Little, Brown and Company sent me five wonderful books on adoption, family and about being “different.” Not only are these books a wonderful way to explain adoption and mixed families to kids, but they’d make wonderful holiday gifts. All of these books are for ages four to eight.

Our first two books are by Rose Lewis and illustrated by Jane Dyer and deal with Chinese adoption:

• I Love You Like Crazy Cakes – Rose recounts her experiences of adopting a Chinese baby. The journey begins with a letter to Chinese officials. Then she travels to China to meet her daughter and soon falls in love with her baby girl. Lewis returns to America and introduces the baby to her friends and family, the first step in their life together.
• Every Year on Your Birthday – This book touches on birthday celebrations and unforgettable moments between a mother and her adopted daughter from China. The book explores both American and Chinese celebrations.

The remaining three books are written and illustrated by Todd Parr. The books deal with being “different” (adopted) and the different types of families out there – single families, families with step-parents, families with adopted kids, gay families, and so on.

• It’s Okay to Be Different – A good book for adopted kids as well as though who tread off the beaten path.
• The Family Book – While many families are different – some have stepparents, others have two moms or two dads – all families are ultimately the same because they love to hug each other and can help each other be strong.
• We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families – “We belong together because… You needed a home. I had one to share. Now, we are a family.” Who could explain adoption better than that?

You don’t have to have an adopted child or a non-traditional family to enjoy these books. Instead, the authors teach kids about differences and adoption in a entertaining and fun way. Wish it was that easy in real life.

 I’ve just been informed by the folks at ClubMom that they’ve cancelled the ClubMom Mom Blogs program and will stop hosting our blogs as of January 31, 2008.

Now stop making faces at them. They were very nice about it and offered very generous terms. They’re even letting us keep our content, the banner artwork, and our blog’s name. (That’s huge because most blog networks don’t let you keep your content.)

So I’m looking into buying a domain name and hosting A Readable Feast elsewhere. It’s going to be a lot of work and require an investment of time and money. With that in mind, I won’t be posting and will probably wait until the move to start blogging regularly again.

If you’re a frequent reader, please have patience. I’ll be in touch via this blog to let you know where you can find me.

If you are a publicist or publisher and have sent me books or DVDs to review or give away, I will post a few more times to fulfill my obligation to you here or at my mommy blog, A Mama’s Rant.

I’ve enjoyed my time immensely at ClubMom and have been proud to call myself a ClubMom blogger. I’m sad to go, but excited about taking A Readable Feast out on my own.

UPDATE: Since the domain name has already been registered, I’ll be changing this blog’s name to “My Readable Feast.” You’ll eventually find me at www.myreadablefeast.com.

Did you know that surveys show that more than half of parents are unaware of the television rating system currently in effect, and only 16% are aware of the V-Chip in their TVs and what it can do?

In reality, the provisions of the 1990 Children’s Television Act are little known and mostly not enforced. Bottom line is that TV and cable networks are not held accountable to what is considered the minimum standard of “educational/informational” programming. 

The Smart Television Alliance believes that parents and other caregivers can make more informed choices about what and when children watch if they are provided easily accessible tools and information. 

Instead of focusing on the negative, the Smart Television Alliance promotes good programs – everything from MythBusters to The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron. They intend to grow the audience for these quality shows, and convince the networks that there is indeed a market for high quality children and family programming. 

They’re also partnering with the National Council of Women’s Organizations, the National PTA, the National Education Association, the Parent’s Choice Foundation, and 10 other non-profits all who have signed on as founding organizations. 

Check out their website at www.smarttelevisionalliance.org and sign up for the twice monthly SmartNewsletters with recommendations for quality children’s programming. And if you’ve been thinking about signing up with TiVo, check out their sponsor offer. For a limited time, TiVo will give you a free DVR (with a minimum one year subscription plan) and give a nonprofit member of the Smart Television Alliance a $25 donation!

And how about munching on some Thanksgiving popcorn balls while you’re watching TV?

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We tend to think that Thanksgiving is all about pumpkin pie, turkey, mashed potatoes, yams and cranberries. In reality, the first Thanksgiving meal in 1621 celebrated by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians didn’t feature any of those items. Historians know for certain that they ate venison and wild fowl. They probably didn’t have much in the way of vegetables that time of year, and they didn’t have ovens in which to make cakes and pies. In fact, there were probably too stuffed on meat to care about eating something sweet. (For more information about the First Thanksgiving, go to History.com and EnjoyMA)

So what could have been on the menu? This comes from Kathleen Curtin, Food Historian at Plimoth Plantation via History.com.

Foods that may have been on the menu

Seafood: cod, eel, clams, lobster (now this is my idea of a great feast!)
Wild Fowl: wild turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, eagles
Meat: venison (deer or elk), seal
Grain: wheat flour, Indian corn
Vegetables: pumpkin, peas, beans, onions, lettuce, radishes, carrots
Fruit: plums, grapes

Foods not on the menu

Ham: There is no evidence that the colonists had butchered their pigs though they had brought such animals with them from England.
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes: These were not common.
Corn on the Cob: Corn was kept dried out at this time of year.
Cranberry Sauce: The colonists had cranberries but no sugar.
Pumpkin Pie: Hard to make without sugar, plus the recipe didn’t exist at this time. However, the pilgrims had recipes for stewed pumpkin.
Chicken/Eggs: We know that the colonists brought hens with them from England, but it’s unknown how many they had left at this point or whether the hens were still laying.
Milk: No cows had been aboard the Mayflower, though it’s possible that the colonists used goat milk to make cheese.

