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              Sweet Cupid/chicks57/flickr

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you had a nice weekend. 

                    

The 2010 Cybils Award winners have just been announced! Had a fab time talking poetry with my fellow judges Sara Lewis Holmes, Greg Pincus, Liz Garton Scanlon, and our fearless leader, Kelly R. Fineman. We had seven finalists this year, all of them exceptional books, so it was quite challenging deciding on a winner. We're happy to award the top prize to Marilyn Singer's Mirror Mirror, illustrated by Josée Masse, and published by Dutton Books!

 

If you haven't read it yet, pick up a copy soon -- you'll be amused and delighted by Marilyn's clever use of the reverso form to present two sides (or points of view) to twelve familiar fairy tales. We think Mirror Mirror has undeniable kid appeal, and will inspire children to read more poetry and even try writing their own.

To see the Cybils Award winners in all eleven categories, click here. Congratulations to the winning authors and illustrators, and thanks to all who volunteered as coordinators, panelists, and judges!


Lindsay Jewell/flickr

♥ Meanwhile, how are you celebrating Valentine's Day? In case you're at a loss for things to do, check out Semicolon's amazing "100 Valentine Celebration Ideas." You'll find everything from book and movie recs, to poetry, songs, crafts, games, recipes, and oodles of links to set your heart to pitter patter.

♥ Don't miss Three for Tea at The Writer's Armchair today. Toby Speed is hosting JoAnn Early Macken, Stephen Messer, and Kate Messner. Enjoy a little writerly chat, a cup of white tea and my Lemon Bars recipe :).

♥ Would you like to win a free picture book critique? Click over to Jean Reidy's blog! This contest is for today only, so be quick about it!

♥ Don't forget my NO SOUP FOR YOU GIVEAWAY, for a chance to win a T-shirt, a copy of

Love love this. Sing this song and pass it along ☺!



Have a totally slurp-worthy day!

Over the fence to the farmhouse,
With laughter and repartee gay,
It's almost time to be eating again
And we're rather too far away.
There's chicken and dumplings for dinner,
With salad and vegetables fine
And fruits just fresh from the orchard
Oh who wouldn't love to dine!
Over the fence to the farmhouse
We're afraid they will not wait
And with chicken and dumplings for dinner
Twould never do to be late.

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder


If ever a writer comes to mind when I think about "comfort and joy," it's Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Her Little House books provide lifetime nourishment with their ample stores of hope, optimism, familial love, strength, and enduring pioneer spirit. I'm quite certain at least 90% of you reading this post wanted to be Laura after reading her stories -- wanted to be the kind of girl who never compromised who she was, who possessed a singular determination and always ventured forth with a brave heart.

To celebrate her 144th birthday, I decided to try two of the recipes Laura often prepared while living at Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri. They come from The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook, a collection of 73 recipes adapted from the ones Laura pasted in a recycled scrapbook during the 30's and 40's. Besides recipes, notes, and meal ideas, she also saved clippings from newspaper food columns and cooking advice from both her mother, Caroline Ingalls, and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane.

        
             Laura and Almanzo, 1885

Laura's cookbook is comfort personified -- old fashioned favorites which called for "foods gleaned from her kitchen garden and staples she kept in her cupboards: cornmeal, brown sugar, white sugar, spices, whole wheat flour, and white flour." Do Macaroni Casserole, Meat Loaf Supreme, Pork Pie with Sweet Potato Biscuits, Orange Nut Bread, Applesauce Cake, and Molasses Cookies conjure up visions of a wholly satisfying meal cooked in a wood-burning stove in a cozy farmhouse? Suffice to say, many of us today crave this brand of farm-to-table goodness, and experimenting with some of these old recipes might be the closest we'll ever get.

When I scanned the list of 19 Main Dishes, "Chicken and Dumplings" caught my eye. I admit a teensy obsession with dumplings in general, but I did want to try Laura's version for two primary reasons: 1) I never had this kind of dumplings growing up in Hawai'i, and 2) I wanted to compare her recipe with another I'm quite fond of. Besides, this was supposedly a favorite Sunday dinner for Laura and Almanzo. So yes, I made it on a Sunday to get the full effect ☺.



OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
(6-8 servings)

1 large roasting or stewing chicken, cut in pieces
1 rib celery with leaves, cut fine
1 or 2 carrots, sliced thin
3 tsp. salt (divided use)
1/2 tsp. freshly grated pepper
1/2 tsp. mace
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk

I am rich, buttery coconut with warm ginger tea, melty chocolate crackle on a Saturday night. If you like, marvelous molasses, merry in mid afternoon. A melting moment, a kiss, spicy and sweet.

Drop me, roll me, press me, powder me -- I am your favorite bar none. Flirting with dates, almonds, lemon and cinnamon, I always rise to the occasion. I go wherever you go, tell your fortune if you like.

Love me, love a cookie. Trace my life in crumbs.


culinarycory/flickr

IF ONLY HUMPTY DUMPTY HAD BEEN A COOKIE
by Diane Lockward

Chocolate chip, lumpy but popular,
sanctimonious with tradition,

irreverent snickerdoodle,
or a beautiful cookie like oatmeal lace,
delicate and chocolate-dipped,

visitor from a foreign place, Russian teacake,
shortbread with its dusty Scottish brogue,

the crisp Parisian sweetness of a meringue,
reminder that goodness breaks,

home-baked cookies from the kitchen
if only he could find his way back,
trace the trail of air scented with vanilla,
almond extract, and coconut,

the buttery goodness of his childhood
pulverized like crumbs on the floor,

a blizzard of cookies in December,
date nut bar for the lunch box,
Mississippi mud, the egalitarian black and white,

or an odd cookie, one that doesn't belong,
like a bitter espresso wafer, wimpy jelly tabby,

granola jumble with texture but no taste,
cookies that went astray,

Donna's Polish angel wings,
powdered and fragile as snowflakes,

cookies that emigrated,
crossed mountains, stowed away in ships,

slipped across borders,
and showed up in sweatshops,

flattened by the rolling pin,
cookies that staved off hunger, hid in pockets,
slept under pillows until morning light,
and did not crumble,

a blitz of cookies
spinning through Time
like pinwheels and pfeffernuesse,

cookies earned with his yellow curls,
soft renegade cookies,
dropped, refrigerated, rolled and cut,

cookies baked by his mother,
his grandmother, a procession of women in aprons,

their slippers padding into the kitchen,
women greasing pans, pre-heating ovens,

their hands dipped in flour,
fingers kneading butter, sugar and eggs,

women filling and enfolding him,
bringing him home, wrapped
in the unbreakable dough of their arms.

~ from Temptation by Water (Wind Publications, 2010)


pastelhearts/flickr

Diane Lockward is one smart cookie -- it seems she wrote this poem just for me ☺.  Did you ever think a catalog of cookies could be so provocative, seductive and devilishly delicious? Cookies are portable sin; even when the last crumb is gone, their textures and flavors linger, like lost loves. I like how Diane juxtaposes the seeming innocence of a childhood nursery rhyme with an adult sense of longing and loss, mixing in a little salt with the sugar.

     

It's time to don red and gold, gather with family and friends, and feast on delicious Asian food!

Today marks the official beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, my Chinese astrological sign!

*twitches whiskers, rubs ears, cleans face with front paws*

That means billions of people all over the world will be celebrating with fireworks, dragon and lion dances, lantern festivals, and did I mention the food ☺?

So, you may ask, what does the Rabbit signify? It's considered the luckiest sign in the Chinese Zodiac, a period marked by calm and tranquility. We could certainly use that after a very tumultuous Year of the Tiger. And since next year will be the Year of the Dragon, another period characterized by global unrest, we should try to enjoy this opportunity to take a breather and mellow out.


CLF/flickr

What's your Chinese astrological sign? Rabbits are supposedly wise, kind, ambitious, fashionable, introverted, serene, and lovers of beauty. They favor the colors sage green and torquoise, prefer to work behind-the-scenes rather than take the lead, and are refined, cultivated and self-indulgent. Well, most of these things ring true -- I'm laughing at the "fashionable" and "wise," though it would be nice to think of myself as "refined" and "cultivated." Still working on it.

