We're Back!

The Book Benchers have returned from Europe, our bellies full of Mars bars, fish and chips, lager, wine, cheese, croissants, chocolate croissants, almond croissants, and baguettes, our pockets full of Underground and Metro ticket stubs, Mars bar wrappers, foreign coins, croissant crumbs, and dirt, and our laundry room filled with a lot of filthy clothing. Actually, we've been home for about two weeks now and I've been too busy processing the laundry, helping the kids catch up on missed schoolwork, and getting a job for September (alleluia) to post.

It was a fantastic trip, the "best week of my life," according to my seven year old son. He is the one sporting a beret in the picture above. At seven, ten, and eleven, my children are the perfect ages for a trip like this one, which is a good thing too as it was probably a once in a lifetime event for us. It was magic, and fun, and immensely educational. The London highlights include Westminster Abbey, riding the London Eye, and Stonehenge. As an English teacher, I have to include Shakespeare's Globe Theater on this list as well. Having my family sing "Happy Birthday" to me on top of the Eiffel Tower was of course a highlight, but all three kids cite Notre Dame as one of their favorite things we toured in Paris. I am so glad we read The Hunchback of Notre Dame as preparation. Three hours in the Louvre was just about right for all of us. From the photo above, you can tell that we enjoyed biking around Paris. If you are ever there, I cannot sing the praises of Fat Tire Bike Tours loudly enough.

We brought some great guidebooks with us. Here is my shout out to Fodor's. If you are planning a similar trip with kids, Fodor's has Around London with Kids and Around Paris with Kids which were invaluable when planning ahead. While on the trip, Fodor's London's 25 Best and Paris' 25 Best which come with pull out maps were very helpful.

For the plane ride and downtime (there was none, by the way), my ten year old daughter packed only books set in Europe. I was inspired by that and brought Chris Cleave's Little Bee which is largely set in contemporary London. It was a real page turner. More on it soon.

Travel Prep

The Book Bench family has a trip to Europe planned for later this spring. We are preparing feverishly. Mostly that consists of hoping for the Icelandic volcano to behave and reading guidebooks. A little advice to parents out there: Fodor's and Let's Go guides are great as are the Rick Steeves travel guides and anything with "Kids" in the title. I would not recommend allowing your eleven year old son to check just any old guidebook from the travel section of your public library. If he checks one out published by MTV Books (you read that right), he might be able to tell you how many grams of marijuana you can carry without being hassled by local police and how to ask where to buy condoms in French. This will result in your having to explain to him what a condom is, not the most fun conversation imaginable.

My daughter is taking a much more enjoyable approach to travel prep. She is hoarding candy in case she doesn't like the food in Europe and she is reading novels set in London and Paris. Currently she is reading and loving Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery.

We Have A Winner!

Today was the big day. I went in for my turn as guest reader in my son's fifth grade class. After much hemming and hawing (I hear you; I need a hobby), I chose Lane Smith's brilliant picture book, John, Paul, George & Ben. It takes hilarious liberty with snippets of history about John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. It met the requirements of being short, entertaining, and not at all babyish. Since my son's class has been studying the American Revolution in social studies it seemed like the perfect choice. There were giggles and laughs and audience participation at the end when I quizzed the students with the true and false questions Smith provides to set the record straight. In it we learned that while Benjamin Franklin did invent bifocals and the Franklin stove, he did not invent PlayStation76. This book is a lot of fun for kids who know a bit of American history. Without that bit of background, the humor is lost.

In other business, I know that I have not done a Foodie Friday post here in months. I'm not sure if I will start it up again. It is worth noting, however, that I am currently reading Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. Last night I was inspired to make her "Comfort Meatballs" (pages 172-173). Some people sing for their supper; last night I sang to my supper. To know, know, know you is to love, love, love you... Delicious! Next up from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: "Simple, Perfect Enchiladas" (pages 176-178).

Oh The Pressure!

Looking at that title, you may be wondering what kind of pressure I am experiencing. Or maybe you are not wondering, but I plan to tell you. First, there is water pressure. Glorious, wonderful water pressure has been restored in my home. I've been flushing toilets with abandon for at least an hour now. Apparently my water will be running brown and dirty for a few days, but at least it's running.

That settled, I can worry about more bookish matters. Here is the other pressure in my life: I have been invited to be Guest Reader in my fifth grade son's classroom this Friday. I have twenty minutes to read to the class. What do I choose? Keep in mind, he will be in middle school next year and there will be no more guest reading. What should I choose to entertain this audience?

