peacefulreader

Weekend Cooking/Bread-Making/Bread Givers

I’ve been writing my review of Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska. I loved this book. When you enjoy a book so much it’s difficult not to share every little thing about it. One of the themes is resounding poverty; the Smolinsky family are poor-1920’s poor. They never know where their next meal will come from. The father studies the Torah and expects his family to work for him; to put food on the table. The mother constantly has to beg the shopkeepers on the Lower West Side of NYC to give her credit so she can feed her family. It begins like this:

I had just begun to peel the potatoes for dinner when my oldest sister came in, her eyes far away and very tired. She dropped on the bench by the sink and turned her head to the wall. One look at her, and I knew she had not yet found work. I went on peeling the potatoes, but I no more knew what my hands were doing. I felt only the dark hurt of her weary eyes. (1)

“We must dry our heads worrying for bread, while they bathe themselves in milk and soak in honey.” (81)

Mother skimmed off the fat part of the potato soup, and carefully picked out all the little pieces of suet and fried onions for Father’s plate, and handed it to him. “Woman!” Father frowned. “Why have you no meat for my dinner this whole week? With the hard brain work I do day and night, I can’t live on the flavour of onions!” (81)

My quest for weekend cooking is to make some bread for this albeit fiction, yet starving family. I can’t resist. They need some good bread. They need a whole pot of potato soup.

My mom gave me this recipe for bread that uses potato water and I’ve been excited to try it. Last time I made mashed potatoes I thought ahead and saved the water.

Ooey Gooey Bread (from Baking with the St. Paul Baking Club)
Makes 3 loaves

1 3/4 cups potato water or 1 3/4 cups water mixed with 2 tsp instant potato flakes
1 3/4 cups lowfat milk
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups honey [local, of course]
1 T. salt
1 cup rolled oats
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2/3 cup bran
6 T wheat germ
1 cup whole wheat flour
7 cups bread flour, about [I don’t buy bread flour so I double sift my KAF]
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tsps cinnamon

Heat potato water, milk, and butter in a saucepan over low heat. As it warms, add honey and salt. When mixture comes to a boil, add rolled oats then remove from heat, and let cool to lukewarm.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in yeast and let stand for a few minutes until softened. Add bran and wheat germ, and then beat in whole wheat and bread flour. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead [my favorite part] until elastic and springy. The dough will be soft and sticky, but resist the urge to add to much extra flour. Turn into a slightly oiled bowl, turning to coat, cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
Mix together white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Turn dough out onto floured surface, and divide into three pieces. Roll each piece into a 12-inch x 8-inch rectangle and sprinkle with 4 T. sugar mix. Take a rectangle and fold the left third to the center and the right and the right third over that, as you’d fold a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees, and roll out again into a rectangle, sprinkling with another 4 T. of sugar mix. Fold as before. Form dough into a loaf shape, and place seam side down in a greased loaf pan. Repeat with remaining 2 pieces of dough.

Cover pans with a cloth, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. lightly cover with foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until loaf makes a hollow sound when removed from the pan and tapped on bottom. Cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

This will make a great Sunday morning bread but not the bread I was thinking of for the Smolinsky family. That potato bread I found at The Barefoot Kitchen Witch’s website complete with play-by-play photos: Potato Bread
I’m going to try her recipe as well-maybe tomorrow.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads. She reviews $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook; Breakfast and Lunch, which seems like a really useful cookbook!

Happy Baking!
Read Bread Givers-you will enjoy it!

Feature Friday

I have three picture books to feature today because I fell in love with them just this morning! It is the month of love so I give you three books you shouldn’t live without…

1. The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen (2009)

I’m not a fan of the circus-the kind that uses animals to entertain so I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to feel about this book, until I read it of course. It is a delight! It rhymes. When a storm ruins the ship the captain saves the the mean and greedy circus boss, Mr. Paine, who chooses to leave the animals behind to save his own. The animals swim to an island beach, taking refuge with the local people, who are at first scared and then learn to love having the animals around. The circus animals win their freedom from the demanding circus boss through a great hide and seek scene. The illustrations are larger-than-life beautiful and it is loosely based on a real event. 5 stars

2. “I have a Little Problem,” said the bear by Heinz Janisch and Silke Leffler (2007)

Bear wanders in to town to get help but noone listens to his problem. The inventor, the tailor, the hatter, the doctor, the street vendor, the eye doctor, the shopkeeper, and the shoe maker all jump to their own conclusions. Noone even listens to what it is until bear meets a curious fly outside of town. In my storytime hour children didn’t get the big picture but I know a little girl at home who will understand and love it. The illustrations are whimsical and kindergarten students loved the repitition. 5 stars

