peacefulreader

Museum of Thieves (great little chapter book)

I bought this one awhile ago at the Fall Scholastic Book Fair and catalogued (one of the talents I have as I have a Library Science degree) it into the library. I read a few pages and knew it was going to be good. Then I set it down and went about my business.

I picked it back up two years later. None of the kiddos were reading it so I had to investigate further and I loved it. I’m ready for the second one to come around, which upon investigation is out and so is the 3rd one! This is the bonus of reading books before you recommend them; this morning I had a student come in looking for something “mysterious”-I handed her this one and told her to give it a try.

Synopsis:

Welcome to the tyrannical city of Jewel, where impatience is a sin and boldness is crime. Goldie Roth has lived in Jewel all her life. Like every child in the city, she wears a silver guardchain and is forced to obey the dreaded Blessed Guardians. She has never done anything by herself and won’t be allowed out on the streets unchained until her Separation Day.

When Separation Day is cancelled, Goldie, who has always been both impatient and bold, runs away, risking not only her own life but also the lives of those she has left behind. In the chaos that follows, she is lured to the mysterious Museum of Dunt, where she meets the boy Toadspit and discovers terrible secrets. {back cover}

I have post-it notes littered throughout the book of quotes I just couldn’t resist:

But she (Olga Ciavolga) was smiling when she turned back to Goldie. “But there are some things, child, that you should steal, if you have enough love and courage in your heart. You must snatch freedom from the hands of the tyrant. You must spirit away innocent lives before they are destroyed. You must hide secret and sacred places.” {122-123}

There are different sorts of fear, she (Goldie) realized that now. There was the fear of having a musket held to your head, or having black oily water try to snatch you into its depths. There was nothing easy about that fear. It made your heart nearly tear itself out of your chest, and weakened the long bones in your legs so that you could barely stand. It made you want to vomit with fright.
But there was another sort of fear, the fear that you would never be allowed to be who you really were. The fear that you true self would have to stay squashed up, like a caged bird, for the rest of your life. That fear was worse than any soldier. {179}

and one more…

“The museum should never have become so full of wild and dangerous things,” said Sinew. “But the people of Jewel are like Guardian Hope, with her planks and hammers. They tried to nail life down. they wanted to be completely safe and happy at all times. The trouble is, the world just isn’t like that. You can’t have high mountains without deep valleys. You can’t have great happiness without great sadness. The world is never still. It moves from one thing to another, back and forth, back and forth, like a butterfly opening and closing it’s wings.” {197}

Goldie is a brave young girl who listens to her inner voice which takes her places she’d have never thought to venture otherwise. Her and Toadspit try to think through how to solve the problems they face. They are surrounded by interesting adults who guide them. What’s not to love??

Lian Tanner’s Website-with games for the museum!
Random House fun website for this series.

Happy Friday!

Exhausting Mother's Day events

What a day we’ve had. It began with my beautiful Groovy Girl sobbing because I woke up before her and she wanted to wake me up with breakfast in bed. She did not read my blog post from yesterday (or ever) but I did get that menu exactly sans orange juice as there was none in the refrigerator. She only made me breakfast once I convinced her that I would fall back to sleep, which I did {wink} until she left and then I read under the covers until I heard her creeping back up with the tray.

It was youth Sunday at church so both my children read and or sang and after church we headed to a rabbit show. Yes, we have one little dwarf bunny but that is a post for another day. We went just looking for ideas to build a bunny hutch for outside.

Driving home we decided to ride our bikes to a local restaurant for lunch which was so relaxing and enjoyable as we can watch the bike path traffic in a very green area. It was cool but sunny as we pedaled to and fro. We had a delicious lunch and I enjoyed a spicy Bloody Mary with my fish tacos. Perfecto.

I seriously planned on taking a little nap once we made it back up our driveway but my front garden needed weeding and my husband needed help with the mower which wouldn’t start. So I slipped on my garden shoes and it was like they had wings. For the next three hours we got a lot of yard work done. We weeded the front garden which has been a project for the last two years after we pulled up three huge {ugly} evergreen bushes. Everything I’ve planted in this front part is a perennial and are mostly flowering bushes or herbs. Last year I transplanted a rhubarb plant from the back yard to the front and it looks great.