Last year Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Duck! Rabbit! was a huge hit. It inspired conversation and doodling.

Several times in the past I have read Tomie De Paola's Fin M'Coul. It is the perfect choice for March and I love to lay it on thick with the Irish brogue.

I am looking for something different this year. My son's teacher told me I will be reading immediately before phys ed class (I've been informed by my first grader that "Gym is a room and Physical Education is a class.") Maybe I should read about an inspirational athlete. David Adler's biographies of Lou Gehrig and Gertrude Ederle might be good selections. What to choose? Any suggestions?

What's The Difference Between a Hockey Blogger and a Pit Bull?

In case you don't have hockey fans in your home, yesterday was a big day in ice hockey. There was nail biting and screaming and dropped jaws in my house yesterday as the Canadian team beat the US team in overtime yesterday afternoon. If "our team" had to lose, at least it was Sidney Crosby who scored the game winning goal. My boys really admire him. In fact, last February I posted an entry about a Crosby biography here at The Book Bench. I don't generally rerun posts, but I will provide the link in case you are interested. It is http://thebookbench.blogspot.com/search?q+sidney+crosby. That said, I would be much happier today providing the link to a book about Zach Parise or Ryan Miller. Ah well, good for Sidney!

If the link above does not work, my original Sidney Crosby post is from February 3, 2009.

Haiti

All day I've been thinking about the people of Haiti who are surely suffering in the wake of yesterday's earthquake. It serves as a good reminder to support the Red Cross. It also makes me think of Tracy Kidder's amazing book Mountains Beyond Mountains about Dr. Paul Farmer and the work he does in Haiti. It is a wonderfully written and inspiring book. It's a book about an infectious disease specialist and Harvard professor which I think about often. I recommend it and give it as a gift frequently. Let's all hug the people we love and be grateful for our safety today.

School Nurse Books

Were you the kind of kid who frequented the school nurse's office or avoided it like the plague? As a kid, I was never a big fan of visiting the school nurse. Do not misunderstand; my elementary school nurse, Mrs. Koch, was a lovely woman. I even played her in a tribute/school play when she retired. I think I landed the part because my own mother is a nurse and had a uniform, complete with nurse's cap, for me to use as a costume. Despite that, I didn't want much to do with the nurse's office. I always failed the eye test and feared failing the scoliosis test (Deenie, anyone?). So I was a little shocked yesterday when my daughter was upset that she missed the school nurse's visit to her classroom. Head lice are apparently running rampant through my town's public schools. The nurses are coming in to check all of the kids' heads. (I apologize if you are now hypochondriachally scratching your head as you read this.) My daughter was out of the room as her class was being checked. When I asked why this bothered her, she told me, "The nurses puts these like chopsticks on your head and it feels so good." I love her, but that kid is strange sometimes!

It got me to thinking that I don't know of any school nurse books besides The School Nurse from the Black Lagoon. I also imagine that there might be a Cherry Ames: School Nurse, but that's all I can come up with off the top of my head. That is kind of odd considering the big role the nurse plays in the lives of many schoolchildren. I am curious if anyone out there knows of a good school nurse picture or chapter book?

In Which The Full Extent of My Geekiness Is Revealed

Anyone who reads this blog has probably long suspected that I am a geek. Here's your proof positive. My latest favorite book is Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. You know Elements of Style. It is the wonderfully brief and informative guide to writing every writer and English teacher has on her desk. In 1959, E.B. White updated a style guide written by his own Cornell professor William Strunk Jr. It has sold well ever since. My own grandmother used to give it to young people she loved as an eighth grade graduation gift. I have consulted my own copy countless times, and it has never steered me wrong.

Stylized is the back story of the creation and popularity of that popular little style manual. For people like me, to whom E.B. White is a rock star, it is sure to be a hit. Much of his correspondence about the book is included, along with a surprising number of anecdotes about it. The author, Mark Garvey, admits that it is a slightly obsessive history, but it is a highly entertaining read. I especially enjoyed Frank McCourt's thoughts on Strunk and White's little jewel of a book. I also enjoy his confession that he was terrified of semicolons and maybe colons as well.

If you are looking to stuff an English teacher's stocking this Chritmas, no doubt he or she already owns a well used copy of Elements of Style, so fill that stocking with Stylized instead. And maybe a gift card to a local bookstore too.

Oh Books, How I've Missed You!

