Summary of Spring Days with the Moodys

[anjulibai]

Sarah doesn't cook because Anna is the family chef. It's been decided, even if Anna isn't very good at it.

And what Anna cooks is what they've been cooking for years and years. All Steve's favorites and Steve doesn't really like new, exciting foods. He likes plain, bland foods.

I'm guessing they cooking huge amounts of food in batches is a holdover from when the reversals were young. It was easier on Teri to have food prepared ahead of time so she could just take it out of the fridge.

[jjmennonite]

...

Per Amazon, the books are published by Communication Concepts

a quick google finds this

.we-communicate.com/

Communication Concepts also operates several DBA's in specialized industries.

SO Self Published... are we surprised?

I am a DBA, so the DBA's opinion is this: the apostrophe before the s would be appropriate, if they knew a DBA was a person. How do they operate several DBA apostrophe esses? In specialized industries, to boot. (A DBA is a database administrator. We run databases. It is possible the Maxwells run several databases - any home business would. DBA is an IT (information technology) word, so it is more impressive on the INTERWEB's, especially with that extra apostrophe. Notice how much more impressed you are, now I capitalized it.)

Salex, I had to go to the site, to ensure they are really that stupid - a non-IT person may not know the difference between a DBA and a database so you may have misquoted, but the allegedly TEACH IT.

Back to the normally scheduled Moody Book synopsis, and thanks for taking one for the team.

[sparkles]

I'm pretty sure that DBA in this case stands for "Doing Business As."

a legal term used in the United States and Canada, meaning that the trade name, or fictitious business name, under which the business or operation is conducted and presented to the world is not the legal name of the legal person(s) who actually owns the business and is responsible for it. In other countries the expressions operating as (abbreviated o/a) or trading as (abbreviated T/A) are used for a similar purpose.

As I mentioned upthread, even after reading only snippets of Sarah's writing, it's clear why they self-publish. I would LOVE it if a real editor (read: not a Maxwell) have a go at one of Sarah's manuscripts. The supply of red ink would run dry.

[Hane]

The think zucchini is exotic? :doh:

Zucchini is my favorite vegetable and ridiculously plentiful in the summer months. You'd think the Maxwells would take advantage of something like that.

Flash back to 1960, when we were on vacation in Cape Cod with my New York (children of Italian immigrants) grandparents. While we were visiting the Chrysler Art Museum, Grandma waited on a bench outside. When we came out, she had a hilarious story to tell us: A beatnik-looking woman invited a friend to dinner. She said, "We're having something exotic. Zucchini." Pauses to explain. "Squash." In our family, zucchini is about as exotic as a potato. For years afterward, we referred to the vegetable as Exotic Zucchini.

[WonderingInWA]

I'm pretty sure that DBA in this case stands for "Doing Business As."

As I mentioned upthread, even after reading only snippets of Sarah's writing, it's clear why they self-publish. I would LOVE it if a real editor (read: not a Maxwell) have a go at one of Sarah's manuscripts. The supply of red ink would run dry.

"Communication Concepts also operates several DBA's in specialized industries."

Well, the sentence doesn't really make sense either way.

If it were supposed to mean Database Administrators, there should be no apostrophe, it would just be DBAs, and the of course using the word "operate" would just be stupid and wrong since a DBA in and of himself is a person and operates himself.

If it's meant to mean Doing Business As, its a very awkward way of saying that they essentially cover and put their name on specialized businesses.

I don't know -- again, the finest of writing skills straight from Cummunication Conseptz.

[Justme]

Bingo. One of the many reasons, I'm sure, why she's not married.

Imagine what she could do career wise if she was born in a "normal" family. So sad... :(

[Maggie Mae]

Sarah is probably good at socializing. Only she's not allowed to have friends anymore, so she's stuck writing a blog for her family.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Sarah is probably good at socializing. Only she's not allowed to have friends anymore, so she's stuck writing a blog for her family.

I don't think so. Whenever Sarah writes about her parents' decision to crank the sheltering up to eleventy, she always comes off as relieved. In the Keeping Hearts book, she wrote a piece about how she regrets her early childhood social experiences and how she's glad that the reversals have never played with the neighborhood kids.

