Oakley’s 10th birthday party plan: Repeat.

• 8 games in 29 hours!
• 2 medalists (both Aspen and Oakley)
• 1 semifinal of the NCAA Women’s College World Cup (Stanford v. Florida State)

Was it worth it? Just look at their faces below:

Well, if you go back there, you may see this new contraption attached to their coop.  Big, white, and much like a spider web, our new fence keeps the chickens in and everything else out.  And do you know how it does this my friends?  Electricity.  That’s right, our fence goes, “Zap!”

A fence such as this one deserves respect, but not fear.  If you’re wearing shoes (which I recommend… or even boots… which you can find in the greenhouse), it’s not possible for enough electricity to pass through you to really hurt.  Mind you, you still get a shock, like a big one from static electricity, so it isn’t fun, but it’s OK.

Note: If you allow all of the current to pass through you, you can hurt yourself.  Not that I’ve done this before (ahem, uh, well, maybe, twice), but if you hold the fence in one hand and the alligator clip in another, all of the current passes through you and you are prone to make involuntary noises of pain.  I do not recommend this.

So, if you would like to enter the fenced area, I recommend that you disable the fence first.  Do you see the black box in this picture?  It’s on the west side of the coop (the right side from the front).  If you see a little red light flashing on the black box, the fence is on.  Typically, you can actually hear the fence clicking, too, if you listen for it.

To disable the fence, simply unplug the black power box from the orange extension tail.  It’s just like unplugging your toaster.  Then, confirm that the light isn’t flashing, and you can feel comfortable about going into the chickens’ run.  We do this by moving the white post away from the coop and stepping through.  Be sure to put the post back while you’re in the run, because there are a few adventurous chickens out there.

And when you leave the run, be sure to plug everything back in and go back to listen to the fence and make sure it’s clicking.  (Also, be sure that the fence isn’t touching the metal of the coop and sending all of its power that way.  If it is, you’ll hear the clicking right by your feet instead off down the fence somewhere.)

All: Oh, the Lord is good to me
All: And so I thank the Lord
All: For giving me the things I need
All: The sun, the rain, and the…
Aspen (then almost 4 years old): Say ‘apple’, Oakley
Oakley (then almost 2 years old): Apple!
Aspen: Say ‘seed’, Oakley
Oakley: Seed!
Aspen: The Lord is good to me.
Oakley: Amen

Then one night in October of that year, it took a slightly different turn…

All: Oh, the Lord is good to me
All: And so I thank the Lord
All: For giving me the things I need
All: The sun, the rain, and the…
Tim: Say ‘appleseed’, Oakley
Oakley: Apple!
Tim: Say ‘appleseed’, Oakley
Oakley: Apple!
Tim: Say ‘appleseed’, Oakley
Oakley: Apple…seed!
All: Yay, Oakley!!!!

And yay for these apple-cinnamon doughnuts!

Apple-Cinnamon Doughnuts

adapted from Michael Ruhlman’s Twenty

makes about 40 small doughnuts

Don’t know yet what to make for Thanksgiving dessert – other than pumpkin pie, that is? Here’s your answer: cinnamon apple doughnuts. Your family will be thankful. They’re not a bad way to start the day either.

These are not yeasted doughnuts. Rather, they’re made from pate a choux, the versatile pastry dough that can baked, boiled, or fried. Baking brings about gougeres (cheese puffs), eclairs (cream puffs), and profiteroles (puffs with ice cream and chocolate sauce). Boiling results in gnocchi. And frying gives you these babies.

Pate a Choux

• 8 tablespoons (110 grams) butter
• 1 cup (236 grams) water
• 1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs

Apple Filling

• 3-4 tart apples such as Granny Smith, Winesap, or Arkansas Black (3 cups/360 grams peeled, diced apples)
• 1½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• 3 cups (600 grams) sugar
• 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• oil for deep-frying, such as canola or peanut oil

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring butter and water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and add flour and salt. Stir until flour absorbs water, becomes a paste, and pulls away from sides of pan. Cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stirring rapidly, add eggs one at a time, and stir until completely incorporated. Let cool.

While dough is cooling, combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl and set aside. (Yes, this will probably make too much. Having a generous amount helps coat the hot doughnuts quickly and evenly. Keep any extra until next time or use it to make cinnamon toast the next morning. Or just reduce the amounts of cinnamon and sugar.)

Peel and dice apples. Add lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Then add spiced apples to dough and mix well. Heat oil to 350°F. Scoop out apple dough with small disher (size 40) or just use 2 spoons. Drop dough balls into hot oil. (Alternatively, use pastry bag or Ziploc bag with corner snipped off and pipe out 2½ inch sections of dough into hot oil.)

Cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Check if center is set and warm by cutting open a doughnut. (Eat it as your reward.) Remove doughnuts from oil and place on wire rack lined with paper towels and set above sheet pan (or use bowl lined with paper towels). Blot doughnuts and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Serve immediately or keep warm in 250°F oven (use convection if you’ve got it) for about 20 minutes.

Note: Strain and reuse oil one more time.

“Bologna” got chosen as the team name. Yes, really. We had a mystery meat as our mascot.

Tim got to sing “My Bologna” to the tune of “My Sharona“.

And I got these pictures of Lou’s flying hair, high socks, and soccer moves.

Last Tuesday was picture day at school. Oakley came down for breakfast with her hair done as usual. I thought about saying something. But then thought better of it. I like her hair like that. More importantly, she likes it – and does it herself. And, besides, I already had these pictures that Tim took in late September. No ponytail. No prewrap. What’s the special occasion? Uncle Doug and Torey’s rehearsal dinner.

Oakley’s BWSC 03 Elite team qualified for the finals of their local tournament, and gave it a go against a superior TNFC Black squad.  I think this near-goal sequence was telling of the match (although I missed it to be at Aspen’s games).

Check out the goalie crushing Oakley’s ankle in picture three and the look of pain and anguish on Oakley’s face in picture four.

I have awarded a retroactive penalty shot to Oakley.  And she made it.  Along with the two missed offsides calls, and some other missed foul calls, I’ve managed to make a 5-0 loss into a 1-0 victory.  Call it the power of a dad.

All of the other pictures from this tournament are available here.

So, we’ve spent the last few weeks hearing about her loose teeth.  To the point of, well, mild annoyance.  And then yesterday, Lindy showed me that she had a legitimately loose tooth.  And we pulled it out.  That’s right, we didn’t have the days of hanging tooth.  Instead, that tooth came out and this little girl simply can’t stop talking about it.  Truthfully, she’s crossed the line from slightly annoying to adorable just by being so absorbed by the void in her mouth.