Prize Winning Recipe and A Love of Travel

Last Monday was our Library's 18th Annual Chocolate Lovers Bake Off, and for all of you who know how much I love to bake, it will come as no surprise that I entered. This year I entered Neapolitan Cupcakes in the cake category and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting in the cookie and bars category. And I am happy to report I won first place in the cookie category. So if you love pumpkin and chocolate, feel free to try them out for yourselves.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
1  cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, and then beat in pumpkin before adding dry ingredients. Finally, fold in chocolate chips. Spread in greased pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick come out of the center cleanly. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting
                        

 1 ½ cups softened salted butter

1 cup baking cocoa

5 cups powdered sugar

½ cup milk

1 TBS vanilla extract

In stand mixer, add five cups of powdered sugar and cocoa and beat on low until combined. Add butter, vanilla, and one TBS of milk and beat. Continue to add milk one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. If frosting is too thin, add additional powdered sugar. 

Besides baking, reading, writing, crafting, taking pictures, and geocaching, I also love to travel.  So as I sifted through my pile of borrowed library books, I decided on a book simply titled Somewhere Else. As I opened the cover and admired the end pages my interested was piqued. On those end pages were a myriad of old newspaper or catalog clippings of suit cases and travel bags. In case I haven't  mentioned before, I also have a love of all things old and full of history. It took me a while to tear myself away from the end papers, but when I did, I enjoyed the story of George the bird. George, much like myself, was a prize winning baker. But unlike me, George never went anywhere.

George's friends invited him to travel, but he always turned them down claiming he was just to busy to go anywhere. When winter arrived, George found himself all alone until a bear named Pascal stopped by looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Eventually, George revealed his secret to Pascal and Pascal helped him over it. And in the end, they set out on a grand adventure!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter  @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

Hey everyone. It's good to be back after a couple weeks off. December was wonderful, but tiring. Emily made a three -d star for art class and finished a short story for entry in the Association of Christian Schools International.

I made way more cookies than any one person should make.

We invited Bobby's family over for a Christmas celebration at our home, and I managed to get a stunning picture of the only grand niece amidst a passel of six grand nephews, the three youngest shown below.

We celebrated at my brother's house with my side of the family where Emily only has three first cousins.

We celebrated, just the three of us, at our house where Emily sported the french braids her cousin styled for her. She also performed a concert for us for Christmas, and I'm not sure, but I think the cat tried to knock her out! Guess he was jealous that she received all the gifts.

We visited Bobby's mother, who missed our celebration because she'd been in the hospital.

And, we had lots and lots of fires which kept us warm while we admired our backyard visitors.

The month of December also brought me an invitation from an author previously unknown to me. He asked if I would read and review his book and took care to learn a little bit about me before asking. This consideration is probably what made the difference between a yes and a no from me, and I'm really glad because his story was fantastic. His name is Edward Dron and his book, The Pillow Parade,is a story of a rabbit who wishes to help children go to sleep. The sheep don't think a rabbit is worthy or capable of helping children slumber, but he doesn't let the nay saying of others keep him from trying. Don's story is quite original and well told. The adorable illustrations also add a layer of depth to the story and the combination is sure to keep children's attention from wandering. The pillow parade is definitely a book worth checking out!

As you can see, we wrapped the year up quite nicely and are now ready to tackle whatever 2018 has to offer. We started off by ringing in the New Year quietly. Well, Bobby and I were quite, but I can't say that Emily and her New Year friend were as there was a lot of giggling going on. Emily spent some time doodling in her sketch books, and we celebrated Bobby's birthday on Sunday. Not a bad way to say hello to a brand new year. I can't wait to see what else 2018 has in store, whatever it is, I'm sure it won't be boring. Wishing you all a very not boring New Year too!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter  @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Tea Parties, Books, and Birds.

Last week, as I do every year, I went back to my hometown to visit with the children from the After School Group. This group is very special for several reasons. The first being that it is run by Barb Annon. Miss Barb was not only my 4-H leader when I was young, but she is also the mother of one of my besties from junior high. What is so amazing about that you ask? To which, I would reply their farm. The farm I spent many hours visiting. The farm where I gathered eggs, swung from ropes in the barn, and had a generally good time. The farm that inspired my choice of farm animals for my Fern Valley characters.

The second reason is the children. The children who yell, "She's here. She's here," as they run down the hall announcing my arrival. The children who so eagerly share with me the stories they have written. The children who surprise me every year with something unique. This year's surprise was a recreation of a tea party in the first book of my Fern Valley series. A recreation that included cucumber sandwiches, mint tea, poppy seed muffins, hand made napkin rings, and a mason jar filled with flowers for a centerpiece.

 

 

It was a perfect beginning to the warmer weather we have been experiencing. It also made me want to read some special spring books for this week's review. The first book I read was Have You Heard The Nesting Bird. This book is very multi-faceted in that it describes each bird flitting past the nesting bird and it describes the sound each makes. This was particularly interesting since my husband and I were discussing all the birds we heard outside that morning. It takes you on a bird watching journey past the robin who sits quietly on its nest until its bright blue eggs hatch. And as an added bonus, at the end of the book there are questions and answers which explain why the nesting bird was so quiet compared to the other birds. A great read for the younger children still in the picture book phase and even for those who have graduated to chapter books.

The second book I read was The Gentleman Bug. Gentleman bug is different then the other bugs because he loves to read. Even though other bugs make fun of him for this, he doesn't mind being different. That is until a new ladybug came to town. In an effort to gain her attention, he dresses in a new suit and goes to a party where he hopes to meet her . Unfortunately she pays him no mind and an embarrassing accident sends him running home. Later, he receives an invitation to the library where he meets the new librarian which turns out to be Ladybug. Happily, they become fast friends.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, the sequel, Return To Fern Valley, and the soon to be released Cooking In Fern Valley (fall 2015)! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days