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I got this recipe for Pumpkin Chili from a collection of Eversave pumpkin recipes I got via email. It’s a wonderful recipe for sneaking in healthy veggies to your kids’ diet. It’s also a great way to use up all that ground meat and canned pumpkin you bought on sale.

Pumpkin Chili
Beware: it’s a large batch so you may want to freeze half. I ended up sharing it with a friend’s family.

Ingredients:

1.  4 pounds 70% once ground chuck (I used  the ground antelope we had in the freezer.)
2. 3 cans diced tomatoes with juice (I used one can and two cans equivalent of chopped up tomatoes from our garden.)
3. 16 oz. tomato sauce
4. 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (I used a small can of chopped peppers.)
5. 5 TBSP chili pepper
6. 1 each yellow and orange bell pepper, sliced and roasted then finely diced (I had a jar of roasted red peppers, so I used that.)
7. 3 ears of roasted corn, sliced from the cob (Instead I used a can of corn, drained.)
8. 2 stalks celery, finely diced
9. 2 cups of cooked pumpkin (I added a cup of cooked butternut squash. Why not?)
10. Several drops Tabasco sauce (optional) (I skipped this since I wasn’t sure my friend’s family likes their chili spicy or not.)

Directions:

1. Brown the ground chuck, drain off grease.
2. Place all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Chill out with some chili books

Need a few good books to read while waiting for your chili to cook? Try these:

Armadilly Chili – For ages four to eight, a Tex-Mex version of The Little Red Hen.

West Texas Chili Monster – For ages four to eight, unexpected things happen when Mama’s rip-roarin’ chili attracts a space monster to a West Texas chili contest.

According to the Jenkins Group:

• 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book.
• 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.

So what are they doing? Watching TV! (Among other things.) So no matter if you’re for or against the writer’s strike, your television viewing habits could be affected. So why not pick up a good book instead?

Family Activities for the TV-less

There are lots of book suggestions here at A Readable Feast including YA (young adult) titles. You can look on the right sidebar for books I haven’t reviewed yet like Bobbie Dazzler or Little Skink’s Tail. Or check out November 2006′s posts for Thanksgiving and holiday book ideas.

Did you see the Target toy catalog in last Sunday’s paper? The kids and I were excited about all the new board games out, especially Monopoly Disney Pixar Edition. Why wait for Christmas?

How about cooking as a family? FamilyFun.com has a whole bunch of kid-friendly Thanksgiving cooking ideas like Tiny Turkey Dinner Cupcakes and Tom Turkey Nuggets.

Lots of good new movies out there to rent or buy like Meet the Robinsons, too.

But if you must watch TV (and I understand – we all want to relax and “jell” for awhile) how about introducing kids to classics like the Andy Griffith Show or the original Star Trek? Both are in reruns on various local and cable stations. There’s always educational TV like the Discovery Channel, PBS, and the History Channel.

How is your family going to handle the writer’s strike?

1. Watch reruns of our favorite TV shows.
2. Watch shows we don’t normally watch on TV.
3. Watch sports on TV.
4. Do family activities like play games, cook, go to the community pool, or make a craft.
5. Rent lots of movies.
6. Turn of the TV and READ.

It’s amazing how you can get inspired for the holidays everywhere you go. Stopping by my local post office the other day, I grabbed a copy of USA Philatelic, a catalog for stamp enthusiasts. (You can see the catalog online at the U.S. Postal website.)

With gift shopping season here, you should check it out. They have a lot of great activity books and toys that will appeal to kids (and are educational) such as:

• Disney’s Let’s Write a Letter – This 20-page book is filled with Disney characters and offers instructions on letter writing for kids. The set includes eight pieces of stationary and envelopes and eight The Art of Disney: Romance stamps. ($14.95)
• Curious George Wonders Stamp and Sticker Book – Curious George introduces kids to stamp collecting in this activity book, and is a wonderful way for kids to learn about some of the natural and man-made wonders of the U.S. Comes with eight Favorite Children’s Book Animals stamps. ($9.95)
• Space Discovery Book Inside Outer Space Collectible Activity Book – This children’s activity book takes kids on a journey through space, where they’ll discover secrets of the cosmos.  Includes five Inside Outer Space stamps and a special holograph envelope. ($9.95)

There’s also stamp collecting kits on subjects like history, famous people, Marvel Comics, travel and baseball.

Preschool Inspiration

After the post office trip, I went to pick up Lucie at preschool. The teachers had set up two large pumpkins on a table and the kids were using rubber mallets to hammer golf tees into the oversized gourds.

The boys were really loving it. After all how often do you get a chance to whack away at a pumpkin? I thought it was a very clever idea. Plus, now I know what to do with all those golf tees that I find in Nathan’s pockets after he hits the links with his dad.

Thanksgiving Fun

Golf tees in a pumpkin? How about skewers of fruit to turn a squash and a pear into a vegetarian turkey called a Fruit Gobbler? This edible Thanksgiving craft comes from FamilyFun.com.

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