I’ve already given thanks for Reading is Fundamental (RIF) for their work in encouraging kids to read by getting books into their hands. I also love them for the family reading activities ideas on their website. I especially like this month’s Family Cookbook project since it’s a terrific way to spend time with your kids, while recording family memories. This makes a great holiday gift for everyone who contributed, too!

For children ages 9 and up (though younger ones can participate) help your children gather up favorite recipes from family members. With holidays like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s coming up this is the perfect time of year to do this.

First, have children solicit the recipes. Have them call up (or email) grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, and adult cousins to request a copy of their favorite holiday recipes. Photocopies can be mailed to your children or recipes can be emailed as well.

Have your children sort the recipes by menu categories: appetizers, soups, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, snacks, and so on. (Younger ones can help here.) After organizing the recipes, older children can check spellings on the ingredients lists, clarify any confusing directions, and credit the contributors.

Assembling the Recipes
There are many ways to assemble the recipes into a book: You can volunteer to type up the collection on your computer. Older children who know how to use a word processing program can help organize and edit the recipes.

Children with good handwriting can copy the recipes neatly on sheets of notebook paper. (Do this for shorter recipes. It could be a daunting task for long, complicated ones.) You can scan this or photocopy it later.

Don’t forget to create a table of contents.

Artwork Ideas
Younger children help create the artwork. Have them draw something that goes with the recipe, like apples for an apple pie, if drawing the dish is too hard. They could also create a collage from magazine photos. If you’re really ambitious, make a few of the recipes and take a photo to use in the cookbook. (Family photos can be used too, especially those ones around the holiday table.) Scan the artwork and put it in your computer document.

Finally, have the children create art for the cover.

Copying Options
DIY on your home color ink jet printer If you’re only making a few copies. Otherwise, print out (in color if possible) or take the file(s) to your local copy store, and have enough copies made to make a booklet for each person who contributed a recipe.

Binding Ideas
Your copy store can collate the booklets and bind them in several different ways depending on the thickness of the book. Have them give you a quote first so there’s no sticker shock.

Or you can put two pages (front and back) into a plastic sheet protector and put them in a three-ring binder (use a view binder to display the cover art). This may be more expensive than the copier store option (and more pricey to mail out). However, the advantage is that you can continue adding to this collection year after year.

Other Options
If you’re a scrapbooker, you may want to make this into a scrapbooking project. However, since the point of this project is to share it with all the family member who participated, be prepared to make several books if you go this route.

Finally, there are several online services that can print cookbooks for you. (They’re usually used for community, family reunion, or fundraising cookbooks.) If you have a large family and lots of contributors, this may be the way to go. PLEASE check out prices, terms, obligations, etc. before signing up.

• Your Own Cookbook
• The Great Family Cookbook Project
• The Cook’s Palate
• The Cookbook Company
• The Cookbook Maker

Technorati tags: giving thanks, cookbooks, family activities, recipes

Do you ever wonder about how we take simple things like eggs and Ziploc bags for granted? Both are wonderful inventions – one made by nature/God, the other by man. What would we do without them?

Eggs are the pefect food. Cheap. Convenient. Versatile. Yummy. Baggies are great for storing everything from food to craft items. So naturally they go together in today’s recipe for Omelet in a Bag, a really fun way to make omelets.

This recipe is simple enough for the kids to help out on the omelet production line. The bigger kids can help chop up veggies and cheese. The younger ones can help assemble by putting in a (small) handful of this or that into the bags. Otherwise, mom or dad is in charge of the cooking and water boiling.

Omelet in a Bag

1. Use quart size Ziploc freezer bag.
2. Have each diner write their name on bag with permanent marker.
3. Boil a pot of water.
4. Crack 2 eggs (no more) into bag, shake to combine them.
5. Add ingredients such as: ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
6. Get air out of bag, zip up and shake.
7. Place bag in rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes.
8. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot.
9. Open the bag and the omelet will roll out easily.

I think it’s a great way to cook up omelets when you’re camping (no frying pan to wash), or when you have a bunch of people over for breakfast and want to serve them all at the same time.

It’s also a handy idea for making quick eggs in the morning. Just prepare your ingredients (except eggs) the night before and place them in the bag. Refrigerator overnight and in the morning add the eggs and cook.

• Mr. Breakfast has a warning about melting Ziploc bags
• Chuckwagon Diner recommends 10 minutes of cooking time
• Lifehacker analyzes the recipe step-by-step (good pictures, too)
• Men in Aprons’ omelet looked so good I had to share the picture (above). Alas, it wasn’t Adam who cooked it. Instead see his attempt and tips.