[nausicaa]

Sarah is probably good at socializing. Only she's not allowed to have friends anymore, so she's stuck writing a blog for her family.

There are likely several things Sarah has some natural talent at. They probably just fall into the massive category of things she isn't allowed to do. Softball, linguistics, golf, gaming, dance, astronomy, home brewing, social media marketing, swimming, and yoga all come to mind as possible hobbies Sarah might be amazing at, but will never get the chance to find out.

With the super strict fundie families, if you are female and aren't good at one part of the music, photography, or sewing trinity, you don't really get to have a creative outlet.

[WonderingInWA]

There are likely several things Sarah has some natural talent at. They probably just fall into the massive category of things she isn't allowed to do. Softball, linguistics, golf, gaming, dance, astronomy, home brewing, social media marketing, swimming, and yoga all come to mind as possible hobbies Sarah might be amazing at, but will never get the chance to find out.

With the super strict fundie families, if you are female and aren't good at one part of the music, photography, or sewing trinity, you don't really get to have a creative outlet.

LOL -- exactly! Although there's a fourth skill area that seems to be very important and that is hospitality. The Maxwells don't do it, so that would be foreign to Sarah, but many of the fundies do and are quite proud of those skills.

[Trynn]

Most of you know I live on Mkchigan. Around here, Zuccini practically grows like grass. Well, not really, but pretty darn close. Yiu just plant it and yiu get a metric fuxkton. I can't wait till its in season and fresh. Helllooooo farmers market!

[Jana814]

I don't think so. Whenever Sarah writes about her parents' decision to crank the sheltering up to eleventy, she always comes off as relieved. In the Keeping Hearts book, she wrote a piece about how she regrets her early childhood social experiences and how she's glad that the reversals have never played with the neighborhood kids.

Dose Sarah give a reason on why she regrets her early childhood socializing.

[polecat]

I think Sarah just isn't good at much. She doesn't sew, she's not musically inclined (she has admitted this, which is why she's always the one behind the camera at musical events instead), she's not the fashion consultant, and I don't think she really likes to cook. So, they forced her to write, because she obviously needed something they could say she does well. And of course "well" is debatable. It's like she's a lazy Maxwell, if there is such a thing.

To be fair, when anything that one is good at or truly enjoys is ripped away as an idol, one would likely find it far more rewarding to simply settle for mediocrity.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Dose Sarah give a reason on why she regrets her early childhood socializing.

She says she feels guilty about things that happened at a sleepover. She said she didn't do anything awful, but the other kids wanted to play in a way that her parents wouldn't have allowed. Sarah admitted that she is the kind of person who is easily swayed by others, and so she went along with the other kids instead of her parents' wishes. (And since we're talking about the Maxwells here, the other kids were most likely doing something completely normal, like playing Barbies or shooting hoops in the backyard or watching a Disney video.) Sarah also mentioned something about the neighborhood kids teasing each other.

[salex]

She says she feels guilty about things that happened at a sleepover. She said she didn't do anything awful, but the other kids wanted to play in a way that her parents wouldn't have allowed. Sarah admitted that she is the kind of person who is easily swayed by others, and so she went along with the other kids instead of her parents' wishes. (And since we're talking about the Maxwells here, the other kids were most likely doing something completely normal, like playing Barbies or shooting hoops in the backyard or watching a Disney video.) Sarah also mentioned something about the neighborhood kids teasing each other.

So, basically by now she is a little hot house flower who would probably wilt if transpanted?

[MrsFoxx]

She says she feels guilty about things that happened at a sleepover. She said she didn't do anything awful, but the other kids wanted to play in a way that her parents wouldn't have allowed. Sarah admitted that she is the kind of person who is easily swayed by others, and so she went along with the other kids instead of her parents' wishes. (And since we're talking about the Maxwells here, the other kids were most likely doing something completely normal, like playing Barbies or shooting hoops in the backyard or watching a Disney video.) Sarah also mentioned something about the neighborhood kids teasing each other.

