This month’s theme was “What are you thankful for in children’s literature?”

Here’s who stopped by and participated:

1. Jennifer presents The Carnival of Children’s Literature posted at So love is hard And love is tough.
2. DeputyHeadmistress presents Coloured Plate from How and Where We Live posted at The Common Room.
3. J presents Thinking About… » posted at Thinking About….
4. Michele presents Carnival of Children’s Literature 9 – Giving Thanks posted at Scholar’s Blog.
5. Cynthia Leitich Smith presents cynsations: Editor Interview: Yolanda LeRoy of Charlesbridge posted at cynsations.
6. Erin presents Revisiting Alice posted at Miss Erin.
7. Pam Coughlan presents Round-About Thankfulness posted at MotherReader.
8. Mitali Perkins presents Trick or What? Santa Who? posted at Mitali’s Fire Escape.
9. Jen Robinson presents What I’m Thankful for in Children’s Literature posted at Jen Robinson’s Book Page.
10. Gregory K. presents A little library business posted at GottaBook.
11. Jone presents What I am Thankful in Children?s Literature posted at Check It Out.
12. grace presents a wrung sponge: Year of the Dog posted at cloudscome.
13. Susan Thomsen presents Reading with a Second Grader 11.14.06 posted at Chicken Spaghetti.
14. Little Willow presents slayground: The Baby-Sitters Club: What the BSC Means to Me posted at Bildungsroman.
15. Liz B presents Jingle Dancer posted at A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy.
16. Elena LaVictoire presents A review of Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder posted at My Domestic Church.
17. Lisa presents Thankful for Children’s Literature posted at Passionately Curious.
18. Nancy presents Thankful for the Language posted at Journey Woman.
19. Marika presents Roald Dahl – Wicked Bedtime Reading posted at Mellow Creme Pets.
20. Paul Acampora presents Friends in the library posted at Paul Acampora’s LiveJournal.
21. Wendy Betts presents Value Added Children’s Books, Part II posted at Blog from the Windowsill.

I’m so impressed with how many people participated. Thank you all so very much!!!

These are the happy faces
who eat empanadas
and drink the milk
poured by Abuela
who feeds the family
who comes with the cousins
who chase the dog
that follows Abuelo
who hugs the grandchildren
who push the rolling pin
that rolls out the dough
that folds over the pumpkin
for the empanadas that Abuela made.

So please visit Beth at her blog, Bethinclaus, say hi, and tell her that A Readable Feast sent you. Better yet, try this delicious recipe below.

Abuela’s Empanada Recipe

Filling:

1. 4 cups of cooked pumpkin
2. 1 1/2 cups sugar
3. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
4. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
5. 1/4 stick of margarine
6. 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and simmer carefully until thick consistency (about 30 minutes to one hour) and set aside to cool.

Dough:

1. 4 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1 cup butter-flavored shortening
4. 1 to 1 1/4 cups aniseed tea, or water

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. With fingers, add and blend in shortening.
2. Pour water or tea slowly into flour mixture, kneading the dough.
3. Knead until it is well blended and smooth. (The dough should be greasy but not sticky. If sticky, dust with flour and knead again.)
4. Shape dough into a ball. Cover the bowl and set aside for thirty minutes.
5. Then divide into two-dozen smaller balls. Set aside for another ten minutes to make dough easier to handle.
6. Roll out each ball into a thin circle on a cutting board. Spoon filling down the middle of the circle. Fold in half like a turnover. Seal the edges and press down on them with a fork. Use the fork to prick 3-4 times across the empanada’s center. For better browning, brush the top and edges of the empanadas with milk.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the center and the edges are golden brown. Place on cooling rack.

Empanadas are delicious when they’re warm from the oven. They also freeze well and can be baked ahead of time for a family gathering.

Picture is courtesy of Pasqualinonet.com.ar via The Gourmet Sleuth, who also has terrific recipes for Pumpkin Flan and Sweet Pumpkin Tamales. Who knew you could use pumpkin in so many Mexican dishes?

Nowadays, pumpkin desserts come in many varieties, from cookies and pies, to mousse and cake. So to celebrate and give thanks for pumpkin, I’m going to feature several desserts this week and next. I still haven’t decided what kind of pumpkin pie to make for Thanksgiving, so maybe all this blogging will help. (And if you have a favorite pumpkin pie or dessert recipe, and have blogged about it, leave a comment and a link below.)

