Fighting a losing battle

I've had so much to blog about lately - a review of French Milk, a round-up of the Random House preview last week, yummy food pictures - but it's proven to be nearly impossible for the following reasons:



Sick kiddo

Sick me


Deadlines at work


Deadlines from SLJ


Parents in town from Cali



So you're all (all 10 of you, anyway) going to need to wait just a little bit longer for proper posts. But in the meantime, feast your eyes on this from last week's NYT Dining section:

Short Ribs with Coffee and Chilies

Fabulous, no? Stay tuned...

Sneak Peek, Part Deux: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Thank goodness for sick kids! Because my daughter was home sick yesterday and catatonic on the couch, I was able to read through 300 pages in Graceling and finish it! Huzzah!

A Grace is an extreme skill that someone is blessed with, and those who have one of these skills are called Gracelings – you can tell who is Graced by their different colored eyes. Katsa can kill a man with her bare hands and is sent out by her uncle, the king, to torture those who have wronged him. To undo the evil deeds of her uncle and the other kings of the six surrounding kingdoms, Katsa forms a Council. When a prince from a nearby kingdom is kidnapped, Katsa and her Council must rescue him and find out who was behind the kidnapping. Needless to say, the one behind the abduction is not who they expected and they encounter a Graceling that could destroy them all.

The premise of this book is fascinating – you can be endlessly entertained by people with superhuman powers: a Grace that allows you to swim like a fish! A Grace that allows you to read minds! A Grace that allows you to see approaching storms! And it’s not very often that I’m compelled enough to read a book in nearly one sitting - I was completely sucked into the story. That said, there were definitely some slow parts that could have used some tighter editing (think Harry Potter and the Interminable Camping Trip). Also, this book may be more adult…but with very strong YA crossover possibilities: when a book refers to the main character taking a “lover”, I tend to think that pushes it to adult. I don’t recall the ages of the main characters being mentioned, but I did get the distinct impression they were grown adults. But teens will still love this, and it should definitely be marketed to them. This should be enormously popular…though I’ll hold off final judgment until I see the final cover, of course. It all hinges on the cover, doesn’t it?

I did finally encounter Princess Bitterblue…and Ellen’s Cosmo-style quiz was right on with that description.

Note: to recap, the pub date for Graceling isn’t until October 2008 (damn) and I only read the ARC so the story can still change from here…and I didn’t see the final cover (double damn).

"Build a little birdhouse in your soul"

I remember being introduced to They Might Be Giants in the 9th grade: April Crittenden was listening to Flood on her Walkman on our way to a ski trip. I thought it was just about the weirdest thing I had ever heard and, truth be known, we totally teased April about it because it was all so strange and new.

Cue college and I fell in love with and married a huge TMBG fan.

Now I have a kid who watches the Disney Channel where it’s impossible not to hear They Might Be Giants.

So you can probably guess what happened: 18 years later, after making fun of April, I’m a dedicated fan of the band. Check out Zooglobble’s interview with TBMG member John Flansburgh as they chat about the new kids’ album, Here Come the 123s.

The One Where I Don't Mention Food

** U.S. News just came out with its list of Best Careers 2008, and Librarian is on it. And I’m just thinking, “Well, DUR!” We’ve all known this for awhile and now America is catching on. What raised a red flag with me is that the median annual pay is listed as $51,400. Really? I mean, reallllly???? I want to know why I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, holding the position I hold, and I make well under that. Seriously, we’re talking $10k less than that. How annoying. The Man is damn lucky I like my job so much. Damn lucky.

Thanks to Annoyed Librarian for the link.

** Publishers Weekly has the scoop on the joint book tour with Shannon Hale and Libba Bray, and I just have to ask: are there two authors more fun than these two? I don’t think so. I just want to be best friends with them. (Thanks to PW for the photo!)

** The Oregonian has an interview with Beverly Cleary, who I can credit almost entirely with shaping me as a young reader. Ramona spoke to me as a child; she was a kindred spirit. Then I moved on to Dear Mr. Henshaw. Then it was Sister of the Bride, Jean and Johnny, Fifteen, and The Luckiest Girl. She’s the one single author I can say I grew up with; after all, I didn’t discover L.M. Montgomery until I was 15 and Sweet Valley High was just a phase. And I was never into Judy Blume as a kid. It’s delightful to see that, at 91, Cleary is as spunky as ever: when asked to comment about children reading so much less than they used to, Cleary answers: “I don't think I'm qualified…because I only hear from children who do read." Wonderful. I don’t have very many heroes, but she is one of mine.

