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At my house, my children seem to be on the "Orange Food Diet." They love anything orange - mandarin oranges, Cheetos, cheese, nachos with queso cheese, mac ‘n’ cheese, cantalope, honey, and peaches. So let’s celebrate the color orange with Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach and the Disney movie version. (I must say this is one time I’d recommend the movie just as much as the book.)

According to the official Roald Dahl website, James was the first major book he wrote for children. It’s a fun-filled, slightly crazy book, filled with magical nonsense and fantastic characters that only Roald Dahl could provide:

When poor James Henry Trotter loses his parents in a horrible rhinoceros accident, he is forced to live with his two wicked aunts, and becomes the saddest boy ever. Then a wizened old man in a dark-green suit gives James a bag of magic crystals that promise to reverse his misery. James accidentally spills the crystals on his aunts’ withered peach tree, and a single peach grows, and grows, and grows some more, until finally James climbs inside the giant fruit and rolls away from his despicable aunts to a whole new life. James befriends an assortment of hilarious characters, including Grasshopper, Earthworm, Miss Spider, and Centipede.

Activities
FamilyFun.com has a full page of bug related crafts. Then there’s Parents magazine’s recipe for pint-sized peach pies. These can be made year-round since they’re made with frozen fruit.

Mini Peach Pies
Parents magazine - March 2006 issue

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups frozen peaches
2. 1 refrigerated piecrust
3. 2 1/2 Tbsp. graham cracker crumbs
4. 2 Tbsp. sugar pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Defrost peaches.
2. Heat over to 400 degrees.
3. Using 4-inch bowl as a guide, cut 5 circles from piecrust. Roll out slightly, then place on a baking sheet.
4. Place 1/2 Tbsp. of graham cracker crumbs in center of each crust.
5. Using a plastic knife (for kids), cut thawed peaches into chunks.
6. In medium bowl, mix peaches with sugar and cinnamon.
7. Divide peaches among crusts. Fold edge of each crust up and over peaches to form pies.
8. Bake 30 minutes until pies are golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Suggestions: Try using berries or other kinds of fruit - fresh or frozen. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or powered sugar, and garnish with some of your bug crafts.

Yellow makes me think of bananas, and bananas makes me think of Curious George (known around my house as "George the Monkey") and the Man in the Yellow Hat. I can’t think of a more perfect color-food-literary connection than that, thanks to H.A. Ray.

Curious George books and cartoons have always been popular with kids and adults. However, with the recent success of the Curious George movie and the subsequent PBS kids television series, there are now lots of Curious George things to do.

Online you can visit Houghton Mifflin Books’ Curious George or PBS Kids Curious George websites. Both feature games, printables, actvity suggestions, and teacher/parent guides. The PBS game Banana 411 was a big hit with Lucie, so I have a feeling we’ll be spending some time on the PBS Kids site.

(Summer learning hint: there are so many tips and suggestions on both sites that you could plan weeks and weeks worth of reading and activities just around the Curious George books.)

The Houghton Mifflin site has a recipe for Curious George Banana Bread. (It’s a PDF, so make sure you have Adobe Acrobat.) Another banana treat comes from Betty Crocker. This recipe won an honorable mention in the 2007 Mix It Up with Betty Contest.

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A clever way to teach very young children colors is by pointing out the colors of their food - green beans, red tomotoes, yellow cheese, and so on. Fruity Cheerios is a great food product to do this with, plus it’s better than your average sugary cereal. Fruity Cheerios has 25% less sugar than the leading fruity cereal, 12 essential vitamins and minerals, and it’s a great source of whole grain. (See their website for nutritional information.) Fruity Cheerios is certified by the American Heart Association as a heart healthy food, too.

I love cereal and could eat it for dinner. Sometimes my kids like cereal, but most of the time I end up throwing out half eaten bowls. Yet Lucie loved the Fruity Cheerios we tried at a friend’s house, so I’m guessing your kids will like ‘em, too.

If that’s the case, check out what’s going on at Modern Mom. They’re partnering with Fruity Cheerios to bring you the chance to win some fabulous prizes just for showing them how Fruity Cheerios contributes to fun in your family. All you have to do is create a picture or video inspired by Fruity Cheerios that features family members.