We then rolled our compost ball over to the far side of our rectangle garden plot and my husband dug down in three feet wide trenches so we could deposit compost under good top soil. It was back-bending work as he piled the dirt back and I scooped and deposited the compost. We got the entire garden turned and our compost ball is fairly empty. Starting over fresh.

We took a small break from turning dirt to linseed oil the small free library my step-father made and gave me for Christmas. It’s been living on the floor of our living room since then and now is the time to get it outside. My husband and son have a hole already dug for it and a post ready to go in the ground. Stay tuned for more of the project later.

We’ve had a small pool awaiting us for another backyard project and we just weren’t tired out enough yet so we {all three of us} dug the hole for the plastic pool. We still need a pump to make it lively but the first step of the project is complete. Amazing how a little sunshine and fresh air will motivate us!

Enjoy the photos to prove all we accomplished.

Weekend Cooking; Mother's Day menu

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and many mothers will be taken out to brunch, lunch, or dinner to be celebrated. Yahoo. It is a wonderful day to show our mother’s how much we appreciate all that they do.

Now that I have a family of my own I don’t always get to spend the day with my own mother. I did send her a pretty e-card, my way of saving a tree. I know in my childhood my brothers and I gave her our fair share of handmade cards, bright floral arrangements (dandelions), and burnt breakfast foods all arranged on a tray. I know my mother appreciated what we pulled together for her as I appreciate what my kids have done for me on this sacred Sunday but what I think matters most is the everyday celebrations that we can share together.

I often call my mother in the morning as I’m driving to work. I have a peaceful drive to work with no chaos or traffic. I love how her voice reflects joy in my simple phone call. “How are you?’ What are you doing today?’ and we chat about the day ahead of us. When I’m making dinner I often call my mother with cooking questions especially as I get used to cooking meat which I did not do for years. “At what temperature is the chicken done at?”

Mother’s Day can even be celebrated at the end of summer as my mom and I put together our salsa using all her late harvest tomatoes. We cook and talk and reminisce about my grandmother, her mother. She loved to cook also, her specialty was jam and pies. Mother’s Day can be a year round celebration as we toast those who raised us and did their best. Whether you take them out for a meal, buy them a fancy bouquet, or just spend time with them the important element is thoughtfulness Think about what your mother truly wants; does she need another knick-knack from the drugstore or would she prefer just your time? Could you bake her muffins? Could you take her for a walk?

If my mom were coming to town I would make her this big crumb coffee cake if I had rhubarb in my freezer. If I could fly us both somewhere for breakfast I would fly us to La Jolla to eat at The Cottage~we’ve both always wanted to try it. I might also take her for pie at this little joint right here in Iowa. There are so many great ideas out there that go beyond-try and find one that includes food and time. Enjoy your mother. Seek her out on a regular basis though; not just on the second Sunday in May.

I predict my daughter will serve this to me come Sunday morning:

Mother’s Day Menu:

1 bowl of cereal light on the milk
1 piece of sourdough toast
1 glass of orange juice
with a flower or plant of some sort on the side

all brought to me in bed on a bamboo tray.
Sounds yummy, I know. Lucky me.

She has not yet mastered cleaning the kitchen up after this cooking extravaganza.

Here are a few sites to learn more about the origins of Mother’s Day as a holiday.

Mother’s Day History
Wiki article

This year my husband and Groovy Girl already gave me one surprise; an manicure and a pedicure so my toes would be sandal ready for the wedding we are attending this evening in Iowa City.

{my toes in purple}

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find more recipes and food-related posts. Have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Cooking; Will the real meat please stand up…

Last night as I made this recipe pulled from the pages of the May 2013 Food Network Magazine I pondered the life cycle of meat in recent history. My mom is a major carnivore and like many moms of the 70’s most of her meals centered around meat. As I gently folded the onions, celery, eggs, and breadcrumbs into the ground meat I contemplated the meat we ate growing up, which made me ponder how the industry has changed and morphed it into something dirty. Raising cattle on a farm is no longer how we get the meat that sits in the grocery store case for purchase.

