CityMama™

Good enough to eat: My favorite kids' books that contain recipes

These book are not only long-time favorites of Bunny and Wallie and magical reads in themselves, but they also include delicious recipes that you can make with your kids. These books inspire conversation and cooking and that's just the way we like it around here.

Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy—This book is heartbreakingly beautiful. Themes of divorce and family and ecology are woven together seemlessly to create a magical story. "While at her father's house, a girl discovers two old potatoes that have begun to sprout in the rear of the cupboard. She throws them away, but he suggests that instead they try to grow new ones from them. The story details how they prepare the soil, weed, water, and protect the plants from potato beetles. In September, their patience and hard work are rewarded with a brimming bucket of new potatoes." (Excerpted from Amazon editorial review) Includes a recipe for mashed potatoes embellished with nutmeg. Yum!

Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco—Bunny will tell you that Patricia Polacco is one of her favorite authors. (I will admit that I had a little to do with that since she is one of MY favorite authors as well.) If you also have an emotionally intelligent (high EQ) kid, chances are she or he will enjoy Polacco's themes. Her books have inspired some deep conversations and always leave us thinking about the stories long after we finish reading them. "In Thunder Cake, a grandmother helps her granddaughter overcome her fear of thunder by baking a special cake while a storm threatens." (Excerpted from Amazon editorial review) Includes a fascinating recipe for cake which includes a tomato.

Three Cheers for Catherine the Great by Cary Best and Giselle Potter—Another beautiful story about belonging and giving. "It's Sara's Russian grandma's birthday, and she has made a proclamation: "I have music in my Russian bones, and laughing in my heart. I have the day and the night, and I have all of you. That's why for me the best presents will be no presents." No presents? Sara is baffled. Her amazing grandma gives so much to everyone. How can they have a birthday party for her without gifts? Sara realizes that any "no present" for Grandma has to be pretty special. And the "no present" she finally gives is the best kind of all." (Excerpted from Amazon editorial review) Includes a recipe for borscht that is superb.

And of course, Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan—This story could have been written in my Korean-American family's Hawaiian kitchen. "A large, loving Hawaiian family gathers to celebrate the new year with Marisa making mandoo, or dumplings, a traditional holiday feast. Told from the seven-year-old child's breathless point of view, the event is also a tribute to diversity. The Yang family, like much of the population of Hawaii, includes members of Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, and haole (white) descent. And everyone loves mandoo, especially the funny-looking ones that Marisa makes." (Excerpted from Amazon editorial review) Includes a recipe for mandoo aka Korean dumplings.

Do you have any more to add? Please share them below. (Here's another list.) We are always on the lookout for books we can read then cook from

A dream, my dream, come true

I'm going to be a published author.

As in a published author in a real, live, honest-to-goodness, bound book. That can sit on a shelf. In a bookstore. Or in a house. That I can show my kids. And they can show their kids. For which we will be having a local signing/par-tay  because this (for me) is HUGE. (More on that later).

I have an essay that will be included in a soon-to-be-published "mommy blogger" anthology edited by Rita Arens: Sleep Is For the Weak. Please read Rita's take on how it came about here. The book has been a long time in the making and no one has worked harder to make it happen than Rita.

Rita: THANK YOU. You are made of one million awesomes. I don't know how else to say it.

I'm in great company alongside these lovely and talented ladies and gents:

Amalah
Binkytown
Birdie's New Mexico Time Machine
Finslippy
Friday Playdate
Fussy
IzzyMom
Laid-Off Dad
Mom-101
Mommy Needs Coffee
Mommytrack'd
Motherhood Uncensored
Not Calm (dot com)
Paper Napkin
Rancid Raves
State of Grace
Surfette
Surrender, Dorothy (our esteemed and hard-working editor)
Sweetney
The Modernity Ward
The Naked Ovary
Three Kid Circus
Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Sleep Is For The Weak begins with a foreward by Stacy Morrison, Editor-in-Chief of Redbook magazine.

Our book is now available for pre-order from these fine purveyors:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

BookSense (a collection of independent booksellers and my personal preference for ordering copies)

I would love it if you pre-ordered the book so my mom's pre-order isn't hanging out all by its little lonesome. Support your favorite blogger parents! Let's all show Rita just how much all her hard work has paid off!

I cannot wait to have this in my hands.

Some/thing new

(I'm participating in Robin's blog exercise this week. This is the second of four posts on her nuptially-inspired theme.)

New books I am reading for my book club. After two months of determined library-only book acquisition, it feels weird to spend money on books, even with the book club discount. I got them yesterday to take up to the snow with me this weekend. I am already half-way through The Middle Place (which had me in tears by page 5, and again on pretty much every page there after. I'm one of those quick-to-cry kinda people.). Might need to pack another book.

The Middle Place has me thinking a lot about family, how we view our childhood, and how much parents protect their children from unpleasantness, even when that unpleasantness is a breast cancer diagnosis. It also has me thinking about how families are more alike than different, even if it doesn't appear that way on the outside.

