author recipes

SOUP’S ON: Grace Lin in the Kitchen Interview!

~ jama ~ 68 Comments

“Your work is to discover the world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” ~ Buddha

Last year, children’s author/illustrator Grace Lin was asked in an Edge of the Forest interview what she would say if she had the complete attention of everyone in the United States for thirty seconds. Grace quoted Buddha, and if the body of work she’s produced during the last 10 years is any indication, she has definitely lived by those words.

Talented, prolific, critically acclaimed and beloved by her readers, Grace has illustrated ten picture books and written and illustrated a dozen more. Her use of bold colors, intricate patterns, swirls, and charming details mark a distinctive style that engages, delights, and invites the reader to look closer.

In 2006, Grace’s first middle grade novel, The Year of the Dog, received tons of accolades, including Kirkus Best Early Chapter Book, ALA Notable Book for Children, and a National Parenting Publication Gold Award. The Year of the Dog is autobiographical, picking up where her picture books, The Ugly Vegetables, Dim Sum for Everyone, Fortune Cookie Fortunes, and Kite Flying leave off. Readers everywhere have fallen in love with Pacy Lin, her best friend, Melody, and her sisters, Lissy and Ki-Ki.

This year, a much-anticipated sequel, The Year of the Rat, was released along with yet another gorgeous picture book, Bringing in the New Year. In The Year of the Rat, we are treated to more of Pacy’s joyous, funny, and poignant experiences. Much like the classic Little House or Ramona books, these stories leave us craving more about this family and Pacy’s world, so full are they of heart and universal truth. Bringing in the New Year focuses on the preparations for Lunar New Year, complete with homemade dumplings and a dragon dance, with pictures that pull us right into the action.

I couldn’t think of a better way to top off Tea Party Month, than with Grace as my special guest of honor. I’m sure you’ve noticed how often she writes about food, using it as both subject and metaphor. She’s definitely my kind of girl — and she’s even brought cupcakes!

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tea cakes with tanita s. davis

~ jama ~ 7 Comments


Happy Monday, Everyone!

Look who just strolled into our tea party!

The lovely Tanita S. Davis, known in blogland as TadMack!

Hey, she walked all the way from Scotland, so we’re very honored to have her with us today. No, she’s not a bit tired after that long trek. This girl has got it goin’ on — a brand new YA novel coming out June 10th, called A La Carte (Knopf, 2008)! Friends, I am ready to devour this book — yes, that’s right — tear into it without my napkin, fork or spoon.

 

A La Carte (appetizer excerpt here), is about 17-year-old Lainey, who wants more than anything to become a world famous celebrity chef. Her mom and partner, Pia, own a very cool French-Asian-Californian-Fusion restaurant, called La Salle Rouge. Lainey loves making low-calorie desserts, and dreams of having her own cooking show — she knows exactly what she wants to do with her life, but she has to finish high school first, and deal with the departure of her best friend and secret crush. Praying to St. Julia (Child) for guidance, Lainey “finds solace in her cooking, as she comes to terms with the past, and finds a new recipe for the future.”

It’s safe to say that Tanita knows her way around the kitchen. She and her husband (best baker in the world), have a sumptuous feast of a blog, called Wish I Were Baking. Lots of recipes and beautiful photographs document their culinary adventures, and make you want to lick your computer screen. If that wasn’t enough, Tanita also blogs at Finding Wonderland: The Writing YA Weblog (news, events, fun stuff) and Readers’ Rants (YA book reviews). She’s also sold another novel, working on her third, and all I can say is, whatever she’s eating, gimme some!

Lucky for us, Tanita has brought something very special to the tea party. Here’s what she says about it:
My dad was an Army chef, and he was, after his eldest brother died, the Big Boy who took care of all of the Little Boys, including one baby sister.

These tea cakes always have struck me as so strange. I wonder how my father learned to bake them. He only made them once or twice when I was a child, because the sweetness and delicacy of tea cakes were out of place in our disciplined, regimented and sugarless household, so they were SO special. On the random days he chose to make them, I was awed. We must have all done something very, very good (though we never knew what).They were rich and sweet with a tinge of bitterness from the soda (I do think once Dad added too much). They’re not something I’ve attempted with this exact recipe myself (I always fiddle with it and add things), and he already has gotten that baker’s amnesia and claims he doesn’t know if this is the exact recipe, but this is as close as I can figure it — and they go beautifully with fruited teas.

On Saturday I put Tanita’s recipe to the test, using half the butter specified (one stick). They are yum yum yummy, even though they think they are soft cookies rather than cakes. Tanita herself uses even less butter — so I suppose one could adjust this amount according to taste. I’m guessing less butter would allow for more rising. It all depends on how high you want to go!

