She has used sharp knives since she was three and power tools shortly after. Her mastery of one tool is rewarded with the next.

I believe that all kids can handle real tools when they are presented with supervised experiences from a young age. Expectations for safety must be held in the highest regard. If a child cannot handle themselves, the tool should be removed without punishment but a simple “you’re not ready for this right now.”

Some might argue that real tools are more expensive than the kid version. While this might be true, I think of purchases as an investment over time. It is not unrealistic to think that the genuine 6″ santoku knife I bought for Lil last year will travel to college with her. Same with her quality flash light, sewing kit, and binoculars. Perhaps I actually saved money by skipping over the kiddie junk.

So what if something breaks? First, naysayers might be surprised at the durability of adult tools. Lil has dropped her ancient Canon PowerShot camera dozens of times and it still functions well.

If something does fall to pieces, so be it. Adults and children make mistakes that cause glasses to break and knives to bend. I use damage incidents to talk about whether we have a budget to replace it or if we can try to fix the broken part or if we might need to be creative and do without something for awhile. These are all natural consequences to an inevitable part of living.

It’s a Tool, Not a Toy
The above phrase echoes around our house. Scissors are a tool and I expect Lil to use them safely or the privilege of using them is revoked. Matches must be consumed for a purpose – they are not play things. Use the strap to secure binoculars and cameras.

Lil approaches projects with sincerity towards the tools she might need. She isn’t afraid of fire or sharp things because she practices using them safely under supervision. She still struggles with things that her small size body can’t manage, like heavy hammers. If she comes across a project that requires a tool she isn’t ready to handle, we assert ourselves as keepers of her safety and assist.

Does my daughter have good awareness because of something innate or because we encourage her to explore and create using tools? It’s probably a little bit of both.

Each parent knows their child and must estimate how their child will handle a certain tool. Place safety at the forefront. Set them up for success by giving them new tools when they are fed and full of focus. Allow them to make mistakes and take time away from the project.

I know that I am not alone in raising a child who uses real tools. There are preschool classrooms of children who use saws and other mature tools. Why?

Because kids want and deserve the chance to make things.

Because trusting a child to operate a tool encourages them to trust themselves.

Because we don’t know who will illustrate the world with watercolors or build inspiring houses or take amazing pictures or cook incredible dishes when they are given the right tools.

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Give Them Real Tools! is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.

If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

]]> http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/12/13/give-them-real-tools/feed/ 8 http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/12/10/meaningful-holiday/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meaningful-holiday http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/12/10/meaningful-holiday/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:39:26 +0000 Rachel http://houndsinthekitchen.com/?p=8590

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Making a Meaningful Holiday {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.

If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

]]> Truthfully, I become a little kooky around the winter holidays. My perfectionist tendencies and the dark days put me on edge. Excess time on my hands because I’m not gardening and canning allows me to try to craft the perfect experience, cookies, gifts, and meals.

But life isn’t perfect. Rather than be disappointed when my plans don’t work out, this year I am trying to focus on being fully present to enjoy the most meaningful parts of our holidays:

1) Columbus Holiday Events – I don’t like crowds but do enjoy the decorated spaces around Columbus. This year Lil and I will go to the Nutcracker, Franklin Park Conservatory, Zoo Lights, and the train at the Main branch of the Columbus Metro Library. We’re going during the day before school gets out, naturally.

2) Crafting – Lil is at the age where she can be occupied for hours with a few quality art supplies. We are hosting a friend once a week to make holiday crafts and I love watching what their hands create. The gingerbread ornaments pictured are Freddie Mercury and Lady Gaga, by the way. We like to think they would have been an awesome couple.

3) Solstice Sun Bread – I posted our sun bread recipe and book recommendation last year. I truly cannot wait to welcome the sun’s return and make this bread again in a few weeks.

4) Mailing Cards – As much as I often occupy a virtual world and disdain waste, I cannot resist paper mail. We printed postcards with Zazzle this year. Next week will be filled with writing messages and hopefully receiving cards in exchange. When we complete a few homemade gifts, we will send holiday packages to our friends in Japan too.

5) Xmas Eve Dinner – Other holiday meals are hosted by my elders so I claimed Xmas Eve as ours. We decorate the table with linens and crystal, shine Alex’s inherited silver, and cook a luxurious meal of goose, mushroom pie, popovers, cranberry sauce and more. This meal is something I look forward to amidst the more materialistic aspect of the holidays.

What do you do to stay sane in December?

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Making a Meaningful Holiday {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.

If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

]]> http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/12/10/meaningful-holiday/feed/ 3 http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/12/06/sweetheart-sweet-heart-charcutepalooza/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sweetheart-sweet-heart-charcutepalooza http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/12/06/sweetheart-sweet-heart-charcutepalooza/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:53:04 +0000 Rachel http://houndsinthekitchen.com/?p=8400

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Sweetheart, Sweet Heart {Charcutepalooza} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.

If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

]]> My final Charcutepalooza post, on the topic of showing off, takes the form of two family stories.

