birthdays – Page 2 – Peaceful Reader

Room by Emma Donoghue

I know many readers and bloggers have read this one already but I just have to reiterate what an awesome read this one was! What a fresh and youthful voice Donoghue creates for Jack. I love the relationship between the mother and son; that even in this horrific situation she has created this room of love and security. Stolen at 17 by “Old Nick” she has been kept in a restructured and reinforced garden shed at the mercy of his 9:00 visits. Jack is born from this awful relationship and she nurtures him, teaching him only about what exists in their small world. They do have a television to watch but Jack thinks everything on it is pretend; nothing real beyond their walls except the nighttime visits of Old Nick.

The book opens as Jack is turning 5 and his curiosity grows as his “Ma” begins to unveal more than just the existence of their room. She shares with him bits and pieces of her life before “Room” became her world. As Jack struggles with this new information and they plot a course to escape both Ma and Jack struggle with what lays before them. Jack wishes to go back in time to just those few days before he turned 5 when his world was simple and his mother can’t bear living in their prison for another moment. It is heart-breaking as the two of them struggle over what is real and what is not and Jack cannot understand why his mother can’t just be happy in room with him as she has been for the last five years.

Janssen’s review of Room inspired me to keep it high on my radar even though it took me 2 years to actually check it out from the library. Such is my crazy busy life but I’m happy to have read it and will continue to recommend it to friends and family. If you haven’t already read this one, give it a try. Jack will inspire you. Donoghue has several other novels and want to read down her list. I would love to know if others were as striking as this one was? Any suggestions?

Birthday Girl week begins!

Groovy Girls’s birthday is on Wednesday and yesterday we hosted her birthday party for 7 friends. We have a downtown art fair that takes place yearly and right before her big day so this year we combined the two. My husband, the creative driving force, designed a treasure hunt for the girls. Downtown stores held clues leading them ultimately to our unique candy shop where bags of sour, gummy, and delightful candy awaited them!

Weekend Cookies;Cherry Oatmeal Cookies Variation

Happy Birthday to my husband, Gregory! It’s a big one and he’s not all that excited about it. I made him a special breakfast this morning of grits, Fresh Air bacon, scrambled eggs, and biscuits and peppery gravy. He was in heaven with all his favorite breakfast foods at the table.

Last night I made these cookies for him because he loves oatmeal cookies. They are delicious and next time I would double the recipe. The directions say it makes 50 cookies-I beg to differ-as I even made mine nearly bite-sized as I could see the dough disappearing.

(Image Source)

Adapted from So Sweet! Cookies, Cupcakes, Whoopie Pies, and More by Sur La Table. (This book was well worth the $11 I paid for it and I notice it is less than $10 on Amazon now)

Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
~~(makes about 50 cookies)~~ (makes about 30 cookies)

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 Stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 T. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup dried sour cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and position rack in the center. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. (I used my silicone mat)
2. Place the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth. Scrape the bowl well. Add the egg and vanilla and blend well.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture all at once. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and blend slowly, just until there are no more patches of flour. Scrape down the bowl.
4. Add the oats and cherries and blend on low until just combined. Remove the bowl from mixer and stir gently a few times to make sure everything is incorporated.
5. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, portion tablespoon-sized mounds (I did teaspoon size) onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes, until cookies are golden brown at the edges and still a bit pale in the center. Transfer to a cooking rack and let the cookies cool.

I did not have dried sour cherries in the house but I did have raisins and dried cranberries. My husband loves oatmeal raisin cookies and I tossed caution to the wind by adding the cranberries as well. He loved them-the cranberries add a snap. I would like to try the dried cherries at some point but who needs a trip to the grocery store for just one ingredient?? These cookies were very quick to make-perfect for time-crunched baking. Enjoy!

This recipe is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. See hers and the long list of other food-related posts by clicking over to her site.

One More Birthday Post; The Special Handmade Gift

One day I was bopping around the blog world-and happened upon this post, Mama Made A Dress, by Lisa at Books. List. Life. Have you ever been to Books. Lists. Life.? If not, do stop over she writes about her adorable kids, her books, and her craftiness! Love reading about her life. When I looked at the special pinafore dress she made for the Princess-I left a comment expressing the thought that my Groovy Girl would look great in a bigger size dress and well, as things happen in the blogging world, a conversation started up and a deal was made and a dress created and sent to my Iowa address.

It arrived months ago but I had to wait until September to present it to her. Lisa sent it in a lovely handmade drawstring bag so it was already “wrapped” and ready at her birthday breakfast. She choose to open it that morning and heavens…she loved it. Also Lisa shows a great close-up picture of the pinafore dress in this post as well as a bunch of other sewing items.

P.S. If you look closely to the above photo you can see chocolate near the pocket…Groovy Girl alias Messy Tessy wore the dress for the cake eating portion of her birthday night because she was trying it on for her godmother and viola…it now has cake stain on it. I’m going to have to wash it!

