[chat + giveaway] Emma Bland Smith on The Fabulous Fannie Farmer

~ jama ~ 32 Comments

Today we’re happy to welcome San Francisco author Emma Bland Smith to discuss her latest picture book, The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook (Calkins Creek, 2024). Charmingly illustrated by Susan Reagan, this engaging, well researched account of Fannie’s professional life as an author, culinary expert and teacher officially hits shelves today and will inspire you to whip up one of Fannie’s recipes. 🙂

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (initially published as The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book in 1896), Fannie’s lasting contribution of standardized level measurements is likely part and parcel of your cooking and baking regime. Yes, we have Fannie to thank every time we level off a cup of flour or sugar with a butter knife before adding it to the mixing bowl.

Fannie’s precise, comprehensive recipe instructions included scientific explanations of the chemical processes that occurred in food during cooking, taking away the guesswork and ensuring consistent results.

So who was this woman who revolutionized home cooking, making it accessible to everyone? How did her can-do spirit enable her to pursue her passion for the culinary arts — even opening her own cooking school — after being sidelined from a college education due to polio-related partial paralysis?

And how many can say that their cookbook remains in print 100+ years after it was first published, having sold more than 7 million copies to date?

I know you’ll enjoy hearing lots more from Emma. We thank her for sharing her insights and so many wonderful photos!

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2023 Poetry Friday Archive

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1. “Hedonist’s List of Desert Island Essentials” by Vivien Steels

2. “Engineers’ Corner” by Wendy Cope

3. Interview with Andrea Potos on HER JOY BECOMES

4. “Touch the Air Softly” by William Jay Smith

5. “Class Photograph” by Julia Donaldson

6. “Sheltering Times” by Judith Heron

7. “What Not to Write on the Back Jacket of Your Debut Collection” by Helena Nelson

8. “Happiness” by Stuart A. Paterson

9. Interview with Patricia Toht on PICK A PERFECT EGG

10. WELCOME TO MONSTERVILLE by Laura Shovan and Michael Rothenberg

11. 2023 National Poetry Month Kidlit Events Roundup

12. “Hot Cross Buns” by Julia Goddard

13. ANIMALS IN PANTS by Suzy Levinson and Kristen & Kevin Howdeshell

14. A Charlotte Brontë Birthday

15. Poetry Chat with Charles Ghigna (THE FATHER GOOSE TREASURY OF POETRY)

16. TODAY I AM A RIVER by Kate Coombs and Anna Emilia Laitinen

17. “Blue” by Sidney Wade

18. Two poems from AUNT MARGARET’S PUDDING by Alison Brackenbury

19. TIERRA, TIERRITA/EARTH, LITTLE EARTH, by Jorge Argueta and Felipe Ugalde Alcantara

20. CHAMPION CHOMPERS, SUPER STINKERS AND OTHER POEMS BY EXTRAORDINARY ANIMALS by Linda Ashman and Aparna Varma

21. Paintings + Poems Sampler by Gary Bunt

22. “Sonnet #43, Kitchen Style” by Kim O’Donnel

23. “The Month of All” by Henry Grantland Rice and “Dinner Favors” by Arthur Macy

24. HOW THE SEA CAME TO BE: And All the Creatures In It by Jennifer Berne and Amanda Hall

25. “When I Am In the Kitchen” by Jeanne Marie Beaumont

26. BETTY AND THE MYSTERIOUS VISITOR by Anne Twist and Emily Sutton

27. “In the Mood for Orange” by Lori Levy

28. “Ode to Left-Handedness” by Gregory Orr

29. PASS THE BABY by Susanna Reich and Raul Colon

30. Two poems by Alarie Tennille

31. Two poems by Gregory Orr

32. Brussels sprouts poems by Cynthia C. Naspinski, Bruce W. Niedt and Andrea Potos

33. ONE PERFECT PLAN by Nancy Tupper Ling and Alina Chau

34. “Miracle Fair” by Wislawa Szymborska

35. ON A FLAKE-FLYING DAY by Buffy Silverman

[festive review + recipe] Paddington’s Christmas Post by Michael Bond and R.W. Alley (+ a holiday blog break)

~ jama ~ 18 Comments

Remember how exciting it was to receive snail mail when you were little? Well, the 70-something resident Paddingtons are over the moon because recently somebear sent them a very special holiday book. Let the merrymaking begin! 🙂

Paddington’s Christmas Post, based on the original stories by Michael Bond and illustrated by R.W. Alley (HarperCollins UK, 2022), is a fun and festive interactive novelty picture book and a companion to Paddington’s Post (2019). It contains five envelopes for eager munchkins to open, as they read about Paddington doing his beary best to help the Browns get ready for Christmas.

As the story opens, Paddington hurries over to Portobello Market to see all the wonderful Christmas decorations and visit Mr Gruber. Over a steaming mug of cocoa, Paddington sadly tells him that he doesn’t have enough money to buy special Christmas gifts, even though he’d been saving up.

Wise Mr Gruber reminds him that there’s a lot of truth in the old saying, “It’s the thought that counts.” This gives Paddington a great idea.

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[snowy review] On a Flake-Flying Day by Buffy Silverman

~ jama ~ 21 Comments

Brrrrrr! Can you feel it? Yes, the winds of change are blowing once again. Did a snowflake just tickle the tip of your nose?

With Winter Solstice coming up next week, it’s time to fluff our feathers, cozy up with a warm cuppa, and enjoy Buffy Silverman’s latest picture book, On a Flake-Flying Day: Watching Winter’s Wonders (Millbrook Press, 2023).

In this third title of her award winning series celebrating the seasons, we see how animals adapt to the cold and learn about weather conditions related to wind and water. When the world is blanketed in snow, many fascinating things are happening above and below ground.

Once again, Buffy invites readers to join her for a fun nature walk via an inventive rhyming text and gorgeous color photographs. It’s always a joy to read aloud her sprightly hyphenated noun-verb adjectives, a perfect set up for evocative pairs of short rhyming sentences powered by choice verbs:

On a feather-fluffing,
seed-stuffing,
cloud-puffing day . . . 

Weasel whitens.
Cardinal brightens.

Frost glistens.
Owl listens.

Leaves rustle.
Squirrels hustle.

Her verse brims with deliciously informative sensory detail. The weasel is an example of an animal camouflaging itself for protection, while the cardinal’s bright red does the opposite — makes the male stand out to better its chances of finding a mate. Along with glistening frost, a majestic owl listening for underground prey, rustic leaves clinging to their branches, and a pinecone-nibbling squirrel, what a fabulous feast for the eyes!

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a delicious bite of Cookie Queen by Kathleen King, Lowey Bundy Sichol, and Ramona Kaulitzki

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

How do you like your chocolate chip cookies? Soft and chewy or thin and crispy? In all my years of cookie baking, I’ve strived for thin and crispy with only moderate success. Granted, all homemade chocolate chip cookies are good when they’re warm from the oven (hello, gooey melty chocolate and buttery crumb). The true test, however, is after they’ve cooled.

All I can say is thank goodness for Tate’s Bake Shop®️. We always have a bag or two or three of their Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies in the house. In fact, we prefer them over their original Chocolate Chip. Thin and buttery with just the right crunch, they taste homemade.

I first “discovered” them after googling “Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies” about ten years ago. Tate’s was the hands down favorite, or else was included in the top five on most lists. So we tried a bag and have never looked back.

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