I paid $5.00 a pound for the meat I was now kneading; organic local farm raised beef but I know back in the day organic wasn’t available and my mom probably bought it straight from the meat counter at our local Piggly Wiggly. I believe it was real meat back then; no feedlot, no pink slime, no ammonia baths, no canibal cows, just happy bovines out there in the field. Cows were given antibiotics when they were sick not to combat every day life in the feedlot. Yes, they still went to a slaughter house (horrible in itself) but we didn’t “cleanse” the meat of E-coli or salmonella because it wasn’t dirty. We dirtied the meat when fast food needed massive pounds of meat to be sold at super low prices. Since then all they’ve done is continue to dirty it to make more money for our faster lifestyle like this “miracle decision” by BPI owner Eldon N. Roth to use previously unusable beef drippings, clean them using ammonia gas, and add them in as a filler to hamburger all over the country:

“The company says its processed beef, a mashlike substance frozen into blocks or chips, is used in a majority of the hamburger sold nationwide. But it has remained little known outside industry and government circles. Federal officials agreed to the company’s request that the ammonia be classified as a “processing agent” and not an ingredient that would be listed on labels.” (NY Times)

It is time for everyone to understand more about your food. It is worth it to buy from a local farmer to get real meat, to find real food. Our long term health and well-being is at risk if we don’t pay attention.

Ways to get informed:

NY Times article about ammonia gassed meat from Beef Products Inc. (BPI).
Lunch Wars by Amy Kalafa
Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution video about ammonia washing
The Truth about Food by Robert Kenner video on Lip

Okay now that I’ve scared the crap out of you or informed you, however you want to look at it I have a recipe to share. This meatloaf recipe comes from the Fun Cooking; Kids’ Meal

Turkey Meatloaf TV Dinner
(adapted)

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup organic ketchup
1 T chopped fresh parsley
kosher salt and ground pepper
2 tsp soy sauce/tamari sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Make the meatloaf; preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (I make my own from a mister). Put the turkey, onion, breadcrumbs, celery, egg, 2 T ketchup, parsley, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste in bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined, then transfer to loaf pan.

2. Combine remaining ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce in a small bowl; spread two T. of this mixture over the meatloaf. Bake until the top begins to brown, about 30 minutes, then spread the remaining mixture over the top again and continue to bake for 15-20 more minutes. Thermometer will register 165 degrees when finished.

The article pairs this with mashed potatoes and peas; I did a scalloped potato recipe and broccoli. It was all good. Also I cannot find good turkey meat so I used ground beef but it was good quality. Use what you have, love what you make. Be present.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking from Beth Fish Reads. Click her link to find many other joyful posts about the wonders of food.

18th Birthday-Wow! That can't be right…

{3rd birthday with his hand-painted crown}

College Boy @ age 10
{look at that smile}

Happy Birthday little boy!

Eighteen years ago I gave birth to this amazingly beautiful baby. He was 4 lbs, 3 ozs of joy. My labor lasted less than 10 minutes. I know, crazy! Nursing came easy for both of us. Jealous yet? Well, the flip side is I spent almost a month in the hospital before he was born and a few weeks after as well. The day I was finally released from the hospital with him I ended back up in the hospital hemorrhaging and spent a few days away from him as they couldn’t readmit the him back into the maternity ward. I have high stress pregnancies because I’ve had 2 open heart surgeries and am on a blood thinner for my St. Jude’s plastic valve. Groovy Girl’s birth was just as traumatic with it’s own set of medical emergencies.

So after ALL that College Boy turned 18 today at 7:11 pm. We had an after church lunch together out on the patio in gorgeous weather! My husband grilled two good steaks that we shared with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and broccoli. The highlight though was this amazing chocolate cake from Averie Cooks. It was moist and super chocolatey! I believe it will be my go-to cake for all future celebrations as it was easy to put together. I didn’t admit how easy it was to the family though, making them believe it was an intense labor of love I was only willing to go through for special occasions!

{Best chocolate cake with ganache}

The cake is so incredible both my husband and I have been “evening it” out every time we pass it on the kitchen counter. I’ve had to cover it to save both of us and the cake. I followed all the directions to a T except I doubled the recipe. College Boy will want to snack on it all week long and the original was only a 9 x 9 size. I poured the doubled recipe into a 9 x 13 and it is perfect to the top with the frosting. The recipe called for yogurt and that makes the cake super moist. Oh no

In other news I finished reading Jodi Picoult’s Lone Wolf which was wonderful. I like wolves and feel like they get a nasty press. This book did a great job of explaining to me what I already felt; that wolves have an interesting social structure and instincts.

The weekend is almost over but I’m still linking this post to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme because I love being part of that community. Click the links to get to the chocolate cake recipe-you WILL want to make it.

