Congratulations to Jack Gantos!

One of my favorite authors, he is the 2012 recipient for the Newbery Award for Dead End in Norvelt

I had the pleasure to meet Jack at the 2011 ALA conference this summer.  He's just as charming in person as he is on page.

If you are interested in other books by Mr. Gantos, I'm also a fan of Hole in my Life (this would be for older readers, high school age) and the Joey Pigza series.

Enjoy!

Chili and cornbread

Mmm shrimp!

Have a great weekend :-)

Work lunch, but deserves an honorable mention

Romaine, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, rice noodles, edamame and baked tofu.
Dressing:
4 T. rice vinegar (I used a mix of rice & cider)
2 T. light soy sauce 
1 T. sugar 
1 T. vegetable oil (neutral, not olive oil)
1 T. sesame seed oil
salt & pepper

Isn't it wild when you think something is going to be blah and it turns out great?

Broccoli cheddar omelette

A little heavy on the broccoli...



Oh snap!!! The back exploded!!! (I'm trying to hide it with creative photography...)
My slightly imperfect omelette. Don't worry, I still love you.

Sun came out

It poured all morning, but the sun finally broke through.

Quick Thai curry

I followed the directions on the side of the red thai curry paste bottle, except I used the vegetables I had in the fridge.
And did shrimp instead of chicken.
Additionally, I used a random bag of some sort of frozen coconut (milk? juice?) I had in the freezer.
Oh, and don't use the suggested 2T. of brown sugar, holy sweet!
Finally, I added much more paste than suggested.

So, basically, I did my own thing and completely ignored the recipe.



It worked!

:-)

Red beans and rice

Always nice. Used sausage links and canned red beans--and promptly misplaced recipe. Hmm. Will post if I find it ;)

Screwed

Probably should be upset about these, but actually think they look cool.

Experimenting with phone's photo editor

Trying potato chips

Baked on 450 for about fifteen minutes. Not bad, but not perfect. Martha start suggests boiling first, I'll probably try that.

Granola kid

Used local honey, and do have to say there is a beneficial difference.

Christmas 2012 -- Lima, Peru part one

Here is the first part of our trip to Lima, Peru.