I hope that it's just something normal like playing house and a girl playing the dad and not something awful, like abuse, that she's blaming her weak will for. I can't imagine Steve being sensitive about that kind of thing.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I hope that it's just something normal like playing house and a girl playing the dad and not something awful, like abuse, that she's blaming her weak will for. I can't imagine Steve being sensitive about that kind of thing.

I don't remember Sarah's exact words, but it was something along the lines of how nothing really awful happened, the kids just wanted to play something that her parents would not have allowed. I didn't get the impression there was abuse or kids "playing doctor" or anything of that nature. I think Sarah would have been much more freaked out of that had been the case, or else she wouldn't have written about it at all.

[Bethella]

I don't remember Sarah's exact words, but it was something along the lines of how nothing really awful happened, the kids just wanted to play something that her parents would not have allowed. I didn't get the impression there was abuse or kids "playing doctor" or anything of that nature. I think Sarah would have been much more freaked out of that had been the case, or else she wouldn't have written about it at all.

Maybe they each had three animal crackers for a bedtime snack! :lol:

[Joan of Snarc]

Okay, so gather round boys and girls, dudes and dudettes, I made the Massive Maxwell Bean Burrito Filling (MMBBF), as I said I would way back in this thread. If you are interested, the results follow, complete with pictures (as requested!)

First, I compared the directions from the scanned page of the Moody book, located on pg. 9 of this thread viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21553&start=160 with the recipe on the Titus 2 web site titus2.com/recipes/maxwell-burritos.html

The proportions are different (not helpful, Sister Sarah!) but, on the other hand, she says adjust the seasonings to your taste. I decided to make 1/4 of the recipe on their web site, and season it like they do. This worked out to be:

7 c dried pinto beans

10 T chili powder

2 T salt

1 T pepper

3.5 lbs onions

5 jalapenos

Since school will be out next month and I have two hungry teenage boys who will eat bean burritos for lunches and snacks, and since I had a 10-lb. bag of pinto beans, as well as mega sizes of chili powder and Vidalia onions, I decided to go for it, hoping the Maxwells could help a busy mom out. Read on, to see what happened.

First, I soaked 7 c beans overnight. Damn, 7 cups of beans A LOT. This better be good.

The next morning I changed the water and put them on to cook all day. The Maxwells let the beans cook all day and then puree the onions and peppers and let them cook all night. I just cooked them simultaneously. The only reason I can think of as to why they cook the onions and peppers all night is because all of their stovetop space is taken up by cooking beans during the day. I pureed the onions and jalapenos in the food processor, instead of the blender, like the Maxwells do, because I wanted to.

The puree cooked from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I just couldn't see cooking it any longer. It had kind of a greenish-yellowish color after all that cooking:

The beans cooked from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The pot was so damn full they still weren't soft. So, like the Maxwells, I put them in the oven at 175 degrees to cook all night. In the morning, they looked pretty tasty.

Now it was time to take the mixer and mix them. Here's where I fucked up. I should have drained the liquid completely. I was pretty sick of the recipe by this time and I didn't look at the recipe before I started mixing. I remembered that they had to cook all day AGAIN, so I was thinking they needed liquid. No, too liquidy. I tried to mix in two batches with pretty crappy results:

Look at that action shot! :lol:

I realized at this point my mixture had too much liquid, but I thought maybe it would cook down since it was supposed to cook all day. So, on I forged, adding the onion-jalapeno puree and the spices to the beans:

I let it cook about half the day and it was still too liquidy. FUCK, I said. Many times. Well, let's taste this damn shit.

What did it taste like? CHILI POWDER. That's it. That's all you could taste. Fucking up the texture (too much liquid) was on me, fucking up the taste -- that's on the Maxhells.

So, what did I do?

I browned two pounds of ground beef, added two large cans diced tomatoes and a shitload of my much-beloved cumin -- and made CHILI!

And it was a damn good batch of chili, too. Seriously. Add the cumin.

[nausicaa]

I don't remember Sarah's exact words, but it was something along the lines of how nothing really awful happened, the kids just wanted to play something that her parents would not have allowed. I didn't get the impression there was abuse or kids "playing doctor" or anything of that nature. I think Sarah would have been much more freaked out of that had been the case, or else she wouldn't have written about it at all.

