It’s fun when my daughter, Lucie digs through her piles of books and finds a few we haven’t read before or in awhile. Here are two of her recent (re)discoveries.

Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug!

Recently she found Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug! by Ed Emberley. I adore Ed’s books. So fun, so smart, so colorful and oh so silly, too.

Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug! is about a big, mean and scary bug from outer space. His main mission is to scare, bite, growl, tickle, pinch, scratch, stomp and eat Itty Bitty Baby Bugs. However, the Itty Bitty Baby Bugs get the last laugh – it’s good to have big friends with big sneakers.

As I read this book to my daughter, I pretend to scare, bite and growl – but I really do tickle and pinch. We had a lot of fun with this one. For ages four to eight and their silly parents.  This has two rubber stamps of approval from the both of us!

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One of the challenges at My Readable Feast is to find recipes that go with the books or activities. Much to my surprise, people have actually concocted some Pinocchio recipes.

Here are a few:

Geppetto’s Fruit Dip
Cast party recipe from KMR Scripts

Ingredients:

1. 8 oz pkg  cream cheese (softened)
2. ¾ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
3. ¼ cup white sugar
4. 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix everything in a bowl until creamy. 
2. Let set in refrigerator an hour or so to let the sugars dissolve.
3. Great with apple slices or spoon on bananas.

Pinocchio’s Artichoke Dip
Cast party recipe from KMR Scripts

Ingredients:

1. 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts — drained and chopped
2. 1 cup (4 oz) grated parmesan cheese
3. 1 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
4. 1 tomato, chopped sliced green onions (About 6-8.  Use the green parts, too.)

Directions:

1. Mix the artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese and mayonnaise together. 
2. Spoon into a pie plate and bake at 350º for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. 
3. Remove from oven and sprinkle the onions and tomatoes on top. 
4. Serve with crackers, chips or hot bread and enjoy!

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Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday”) is the last day of feasting before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. This year Mardi Gras is on February 24 – that’s this week!

In celebration of Mardi Gras, you may want to see if your local library carries Mardi Gras children’s books. One book you’d want to look for is King Cake for Cassius. It’s the story of Mardi Gras told by Cassius, a boxer (a dog – not a person):

The book begins with children discussing what they’re going to “be” for Mardi Gras. Cassius overhears that one of the children is unaware of the Mardi Gras tradition. She then explains that carnival season begins with the epiphany and ends with Mardi Gras. The dog also explains many of the traditions and terms associated with Mardi Gras including King Cake parties, parades, krewes and doubloons. She shares the name of her favorite parade which happens to be a dog parade named the Krewe of Barkus. The story concludes with Cassius stating that she’s going to be a wizard for Mardi Gras this year and asking “what are you going to be for Mardi Gras?”

The book contains a list of children’s Mardi Gras activities including a recipe for King Cake, instructions on how to make a shoe box float, and how to have a mini-parade.

If you can’t find it, no worry, because I have a recipe for King Cake from the National Honey Board for you.

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With much glee from the kids, we received our copy of Madagascar – Escape 2 Africa, Nathan and Lucie immediately popped the movie into the DVD player. We started to move it, move it as our friends from the first movie – King Julien, Zuba, Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria – prepared to head home to Manhattan in a rickety aircraft piloted by the manic, completely-out-of-their-bird-brains penguin cadre. 

When they crash land in the African savannah, it’s time for a crash course in survival.  Now the four friends far from home must answer a question of the heart when Alex finds his long lost parents, Marty joins a herd of his wild brethren, Gloria finds romance with a hippo Casanova who appreciates her curves, and Melman has one last chance at his truest desire.

With King Julien’s manic musical antics, penguins in labor talks with the local primate union, and the little old lady leading a “Lost” group of tourists, this movie is a hoot. There’s funny stuff for both the kids and the parents that will have the entire family laughing out loud.

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My son, Nathan, had eating aversions as a toddler, and didn’t like crunchy or dry foods. This was due to the severe reflux and low muscle tone he had as a baby. (Nathan was a preemie, born seven weeks early and weighing only 3 lbs. 11 oz. Hard to believe he’s over 80 pounds and turns nine-years-old this week.)

Nathan would gag and potentially vomit up anything that wasn’t slimy, squishy or creamy. He soon refused to eat crackers, cereal and even cookies. Instead, Nathan preferred foods like noodles, pudding, canned peaches, cantaloupe, small pieces of cheese, flan and yogurt. The lack of variety in his diet, and the fact that he was still barely in the 10th percentile at age two, were the reason I gave him toddler formula or Pediasure to drink between meals.

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My trifle bowl recipe roundup is now being featured at FoodieView Blog – Recipe Roundup: Trifles: No Trifling Matter.

Trifles are terrific to make with kids since you can use ingredients like store bought sponge cake, instant pudding and premade whipped cream. The layers of cake, pudding, cream and fruit are also fun to put together – and even more delicious to eat. Making a trifle would be a fun family cooking project for a birthday or Super Bowl party.

If you don’t have a large trifle bowl, you can use any type of glass (like a wide mouthed drinking glass or a sundae dish) to make mini-trifles.

So here’s to a happy and delicious New Year!

This year Hanukkah starts on December 12, and I’m excited that we can have potato pancakes (latkes) now that my daughter Lucie is no longer allergic to eggs. We’re not Jewish, but the kids learn about Hanukkah at school as part of the Core Knowledge curriculum. (They learn about various Christmas traditions and Kwanzaa as well.)

However, I grew up celebrating Hanukkah since my father was Jewish. Luckily for my family, my French Catholic mother wholeheartedly embraced Jewish cooking. The woman’s chopped liver and chicken soup were to die for! I grew up eating blintzes, gefilte fish, and bagel and lox along with potato pancakes, so Jewish food is one of my favorite cuisines.

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