On the Book Pile

Do you have a book pile by the bed?

I do along with a magazine pile and a catalog pile. There is no end to these things. And yet, I love it all. One magazine has a picture of how I want my hair highlighted the next time I get it done. A few catalogs show outfits I would like to own.

I also have books I am currently reading or have read and would like to read again. Then there is the pile of books I need to take over to the paperback book store to add credit to my account and buy more books.

Some of the books by my bedside are the books we read at bedtime. Dr. Seuss and other favorites gather around. My seven-year-old has been getting books about the planets and weather events from the library which is always fun. These two books are ones we have read recently. One is almost 20 years old (and still a lot of fun). The other is a newer book.

Image from AuthorHouse

I was recently sent a review copy of The Year the Snow Didn’t Melt by Dr. William Kirmes by AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Indiana to review. It is a small book, about 27 pages long. The pictures are worked in solid bold colors and fun in their depictions of snow falling all year-long.

The story is about a town that gets an early snowfall in October. The snow lasts through the winter and does not go away when the spring months arrive. Nor does the snow go away when summer comes around as well.

My children liked the story, found images of people playing baseball in the snow funny, and enjoyed the idea of ice cream cones lasting longer.

When I was cleaning up around the house I found The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. We received it through the RIF program at our school but it was published around 1993. There have been several re-tellings of old fairy tales and this one is just as clever and insightful as many of those.

Image from Barnes and Noble.com

Here we find that the three little wolves are being put in the world by their mother. They build wonderfully strong homes but the Big, Bad Pig destroys each and every one. Then one day they decide to try a different tack with the Pig.

Does it work? Well, you are going to have to read the book to find out. I find that this book tells a good story and makes the wolves likeable. Their creativity along with a real love for each other is something that the classic story does not always give to the readers. In any case, if you happen upon this book expect to have a good time.

Now a note for adults. Chick Lit Plus ran a challenge this year to encourage her readers to read twelve books in the Chick Lit genre, including two by debut authors. She enjoyed it so much that she is doing it again this year. I have already signed up and she is asking those who did sign up to tell others.

So if you are interested in taking a reading challenge, here is your chance.

What have you been reading lately?

No Punch Bug Back!

Last week, WordPress decided to freshly press a post with a picture of a Volkswagen. It was a good-looking teeny-tiny picture and I wanted to see it bigger. Too bad my computer would not let me. The other thing that came to my head was “Dang it! Now I cannot do the post I was planning on doing about VW Bugs.”

But you know me. Why let someone else’s good fortune stop me from doing what I really want. I mean, in no way is this a “hey, look at me. I am doing the same thing as them and they were freshly pressed last week” kind of post. I am actually telling a story of sorts and they have more pictures than I do. Go back to compare and contrast. Explain in the comment area. (Just kidding, I really do not want essay answers.)

Now, do you remember that game of punching your companion in the arm whenever you see a Volkswagen Beetle? You yell “No Punch Bug Back” so they cannot hit you in the arm. Don’t say it and your arm is open season.

2006 Volkswagen Beetle; Image from Carmax

Who can forget, especially if you have a 14-year-old in the crowd who knows how to punch the part of your arm that has the least amount of fat.

Owww, that hurts.

In our town there are two beetles of the newer variety. One is dark blue and the other is a cream color. In an effort to stop fighting in the car one day, I saw one coming and yelled out “Punch Bug, No Punch Bug Back” as I tapped the closest kid on the leg.

This was great! Kids went ‘what?’ and hands went flying. Kids started keeping an eye out for the rounded car and hitting each other.

Sometimes, we yell out the color so there is no confusion. The seven-year-old ran with this game. He was on the watch at all times. Chances are he will see one before the rest of us.  The ten-year-old, however, got tired of being on the receiving end of her older brother’s punches.

They really do hurt.

Picture by Alvimann

She took herself out of the game then had to yell that she wasn’t in the game anymore every time they tried to hit her. I got her back in by playing with me when it was only us in the car. Later I had to set the rule that the punches had to be gentle and not bone-jarring.

