learning all the time

Peace and Progress in the Kitchen

10 September 2018 by Kortney

The light is changing here as we shift into Autumn, and we woke to rain. New corners of the house are illuminated, new shadows cast. We’ve started into our Fall routine. This tends to be our busiest, most productive academic season. This past month as I finalized our school plans, I was also working through Jessica Fisher’s Mom’s Kitchen Survival Workshop (affiliate link).

Our kids’ tastes have expanded enough so that dinner isn’t a struggle every night. And my energy levels have also given me a little wiggle room. On most nights I’m not completely dragging by 6 pm. So, it felt like a good time to level up my cooking game. I’ve used and loved Jessica’s freezer cookbook for years, and her granola is in regular rotation around here when it’s not too hot to turn on the oven. This workshop gave me the opportunity to participate in 4 coaching sessions with Jessica. The woman is funny and smart and ready with suggestions. She’s a homeschooling mama with 6 kids, so she knows what’s she’s talking about!

Here are my favorites from this month spent planning and cooking!

Sourdough Crumpets–I started making sourdough bread last Spring, and revived my starter to make pizzas on the grill. This recipe uses up extra starter in the tastiest way! We like toasting the crumpets and adding jam for a sweet treat or cheese to make them savory.
Oatmeal Bites–this is a wonderful version of the classic no-bake snacks. We’re making a double batch today.
Sausage Egg Potato Bake–freezer cooking for breakfast wasn’t something I had considered before. I made 4 of these casseroles and stashed them in the freezer. The first harried morning I tried to cook them, they hadn’t fully thawed out and needed a lot longer cooking time. But the second round was divine!
Sausage Broccoli Quiche--I thought this would be a hit–even made an extra to freeze. Everyone ate dinner. But two people were not very enthusiastic! Jessica recommended the book French Kids Eat Everything. She also recommends offering a side that you know the picky eaters will love. So, we had corn too to make Jojo happy!
Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner–everything cooks on one pan? Yes, please! We are having this on Wednesday to go with this Cheesy Spinach Dip that Mabel’s going to make for us. We would love to have you join us!
Sheet Pan Chocolate Chip Cookies–a total winner!

I’d love to hear what you do to make dinner easier!

Everyday Writing :: Writing Every Day

3 April 2018 by Kortney

It’s April 3rd–the first day of the #100DayProject! I’m not participating this year, but I’ve been thinking about daily practice nonetheless. Here are a few guide posts that are helping me craft a sustainable writing practice, a poetry-centered life.

Tiny Goals

The key to long term success for me has been setting a daily goal that is so small it’s hard to ignore! Does that sound counterintuitive? For now, in this season of life, I am interested in keeping my hand moving. In showing up to the page every day. This week my writing goal is focused on opening my comp book before I open the computer. It’s a small shift, but it’s bearing good fruit.

I love working along with the One Thing Today podcast. There’s a gentle introduction and then the invitation to work together for 20 minutes. And do you notice that title? It’s not all the things, just one thing.

I’ve also spent a morning working along with Helen McLaughlin. On the second Friday of every month she hosts a free Get It Done Day. She provides a friendly space for you to connect with others, troubleshoot roadblocks, and have a little accountability. Like everything Helen does, these days are infused with wonder and a light touch. Highly recommended.

Stack the Deck in Your Favor

As I’ve been working steadily on my Homeschool MFA the past 6 months, I’ve found a few resources that are making it a little easier to live the writing life. And every little bit helps!

Write with a prompt. Tweetspeak posts a new prompt every Monday. A tiny bit of inspiration to begin your week!
Take a class! I’ll be taking Holly Wren Spaulding’s Poetry Immersion for the next two months. She describes the workshop as “a retreat. An act of love. A personal revolution. A spell. A way of being in the world.” Sounds like magic to me!
Austin Kleon has a low-tech habit tracker that I love. It’s not tied to a specific project or the calendar. And one of the rewards is tacos–always a win!
The #100DayProject started today! It’s a great way to build a little community and get serious about your creative work. It always takes me at least 120 days to get all my days in, but that’s just fine. It’s just about showing up.
The Ann Kroeker Writing Coach podcast is an invaluable tool for writers! Ann’s thoughtful, gentle suggestions keep me moving in the right direction.

Know your tendency

Know how to motivate yourself and what the roadblocks might be. Play to your strengths!

Homeschooling MFA Update

18 March 2018 by Kortney

In late September I traveled to Nashville for work. Sarah Mackenzie had turned in the manuscript for her new book just a few weeks before. She said she felt like she wanted to be in the daily habit of writing, to keep the gears oiled and ready. I figured she could use some company, so I decided to join her. All weekend I kept mentioning Sarah’s plans to write everyday in October. By Saturday night when we were saying our goodbyes, 7 women had committed to 30 minutes of writing every day in the coming month. Would work emails count? How about blog posts? I said, it all counts! And we started out.

My focus for the month was getting ready for a November poetry workshop taught by Holly Wren Spaulding. I wanted to get in the habit of showing up, so that when I added in prompts and provocations from Holly, I could respond. I spent my quiet, darkening mornings with haiku cards and stacks of books, my black pens and composition book. The workshop was wonderful, and I could meet it with my full attention because I’d been writing all month long. Though you wouldn’t know it from this blog, the habit has pretty much stuck! My notebooks are full to bursting.

I spent the month of December going through the year’s journals, finding poems or fragments that seemed promising. I copied them out by hand on loose leaf paper. By the end of the month, I had a reservation for a night away during Christmas break and a stack of poems that needed revising. Just as I was returning from the writing retreat–there was jazz and wine and a walk through the vineyards to a waterfall where I saw a hummingbird drink–I saw a notification that Solitary Plover was accepting submissions for the Winter 2018 issue. I found my three most Niedecker-like poems. It wasn’t hard, I have such an affinity for her work. I held my breath, sent in my first ever poetry submission, and it was accepted!

How has it taken so long to arrive perfectly in place? It feels a little late to just be having children who sleep through the night, to just be revising and submitting poems. And yet…the road has risen up to meet me at every step. I have arrived exactly where I need to be. At home, at rest, belonging. Comfortable in my own skin with good work that uses every bit of me.

Ursula’s Landscape

24 January 2018 by Kortney

Ursula K. Le Guin 1929-2018

Ursula K Le Guin lived just over the West Hills. Hills obscured with rain this morning. From the sunporch you could look across the river to the hills and think of her in the house on the hill. Maybe she was curled up too–with a book and a cat.

From the Bridge, you could see the flattened top and lumpy sides of St Helen’s deep in snow. The mountain is hers as well.

We live and move in her world.

Because she was my teacher’s teacher, I have been her student.

I hold close her vision of a school that meets in the morning outside under an apple tree, her inquiry into the relationships between women and men, her questions about citizenship and the individual, the way to catch fish with your bare hands.

On her recommendation I’ll be reading Mansfield Park in the coming months. You too?

Peace and Progress in the Kitchen