The Kite Runner: Calling Mr. Hosseini

Like just about every other person in the universe it seems, I fell hard for Khaled Hosseini's book, The Kite Runner. It's now been made in to a movie which opens next Friday.

About a month ago, a PR pitch hit my inbox, and because it had to do with The Kite Runner, I didn't delete it immediately as I normally do. The premise was simple: get 100 people together and win a free advanced screening of the movie in your town. I don't know 100 people, so of course, I blogged it.

Just like that old shampoo commercial, I told two friends, and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on and so on...  As a result, we now have more than 100 people signed up to see this mofo next week, for freeeeee!, before everyone else does.

Then I got to thinking, Khaled Hosseini lives in the Silicon Valley, wouldn't it be cool if he came to see the movie with us? After all, we are his local peeps. His Kite Runner posse, if you will. So this is my plea:

Dear Khaled Hosseini.

If by chance this post pops up in your feed reader or your assistant's feed reader or your publicist's feed reader because I've dropped your name a couple three times on purpose hoping to show up in a Google alert somewhere, we'd all love it so much if you could find the time to come to our private screening. We are huge fans of your work and it would mean the world to me us. We take immense pride in the fact that you are "our own," local to us (by way of Afghanistan, of course).  You have an open invitation to join us next week if you are in town and not holed up some LA hotel doing a jillion interviews in advance of the movie's premiere.

Yours truly,
Stefania
Captain of The Silicon Valley Kite Runner Club*

I wonder if he'll show?

* Like a complete douche, I totally get off on titles. Especially ones that don't mean a g.d. thing.

Leftovers

My mom and I went to dinner recently at Michael Mina in San Francisco, and I keep writing and rewriting the post trying to capture the meal. I can't do it justice, and to say it was one of the best meals of my life seems like a trite way of saying how much I enjoyed it. I'll just say that his amuse-bouche are, indeed, amusing (lobster corn dog, anyone?) and his trios (which have fascinated me ever since I read about them) are whimsical, clever, and delicious. Every course revolved around his signature triad of taste combinations. Mom and I started the meal luxuriously with osetra caviar (served with blinis, toast points, and potato pancakes) and chilled champagne. Three hours later dinner was done and I can barely remember what we ate. Kobe-style rib-eyes...foie gras...cheese...chocolate. It was divine in a way words can't describe. Highly recommend it, and if you go, do the wine pairing. It's worth it. (I can't say that because I wasn't paying...thanks, Mom!)

Cookbook fun.  The Essential Mormon Cookbook is a delightful cookbook that I've recently added to my collection. It's simple, unpretentious, and I can't wait to cook from it. I love that the cookbook is arranged seasonally and also by ingredients like apples and strawberries. It's heavy on the comfort food and one-dish meals which, if you have a family, you will appreciate.  Just in time for summer, I can't wait to try the salads, sandwiches, and snacks.

Do you know Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise?  You should!  It's the mayo I grew up eating.  The best part about it is that it comes in a cute, fluted squeeze bottle so you can use it easily garnish hors d'oeuvres or deviled eggs. You could seek it out in your local Japanese market, but I'll save you the trouble: Amazon sells it.  It's just like your fave American mayo except it's more lemony, less salty, and definitely creamier. It makes sandwiches extra tasty.

Link love: I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence by Amy Sedaris

The above book was, by far, my favorite holiday gift. It's hilarious  but despite being written and styled by the fabulously crazy Amy Sedaris, it's no gag cookbook. It's chock-full of recipes I will be making. The tips and backstories are too much; prepare to laugh.  It's one of the most text-rich, side-splittingly-funny, and mouth-watering cookbooks you will ever read. And, the photos.

I could easily sit down and read it in a day, but I want to savor it so I've been parsing out the pages.  When I cook from it, you'll be the first to know.

Go get it now.

Meeting Elizabeth Edwards

Elizabeth Edwards looks on as Mary Tsao speaks.

A couple of days ago I was contacted by Beth of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog to ask if I'd like to join them in meeting Elizabeth Edwards (wife of the man who should be our Vice President right now). I said "yes!" even before I had babysitting lined up, that's how much I wanted to go.

I knew that she had a new book out—I'd seen her trying to get a word in edgewise with Charlie Rose (will he just shut up already?)—and I was curious to see what she had to say. I so hoped that it wasn't another one of those, "I'll give you my book if you promise to blog about it" deals.

In preparation for today's meeting, I bought her book Saving Graces. I figured that I would flip through it and see if any questions jumped out at me. To my surprise, once I cracked it, I could not put it down, and was up until 3AM last night finishing it. Elizabeth Edwards is a very compelling writer. Her book is actually very "bloggish" (or "journalish") in that you feel that she is talking directly to you. She is raw and honest and doesn't hold anything back. The book is inspiring and so touching.