Call me the no-fun mom, if you will. But once I did that, the game became fun again.

Without the threat of punches hard enough to make your bones wish you still weighed more than you should for that extra protective layer of fat, the game became a pleasurable distraction from what was another boring trip to run endless errands.

 And it is one of those games you can play in the car while traveling. Which would you rather have – kids fighting because they are bored and miserable OR kids hitting each other because they spotted a VW Bug. Alex, I will take VW Bug for $500, please.

The funny thing is I see these bugs all over the place these days. I see them with convertible tops and without. I see red and silver and black. Sometimes, I even see old ones that remind my husband how his first car was a bug. I think about how in the winter they took forever to warm up. Brrrr.

2002 Beetle, Image from Carmax

Now that they are popular again, it is easier to play this game. And the ten-year-old says she wants her first car to be a VW. I told her to start saving her money now. The thing is, I think by the time she is ready to drive, she will have that money because she likes saving up for stuff. And you have to admit, it is a cool-looking car.

Punch Bug Red! No Punch Bug Back!

Feasting and Shopping and Watching

Family Movie Night

 

by Karyn Bowman

 

This week is Thanksgiving.

 

Image by Jzlomek

At the quiet moments we are trying to remember why we are thankful. We are happy for having a job, having a roof over our head and the ability to put on this meal. We are thankful for healthy kids and good enough health for ourselves.

 

All of us have friends and relatives going through rough patches – lost jobs or serious health issues. My cousins are mourning the loss of their mother just two Thanksgivings ago. I pray for their hearts to be healed even though I can’t imagine losing my mother yet.

 

In the hustle and bustle of this holiday, there is cooking to be done and favorite dishes to get on the table. Green bean casserole, mashed sweet potatoes, mince meat pie, and pumpkin pie. And don’t forget the whipped cream. Some of you may enjoy the tussle of Black Friday shopping or giving a local business some money on Small Business Saturday.

 

There is no doubt this will be one busy week.

 

It is also the beginning of the holiday season, the ramp up to Christmas and all that goes with it. Band concerts, holiday plays, parties, sports tournaments.

 

So what do you do to relax?

 

When it comes to family watching movies together, it can be tricky. Our whole immediate family loves Kung Fu Panda. Perhaps it is because we like Jack Black but this movie is really fun. My dad is not a big fan and has said “I am not watching a Panda movie.” Fair enough, I say.

 

Finding that middle ground movie can be difficult. My dad likes movies with chase scenes and explosion that I do not appreciate for their language content. Perhaps that is why some holiday movies surpass all of that. They allow all family members to have something everyone can relate to without being too objectionable.

 

 

Poster image from IMDb.com

Movies such as Miracle on 34th Street and What a Wonderful Life are heart warming movies that everyone could watch although I do not think many kids are really interested in the latter movie.

 

That is when you bring out movies such as Elf in which Will Ferrell plays a man who was a foundling that found its way into Santa’s bag and the North Pole. Once he becomes a super-sized adult, Santa lets Buddy the elf know his true heritage and sends him on his way to New York City to find his father.

 

It is a magical movie with a great chase scene and some great comedic moments. Most of it is pretty safe for kids. But here is hoping they do not ask you to decorate the house as fast as Buddy can.

 

Poster image from IMDb.com

There is one movie I would suggest for the weekend is The Nativity Story starring Kasha Castle-Hughes as Mary, the mother of Jesus. Many people will recount how Christ is being taken out of Christmas but how are they keeping him there? I find that when I watch this movie about Mary and her life in the months before the baby Jesus is born, I gain greater understanding of both Mary and Joseph.

 

The movie allows us to better appreciate the times in which Mary and Joseph were living as well as how the dangers of their trip to Bethlehem. Director Catherine Hardwicke put together a rich movie filled with the sights and sounds of the era that recounts a story many of know by heart in parts. The other parts, she has brought to life so that we can imagine these miracles once more.

 

 

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

The Gratitude Shine

I was thinking about writing on thankfulness today with the big holiday coming up.

