Guess what February 25th is this year?
Let's Eat Right Day
and
Quiet Day
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hmmm...
Today is Fat Tuesday, with the eating of the calorie-bloated paczki and fasnachts and all the other fun foods and, erm, beverages. And the parties, and the parties, and the parties. Oh, and the parties...
Monday, February 23, 2009
What the Heck is Paczki?
These are paczki - traditional Polish doughnuts, traditionally served each year on Paczki Day. AKA Shrove Tuesday. AKA Fat Tuesday. AKA Mardi Gras. AKA for 2009: tomorrow!
Paczki (pronounced poonch-key) are no ordinary doughnuts. They're made with especially rich dough, then deep-fried, shaped into flattened spheres, over-filled with confiture or other sweet fillings, and topped with powdered sugar, icing, or bits of dried orange zest. And at 500 calories a pop, you may want to go easy on them, no matter how good they taste.
Traditionally, paczki were made in order to use up all the lard, eggs, sugar and fruit in the house, because those items are forbidden during Lent - which begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the day right after...Fat Tuesday.
In Hamtramck - an enclave in Detroit, Michigan - they hold an annual Paczki Day Parade, a paczki eating contest, and festive Polish dancing. In fact, Hamtramck is known as The Place to go for paczki, and has one of the longest-standing Fat Tuesday celebrations.
Now, for all you people that share my Pennsylvania Dutch roots, you may be getting a sense of déjà vu. And it would be entirely justified, since Fasnacht Day is the equivalent of the Polish Paczki Day. And no matter what you call them, they certainly are just as bad for you, and just as tasty, and just as fun!
If you can't find paczki in your town, make your own! I found some recipes here: Polish American Journal: Paczki Day. Just scroll down toward the bottom to find them.
Want to know more about Paczki Day? Check out these links:
Friday, February 20, 2009
Book Review: Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen
Soon they stopped marching, and the kid began to loosen the knots on Roy's wrists. "Don't turn around," he said.
"What's your name?" Roy asked.
"I don't have a name no more."
"Sure you do. Everybody's got a name."
The kid grunted. "I been called Mullet Fingers. And I been called worse."
"You don't really live out here, do you?"
"None a your business. What'f I do?"
"All by yourself? What about your family?" Roy asked.
The boy rapped him lightly on the back of the head. "You ask too many nosey questions."
Summary:
Roy Eberhardt is used to being the new kid, due to his dad's frequent transfers for work. He is also used to facing bullies, and so he has learned to deal. But being the new kid at Trace Middle School has him dealing with more than just Dana Matherson, school bully. He's also tangled up with a host of other odd characters: Beatrice the Bear - a fierce girl who plays on the girls' soccer team, Garrett - the king of fake farts, a bald foreman named Curly, a runaway boy who sometimes goes by the name Mullet Fingers, a corporate big-wig named Chuck Muckle, and a pretty young starlet with a startling voice. And all of them are tangled up with endangered owls, a vacant lot, Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House, the police, politicians, and parents with questionable behavior.
For Teachers and Librarians:
Hoot is a real hoot - with a few serious messages craftily weaved throughout. It is sarcastic, funny, action-packed, mysterious, and full of memorable characters. Those traits alone are enough to lure even your most reluctant readers into the book and hold their attention all the way through. But you will also have quite a large number of ways to use this book in your classroom. It touches on corrupt politics and business practices, conservation, animal activism, protected species vs. development, bullies - and ways to outsmart them, friendship, being the "new kid," right vs. wrong - and how to decide which is which... The great thing is, all of these are totally kid-centered, so your students will easily be able to relate, and to discuss, and to apply what they learn to their own lives and communities.
For Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers:
Hoot is one of those books that appeals to such a wide number of groups, you will love it as much as your kids will. If your kids are dealing with bullies, this is a great example of how to deal with them and survive with your dignity and self-respect firmly intact. If your kids are into environmentalism, this is a strong example of just how powerful kids can be at making a major impact in their communities. If your kids are going through being the new kid, for the first time or the fiftieth time, they will identify with how Roy handles the same situation. If your kids know of someone at school who acts a little strangely, perhaps this book will prompt them to show some compassion - since we never truly know what our friends deal with at home. And if your kids and you are going through a rough patch, maybe this book will help both of you see each other as possible allies, rather than adversaries. But most of all, it's a great story: funny, mysterious, and full of action.