Origins of the Sweetheart

Once upon a time in 13th century Europe, lived Devorguilla of Galloway. Devorguilla was a woman of substance (i.e. wealthy land owner) whose parents arranged her marriage to John de Baliol.

Read more of the Baliol family history on Tom Baillieul’s website if you wish – it’s pretty fascinating stuff!  Tom, Alex’s father, also painted and graciously allowed me to use the Devorguilla/John de Baliol crest on the right.

When John died in 1269, Devorguilla embalmed his heart and enshrined in a decorative ivory box to accompany her everywhere. Legend has it that Devorguilla had this heart seated at the opposite head of her dinner table and donated John’s portion of the meal to the hungry.

History shows that Devorguilla likely coined the term ‘sweetheart’ through her dedication to John even after his death. In 1290, she was buried with John’s heart at a Cistercian monastery she founded with the name ‘Sweetheart Abbey’.

Consumption of the Sweet Heart

703 years after the death of Devorguilla, her descendant Alex Baillieul was born. Alex grew to be an adventurous traveler and cook proud of his Balliol heritage.

Alex’s wife Rachel embarked on a year long charcuterie project in 2011, the culmination of which was to be a dish or meal that showed off four styles of meat curing. At the same time as the final Charcutepalooza project assignment, Rachel and Alex intended to attend a CMH Dinner Club with the theme ‘show your roots’.

Rachel could think of no ‘roots’ story better than that of Devorguilla. She knew that she and Alex had to create an edible sweet heart.

Rachel bought a beef heart from Blues Creek Meats. She, Alex, and Lil examined the anatomy, identifying the aorta and chambers while marveling at the mass of the muscle.

Noticing very little fat (or inedible bits), the curing plan became clear: the heart would be cooked slowly in goose and bacon fat. A recipe on From Belly to Bacon confirmed that confit is an appropriate technique for this unusual cut of meat.

When tender, 12 hours after cooking, Alex cooled the heart in the fat. To serve it, he sliced the muscle into thin pieces and seared them in a hot pan. Rachel prepared a rosemary honey drizzle to garnish the sweet heart.

Rachel and Alex ultimately were unable to attend the CMH dinner club. Instead they served sweet heart, fermented Spanish-style chorizo, duck prosciutto, squirrel rilletes, homemade cornichons, and sour cherry preserves on a charcuterie platter for Thanksgiving with extended family, retelling the story of Devorguilla.

Adventurous diners were surprised at the luxurious heart. It was beefy and rich with melt-in-your-mouth texture. Lil declared it “better than hamburger”. Devorguilla’s namesake, the big hound Devie, heartily approved of the dish, complaining only that she did not get more pieces as treats.

Sweet heart, a dish honoring an ancient relative with the ancient art of charcuterie, was the perfect ending to a year of cured meat.

Final Relfections

I, Rachel, entered the Charcutepalooza challenge with a fair amount of meat curing experience. Any fears of raw meat, botulism, icky meat casings, and expensive investments had already been overcome at the beginning of 2011. Instead, I took on Charcutepalooza as a lens through which to explore food writing and expose more people to the dark secrets of the meat hanging in my basement.

I attempted to record each challenge in a unique way – I told fiction, humor and non-fiction stories, shared new and interpreted recipes, showed off charcuterie in pictures and video, and opined on marriage, meat sourcing, squirrel and vegetarianism. Some of these posts were quite a stretch for my skills and patience but I advanced to spread the love of cured meat.

There is a fabulous trip to France awaiting one of the Charcutepalooza participants. I do not envy Cathy and Kim who must judge the entries. Fortunately, I feel like a winner already because this challenge has strengthened my confidence as a writer and home cook. It even convinced my family that heart is a sweeeeeeet meat.

    Print This!    

Sweet Heart (Beef Heart Confit with Rosemary Honey)
Makes: 50+ appetizer servings
Time: 12 hours cooking, 48 hours infusion for honey

1/2 cup local lightly-flavored honey
1 stalk fresh rosemary

1 beef heart (4-5 pounds of meat)
salt
2-3 quarts of goose, pork, or duck lard (we used a mix of all three)

1. Fold rosemary stalk to fit into the bottom of a half pint jar.
2. Cover rosemary with honey. Put a lid on the jar and set aside at room temperature for 2 or more days, until infusion reaches your desired taste.
3. Salt beef heavily inside and outside of the heart cavity. Chop into large pieces as necessary to fit in an oven-safe pan or pot.
4. Liquefy lard by heating it on the stove top.
5. Pour fat over the heart until all parts of the meat are covered.
6. Place in a 200 degree oven for 12 hours until meat is tender.
7. Cool the heart while submerged in fat. Under refrigeration, the heart keeps indefinitely.
8. For service, remove heart from fat by reheating on the stove top and straining off the fat when it is liquefied. (Fat may be reserved for future use.)
9. Slice the heart into pieces 1/8 inch thick.
10. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Quickly sear heart slices and place on a bed of arugula or other lettuce on a platter. Drizzle with rosemary honey.

 

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Sweetheart, Sweet Heart {Charcutepalooza} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.

If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

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