Our first pumpkin dessert is the low fat pumpkin pudding that was featured in the November 13, 2006 edition of The Denver Post. Monday’s are when the paper’s lifestyle section features exercise and healthy living, and this recipe fits the bill – low fat plus pumpkin puree is high in fiber, too.

Pumpkin Pudding
Start to finish 1 hour, 5 minutes active.
Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients:

1. 14-ounce can pumpkin puree
2. 1/2 cup light brown sugar
3. 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4. 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
5. 1/4 teaspoon ginger
6. 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
7. 1 cup whole or fat-free milk
8. 3 eggs or 3/4-cup egg substitute

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Bring a large teapot of water to a boil.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs, then add them to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until smooth.
4. Arrange 8 ramekins in a shallow baking dish (about 2 inches deep) or lasagna pan. Spoon or ladle the pumpkin mixture into the ramekins. Place the baking pan in the oven. With the oven open, carefully pour the hot water into the baking pan until it reaches about halfway up the ramekins. Push the baking pan to the center of the oven and bake 20 minutes.
5. Reduce heat to 350 F and bake another 30 to 35 minutes, or until pumpkin is set. Carefully remove pan from oven and remove the ramekins. Serve warm or cool.

Picture courtesy of Aimee’s Adventures.

Otherwise, I am taking the day off – more or less – to celebrate my 42nd birthday! (Well in between MOMS Club meetings and copywriting for clients.) I’m meeting my friend Jim Turner, otherwise known as Genuine, for lunch. He’s been going through some personal challenges lately, so I’m glad he’s doing well enough to meet and catch up on blogging business and personal stuff.

Believe it or not, I met Jim on the internet through my personal blog, A Mama’s Rant. After exchanging emails – and noticing we had the same ISP – we found out we only live 1/2 mile away from each other. It’s a small world after all… Still, I don’t see Jim much. The last time was in San Jose at BlogHer.

Later tonight I’m going out for sushi with the family. Well, sushi for me and Paul, and teriyaki for the kids. Nathan and Lucie have been hinting at gifts. I wonder what I got. I sort of know what my husband is giving me because the concierge at the Omni Hotel called, left a message, and totally blew the surprise.

And just for entertainment purposes, after all most kids DON’T like sushi – I’m posting this whimsical recipe for Sushi Cake courtesy of RobertandChristina.com. I’ve made a veggie cake, but never a sushi cake. I think it’s pretty cool and if someone made it for me for my birthday, I’d be thrilled!

Technorati tags: giving thanks, children’s literature, blog carnivals, birthdays, sushi

Christina’s Sushi Cake Recipe

Special notes:

• Use a large round (about 8” diameter) soufflé dish, lined with saran wrap extending up past the sides, to mold it in. You could also use a springform cake pan, but the finished cake will then be bigger in diameter but shorter in height.
• Start making this midday before eating it in the evening, so it will have time to compress; I went to a fish market around 10:00 in the morning, cleaned and sliced the fish, then assembled the cake around noon and chilled it until the evening. You don’t want to use traditional sushi-seasoned rice because it doesn’t chill well (it gets very hard), so just cook basic white Japanese rice (as you would for sushi) and leave it plain rather than seasoning it with sushi-su.
• Finally, you can modify the ingredients below to your taste, as long as you remember that you’re assembling the cake from bottom of the soufflé dish up, so what you’re putting into the pan first will be the top of the cake.

Ingredients:

For decorations:

1. 1 Japanese or European cucumber, very thinly sliced

For frosting:

1. 8 oz sushi-grade salmon sliced as for large nigiri

For rice layers:

1. Cooked Japanese rice (start w/6 c raw rice and cook; depending on the size of your pan, you’ll have some rice left over, but that’s better than running out in the middle)
2. 1⁄4 c orange tobiko or masago (if you have extra tobiko, use for garnishing top of cake just before serving)
3. 1⁄4 c wasabi tobiko
4. 1⁄4 c finely chopped tamago (omelet—sometimes Japanese groceries or sushi suppliers sell the omelet already made)
5. Finely chopped greens from 2 scallions