For the Kids:
Reading Hoot is something you don't want to pass up: it's funny, sarcastic, full of action and mystery, and who can turn down a book that has a bald guy in it...named Curly? Roy Eberhardt is new to Trace Middle School, and it's not his first time being "the new kid." But, being the new kid more than once has taught him a few things about how to deal with everything from bullies to making new friends. When Roy looks out the bus window and sees a shoeless boy running like the wind - away from the school bus - he can't forget it, and sets out to find him. Roy has no idea what this one bit of curiosity is going to drag him into, but once he's there, he learns a lot about himself, and about other kids, and about the adults around him, and about the power kids can have when they work for something they care about.
For Everyone Else:
Hoot should be on everyone's Must Read list. It's smart, and sarcastic, and mysterious, and it gives you a lot to root for: a boy finding his place in a new school, a tiny endangered owl species struggling to survive, another boy shunned by his own mother but embraced by others, and kids banding together to stand for what is right. Don't miss it.
Wrapping Up:
If you're looking for a well-written book that will make you laugh, and get angry, and empathize, and cheer, then Hoot is the book you need to go out and find. Read it, and be immensely satisfied.
Title: Hoot
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Pages: 304
Reading Level: 10 and up
Publisher and Date: Random House Children's Books, 2004
Edition: 1st Paperback
Language: English
Published In: United States
Price: $8.95
ISBN-10: 0375829164
ISBN-13: 978-0375829161
Author Spotlight: Carl Hiaasen
Columnist, journalist and novelist Carl Hiaasen uses news headlines and stories, a healthy dose of satire, and his own passion for environmentalism to fuel his writing for both children and adults.He dreamed of being a journalist from a very young age, and has been writing ever since his father gave him the typewriter he requested at the age of six. Back then, he wrote about neighborhood kickball and softball games. In high school, he banged out a newsletter for his friends, called it "More Trash," and filled it with rants and opinion pieces sparked from, for example, being on the receiving end of the dreaded parental "No."
While writing "More Trash," Hiaasen learned to use humor and satire to get his point across, finding that those were tools that drew in a bigger audience. He has been using those tools in his writing ever since. In a Los Angeles Times interview with reporter Margaret Wappler, he said:
"You've got to be funny sometimes. All my humor comes from anger. Satire is terrific therapy. Making people laugh is a joy, but making them think about something serious is the ultimate reward."
Hiaasen entered Emory College in 1970, then transferred to the University of Florida two years later, graduating in 1974 with a degree in journalism. He then spent two years working for Cocoa Today, out of Cocoa, Florida, before accepting a position with the Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter at age 23. From there, Hiaasen moved on to that paper's weekly magazine, and then to its investigations team in 1979. He switched again in 1985 - still with the Herald - to write a regular column on Sundays in the opinion and editorial section, and continues to do so.
It wasn't until the early 1980's that Hiaasen began writing novels for adults, together with the late William D. Montalbano. His first solo effort, Tourist Season, came out in 1986, and he went on to publish nine others. His first young adult novel was Hoot (2002) - a Newbery Honor winner, followed by Flush (2005), and the recently released Scat (2009). His novels are typically classified as "environmental thrillers" and housed in bookstores' mystery sections.
Carl Hiaasen was born (March 12, 1953) and raised in Plantation, Florida - the first of four children. He now lives in the Florida Keys with his family.
Sources:
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Reality Check
As I sat with a book in my favorite reading spot the other day, Handsome Boy bopped noisily into the room. I looked up to find him inches from the couch, gazing intently at me. His usual impish grin was replaced by lips set in a firm, thin line.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"There's something wrong with that song - Row, Row, Row Your Boat."
"Oh?"
He nodded. "Life. Is not. A dream." Then, leaning in until our noses were practically touching, he intoned, "It's real."
He stared at me for a few seconds more, eyes wide and head nodding gravely. Then he turned and bopped back out of the room.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
All Hail the Mighty Thumb!