DAD’S TEA CAKES
from Tanita S. Davis

3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1-3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks, softened)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together your dry ingredients — this is a suspension cake, don’t forget! Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Dough will be soft, as only a buttery dough can be. Roll dough out onto a floured surface until approximately 1/4-inch thick (no thicker, or they’ll take longer and not be as tender). Dad used to cut them into plain round shapes like biscuits, but you can do them in funny shapes, too. Place them on a lightly oiled baking sheet for 10 to 12 minutes. They will rise and have a beautiful golden color.

NOTE: Instead of buttermilk, you could try coconut milk, plain yogurt, or regular milk. For variety, try adding lemon zest or shredded fresh ginger.

Zip on over here for some great flavored teas to sip with your tea cakes!

For more juicy details about Tanita, including a triple deluxe sugar britches punkin head puddin’ baby pic, read this great interview served up by Jules and Eisha over at 7-Imp.

And, even though April is racing to a fast finish, there’s still time to party! We’re keeping the teapot nice and warm just so you can join us! Post your favorite go-with-tea recipe on your blog and leave the link in the comments, or email your recipe to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot com). It’s the friendly thing to do!

 

a little smackerel from jeannine atkins

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

“By-and-by Pooh and Piglet went on again. Christopher Robin was at home by this time, because it was the afternoon, and he was so glad to see them that they stayed there until very nearly tea-time, and then they had a Very Nearly tea, which is one you forget about afterwards, and hurried on to Pooh Corner, so as to see Eeyore before it was too late to have a Proper Tea with Owl.”  ~ from THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER, by A.A. Milne (E.P. Dutton & Co., 1928). 

The other morning I was feeling a little odd. 

It was almost eleven and I needed a little smackerel of something.

Just in time, I received this lovely email from author Jeannine Atkins:

Jama, this is my favorite scone recipe, which I doubled and brought into my children’s literature class after reading WINNIE-THE-POOH and feeling like we needed ‘a little something.’ One student said he was happy to ‘walk into class and see two big cookie-like things on the table.’

Rum-tum-tiddle-um-tum!

Scones!

No tea party would be complete without them. Whether you pronounce it skon to rhyme with John (as in most of the UK), or skoan to rhyme with Joan (as in the U.S.), there’s no denying their appeal. Split them in half while they’re still warm, lay on the butter, strawberry jam, and clotted cream (if you’re lucky), and you’ve got home and heaven in one little cake!

Scones, originally from Scotland, are perfect anytime — breakfast, elevenses, very nearly tea, or proper afternoon tea. Make them plain with cream, milk or buttermilk, add fruit or even chocolate chips — then roll and cut them into little rounds, or pat the dough onto a sheet, and cut in wedges. They can be baked or dropped on a griddle. Your tum-iddle-um will thank you.

When Jeannine’s students walked into the classroom, they probably felt like this:

When you’ve been walking in the wind for miles, and you suddenly go into somebody’s house, and he says, ‘Hello, Pooh, you’re just in time for a little smackerel of something,’ and you are, then it’s what I call a Friendly Day.

Very friendly Jeannine has written quite a few fabulous books herself, the latest of which is Anne Hutchinson’s Way (FSG, 2007). In this historical fiction picture book (illustrated by Michael Dooling), Anne leaves England with her husband and ten children for the Massachusetts Colony, seeking religious freedom.


When she disagrees with the minister’s ways, Anne holds meetings in her own home to preach the gospel herself. Told from her daughter Susanna’s point of view, this inspiring story of a strong woman who believed in the freedom of speech, was recently named a 2008 Amelia Bloomer Project Recommended Title, one of 32 books which encourages girls to be “smart, brave, and proud.”

Jeannine has written several other wonderful books about strong girls and women, such as Aani and the Tree Huggers (Lee and Low, 2000), Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Stories of Six Pioneering Naturalists (Dawn, 2000), and How High Can We Climb: The Story of Women Explorers (FSG, 2005). All reflect Jeannine’s love of history, research, and personal interest in feminism.

So, next time you crave a little something, mix up a batch of Jeannine’s scones, pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea (maybe Republic of Tea’s  All Day Breakfast or Assam Breakfast ), and curl up with one of her books. It’ll get you humming, and may even inspire you to greater things. What could be friendlier?

DRIED FRUIT SCONES
from Jeannine Atkins

1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, cut in bits
1-1/4 cups mixed dried fruit: chopped apricots, dried cranberries or cherries, and raisins
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking sheet. Combine dry ingredients, then cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix in fruit. Combine cream and egg, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir with a fork just until the dough forms a ball. Pat this into a round and squash about 8 inches wide. Cut about halfway through into twelve wedges and put it on the baking sheet. Bake about twenty minutes until golden.

Visit Jeannine’s Website and Blog for more about her books!

 

 

SOUP’S ON: Laura Vaccaro Seeger in the Kitchen!

~ jama ~ 11 Comments

 

photo by Laura’s son Dylan

Today, my friends, is a very special day: dogs are barking, bears are growling, and eggs are rolling, because today, Caldecott and Geisel Silver Award winning, New York Times bestselling children’s author/illustrator, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, is right here in the kitchen!