I always assumed because it was a sleepover it was "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board" or one girl was "reading" palms or something. Though, in Maxhell that is some serious Satanic stuff. So maybe it was just a board game with dice or a PG movie or something.

[Justme]

Okay, so gather round boys and girls, dudes and dudettes, I made the Massive Maxwell Bean Burrito Filling (MMBBF), as I said I would way back in this thread. If you are interested, the results follow, complete with pictures (as requested!)

First, I compared the directions from the scanned page of the Moody book, located on pg. 9 of this thread viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21553&start=160 with the recipe on the Titus 2 web site titus2.com/recipes/maxwell-burritos.html

The proportions are different (not helpful, Sister Sarah!) but, on the other hand, she says adjust the seasonings to your taste. I decided to make 1/4 of the recipe on their web site, and season it like they do. This worked out to be:

7 c dried pinto beans

10 T chili powder

2 T salt

1 T pepper

3.5 lbs onions

5 jalapenos

Since school will be out next month and I have two hungry teenage boys who will eat bean burritos for lunches and snacks, and since I had a 10-lb. bag of pinto beans, as well as mega sizes of chili powder and Vidalia onions, I decided to go for it, hoping the Maxwells could help a busy mom out. Read on, to see what happened.

First, I soaked 7 c beans overnight. Damn, 7 cups of beans A LOT. This better be good.

The next morning I changed the water and put them on to cook all day. The Maxwells let the beans cook all day and then puree the onions and peppers and let them cook all night. I just cooked them simultaneously. The only reason I can think of as to why they cook the onions and peppers all night is because all of their stovetop space is taken up by cooking beans during the day. I pureed the onions and jalapenos in the food processor, instead of the blender, like the Maxwells do, because I wanted to.

The puree cooked from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I just couldn't see cooking it any longer. It had kind of a greenish-yellowish color after all that cooking:

The beans cooked from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The pot was so damn full they still weren't soft. So, like the Maxwells, I put them in the oven at 175 degrees to cook all night. In the morning, they looked pretty tasty.

Now it was time to take the mixer and mix them. Here's where I fucked up. I should have drained the liquid completely. I was pretty sick of the recipe by this time and I didn't look at the recipe before I started mixing. I remembered that they had to cook all day AGAIN, so I was thinking they needed liquid. No, too liquidy. I tried to mix in two batches with pretty crappy results:

Look at that action shot! :lol:

I realized at this point my mixture had too much liquid, but I thought maybe it would cook down since it was supposed to cook all day. So, on I forged, adding the onion-jalapeno puree and the spices to the beans:

I let it cook about half the day and it was still too liquidy. FUCK, I said. Many times. Well, let's taste this damn shit.

What did it taste like? CHILI POWDER. That's it. That's all you could taste. Fucking up the texture (too much liquid) was on me, fucking up the taste -- that's on the Maxhells.

So, what did I do?

I browned two pounds of ground beef, added two large cans diced tomatoes and a shitload of my much-beloved cumin -- and made CHILI!

And it was a damn good batch of chili, too. Seriously. Add the cumin.

Wow, I love your kitchen!

Your chili sounds much better! I guess by eating beans (toot toot), they are trying to keep their food bill down as well as filling days with busy work. They could do so much more. How about making homemade bread and pasta. They could grow lots of veggies and can them.

[16strong]

Joan of Snarc: BRAVO!!!!! :clap:

Interesting that it only tasted like chili powder, but once you added in a couple of more things, it actually tasted good.

[Trynn]

Maybe they played dungeons and dragons. I'm told that game is satanic.

Actally, scratch that, it was probably just a wiji board.

[Rebelwife]

Joan of Snarc: BRAVO!!!!! :clap:

Interesting that it only tasted like chili powder, but once you added in a couple of more things, it actually tasted good.

Cumin is my most favorite spice ever. I use it in all kinds of things, and more is generally better! :dance:

[Odd1Out]

Maybe they played dungeons and dragons. I'm told that game is satanic.

Actally, scratch that, it was probably just a wiji board.

They could have been playing PAC Man and the Maxwells would freak out.