Omelet in a Bag – it’s a great way to give thanks for the simpler things in life, like baggies and eggs AND cooking and spending time with your family.

Today, my mother is coming to visit from San Diego! Mémé (pronounced “may-may” – it’s a French endearment for grandmother) hasn’t seen her grandchildren in nearly two years. We’re so thankful that she’s feeling healthy and energetic enough to travel to come spend a week with us.

Hopefully, your children have a wonderful grandma, too. And luckily for all of us, there’s lots of terrific books on grandmas. Here are just a few:

• Just Grandma and Me- We came across this story years ago in the form of a children’s computer program. For ages 4 to 8.
• 41 Uses for a Grandma – I like this book because it shows a young looking and acting grandmas. This book shows grandmothers in a host of contemporary situations: grandmas as sports enthusiasts, yoga instructors, and e-pals. For ages 4 to 8.
• Here Comes Grandma! – For ages 4 to 8, this book shows an Eastern European type granma (Babuska and all) doing everything she can to get to her grandchildren.

It’s nice having a French mom because she makes wonderful things to eat. But while other kids had normal American goodies like chocolate chip cookies or brownies, I ate chocolate mousse. My mom liked to make the chocolate mousee recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One for dessert. It was also a decadent after school snack.

I like Julia Child’s revised version in her book The Way to Cook. It’s just heavenly – rich, creamy, light and gooey. I think it’s best after it has chilled in the refrigerator for awhile. Mémé won’t be making this for my kids however. Unfortunately with Lucie’s egg allergy, it’s not something we can have around the house to tempt her with.

Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse
Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

1. 8 ounces of sweet or semi-sweet baking chocolate (chocolate chips are great for this because they’re so easy to measure and melt)
2. 1/4 cup strong coffee
3. 3 ounces of unsalted butter (6 Tbsp.)
4. 3 egg yolks
5. 1 cup heavy cream
6. 3 egg whites
7. 1/4 cup instant (finely ground) sugar
8. whipped cream (optional)

Instructions:

1. Melt the chocolate with the strong coffee.
2. Beat the soft butter into the smoothly melted chocolate.
3. One by one, beat in the egg yolks.
4. Beat the cream over ice until it leaves light traces on the surface. (Or you can use very cold bowl and beaters.)
5. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. While beating, sprinkle in the sugar by spoonfuls and continue beating until stiff shining peaks are formed.
6. Scrape the chocolate mixture down the side of the egg-white bowl, and delicately fold in the whipped cream.
7. Turn the mousse into attractive serving bowls.
8. Cover and chill several hours. You may wish to decorate the mousse with swirls of whipped cream, or to pass whipped cream separately.

Copyright 1989 by Julia Child.

Technorati tags: giving thanks, children’s books, grandmas, chocolate mousee, recipes, Julia Child

This month I’m the host of Here in the Bonny Glen’s Carnival of Children’s Literature.

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

It could be a specific children’s book that you read as a child, an author you admire, a short story you read in school, or a fictional character that inspired you. You can be thankful for something trivial  – “Reading this book with my children was a pleasant to spend an afternoon.” Or more serious – “This book changed by life!”

You have by November 20 to write your post (submit it here). I will post a recap of all the submissions here at A Readable Feast on Thanksgiving Day.

Now get writing!

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With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, I’ll be concentrating on ways to show kids how to give thanks, from baking cookies for good friends, to journaling to preserve family stories. Of course there will be lots of terrific Thanksgiving recipes and books, too.

One way to give thanks is to contribute to a charity. Show your children how you give to charities. Take them with you when you volunteer. Go through your family’s gently used books, toys and clothes and take them to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army. Show the kids how their donations – either time, money or goods – will help other people.

Since I’m a big believer in books, showing children the importance of reading and fostering a love of books, I’m a supporter of RIF (Reading is Fundamental). From a recent RIF email:

With only 5 days to go in our 40th anniversary fundraising challenge, we have raised over $1,700 needed to reach our target by November 3. Our goal remains the same—we want to raise $25,000 by our 40th birthday celebration on Friday. Your donation will match the gifts we’ve already received from two generous corporate partners, bringing the grand total to $100,000!

We have big goals for 2007. We want to put more books in the hands of our nation’s children—free, new, age-appropriate books that they can keep forever. We want to engage more parents in their children’s lives—all parents should have an opportunity to help their child learn to love reading and knowledge so they can succeed in life. We want to train more childcare instructors on best practices to encourage literacy development—with 13 million preschoolers in childcare, this age group needs our attention. We want every child in the United States to experience the joy reading. But we can’t do it alone.

If you’d like to help, go to the RIF website to donate.

Technorati tags: giving thanks, RIF