Here's a bit of irony for you: I've been so busy working as a high school English teacher that I've been unable to read a book all week. Actually, I've been busy teaching high school and having three children who are all playing soccer this season, who all like to eat dinner, and who all want someone to check their homework. It's taking a toll on my reading for pleasure. I haven't even read a newspaper this week. Don't worry, I am all caught up with my Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly magazines. A girl does have to stay current after all. But I miss my books. It's a heartache walking past my night table and seeing that yummy looking stack gathering dust.

Luckily for me, I happened to ask the more than one hundred sophomores that I teach to write about the most memorable book they ever read. I only asked for two or three sentences from each. Every single kid found at least one book he or she could write about. Some told me it was to hard to narrow it down. Some gave me eight, nine, ten sentences about books they found memorable for either good or bad reasons. What fun I had reading their responses. So many of the girls named Twilight (one of the books on my to-read list), but there were Harry Potters, Holes, Unfortunate Events, Wayside Schools, Nancy Drews, Boxcar Children, The Outsiders, and more. It was like walking through a doughnut shop on a diet. It was tantalizing but also satisfying just to sniff the air, so to speak. I am more determined than ever to carve out a little book time in my schedule. 4 a.m. maybe?

Back to School

My children boarded the school buses for the first time this year less than an hour ago. While I should be doing research and writing lesson plans for my return to work as a high school English teacher next week, I first need to blog the lump out of my throat. I am pretty blue this morning. My baby is headed to first grade! How can that be? Plus, it was a really fun summer packed with swimming, bike rides, ice pops, and loafing around. While I'm kind of sad, I am caught up in the excitement of the new school year and am happy that my kids all left with big smiles on their faces. Really big ones. Look:

I like that picture, but I recently read an article about taking back to school photos that describes just that pose as cliche and expected. The article suggested taking photos of backpacks, school lunches, or shoes lined up at the door. Eh. Our backpacks aren't too inspiring

and you don't want to see the state of my boys' shoes. so I lined up the family water bottles, and while that picture may say "Make love not landfills," it doesn't say "Back to School."

The older kids each were asked to bring a book for pleasure reading to school today. Lucky public school kids! Let me say I attended Catholic schools until college and was never told to bring a book for pleasure reading or do anything else pleasurable for that matter. Maybe a photo of the books would be a nice non-cliche memory, but my ten year old son was still hemming and hawing between Louis Sachar's Sideways Stories from The Wayside School and a nonfiction book called The Kid Who Invented Popsicles as we walked out the door this morning. This is what my nine year old daughter packed:

She absolutely loves the wickedly evil pixie Opal Koboi in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books. It's a nice cover, but that shot doesn't scream "School Days" either. I believe the following picture does capture the essence of beginning school in September 2009. It is of what I think is the most important school supply my children have with them today, because as I was shouting "I love you! Have a great day!" what I was really thinking this morning as they got on those buses was "I love you, and don't you dare bring home swine flu!"

Foodie Friday: Soup Kitchen Chicken

When my babies were first born, I assumed that they were Americans, two boys and one girl of mixed Irish, Scottish, English, German, and a little Lithuanian descent. The ensuing years have proven me wrong. I gave birth to three Italian grandmothers who want to feed the world. "Mangia!" they practically shout at their friends who come over to play as they push snack options at them. While they may not always share their toys, books, and patience, they always want to share food with others. When we go to a party or potluck, they urge me to make my best recipes. When their aunt was undergoing chemotherapy last summer and we were on a dinner cooking rotation for her and her husband, they threw themselves into the project with gusto, thinking about the recipes, writing up hand lettered menus, and helping deliver the food to her home. One time, my then five year old son insisted on wearing a sombrero as we delivered a meal of Mexican lasagna and tortilla chips. My sister-in-law wasn't home so we left the food in a cooler by her front door, but at least we gave the neighbors an eyeful. When my children's religious education classes were collecting canned goods for food baskets last Thanksgiving, my daughter was horrified that she was assigned to donate yams. Her heart broke for the poor children that would get her class basket. She's not a fan of yams you see. She convinced me to donate a few boxes of instant hot chocolate as well. Given their desire to feed others, it is not surprising that we spent a wonderful afternoon last week purchasing ingredients for and cooking a chicken casserole to be served at a local soup kitchen. Of all of our projects this summer, that was my favorite. At church one recent Sunday, we received an empty aluminum casserole pan, a recipe, and directions for delivering the frozen casserole to the church parking lot the next Saturday morning where the meals would then be delivered to a soup kitchen near us that serves a hot lunch to over 200 people 365 days a year. First we had to shop for the ingredients. The children located everything on the store shelves. It was a great lesson in comparison shopping, reading, and nutrition. If I thought it was hard for me to eat nothing from a box, check out the recipe below to see how impossible it is for the poor and homeless. We brought our purchases home and prepared the casserole together. Lessons were learned there in patience, food handling, and more math. I'm always going on about nonfiction reading, and this was an ideal nonfiction reading experience. All three of my little Italian grandmothers obsessed over the meal being cooked just right and made to look appetizing. They talked about how sad it would be to have to patronize a soup kitchen and things they hope the people who run it do to make the experience as nice as possible for the diners. All three asked if we can do it again next month. Talk about a win-win situation! Here's the recipe in case you are curious:

Eva's Kitchen Chicken Casserole

6 Large Boneless Chicken Breasts (cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 Boxes Rice-A-Roni (Chicken Flavor)
1 Package Frozen Peas
1 Can Cream of Celery Soup
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 1/2 Cups Water

Prepare rice according to directions on box. Mix rice, peas, chicken, soups, and water together. Spread into greased pan. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until heated through. Serves 10.

Nothing From A Box?!

While on vacation last month, my husband, kids, and I played many rounds of a game we'll call "Don't Say A Particular Word." For instance, one evening during dinner the challenge was to avoid saying the word "and." My sons and I were out in less than two minutes. My husband lasted until we were washing up the dishes. My nine year old daughter held out the longest. With a few exceptions, that's pretty much how all of the rounds went all week. My sons and I talk a lot and often without thinking. My husband is less loquacious than us and our daughter always thinks carefully before she opens her mouth, game or not. Despite the fact that those two kept winning, it was a great game because it got us thinking about how frequently we use certain words in conversation. Try an afternoon without "it," "the," or "to." It was also good because whoever got "out" first usually laughed about it and didn't pout or stomp off- a major step in our family's game playing evolution.

I am currently considering a different, much more challenging, game of avoidance for the family. Instead of "Don't Say a Particular Word," it's "Don't Eat Anything From A Box." If you know me, you know that's going to be more difficult than having a conversation without using any word with letters in it. We like our cornflakes, cookies, and Saltine crackers over here at the Book Bench. On the other hand, with books like The Omnivore's Dilemma (and everything by Suzanne Sommers) and films like The Future of Food out there, there is a high level of discourse in America right now not just about the health implications of our food choices, but the environmental, economic, and ethical implications as well.

These conversations about responsible eating are not just being held on CSPAN and liberal arts college campuses. I've been talking about it with the other moms at the lake while our kids have been splashing around this summer. So you know it's reached the people. I've always tried to feed me family healthy foods, but I'm far from perfect and could really up my game. Recently, a friend told me about a woman she met recently, "a health food nut," who doesn't feed her family anything from a box. Nothing from a box? Reactions were swift and strong. I think I was loudest. Crazy! Impossible! Expensive! But I've been sitting with the idea and have decided to give it a try for 48 hours. I'm a little pissed that I didn't start yesterday because the kids and I made our own bread, but now it's gone. And of course I'm looking for loopholes- perhaps the girls at the Dunkin' Donuts drive through window could throw our munchkins in a bag instead of a box? If it used to be packaged in a box but now comes in a "new, resealable pouch!" does that count?

As with all my projects, I picked up a few books at the library to get me started. I have to admit that I haven't yet cooked anything in Mariel's Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Delicious and Satisfying Life by Mariel Hemingway, but to be honest, not much in it appeals to me and I don't know where I would find many of the ingredients such as Xylosweet, whey protein, and hemp protein powder.

On the other hand, I cannot wait to start making some of the recipes in Almost Meatless: Recipes That Are Better for Your Health and the Planet by Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond. The authors are sensible rather than militant in their philosophy and present recipes with ingredients I recognize. The photos delicious. Some recipes call for meat, but in smaller quantities than traditional recipes. Moreover, an explanation is given for using grass feed beef and more expensive "certified humane" organic chicken. This book might really help me with the nothing out of a box challenge.

I have yet to spring the idea on my family. Wish me luck with that and with avoiding convenience foods. If you're headed my way with a Nutter Butter in your hands in the next week or so, kindly keep it out of sight. My dignity will thank you. I'll keep you posted.