I don't normally pick up books like this and might have passed it up because we already know so much about the Edwards family, their down-to-earth roots, the tragic loss of their son in a car accident, that she had two kids in her late forties, her breast cancer struggle.  But I am so glad that the universe aligned and the book found its way into my hands.  It sounds corny, but I feel I am a better person today for having read it.

The Mommy Lit formula

After being sent the umpteenth mommy lit book this year—a book whose title I can't even remember even though I've been sitting here for five minutes desperately trying—I think I've figured out the formula.

First, start with one thirty-something, Jewish or WASP, NY/NY area, former-high-power-job-having mother. Add some meddling grandparents, a bitchy, non-child-child-having best friend and a "nice" (usually slightly hippified) best friend.

Thrown in a bumbling, mid-life-crisis-suffering husband who loses his job for either: 1) cheating or 2) being an idiot.

Force mom back to work in a job that is either: 1) beneath her or 2) one she has to take to pull her family out of financial straits.

Make sure two to three pages cover guilt mom feels for going back to work coupled with realization that dad does the stay-at-home-thing better.

Make sure at least one page is devoted to describing the closet full of size 6 or 8 designer clothes into which mom no longer fits.

End novel with family striking happy balance, usually mom comes to term with job (after some kind of huge, career-making success) or dad finally gets work.

And there you have it. The formula for every mom lit book currently stacked in a pile next to my bed.

Why aren't Mom Lit books about the frumpy Pentecostal supermarket checker in Omaha with the truck-driving husband? Or the Methodist sheriff's deputy in Cheyenne with a school teacher husband and five kids all living in a trailer? Or the pagan midwife in Seattle with the lesbian natural foods chef partner and their blended family with kids from previous marriages? 

Those are the stories I'd want to read.

Piece of Work.  That's the name of the book I couldn't think of earlier.

For the love of books

Wordgirl at Half The Sky wrote a very inspiring post recently about the books you choose when you are old enough to choose books for yourself. (It brought back so many memories, you have to read it.) I was so excited to read through her list and see so many books we had in common: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Nancy Drew, Harriet the Spy... But let's also not forget books by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl (Danny the Champion of the World was a pivotal book for me. The moment I read it, the moment I knew I was hooked on books forever.)

As a child I was just as obsessed with books as I am today.  Funny, I don't have any memories of my parents reading to me (they must have but I don't remember it), but I do remember spending lots of time in the library and always having books around the house. It just goes to show that when teachers talk about raising children in a "print-rich environment," sometimes just having stacks of books around is enough to make a child wonder, "I wonder what that's about?"

My mom never overtly tried to force my brother and sisters to read and yet all four of us love books. She showed us by example by always reading, always having books around. To this day she still has stacks of books on every surface. I love visiting her because I can just sit and read at every spare moment. She has books next to the stove where she likes to read.  She has them piled on coffee tables and end tables. Thinking back, we never really had bookshelves; books were everywhere.

As a child I remember Book Order Day vividly. (When I became a teacher, I was shocked to see that they hadn't changed one bit.  You still tick off your choices and put your money along with your order  in an envelope and hand it to the teacher. And the books?  They're still really cheap.) I would make my selections, total it up and my mom would buy me the books.  Whatever I wanted (within reason).  Books were never off limits.  We went to bookstores and libraries often. I would sit on my bed with all my books around me deciding in which order to read them.  (I still do that.)

What is it about books?  Without them, I don't think I could live. I know it sounds dramatic (and J. hates it when I say stuff like that), but books are an inextricable part of my day. We begin the day reading and end the day reading in my house. I flip through magazines during quiet time, Bunny reads over my shoulder as I look at cookbooks. When we moved and I had to whittle down our book collection, the "books-I-absolutely-cannot-part-with" took up 12 boxes and included my childhood collection of Nancy Drew books and my tattered copy of "Frankweiler." 

My girls boast a book collection that rivals the children's book section in a small bookstore because I just can't help it. Point me towards a library book sale or a used book store and I am dangerous. Take me to the library and I will check out the maximum allowed at one time. ("Thirty you say?") It's too soon to tell what kind of readers Bunny and Wallie will be, but I hope that they will always love books as much as I do. And if they do, then I have my mother to thank. (So, thanks Mom!)

And just in case you were wondering what's on my nightstand right now: The Afghan (love Frederick Forsythe), Bella Figura (amusing), and Girl In A Box (start at the beginning of the series, it's so worth it). What are you reading?

FUN FINDS THAT NO ONE TOLD ME I HAD TO WRITE ABOUT

Since we're talking about blog advertising...

I get sent a lot of products (mostly advance copies of books) by people who would like to get a little free advertising via my blog. I will happily accept any freebies (I'm no fool), but I never guarantee that I will mention anything. If I like it and/or it makes my children happy I will, but I don't always.

Recently, though, a three items "fell off a truck" and onto my blog, and they are things you might be interested in knowing about. I'd certainly recommend these to my friends, and y'all are my friends, too, so here they are: