Tasty Thursday

It's so nice outside! How about a picnic with the kiddos? Try this fun and tasty recipe from Packing Up a Picnic by Rick Walton and Jennifer Adams—one of our amazing children's activity books.

Italian Club Rollup

1 flour tortilla

2 slices ham

2 slices salami

2 slices Swiss or provolone cheese

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dry oregano

Lay the tortilla flat on a work space. Place the ham on top, overlapping the ham as little as possible while covering the tortilla. Cover ham with the salami and then top with the cheese. Drizzle with the olive oil and then sprinkle the oregano over top. Starting on one side, roll up the tortilla like a wrap. Cut in half and serve, or place in a plastic ziplock bag to carry to your picnic.

Children's Book Week

Kids and parents alike have been raving about our new book Origami Toys That Tumble, Fly, and Spin. This is not your grandma’s origami! For example, have you ever built an Origami Catapult? You can set this up in a battle with your favorite army soldiers or Star Wars characters, or if you don’t have those lying around, simply take aim at some empty soda cans! (To order a copy of the book, click the cover image.)

~from editor Jared Smith

Origami Catapult!
Instructions:

First, get an 8-inch square of thick, strong paper.

Next, fold the paper in half down the middle. Unfold.


Now fold the edges to the center line. Unfold.


Fold in the bottom corners.


Now refold the creases you made in the paper.


Fold down the top edge of the paper just a little bit.


Turn your paper over.

Fold the bottom edge of the paper across so that it lies flat on the right-hand edge. Unfold.

Similarly, fold the bottom edge of the paper against the left-hand edge. Unfold.


Turn your paper over.


Now fold dot to dot, as shown.


Hold the model as shown. Gently bring your hands together, allowing the paper to fold in half and the V edge near the bottom to swing downward . . .


. . . like this. Open out the top edge until it is almost flat.


On the top layer only, make two valley (outward) folds in the shape of an upturned V . . .

. . . like this. This will open a white pocket in the paper.

Finally, crumple up a tight ball of paper and put it in the white pocket. To make the Catapult work, hold tightly as shown. Swing your hands quickly and the ball will launch into the air!

Children's Book Week

Today let's have some monsterous fun with a video from author Dan Reeder. His book is titled Papier-Mache Monsters -- a great book for crafty kids!

To order a copy of Papier-Mache Monsters, just click on the book cover.

Tasty Thursday

Is there anything better than cheese? This recipe for mac 'n' cheese is a fantastic version of the all-time classic and is from one of our newest releases, Cheese: Exploring Taste and Tradition by Patricia Michelson with a foreword by Jamie Oliver.

Mac 'n' Cheese
1 lb macaroni or elbow-shape pasta
4 tbsp unsalted butter, beef dripping or bacon fat, plus extra as required
4 tbsp flour
2 pints full-fat milk, warmed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped tsp dry English mustard
1 lb strong Farmhouse Cheddar such as Shelbourne, Lincolnshire Poacher or a mixture of Parmesan and Cheddar, grated
Dry breadcrumbs (1–2 day-old bread, dried—not toasted), tossed in a little melted butter, for sprinkling
Rashers of streaky bacon, grilled until crisp, to serve (optional)

1. Cook the macaroni until al dente, drain, toss in a little butter and place in a casserole dish. To make a roux, melt the butter over a medium heat. Turn down the heat slightly and add the flour then cook, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes until the rawness of the flour is cooked out but on no account allowed to brown.

2. Off the heat, pour a little of the milk into the roux and mix to a creamy consistency. Place the pan back on the heat, and in a steady stream pour in the rest of the milk, stirring to make a lovely thick sauce (you may not need to use all of the milk).

3. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, mustard and grated cheese, mix well, and return to the stove and heat, stirring continuously, until the cheese has melted. Pour the sauce over the macaroni in the casserole, and stir to ensure the pasta is coated.

4. Sprinkle the top with the buttery breadcrumbs, and bake in an oven preheated to 400°F for 15 minutes. Serve topped with rashers of crisp streaky bacon, if liked.

Makes 4 servings

Children's Book Week

Introducing Miss Annie McRae!

Hold onto your hats, 'cause there's a new cowgirl in town

whose pistols are packed with positive attitude!

Eight-year old Annie McRae is irresistible -- with her toothless grin, turquoise blue cowboy boots, and her upbeat twist on life, she spends most days surrounded by cheers of "hip, hip, hooray for Annie McRae!" from Mom, Dad, Mr. Garcia, and Grandma C.
But what happnes when the grownups are too busy to cheer? Don't you worry -- Annie pulls herself up by the bootstraps and realizes that the best "hip, hip, hoorays" come from herself and caring for others. This cheerful tale is sure to land you sunny-side up!





Hip, Hip, Hooray for Annie McRae! is written by Brad Wilcox and illustrated by Julie Olson. To order a copy of this great book, click on the cover image.

Children's Book Week

Continuing the childrens fun during this week, we thought we'd share a favorite recipe from Pink Princess Cupcakes, the newest childrens cookbook from best-selling author Barbara Beery.

Kiss Me Cupcakes
Favorite Vanilla Cupcakes (below)
Pink, green, and yellow paste food coloring
Buttercream Frosting (below)
1 bag (14 ounces) Wilton Candy Melts
Frog candy mold
Black and pink tube decorating gels

Make cupcakes according to directions, adding enough pink paste food coloring to the batter to make it bright pink.

Make frosting according to directions. Put one-fourth of the frosting in a separate bowl and add enough pink paste food coloring to make it bright pink. Add green and a little yellow paste food coloring to the remaining frosting.

Following the directions on the Candy Melts, make 24 candy frogs using the candy mold.

When you are ready to assemble the cupcakes, frost them green to resemble a lily pad and then set a candy frog in the center. Use black gel to make the frog’s pupils and pink gel to make his mouth. Pipe bright pink frosting around the edge of the cupcake and put one star of frosting next to the frog.

Favorite Vanilla Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups superfine granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups self-rising flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray the inside of each cupcake liner or mold with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition until just blended.

Fill each liner or mold one-half to two-thirds full of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Carefully remove cupcake pan from oven and place on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and place back on the rack to cool for 30 minutes before frosting and decorating.

Buttercream Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar, or more if needed
Pinch of salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup half-and-half or whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond, coconut, strawberry, or raspberry extract (optional)
Paste food coloring (optional)

Place powdered sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix with a whisk to break apart any lumps.

Add half-and-half or milk and slowly mix with a hand mixer on low. Add butter and turn the mixer to high speed. Beat until fluffy. You may need to add a little more milk if the mixture is too thick or a little more powdered sugar if the mixture is too thin.

Turn hand mixer to low. Beat in vanilla and additional extracts or food coloring if using.


Makes 24 cupcakes









If you would like to order a copy of Pink Princess Cupcakes, just click on the bookcover.

King-Sized Anti-Bullying Help for Girls

Today it's time to share some great advice for girls to help combat cyber-bullying, a new plague that is running rampant throughout the country, resulting in serious injuries and even horrible deaths. Bullying does not have to happen!

Below is some advice from Bart King, the author of The Big Book of Girl Stuff.

Advice for Girls!

Where do Mean Girls come from? Do they wake up one morning, look in the mirror, and decide, “I’m going to be mean”? Or does a fairy come by and sprinkle magical Mean Girl fairy dust on them? Nobody knows.

But this excerpt from The Big Book of Girl Stuff is dedicated to the question: “Bad girls, bad girls, whatcha gonna do?”

Mean Girls are not exactly bullies. Of course, there are some Mean Girls who might actually punch you. (They are called “Cave-Girls.”) But since girls are different from boys, girl bullies are often different from boy bullies. For example, Mean Girls can actually be nice when someone is watching. But because they’re so sneaky and sly, it can be hard for an outsider to spot Mean Girls being mean.

