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On supermarket shelves, we are given a mind-numbing array of choices to select from. Shall we have some peppercorns on our macaroni, some cinnamon for baking, or a bit of rosemary with roast pork? Five hundred years ago, however, cooking with herbs and spices was a much simpler choice.

The post Around the world in spices and herbs appeared first on OUPblog.

4 Stars Drummer Boy of John John Mark Greenwood Frané Lessac Lee and Low Books Pages: 32         Ages: 4+ Jacket:  Carnival is coming and the villagers of John John, Trinidad, are getting ready to jump up and celebrate with music dancing, and a     parade. Best of all, the Roti King has promised free rotis—tasty friend [...]

by Ana A. de Eulate, Illustrated by Sonja Wimmer. Cuento de Luz SL (May 2012) (Review copy). A little girl in Afghanistan gazes at the sky and dreams of peace, her heart soaring above a grey-brown landscape torn by war. She visualizes peace as a kite of brilliant colors, with tails and strings connecting people of all places, races, and faces. She sees children and adults together, leaning

Yvonne Pat Wright returned to live in the United Kingdom from Jamaica in 2006. She fulfilled her desire to write by taking a course in creative writing. From Spice to Eternity is her first book, and she has plans to follow this up with a sophomore book.

Hi Yvonne, Please tell everyone a little about yourself:

Yvonne: I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and lived there for the first twenty years of my life. By the time I left to go to England, I was married and had two daughters. I matured in the UK and sometimes I feel I am more anglicised than Caribbean, but I cherish my Jamaican roots and will never relinquish them. I’ve worked in real estate, the world of media, radio and advertising.

I seem to shift bases in twenty to twenty-five year cycles. So it was the UK for twenty-five years, Jamaica for twenty years, and now the UK for the remainder of my life, I believe. A devout Christian, I teach Bible Studies and am a Lay Preacher.

When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?

Yvonne: I have always been a scribbler. In school I did a lot of essays. I remember, in boarding school, a group of us would gather round and I would read. In much later years, I did poems, none of which were published. I  produced church magazines and ended up writing most of the copy when there were not enough submissions. From Spice to Eternity was my first attempt to do substantial writing, and because of the genesis, it had to be non-fiction. I can see myself moving into the biblical saga type novels, which is the plan for my second or third book.

When you started writing, what goals did you want to accomplish? Is there a message you want readers to grasp?

Yvonne: In whatever sphere, my aim and goal for the reader, the listener, is to come away thinking that there is something better to be had and having a desire to obtain it.

Briefly tell us about your latest book.

Yvonne: From Spice to Eternity is probably part one of two parts. It is a collection of inspirational true life stories drawn from my life and the lives of family and friends. The theme for the story is based on the characteristic of a herb or spice, which is described at the beginning of each chapter. The story is rounded off with a delicious spicy or herby recipe.

Do you have a specific writing style? Preferred POV?

Yvonne: I think I prefer a limited POV, and I rather like to use the ‘show’ rather than the ‘tell’ style of writing.

How does your environment/upbringing colour your wrting?

Yvonne: So far, I have written from my experience and the environments that I am very familiar with. I am likely to always anchor on to a very familiar aspect of my environment or upbringing as I am very comfortable in that zone.

Share the best review (or a portion) that you’ve even had.

Yvonne:

The passion for both her cooking and her faith has allowed Yvonne Pat Wright to write a marvelous book that is both a cookbook and a devotional to God. Each of the forty-two recipes for cooking has an accompanying recipe for living a Christian life. The author first gives a description of an ingredient used in a cooking recipe. Not only are the ingredient’s uses given

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What with the dropping temperatures and snow I’ve been drinking a lot of hot tea. There is plenty of rooibos tea here in Germany, and in fact they have a blend of rooibos and caramel that is awesome (can you get that in the U.S.?). But I haven’t found any rooibos chai, which I’ve been craving. I’ve made my own blend before, but I lost that recipe, so this time I tried this one, with modifications.

Obviously, I used rooibos rather than black tea, but I upped the dosage to 2-3 TB to make it stronger, since rooibos can be a little weak. I also added some black cardamom (and when making the second batch had no green cardamom left) and subbed fresh nutmeg for the allspice. I had no anise, so I left that out. I used fresh orange peel rather than dried. It turned out really well. I didn’t realize that the ginger is what gives it such a nice bite, so if you want spice, use plenty of it. I used fresh ginger, but I’ll have to make a big batch of a dried version recipe so I can have the tea whenever I like.

Let me know if you see a rooibos caramel blend in the U.S. so I’ll know if I need to stockpile it before we leave Germany.

by Kashimira Sheth. Hyperion, 2007. Leela is a twelve year old girl living with her family in Gujarat, India in 1918. She was engaged at the age of two and married at nine, but hasn't moved to her husband's family household yet. She is a person of the high Brahman caste, so she is pampered and endulged by her parents with pretty clothes, sweets, and jewlery.She lives a happy life and is generally

Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming by Jan Reynolds. Review copy. This is the story of sustainable rice farming in the island of Bali, a part of Indonesia that has been a major rice producer for thousands of years. The whole island is networked with a complex system of irrigation canals and channels that move fresh water from the top of volcanic mountains to each farmer's fields in time

One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance, by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien. Charlesbridge, 2009. Review copy. In 1906 Mohandas Gandhi was working as a lawyer for the Asian Indian community in South Africa. On September 11, 1906 Gandhi made his first speech to a large crowd calling for nonviolent resistance to the government's oppressive requirement that all Asian residents

A Chinese Folktale adapted by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by Ju-Hong Chen. Pelican Publishing Company, 2005. (first published by Holiday House, 1992) In the back of this picture book is a word from the author Caryn Yacowitz. She explains that the story was heard by a merchant named A. L. Gump on a trip to Beijing in 1917. He told the story to his son Richard, who put it in a book titled Jade,

and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Triviza. This is a "fractured fairytale" reversing the story of the three little pigs. "Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails who lived with their mother." She sends them into the world to build a house for themselves. Unfortunately the Big Bad Pig comes prowling around and destroys their houses one after another.

by Patricia Polacco This is a story from Polacco's childhood. As a girl she and her neighbors Winston and Stewart want to raise enough money to buy the boy's grandmother a new Easter bonnet that she has been admiring. Patricia is over their house for chicken dinner every Sunday and she considers Miss Eula her grandmother too. When they go to try to get a job at the hat shop they are mistaken for

I can't tell if my rendition of this 1920 something home or the home itself evokes the memory. I never lived there but have been fascinated for as long as i can remember by this stucco home setting as it does today on a hillside. It represents to me a simpler time I would have loved to visit. So my contribution to this week's theme REMEMBER.
Enjoy.