Famous people who are also rabbits? Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Albert Einstein, Tiger Woods, Frank Sinatra, Pope Benedict XVI. I'm in good company! Brad + me = simpatico (don't tell Paul, Bob, Colin or George) ♥.

Since the Chinese celebrate for a full 15 days, you have lots of time to gorge on appreciate some really fine cuisine. I love the symbolism of some of the traditional Chinese New Year dishes, and am going to do my best to sample as many as I can.

For gifts and decorations, tangerines and mandarin oranges (which resemble gold) reign supreme. They symbolize wealth, abundance and good fortune; they're "the" gift to take along when visiting family and friends.


Agnieszka Wetton/flickr

A whole fish symbolizes togetherness and a good beginning and end to the year,

Steamed whole fish by my sis, Sylvia (see the feast she prepared last year here).

noodles are for longevity (bad luck to cut them),

Veggie Lo Mein by kurtasbestos/flickr.

spring rolls for wealth (since their shape resembles gold bullion),

        

Speaking of pie, I hope you saved your forks, because today we're serving up an extra delicious portion of Southern goodness thanks to the kindness and generosity of multi-talented, award-winning children's author Candice Ransom!

I call Candice a human dynamo, because I'm in perpetual awe of just how much and how fast she writes. In a career spanning 25+ years, she's published well over a hundred books in multiple genres -- board book, picture book, easy reader, chapter book series, tween and middle grade fiction, biographies and nonfiction.

She has not one, but two graduate degrees: an MFA in children's writing from Vermont College and an MA in children's literature from Hollins University. She currently teaches in the MA/MFA children's literature program at Hollins, is a widely sought after speaker at conferences and workshops, and can polish off a Red Velvet cupcake, blackberry bruchetta, or Devonshire cream scone with the best of them.

Impressive credentials aside, what I admire most about Candice is how completely she immerses herself in the time and place of her stories. She's a diehard antique junkie who will travel to the ends of the earth to locate a cool artifact which might "belong" to a particular character, or a bit of ephemera that might inform a certain scene or illuminate an overriding theme. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more astute observer of human nature; Candice wholeheartedly loves and appreciates her Virginia roots, and conveys her enthusiasm in crackling prose brimming with telling detail. 

Lest you think she's a paragon of perfection, rest assured -- there is at least one thing she apparently cannot do very well: bake a pie. All the more reason to read what she says about the one pie baker she admires the most. Much like what you'll find on her fabulous blog, Under the Honeysuckle Vine, today's essay is vintage Candice: razor-sharp, a little quirky, undeniably engaging, refreshingly candid and unpredictably funny.

Here's her piece, warm and fresh from the oven. And yes, she's included recipes! Enjoy!


Mama's Wesson Oil Cook Book and rare one-handled rolling pin.

My mother was a wonderful baker but she took first prize in pies. When she was a teenager in the 30s, she spent summers at her family’s homeplace near Woodstock in the Shenandoah Valley. Her aunts baked six pies daily. Uncle John ate an entire pie with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every single day.  

Those summers my mother learned to roll out piecrust and whip up different fillings, like the lattice-crust raisin pie that was her own father’s favorite. (Raisin pie is often called funeral pie because it travels well.) I hated her raisin pie because I despise raisins. They lurk in all kinds of desserts and, to me, it’s like biting down on a tadpole. When I was grown and married, my mother made my husband raisin pies, which he loved. Once, exasperated by my tendency to open boxes, cans, and bags and call it cooking, my mother told me to “bake that man a pie.” 

     

Just wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks for all your get well wishes!

It's kind of ironic that soon after promising to send some Comfort and Joy your way, I instead found myself on the receiving end. Your blog comments and emails made a world of difference, helping to assuage an unsettling roller coaster of pain that lasted about two weeks.

Happy to report that the unwelcome kidney stone seems to have taken its leave, and I'm feeling much better. For what it's worth, I wanted to pass on what I learned, just in case it may benefit some of you. 

