Slice of Life

An Unexpected Extravaganza

~ rdicarne ~ 2 Comments
sol
#SOL18

  Cheese improves the flavor of life. ~ Unknown

This past Saturday evening I had a dining experience, not just dinner at a restaurant.  I had the good fortune of enjoying an evening with Rynn and Dave Caputo of Caputo Brothers Creamery in Spring Grove, PA. (Menu pictured below)

The evening began with an “Antipasti Misti Della Casa” served on beautiful artisan plates. My favorites on the plate were Brenda’s sweet green tomato pickles and the red pepper jelly, both made by Rynn’s mother.  

After our first course there was a rousing welcome from Rynn Caputo and a short video of the creamery’s  history. It gave a glimpse into the lives of our host and hostess from the time they decided to quit their corporate jobs and travel to Italy as a couple to attend culinary school to the namesakes of Caputo Brothers – their boys Giovanni and Matteo.

After the second course, Rynn demonstrated the cheese making process and explained how their cheese was different from any other cheese you can buy in the grocery store. Caputo Brothers’ claim to fame is having the ONLY fresh mozzarella curds in the United States that do not contain citric acid. If you are like me, you a probably wondering what’s the big deal.  Well, after Rynn’s very engaging explanation of the cheese making process, I am now a convert. There are no words to describe the rich buttery flavor of the mozzarella she made for us.

All the food was delicious, but one of the highlights of the evening was the “Spaghetti Alla Pesca” made with ripe peaches from the Caputo’s own garden.  (Rynn’s mom is the gardener/farmer who attends to the acre and a half garden.) It puts a whole new spin on “mac and cheese.”

Every morsel of food was better than the one before it.  My only regret is that I forgot to take pictures of each course as it came out because not only was each one delicious, it was also a work of art.

Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who treated us to this delectable dinner and a “show.”

You can learn more about Caputo Brothers Creamery below.

Caputos

caputo-brothers-creamery-horizontal
#CapoMozz

https://caputobrotherscreamery.com/

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

~ rdicarne ~ 3 Comments

sol#SOL18Gal_fredrogers

Spontaneity, the hallmark of childhood, is well worth cultivating to counteract the rigidity that may otherwise set in as we grow older. ~Gail Sheehy

A couple of weeks ago, I was having breakfast with my dear friend, Diane.  Diane comes to my classroom once a week during the school year from her “real job” at Penn Mutual Insurance to “tutor” my ELA students.  She has done a variety of things over the years – revising, editing, helping with oral presentations and such, but the most important thing she does for/with my students is to listen to them.  The few minutes they get to spend with her are a treasured time. The kids always ask me, “Is Mrs. Check coming this week?” It is definitely the highlight of their week.

As we chatted over our breakfast skillets, Diane told me she was planning to see Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the Mr. Rogers documentary, with her sister at 1:30.  I was so bummed. I had been wanting to see the documentary for a while, but didn’t know who would be a good person to ask to go with me.  Unfortunately, I had an appointment to get my haircut at 2:00.

Long story short, after a few texts to her sister, Diane had rearranged her day so that she could go to the 11:15 show with me instead.  I felt a little guilty that she ditched her sister, but I was so happy to going to the movie! Diane, thank you for your spontaneity!

As we got ourselves settled in our seats, I noticed that there were about eight other people in the theater – not bad for a morning show.  Being the nerd that I am, I promptly got out my little notebook that is always in my purse and patiently waited for the previews to be over.  For the next 90 minutes, I was in childlike wonder of this awesome man of faith and love. I tried to write down as many bits of wisdom as I could. Every once in awhile, Diane would hit my arm and say, “Write this down!”  It isn’t easy in a darkened room to figure out exactly where I was writing, but I did OK. I only wrote over something once.

What follows are my favorites of the notes I took that morning.  I would love to see it again to catch all the things I missed.

  • Love or the lack of it is at the root of everything.
  • There was a lot of slow space in his show but no wasted space.  Silence is one of the greatest gifts we have.
  • The outside world of children’s lives have changed, but their insides haven’t changed.
  • Love is what keeps us together and afloat.
  • Those who try to make you feel less than you are are the greatest evil.
  • Best learning – accept and expect mistakes and deal with them.
  • It’s not so easy to quiet a doubt.
  • You don’t have to special or sensational things to have people love you.
  • No matter our job – we are all called to be repairers of creation
  • Be true to the best you within.
  • Let’s make goodness attractive

Fred Rogers was a man who always saw the best in people.  He was making social statements without hitting people over the head with them.  He loved children, and they loved him back.

I highly recommend that anyone who has children, teaches children, or loves children see this documentary for yourself.  It has made me think about how I want to be when I go back to school. Not only do I want to teach my students, but I want to see the world through their eyes and remember that all that any of us want is to love and be loved in return.

Feeling Inspired

~ rdicarne ~ 3 Comments

sol #SOL18

 

We all need someone who inspires us to do better than we know how. ~ Anonymous

Last week I had the immense pleasure of co-facilitating a graduate class at West Chester University entitled “Strategies for Teaching Writing.” It never ceases to amaze me the quality of discussion, and writing that pours forth from this class each year. I left on Friday afternoon feeling quite inspired!

My first inspiration was my fabulous co-facilitator and partner in crime, Gregory Maigur. Greg is a Social Studies teacher and storyteller extraordinaire. The way he brought history to life made me want to go back to Middle School (a fate worse than death) to experience American History through his eyes. I learned a great deal from him, and he gave me a lot of food for thought. I hope we get the opportunity to teach together again.

