Children's Book Review: Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops

Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops
Written by:  Jill Biden
Illustrated by:  Raul Colon
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012

from goodreads.com:
Inspired by her own granddaughter Natalie, Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, tells a story through a child’s eyes of what family life is like when a parent is at war across the world. When her father leaves for a year of being at war, Natalie knows that she will miss him. Natalie is proud of her father, but there is nothing to stop her from wishing he was home. Some things do help her feel better. Natalie works with her Nana to send her dad and the other service men and women cookies and treats they have made. Natalie, her mom, and her brother can see and talk to Dad over the computer, and the kindness of friends at school and at church help her feel supported and loved. But there is nothing like the day when her Dad comes home at last.

* As Veteran's Day approaches, I asked my daughter if she knew why she had off of school on Veteran's Day.  She answered something along the lines of honoring the "army men and marines."  Before reading a book about Veteran's Day, I thought it would be nice to read a book about current troops stationed abroad.  This book was written by Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill.  They have personal experience, since their son was deployed to Iraq.  This book mainly focuses on 5 year old Natalie dealing with her dad's year long deployment overseas.  To a child, a year seems like forever.  She tries to be brave through it all and always remembers to "God Bless Our Troops" when she prays at night.  This book was very touching and almost had me in tears while I was reading it to the kids.  They have not had any personal experience with family in the armed forces, being deployed.  However, one of our neighbors recently went abroad for a year to Afghanistan.  He has three young children and I tried to use them as a connection to the girl in the story.  We have decided that between now and Christmas we will try to get together a box of goodies to send overseas to our neighbor to thank him for protecting our country.  If you know a child who has a parent overseas than this is a definite must-read!

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Gnocchi & Bacon Gratin with Garlic Bechamel

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I needed gnocchi and this is the dish that I needed it for.  When I first saw the recipe, it had me at bacon and garlic.....yum!  This was a good storm day meal to make.  There were a lot of components to this dish so it was nice to cook it and not be in a rush.  It is a perfect comfort food type dish perfect for a cold night.  My brother was staying with us during the storm since he was without power and he had and enjoyed this dish with us.  I posted the original recipe below, the only change I made was not adding the nutmeg.  Unless I'm making a dessert, I don't usually add nutmeg to my main dishes. 

Gnocchi & Bacon Gratin with Garlic Bechamel
recipe from Lauren's Latest

Ingredients:
3 slices thick-cut bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 large cloves garlic
17 oz. package gnocchi
salt & pepper, to taste
scant 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

topping-
2/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
Bring large pot of water to boil. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and butter into small skillet and place on medium heat. Once butter melts, stir breadcrumbs around to moisten completely and brown lightly. Remove from heat and set aside. Once bacon is cooked and crisp, remove from skillet onto paper towels to drain. Leave 1 tablespoon bacon grease in pan and melt in 2 tablespoons butter. Grate in garlic cloves and cook 1 minute. Sprinkle in flour and whisk. Cook 1-2 minutes and then whisk in milk slowly to prevent lumps. Add in salt, pepper and nutmeg and reduce heat to low. Pour gnocchi into boiling water and cook until they start to float, 2-3 minutes. While gnocchi is cooking, crumble cooked bacon. Drain gnocchi and stir into sauce. Add in bacon. Pour entire contents into buttered baking dish and sprinkle with toasted bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes and serve hot.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

Children's Book Review: Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet

Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet
Written by:  Jane O'Connor
Illustrated by: Robin Preiss Glasser
Published by: Harper, 2012
Ages 4-7

from goodreads.com:
Fancy Nancy is ready for the spotlight...

Fancy Nancy and her best friend, Bree, couldn't be more excited about their upcoming dance show. After all, it's all about mermaids--and who knows how to be a fancy, glamorous mermaid better than Fancy Nancy herself? But when another ballerina wins the coveted role of the mermaid, Nancy is stuck playing a dreary, dull tree. Can Nancy bring fancy flair to her role, even though it isn't the one she wanted? And when disaster strikes right before the big ballet, who will step in to steal the spotlight?

From bestselling duo Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser comes a fancy, frilly ballet story with a lot of heart. Tiny fans will shout "Encore."

* My daughter has been a big Fancy Nancy fan for several years. Nancy Clancy is very girly and into dressing up and accessorizing, which is right up my daughter's alley.  I like how the book enriches young children's vocabularies and the illustrations are so detailed and pretty to look at.   This particular book is a great read for any ballet loving little girl.  Nancy and her best friend Bree both want to be mermaids in the upcoming ballet but end up getting not-so-fancy parts.  Nancy learns to deal with disappointment and jealousy. This book was just as entertaining and enjoyable as the others we have read.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating:1 1/2 thumbs up.

