Recipe Review: Peanut Butter Cookies

Or, Sarah's Choice (which has nothing at all to do with Sophie's Choice, thank you God).

Sarah is coming back from Salem's youth group mission trip tonight. She's been gone for about a week. When she was gone for a week last summer at Civil Air Patrol encampment, I took her cookies when we went to pick her up, and she inhaled them, along with every other cadet there who saw that she had home made goodies.

When I asked what kind of treat she'd like as soon as she got back from this trip, she asked for peanut butter cookies. I found this recipe: Classic Peanut Butter Cookies and just got done making them.

And now for a word on peanut butter. I really hate cheap, hydrogenated peanut butter.  I really like natural peanut butter. For the kids, it's exactly the opposite. And frankly, the dog gets more peanut butter (as a treat in his Kong) lately than any of us, so I'm not inclined to spend a lot. It's Aldi brand for us, creamy instead of crunchy.

This is less than half the batch.

The batter went together very easily. I added a little vanilla to the wet ingredients, and a little  cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Have I ever mentioned that I almost never mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl anymore?  I just dump the flour on the well-mixed wet ingredients, then add salt, baking powder, etc. on top and mix that gently before I mix it into the dry. It turns out fine and one less bowl to wash makes me just that much happier.

Of course, sometimes I manage to find ways to make extra work for myself anyway.  For example, when I was making the criss cross pattern with the fork, I thought, "Hey, aren't you supposed to roll them in sugar first?"  So I got out a little sugar and started doing that. Then I thought, "HEY, wouldn't these be even better rolled in cinnamon sugar?"  So I got out some cinnamon sugar and rolled some in that before taking the fork to them.

Here's the thing about extra work. I feel that if it's a little bit of extra work for a lot of extra result, it's worth it. (See:  getting the skins off chickpeas before you  make hummus)  If it's a lot of extra work for little or no result, why bother?  (See:  using fresh pumpkin to make pumpkin pie)  Rolling the cookies in sugar wasn't hard, but it was time consuming.  I tasted one of each variation after they'd cooled (in the name of science, of course!) and could barely detect any difference. Maybe a little, but not enough to justify the extra time.

The point is, I ended up just scooping them out onto the cookie sheet, having at them with a fork, and baking them. Today, simplicity trumps everything else.

They're delicious, by the way!

Book Review: Bud, Not Buddy

OK, here we go. A book I can totally get behind. Yes, there are some sad parts, and some difficult topics (I see a big discussion about welfare and labor unions in our future), but nothing I found to be soul-killing.

Bud, Not Buddy is a fast, easy read, but I think both of my kids would enjoy it.  But goes through a lot of hard experiences, but stays true to himself. His official Rules and Things are cute and clever, but also have a lot of truth in them.

Number 328: 

When You Make Up Your Mind to Do Something,

Hurry Up and Do It, If You Wait You 

Might Talk Yourself Out of What You 

Wanted in the First Place

Yeah, been there.

Here's a study guide from BookRags that I think looks good: Bud, Not Buddy Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

Book Review: The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963

When I started reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham, I enjoyed it right away. This was a family I felt I knew. Hey, complaining about the cold during a Michigan winter is something I can really get behind. Getting teased for being smart--I remember those days. As I kept reading, I had a feeling Lauren might not like it too much--she hates it when kids are mean to each other--but I thought I might have found one of our road trip audio books.

Then I got to the end.  I thought, "You idiot!  Didn't you read the title?  The Watsons. Go. To. Birmingham.  1963. How did you think it was going to end?!?!"  Yeah.

I still think it's a good book, a book I'd like to keep on my shelves. I'm still going to recommend it to the girls. But I'm not going to recommend it this summer, so soon after the Boston bombing.  Also, I have no idea how to deal with the "How can people be so monstrous" question. When we get to Lord of the Flies, I think I'll be OK. When it's time for Anne Frank, not so much.