Perhaps it is a desire to remind myself that - even when I mess up, blow deadlines and have a generally yucky feeling - life is pretty good. My family is healthy, I have a job as does my husband and while we do not have a lot of money we do have enough.

That idea was totally blown out of the water when I read “Gratitude, Shmatitude” at Snide Reply. How right she is that sometimes you have to deal with what is at the moment and gratitude has to wait some days.

The strange thing is that it reminded me of a life lesson found in a Star Trek movie. Spock’s human brother is a healer who takes away the emotional pain that the roughest situations give us. Dr. McCoy in particular has become a believer as he never got over the guilt of taking his father off of life support one week before a cure for McCoy’s father’s illness was discovered.

It is at this moment that Captain Kirk refuses, stating that the worst moments of our lives are what shapes and forms us. Would Dr. McCoy had become a less able doctor if his father’s experience had not propelled him? We need those times to push us and eat at us to make ourselves better.

I am going to think about that as my frozen rock of a turkey slowly thaws and perhaps be cook-able tomorrow. I will think about that as I put up Christmas lights on the warmest Thanksgiving in years. I will think about it all as I watch Miracle on 34th Street for the umpteenth time.

That is not going to stop me from feeling grateful for the good things because I learned long ago there are always going to be people trying to drag you down. Some people are happiest when they are dragging you down. Some people think cynicism is hip when it is really hiding from your own emotions. I have been one of those persons at different times in my life and I am not going back there. If that means I have to shine the light of gratitude to keep from sliding down the slope of despair, I am doing it.

But here is what I am not doing. I am not joining a gratitude group or keeping a gratitude journal. Some days, I will go to bed angrier than a red hen at something stupid the husband has done and forget to think of things that make me grateful. (Like no one else has ever done that.) Nor am I going to force you to state how you feel grateful for something or chide you when life puts you on the negative side of the fence. I have cousins whose mother died two years ago at this time and telling them to be grateful they had her as long as they did is a bit cruel and stupid.

What I am still going to do is be happy for what I do have because as far as I can tell, I have it pretty good. It has not always been easy but my life is easier than a lot of other people. And that makes me feel lucky and good.

If that is gratitude, well, so be it.

The Cinnamon Chips

Last week I talked about making cookies with Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips.

Apparently, they have been around for a while. One of my friends reported eating muffins made with these chips that were very tasty.

I need to find that recipe. In the meantime, I looked on the back of the bag and found a recipe for oatmeal, raisins, cinnamon chip cookies.

Now I know I should not recommend eating  dough because of the raw eggs but the dough was fabulous. Maybe it was the two sticks of butter.

The Batter

Or the cup of brown sugar.

 

I baked them up and the kids who claim to not like raisins were eating the cookies until I told them which cookies were the one with raisins and which had the butterscotch chips.

 

Let me confess that the kids liked those better. It might be the dash of orange flavoring I put in the batter of the butterscotch cookies. When my husband thinks I am not looking, he puts the butterscotch chips in his hunting gorp mixture as well.

 

Still, I really liked the cinnamon chips. So while I was at the Hershey website looking for muffin recipes I found this one for applesauce bars. It looks good and I might have to buy more of these cinnamon chips.

 

I would have a picture of the cookies but they have all been eaten. Maybe next time.

What new baking products are you trying?

Preparing for the Feast

Family Movie Night

by Karyn Bowman

Next week, many of us will be working in our kitchens, preparing dishes for the big meal.

Some of us are only making one dish to take to a family gathering. If that is me, I am bringing my corn pudding or bread pudding. Perhaps you are bringing pies or biscuits or a fruit dish or the cheese and crackers.

Maybe you are making the whole meal – turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, relish tray, deviled eggs and pies. Pumpkin, apple, mince meat, and pecan. Maybe a French silk or banana cream arrives as well.

In the meantime, how-a-bout watching some movies that are food-based?

Image from IMDb.com

One movie I think about before Thanksgiving is Tortilla Soup. But that is a Mexican soup, you are thinking. I know but there is one scene in which the Hector Elizondo character is cutting open a medium-sized pumpkin, cleaning it out and then carving an intricate design so that the pumpkin can be used as a soup tureen.