3. the cow loves cookies by karma wilson and marcellus hall. (2010)

I’ve come to expect great things, usually rhyming things, from Mrs. Wilson as she is the author of The Bear Snores on series of books. This one didn’t disappoint. All the other animals on the farm eat what the farmer gives them-the horse loves hay, the chickens; chicken feed, the pigs love their slop but the cow…she gets special treatment. Students loved learning why the cow loves cookies…because she shares her milk with the farmer and he shares his cookies. Milk and cookies go so well together. I wish I had some for my lunch today! 5 stars

What ever you do today, ENJOY!!
If you need a picture book-these 3 will not disappoint.

It's Official

I feel like I should host a grand opening, or have a parade! I am a dot.com now and my old address should still be swinging you to my new address but just like the post office occasionally makes a mistake…please make a note of my new address. Thank you. I want you to keep reading. My blog lists never did come back so I’ve been slowly adding back…don’t worry I haven’t “defriended” anyone. Eventually I will have recreated my favorite reading spots.

While grocery shopping two days ago I walked out with only two essentials from my already short-list. I had plastic overload! My tofu comes in a plastic package, my favorite orange juice comes in a plastic jug and my son’s favorite nitrate-free turkey dogs come wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap crap. Luckily I was able to get the chocolate we needed for cake baking in a cardboard, recyclable box. My husband reminded me that we used to drink orange juice from the frozen cardboard tubes-not as yummy but it’s not plastic.

Why am I banging my head about plastic, you ask innocently enough…because I made a promise to not bring in any new plastic into the house just a day or two ago. The proof is here. I’m committed but I had a glimpse into how difficult it will prove to be. I asked the butcher at our local grocery store about buying turkey dogs from behind the counter and he chuckled…yes, he did! I hope what you are passionate about is easy to come by this week!

The Red Umbrella

by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

2010

272 pages

Every once in a great while my friend Tina and I are able to browse our local library together. When we do I always leave with a double bag full of books. She simply walks down the shelves and says “You need to read this one and this one and oh, have you NOT read this one…” She is an amazing reader, far more prolific than me, and has a knack for picking great books. On our last library visit she handed me The Red Umbrella and it was the first one I pulled out of the library bag.

Synopsis from the book:

     Cuba 1961: two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched.
     As the revolution’s impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía’s parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own.
     Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

My thoughts:

I was moved by both parts of this story. I didn’t know very much about Cuban life before Castro or after and Gonzalez’s work gave me a look into this history. I found it interesting how the revolutionaries worked so heavily on Cuban children, especially young adults, to carry out their “for the good of the common people” message. Learning about Operation Pedro Pan was new and one I was happy to read about. Thankfully, the U.S. took part in this exodus of children from Cuba to the States. As Lucia and her brother are sent away her friend, Ivette, stays in Cuba and attends Castro’s camps to learn how to be a good revolutionary leader. I liked the balance between Lucia’s Nebraska story and Ivette’s Cuba experience told through her letters.

Once in Nebraska, Lucia and Frankie, while missing their parents, also must cope with how difficult it is to come to this country and be an outsider. The Baxters are an older couple, living on a farm, in Grand Island, Nebraska-the polar opposite of Cuba, especially in winter. Luckily, even though it is rough, and they miss their parents, life becomes comfortable with the Baxters. Lucia and Frankie find friends at school and do well in their new environment.

Perfect Quote:

I was going to be wearing hand-me-downs. Used clothing. I’d never had to do that before. We always bought the very latest fashions. Ivette would be mortified to see me wearing these clothes.
I missed her. I also missed Mama and Papa, my room, my school, everything I’d left behind. Tears started to form, but I took a deep breath to try to keep them from falling. I didn’t want to cry anymore. (156)

Authors often speak of a story emerging, just asking to be written and this is probably true of Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s story based on recollections from her own family. I feel richer having read Lucia’s tale and look forward to others by Gonazalez.

Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s blog.
To find it at a local IndieBound store near you, click on the title: The Red Umbrella

Other reviews on The Red Umbrella:

Reading Rants!
Kiss the Book
Semicolon
JuJu at Tales of Whimsy

Plastic-Free February

We are celebrating the first day of February with a SNOW DAY!! One more day for Teenage Boy to study for his Chem. Test, one day for me to blog and Groovy Girl wants to make a cake…Yeah, Yeah, for snow days!!! In my browsing around this a.m. (after I made waffles in my jammies):

The Rodale Company is one that I trust…I’m not a big fan of large mega-companies but the people at Rodale stand for organic. I have several gardening books and have received many of their magazines in the past. Rodale.com is hosting a challenge for the month of February…to go plastic-free.