I really want to find something fun and light to read next, but we have a lot to do to get ready for that road trip, so I should take a break for a bit. When I get going on a new book, I tend to ignore other responsibilities.

Edited to add study guides:
This is a very long, very thorough guide, designed for a classroom setting. A lot of good activities here.
http://lwinliteracy92011.wikispaces.com/file/view/The%20Watson%27s%20Go%20to%20Birmingham%20-%20Lit%20Unit.pdf 

Scholastic also has a very long guide that has a lot of background information but also some good chapter review questions and follow up activities.
http://clay-chalkville.jefcoed.com/Teachers/brittanybullard/Lists/Announcements/Attachments/8/watsons%20scholastic%20reading%20guide.pdf

Book Review: Seedfolks

Paul Fleischman's Seedfolks is a quick book. There are only 87 pages, with a 13 page afterword. There are thirteen chapters, each with a different narrator. Normally, I like a book with multiple points of view (I'm seriously hooked on George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series).

But there wasn't enough here for me. I felt barely introduced to these characters. Fleischman says he didn't want to bore readers, and I understand that. I did enjoy getting to see what the garden meant to different characters, and I appreciate the vignette concept of only seeing the first year.  But this felt like it was no more than an introduction; I felt left hanging.

Will I suggest it to the girls?  Maybe, although some of the subject matter is a little adult: the pregnant teen who desperately wants to miscarry, for example. I think Lauren can wait a little while to be confronted with that particular concept.

Would I keep it for myself to read again?  Also maybe, although there isn't a lot of meat here. There isn't even much in the way of a traditional conflict, despite the build up in "Sam," the sixth chapter, when he talks about people putting up fences and even barbed wire. How does that resolve?  No, I think this one would go on the "sell back" shelf relatively quickly, although I did enjoy it well enough.

Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society

Another mystery, Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society one is definitely more engaging for kids. It also has a lot more going on.  Hound of the Baskervilles was more straightforward, with one mystery and everything leading toward it. Mysterious Benedict Society feels more like several mysteries that intertwine. My only complaint is that the ending was a little pat; things tied up a little too smartly for me, but I think that's more common with younger fiction.

One thing that I thought was quite mature was the concept of thought control and media, almost as a precursor to 1984 ("The missing aren't missing, they're only departed.").  Yes, I've been thinking about 1984 more lately, and plan to read it again soon. I also like the struggles the kids went through, especially when Reynie was questioning himself and the power of The Whisperer.  I'm going to recommend this one for both girls as a fun summer read.

Is it a keeper?  Yes, it would stay on a pretty high shelf, but it's not a "never sell"  like The Phantom Tollbooth, Little Women, or Watership Down.

Book Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles

I've been looking for some new books to read lately, as well as some summer reading material for the kids. Pages like NPR's Backseat Book Club and GoodRead's Required Reading in High School have given me a lot of good ideas..In addition to my reviews, I'm going to ask the girls to start blogs of their own to do the same.

First up for me is The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  It's a classic straightforward mystery, and I was a little surprised at how little Sherlock Holmes appeared in the first half of the story. Several chapters take place without him at all.  Frankly, the mystery itself wasn't all that mysterious, although I was eager to see how it all played out at the end.

For me, the real test of a book is how much I want to keep it. When I was in college and money was very tight, I had a great used book store. I could take in a stack of novels, and walk out with one or two new ones, and no money changed hands.  When I needed a new book fix, I'd look through all my books, and decide which ones I could bear to part with before walking past the library (oh the irony) to the bookstore.

Hound is sitting on a pretty low shelf; it would be one of the first to get sold. It's not a bad book, but I know the plot already and the characters and setting aren't enough to keep me coming back, so it isn't likely I'll read it again.

Would I "assign" it to either of the kids to read?  No, but I will make it one of their options. (I generally have a crate of books available and have them pick from it). I found this study guide at Quizlet.com, which is helpful. The language & concepts are a little archaic, but not too bad.