cookbooks and idle thoughts

@ is taking a sleep in morning, which very rarely happens after a good bedtime but I'll take what I can get. He woke up at 4:30 this morning telling us that he didn't sleep very good. Must be doing ok now.

We're still in this lull of waiting and the longer it takes for our visa to come through I can begin to see the busy that is lying in wait on the other side of the lull. Their is a school fair next week that I'm looking forward to going to. I need to get something lined up for @'s school in April. He's been out long enough and its time to get a routine established for that. We've been doing some homeschooly type activities. Keeping up on colors, numbers, working alphabet, lots of science experiment stuff. But he needs language and I have yet to here of a school that values local language alongside english. I'm probably the only person in town who could careless if my child is taught English. Its the only thing parents want here and I'm praying to find a local language class for my kid with decent pre-k instrucation. Do I ask too much? Apparently. English is a gift folks. Teach it to your kids but since the rest of the world exists too, go learn French, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Sign... something else. And not just counting and "how do you do". Sigh...

We have this glorious side yard. Have I mentioned it a million times before? Mostly we're still at the point of waiting for the sod to take for sure. We've been getting fairly regular rain every other night or so and so I know the ground is getting what it needs it just takes time for plants to take. That's what I'm telling myself. I'm going to go look at paving stones maybe later today because we don't have guttering on side yard and we have huge muddy puddles from where the rain comes off the tin roof. Speaking of rain, the clouds just covered the sun and the rain is starting on the skylight outside. Maybe I'll wait on shopping for stones, even though we apparently really need them.

I'm looking forward to our next trip out to Singapore but partly because it will mean we're finished with the waiting game and keeping the suitcases out because we'll probably just need to get them out again soon. Also I'm looking forward to some Indian food and going into the used bookstore for a new cookbook or two. Jonathan said that since I'm cooking 3 meals a day, its time I got a new cookbook to expand my horizons. right now I'm cooking out of:

More with Less- this is the Good Book of Mennonite Cooking, some incredibly delicious stuff here and its cooking on the cheap, healthy and frugal. Not so much for people cooking for 1 or 2 though because most of the recipes cook for a large family, on average 6 people.

Extending the Table- an MCC cookbook with an international flair. This combines recipes from the world over quite equally. But again with a bent towards healthy, frugal, and sustainable.

Simply in Season- these women got inspired from More with Less and this cookbook tries to use foods that are local and in season. So its laid out by recipes that are appropriate for the season of the year. Terrific except my seasons are different.

Indian Cookbook- I love this book. Someone gave it to Jonathan years before we were married and I've loved on it quite a bit. Its this whole food of love Indian thing. Its not hard cooking and by and large its not time intensive but it is high on flavor. What does a mom in India do with the old Bananas? She makes Banana Halva. A simply wonderful and easy recipe, far simpler and takes less time than crazy banana bread.

Oh and I did just buy the Wycliffe International Cookbook. I remember seeing this on a shelf of a friend in Ethiopia and after flipping through started writing recipes in my notebook. The notebooks long since lost and I've been meaning to get this one for years. My mom will bring it to me this summer, so I'm looking forward to that.