Foodie Friday Arrives Early This Week

I love a gyro. Love as in I'd like to marry one. Back in college, my friends and I were convinced that a gyro consumed from a grease truck (aka roach coach) at 2 am, walking home from a bar would stave off a hangover in the morning. In reality, it didn't work, but it was delicious trying. Here's another story about me and this bit of meat, vegetable and yogurt heaven wrapped in flat bread: seven years ago, my husband and I went to a diner for dinner. I ordered a gyro and moaned and licked my fingers all the way through it. I woke up the next morning knowing I had to have another. I stopped off at the mall, bought one at the food court, and consumed it standing up. On day three, I insisted we go back to the diner for another gyro dinner. I wanted one again the next day, but decided I might not be setting the best example for my two young children. Several days later, I found out, much to my surprise, that I was seven weeks pregnant. Let's just say, if you are what you eat, my third child is extremely lucky he didn't emerge from my body looking like a Greek diner specialty.

Today's NYTimes has a great piece entitled "The Gyro's History Unfolds." It is really well written and full of fascinating gyro facts and history. It attempts to answer "who is the Henry Ford of the gyro?" and suggests that in an economic downturn, the gyro business is a good one to be in. Plus, it has a video. "The Making of a Gyro Cone." I have to admit, I never knew such a thing as this big BandAid colored round of mass produced gyro meat existed, but I never thought deeply about it. I just craved them.

The Artistic Spirit Is Willing But The Flesh Is Another Story

I had the best of intentions at the outset of summer vacation. The kids and I were going to get ourselves some culture. We were going to drink in art museums and classical music, maybe even some historical sights. Well, we have gone swimming frequently and eaten a lot of ice cream. Does that count as culture? Luckily, I found two great books at our library that don't quite serve as a substitute for a trip to an art museum but have engaged all three of my kids. Katy Friedland and Marla K. Shoemaker's A is for Art Museum is terrific. It is, as the title suggests, an alphabet book, and it presents dozens of pieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A question is posed of each piece as well, helping readers/viewers/art appreciators think about the art. For example Modigliani's Portrait of a Polish Woman faces a page that reads, "N is for neck. Here is a lady with a very long neck. Can you stretch your neck like this?" Van Gogh's Sunflowers is used for the letter S. "S is for sunflowers. Vincent van Gogh loved to paint sunflowers. Can you see where he signed his name?" In addition to the question given for each piece in the book, the authors give suggestions to enhance the readers' next museum visit. If we can organize ourselves to go this summer, I've got some great ideas to try with the kids.

My other fun art book discovery is the Touch the Art series of board books featuring famous works of art. We especially loved Pop Warhol's Top. My six year old son Ethan learned about Keith Haring in art class during the school year and made an exuberant picture inspired by his work so it is not surprising that he enjoyed the Keith Haring pages in this book. It makes 20th century art approachable with fuzzy pages and pop up book type action as well as a bit of background information on each piece. Other titles in the Touch the Art series are Brush Mona Lisa's Hair and Make Van Gogh's Bed.

Are You Down? I'm Down

I've got a great, light summer read for adults and older teens out there, Mishna Wolff's I'm Down A Memoir. It's hard to believe that a book which concerns itself with race, poverty, divorce, and identity issues can manage to be a light summer read, but this one does. Without being exploitative, Wolff, a white woman, tells her experience of being raised in a poor urban black neighborhood by her white father who believed he was black. She writes of him, "He strutted around with a short perm, a Cosby-esque sweater, gold chains, and a Kangol-telling jokes like Redd Foxx and giving advice like Jesse Jackson. You couldn't tell my father he was white. Believe me, I tried."
Wolff's entire childhood seemed to be her father trying to make her down. Much of the humor and sadness in this memoir lie in how she fell short of that goal. Being down came much more easily to her younger sister Anora. Both lived with their father when their parents divorced, but eventually the author moved in with her mother and attended an academically rigorous and predominantly white school. This led to further identity conflict. While her situation is certainly unique, Wolff's central story of a girl wanting to belong and to please her parents is universal. For that reason, I think it's a good book to give to a teenager looking for something to read this summer. Plus, it's funny.

Foodie Friday: Cupcakes!