If you're taking calcium supplements to support bone health, be mindful that in some cases this can contribute to the formation of kidney stones. In the most recent issue of the Harvard Women's Health Newsletter, I read an article about a report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in November 2010, which set new dietary intake levels for Vitamin D and calcium. The panel reached its conclusions based on nearly 1,000 studies representing 15 years of scientific findings.

Apparently, middle age baby boomerish women (um, that would be me) are taking too much calcium through supplements, and the incidence of kidney stones is increasing as a result. I'd been very conscientious about taking my 1200 mg of calcium every day, because I usually avoid dairy products (lactose intolerance). All along, I knew that the 1200 mg/day guideline represented a combination of food + supplements, but because I found it especially challenging to incorporate extra calcium via food, I depended on the supplements to fill the gap.

The findings about Vitamin D were even more surprising. In recent years, many doctors have been testing their patients' Vitamin D levels. Finding almost everyone deficient (especially people living in northern climates who don't get adequate sunlight), they went on to recommend Vitamin D supplements in doses of 1000 to 2000 IUs/day. The belief was that extra Vitamin D would not only enhance calcium absorption/overall bone health, but would be beneficial in preventing a host of chronic diseases. The IOM has since recanted its position, since current evidence cannot justify the use of higher doses for the prevention of chronic diseases. The panel set 4,000 IU/day as the Tolerable Intake Level, meaning that any amount in excess of that puts one at risk for adverse events, including heart disease and pancreatic cancer.

When I researched the possible causes of kidney stones, I discovered that "excess Vitamin D intake" was cited as a factor by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH. Guess who was taking extra Vitamin D (after being tested by her doctor and advised to do so)? Though I had been taking calcium supplements for years with no adverse effects, it was only in the last two years that extra Vitamin D entered the picture. I'm quite certain this contributed to my developing a kidney stone.

So, if you're taking calcium and/or Vitamin D supplements, you may wish to re-evaluate your needs and current intake levels with your doctor. Of course other factors play into the equation when it comes to kidney stones -- adequate fluid intake, genetic predisposition, frequent urinary tract infections, etc. The bottom line is that it's usually better to derive nutrients from a well-balanced diet rather than depend on supplements.

Current RDA for Vitamin D: 600 IU/day for everyone through age 70, and 800 IU/day for those 71 and older.

Current RDA for Calcium: 1000 mg/day for those age 50 and under, 1200 mg/day for those over 50. 

"One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others." ~ Lewis Carroll

        

Late, late, late -- don't be late for this very important date!

Today is Lewis Carroll's 179th birthday!

                 
                            by Sir John Tenniel (1865)

Don't be surprised if you spot white rabbits carrying pocket watches running hither and yon, an abundance of hookah-smoking caterpillars, or spontaneous games of croquet involving flamingoes.

Just for today, you may don your favorite hat and go completely MAD! (As if you need an excuse.) Best of all, you must drink copious cups of tea!


Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll.

I wish I could remember how old I was when I first read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872). It's possible I saw a movie version first. Nevertheless, I did have a crush on the Cheshire Cat for a long time, and longed to be able to eat or drink something that would make me bigger or smaller at will.

   
        by Peter Newell (1890)

I've been thinking about my favorite children's classics where food plays a substantial role -- all the wonderful Yorkshire cooking in The Secret Garden, the bountiful picnic hampers in The Wind in the Willows, Almanzo Wilder's Sunday dinner in Farmer Boy (rye 'n' injun bread, chicken-pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie), all that candy in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the attic feast in A Little Princess, those glorious banquets at Hogwarts and the special candies only available to wizards (jelly slugs, fizzing whizzbees, fudge flies) -- all lip-smackingly fabulous, but none of these foods came with the charming and ponderous entreaties: "Eat Me," "Drink Me."

  

On her way down the rabbit hole, Alice grabs a jar of Orange Marmalade from one of the shelves, disappointed to discover it's empty. But once she's in the hall of doors, she finds the "Drink Me" bottle. Assuring herself that it's not poison, she discovers it has a mixed flavor of "cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast." How I would love to taste that!

But my favorite part is when she finds the cake:

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that w