Laura is certainly no stranger to major awards, having received an Emmy for her work in television animation, and numerous accolades for every one of her ingeniously crafted concept books (The Hidden Alphabet, Lemons are Not Red, Walter Was Worried, Black? White! Day? Night!). Her first emergent reader, Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories, was named Boston Globe-Horn Book Best Picture Book for 2007. And then there’s First the Egg, Laura’s crowning glory.

This past January, First the Egg, a die-cut concept book about transformations, earned Caldecott and Geisel Honor Awards. It’s also a 2008 ALA Notable Book and 2007 New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Turn the page, and an egg becomes a chick. Turn another, and a seed becomes a flower; the next, and a tadpole becomes a frog. This organic process is ultimately transferred to the concept of creativity — “first the word, then the story; first the paint, then the picture,” which features a chicken, who then becomes an egg, bringing the cycle full circle. There is movement in the textured brushstrokes, and before you know it, the words and pictures have grown into an entire book. Beautiful, engaging, clever!

Recently, Laura, who lives on Long Island with her husband and two sons, very generously took time from her busy schedule to talk about her amazing books, her childhood, and what it feels like to get “the call” every children’s book creator dreams of. Oh, and she’s sharing a favorite recipe, of course!

Welcome to alphabet soup, Laura, and two big congratulatory hugs for winning Caldecott and Geisel Honor Awards for First the Egg! January 14th must have been a HUGE day for you. How did you find out that you had won both awards? Did you do anything special to celebrate?

Well, it is really very difficult to describe how it felt to receive those two phone calls. It’s something I’ve dreamed about every year since The Hidden Alphabet was published, never imagining that the dream could actually become a reality. In fact, a few years ago on the morning of the big announcements, I had a dream that I “got the call.” The dream was so real that even 20 minutes after I woke up, I wasn’t sure if it had actually happened or not. And, of course, when I finally realized that the call was truly just a dream, I spent the rest of that day moping around in despair. Now this year, more than a month after the actual calls, I am still pinching myself, worried that I am about to wake up any minute.

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let’s get cracking!

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

 

     “I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It’s chicken and eggs.  And I said, I gotta use that one.”   ~ Paul Simon

Who knew?

The incredible, edible egg has apparently inspired some pretty cool songs.

We all know about “Scrambled Eggs,” which became Paul McCartney’s, “Yesterday.”

And now this!

Back in the day, I once went to the airport with friends to greet Simon and Garfunkel. We waited for hours at the arrival gate with leis and a giant gingerbread boy (we were convinced Paul Simon was the cuddly type, so we referred to him as Bunny Boy). We were also certain that Paul would love the gingerbread boy, since it resembled him.

Such is the folly of youth. Paul and Art whizzed past us and all the other screaming fans, without so much as a nod or a wave. Wow. What a let-down. The gingerbread boy went into the trash, but we attended their concert anyway.

It turned out to be one of the best acoustic performances I have ever heard. It made up for our disappointment many times over.  

Almost ten years later, Paul Simon hatched an idea in the Soy Eng Look Restaurant in New York City’s Chinatown. I imagine he wagged his wattle when he saw the menu. “Mother and Child Reunion” was included on Paul’s first self-titled album after he and Art Garfunkel parted ways, and is considered to be one of the first tunes by a white musician to feature reggae elements. Paul seemed to embrace world music after that,cluck cluck.

No, I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine

I can’t for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don’t work out that way
Over and over again . . .

(Rest here.)

(Do you see elements of Lady Madonna and Let it Be here?)

In case anyone else out there has had a disappointing rock star moment, here is some comfort food courtesy of the Japanese. To prevent any more arguing over which came first, the chicken or the egg, this tasty, easy-to-prepare dish features both. We eat this chicken-egg omelet quite often here at alphabet soup. It’s almost as good as a hug from Mom! Flavor is of course enhanced if this is consumed while listening to Bunny Boy sing.

OYAKO DONBURI
(Japanese chicken and egg omelet)
serves 4-6

1 T oil
1-1/2 cups chicken (breast or thigh), sliced thin
1-1/2 cups chicken stock
4 T soy sauce
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup green onion (chopped)
5 or 6 eggs (depending on size)
1 or 2 T Aji-mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1/3 cups chopped bamboo shoots (optional)
4 oz mushrooms (optional)
cooked rice
2 sheets nori (dried seaweed)

Saute chicken in oil. Add stock and cook until chicken is tender on medium heat.
Add seasonings and green onions.
Beat eggs and pour over chicken mixture evenly. Cook on low heat until eggs are coddled.
Fill bowls with rice. Cover with chicken/egg mixture and pour sauce over all.
Sprinkle crushed toasted nori on top for garnish.

TIPS: Best to use a deep bowl for serving. You may be able to find authentic Donbori bowls at an Asian supermarket that sells dishes. It usually comes with a cover, so that the dish can steam a little with flavors mingling, just before eating.


 

Hmmm . . . chicken egg, egg chicken?