This morning’s entry in the dream diary (the kids dictate, I write, they illustrate) Nels tells me people entered the library elevator and turned into square eggs. They emerged as round eggs again. Then “they turned red, and cracked, and had mean faces” and “followed” (here meaning “chased, and attempted to kill”) the terrified library patrons.
Sophie’s dream involved a vampire fish and mine a large, leggy spider. What was it about last night that fostered these horrors?
Afterward, Sophie reads three library books to Nels in the kitchen while I cook. I set up the pressure cooker bottom and the stock pot, the latter half-full of water, the other with a tablespoon or so of coconut oil and butter. I saute garlic until soft then add one bouillon cube, water, a can of broth, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, and a snapped bay leaf. Bring to a gentle boil and add whole grain tri-color pasta. While I wait for the pasta to cook I pick through and wash the last of our tender spinach. I blanch a last, lone tomato in the boiling water, then lift out, cool, peel and slice into the soup. Lower a half-dozen eggs into the water and take a spoonful to whisk up some red dye. We’ll make Nels’ villianous poultry product this morning.
To the soup I add the spinach, cover, and turn the heat off; when the kids are hungry we’ll have it with grated parmesan. While Sophie sits to her schoolwork I ask Nels to build a red egg with his Legos (to keep him out of her hair) and I complete the egg dying process, placing on a cloth napkin to dry before the application of their horrid little faces.