Monday, December 26, 2011

More holiday Yummy from SPELLBINDERS!!!

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December 26, 2011
Caroline's Classroom Connections

EVERYTHING ON A WAFFLE
 after

My name is Primrose Squarp. I am eleven years old. I have hair the color of carrots in apricot glaze (recipe to follow), skin fair and clear where it isn't freckled, and eyes like summer storms.

Readers will know right from the start that the narrator of Everything on a Waffle is going to tell her story straight and pull no punches. Primrose's parents have been lost at sea, but she believes without an iota of doubt that they are still alive, somewhere. She moves in with her Uncle Jack, but feels generally friendless. Her only real refuge is a local restaurant called The Girl on the Red Swing, where the owner, Miss Bowzer, serves everything on waffles -- except advice and good sense, which come free of charge and are always reliable.  
Here's a waffle recipe to use with our BAKING MIX:

2     cups BAKING MIX (see recipe below)
1½  cups milk
2     eggs
1     Tablespoon oil
1     Tablespoon sugar (optional)

Preheat waffle maker. Combine sugar and mix. Then combine wet ingredients and add to dry mixture. Bake according to directions. Makes about 8 - 4 inch waffles.

If using for a classroom or book club group, waffles may be cooked in advance and heated in a toaster.
after 

Have students bring the following toppings:

Fresh fruit
Whipped cream
Syrup
Nutella
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Gummy Bears
Tuna salad
Cheez Whiz

If you want to be adventurous, cut waffles into fourths and try different toppings on each piece.

BAKING MIX

1        five pound bag (or seventeen cups) of unbleached flour
9        Tablespoons (a little over ½ cup) of baking powder
2        Tablespoons of salt
3        one cup containers of Crisco shortening (one pound)

Put all ingredients except for shortening into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Cut the shortening into small pieces and then add to the dry mixture. Use two large knives to cut the shortening into the mixture. You may use a pasty blender, but it will get messy. Put the contents into an airtight container. This recipe makes about 21 cups of mix. A plastic, one gallon ice cream container (cleaned and dried and minus the ice cream) will hold about 18 cups of the mix. Store in a cool, dry place and use within 2-3 months.




 Black Stripes

Meet the Spellbinders

 
Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New
May B
Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.

  
  
  

CaCarolee Deanrolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a Comfort Paperback Coverspeech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Take Me There CoverActs of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.

 Follow me on Twitter
  
  
  
  
  
Kim Bio PhotoKimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well Circle of Secretsas two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing Healing Spellworkshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides. 
  
Follow me on Twitter 

UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS
 
Saturday, January 14, 2012
2:00-3:30pm
Launch Party for Caroline Starr Rose's debut novel, May B.
Alamosa Books
8810 Holly Ave.
Suite D
Albuquerque, NM 87122
 
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
9-5 Preconference Session
Author's Panel at the
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"Rekindling the Reading and Writing Fire"
Join us for this all day session
featuring 11 authors including
all 3 Spellbinders
Carolee Dean
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Caroline Starr Rose

Tuesday, May 1
3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"The Secret Language of Stories: Beyond Story Grammar"
Carolee Dean 
  

  

This email was sent to kglittle@msn.com by spellbinders@peifercomputing.net |  
Spellbinders | 3 YAF Authors | Albuquerque | NM | 87181

Monday, December 19, 2011

Yummy Book Buzz!

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December 19, 2011
December Book Buzz Recipe!
IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN
 after
If a big hungry moose comes to visit, you might give him a muffin to make him feel at home. If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix.

In this hilarious sequel to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the young host is again run ragged by a surprise guest. Young readers will delight in the comic complications that follow when a little boy entertains a gregarious moose.
 
Here's a recipe using our BAKING MIX that is perfect for any moose you entertain over the holidays: 

1½ cups BAKING MIX (see recipe below)
¼   cup sugar
1    teaspoon cinnamon
¼   cup chopped nuts (optional)
½   cups chopped apples or other fruit
½   cup plus 1 Tb. milk
1    egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first five ingredients, then combine milk and egg and add to dry mixture until just blended. Grease muffin pan. Fill large muffin pans 2/3 full. For mini muffins fill until level with pan. For six large muffins bake 20-25 minutes. For 16 mini muffins bake 15-20 minutes.

Fruit suggestions:

Chopped apples, peaches, strawberries
Whole blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)
Mashed bananas
Pumpkin
Applesauce

Note: If using a mashed fruit, add to wet ingredients instead of dry ingredients.

Adjust milk as necessary to create a thick batter.
after 

BAKING MIX

1        five pound bag (or seventeen cups) of unbleached flour
9        tablespoons (a little over ½ cup) of baking powder
2        tablespoons of salt
3        one cup containers of Crisco shortening (one pound)

Put all ingredients except for shortening into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Cut the shortening into small pieces and then add to the dry mixture. Use two large knives to cut the shortening into the mixture. You may use a pasty blender, but it will get messy. Put the contents into an airtight container. This recipe makes about 21 cups of mix. A plastic, one gallon ice cream container (cleaned and dried and minus the ice cream) will hold about 18 cups of the mix. Store in a cool, dry place and use within 2-3 months.





 
 Black Stripes
Meet the Spellbinders

Kim Bio Photo
Kimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well Circle of Secrets
as two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing
workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please
to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides. 


Follow me on Twitter 

 Carolee Dean
Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a Comfort Paperback Coverspeech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Take Me There CoverActs of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to www.caroleedean.com.

 Follow me on Twitter 
  

Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New 
Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.
May B



Blog   
  

UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS
   
        
Saturday, Jan 14
2:00-3:30
Launch Party for May B.
Caroline Starr Rose's Debut Novel
Alamosa Books
8810 Holly, Suite D
Albuquerque, NM  87122
 


Sunday, April 29th, 2012
9-5 Preconference Session
Author's Panel at the
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"Rekindling the Reading and Writing Fire"
Join us for this all day session
featuring 11 authors including
all 3 Spellbinders
Carolee Dean
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Caroline Starr Rose

 
Tuesday, May 1
3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"The Secret Language of Stories: Beyond Story Grammar"
Carolee Dean 
 
 


  
  
  
This email was sent to kglittle@msn.com by spellbinders@peifercomputing.net |  
Spellbinders | 3 YAF Authors | Albuquerque | NM | 87181

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Secret Language of Stories

Spellbinders Logo
December 12, 2011
The Secret Language of Stories - Carolee Dean
 TORTILLA SUN

One of the topics I frequently discuss in The Secret Language of Stories is the idea of a character moving from the familiar, ordinary world, to a new world full of adventure and surprise. Tortilla Sun, by New Mexico's own Jennifer Cervantes, is a perfect example. Twelve-year-old Izzy is not happy when she finds out that she will be spending the summer with her grandmother in an iTortilla Sunsolated village in New Mexico while her mother goes to Costa Rica. Nana proves to be the perfect mentor as she teaches Izzy about folk remedies. Izzy learns how to make tortillas and gather herbs, and finally begins to unravel the mystery of her father's death. This heartfelt, multicultural tale is for grades four and up. If reading the novel with a class, I suggest exploring the recipe for tortillas below.
  
TORTILLA RECIPE

2   cups baking mix
¾  cup warm water


The recipe for BAKING MIX may be found in our December 5th issue of Spellbinders, or at the bottom of this page.

tortilla doughAdd just enough warm water to form the dough into a ball. Knead on a lightly floured service about 20 times. Cover with the bowl and let rest for 10 minutes.



Form the dough into golf ball size circles. Roll out with a rolling pin into a circle about 6 inches in diameter.

Heat a griddle or large cast iron skillet over medium heat or set an electric skillet at 450 degrees. Before heating, pour in about a teaspoon of cooking oil. Spread across pan with a paper towel and discard the excess oil.
 tortilla in skillet
Cook tortilla on one side until air bubbles appear. Then turn to see if opposite side is browned. If so, turn and cook the other side. Stack cooked tortillas in a clean dish cloth.

Makes 10 small, thin tortillas. For thicker tortillas, double the amount of dough for each.  

If using this recipe with a class, the recipe may be doubled or tripled. Let each student roll out his or her own tortilla. If they are small, several may be cooked at once time in a large electric skillet.

Top with butter, honey, or Nutella®.

BAKING MIX

1        five pound bag (or seventeen cups) of unbleached flour
9        tablespoons (a little over ½ cup) of baking powder
2        tablespoons of salt
3        one cup containers of Crisco shortening (one pound)


Put all ingredients except for shortening into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Cut the shortening into small pieces and then add to the dry mixture. Use two large knives to cut the shortening into the mixture. You may use a pasty blender, but it will get messy. Put the contents into an airtight container. This recipe makes about 21 cups of mix. A plastic, one gallon ice cream container (cleaned and dried and minus the ice cream) will hold about 18 cups of the mix. Store in a cool, dry place and use within 2-3 months.


 Black Stripes
Meet the Spellbinders
Carolee DeanCarolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a
Comfort Paperback Cover
speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random
Take Me There Cover
Acts of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.

 Follow me on Twitter
  




Kim Bio PhotoKimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well Circle of Secretsas two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing Healing Spellworkshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides. 

Follow me on Twitter 




Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New
May B
Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.





UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS

Saturday, January 14th, 2012
2-3:30
Launch Party for May B.
Caroline Starr Rose's Debut Novel
Alamosa Books
8810 Holly, Suite D
Albuquerque, NM  87122


Sunday, April 29th, 2012
9-5 Preconference Session
Author's Panel at the
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"Rekindling the Reading and Writing Fire"
Join us for this all day session
featuring 11 authors including
all 3 Spellbinders
Carolee Dean
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Caroline Starr Rose

Tuesday, May 1
3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
International Reading Association Conference
Chicago, Illinois
"The Secret Language of Stories: Beyond Story Grammar"
Carolee Dean 

This email was sent to kglittle@msn.com by spellbinders@peifercomputing.net |  
Spellbinders | 3 YAF Authors | Albuquerque | NM | 87181