Flipping pancakes-summer fun!

(She likes a little maple syrup with sprinkles of powdered sugar)

Summer time is all about time for me. Oh, don’t get me wrong-I’m still beyond busy but I take time to do things like make pancakes and waffles for my children because I’m not rushing off to work. They sleep in a bit more also so I can get up do a little writing, then make something fun for breakfast.

I made these pancakes just the other day and still have a small stack of leftovers in the fridge for random snacks. Leftovers~what a great idea!

(adapted from)The Vegetarian Epicure
by Anna Thomas (she wrote this book while still in college!)
(1972)
Vintage Books/Random House

Simple Breakfast Pancakes (186)
serves 3-4 pancake eaters

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups unbleached white/wheat flour mix
1 T. turbinado sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 T. baking powder
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Sift the dry into a mixing bowl. Beat the egg yolks with the milk and melted butter, and stir into the flour mix. Beat the egg whites until they are fluffy, but not dry, and fold them into the batter. Heat a large skillet or griddle and oil it lightly. Drop pancake batter on by large spoonfuls and brown nicely on both sides. Serve immediately with butter, syrup, honey, yogurt, jam, applesauce, or fresh fruit.

“Fresh fruit and yogurt are especially recommended for a festive and satisfying breakfast.”-those vegetarians-always ahead of their time!!

What do you take extra time for in the summer?

He looks like he should eat 20 pancakes…
love that he is reading while eating.

Relaxing Summer? Yes!

I’ve had plans all laid out around the time of the time of Teenage Boy’s graduation we “remodeled” the backyard, making way for this very quiet corner to read in or work on the computer. I’m about two weeks into summer and I’ve only had the time to sit in that chair twice-yes, exactly twice. A positive like myself might say “Well, at least you’ve had the opportunity to recline elegantly twice!” Right. But I want to do it every day!

I have tended my garden and spruced up other areas of our yard. You can see three squash plants, lettuce,

three tomato plants, and five basil plants growing there.

We’ve attended a fabulously gorgeous wedding of a friend. The wedding and reception took place at a local bed and breakfast, which was a perfect setting for this down-to-earth young couple. They planted a bonsai tree together during the ceremony. Ahh, it was lovely.

I’m taking two classes for re-licensure this summer and one is an on-line course about Personal Learning Networks (PLN’s). We’ve learned about diigo, twitter, RSS Feeds, and Google Readers, all of which are to help us set up a community of “friends” we can learn together with. I already had experience with each of these social networking tools but I’m sure to learn more as we keep exploring. Even as we set them up I can’t help but wonder about the effects of reaching out to a cyber-community instead of real people in our schools, neighbors on our own blocks, and retailers in our own local stores.

I discovered this article through another classmate about the Waldorf school sans any technology at all. Hmmm. I have to admit I love the idea of waiting to give youngsters any technology at all until middle or high school and this article explains it perfectly. My own daughter reaches for my school issued tablet like it’s a drug and wishes to play with that more than anything. I think it saps her creativeity just having it in the house. She spends all day playing with the idea that she’ll later be able to get her hand on the tablet for a few tries at Temple Run to beat her “top” score.

What say you? Should we leave technology for later or is an Apple iPad the perfect learning tool for young students?

August Update-13 books!

I’ve read a bunch of wonderful books in August! I had minor surgery to remove a cyst and have spent a lot of time resting and reading! Look at all the fun stuff I read this month! Links are for my reviews. Some toward the end of the list are still waiting for their own review and some I probably won’t review at all.

1. Where She Went by Gayle Forman – RF- I liked If I Stay better yet it was interesting hearing his voice. These two could win cutest musical couple award!

2. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly -HF- Top Author of the Month! I loved depressed teen Andi mixed with Alex’s fight to save the prince during the French Revolution. It was, well, revolutionary!

3. The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter -Modern Fantasy-The Hardscrabble kids are tough and show us just how kids feel about being ostracized.

