Noodles with Peanut Sauce

An Asian-style pasta dish which was a big hit around here.

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• Garlic, as desired
• Water, as needed, to thin

• 1 lb linguine
• 2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped
• ½ cup carrots, diced

• 1 cup tofu, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 4 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts

 

Combine first 8 ingredients in small bowl; whisk to blend. Set dressing aside.

 

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until until half cooked. Add cabbage, carrots, broccoli, and bell pepper. Cook until al dente. Drain pasta; rinse and drain again. Transfer pasta to bowl. Add tofu and green onions. Pour dressing over; toss to coat. Season salad with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts.

 

Serves 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book talk

Next pick for book club: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Back to Unwind (last month's pick) for a minute. As is typical for books we feel strongly about (especially negatively), we talked about it longer than usual. It didn't hurt that there was plenty of current events that fed into the discussion. With the GOP trying to take away women's rights to contraception, the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood kerfuffle, lots of material to discuss that related to the book. My final take on Unwind? Neal is pulling out all the stops to offend everyone. How juvenile. There's much better literature out there. Read something else.

And in this politically charged atmosphere, as so often happens, a carrot cake bake-off throwdown was launched. Yes, 7 of our 8 members are bringing a carrot cake to the April meeting. Judging will be on appearance and taste. We've been promised a prize by the one person not participating. She's more of a éclair baker. I can eat her éclairs for hours! Good thing that opportunity doesn't present itself monthly. Good lord.


Anyway. I assume I'll win the bake-off, har har, but in case I don't, I'll try to procure the winning recipe to share here. I definitely should win the appearance part. I have a Secret Weapon that I plan to use. My dad knows what it is. I bet he won't tell you what it is, either.


In non-book club reading, I just finished The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (interview and excerpt). Recommended. First book I've read in a long time that reminds me of what college was like during the 1980s.

For some reason this paragraph (page 49) struck me as particularly poignant. She's reading Roland Barthes A Lover's Discourse for homework:

It wasn't only that this writing seemed beautiful to Madeleine. It wasn't only that these opening sentences of Barthe' made immediate sense. It wasn't only the relief at recognizing that here, finally, was a book she might write her final paper on. What made Madeleine sit up in bed was something closer to the reason she read books in the first place and had always loved them. Here was a sign that she wasn't alone. Here was an articulation of what she had been so far mutely feeling. In bed on a Friday night, wearing sweatpants, her hair tied back, her glasses smudged, and eating peanut butter from the jar, Madeleine was in a state of extreme solitude.

Other books by Jeffrey Eugenides that you may have read: Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides. I liked the first but found the second unsatisfying. The movie, too. I'm pretty sure I saw the movie first. That probably ruined the book for me.

More apraxia news

Here's a school essay Nea did recently. Starting sentence ... "The other night I saw a twinkling star. I closed my eyes to make a wish. I wished that …"


(Nea's writing, as written)

Mom had a baby brutr for me. Baby are cute. I want hem to play with me. I will halp hem got the toys. I like baby bos to slep in my rom. I wile want to haf a baby bruthr.

(Nea's writing, translated)

Mom had a baby brother for me. Babies are cute. I want him to play with me. I will help him get the toys. I like baby boys to sleep in my room. I really want to have a baby brother.

In completely unrelated news, Nea lost three teeth in the last week. She looks like a hillbilly. Photo evidence provided. For a child that didn't get her first tooth until she was 14 months old, she's catching up pretty well.

Ugh. Book club.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Lord, I hated this book. Not only does it remind me of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, which I hated, but I just finished The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, which also reminds me of Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk (aka Fight Club's author).


I'm over this genre. Which genre, you might ask? I don't even know what to call it. It's sci fi, with cold characters, religious cults, and general bullshit.

Edited to add: I just realized how nicely the recent controversy regarding denying transplants to children with developmental delays fits in with these books. Why make up this shit when the real shit is just as bad?

Winter

"One-match Bluestem" they call me. Well, I call me.

My mommy made the socks. They are toasty and warm.

Boo's book recommendations

Boo is in third grade and is a voracious reader. Half of my life's ambition is realized. One kid down; one to go. We go to the library weekly, and I often reserve books online and pick them up when we go -- a service I LOVE. Nothing brings me greater joy than hearing about a good book and surprising Boo with it. Please share your recommendations!

   

Disclaimer: I have only read a few of these books. I'm not a fan of censorship. Shocker, I know. Boo is allowed to read whatever she likes.

  

Here are the top two books she gushes about:

• Rules by Cynthia Lord
• The Big Book of Girl Stuff by Bart King (she read the Boy one, too. Just to be sure they weren't getting away with anything.)

Books in a Series

What is it with kids in this age group and series books? Most of these are well-known, but maybe the list has an idea or two for parents of kids who like similar books:

• Judy Moody by Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds (also their Stink books)
• Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall
• Just Grace by Charise Mericle Harper
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell
• The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler and Sarah Gibb
• Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel
• Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce
• Sophie the Great by Lara Bergen
• Clementine by Sara Pennypacker and Marla Frazee
• Non-fiction American Girl books (like Friends: Making Them & Keeping Them)
• Klutz books (like Me and My Friends: The Book of Us)

 Graphic Novels

  

Boo is seriously into this genre. Yesterday she asked me the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel. I said length. I just looked it up and apparently that's as good an answer as any. Binding is a side effect of length, right? 

• Owly by Andy Runton ("sad")
• Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi ("lots of action. Like Star Wars. Don't read them at night when no one is around.")
• Fashion Kitty by Charise Mericle Harper
• And a shout-out from me: The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Wordless. Beautiful. Recommended for all ages.)

Boo does photography

Boo took this photo with the iPad, edited it with Snapseed (cool free app) and emailed it to me. What a crazy world we live in. Remember when all we had was canvas, paint, and a stick with some horsehair?

She said something about Blue Bear being a girl, and I said, "What? Blue Bear is a girl now?" and she answered, "Of course! He's always been a girl." So that clears that up.