The story is about a Los Angeles chef and widower who has lost his ability to smell. His three daughters live at home and are at different stages of life. The one constant is the big meal they share every week with dishes that are wonderful and difficult. These meals have announcements and drama. Promotions and relationships are announced.

I love how Elizondo creates a character that is fierce and loving and gentle. But the food you will see in this movie is incredible.

Image from IMDb.com

What you may not know is that Tortilla Soup is a remake of the Taiwanese movie Eat, Drink, Man, Woman directed by Ang Lee. The story focuses on a chef who has lost his sense of taste. His three daughters live at home and deal with their mercurial father as best they can while juggling work and relationship issues.

Every Sunday, he makes a huge meal that has many dishes. But the daughters notice that they are over spiced and no amount of telling him seems to make a difference. One by one, the girls leave because of different events in their lives. The emotions are right at the surface, always tangible, always intriguing. You will have to read the captions as this movie is not dubbed in English but do not let that turn you away.

Image from IMDb.com

Finally, a movie that I love for the food is Big Night starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub as Italian brothers who have a restaurant in New York. Shalhoub is a gifted chef who cannot stand cooking for people who only want spaghetti. A competitor tells them he can get the musician Louis Prima to visit their restaurant and it will put them on the map.

So the brothers use the last of their money and prepare a feast, a grand feast. There are many dishes and tastes. It is spectacular. But there is treachery and drama. Love is found and love is lost. The brothers fight and manage and do what they must.

These are wonderful movies to watch and they make one want to learn all of these different style of cuisine. I can almost smell that soup in the pumpkin tureen. While these movies may not be suitable for the youngest members of the family, I find those who are older might enjoy them more.

 What movies about food do you like to watch?

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Potato Cheese Soup – Made My Way

Last week, I raved about my crockpot. How with this one piece of cooking equipment, I am a goddess in the kitchen.

I am capable of making sauces that make you cry with joy. I can bake wonderful cookies and bread pudding and so much more from scratch. So while I know real cooks read my blogs, make snarky comments to themselves or in the comment section while wondering how does a poor person like this live with themselves, I know I am capable of cooking real food.

What I love making more than anything is comfort food. I am talking about food you want to eat on a cold day that is nowhere near to being healthy. Memphis corn pudding, rich soups, bread pudding,  chicken breasts in various cream and wine sauces, stuffed shells swimming in tomato sauce. When I have fruit I put them in muffins and cakes. I want to master oriental noodle dishes because my oldest loves them.  

So today’s recipe is another recipe I make in my crockpot. I tend to put things in the pot without measurement. I went to my deli and bought a slab of boiled ham about 1/2 thick. I also bought an onion and beer. At the house I already had potatoes, cheddar and swiss cheese, and some rosemary.

Potato and ham

First things first, I diced the onion and began to saute it in the pan. Next came diced bits of the ham. While the onions are becoming clear, I begin to peel and dice seven potatoes. All are placed in the crockpot. I then add enough water to just below the top of the potatoes and place on the cover. This part ofthe concoction sits on high for a few hours. We do some errands, take the dog for a walk and return home. The potatoes are beginning to break up. I add some rosemary that I crush by hand.

The Cheeses and Beer

I leave things alone for awhile and make cookie dough with cinnamon chips. Then I begin making oatmeal schotchies with dough I made earlier. I stir the soup again, breaking up more of the potato. This is when I add the beer. I leave the lid off of the bubbling mass so the alcohol can cook out a bit. Twenty or so minutes later I am adding 1/2 cup each of grated cheddar and swiss cheeses. I serve the soup soon after that.

Well, some people complain that they do not like this soup. Others are overjoyed that their favorite soup is being made this week. One of our guests asks for seconds. Not a single bowl came back with any soup left.

What matters most is that on a day that got colder as time went on is that there was a wonderfully soul-warming  soup ready for supper.