Do you know that there are currently 7,986 different cupcake cookbooks currently in print? No? Well, then you aren't too gullible, but there are many, many cupcake cookbooks out there. The Martha Stewart machine just released one this week. I really would like to like that swirl of chocolate frosting right off its cover. That might raise a few eyebrows in my local bookstore. I haven't checked the book out yet other than casually flipping through it.
What I have sampled is the recipe for Lemon Coconut Snowballs (heaven on earth!) from Elinor Klivas' Cupcakes!
My sister has made them twice recently causing me to twice make a spectacle of myself in the over-indulgence department. Cupcakes! is a great little recipe book with gorgeous photos and clear instructions. I particularly like my sister's copy as it has some batter drips on the pages, the true mark of a successful baking book.
Cupcakes are enjoying a bit of a moment in the sun right now. I've seen ice cream cakes in cupcake size at the grocery store, visited many cupcake-themed blogs, and nearly tripped over the stacks of cupcake cookbooks at the bookstore. They are indulgent without going overboard, whimsical, evocative of childhood, and hopefully, delicious. They are also probably in my near future as I'm getting hungrier with each word I type about them!

On Language

First, let me say the title of this post is facetious. I think we can all agree that I am no William Safire.

I do, however, have a heightened interest in all things etymological and lexicographical of late. Perhaps this is because I've been reading Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Perhaps it is because I unknowingly used a derogatory racial term to describe my brother who was quick to point out the error. He also once informed me that the name of a piece of jewelry I was discussing is a sex act. The lesson here is that I clearly move in politer circles than he does. And you're never too old to learn something new, I suppose.

My six year old son just learned an important new word a few weeks ago. He was describing a woman who was visiting his school, saying she has "huge bras." Huge bras? How would he know, I asked. He made that gesture where both arms were extended in front of him chest high with his hands facing inward and curved. "Those are breasts," my nine year old daughter informed him sotto voce, "and you shouldn't be talking about them." I have replayed it in my mind dozens of times and it makes me guffaw repeatedly.

I learned a new word this week, and it's my favorite kind, British slang. I love trainers, puddings, being knackered and gobsmacked, and queues. Actually, I think this one should be called Irish slang as I learned it from a neighbor who is from Ireland. We were both working as volunteers at our kids' field day. My lovely Irish neighbor told me she had been forced to drive home and change her shoes because her daughter insisted they were too "naff" to wear. I may not be a William Safire, but I could figure out that naff means uncool or tacky. I did, of course, look it up as soon as I arrived home to confirm that. I laughed out loud at this this one, delighted at a new word I can use to impress Madonna should we ever meet. Although I think she's a bit off the British since the split from Guy Ritchie. I also laughed because the story which introduced me to "naff" made me think of another brother of mine. If his kids ever told him his shoes were too naff to wear in front of their classmates, he would go home and return with the ugliest (naffest? naffiest?) footwear he could contrive, maybe tube socks with flip flops. This is a dad who calls his kids' school lunches their "lunch sacks" just to bug them, as in "Kids, don't forget to put your lunch sacks in your backpacks!" It gets an eye roll every time. Ah, words!

Foodie Friday: Feed Me with Stories

What makes a great cookbook? Easy to follow instructions, obtainable ingredients, lots of photographs, and a large font are all important. I suppose tasty recipes help too, but my favorite part of a cookbook is its stories. I love the history of a recipe. What inspired it? Where did the author first eat or create it? Did she us artichokes because that was all she had in her pantry? Did his grandmother make this particular chicken soup when he was sick as a child? Did her Indian nanny have these nuts as an after school snack? It's the back story that sells me on trying a recipe. Many of the cookbooks I read come from the new nonfiction shelf at my town's public library. When a new one comes in, I will flip through the pages. The longer the paragraph after the title and before the list of ingredients for each recipe, the more likely I am to check out the book.

I looked through the cookbooks on my home bookshelves to share a favorite this Foodie Friday and I found one with lots of good stories and tidbits. It is River Run Cookbook by Jimmy and Maya Kennedy and Marialisa Calta with a forward by David Mamet. Yes, that David Mamet. River Run is a tiny restaurant in rural Vermont with some very loyal local patrons, including Mamet. The menu of the restaurant and the contents of this book are largely Southern comfort favorites with Northern touches. There's Fried Catfish, Grits, Pulled Pork, Coca Cola Cake, and a number of items featuring black-eyed peas to name a few. I'm not a fan of black-eyed peas, but I'm still a big fan of this book. It gives the reader a sense of the small town community from whence it came. Where the recipes originated and/or which customers and employees favor them are revealed along with lots of black and white pictures.