Why go plastic free? There are plenty of reasons to cut down. It’s made from either petroleum or natural gas, two nonrenewable resources extracted in ways that pollute our air and water. Plastic manufacturers add chemicals to certain types of plastics that can be highly toxic, like bisphenol A and phthalates. And very few types of plastic are widely recycled. (find the full article here Rodale.com)

Three Simple Rules:

1. No buying or acquiring new plastic.

2. No cooking with plastic or storing food in plastic.
3. Minimize all other plastic use.

Check out Rodale.com for a list of participating bloggers who will be posting regular updates. I will just be trying to do it and maybe posting how difficult it is. I just realized my glass Pyrex bowls (while wonderful) have plastic lids! I try not to purchase things that are overpackaged but we do use plastic food storage containers, especially for Groovy Girl’s lunch box. I’m going to set out on this challenge with one thing in mind really-to try not bring any new plastic into the house and that means buying in bulk with my own glass jars. I’ll let you know how it goes. Anyone else up for this challenge?

Plastic Tip for the day: Do not microwave your food in plastic containers. Use glass or ceramic dishes instead. The plastic leaks into your food and has been directly linked to certain cancers. **As Janssen points out there is no real evidence of this claim more a gut-feeling about a petroleum-based product holding my delicious food as it heats up hot and fast. I don’t like petro that much. **

Check out these plastic-free lunch containers…LunchBots. I want them…anyone have them already and are they wonderful?

What Really Happened to Humpty?

[from the files of a hard-boiled detective]

by Joe Dumpty as told to Jeanie Franz Ransom

Illustrated by Stephen Axelsen

(2009)

Kids will love the humor in this book. It begins: “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Humpty Dumpty was pushed.” At least I think so. Who am I? I’m Joe Dumpty, Humpty’s younger brother.

Joe, the P.I., goes on to explain his case as to why he thinks his brother was pushed off the wall and step-by-step the mystery of Humpty is solved. The book is a cross between a regular picture book and a comic book, using a whole slew of fairy tale characters to retell the story. Groovy Girl loved identifying her favorite fairy tale characters in a different light. Low carb diets, power walks, binoculars and cell phones give this tale a modern, fresh snap.

By the way…the culprits… Little Miss Muffet and the Big Bad Wolf -the wolf says “I’m bad. It’s my middle name.” That pretty much says it all. I can’t wait to use this book when we talk about fairy tales. This would be a perfect look at how to fracture the story and make it into something new. We checked this out from the public library.

Jeanie Franz Ranson’s website.
The Reading Tub review

Dear Janice….Thank you!

I am blesssed in many ways but one thing that sets me apart is my friend, Janice, who comes almost every day to my school library and helps me in the library. She volunteers at our school because her granddaughter is a student. Long ago all school libraries had an aide, someone who came in to check-out, reshelve, and do extra things around the library. We live in an age where school districts don’t have the money to have library aides anymore. I’m so glad to have Janice working with me almost everyday. So many of the massive creative projects I take on wouldn’t be completed without her help. She cut out all the snowmen shapes so first grade students could make larger-than-life snowpeople.

She makes my library dreams a reality!

Last week I mentioned I it would be cool to change our holiday evergreen tree, decorated with snowflakes, into a Valentine tree. Within a few short hours, after reshelving all the books, she transformed that mini-tree into a treat that looks sweet. She will never let me take her photo so instead I share her creation. She made all the decorations using a book…of course! The Valentine Express by the amazing Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. Check it out!

Thank You Janice for all you do!

Rocky Road Brownies

I did make the brownies. They are delicious. I groaned three times while eating my one little square. I forget all the time to photograph my cooking but this time I snapped two pictures as we were dishing them up. Here for your viewing delight…

They are yummy dense squares of chocolate delight. I will make them again. My kids ate them even though they had pecans on them. My daughter and I shared a second one quietly in the kitchen. It’s been a good day and now I’m going to bed, to read. See last post for recipe.

Weekend Cooking mixed with Weekend Update

1. Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and her post and review of The Crabby Cook Cookbook is very funny. I often get busted by not reading the whole recipe through and this is how mistakes are made. Click to her post to see the Lemon Drop Recipe she made for herself. Yum and makes me think of summer.