Between now and May 18th, 2007, Modern Mom will be gathering Fruity Cheerios-inspired photo and video entries. A panel of judges will select five finalists in each (photo and video) category based on:

• Creativity (25%)
• Quality of work (25%)
• Creative incorporation of Fruity Cheerios cereal brand identification (50%)

Then, they’ll take the final decision to the Modern Mom community! Modern Mom visitors will vote for their favorite entry in each category June 8th through June 16th. The Grand Prize winner in each category will win a case of Fruity Cheerios and $500 in cash!

So get creative and get your entries in before May 18th! Food, family fun, activities, prizes - all while learning your colors. What more can you ask for?

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How exciting, A Readable Feast was nominated for Best Educational Blog! Take a minute and vote for me!

UPDATE ONE: Well, I thought I was nominated. I had even received a few votes. But when I went to check today I saw my site was removed and possibly banned. I’ve contacted Blogger’s Choice Awards to find out why and will update this post if and when I find out why.

UPDATE TWO: I was accidentally removed and have been reinstated. You may need to place your vote again however.

Have you seen the May 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living, their "Our First Color Issue"? The Spectrum of Sweetness article inspired me to write about learning about color with food. So this week and next, I’ll be picking family-friendly recipes, books, and activities around colors.

White Food
This month, FamilyFun.com featured April Fools’ Prank Food recipes for dishes that look like one thing, but taste like another. This recipe is white (pastry and pudding) with added dashes of color.

Chicken Not-Pie
Bigger kids can help with assembly and younger children can chop up the candy.

Ingredients:

1. 1 (4 1/2-inch) aluminum foil potpie tin 1 refrigerated piecrust (most 15-ounce packages contain 2 crusts, enough for 6 of our pies)
2. Aluminum foil
3. 1 egg (makes enough for 6 pies)
4. 2 tablespoons water
5. 1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla or white-chocolate pudding (1 box makes enough for 3 pies)
6. 1 yellow and 2 orange Starburst candies
7. 1 green Chewy Jolly Rancher candy or green Tootsie Roll candy (we found the green Starburst candies to be too pale)
8. 1 banana (makes enough for 6 pies)
9. 1 to 2 dried apple rings or a 4-ounce bar of white chocolate (1 bar is enough for 6 pies)

Directions:

1. Bake the crust: Heat the oven to 450°. Unroll or unfold a piecrust on your work surface. Using the upside-down potpie tin as a guide, cut a circle of dough about 1/2 inch larger than the tin. (If you’re making more than one potpie, simply cut another circle from the dough. Reroll the scraps to cut out a third.) Crumple a piece of aluminum foil into a 1 1/2-inch ball and set it in the potpie tin. Cover it with a layer of foil to create a smooth mound, then lay the circle of dough on top. (A)
2. Now press the tines of a fork around the edge of the dough to crimp it, then use the fork to gently poke a few holes in the crust. (B)
3. Beat the egg with the water, then brush the mixture over the dough.
4. Set the pie tin on a baking sheet and bake the crust for about 10 minutes. Let it cool completely.
5. Make the filling: Prepare the pudding according to the package directions and refrigerate until serving time.
6. Create the faux chicken and vegetables: To make the Starburst or Tootsie Roll candies easier to work with, place them unwrapped on a paper plate and warm them in the microwave just until they’re slightly softened, about 12 to 15 seconds. (The Jolly Rancher candies will soften from the warmth of your hands.) Once you’ve shaped them, lay the candies on waxed paper or a paper plate, set apart from each other so they won’t stick together.
7. Corn kernels: Roll the yellow candy between your hands or on a clean work surface to create a 4-inch-long rope, then use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut the rope into 1/4-inch pieces. With your fingers, form each piece into a kernel by flattening one end and pinching the other.
8. Chicken: Use kitchen shears or a knife to cut the apple rings into 1/2-inch-wide pieces. If you’re using white chocolate, chop or break it into roughly 1/2-inch-wide pieces.
9. Peas: Roll the green candy into a 5-inch-long rope. Cut the rope into 1/4-inch pieces, then roll each piece into a ball.
10. Potatoes: Peel the banana, slice off three 1/4-inch-thick pieces, then cut each piece into small cubes.
11. Cubed carrots: Cut each orange candy into 4 squares.
12. Assemble the pie: Just before serving time, spoon about 2/3 cup of the pudding into the pie tin.
13. Add the candies and the fruit to the pudding, then set the piecrust on top.

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