4. Gemma by Meg Tilly – RF- Wow. Brutally honest abusive/pedophile story. Made me want to hold my children very close. Tilly has this creepy guy written just right.

5. In The Green Kitchen by Alice Waters -Cookbook-Simple start-off recipes to help you accomplish bigger tasks. I loved the pantry list. I showed it to my mother while she was visiting and loved it when she laughed and said…”Oh, I bought this for you! Can you wait until Christmas to get it?” So typical. And yes, I can wait.

6. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly -HF-It’s 1906 and this is Mattie’s coming-of-age story where she figures it all out after her mother dies. Luckily, she takes the road less traveled.

7. Countdown by Deborah Wiles – HF-It’s the 60’s and everyone is worried about the Russian’s and Cuba, students learn how to duck and cover to stay safe and Franny figures out why her Uncle Otts is so important.

8. How To Buy a Love Of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson -RF-Drunken, super rich children figure out they do have something to say at the last minute. Carley-I grew to like and Hunter-made me want to go to AA.

9. The Penderwicks; A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall- RF- Sweet, summer tale with a charming cottage and lots of room to play. Mrs. Tipton figured out her parenting skills at the last second-thankfully! I’m interested in the rest of this series.

10. True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet by Lola Douglass -RF- too-young-party-girl falls off the face of the earth and lands in Indiana. She’s startled to find real characters in the Midwest. Never too off for me-too much nap dropping.

11. The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas -Fantasy-Lovely magical tale about Oliver Twist-ish character who saves the magic and helps Nevery. I plan to read more of this series and was excited to see Prineas is an Iowa writer!

12. Matched by Allie Condie-Dystopian-Cassia has two loves on her post-warming world matched card and she must find a way to deal with her feelings for the unsanctioned Ky. This was a fast read and kept me reading even though I hated this overly organized world.

13.. The Love Season by Elin Hildenbrand – RF -Love the Nantucket setting, and the culinary experience of listening to Margo put together food-ohhhh! Did not enjoy Cade and his family or Miles. Loved Action’s character-could she have a spin-off book!

I am sad to say goodbye to summer. I always am. I’m a summer girl. I like to be warm. I like going to the pool. I like margaritas. Fall has it’s good points though and I’ve already made an Autumn dish and I especially like going into an Indian Summer September like we seem to be. My girl’s birthday comes up in September also!

Hope everyone has a blissful Labor Day Weekend. I will be celebrating my anniversary all weekend-we were married in Galena, IL and had all kinds of activities from golf outings to wine tastings for our guests to participate in. I’m sure we’ll find some fun this weekend even if I’m still healing.

Book Morsels

A morsel is a tasty bite of something…teasing you to try more or to say “no thanks” but it gives you an idea of what it’s all about. I have a backlog of books to review and the task is overwhelming what with homework, drama camps, and all the other fun things of summer getting in the way I thought this would be a perfect way to share the last four books I’ve read.

Tasty morsels-all delicious in their own way! They are in order as to how I read them not by my enjoyment level.

A Summer Affair by Elin Hildebrand (2008) 478 pages

I read this one on the beach-my first Elin Hilderbrand and I enjoyed her writing very much. This is a quick read about Claire, a young married woman, trying to keep it altogether on the Island of Nantucket. She has a nice home, a handsome husband and several terrific kids. She is asked to cochair an annual charity event which puts her in constant contact with the wealthy Lock Dixon and they have an heated affair. I liked Claire and her friend and sister-in-law, Siobhan, a caterer with her own marital problems. I enjoyed the back story of Claire’s life before she married Jason, which comes up as her first love, Matthew Westfield, is a huge rock star and has agreed to come back and play the Gala to help Claire out. Claire is an artist-a glass blower-and that was a very intricate part of the story and was interesting to learn about the delicacy of her art. I now have more Hildebrand on my to-read shelf!

