Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Okay, okay, so the pun might be slightly lame, but I have finally finished The American Plate:  A Culinary History in 100 Bites.  It’s the sort of book that lends itself to being read in small chunks, so it’s been residing in my bathroom drawer for, well, months.  (Judge me if you will, but when you’re a stay-at-home mom, stealing enough time for a page or two a few times a day can do wonders for your sanity.  In retrospect, perhaps that’s why my parents always took longer in the bathroom than it seemed like they should have…)

My sister actually recommended this one to me, and overall, it was an enjoyable read.  O’Connell is sometimes heavy-handed with her social commentary, but the occasional hilarity of her regular commentary balances that out decently well.  (The section on beaver tail made me laugh out loud.)  Some of her “bites” were more general than I might have preferred, but much of her information was fascinating.  Ultimately, it’s a great book for a food lover to read in snatches.  And if you try any of the recipes, let me know how they are!

I started Full of Beans because I assumed it was a sequel to Jennifer L. Holm’s Turtle in Paradise (which I thoroughly enjoyed).  It was quickly apparent, however, that that wasn’t really it at all, and so I spent most of the book considering it a companion novel.  Different protagonists, same setting–it looked like a duck (so to speak), and so I assumed (which, of course, one should never do) that that’s what it was.  It took until the very end for me to realize that it’s actually closer to a prequel, which tempts me to re-read Turtle in a quest for new insights.  (Because, you know, I need more books on my to-read list.)

I have no issue with varying relationships between and among books at all, mind–I just didn’t look closely enough at this one initially.  Thankfully, it didn’t make much difference to my enjoyment of it.  Beans is a prickly but (ultimately) lovable character, and the story intertwined with his–the salvation of Key West during the Depression–was a fascinating one about which I knew absolutely nothing.  Jennifer L. Holm’s genius lies, in part, in her ability to use her family history as literary inspiration, and it’s won her more than one Newbery Award.  If you like historical fiction, make it a point to read hers.

You won’t be disappointed.

It’s been a full day, actually, but kudos to my hubby for giving our toddler her second dose of ear drops himself, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my RI friend Kim, my UT friend BethAnne, my wonderful father, and my gone-but-never-forgotten friend Lisa, who is probably winning Monopoly games by the score up in heaven (under slightly suspicious circumstances).

AND, of course, hooray for the ALA Youth Media Awards!  The full list of winners is here, and I’m sorry to say that I’ve only read two books on the entire list. Never fear, however–all four Newberys are already on hold, and I’ll load up on some of the kids’ books as soon as I can return all of the books on the Donner Party I put on hold for my oldest girl’s History Fair project.  In the meantime, take a look yourself, give something new a try, and let me know what you think!

Tonight’s regularly planned post will be postponed until tomorrow, because the American Library Association’s annual Youth Media Awards webcast is tomorrow morning at 8:00 am–Eastern.  Watch it here!  I myself am torn between wanting to watch it and hoping to still be asleep…

Last night I finished The Camelot Caper, a mystery Britt lent me that’s been sitting on my shelf for years.  (At least five, probably more.)  I don’t read many mysteries any more, but I have to say–this one was a lot of fun.  It sticks you right in the middle of quite the menacing atmosphere, but the comic relief shows up quickly enough to balance that; luckily, that same comic relief and the quirkiness of the characters rescues it from its dips into gender stereotypes.  (I’m not overly picky about that sort of thing, mind, but some of the dips did make me roll my eyes.  I suppose one must make allowances for a book first published in 1969!)

Overall, if you’re fond of an English mystery, this one is definitely worth checking out.  I find myself wondering if there are sequels…

I was tempted to be lazy about everything today, but if I’m just laying around sick (except when my children need me), then I might as well review a book and get it out of my house, right?  Anyway.  My friend Andrea picked Shanna Swendson’s Rebel Mechanics:  All is Fair in Love and Revolution for book club a few months ago, and I finally grabbed it as I hopped onto the treadmill.  I figured I’d do an in-depth skim (so to speak), since it’s less my thing, but–surprise surprise!–I ended up very much enjoying it.

The premise is intriguing; what if the British upper classes had magic, and what if that magic had squashed the colonies’ rebellion in 1776?  And what IF, in 1888, a new rebellion surfaces, based upon the use of new inventions (like the steam engine!) that will ease the colonists’ dependence on magic?  Enter Verity Newton, newly hired governess for a somewhat atypical magister (magical upper class) family who happens to meet some of the rebel mechanics on the way to her (successful) job interview.  Drawn by both their cause and the interesting political leanings of her employer, Verity must work out her own path in the midst of the turmoil.  (Just so you know, we’re blaming any and all cliches in this post on the cough syrup with codeine.)