The wonder of Wonder by R.J. Palacio

“You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.”

Wonder

R.J. Palacio

{2012}

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school-until now. He’s about to enter fifth grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid, then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances? ~inside book flap

This book is the new poster child for anti-bullying, be nice rhetoric we teachers are constantly spewing at the kids that we teach, hoping it will make a difference. This book though has the potential of actually starting a movement. Auggie and his family work hard to maintain normal and even through the very rocky times stay true to what their family means which leads to the extraordinary way that Auggie sees himself. Even though he gets depressed and would love to have an ordinary face he also feels comfortable with how he is.

I loved this book and plan to push several teachers to use it as a read aloud starting in August. Right now all my teachers are just limping toward the end of May, ready to be done. But Auggie will help them start the school year off right as they help their students build community; one that doesn’t judge.

Now that I’ve read and reviewed it I’m putting it back out for students and I have quite a few who are waiting to get their hands on it! Thank you to my friend Verda and Groovy Girl for constantly telling me how great the book was so I had nothing left to do but pick it up and read it.

Ingrid Law's in town!

Ingrid Law with Peaceful Reader

Not only is she in town talking about Savvy and Scumble but I was lucky enough to have dinner with her and not only was I lucky enough to have dinner with her…I sat right next to her! She is a lovely human being with funny and insightful stories. I loved that she is an introvert yet she easily shared stories with us about writing, her life, what it was like to transition from quiet homebody to famous author!

She reads. She is a single mother with a daughter that is about to graduate from high school. She wrote Savvy in the evenings while she worked in a government office. Her father is a vegan. She lives in Lafayette, Colorado. She wrote Savvy in about 4 1/2 months, which is amazing! She wrote a first book that is now sitting in a drawer somewhere but that inspired her publisher to ask for something else because they liked her writing.

So many wonderful facts that you pick up over interesting dinner conversation. Oh, and she likes cupcakes!

Weekend Cooking; Fat chocolate chip cups

This has been quite a year for my school book clubs. They’re organic matter constantly changing and shifting. Generally I’ve had two book clubs and they start out large and then dwindle to a small handful of die-hard book fans that didn’t know they were fans when they started. The whole process is amazing to me.

This year has brought new challenges as I started off bold with three groups; two girl groups and one boy group. Luckily another 5th grade teacher has been willing to help me all year with the second girl’s group. She took the stronger reading group and they’ve read a wide variety of challenging fifth grade material. They just finished The Lightning Thief. Now the gaggle of girls I lead is another story. I like have to lead them like little baby lambs to the book. They are much more concerned about drama and excuses. I’m trying to raise them up and they are all like “this is so hard” but yet they keep coming back. I’ve had a few drop out and I’ve asked a few not to come back and yet we’ve had others join up mid-year and this is why is has been a very natural and organic book club year.

This has also been the first year we’ve served snacks consistently for every meeting. Amanda, the 5th grade teacher, and I alternate bringing treats for the Wednesdays that the girls meet and I solely bring treats for the boys. It is MUCH easier to bring treats for the boys!! They about die for anything I bring for them which in turn make me excited to bring them treats. It is a dynamite cycle. The girls tend to be a bit more picky. I made them little cookie cups near Christmas that had a chocolate mint kiss in the middle and several girls threw them away after just one bite because of the mint. Geez!

This week I made these top notch treats from a recipe I found on Pinterest. I love when a pin takes you to to a blog worth reading and Averie Cooks is just such a blog. The Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups were a huge hit at book club and the children I live with were a little upset that the whole pan wasn’t staying home with them. The cool thing was it was such an easy recipe I’m going to surprise them this weekend with more. This board of Averie Cooks is dedicated to recipes she’s made and I’m especially intrigued by this post about her Top Ten Favorite Chocolate Cake recipes. I’m searching this week for an extreme chocolate dessert for College Boy as he turns 18 next Sunday, the 28th. His only requirement is that it be like chocolate heaven.
Any suggestions?

If you need a special treat this week try those chocolate cups!
This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking post-click there for more food-related links.