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (2008) 447 pages

My dear friend Jess in Little Rock introduced my to Picoult a few years ago and I’ve enjoyed most of her collection. This one is about a mother, June, whose husband dies unexpectantly leaving her alone with their young daughter, Elizabeth. June later marries Kurt, the police officer, who helped her out of the car wreck that killed her husband. And one day 5 years into the future June and Kurt are expecting a second daughter when Shay Bourne arrives to help them out of a construction mess. Picoult’s tales are complex and I’m not going to give you much more but the story is told through alternating voices; June’s, Michael’s, a young priest, Maggie’s, a ACLU lawyer-(my favorite character) and Lucius, a vibrant man with a few regrets. I thought the death penalty issues were well done and the whole mystical idea that Shay Bourne may or may not be Jesus was an interesting concept. This one was predictable though-I could see Kurt’s flaw pretty quickly but not a bad read.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman (2009) 196 pages

I loved this little book and sat right on my comfy sofa and read almost the whole thing in one sitting. Cried quite a lot. Has some similar themes to Before I Fall without all the mean girl stuff. This one has a cast of characters to love: Mia, her rock and roll family and Adam, the to-die-for-boyfriend. Mia plays the cello and loves classical music contrasting with her father who played drums in a hipster band and her boyfriend who plays in an alternative band. It has lots of musical references and I enjoyed Mia’s non-traditional family. This one is really well-written and I could easily read it all over again. Now I need to get my hands on the second one, Where She Went.

Fire by Krisine Cashore (2009) 461 pages

I am pretty darn excited to cross both of Fire and Graceling off my to-read list and I’m liked them both. Fire is about the Seven Kingdoms of which Cashore refers to in Graceling but does not continue Katsa and Poe’s story. That was a bit of shock to me but once I got past it I liked Fire just fine. After all it does say “companion to Graceling” not sequel to Graceling. Fire is a vibrant colored monster in the Dells born from a human mother and a monster (and cruel) father, Cansrel. Both parents have died and Fire lives in a small house on the estate of Lord Brocker and his son, Archer. There are some unrest issues in the kingdom and Fire is asked to come to King City to meet with Nash, the king and Brigan, his brother and commander of the king’s army. I like the world that Cashore has created. This one was very good. Click on the title to read my review of Graceling.

The Smarty Owl has a great full-length review on Fire that is worth reading.

I hope your week has been blissful and full of reading!

Summer = teachers lounging by the pool, drinking margaritas…

Yeah, that never happens. Well, maybe it does but not in my world. That is the summer I dream of but what summer really is is a far cry from that scenario. What summer really is is chauffering kids to camp, classes, and to playdates, inbetween pulling weeds, making bread, and hoping to get back to that major Spring Clean, you know, simple craziness.

I had a four-day class this week at my local university and it knocked my socks off and had me buying take-out pizza, which is highly unusual for our house. The class, Children’s Literature Workshop, clued me in to a TON of new books (I really thought I was in the know…) but sitting in class all day was hard. In the middle of me taking this class my husband’s Summer Art Camp began and Groovy Girl usually attends with a gaggle of girlfriends. Same is true for this time except I had four days to arrange for rides back and forth and playdates for the afternoon.

That and the class homework has been overwhelming. I should be doing homework right now. What am I doing blogging when I have four assignments still do for class.

I have spent a bit of time by the pool w/out the margarita, I have cooked for friends, I did take an amazing vacation, I have read quite a few books including a bunch of YA, and I have juggled all things successfully!

I need to get my homework done though so I can write reviews about the last few books (Fire by KC) I’ve read and the magnificent movie I saw at midnight last night (when I probably should have been sleeping so I could have done my homework today!)

Ahhh, I love summer with all its twists and turns, the heat, the rain, the garden produce, the bright orange tiger lillies in my neighbor’s yard-so much to love about this wonderful season. I want it to last just long enough for me to catch up, catch my breath, and have this organic margarita!

