Well, we’re really in the thick of things now. When I first extended my invitation for peanut butter poems, little did I realize just how many of you nuts were actually out there! Nice to know I’m not the only one who likes to munch, crunch, slather and rhapsodize about America’s favorite spread!
Before we get to today’s poems, wanted to congratulate the one and only Joyce Sidman for receiving the 2013 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children!!! WooHoo! So well deserved. Love love love her work and it was such an honor to serve as a Cybils Final Round Judge the year we selected Red Sings from Treetops (Houghton Mifflin, 2009), still one of my favorite poetry picture books of all time.
You probably know Joyce’s most recent book, Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature (Houghton Mifflin, 2011), has earned a galaxy of *starred reviews* among many other cool accolades. Let’s all have a Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl cupcake in Joyce’s honor! (Just for today, you may twirl as you swirl.)
Georgetown Cupcake Peanut Butter Swirls
Since Joyce is extra special, let’s have TWO . . . or THREE! . . . or . . . .
#10 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.
Charles and Heidi ham it up.
Holy Soup Spoon! Mr. Excitement is here!
Can you feel the joy and the love? I’m tickled pink that actor and children’s poet Charles Waters agreed to join our Potluck this year. I’m sure whoever coined the phrase, “life of the party,” must have had him in mind.
I first “met” Charles at one of GottaBook’s 30 Poets/30 Days events. Immediately loved his positivity, sense of humor and offbeat child-centric take on life. He’s a veritable wellspring of creative energy who, interestingly enough, discovered his love for children’s poetry while touring for 3 seasons with PoetryAlive!®. Performing poetry for kids all over the country inspired him to write his own and eventually develop his one man show, Poetry Time with Uncle Charles.
Charles’s poem and recipe prove that his favorite dish is indeed hot stuff. Sounds like this special chili has helped him write and perform awesome poems and get people of all ages fired up about poetry. Never underestimate the power of a good chipotle!
SANTA FE CHILI
My friend Isabel’s Santa Fe Chili Compels me to act Downright silly.
My taste buds soar, I click both heels, A top confection Out of all her meals.
Black beans mixed with Canary rice, Combined aromas Made to entice.
Chipotle peppers, Sour cream, Like Coltrane’s album It’s A LOVE SUPREME.
Feel a bit crummy? Life’s not going well? Then try Santa Fe Chili Made by Isabel.
Charles: Somehow I lucked out and have a friend named Isabel Garcia who cooks for me. She became a vegan a few years ago and cooks the most nourishing, delicious meals you can imagine. Every meal she makes is a favorite of mine, but her Santa Fe Chili rocks my planet. It’s a perfect meal for lunch or dinner; make a side salad, pour yourself a cold beverage and enjoy! By the way, this poem is totally autobiographical because if I’m feeling low (or not) and have this meal, I’m dancing around like Bill Cosby in “The Cosby Show.”
Take that, Jello pudding!
Santa Fe Black Bean Chili
What you’ll need:
Blender 2 large stew pots Medium bowl
Ingredients:
-3 cups dried black beans (a 1-lb. bag yields about 2+ cups dried beans — so you’ll need a 2-lb. bag) to produce 9 cups soaked/cooked black beans (or simply use six 15-oz cans, NOT DRAINED) -1-1/2 inch piece dried brown chipotle (dried jalapeño chiles), soaked in 1/2 cup hot water (use more or less chipotle for desired spiciness) – 2 teaspoons olive oil -2 cups diced yellow onion (about 2 onions) -4 garlic cloves, finely minced -15-oz can stewed tomatoes, pureed (NOT DRAINED) -2 tablespoons chopped cilantro -1 tablespoon molasses -1 aji dulce pepper (any color), seeded, pureed (use more or less for desired spiciness) -15-oz can crushed tomatoes -1 teaspoon cumin -1 teaspoon ground coriander -1-1/2 teaspoon paprika -1/2 teaspoon turmeric -1 teaspoon fresh lime juice -1 teaspoon veggie base -2 teaspoons salt -Pepper to taste
Optional:
-Cooked brown rice -Chopped green onions -Vegan sour cream -Sliced green or black olives
Directions:
1. Soak 3 cups of examined, sorted and rinsed black beans in a pot with 9 cups of water for 8 hours, covered.
After the overnight soak, drain the beans and discard the water.
Put the cleaned black beans back in the pot.
Add 9 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the beans, stir gently.
Bring the beans to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer with lid tilted, checking for tenderness after 90 minutes. If required, cook for additional 30 minutes.
Once desired tenderness is reached, remove from heat, keep the lid on and set aside.
1 a. If serving with brown rice, begin cooking it now before you continue with the recipe.
1 b. If using canned black beans, DO NOT DRAIN! In step #8, simply measure 1 cup of canned beans.
In step #9, add 1 cup of water to the pot along with the remaining cans of beans.
2. Heat ½ cup of water (I use a ceramic cup and heat water in the microwave for 30-45 seconds). Cut piece of dried brown chipotle and place it in the hot water to soak. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
3. While the chipotle soaks, mince the garlic and finely dice the onions.
4. Heat oil in a separate large stew pot.
5. Add minced garlic and diced onions to heated oil, stirring often. Turn heat down to allow to soften but not to brown.
6. Meanwhile, puree in a blender, the stewed tomatoes, cilantro, aji dulce and molasses. Pour into the blender the soaked chipotle along with the ½ cup of water in which it has been soaking. Puree until completely smooth with no visible chunks.