One Mean Girl technique is to get all her friends to hate her “enemy.” To get everyone on her side, the Mean Girl might try to “scapegoat” her victim. (A scapegoat is someone who gets blamed for everything that is wrong, whether it is her fault or not.) Everything the scapegoat does is WRONG. If she has long hair, it should be short. If she raises her hand in class, she is a show-off. If she is quiet, she is stuck-up. Scapegoats get harassed with name-calling, cold-shoulders, rumors, and teasing. It’s so stupid.

* No Kidding! Don’t you hate it when a mean girl says something mean, and then adds, “Just kidding.” Like that helps!

Mean Girl: Everyone who thinks that Samantha should change her hairstyle, raise your hand!

Samantha: Please stop it.

Mean Girl: Oh my gosh, I was just kidding. Can’t you take a joke, Samantha?

Samantha (with a sweet smile): Sure. Is that new lip-gloss you’re wearing or did you just eat another pork chop? Just kidding.

But why do some girls get picked on? It might just be because they are different and they dare to be themselves. It’s like the Mean Girls are the Perfection Police, and they decide what is OK and what isn’t. They will pick on girls who are too smart, or not smart enough, or too pretty, or not pretty enough, or overweight, or really funny or whatever. A girl who really is herself might annoy a Mean Girl who kissed her brain goodbye just to be “popular.”

Someday you may find yourself the victim of a group of Mean Girls. They might say nasty things about you or write anonymous notes that put you down. Sure, we’ve all been told that “sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you.” Mean Girls have proven what a load of baloney that is! If someone says something mean, it can hurt for years.

BTW, when Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) found out who had published a nasty pamphlet about her, she had the authors’ right hands cut off.

For the moment, let’s say that a Mean Girl is treating you badly. You can just silently take her abuse, which isn’t very healthy or satisfying. So here’s some strategies for your action plan:

1. Tell an adult and get help. Sure, he or she would have to be pretty “with it” to know how to help. But still.

2. Avoid the Mean Girls when possible. (Duh!)

3. Be patient and wait for the Mean Girl to either move to another state or to stop being mean. (It’s fun to wish.)

4. Let your own sense of humor help you.

Having a sense of humor about life might not solve your problems, but it will make things better. If you can laugh at the Mean Girl (and yourself), somehow it relieves the tension and makes the world a better place. Your humor may be shown when you smile to yourself at how lame the Mean Girl is when she is nasty.

What about BOY bullies? Well, they tend to be insulting. Boy bullies are usually easier to spot than girl bullies, because they are not as bright. They may THINK they are smart, though.

Jerks can be just as cruel as mean girls. He usually wants to hurt your feelings or get you angry. Whatever a Jerk says to you, try to keep your cool. If you get upset, that’s exactly what he wanted. After all, consider the source: A boy who doesn’t know anything about you? Please. His opinion shouldn’t count for anything.

Special Note: There is a special kind of Jerk who might be mean to you because he has a crush on you. He’s just too immature to know how to deal with his feelings. (We know this sounds like a lame movie idea, but it’s true!)

So how should you deal with a Jerk? If a Jerk says something mean to you and you just blush and walk away, that encourages him. He has no reason to leave you alone because you’re an easy victim!

All of us fantasize about what we WISH we said to the mean person who insulted us. Maybe it would be better to just SAY it and not wish we had.

Of course, there are always adults that might be able to help. Aside from the usual parents, teachers, and counselors, if you can find a way to speak to a Jerk’s mother, your problems may be solved. The odds are that if she finds out her little Junior is being mean to girls, he’ll be in BIG trouble. If you need to talk to a teacher or your parents to get word to the Jerk’s mom, then talk to a teacher or your parents.

Follow-Up Activity: Want to get the last laugh? Move to Russia. Women there live an average of 13 years longer than men!

~Bart King