Weekend Cooking; Quinoa Salad with Fennel-Yes, Fennel.

Fragrant Fennel Bulb

I googled quinoa the other day looking for a recipe idea and this is what I found:

Quinoa Salad with Apples, Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Gouda

by Anne Thomas

1-1/2 cups quinoa, preferably red

Sea salt

5 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed

1 large red onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

4 oz. arugula, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)

4 oz. aged Gouda, finely diced (about 1 cup)

3 medium celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 large, crisp apple, such as Fuji or Pink Lady, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup finely diced fennel

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3 Tbs. sherry vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl, rinse the quinoa with water, rubbing it between your fingers for about 10 seconds. Drain and transfer it to a 3-quart pot. Add 2-1/2 cups water and 1/2 tsp. sea salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, covered, until the quinoa is tender but still delicately crunchy, about 15 minutes.

Drain the quinoa and return it to the pot. Cover and let the quinoa rest for 5 minutes; then fluff it with a fork. Let cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa cooks, heat 2 Tbs. of the olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt; cook, stirring frequently, until tender and brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and toss with the onions until the vinegar cooks away, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, onions, arugula, cheese, celery, apple, walnuts, fennel, and cranberries.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 3 Tbs. olive oil with the sherry vinegar, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Add the dressing to the salad and gently mix it in. Let rest a moment; then season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil if the salad seems dry.

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I meant to make it for a church picnic but found in my dry storage jar cupboard-No Quinoa…No Quinoa! I did have two different types of couscous but that wouldn’t do so instead of running to the grocery store at 8:30 on a Saturday night I made something else.

I made the salad on Monday…my first official day off from teaching. The salad combined many of my favorite flavors such as Gouda, apples and arugula. What was unexpected was the fennel. I’ve never, ever made a recipe with fennel in it! I loved cutting into it though as I am a HUGE fan of black jelly beans and that sort of dark licorice smell wafted up at me, I took a nibble and it hinted of it. Wow. My first fennel foray. Anybody else out there been afraid of fennel? Or is it something you use frequently?

Summer Reading; Boredom Begone

While everyone else has shared their amazing BEA books and bling I have a different kind of exciting box of books-the box of books I cart home every summer to read. I have a little contest at school in which students are challenged, prodded, and cajoled into reading books I’ve bragged about. It works on a few. Books have points and if they get a certain amount of points then they are invited to a frolicking fun pizza party in the library. There’s prizes. And pizza. This year there was even mini ice cream cones!

Each summer I have to read a few more books to keep ahead-I’m not really vying for the points but I have to have new ones to rave about. I swear the box gets heavier every year and each year I pray that I actually get them all read.

What’s in the box, you say…

From my school library shelves:

Countdown by Deborah Wiles

Turtle In Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Wishworks, Inc. by Stephanie Tolan

Storm Runners by Roland Smith

The Great Wall of Lucy Lu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz (after loving The Night Fairy by her I have to read this one)

Grip of the Shadow Plague (Book 3-Fablehaven) by Brandon Mull (I’m anxious to continue this series)

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas (I plan to pick up #2 and #3 half way through the summer ‘cuz I think I’ll like these)

Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes (someone told me it isn’t age-approriate for our library…)

Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

Sabatotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix (just to finish this series up)

I also have to read Swindle by Gordon Korman this summer for a reading committee and I have books to read for Iowa Children’s Choice nominations. Egads. Can it be done?

Which one most interests you on my list?

I spent many of my summers with my grandmother, Lavera, while I was growing

up and she always told me only a fool gets bored! I’m no fool, Grandma!

Friday Feature; Using our Imaginations with Peter H. Reynolds

Author/Illustrator/Creative Inspiration Peter H. Reynolds

This week has been a crazy week at our house. I haven’t made a real dinner all week except for Wednesday (organic burgers and butterfly pasta), which we ate on the fly, heading to a dramatic production of my husband’s. Otherwise we have had a mix of soccer, track and other school events. Blogging (obviously) has taken a back seat but I’ve had a fun week at school so I have to share.