Thank you, Thank you, Lisa! She loves it very much.
Here is the link to her Etsy shop so you can get one too!

A Whirlwind Celebration

The birthday week started off with a matching sleep outfit for Groovy Girl and her matching A.G. doll. She was so excited about this gift she put her pajamas on at 6:30 in the evening!! Who would know that was the trick for an early bedtime!

Her actual birthday morning started with homemade waffles, warm maple syrup and fresh whipped cream! Don’t bother looking at the messy kitchen table–it’s an active week with no time for clearing off the table. To the right you can see the magical bonsai tree my handsome husband gave me for my August birthday. I’m happy to say the bonsai is doing well. I haven’t killed it off yet.

Here she is on her way to her afternoon piano lessons on her birthday-I just like the outfit and her smile shows she’s had a fabulous day. Sharing Matt’s Cookies at school with her classmates was one highlight for her! She is a girl on the go! This weekend she goes back to ice skating class and she wants to try a new gymnastics studio.

When I look at my big 9-year-old what I really see is this baby girl. She came into this world as a 3-lb fairy doll, barely filling out her preemie wardrobe and now she is the whirlwind above. Life truly is a blessing.

Weekend Cooking; Chocolate Birthday Cake

Groovy Girl’s birthday is just around the corner and tomorrow I will be making her a cake and decorating it too, Last year I made the same chocolate cake but with white frosting because she wanted to decorate it herself and there she is up above with her decorated cake-turning 8. This year our little cake lover is going to stick with a more subdued chocolate frosting and a little less decoration-they result will still be delicious and creative.

I’ve made this chocolate cake for her three years in a row and it is from my Baking Illustrated; The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker from the America’s Test Kitchen people. I LOVE this book because it provides me with all kinds of tips, tricks and the reasons why they work.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake (360-361)
(serves 12)

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
12 T. unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nonalkalized cocoa, such as Hershey’s, sifted
2 tsp instant expresso or coffee powder
1 cup plus 2 T milk

1 recipe (to follow) Rich Chocolate Cream Frosting

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease two 8-inch round cake pans and cover the pan bottoms with rounds of parchment and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
2. Beat the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar, beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and instant espresso powder in a medium bowl. Combine the milk and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the milk mixture; mix until incorporated into the batter. Repeat the process twice more. When the batter appears blended, stop the and scrape the sides with a spatula. Return the mixer to low speed; beat until the batter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. With a rubber spatula, spread the batter to the pan sides and smooth the tops. Bake the cakes until they feel firm in the center when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean, 23-30 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack; cool for 10 mins. Run a knife around the perimeter of each pan, invert the cakes onto the racks, and peel off the paper liners. reinvert the cakes onto additional racks; cool completely before frosting.
5. Assembly and frost the cake according to illustrations on page 144-when you turn to pg 144 you are given detailed directions on anchoring the cake with frosting, frosting in between the layers and how to get a smooth top. Mine never looks like their’s even though I follow the directions but it still tastes wonderful. Frost and slice.

Frosting:

16 ozs. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over the chocolate. Add the corn syrup and let stand 3 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth; stir in vanilla. Refrigerate 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes, until the mixture reaches a spreadable consistency. This frosting does not keep well, so it should be served within a day.

Weekend Cooking is a weekly meme hosted by Beth Fish Reads-click on over to other wonderful food-related posts.

My Day

It’s been my birthday (all day) and it has been an interesting day. Three sweet children, all under the age of 10, made me breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and biscuits. I “helped” by taking the biscuits out of the oven and by making the scrambled eggs last night so Groovy Girl and her two cousins could just reheat the eggs. For her, it was extremely important to serve me breakfast in bed and that I could only take the biscuits out of the oven and pop back into bed. We did not have juice so I had Limeade mixed with seltzer-all served on a tray by 3 smiling children. We all ate the eggs from one plate-4 forks. It was wonderful.

I met a friend for coffee/tea and all 3 children played The Amazing Labyrinth while they ate their cookies and Orangina drinks.

I thought I should look up some facts about my sun sign and refresh my memory of what it means to be a Leo. I found some interesting stuff worth sharing.

“There’s an unmistakably regal air to Solar Leos. These are dignified—even noble—folk. Leos have a reputation for being conceited, but think again. Leos do feel important, but this generally takes the form of wanting to change the world in some way—to make the world a better place. They are generally motivated by affection for people, and often have big dreams and plans to make people happy.”
From Cafe Astrology website.

Those lines hit it exactly. It is change that I seek, for me and for the world.