I have to say, the book had me worried for awhile; I was afraid it was heading too far down the rabbit hole of immediate connection young adult romance.  The plot went a bit differently than I feared, however, and I ended up being quite satisfied with the ending.  Bottom line?  If this sounds like your thing, read it.  If it doesn’t but you have a passion for history, give it a try as well.  You may well be as pleasantly surprised as I was!

I’m thinking my littlest and I both have the flu–as in influenza,  you understand–and it stinks.  The aches, the fevers and chills, the slightly upset stomach, the tired (oh, the tired!), and yet my children still want to eat, and laundry must be done if we want clean clothes…ugh.  And since there’s a limit to what I can just not do when I feel icky, I’m making cuts where I can.  You’ll get the review of my latest book another day, friends.

Signing off.

You know how it is when you’re feeding a family–it’s rarely worth making recipes that no one loves as much as you do.  Rarely,  you understand.  Sometimes, however, a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.  None of my children enjoy this Bacon Tortellini Bake as much as I do, and my hubby is a potato rather than a pasta man, but since I love it, and no one actually despises it, it came up in the dinner lottery this week.  And seriously–it’s creamy, it’s cheesy, it’s bacon-y, and it’s got broccoli–what’s not to love?  (My oldest would say the cheese tortellini, my second would say the broccoli…whatever!)  I use half of a Costco double pack of frozen tortellini, which is more than the recipe calls for, so I up the broccoli to 4-ish cups and measure the sauce ingredients generously.  I’m also pretty stingy on the cook time for the broccoli, because where broccoli cooking is concerned, less is almost always more, right?  And I use whatever milk I have on hand, which lately is 1%.  And it works.

And it’s yummy.

You should try it.

My friend and I were having such a lovely lunch together today until I realized that my son wasn’t eating.  He said he didn’t need to go potty and yet he was barely touching his sandwich–which is not normal.  I took a good look at him, realized he was looking quiet and less than thrilled with life, and my heart sank.

“Does your mouth feel funny?”

He nodded.

Two hours later we were in the pediatrician’s office, where (despite no other symptoms–yet) he had his THIRD positive strep test in six weeks.  Our doctor spent some time considering before deciding to try him on an antibiotic meant to treat a strep carrier rather than someone with active strep.  I made my routine call to the pharmacy on my way out–my son’s doctor just sent in a prescription, just wanted to make sure it was received and it’s being filled–only to be told that they didn’t have it.  They’d have to order it, and it would be in tomorrow, but did I realize my insurance wanted me to pay $200?  Maybe it would be cheaper in capsule form…except that my son is four.

Peachy.

I called the doctor’s office back and asked them to call it into a different pharmacy, because I was NOT waiting until tomorrow.  It took a while for them to receive the call (it was apparently the last one on their voice mail), but I eventually paid $212 (and change!) for four glass bottles of something I can’t spell.  The pharmacist at Walgreen’s looked at me as he was readying it and asked if my son had had that one before.  When I told him no, he winced.

“It smells and tastes terrible.  We can add something in to try and flavor it if you want…”

“Does it make a difference?”

“Not really, no.”

I gave him mental points for honesty and told him not to bother.  Now I get to give my obstinate, “I don’t want to take any medicine!” son 12 mL of this stuff THREE TIMES A DAY.  For TEN DAYS.

Then I get to take him back to the doctor’s for another throat swab, which he hates.  And in the meantime, my poor boy is utterly miserable.  Like, asking to go to bed at 6 o’clock miserable.

Nope, not the day I was hoping for at all.  How was YOUR day?

When I went through Juana & Lucas on the treadmill I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I wasn’t sure how my 7-year-old would react.  It’s a chapter book with lots of vivid illustrations, true, but Spanish words are sprinkled on at least 70% of the pages; the overall meaning is always understandable from the context, but still. How does a kid react to that?

In my girlie’s case, she read a chapter or two and then told me she wanted me to read it to her.  We compromised by reading it together; I carefully assigned her the pages with either no Spanish words or very easily pronounceable ones.  I read the other pages, looking expectantly at her after most of the harder Spanish words, and she almost always nailed the meaning from the context.  Since she’s my most timid girlie–she wants to feel very confident before she attempts anything new–I suspect her issue was more discomfort over not being able to pronounce the words, since she clearly had the comprehension down anyway.  A more intrepid personality would likely take off running with it, especially since Juana is a delightful character.  A spunky soccer player from Bogota, she’s sure that there isn’t enough room between her pigtails to learn ‘the English’ that her teacher is trying to teach in school…until she looks for support from her family and friends and finds support for her teacher’s mission instead!  With the proper carrot dangling in front of her, Juana attacks the English with gusto, gaining not only a trip to Spaceland but a love of travel as well.  Packed with plenty of laughter along the way, Juana’s journey is a fun and worthwhile one for any reader with the context awareness to manage the book.  Be sure to take a look at this one!