Beatles Artwork

It wasn't difficult for me to decide to spend a week immersed in the Beatles, especially after the boys indicated they wanted to learn more about them. I've been an amateur Beatles historian since the age of 16, when I wrote about them for an AP US History assignment. It goes beyond the CD collection; I have biographies and the Beatles Anthology DVD set and--oh yes--Beatles Trivial Pursuit.

It's hard for me to describe exactly what the Beatles mean to me. I suspect every fan has their own story and their own reasons. My mom was a fan growing up so I was always aware of them, but I truly became a fan during my junior year of high school, after watching The Beatles Anthology when it first aired on TV. That was the 1995/96 school year. Which was, up until 2003 (the year my son was born), the best year of my life. It was the year I discovered running as an outlet for my anxious energy. It was the year I began to discover more about myself as a writer--both with the help and encouragement of teachers I had and on my own. I grew closer to a few friends who are still dear friends to this day. I met my husband. The Beatles were the constant soundtrack to all of that, and it touched me in a way that's hard to describe. Their music is alive to me. Even today, hearing these songs decades after they were recorded, I can almost feel the energy and love that was poured into their making. And isn't that the point of art? To make you feel something? These songs were also vitally important in helping me discover who I am as a writer and how I choose to express myself. I'm a bit of a pacifist and can be on the granola crunchy side (I do live in the Bay Area) and that, too, is in part due to the Beatles' influence.  So I want to share the Beatles with my kids. I want them to be as inspired as I've been inspired.

With that in mind, I chose an art project that would allow them to fuse the Beatles' words with their own inspiration. I had them do stream of consciousness drawings as we listened to Beatles music. I randomized all of the Beatles songs in my iTunes, although the boys did make a few requests. I told them to draw what they felt, so the results were not always exactly what one might expect. The songs served as a jumping off point to unlock their own creativity.

Part of our Beatles playlist:

"Here Comes the Sun" by seven year old M: "It's a man taking a picture of apples falling off a tree."

"Strawberry Fields Forever" by four year old J:

Inspired by the line "No one I think is in my tree" from "Strawberry Fields Forever." By J.

This one is interesting. M kind of fused "Strawberry Fields Forever" with "I am the Walrus." Except instead of drawing an Egg Man he drew a "Chip Man." Wearing "a cheese hat with a propeller on it."

M's interpretation of "Revolution." He drew an electric guitar--most likely inspired by the prominence of the electric guitar (and guitar feedback) in this song. M is a big fan of electric guitars.

J's "Yellow Submarine":

The boys enjoyed this activity and as they got into it their drawings became more elaborate and fanciful. Next we're going to go beyond listening to the Beatles and watch some videos. I'll report on that, along with our other Beatles activities, later this week (tomorrow or Thursday).

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields...

Some of you may notice the title of this post also happens to be the beginning of the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever." What does this song have to do with this post? Everything.

For a bit of a change this week, I'm not presenting my recipe with a book. I'm presenting my recipe with Beatles songs. The Beatles as kidlit. Or kid poetry. Or something.

Before school ended I asked my kids what they wanted to learn about this summer. One of the things they both mentioned was the Beatles. I looked for a picture book with awesome illustrations that introduces the Beatles in a fun, engaging manner. Something along the lines of The Day-Glo Brothers, Racing Against the Odds or The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau (three biographies my kids have recently enjoyed). Such a thing does not seem to exist. (Perhaps this is my cue to write such a thing?) So, spending a week learning about the Beatles and their songs was the best I could do. Which is not really a problem because we happen to be big Beatles fans around here.

