Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Has anyone seen the 2015 Reading Challenge put out by Popsugar?  A friend of mine from RI shared it on FB at the beginning of the year, and I’ve been trying to work through it–even though having a baby in February pretty much ensures that I won’t be able to finish.  My friend Britt found Anna Elizabeth Bennett’s Little Witch for me when I was looking for a book by an author with my initials, and I finished it last night.  And it is, indeed, odd–but cute.

Part of the oddness comes from being a bit dated; it was published in 1953, and life was just a tad different then (not to mention children’s literature and fantasy in general).  It also, however, sacrificed some character consistency in favor of a cute ending.  I doubt anyone in its target audience will care, but I had an ‘alrighty then!’ kind of moment when I finished it.

Still, the premise is cute and the story is fun.  Minikin is a 9-year-old witch’s child who wants desperately to make friends, go to school, and live a normal life.  Instead, her witch mother is mean to her and turns people from the town into flowerpots that sit on her windowsill.  Minikin–Minx, for short–finally gets up the courage to go to school, however, and that starts a chain reaction with surprising (and satisfactory!) results.

If you don’t read that much children’s literature and are only interested in the very best, I don’t know that you need to pick up this one.  If you enjoy children’s literature, on the other hand, this is a fun, fast-paced, fairly short read.  Keep it in mind as Halloween approaches!

In no particular order…

1.  It looks like we’re getting a new bathtub for Christmas…3 months early.
2. My baby’s ears looked good at the pediatrician’s today.  It’s not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that it means her symptoms are likely teething, and may thus go on FOREVER.
3. I’m liking the Limited Edition Caramel Apple Oreos.  They’d be bizarre if they weren’t golden Oreos, though.
4. Monday holidays completely destroy my sense of what day it is for the rest of the week.
5. I went for a walk in the neighborhood tonight, just to drop something by a neighbor’s house, and fall is in the evening air.  The sheer wonder of it thrilled me!
6. AND I’m looking forward, rather desperately, to winter as well.  Between the pregnancy and last year’s non-winter in Utah, I feel like I’ve been hot for a year and a half.

I’ve clicked through more than one series of ‘Reasons my kid is crying’ pictures on FB; chances are, if you’re a parent and ON FB, you have, too.  After all, moments like my own son’s microburst of tears at the breakfast table yesterday–because we wouldn’t let him lick the butter out of the container–are easier when we remember that all kids have such moments.  I was, therefore, kind of excited when I saw on my library website that Greg Pembroke, who created Reasons My Son is Crying, had a book out, so on hold it went.

If you haven’t seen any of the picture collections, or the website, or the book, well, the premise is pretty simple.  People (especially Pembroke) post pictures of their toddlers during their tantrums, along with the catalysts for said tantrums.  (I was going to say reasons, but really, sometimes the reason is that your child is overtired.  Or in a bad mood.  Or, you know, TWO.)  The book gave me lots of reasons to giggle, with pictures of tears over everything from spills to terribly unreasonable rules, (like ‘you can’t eat an entire tube of diaper rash cream’); Pembroke also included occasional anecdotes better served by words rather than pictures.  All in all, if you’ve seen several of the FB lists, half the pictures may not be new to you, but they’re still good for a laugh.

Check it out someday when you need just that.

Last night I finished William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back, by Ian Doescher, and OH.  MY. GOSH.  I know I said that the first installment in the trilogy was hilarious, but I really think this one was even better.  The banter between Leia and Han is just that much more fun in iambic pentameter, and the comic relief scene between two guards discussing Imperial building codes…ahh.  (I made my hubby read that one before I went on, since he was sitting next to me.)  What I possibly liked best, though, was rediscovering the movie’s best running joke.  My dad hates sad endings, and so while I’d seen the 1st and 3rd movies more than once when I was pretty young, I didn’t see ‘Empire’ until later, and therefore haven’t seen it as many times as the others.  I’d forgotten how many times the hyperdrive fails, and Han’s (and then Lando’s) response is “it’s not my fault!”  Even after they finally make the jump into light speed, however, the book still ends with a bang.  (Tiny spoiler–the Chorus makes good use of the phrase ‘by George’.)  Bottom line?  I loved it.  I love both the idea of the trilogy AND the execution.

Don’t miss these.

My sister’s former in-laws lived in the same town I did when I was growing up; I haven’t seen them for years, but I have them to thank for the Chicken Kiev recipe we enjoyed tonight.  (As well as a carrot recipe so good I called her former mother-in-law for it–a year after the divorce.  Getting that recipe was TOTALLY worth the five minutes of considerable awkwardness.)  It’s one of the few recipes I brought to our marriage that my hubby really enjoys (he’s more of a steak and dessert kind of guy), and while it’s not exactly health food, it’s delicious.  (Two words:  Butter Sauce.)  I haven’t the faintest idea what it has to do with Kiev, but here it is.  Try it.

You’ll love it.

Chicken Kiev

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (NOT the Dolly Parton size)

2/3 C butter

1/2 C fine dry bread crumbs (I buy the Italian seasoned for this)

2 T Parmesan cheese (you want the canned kind–it’s easier to work with here)

1 t basil

1 t oregano

1/2 t granulated garlic

1/2 t salt

3/4 C apple juice

1/4 C chopped green onion (it needn’t be finely chopped)

1/4 C chopped parsley

Lightly spray the bottom of an 8 by 12 pan…or whatever the size just smaller than a 9 by 13 is.  Melt the butter.  Mix crumbs and seasonings in a shallow container.  Dip the chicken pieces in the butter (reserving what remains), roll them in the crumbs, and lay them in your pan.  Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or so, until golden brown and chicken is tender.  Combine remaining butter with juice, green onions, and parsley (I throw in any leftover crumbs as well).  Pour over the chicken and return to the oven until the sauce bubbles (you’ve got to cook the traces of raw chicken in it).  Serve with rice; peas make an excellent side.

This is good stuff, folks.  The crumb mixture smells amazing (it tastes pretty darn good, too).  I was wondering aloud to my oldest why we hadn’t had it in so long when I remembered–oh, yeah.  Cooking chicken made me ill during my last pregnancy.

Dark times, I tell you.  That’s all in the past, though, and it was lovely to have this again.

If I had to, I’d call my sister’s former mother-in-law for this one, too.