At the end of every school year I spend time talking about imagination, trying to get kids pumped up to use theirs during summer break. I started off the conversation with “What are good, fun things to do in the summer?” Sure enough the first little one to raise his hand answered “play all my video games.” as if he was planted in my pint-sized audience. I dramatically *gasped*, made my face look like this . We then talked about staring at the television and video games and went on to share good things to do in the summer, like play outside.

One of the points I make is that it’s okay to do those things in small doses just as it is okay to play on the computer every once in awhile. the trick is to make it worthwhile-by playing thinking games or imaginative games. This week I paired a set of playful books with the author’s website to demonstrate imagination.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds (2003). Vashti sits in her art class with a blank piece of paper; she can’t think of anything to draw. Her art teacher inpires her to just make a mark on the paper and then asks her to sign it. When Vashti arrives in art the next week she is thrilled to find her marked and signed paper, framed, and hanging by the teacher’s desk. Vashti then goes on to make even better dots and eventually pays it forward by helping another young boy to make his mark. This small book packs a huge creative message.

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds (2004). Similar artistic message here with an added dose of stick-with-it-ness. Ramon loves to draw until his older brother, Leon, laughs at him. Ramon is frustrated because, while he loves to draw, what he draws does not turn out perfect. His little sister, Marisol, teaches him that sometimes they look enough “like” the object and that is good enough. This one does take a lengthy discussion about what “ish” means for students to get it; otherwise they think of “ish” as being closer to “ick”, which is not the message you want them to walk understand.

The coup d’etat after the books is to share Reynolds’ mastermind FableVision Place with students; although I “force” them to play the art game first then go to the other buildings. Invariably they all end up at the arcade and isn’t that what summer’s all about!

Along for the Ride

Sarah Dessen

2009

383 pages

     I’ve now read all of Sarah Dessen’s books and as soon as I was feeling good about this, my friend Tina gave me the news-Dessen has a new one coming out in the Spring. Bring it on, Ms. Dessen-I’m ready for it.
     This is the story of Auden and her dysfunctional family. Both parents are college professors, accomplished writers but short on emotions. She has one older brother, Hollis who seems to have used up all their parental energy leaving none for Auden. This is the story of her summer; the big one set between high school graduation and her freshman year at a prestigious university. Her parents are divorced and she chooses to spend it with her father, his new wife and their baby. Luckily they live in a house on the beach and there is an extra room for Auden.
     It is a perfect time for some reflection as Auden prepares to make the leap to college student, away from her mother. She is a complex character, silently suffering from her parent’s divorce. She doesn’t have a set of girlfriends to hang with and she seems to just be waiting for college and the comfort books and studying bring to her. She’s is a night-owl, a loner and smart beyond her years. Her stepmother, at first glance, is flighty, girlish and struggling with her new role of mother and wife. Her dad is a self-centered poop who shuts himself off from those at home, those closest to him, making the same mistakes he made during his first go-round as a parent.
    Auden spends her time running interference between her dad and her stepmother, Heidi, and trying to comfort the colic-y Thisbe-who knew this would be just like her own parent’s marriage.   To get away she spends time on the boardwalk. During one of these late night wanderings she meets Eli, a night time loner as well.   I enjoyed the casual relationship between Eli and Auden, which develops more as they understand each other better. Eli has layers; he is worth getting to know which makes it difficult on both of them as neither is interested in spilling their sad secrets.
     I loved the surprises many of these characters hold in store for the reader, making it easy to understand how not to judge a book solely by its cover or a person by their first impression.  Speaking of book covers; the cover art on this one is cute, adorable-love the pink polka-dot dress BUT…who is that boy on the cover…that is not Eli, who is described “a tall guy with longish dark hair pulled back at his neck, wearing a worn blue hoodie and jeans.”(41) Bike-riding guys tend to be leaner, less muscle-y in their arms and Eli is usually wearing a dark hoodie. Maybe it’s just that Eli appeared to me in a different way and the guy on the cover seems more Jake than Eli. That’s about the only thing I disliked about this book. What I liked: the shop girls at Clementine’s, the quest to fulfill Auden’s lack of normal childhood experiences and Heidi’s transformation back to independent can-do woman. If you haven’t read any Sarah Dessen books yet you are missing out on an author who really sees things from a teenager’s angle.