Sneak Peek: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Oooooh, everyone, I am in the middle of a way cool YA book: Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Don’t bother looking for it; its pub date isn’t until October 2008. When I went to dinner with Harcourt at ALA Midwinter, Ellen Greene (marketing gal extraordinaire) had arranged for all of us to get this ARC and she also did this fabulous Cosmo-style quiz where we find out which of the characters in Graceling we most align with and which Grace we have. I got the relationships grace, shared by Princess Bitterblue. So I’m about one-third of the way through the book and Princess Bitterblue hasn’t appeared yet – I can’t wait to read about her! But Walter Mayes was sitting at my table and he got the fighting grace, aligning himself with Prince Po. Now I’m reading all about Prince Po…who is rather strong and dashing…but I keep seeing Walter’s face with that big ol’ beard. Weird. Nevertheless, this is proving to be an excellent read…and I don’t normally go for fantasy. Keep an eye out for this one in the future!

And I’m consciously not giving you any more information about the book because I don’t want to be one of those bloggers that gives everything away and causes the publisher to stop giving out ARCs. Without this ARC, I’d be reading the book 7 months from now and, thank you, I’d rather be reading it now. So mum’s the word.

Kid lit and food collide...again…sort of

So with the husband gone all weekend, I thought the girls – my daughter and I – could do some shopping. We bought pear-scented conditioner for the kiddo, pajamas for both of us, and then hit Barnes and Noble. I know, B&N is evil. But as I’ve whined before, Queens seems to have no indies to speak of. Alas. So we’re in B&N and I drag the kiddo over to the cookbooks, promising her we’ll hit the kids’ section if she can behave while I peruse books for myself. And my rad daughter proceeds to take her journal out of her purse, sit down, and start writing with abandon. I had a ton of time.

See, I was on a mission: to buy a non-Food Network cookbook. I have cookbooks by Rachael, Ina, Michael (Chiarello), Tyler, Nigella, Jamie. I’m all about the celebrity chef. The only non-FN cookbooks I use on any kind of regular basis are by Patricia Wells*. So I decided I would blind-buy whatever cookbook caught my eye. I found a gem: The French Market: More Recipes from a French Kitchen. It was pure eye candy. And the recipes seemed real simple with really accessible ingredients. I snatched it up. So I’m flipping through it when I get home, and I become curious about who wrote the book: Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. Who are these women? Yep, it’s that Joanne Harris. You know, she wrote Chocolat** and, with the publication of Runemarks, she is now a YA author. Wow. I created this food/children’s literature blog because I couldn’t decide which I was more passionate about. But I keep finding that these subjects aren’t entirely exclusive. Which makes sense because food is truly all-important and of course it’s going to intertwine itself in every aspect of one’s life. If it doesn’t, then you need reassess your priorities.

So I can’t make anything from my new cookbook until Wednesday this week: I begin my French class at NYU on Monday and the husband is taking a class of his own on Tuesday. So we’re going to have to pull out the old warhorses at the beginning of the week: antipasti on Monday and poached eggs with creamy polenta on Tuesday. But come Wednesday…well, let’s just say you’re probably all going to want to come to my apartment for dinner. I’m just sayin’…

Wednesday: brioche with mushrooms/brioche aux champignons, salad with walnuts/salade aux noix

Thursday: cauliflower soup/soupe au chou-fleur

Friday: chicken breasts with Dijon mustard/poulet à la moutarde de Dijon, salad with an herb vinaigrette

Bon appétit!

* How telling that every single one of these chefs has a glossy, pretty website of their own!

** And this is actually Joanne Harris' second cookbook. The first one was The French Kitchen and it actually has a recipe for " Vianne's Spiced Hot Chocolate" from the movie, Chocolat. I know I spent my previous post practically bragging about my lack of a sweet tooth, but I think I have to make this hot chocolate at some point. How could I not???

Life would be sweeter with a sweet tooth

You know, I’m not a baker. I’ve always argued that it’s because I don’t care for the precision baking requires – I’ve never liked math, and baking seems to require too much of it for my tastes. So there’s that. But the other thing is that I just don’t have much of a sweet tooth – give me crunchy or salty or cheesy any day over dessert. If I’m going to have dessert at all, I’ll go for a scoop of sorbet. And the rare time I order something sweet and rich, I either share it or I’m perfectly happy eating only three bites.

