The Pringle Plan: December 2016

Monday, December 26, 2016

A Nutritarian Christmas

Christmas dinner is simple, nutritious, and wonderfully flavorful!

Christmas at the Pringle household is all about food, music and relaxing in our easy chairs as we watch the Disney parade on TV. We start the day with oatmeal pancakes, and graze through the day with delicious, nutritious finger foods. Dinner is a vegetable lasagna, with more veggies in a red and green salad. We finish the evening with homemade gingerbread!

Oatmeal pancakes, blackberries and a drizzle of real maple syrup!

Christmas Menu

Breakfast

Oatmeal pancakes made with old fashioned rolled oats, ground flax, pea protein powder, cinnamon, and eggs.

Topped with blackberries and a drizzle of real New England maple syrup!

Morning Snack

Rye toast spread with organic almond butter and topped with banana

Lunch

Thinly sliced smoked salmon on rice crackers and Triscuits. Organic red bell humus served with sliced red bells and cucumbers. A mix of raw Brazil nuts, pistachios and peanuts, with cantaloupe chunks.

Afternoon Snack

Quartered apples and hot cocoa made with 100% cocoa, cinnamon, stevia, and almond milk

Dinner

Holiday themed salad made with organic green romaine and cucumbers, and red organic grape tomatoes, dressed with cherry balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

Lasagna made with layers of whole grain rice lasagna noodles, eggplant, onion, garlic, organic canned tomatoes, Toffuti, organic parsley, basil, and oregano, and topped with organic 365 Marinara sauce and Nutritional yeast.

Dessert

Homemade ginger bread made with organic oat flour, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, baking soda and powder, salt, vinegar, blackstrap molasses, organic coconut palm sugar, organic extra virgin coconut oil, and almond milk.

Served with a glass of almond milk and a steaming cup of organic green tea.

Lunch is all about easy finger foods. Munch, munch, munch!

This lasagna was made with Toffuti, a soy based cheese that tastes similar to cream cheese. It's a healthy alternative for those who are avoiding dairy products, or are lactose intolerant. On the top, I've sprinkled basil and Nutritional Yeast, a supplement used by non-meat eaters to add some important nutrients. It tastes similar to Parmesan cheese.

Baking this yummy gingerbread early in the day made our home smell deliciously festive all day!

I hope you had a wonderful Merry Christmas and enjoyed your own family food traditions!

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides.

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

Monday, December 19, 2016

Let It Snow!

February 2012 – This is my favorite photo with just enough snow, a nice dusting with crystallized branches.

We've had some cold weather and snow this week, which has me reminiscing about some past snow storms and how my feelings have changed.... and stayed the same. Having grown up in southern California, I had never witnessed snow falling until I moved to Connecticut at age 16. It was so fun to see, and to experience "snow days," when school was cancelled or delayed! Driving was an adventure. My Dad and I practiced sliding around on a nearby road with no traffic or people. Later on, driving to work was less fun, but I kept my sense of humor as I dovetailed up hills, and slid through red lights with my foot on the brake all the way through. What a ride! Of course the older I got the less fun, as I imagined the reality of car accidents and increased insurance premiums.

January 2016 – A few inches on the ground and the branches are looking heavy

No matter where I worked, people all seemed to have the same opinion. We all loved and looked forward to that first snow of the season. A little snow around the holidays is pretty nice too, and weather cold enough to keep the white stuff from thawing helped make for a scenic view. Once I started working in school systems, I developed the same love/hate relationship with snow that all educators share. We looked forward to snow days because we needed a break, but we hated the idea of having to add another day on to the end of the year. Snow delays are also a double edged sword. It's nice to sit back and relax with another cup of tea, and leisurely read the paper, but it also means you will have to figure out how to cram more learning into a shorter period of time.

Blizzard 2013 – We won’t be dining outdoors!

Blizzard 2013 – I can’t open the sliders, and I’m a little worried about the weight of all that snow on the deck.

My husband and I used to take care of the driveway ourselves. He plowed with the tractor, and I shoveled out the mail box. This really didn't save us any money, as the tractor ended up needing expensive repairs every year. Fortunately,we both finally agreed we'd gotten too old for such nonsense. As you can see from these photos, the winter of 2013 brought a blizzard that delivered several feet of snow. Thank goodness we decided it was time to hire a service for this job!

2013 The day after the blizzard – Our driveway elf has been here!

So, how do I feel about snow these days? Well, it's just beautiful. I still get excited to see snow falling. I look forward to the first snow of the season, and always hope for a little around the holidays. Now that I'm retired I never drive in it. I still like the weather to stay cold enough so the snow doesn't thaw, but my favorite part is having a nice hot cup of cocoa, and watching while our hired elf takes care of the driveway. Life is good, and I'm loving retirement!

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides.

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

Monday, December 12, 2016

Lyman Allyn Museum

We are so fortunate here in southeastern Connecticut. Not only do we have scenic shores and beautiful countryside, we also have cultural resources that showcase the talent of our local artists. I recently saw four wonderful exhibits at the Lyman Allyn Museum: American Perspectives, the New London Project, Reading the Image, and my favorite – Adrien Broom’s A Colorful Dream.

The recently renovated space of the American Perspectives exhibit looks fantastic. This permanent collection covers Connecticut from the Colonial era through the 20^th century. It is where I get to say hello to some old favorites. I always look for landscapes by Frederic Church, portraits by Gilbert Stuart, familiar scenes from Old Lyme, and the craftsmanship of furniture makers like Hitchcock.

Permanent Collection at the Lyman Allen Museum

The New London Project:10th Anniversary Portraits features large scale photographic portraits of New London’s diverse population. Ten years ago, photographer Joe Standart took photos of people passing by on Bank Street. He exhibited life size to 30 foot high images during the summer of 2006. Thankfully, he decided to revisit this subject, taking new photos of his subjects – 10 years later. The photographs are paired so we can see how the people have changed over time. However, this is not about getting old and grey. It is much more about how lives have changed; marriages, children, divorce, loss, job changes – the important stuff of life. The photos are exquisite. You can’t help being drawn in and feel like you know these people. In fact, if you’re from New London, you just might know them!

Joe Standart

I’ve always felt my own art is a form of communication. It tells a story of what I’m interested in, what I feel is important, have learned about, and often uses some form of symbolism that may or may not be obvious to the viewer, but is always obvious to me. Reading the Image: Text in American Art since 1969 is an exhibit that takes the idea of communication in art to another level. These artists use text or their own made up symbols in their art, or even as their art. Sometimes the text was used to make a political point, sometimes to enhance the piece. The one that stands out in my mind the most, used hand written sentences based on the day’s headlines of newscasts. Each was written on a different color paper, and then cut out and assembled in an almost quilt-like pattern. I thought it was an interesting way to document the background noise of our daily lives.

Lorna Simpson

My favorite exhibit was Adrien Broom’s A Colorful Dream. Judging by the packed room, the discussions, and the length of time people spent in this exhibit, many other visitors felt the same way. Adrien Broom photographed elaborately detailed stage sets of a dream-like child’s bedroom. These fine art photographs are arranged in groupings that tell a story. The young girl first wakes in an all-white bedroom. All color has vanished. She then discovers one small spot of color, crawls into that space, and comes out in the next grouping of photos which are all yellow. She continues to rediscover each color as you walk around the room. Finally, you arrive at a rainbow themed bedroom stage set, where visitors can pose for their own photos. I loved seeing children pose in front of the set, while their parents became the photographer. Each family who visits this interactive art exhibit ends up leaving with their own piece of art work stored on their cell phones! This exhibit ends January 8^th, so go soon!

Adrien Broom

With the holiday break just a few weeks away, you may want to put the Lyman Allyn on your family’s day trip list, or visit the first Saturday of each month, when the museum offers free admission.

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides.

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

Monday, December 5, 2016

The Bruce Museum

www.brucemuseum.org

I often think twice about two hour drives, but not when the destination is The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT. Her Crowd, an exhibit of art works by women artists was the main reason for my visit. Too often museums feature male artists, and women are left feeling unrepresented. That was not the case this time. There were photos, paintings, collages, and sculptures, all done by women. The main focus seemed to be on proving the point that women are just as good at creating quality works of minimalist art as men.

Several pieces stand out in my mind. As you enter the exhibit there is a photo of a model in various forms of dress, meant to represent Eva Perrone in the many roles she played in her life: party dress, business attire, first lady gowns. In this sense, Eva was not so different from all women. We work, marry, raise children, and are involved in our communities as volunteers, political leaders, and caregivers.

The second piece was a mother and two children. Mother and child portrayals have been done repeatedly throughout art history. Often they are posed in luxurious drapery with a saintly baby Jesus, and have been painted by men. But the painting in this exhibit was clearly painted by a woman. The mother is unglamorous, and the two children are in constant motion, indicated by the still showing sketch marks of the children in various positions. The artist seems to be telling us that she understands a mothers work is never finished.

A medium sized sculpture of a girl with large feet and some type of animal mask on her head, was designed as a counter point to all the pretty porcelain figurines people collect. The driving point of all these works was that women are far more than just pretty objects. Real women wear coveralls and farm, wear hospital scrubs and treat patients, or wear pant suits and run for President.

In another area of the museum, there were several more works of interest. The Small Scales: Lands of Enchantment had works with an environmental theme. In my opinion, this is what The Bruce does best – promote awareness of the environment in unique artistic ways, as well as its historic and scientific displays. One artist had old trunks partially opened to reveal an almost terrarium like interior, with moss, plants, and running water. Another artist pulled old books of wild flowers out of the garbage, cut out the illustrations, and reused them to form bouquets that popped out of the books. The last artist created small three-dimensional imagined cities displayed under domes. They were beautiful in the same way our planet looks when viewed from outer space – we can’t see any of the environmental problems from so far away, and gain perspective on how small our individual issues are.

The permanent exhibits feature fossils, life-like animals preserved by a taxidermist, re-creations of wilderness, geological formations, and Native American structures and tools. This area is great for teaching kids about the environment and history of New England. They also feature a nice mineral collection that is always great fun to see.

The last time I was at The Bruce, in 2015, the featured exhibit was Bjorn Okholm Skaarup’s Carnival of the Animals. This whimsical series of sculptures featured animals in poses from famous paintings, or represented some deeper meaning. For example, a hippo wearing a tutu is based on Degas’ “Small Dancer Aged 14,” while another sculpture of seven animals was meant to represent the seven continents. Although this exhibit moved on last year, I’m including a few photos just because it was so memorable and fun. I hope you find time to hop in your car and make the drive to The Bruce Museum just like I did. It’s always worth the trip.