Random Quote:

“In truth, I hadn’t expected my mom to care whether I was around for the summer or not. And maybe she wouldn’t have, if I’d been going anywhere else. Factor my dad into the equation, though, and things changed. They always did.” (19)

Click Sarah Dessen for her author website.
Another point of view review:

Missie at The Unread Reader.
and Samantha reviews it at Someone like Samantha.
Find it at an IndieBound book store near you…Along for the Ride

Oh, Saturday I Embrace You!!

Patricia’s Pickles at Brownies for Dinner

I know another Saturday will roll around in 7 days but it will be just the regularly scheduled weekend Saturday, not this fantastic summer Saturday I am blessed with today. I’ve been to the farmer’s market, bought some small cucumbers and 4 red onions and I’m preparing to make bread and butter pickles, for the very first time!! I know-the thought is overwhelmingly scary-Are you just a little nervous for me…

I’m going to use this man, Drew Kime’s help. When I googled bread and butter pickles his site, How to Cook Like Your Grandmother appealed to me on a soulful level. Plus he has pictures and a sense of humor (or at least he writes with one.) I have about 10 projects I am trying to finish up to give me a sense of satisfaction for my summer: How many do you think I can complete this weekend???

1. Bread and Butter Pickles
2. Organize certain clutter zones in our house. (about half done)
3. Continue to work on alphabet book (check)
4. Finish many books on my tbr pile (hmm, could have done better but I have been reading)
5. Lesson plans (school) (not)
6. Flip charts(school) (not)
7. Yoga every day (well, that back injury got in the way but I’m back at it)
8. Laugh a few more times with my children (check)
9. Eat ice cream (almost) everyday (YES)
10. Have everone ready for school by next week and the week after that. (darn close)

Yesterday I took my kids on a school shopping adventure to the Mall where we visited many stores and had a late lunch/early dinner in between. We found a backpack for my tiny dancer at The Children’s Place-she picked from the “boy” rack of BP’s- a purple/blue choice with skull and crossbones! Hey, I’m so glad she took a step away from pink and picked something so unique. At the inexpensive shoe place she found slip-on sneakers that (almost) match. I didn’t want to mention they were boy’s as well but hey, she loves them. For her gym shoes she did pick white ones with a silvery/sparkly swoosh so she hasn’t completely gone over to the darkside.

Teen-age boy was in a good mood (you know that’s rare if you also have a teenager:) and found sneakers he could live with at the more expensive shoe place but they were on sale so it was a go! I have a new dress code policy this year (I cannot go into details because it really mortifies me that I have a master’s degree and someone far superior to me has to tell me how to dress-well, it just raised my hackles) I can say it… “I have trouble with conformity.” We cannot wear “open-toed shoes” to school so no fancy sandals to match the heat. I had to shoe shop a little and found a great pair of Merrell’s on sale. Does anyone else work in a school district that dictates what you wear?? Share with me please so I can have a little hope that this too shall pass and I will live through it unscathed! Truly it’s hard to be calm about this!

I have several finished books to discuss (The Girl Who Played with Fire, Rainbow Jordan and The Girl Who Could Fly) and have to finish That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week before our family meeting on Tuesday night.

After today I hope to cross off number one on the list; bread and butter pickles!! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! I hope mine will look half as good as the picture at the top and still be edible.

So what do you have planned for this glorious Saturday??