My own Cinnamon Scones

{source}

I made these for breakfast this morning and they were delicious and flaky. It was my turn to make something for Sunday school treats and our church has been on a Blue Zone kick, trying to bring in healthier options instead of donuts. Even though these had minimum sweetness kids and adults ate them up! I know the title of the post says cinnamon scones which is confusing since the recipe says different but trust me and keep reading…

New Hampshire Maple-Walnut Scones
KAF Baking Companion

3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter or shortening (or a combo)
1 cup finely chopped and toasted walnuts
1 cup milk
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp maple flavoring

Preheat the oven to 425*F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter or shortening until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in the walnuts.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, 1/3 cup of the maple syrup, and the maple flavoring. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you’ve formed a very soft dough.

Flour your work surface generously and scrape the dough out of the mixing bowl onto the floured surface. Divide the dough in half.

Working with one half at a time, gently pat the dough into a 7-in circle about 7/8 inch thick. Transfer the circle to a parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet or other flat pan; it will be very soft, and if you have a giant spatula, it’s the tool of choice here. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing it in a separate pan.

Using a sharp knife or rolling pizza wheel, dived each dough circle into eight wedges. Gently separate the wedges so that they’re almost touching in the center, but are spaced about an inch apart at the edges. Pierce the tops of the scones with fork tines and brush them with remaining maple syrup.

Bake the scones for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with any remaining maple syrup. Wait a few minutes and then gently separate scones and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, with jam or maple syrup butter.

Adaption:

This was the recipe I really wanted to make except I didn’t have walnuts and our maple syrup jug was ’bout empty plus it was 10:30 pm. At that point you have to improvise. Last week I’d made this scrumptious cinnamon sugar syrup (The Sisters Cafe) for fun. I still had some left and I used that instead of the maple syrup in the recipe and in the poked holes. I replaced the walnuts with golden raisins which provided a little natural sweetness. My flour was also a mixture of KAF unbleached and whole wheat.

I made only one batch of these but cut those nice wedges into half again and it made plenty for about 30 people. I easily made them in about an hour’s time including baking. Even though it kept me up late it was worth the compliments from both young and old.

Yes, you may ask why I was concocting this so late…and the answer would be busy, busy day. We worked a charity event at a local restaurant from 12:30-4:30 came home and ate dinner quickly with kids, kissed them again and then headed to our local university’s theatre to usher for The Merchant of Venice (Beach) a revised Shakespearean drama. Today we saw another play, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, at the children’s theatre my husband used to run. I’d not seen this, one of my favorite children’s books, brought to life and it was excellent. We had several young friends starring and it lit a fire in Groovy Girl’s belly to try out for next year’s season.

While I’ve been typing this post out my sweet son downloaded a Grateful Dead album onto my computer and I’ve been grooving to Sugar Magnolia-he just made my day as I discovered I can sing the lyrics out with his awesome headphones on which make me feel like I’m in the band. Of course I cleared the room also!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking post. Click her link to find many other food-related posts from all over the globe. The scones in the photo above look delicious also and closely resemble mine. I found the photo at Jenny Steffens Hobick’s website Everyday Occasions and will have to make them the next time I need a perfect breakfast treat.

Top Notch Elementary Fiction; The Humming Room by Ellen Potter

I’ve had so many new books arriving over the last few weeks and I’m trying to read some of them as fast as I can.

The Humming Room (2012) was in paperback at our book fair a few weeks ago and had me intrigued. I’ve read the first Olivia Kidney book and liked it well enough but last summer I read The Kneebone Boy and was blown away by its quirky characters. Potter’s wonderful writing style carries over to The Humming Room which is loosely based on the classic The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Roo Fanshaw, the young main character, is orphaned when her father and his girlfriend are both killed in a drug-related shooting. Roo is very adept at hiding in small places and going unnoticed. Lucky for her her rich uncle’s assistant comes for her and they make the journey to his island house. On the island Roo is out of place at first but easily slips around to discover mysteries and she begins to enjoy her surroundings. The house was once a tuberculosis sanitarium and Roo explores where the children lived and died. This book has a cast of interesting characters and just enough creepiness to keep 4th-6th graders interested.

Ransom quote:

Pressing her ear to the ground, she closed her eyes and listened to the hushed singing in the soil. It was such a tiny, complicated sound that it required the steadiest concentration. The stirring of worm’s eggs in their cocoons, the pulse of roots, the minute shifting of bugs. Immediately Roo felt herself relax. Her world collapsed down into a tiny little bundle, just the way she liked it. (65)

You Tube book trailer