Sir Isaac Newton once said:
"In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence."
Perhaps Newton's admiration for this most versatile digit is the reason why Thumb Appreciation Day is celebrated on February 18th. In fact, let's just go with that, since I didn't find one shred of evidence pointing to the actual originator. (And honestly, does it really matter? A party is a party, no matter how silly the reason.)
So, as we appreciate our thumbs today, let us ponder a few reasons why this most important - and most overlooked - of appendages is indispensable.
If there were no thumbs:
...we couldn't have a Rule of Thumb. What would we use for our benchmark phrasing? Rule of Pinky? Nah. No dignity. No dignity at all.
...gardeners would lose that most coveted of titles: Green Thumb.
...those suffering from boredom would lose their most accessible method of relief: twiddling one's thumbs.
...never again could we link fingers with an opponent and shout out, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR! I DECLARE A THUMB WAR!"
...typing would be darn near impossible. And forget texting.
...whatever would we call those teensy pictures that stand for files on our computers?
...hitchhikers would have a hard time. Imagine trying to get someone to stop and give you a ride when all you can do is point the way past you.
...Siskel (if he were still among us) and Ebert would be out of a job.
...amateur photographers everywhere would have to find some other body part to block the lens and mar their otherwise masterful creations.
...the couch potatoes among us would have to ditch the remote and find some other way to surf.
...little guys could no longer produce artistic masterpieces with stamp pads, markers, and their two small-type opposable digits.
...we'd have to invent a whole new phrase to describe the clumsy among us. "He's all thumbs" wouldn't mean much anymore.
...we could say goodbye to tennis, ping pong, racquetball, baseball, softball, basketball, lacrosse, bowling, hockey, American football...
...there would be no more penny pinching. No more pinching of any kind, for that matter. And where's the fun in that?
...what would all the poor thumbsuckers do for comfort? As I understand it, fingers or a pacifier are poor substitutes.
...that whole "right to bear arms" thing would be a moot point.
...the literary world would lose a couple of giants in the field: Tom Thumb? Who's that? Thumbelina? Never heard of her.
And as a final reason for the season, consider that thumbs provide us with an outlet to exercise our constitutional rights, as Marshall Lumsden so eloquently points out:
"At no time is freedom of speech more precious than when a man hits his thumb with a hammer."
And lest anyone get all "that's sexist" on me, may I point out that a woman uses her precious free speech elsewhere, as she would never be clumsy enough to whack her thumb with a hammer in the first place...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
That's a Vegetable, Isn't It?
So, my husband C and I were in NYC on Valentine's Day, having dinner at Spice Market. It's a fantastic restaurant: very trendy, very chic, very romantic. Since I'm: A. not very trendy, B. hardly chic, and C. much more of a giggler than a romantic, I was doing my best to be a grown-up.
It didn't last long.
We had just been seated at our table. I was perusing the menu of delicious-looking cocktails (and privately wondering if it would be unseemly to just order all of them at once) when my eyes froze on this one:
Kumquat Mojito
Now, I had a vague notion of what a kumquat is. And that vague notion was that a kumquat is 1. a word that is impossible to say without snickering at the very least, and 2. probably a vegetable.
I blinked. Then I read it again. Out loud. Kumquat. Mojito. Snort. Snicker. Giggle.
I looked over at C, who looked up from his menu with questioning eyes. I carefully pointed to the incriminating drink, then clapped my hands over my mouth to stifle the great guffaws I could feel coming on. He cracked the tiniest bit of a smile (having learned from experience that it is never a good idea to fully encourage me).
Usually I would have dissolved into hoots of laughter by this point, but I managed to compose myself, take a deep breath, and regain the illusion of adulthood once again.
But that was not the end of it. Oh, no.
The next day, I was at the grocery store. Understand, I live in a two-stop-light town (we added the second one last year) so our produce section is typically garden variety. But that day, as I went in search of oranges, guess what I found serendipitously stacked in between the oranges and lemons?
Huh. A kumquat is not a vegetable. It's a fruit.
Who knew?
But kumquat is still funny to say.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)