We'll start with a recipe though. There are a number of Beatles songs that mention food. We've got the songs "Glass Onion" and "Mean Mister Mustard." "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" has "marmalade skies" and "marshmallow pies." But for me, there is only one song that worked as inspiration for this week's recipe.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is my all time favorite song. Strawberries are my all time favorite food. Of course we had to make strawberry shortcake to kick off our Beatles week.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is not literally about strawberry fields; rather, Strawberry Field was the name of a Salvation Army orphanage near John Lennon's childhood home. The song appears on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour (alternate versions are found on their Anthology 2 album and there's a mashup version of it on Love). It's one of those polarizing Beatles songs that people tend to love or hate. If you're only a fan of early Beatles, this isn't the song for you. If you prefer Paul McCartney's (usually) more straightforward, lighthearted lyrics, this isn't the song for you. If you like surrealism, stream of consciousness (one of my personal favorite literary devices) and psychedelia with a dose of melancholy--hurrah!--this may be the song for you.

It is extremely difficult to find samples of Beatles music that I can legally share here. That's just the way things are with the Beatles and their rights. So, if you'd like to get a taste of the song I'll direct you to some covers done by other artists (but I really recommend checking out the original):

Strawberry Fields Forever cover by Jim Sturgess, from the movie Across the Universe

Strawberry Fields Forever cover by Ben Harper

One of the things my older son enjoys doing is listening to all my versions of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and comparing them. The three variants found on Anthology 2 and the version the Beatles finally released on Magical Mystery Tour are a mini-lesson in how a song (or any creative work) can undergo multiple revisions before resulting in a final product. We've also talked about Ringo's drumming in this song. My seven year old once pointed out that he "goes absolutely crazy" at the end. I in turn pointed out that it's a controlled kind of crazy that came only after years and years of practice (it's brilliant, really). (My hope was that this would encourage him to practice the piano without complaining.)

Before we made our strawberry shortcake we had to get some berries. This is how things work in our family: I mentioned we were going to make strawberry shortcake. My husband suggested we pick our own strawberries. I pondered that for like two seconds and began Googling pick-your-own berry farms. I found one not too far away and we went out there on Saturday morning. Berry season is coming to an end but we were still able to get an abundance of fresh, ripe strawberries straight from the fields. Fun! And delicious.

My preferred way to eat strawberries is plain. But this wouldn't be much of a recipe blog if all I do is tell you to wash your berries and eat them while listening to some Beatles music. So, strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry Shortcake (adapted from the Bisquick strawberry shortcake recipe)

I've made a few different types of shortcakes in my time (including chocolate shortcake) but lately I've gone back to the Bisquick method, using Pamela's Baking Mix instead of Bisquick. They are similar products and quite honestly, it's easier for me to stick with a tried and true method rather than mess with blending flours and figuring out measurements. On my husband's suggestion, I did tweak the recipe a bit--I cut the butter in instead of using melted butter according to the Bisquick instructions.

Ingredients:

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  2 1/3 cups Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix
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  3 T butter
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  1/2 cup milk
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  3 T sugar
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  4 cups sliced strawberries
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  1/4 cup sugar
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  whipped cream (optional)

1. Pour baking mix in medium mixing bowl. Cut in butter until it is incorporated into the mix.

2. Add milk and 3 T sugar, mix together. If mix is too dry, add another splash of milk and continue to mix. (I have never, ever made this--with Bisquick or Pamela's--and not had to add extra milk.)

3. Using an ice cream scoop, drop batter onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or nonstick foil. Bake at 425* F for 10 minutes.

4. While shortcakes are baking, clean and slice strawberries. Place in small mixing bowl. (Putting the sliced berries in the bowl as they piled up on my cutting board was my four year old's job.)

5. Add 1/4 cup sugar.

6. Stir strawberries and sugar. Add a small splash of water. Cover and refrigerate. The sugar and juices will combine with the water to make a light syrup.

7. Remove shortcakes from oven, let cool (unless you like to eat them still warm).

8. To serve, slice a shortcake in half. Top with berries and whipped cream:

My boys inhaled these shortcakes. No leftovers here!

What else do we have planned for this, our Week of Beatles? Tomorrow I will post about some of the ways we're getting creative with the music and story of the Beatles, and later in the week I'll share other ways I bring the story of the Beatles alive for my kids. And that's not all. On Saturday evening my husband, sister, brother-in-law and mom are going to see Paul McCartney in concert! What a great thing to look forward to this week as my kids learn more about my favorite band.

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