Flipping through River Run Cookbook, I spotted a recipe for "Really Big Buttermilk Biscuits" that I've never tried. As I have a few cups of buttermilk in the fridge, purchased to make some lovely lemon raspberry muffins on Mother's Day, I think I'll give it a go. I do love me some biscuits! I'll let you know how they turn out. Hopefully that'll be a story with a happy ending.

One of These Books Makes Me Feel Kinda Yucky

Friday evening after dinner, I played wiffle ball in the front yard with my three children. It was a warm night with lots of laughter and we had about an hour of fun until the mosquitoes really got busy and drove us inside. I was the pitcher the entire time. My sons noticed that my cheering gets louder and more enthusiastic when my daughter is at bat than when they are. They weren't complaining, just observing, and sweetly followed my lead of "atta girl" and exhorting her to "show 'em where you live," "show that ball who's boss," and from my six year old "whack the dingleberries out of it!" God forgive me, but dingleberry is his new favorite word. When my boys are at the plate, I tend only to comment on their extraordinary hits. Why the discrepancy, I've wondered all weekend long. Perhaps because my sons don't need my encouragement to swing like there's no tomorrow. They do everything like there's no tomorrow. They'd rather swing hard and miss than just stand there. My daughter waits for the perfect pitch and even then is nice to the ball. She doesn't really whack it. She's a girl who always lets others go first and when she's interrupted says "never mind" or "it's not important" about her ideas. I don't want that for her. I want her to fight for what she wants, to attack life, to never back down or bow out. I'm filled with guilt that I may have taught her to discount herself by the fact of my stay-at-home momhood. I've been at home full time for her entire life and I worry about it. I worry that she hasn't heard me tell tales of daily struggles and triumphs in the workplace. I worry that the only financial contribution she sees me make to the family is writing out the checks to pay our bills and clipping coupons. Even when I remind myself that staying at home allowed me to take her to years of speech therapy and her baby brother to physical therapy for the first eighteen months of his life, to volunteer scores of hours in her class, to chaperone dozens of field trips, to be the one who cared for her when she was sick, clapped for her during school performances, and help with homework, still I worry. So you would think that Dr. Laura Sclessinger's latest book, In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms would make me feel better, but it doesn't. Probably because I'm inclined to dislike Dr. Laura. She insists that mothers should stay at home full time for the sake of their children and that in the first three years of life the best caretaker of a baby is the body it came out of and the breast it sucked at. That is a not too loose paraphrase. When asked in a recent Wall Street Journal interview at what point she advises mothers to go back to work, Dr. Laura said, "The answer is never." Yikes! She feels mothers should be home whenever their kids are. I don't buy that. In fact, I think the experience I had of babysitting my younger sister on afternoons when my own mom was at work helped make me a good parent. Not a good stay-at-home parent, just a good parent. There's so much to be gained from the example of a working mom as well. I feel much better about having recently read Emma Gilbey Keller's The Comeback. In it she presents seven stories of women who went from career to stay at home parenting and back to their careers. This book was encouraging because I also worry that nobody will want to hire me after all these years home. ( Clearly, I'm a worrier. Don't get me started on children choking, driving on icy roads, thin ice, insufficient sunscreen application, and head injuries!) The Comeback is interesting in that these seven women, and actually the author herself, had very different situations, and all were able to go back to satisfying careers after years at home with the kids. It eases fears about on ramps and off ramps and becoming obsolete. I had quite a bit to obsess over this Mother's Day weekend, but I'm glad it ended on a high note with The Comeback.

Greetings and Readings from the Garden State

Perhaps I've mentioned that my family likes to spot license plates when we are on car trips. On our recent drive from New Jersey to Washington DC to West Virginia and back home, we listed over thirty different state plates we saw. As my kids have been doing this for years you would think we know all about the fifty nifty United States by now. However, there's always more trivia to learn. For his recent tenth birthday, my mom gave my son a great source of more state facts, Greetings from the 50 States:How They Got Their Names written by Sheila Keenan and illustrated by Selina Alko. It is colorful, interesting, and devotes one map and one page of text to each state. The book provides just enough information to entertain without overwhelming. I like that it includes how each state got its name and nickname(s). I've always known that Ohio is the Buckeye state and Oklahoma the Sooner state, but now I know why. Greetings from the 50 States is terrific for the middle grade reader interested in nonfiction, geography, or headed out on a road trip soon.