The Weekend Chef: Gnocchi I

Because of Hurricane Sandy and the lack of mass transit down to the city, my husband was home with us for several days.  I needed gnocchi for a recipe that I wanted to make (see tomorrow's post) and had some potatoes that needed to be used up.  I asked my husband if he wanted to help make dinner and he gladly agreed.  He was in charge of making these gnocchi while I got the rest of the dish ready.  I don't make home made pasta....like ever!  It seems like way too much work for what you get.  However, I don't know why we don't make gnocchi more often.  Gnocchi is my husband's favorite patsta (although can you really call it pasta if it's made with potato?!) We've made ricotta gnocchi before but I don't think we've ever made traditional potato gnocchi.  This was really easy to make and tasted so good! Although these would be great with red sauce or even just some butter and cheese, I used them in tomorrow's featured recipe!

Gnocchi I
recipe from allrecipes.com by Anna

Ingredients:
2 potatoes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg

Directions:
1.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and add to pot. Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.

2.Combine 1 cup mashed potato, flour and egg in a large bowl. Knead until dough forms a ball. Shape small portions of the dough into long "snakes". On a floured surface, cut snakes into half-inch pieces.

3.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.  

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Baked Apple French Toast Casserole

I've been trying to cook with apples before fall is over.  I saw this Baked Apple French Toast Casserole and knew that the kids would love it.  I pre-made it the night before so all it had to do the next day was bake.  It was a perfect breakfast for dinner meal.  The kids love french toast, which I don't make very often.  They especially loved the addition of the apples to one of their favorite breakfast meals.  This is a great weekend brunch dish and if you have a chunk of time to let it cook, a good breakfast for dinner meal.

Baked Apple French Toast Casserole
recipe from One Perfect Bite

Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients:

French Toast
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, torn into bite-size cubes
6 eggs
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar, divided use
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 medium Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and cut in 1/2-inch dice
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1) Spray or grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Directions:
1) Spray or grease bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.


2) To make French toast: Scatter bread cubes in bottom of prepared pan. Place eggs, milk, 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat to combine. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Mix cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl. Add apple cubes and toss to coat. Spread apples over bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Thirty minutes before baking, remove casserole from refrigerator and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake casserole for 60 to 75 minutes, or until custard is set and golden brown. Serve casserole hot with warm syrup.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This recipe is shared at:
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes
Foodie Friday@ Simple Living and Eating

Children's Book Review: Fall Mixed Up

Fall Mixed Up
Written by:  Bob Raczka
Illustrated by:  Chad Cameron
Published by: Carolrhoda books, 2011

from amazon.com:
"Every Septober, Every Octember, Fall fills my senses with scenes to remember." "Bears gather nuts. Geese hibernate. Squirrels fly south in big figure eights." Fall is all mixed up in this silly book from Bob Raczka! Can you find his mistakes in the words and pictures?

  * Although we have several more weeks of fall left, it's getting much chillier and starting to feel more like winter!  I thought we'd better read this book sooner than later!  This was another book that the kids recently read with my husband and were excited to hear again.  They really enjoyed this book and couldn't wait to tell me about all of the silly things that happened.  The author has gotten the months mixed up, the holidays mixed up, and everything else mixed up too.  Bears gathering nuts, geese hibernating, wolves saying "meow" and caramel pumpkins are just the beginning of the silliness featured in this book.  Raczka touches upon all things fall but mixes them up and needs the reader's help to find all the mistakes.  The kids were laughing aloud and enjoying correcting all of the "mistakes" in this fun, fall picture book.

This book was borrowed from the library.

 Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Children's Book Review: Chester the Brave

Chester the Brave
Written by:  Audrey Penn
Illustrated by:  Barbara L. Gibson
Published by:  Tanglewood, 2012

from goodreads.com:
Little Chester Raccoon, the beloved character who has helped so many children with issues in their lives, learns the meaning of bravery and a method for overcoming his fears in this new Audrey Penn title. After sharing the story of a little bird who is afraid to have flying lessons in front of his friends, Mrs. Raccoon tells Chester that being brave doesn’t mean being unafraid; being brave means not letting that fear stop him. Mrs. Raccoon teaches Chester an important strategy: Think-Tell-Do. When he thinks he is afraid, he tells himself he can do it, and then he just does it. Of course, getting a Kissing Hand helps a little too. This simple strategy can be helpful to children in many different situations.

* The kids don't get to see my husband on Monday and Wednesdays because he has to work late and they are in bed when he gets home.  So, often on the nights that he is home I'll have him get them ready for bed while I veg out on the couch and read or watch television.  Sometimes they'll come down and we'll all read bedtime stories together.  Other times, he and the kids have their own special reading time.  They read this book together during one of those times.  When I asked if they wanted to hear it again (because I wanted to read it before it was due back at the library) they said yes, but my daughter warned me, "I thought this book was only so-so!"  My kids are familiar with the original Chester book The Kissing Hand which is a great book (and is referred to in this book).  However, I have to agree with my daughter with her so-so rating on this one.  I like the lesson about bravery in this story and the Think-Tell-Do strategy.  However, there's a story about a baby robin that goes on for awhile (and gets a little confusing in my opinion) that shows the bravery aspect which Chester than applies. Again, the strategy is good, but the story itself was lacking. 

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: So-so.