Next were the sixteen dedicated participants (mostly, but not all, teachers) who spent the week working alone and together creating a personal or fictional narrative, meeting in response groups, taking part in writing strategies, thinking about how they could use each strategy in their particular situation, and designing an implementation plan for use in September. The quality of their ideas and the enthusiasm with which they presented them made me want to up my game for September as well.

Inspiration also came in the form of two wonderful presenters. Jolene Borgese helped us navigate the world of revision, and Brian Kelley challenged us to a new way of thinking when it comes to responding to student writing. My notebook is filled with priceless gems that I will be doing my best to implement in the fall.

On our last day together, we shared our narratives. There were tears and laughter, admiration and pride. Again, I was blown away by the depth of the writing and the willingness to be vulnerable exhibited by the class. Some of them have been writers all along. Some of them did not consider themselves writers when they walked in on Monday morning. All I can say is each of them were inspired by their response groups to do better than they thought they possibly could and the results were breathtaking.

I am inspired to spend the rest of the summer learning and growing, planning and revising and coming up with the best plans/activities possible to inspire my students in September.

Thank you teachers for a terrific week!

 

 

The “Write Guy”

~ rdicarne ~ 2 Comments

sol#SOL

 

The desire to write grows with writing.  ~ Desiderius Erasmus

Right about this time of the year I often get a little weary and it is easy to start listing what hasn’t gone right and start planning in my head for next year.

But today I got the shot in the arm I need to finish out the year with the same enthusiasm I had when I began in September. I got to spend the day at MCIU with Jeff Anderson.  He gave us an introduction and small taste of three of his books – 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know, Mechanically Inclined, and Revision Decisions. I took notes feverishly.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my day.  Jeff was informative, inspiring, and funny.  These are some of my favorite take-away quotes.

  • Teacher you’re a firework. You are the spark.  Bring joy to your students.
  • The death of creativity is wanting to it to be right.
  • What mark will you leave behind by what you say or don’t say, what you do or don’t do?
  • Create a space where writing behaviors happen.
  • Until you know what your focus is, you cannot choose the right details.
  • Sentence combining is the most important part of growing writers.

And my most favorite…..

  • Think of grammar as a creational facility rather than a correctional one.

I wish every professional development day could be as inspiring as this day has been!

Thank you, Jeff Anderson

@writeguyjeff

Carpe Diem

~ rdicarne ~ 5 Comments

sol #SOL    Grand-Slam

 

Enjoy every moment; you never know when things might change. ~ Natalie Imbruglia

Sometimes when you don’t plan you end up having the best time. Take last Saturday for example. My husband and I kept tossing around ideas for what we were going to do once we tackled a few things on our “to do” list. Much to my surprise one of my colleagues emailed me saying she had two extra tickets to the Phillies/Marlins 6:05 game. I told Chuck of the offer, and we looked at each other a couple of times before deciding to seize the moment. What was our hesitation? Well you see the weather was not exactly baseball worthy. It was cold and a little windy.

We bundled up, packed a cooler bag, and set off for Citizens’ Bank Park. We looked more like we were going to an Eagles’ game just in red rather than midnight green. We were decked out in hoodies, hats, scarves, and winter coats. I even took a blanket! The drive down was uneventful, and before you know it we were entering the stadium and receiving a free t-shirt! We only had a short walk on the concourse to get to our seats in the right-center field. We were only a hop, skip and a jump from the bullpen. There really isn’t a bad seat in the whole ballpark!

The best part of the night was that the Phillies won 20 -1, and we got to witness two grand slams! So glad we decided to brave the weather and go to the game, if not we probably would have been asleep on the couch before the game was over.

More Than Enough

~ rdicarne ~ 20 Comments

sol #SOL Tuesday

 

Atelophobia – the fear of imperfection, of not being enough

Be kind to yourself.
Use your “company” manners.
Don’t let your own mean words
derail your journey.

Change the tapes
that play in your head.

I should have, I didn’t,
I can’t, I won’t, I’m not…
good enough
pretty enough
thin enough
smart enough
athletic enough
rich enough

ENOUGH ALREADY!

Look into the mirror,
past the imperfect skin,
not quite white enough teeth,
too thin or too full lips,
unruly eyebrows.

Keep looking into your eyes,
deep into your eyes,
into your soul
into you.

Who do you see?
A dreamer?
A creator?
An innovator?
A finisher?

Be that person.
That’s who you are –
more than enough.

To My Fellow Slicers

~ rdicarne ~ 10 Comments

31-day-streak-with-border     #SOL18 Day 31

 

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. ~ Unknown.

Dear Fellow Slicers,

We made it! Thank you to each and every one of you for helping me complete this challenge.

Many days I perused your blogs in search of inspiration, and I always found a new idea, format, or topic on which to hook my keyboard. You are an amazing group of writers.

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. I learned more about giving feedback myself. There is a big difference between commenting on the work of my students and commenting on the work of accomplished writers.

Many people in my life asked me why I was doing this challenge; they didn’t quite understand. So I found myself asking myself the questions, “What is a slice?” “What are these things I’ve been writing about?”  This is what I came up with.

S – something large or something small
L – lifted from lives of one and all
I – inspired by individuality or imitation
C – cause for concern or celebration
E – ending with a sense of accomplishment

I won’t promise, but I am going to do my best to remain part of the SOL community by posting and responding on Tuesdays. I hope to see many of you there. If not….see you next year!