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Peach Cobbler Pastry Braid

Peach Cobbler Pastry Braid recipe from Willow Bird Baking
Peach Cobbler Pastry Braid

I wrote this post as part of the Plugrá Butter Brigade. Thanks, Plugrá, for sponsoring this post and for making my favorite butter! I use Plugrá in pastries, especially, since its low moisture content ensures a flakier texture.

My 8th year students are completing a project to deepen their service passions this year. “Projects” in my class aren’t just projects; they’re journeys designed by the students themselves within a supportive framework I provide. Some of the kids have taken off. Their path was smooth and they fell right into the service fit for them. N.S. continued work she had already begun serving at her dance studio, where she was inspired daily. I.P. created bluebird habitats on our campus last year and decided it was a natural segue to rebuild our beekeeping program this year.

For many kids, though, it’s been a challenge. This is far from disappointing to me: this is exactly what I expect and prep them for. We call the inevitable obstacles during their project work “mountains and moats.” They require collaboration, problem solving, analysis — the very skills I want them to develop. This is where learning happens. My job is to support kids as they learn how to react responsibly to these situations. The unexpected part this year is that I’m facing plenty of mountains and moats myself.

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Almond Coconut Pastry Braid

Almond Coconut Pastry Braid Recipe from Willow Bird Baking
Almond Coconut Pastry Braid

Even though I teach middle school, I forget how critically embarrassed middle school kids can be. I don’t even mean how embarrassed they can be when something embarrassing happens. I mean just their every day basal level of embarrassment. If the general population is on ground level, they’re up on the 25th floor of Embarrassment Tower. And probably hiding in a closet.

I’m sure there are some kids who don’t struggle with this, but there are plenty who do. Even the ones who are outwardly thriving will privately acknowledge the ways social anxiety affects their choices. It’s normal and thankfully it fades away by college, where you realize that singing “Hakuna Matata” while dancing around the student union in your duck pajamas won’t make your friends look at you funny — perhaps because they’re in their Ninja Turtle pajamas and singing Pumbaa’s part. But in middle school, every kid is watching the dude next to him, trying to decide what’s normal.

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Simple Sandwich Spreads: Pimento Cheese and Olive Cream Cheese

Simple Sandwich Spreads: Pimento Cheese and Olive Cream Cheese
Simple Sandwich Spreads: Pimento Cheese and Olive Cream Cheese

A few times a year I get an intense craving for pimento cheese. Not lame pimento cheese: it has to be fresh, spicy, homemade pimento cheese. And not served in just any way: it has to be piled onto a slice of plain white bread, folded over and served with a Coke.

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You Need To Make This Lemon Cheesecake Braid

Lemon Cheesecake Braid
Lemon Cheesecake Braid

I’m in NoDa, and it makes me want to write poetry and take pictures. But mostly, write pictures. Mostly about babies on hips and tall-tree streets where I am completely lost. I mean, no one can find me here. I could live my whole life here lost.

It’s funny, the district in the city trying to be the most avant-garde makes me feel like the most traditional mommy.

Elias’s eyes are the most beautiful hazel. In the dark they look a wide, deep brown with the longest lashes. In the light the blues show through. Blue-grays, really. He’s walking now. I told Mike, it’s funny… you don’t see this little boy for two weeks and he’s completely different. I saw him take some of his first little steps with those chubby feet, and now he can take at least ten before he falls on his little bottom. It’s a risky venture.
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