Living in the Face of Evil

I began writing this post last week. I wanted time to think about every word, time to say things that would later be deleted. But I wanted to know at some point it would be posted, that I wrote how I felt about an evil situation while trying to understand. I am nowhere near to understanding, I might be farther away than I was last week. But this is where I am at this moment on this topic. 

 

Last week, we found out just how horribly a person can operate under the guise of running a charity meant to help kids.

 

Jerry Sandusky, former linebacker coach at Penn State, was indicted by the Grand Jury for 40 counts of alleged sexual child abuse. I need to say ‘alleged’ because he has only been charged so far and not convicted. As we learn more and more about the charges, when you read the actual report, it is sickening.

 

Thanks to Sandusky, every single one of us who work with youth in any capacity are being given a second look because he seemed like a great guy. Here was someone who was well liked and trusted by people. And yet he was a monster that people had seen doing horrible things.

 

Over the weekend, I read columns blaming the coaches, the parents, and those who purposely went after a group of children in a poor socio-economic group – figuring that this group would not make a fuss. The truth is that is only somewhat correct. Not all parents sat back, some reported what happened. A high school staff member made the mandated call. People made reports as they were required. That it took the Grand Jury three years to investigate might mean they had to make sure they had all of the facts right before they stepped into the world controlled by this man and Joe Paterno, aka JoePa.

 

Various Penn State staff members reported what they saw. Fear of losing their jobs might have made them reluctant to talk to more than their supervisor. One person who testified reported seeing Sandusky drive by the building several times, up until 2 in the morning, on a night he was seen doing wrong as if searching for the person who saw him.

 

After listening to a recent This American Life episode called “Petty Tyrant” about Steve Raucci in Schenectady, New York, I feel as if I understand some of the fear the Penn State employees would feel, knowing they would have to go against JoePa’s friend. Not that the lack of action is justified. But it does point out the atmosphere of fear and what it does to people.

 

I have known not one but two child abusers. The first was a security guard at my alma mater. A year after I left school, it was discovered he was raping both of his daughters. His wife was aware of it but did nothing to stop the behavior. Only because one of his daughters bravely reported the abuse did it stop with his arrest.

 

The other abuser was a neighbor. He was charming and friendly, approachable. He and his family were grounded Christians. We were not close friends but our families had a meal or two together. I never suspected, the radar didn’t go off. Then I saw a story in our local newspaper that he has been arrested.

 

He was acquitted. A year or so later they moved away. A year or two after that, he shares pictures through the internet with someone in another state. Now he is arrested by the feds because he crossed one line too many. The feds break into his house with a battering ram. After another year, his wife makes the decision to divorce him, change her last name and the kids’ to her maiden name and move back to her parents’ home in another state.

 

Abusers work to gain the trust and then separate their victims so that they can take advantage. The security guard isolated his girls. Our neighbor held sleepovers at his house like Sandusky did. Unlike Sandusky, our neighbor did not have friends in high places that could protect him.

 

Expect this case to get worse. More victims have come forward, the last total I heard being 17. Questions are going to be asked about a missing DA who disappeared in 2005; they found his empty car, and his laptop with notes on the case was at the bottom of a river. We are going to find out more sickening details as time goes on.

 

In the end, the best case scenario is that this will be one of the worst examples of the 1% taking advantage of their power and money to victimize members of the 99%. But if the rumors of grooming kids for donors are true, the worst could be a human trafficking case involving a top echelon university and a charity whose mission was to help kids at risk.

 

I wonder what I would have done in the face of evil. I hope the right thing and that I would do it without a second thought. After I threw up.

Dancer and Ganster

Family Movie Night

by Karyn Bowman

The other week, I came across an old clip of Bob Hope and James Cagney on YouTube. They were tap dancing on a table in a Men’s Club, not a strip joint but a real men’s club.

 

It is from the movie The Seven Little Foys (1955) about Eddie Foy and his seven children who could dance. Cagney makes an appearance in the movie but he refuses to be paid. Apparently, Eddie Foy would regularly feed those actors and dancers who were poorly paid. Cagney was in that group and felt he was repaying Foy for his kindness.

However, that is not all we know about Cagney. 