My husband sent gifts from afar. I got a Bonsai tree in the mail and a toaster oven from my children. Some school clothes from my mother-in-law and a pair of one-of-a-kind knitting needles from my friend, V. My mom gave me a book yesterday and bought me lunch and a big waffle cone of Hansen’s ice cream. 30 of my friends wished Birthday greetings on Facebook and a few sent me texts or called. My older brother sang to my mail box-very sweet.

I was taken to dinner by old family friends-they’ve known me almost my entire life and happened to be driving from Colorado through Iowa, heading home to Wisconsin. They brought me a rice mix from WI. It was very special for them to think of me in the midst of their busy travel schedule.
My other favorite August birthday is on Jerry Garcia was on the 1st.
I hope everyone has had a blissful day!
Another Leo website!

16 Years Ago-Birthday Boy!

Still curious after all these years!

This event deserves so much more time but I’m off to a soccer game and three other events!

Weekend Cooking; Salman Rushdie's Lamb Korma

Sunday Parade photo of Lamb Korma

My husband loves to read the newspaper, which is a good thing. I like to read certain parts but it usually depresses me so he reads and shares things with me and that way I don’t have to get bogged down by all the bad news. He found this Salman Rushdie’s recipe at the back of the Sunday Parade Magazine and said that it sounded good. He loves Indian food and with his birthday right around the corner I decided this would be my special dinner for him.

I bought local lamb at my organic store where I also found the cardamon pods. I’ve never been able to buy safron here so that was the only ingredient I didn’t have. It was delicious and I loved crushing the cardamon pods in my mortal and pestle which looks a lot like this one….

The recipe was a huge hit even with my daugher who didn’t eat the meat but loved the gravy and the jasmine rice. We had some frozen naan from an Indian store in Arkansas to add to the fun!

Lamb Korma

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

1½ cups chopped onion
1 cup clarified butter (melted and skimmed of milk solids)
4 to 5 large cardamom pods (available in the spice section)
10 to 12 small cardamom pods
2 lb lamb, cubed
6 to 8 garlic cloves, crushed
½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1½ Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp red chili powder

1½ tsp salt

8 oz plain yogurt, lightly whisked

Pinch of saffron

Directions:

1. Brown onions in butter until deep golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and pulse in a blender to form a paste. Crush cardamom; mix into paste.

2. Add meat to pan; stir over medium-high. After a few minutes, add garlic, ginger, coriander, chili powder, and salt. Stir for a couple of minutes. Mix in yogurt. Cover and cook over very low heat, 1 to 1½ hours.

3. About 5 minutes before korma is ready, add onion-cardamom paste and saffron so it can be absorbed by the meat and gravy.

Mine didn’t look like the picture above at all-I didn’t have those tiny peas and carrot cubes and mine had more gravy (I added extra yogurt)-otherwise I thought it would be dry. We loved it and I would make this again.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking meme. Click over to see her post-she’s making (my heavens) chocolate-ginger cake! It looks yummy.

Salman Rushdie’s Parade magazine’s article.

Finally by Wendy Mass (2010)

I have to get this one back out on the library shelves…students are clamoring for it because many read 11 Birthdays by Mass last year. I read Finally a few weeks ago and will be happy to share it with students-I think they will like it more than I did. Hmm, don’t get me wrong, I liked it, I just didn’t love it.

Straight from the back cover…

I’m a big wisher. I’ll wish on anything. Shooting stars, stray eyelashes, dandelion tops, coins in fountains. Birthday candles (my own and other people’s). Even when my glasses fog up. When I was younger, the wishes used to vary. A pony. A best friend. A new bike with streamers on the handles. A baby brother or sister. some of these even came true (not the pony). But over the past year, every wish has been spent wishing I was 12 already, a date I’ve waited for my whole life and one that is only six weeks away. Looking back, I wish I had saved one of those wishes because, if I had, I wouldn’t be stuck in this drainpipe right now. Yes, drainpipe.

Rory gets herself stuck while on a field trip and an elderly woman rescues her. This has some of the same mystical, magical charm that 11 Birthdays did as well as intertwining characters. Amanda and Leo (from 11 Birthdays) attend Rory’s school, so we know we are in the same community. Kids will love meeting up with these characters!

Rory has this whole list of things she wants to be able to do once she turns 12, most things her friends can already do. The first half of the book we get a nice understanding of her family and why she wants all these things to happen. She feels like she has the strictest parents in the universe…(she wouldn’t want to come live at my house).

On the big day, Rory has a chart ready to share with her parents and her parents are prepared to let this list of demands become reality. Some of them are normal: she wants to babysit so she takes the beginner’s Red Cross course for babysitters (I did this myself back in the day!). She gets an IM account, a cell phone (which she loses way, way too quickly) and is interested in getting a rabbit and her ears pierced.

It’s a lot of demands and all of it turns out hilarious. My favorite part was the ending, which was filled with warm feelings and great resolution but the middle made me a little overwhelmed. Kids will love it though-especially the murderous bunny!

Wendy Mass’ website