So, all that said, I still love looking at baking cookbooks and dogearing the desserts in all my cookbooks. And that goes for blogs lately, as well. Becks and Posh made some lovely, delicate “Jasmine Dragon Pearl Tea Cookies” that look divine. This is a dessert I can get on board with: crisp, light, subtle, only moderately sweet. I’m sooo tempted to make them. But can I use some other tea? I’ve got English Breakfast, San Francisco Spice (lots of cinnamon and cloves – it has a surprising amount of heat), some sort of peach tea, and lots of vanilla tea. As it is, Becks and Posh say that the original recipe calls for Earl Grey but they went with the Jasmine Dragon Pearl that they had on hand. Which really makes this the ideal baking recipe for someone like me: clearly, I can add any kind of tea I have on hand and see what happens. You can add something richer for winter, and I think my peach tea would be wonderful in the spring. Perhaps even lemon tea with some lemon zest too? So I’m adding this recipe to my already burgeoning list of dessert recipes I have squirreled away. And let’s hope I actually give this one a go. Thanks to Becks and Posh for the photo, recipe, and post.

Likewise, Cream Puffs in Venice is having a whole month of chocolate-themed posts so there’s just endless amounts of mouth-watering and eye candy on display over there. I will readily admit, though, that I’ll most likely never make this recipe – I would never make chocolate for myself when I get the most pleasure out of a small square of Dagoba Organic (have you not tried Dagoba? Shame on you. Do so the first chance you get - or go to the link and buy some online). Siiiiiigh. Nevertheless, I still love looking at beautiful pictures of chocolate desserts so feast your eyes on this:

The recipe is from Maxine Clark's Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Lovers. Thanks to Cream Puffs in Venice. Like I said, it ain't my bag but I'm guessing some of you are just swooning in front of your computer screens right now.

I've got more tidbits to share, but the husband is golfing in NC right now so it's just the kiddo and me all weekend (who declared about the chocolate mousse picture: "Wow! Let's make that!"). Which means she's challenging me to a game of Uno as I type this. Gotta go show her who's the champion.

What I'm Reading

Oh, gracious. It’s Super Tuesday and I’m watching all the minute-to-minute updates on CNN.com. I will say this: the Bush administration sure has got people concerned about voting for a change. Don’t you remember 10 years ago when everyone was freaking out because only 30-something percent of the population was voting? Well, that’s changed, hasn’t it? People actually feel like their votes matter and they really can (and should) alter our country's direction. That's my impression, anyway.

Lest I digress waaaaay too much, I’d love to chat about what I’m reading. I’m in one of my schizo moods where I’m reading a little bit of everything, nothing is exciting me too much (or I’m getting excited about everything), and I can’t make up my mind.

Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen by Wendelin Van Draanen: I have to admit that this is my first Sammy Keyes book…and I’ll admit that I’m wondering what took me so long! I’m totally loving this. This is the perfect antidote to all those girly-girl books out there – which have their place too, of course – because Sammy just kicks butt. From wrestling at Slammin’ Dave’s to beating up the Queen Bee (deservedly), I’m having a blast reading it. Especially since I predict my 6-year-old daughter is a Sammy in the making. I’m two-thirds through and I’ll probably pick up another one when I’m done.

Jellaby by Kean Soo: I just got a review copy sent to me and I immediately picked it up because I had heard so many great things about it. I’m 35 pages in and I’m just charmed beyond belief.

A History of Western Art: From Prehistory to the 20th Century by Antony Mason. I received this from SLJ about a month ago to review it. And it’s taking me that long to get through it. It’s fascinating and I’m really enjoying it (I’m a frustrated art history lover), but it’s very dense and very browser-friendly so I keep sitting down, reading about 4 pages, and then moving on (it's taking me about 30 minutes to get through only 4 pages because there is just sooo much to look at!). The photographs and reproductions are wonderful quality.

Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson: It’s my newest cookbook and I’m loving it so far. When she says “express”, she means it. The meals I’ve made so far (mustard pork chops, Mexican scrambled eggs, quesadillas, et al) have been delicious and way easy. Not to mention that I love all the gorgeous photos. I will say, though, that I made the gnocchi with the mustard pork chops and I really screwed it up. I’ve never made gnocchi before – how do you keep them from turning into a globby mess???

I hope you voted, if you could, today and huzzah to the Giants for ensuring that the Patriots didn't get their perfect season (and proving - again! - that Tom Brady is useless without Adam Vinatieri)...And I digress again...