For spicy filling: 6 oz chopped cooked shrimp OR chopped sushi-grade tuna

1. 1-2 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise
2. 1 tbsp Chinese chili paste
3. 1 tbsp sesame oil
4. Dash of sugar
5. Dash of salt

For creamy filling:

1. 2 avocados, mashed
2. Juice from 1⁄2 lemon
3. Finely chopped greens from 2 scallions

Directions:

1. Arrange slices or half-slices decoratively in the bottom of the prepared soufflé dish. Do not cover the entire bottom; just arrange them in an attractive pattern.
2. Layer salmon on top of cucumbers in the bottom of the dish. Arrange them like spokes of a wheel for easy slicing later.
3. In a small bowl, mix some warm rice with orange tobiko (or masago); layer some of the tobiko rice over the salmon evenly.
4. In another bowl, make a spicy shrimp (or tuna) filling, mixing ingredients to taste, until the filling holds together but isn’t too liquid. Spread this mixture over the rice.
5. In another small bowl, mix more warm rice with wasabi tobiko; layer some of this over the shrimp.
6. In another small bowl, make the creamy filling, mashing together avocados and finely chopped scallions with a lemon juice and a dash of salt. Spread this mixture over the wasabi rice.
7. Top with a layer of plain rice.
8. Top with a layer of chopped tamago and scallions.
9. Top with a final layer of more wasabi tobiko rice.
10. Fold the overhanging ends of saran wrap back over the cake, and then cover well with additional saran wrap.
11. Compress with a small plate and then cans or a brick on top of the plate.
12. Chill well, fully wrapped and weighted, in the refrigerator for 2-8 hours.
13. When ready to serve, fold back saran wrap and turn out cake onto a plate. Garnish top of cake with additional tobiko.
14. Cut slices, as of a layer cake, with a cake server with a serrated edge.
15. Serve with a soy-wasabi-aioli drizzled over each slice, or just put out traditional sushi condiments to let guests help themselves.

As heretical as it may seem, this cake is best eaten with a fork and knife.

Since Lucie’s allergic to eggs, I made a vegan pumpkin pie last year. I found the article in the Denver Post though it originally appeared in Vegetarian Times magazine. The pie turned out very well – firm and tasty. It wasn’t as sweet as other pies, but that’s easily adjusted by adding more honey and/or molasses.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

The filling for this vegan recipe needs to set overnight in the refrigerator, so make it the day before you serve it. Also, if you are going to use fresh pumpkin for the pie, do not use the jack-o’-lantern type; the flesh of these large pumpkins is too watery and stringy. Instead, look for small pumpkins, sometimes called pie pumpkins or other varieties of winter squash. To bake, cut pumpkins in half and remove seeds. Set, cut side down, in a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake at 400 for 30 to 40 minutes. Scoop out the cooked flesh and puree. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

Crust (you can use premade crusts from the store as well)

1. 1/2 cup unbleached flour
2. 7 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon sugar or granulated sugar cane syrup
5. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6. 3 tablespoons canola oil
7. 3 tablespoons soymilk plus 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (I used regular milk since Lucie’s allergic to soy)
8. 3 to 4 tablespoons water

Filling

1. 2 cups canned pumpkin or pureed home-cooked fresh pumpkin (see intro)
2. 1 cup low-fat soymilk or rice milk (I used regular milk since Lucie’s allergic to soy)
3. 3/4 cup granulated sugar cane syrup or 1/2 cup honey
4. 1/4 cup cornstarch
5. 1/2 tablespoon dark molasses or to taste
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8. 1/2 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
10. 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
11. 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, combine both flours, salt, sugar and baking powder. In small bowl, mix oil and soymilk mixture. Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients and mix with a fork until it holds together in a ball. If it is too dry, add some water, a little at a time, until dough is moist enough to roll. (If time allows, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.)
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin forming an 11-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough. Flute or crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Preheat oven to 425.
4. In large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients until smooth and blended. Pour into prepared crust and smooth top. Bake 10 minutes.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool, then refrigerate overnight.

Picture courtesy of SpeedVegan.com, who uses tofu for her pumpkin pie.

Technorati tags: giving thanks, pumpkin pie, vegan, recipes