7. Pour the blender contents into the pot and stir, mixing the softened onions and garlic well. Raise heat slightly.
8. Measure 1 cup of the cooked black beans into a separate bowl, using a ladle to ensure enough of the black beans liquid is collected. Mash the beans well to create a thick paste and then mix the mashed beans into the pot.
9. Pour the remaining cooked beans (and its liquid) into the pot and stir.
10. Add the remaining ingredients – crushed tomatoes, cumin, ground coriander, paprika, turmeric, fresh lime juice, veggie base and salt and stir well.
11. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
12. After 20 minutes, remove from heat and stir. Cover and set aside for additional 10 minutes.
13. Serve with rice or any combination of optional ingredients.
*Please see more tips and recipes at IsaVegan.com.
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Charles Waters has performed professionally in theatres across the country since 1997. He also dedicated 3 years of service to Poetry Alive!, a performance and teaching theatre troupe that reaches an estimated 600,000 students nationwide each year and where he performed in 38 of the 50 states.
His poems will appear in the upcoming anthologies AMAZING PLACES edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BOOK OF ANIMAL POETRY edited by J. Patrick Lewis (Children’s Poet Laureate of the United States), THE ARROW FINDS ITS MARK: FOUND POEMS edited by Georgia Heard and AND THE CROWD GOES WILD: A GLOBAL GATHERING OF SPORTS POEMS edited by Carol-Ann Hoyte and Heidi Bee Roemer.
He performs his one man show POETRY TIME WITH UNCLE CHARLES to elementary and middle school audiences.
#3 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.
Mary and her husband Christopher David
Ahoy Mateys! Avast!
Isn’t it always the way? You throw a party and a plucky poetic pirate slithers ashore to stir things up. Award-winning D.C. area author Mary Quattlebaum and her husband Christopher David sure know how to make an entrance. Mary claims she dresses up like a buccaneer only for bookstore events and school visits, but we know better. Look at that pirate-y sneer. It’s in the blood for sure.☺
Ever wonder what pirates eat? Mary’s prized booty includes a poem about her favorite grog and — *wait for it*— Pirate Pie! I’d sail the high seas for ye, me crusty beauty. Arrrrrrr!
“Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.” ~ Catherine Douzel
Sip and stay awhile.
Happy Poetry Friday!
We’re serving tea and treats today to celebrate National Hot Tea Month. Please help yourself to a cup of PG Tips, Twinings Darjeeling, or Republic of Tea’s Green Rooibos, along with a fruit tart or cupcake. (If you say, “I love poetry” three times, you may have both.)
Nothing like a good cup of tea to restore calm and tranquility, to enhance a moment of solitude and sweeten reflection. When shared, this wondrous beverage can engender the most “civilized” of conversations, a call to best behavior even when ennui or disaffection is brewing beneath the surface.
For your sipping pleasure, two poems steeped in the drama of relationships. Each cup a world unto its own with universal truth and the delicious wonderment of “what happens next?”stirred in.
IN A BATH TEASHOP by John Betjeman
“Let us not speak, for the love we bear one another — Let us hold hands and look.” She, such a very ordinary little woman; He, such a thumping crook; But both, for a moment, little lower than the angels In the teashop’s ingle-nook.
*
“Five O’Clock Tea” by Mary Cassatt (oil on canvas, 1880)
AT TEA by Thomas Hardy
The kettle descants in a cosy drone, And the young wife looks in her husband’s face, And then at her guest’s, and shows in her own Her sense that she fills an envied place; And the visiting lady is all abloom, And says there was never so sweet a room.
And the happy young housewife does not know That the woman beside her was first his choice, Till the fates ordained it could not be so. … Betraying nothing in look or voice The guest sits smiling and sips her tea, And he throws her a stray glance yearningly.
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Oh, what tangled webs we weave . . .
These poetic vignettes contain the seeds for full length novels. Tidy and unobtrusive, these interesting studies in compression invite us to delve and deliberate, teasing our senses. As Henry Fielding once wrote, “Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.” Poetry seems the ideal vessel for such titillating refreshment.
What drama will unfold with your next cup of tea?
♥ Jim is hosting today’s Poetry Friday Roundup at Hey, Jim Hill! Please take him an extra fruit tart and enjoy all the poetic goodies being shared in the blogosphere this week.
This post is also being linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking, which is open to anyone who has a food-related post to share (novel, nonfiction, cookbook, movie reviews, recipes, quotes, random thoughts, etc.).
“The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose.” ~ George Gissing (The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft)
“At 9 o’clock she made breakfast — that was her part of the household work — The tea and sugar stores were under her charge.” ~ Caroline Austen (My Aunt Jane Austen: A Memoir)
It’s December 16th! A most noteworthy date to be sure.
In 1773, an impassioned group of colonists held a certain Tea Party in Boston Harbor, and just two years later, on this very same December day, Jane Austen was born at Steventon Rectory.
Why not celebrate Jane’s birthday with a fine cup of tea and a treat? The Alphabet Soup kitchen helpers are serving English Breakfast Tea by the English Teddy Bear Company. Please help yourself to a steamy cup while reading Jane’s poem.
The Jane Austen Centre calls this 11-stanza verse, “sprightly.” Indeed, it reveals her keen wit and charming powers of persuasion. It was written a few years before she moved to Chawton House with her mother, sister Cassandra and dear friend Martha Lloyd, who later married Jane’s brother Frank. Seems Jane was trying to find a way to have Martha come and visit her.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 