2. I woke up this morning and am still not out of bed. You might think I’m sick but nope just tired, really tired. I’ve not slept perfectly all week. I wake up at like 3:45 a.m. and struggle to get back to sleep. I’m not awake enough to read but not asleep enough to dive back into dreamland. I don’t know how to solve this crazy sleep pattern or what is causing it.

3. We had friends over last night and I made Garbanzo Noodle Soup and a lovely salad. We ended the night with a rousing game of Guesstures. Have you played this game? It is hysterical and perfect for people of all ages to play. Think charades in that you act out the four cards while your cards rest in this mechanical timer, which drops the cards down if you don’t grab them quick enough. It is well worth the $24.00 if your family loves games like ours does. We laughed a lot and I got some great video of several key moments!

4. Yesterday I went for it and changed from blogspot to .com, something I messed with before and vowed to finish before January was over. It seems to have worked out fine except…my blogrolls are gone, toast, NOT THERE…I must have missed that statement in the fine print-just like not reading the recipe all the way through. I don’t know whether to wait and see if they will “magically show up” or start adding them back in. Not what I had planned for my day but it is something I can do from bed so not so bad. I can see snow from all three windows of my bedroom so that is not pulling me up and out. Any ideas, blog world??? I am now peacefulreader.com

5. I do have a lovely dinner planned of Scottish Salmon and a pound of Cod to cook up. I have some organic baked potatoes to make and green beans, snapped and ready to go. I will get up to make these bars later today. Other than that what makes this post worthy of Weekend Cooking you ask?? This dessert. My kids will love me.

Rocky Road Brownies
(Eating Well, Feb. 2011)

1 cup less 1 T all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 1/2 T. unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder, natural
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla
8 regular-size marshmallows
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/3 cup chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Line bottom of 8-in pan with parchment paper or foil coated with cooking spray. Leave an overhang.

2. Thoroughly wisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

3. Melt butter in med. saucepan until sizzling. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa, then sugar. (will look like dark brown sugar) Add egg, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir briskly until smooth and glossy. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Then stir briskly for another 50 strokes. [really??] Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. the batter will be very shallow in the pan. If you have time, cover the pan and refrigerate for a few hours or up to 12 hours. [(This hydrates the cocoa powder and flour and brings all the flavors sharply into focus) Remove from the refrigerater about 30 minutes before baking; preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Quarter marshmellows with an oiled knife [I have some mini-marshmallows to use instead] Distribute the pieces over the batter, pressing them in. Distribute the nuts [i’m using pecans] and chocolate around the marshmallows.

5. Bake brownies unti the marshmellows are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes. You can use the toothpick method; toothpick will come out still a bit moist. Brownies in a metal pan will bake faster than those in a glass pan. [I did not know this until just now]; if you are unsure, bake a few extra minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack for about 2 hours. Lift the ends of the pan liner and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 brownies.

I did not know they had to cool for 2 blasted hours…I need to get up out of bed and start making these now so they will be ready for dessert. Typing out the recipe does insure that I have to actually read the whole thing and now I have a purpose to get up out of bed. Heave Ho…

Click here…Rocky Road Brownies…if you want the pure unadulterated version, without my crazy comments.

Cheers~

the Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett

Jan Brett is excedingly talented both as a writer and an illustrator. Many illustrators have their own hook but she goes beyond that with her side panel foreshadowing illustrations. A few monthes ago I did a small Jan Brett unit with first grade students. We read a bunch of her books and explored the freebies on her fabulous website and then we moved on and read other stuff. Forever those students will know a Jan Brett illustration when the see it as they showed me this past week when we read The Three Snow Bears, Brett’s retelling of Goldilocks and the 3 bears, set in the Artic. We were reading it because we’ve been reading books about snow, snowmen(people) and this amazing book fit with that and it was a great mini-quiz.

Students could tell within several pages that it reminded them of another story they knew…Goldilocks but as many said, she has different colored hair! Well, yes, in this one she is Inuit with dark hair and a huge snowsuit on it. Many loved the dogsled, huskies and igloos…that was new to them. When I explained to them what an igloo was, one student exclaimed “Oh, yeah-I live in one of those!” They love to assimilate, don’t they. I haven’t used any of Brett’s materials with this book before but I notice she has a whole Arctic mural you could use with a class. By the way students passed their author recognition “quiz” as I heard many comments like “Oh, look I can see what’s coming next” as they see in the end panel picture. That and they loved staring long and hard at the detailed illustrations.

Find Jan Brett’s website-here.

Have you read this one or others of Brett’s? Which are your favorites?

Happy Friday!!!