“You dirty rat, you” is perhaps the most famous phrase associated with Cagney. It comes from his days of being a gangster in movies in the early 1930s. The movie that typifies this era is Public Enemy when Cagney shoves a grapefruit half in Mae Clark’s face during a pique of anger.

James Cagney, Image from IMDb.com

He would represent all that was rough and ragged in the bootleg era with this movie, setting the standard for gangster movies. The strange thing is Cagney never said that phrase. According to Cagney himself, he said (perhaps jokingly) “Judy, Judy, Judy” which is attributed to Cary Grant.

While Cagney did many of these types of movies, he also performed in musicals and was a good hoofer. The first was Something to Sing About in 1937 in which the tagline was “A Cagney You Have Not Seen! Dancing…Romancing and Packing a Real Wallop!”

Five years later, Cagney would portray George M. Cohen (writer of the songs “Over There” and “You’re A Grand Old Flag”) in the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy in 1942. This movie has many memorable scenes but one of the best may be when Cagney tap dances down the stairway in the White House. It is a simple moment that was ad-libbed by Cagney but the director loved it, keeping the piece in the movie.

 

This movie would give Cagney his only Oscar win. Pearl Harbor occurred during the time of filming this movie. Cagney is reported to tell the crew on the first day back that more than ever it was important to do their best, that America needed to be bolstered during these hard times. 

Cagney would continue acting until 1961. His last movie was One, Two Three about a Coca-Cola executive in Berlin who is trying to introduce the soft drink to the Russians while preventing his boss’ daughter from marrying a communist. This will not do for one of the biggest companies in capitalist America. It is a tour de force for Cagney.

After this, Cagney appeared in about four movies until his death in 1986. He stated he had lost his enthusiasm for acting and decided to leave it.

Cagney was one of the best actors ever to grace Hollywood’s movie sets. During his career, he was only overshadowed by Clark Gable. Most of his movies are tame by today’s standards and can be watched by most in the family.

Makes me want to find one to watch and remember his talent.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Cooking All Day

Product Thursday

I have been delinquent in sharing items on Product Thursday. Nothing has sparked a compulsion to write glowing commentary or a furious outpouring of disgust.

However, today I am sharing the secret to my cooking success – besides the ability to make stuffed shells that makes my kids want to eat spinach.

That secret is my crockpot. Actually, I have three crockpots in different sizes. And what has become absolutely essential with any crockpot is the removable inner pot. Our middle sized one does not have that option which makes clean-up a real pain. You cannot submerge that crockpot or you will ruin the heating element.

The short of the long is always go for a crockpot that has a removable inner crock bowl.

 When I received the little one, I have to admit I did not think it was going to do much. It looked great for cheese dips but I could not think of anything else to do with it.

Raw pumpkin is cooking down in that picture.

But now it serves as my favorite sloopy joe pot, perfect for about 1 & 1/2 pounds of meat and sauce. Busy days when I have to feed a big group of people are made easier with this little baby.

In the picture, I am cooking down pumpkin I had recently scraped out of carving pumpkins. I later used that cooked pumpkin for pumpkin cake.

For our January gathering, I am thinking about using it for fondue but first I must find a good recipe. I am willing to hear any suggestions.

My other crock pots get used for soups and roast beef. Recently I displayed a picture of my big silver crockpot making Tortilla Soup.

But I also use it for Italian Sausage Soup, Potato Cheese Soup and Pot roast so tender and wonderful that you do not need a knife.

During the heat of the summer, we used it to make pulled pork. That required 12 hours of cooking of the meat alone before the seasoning stage. But the kitchen did not get heated up and we ate like kings on a hot, hot day.

Recently, my neice shared a recipe for carne guisada with me. Slow cooked beef in spices typical from the Hispanic culture. It works well as both taco meat and chilli meat. So, yes, I am making it soon, in the crockpot.

Editor’s Note: I was requested to put up recipes I have used in the crock pot so here are a couple of  links to past postings of my cooking adventures with the crockpot.

Sunday Roast Beef

What to do with those leftover tortillas