Ohioana 2017

Those of you who have been following me for a long time know that one of my favorite things about being an author is attending book festivals. And this past Saturday I participated in the 11th Annual Ohioana Book Festival.

I was super excited to catch up with author friends. One of those friends, Lisa Amstutz, is a phenomenal nature author. Her latest book is all about gardening.

There was my friend, Julie Anne Lindsey, who writes mysteries under the pen name Julie Chase. How can you resist someone who writes mysteries involving cats?

 
There was my friend, Tricia Springstub, who writes for children.

 
And there was my friend, Tara Tyler, science fiction/fantasy writer.

 I also met several new friends. Illustrator Tim Bowers who illustrated four books I have read, reviewed, and enjoyed plus numerous others.

 

Author/Illustrator Adam Watkins whose bot books I can't wait to read.

Author/Illustrator Lindsay Ward who shared the back story of her latest book Brobarians. Who knew inspiration could come from Connan the Barbarian and your husband and his brother? She also created this year's Ohiana poster.

 

Cartoonist Steve Harpster who has some awesome how to draw books for kids.

Author/Illustrator Bill Cotter who is genius because he knows that kids always want to do what you tell them not to do.
 

Illustrator Joe Sutphin who illustrates for James Patterson and Sheila Grau for a start.

And author Marilyn Sadler who has sooo many interesting books including a new math inspired series that she co-authors.

So as you can well guess, I didn't have time to read and review any new books, but after introducing you to my friends from Ohioana, I'm pretty sure I've given you some great books to check out!

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.

Returning to Normal

This past week Emily and I began to return to normal. As we put my mother's passing and the Christmas break behind us, we dove back into school and Cook Book Club. The theme for January was soup, so I made Bean and Bacon soup. Strangely enough as much as I cook, I had not made this type of soup before. I thought it turned out quite well and have decided to add it to my repertoire of often used recipes. Emily made striped delight which went over quite well. It is a dessert I used to  make quite often but hadn't made in a while, so it was a refreshing change. It is the perfect dessert for a party or get together. Here is the recipe in case you want to try it.

Striped Delight

1 cup flour                                                              ¼ cup sugar

1 cup ground nuts                                                    2 TBS milk

½ cup melted butter                                                 1 container whipped topping

1 pkg cream cheese softened                                    2 boxes chocolate pudding prepared

Combine flour, nuts, and butter until well mixed and press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. When cool, mix cream cheese, sugar, milk, and whipped topping until smooth and layer on crust. Chill for at least thirty minutes. When chilled, prepare pudding according to box and pour over top of cream cheese layer.  Chill until pudding is set. Cut and serve.

Emily also made a birthday card for one of her friends. I know I'm probably partial, but I think her drawing abilities are quite good for an almost twelve year old.

 

And by coincidence, the book I chose to review this week, although not about returning to normal, is about returning. It is a follow up picture book to Tammi Sauer's, Your Alien. The first book was fabulous and this second book is equally wonderful. Your Alien Returns is the story of the alien taking his boy home for a play date. It is a story of working to fit in and not letting differences become hindrances to friendship. The illustrations are a bonus and add incredible dimension to the story as all good illustrations should.

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. 

 

Apple Butter and Art

For those of you who follow my blog, you know that last week I made my first ever batch of Crock-pot Apple Butter. The house smelled so amazing and the butter turned out pretty well according to my husband. So this week as promised, I am sharing the recipe I used.

Crock-pot Apple Butter

8 lbs. apples (about 24 medium) (I used Gala apples)

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 TBS cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

In a small bowl mix the sugars and spices and set aside. Peel and core all the apples and cut into chunks. Place into a large oval crock-pot and pour the sugar mixture over the apples. Stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate the mixture throughout all the apples. Cook on low for ten hours stirring occasionally. At the end of the cooking time, use an immersion blender to puree the apple mixture which will now be redish brown in color. Divide mixture into five pint jars and process in boiling water for ten minutes. I use a steam canner but a traditional canner will work as well.

Like I said, my husband thought this recipe was pretty good, but he wants me to try using 1/2 cup less brown sugar in my next batch because he likes his butter sweet but not too sweet.

This week proved to be a little less busy for me but Emily spent quite a bit of time drawing. Drawing is something she has loved to do since she was old enough to hold a pencil and for a ten year old she is quite good. Of course, I might just be a little bit prejudiced, but then again maybe not. I happened to find several used and fairly inexpensive drawing books for her which she has been using as a guide when drawing people. Since my people drawing skills are barely above stick persons, I was pretty impressed with her drawings.

 

The funny thing about the books I chose this week is that they had to do with drawing. I swear I didn't choose them on purpose for that reason, it just happened to turn out that way. 

The first book was titled Bridget's Beret and was the story of a girl who loved to draw while wearing a beret. She felt that the beret was her inspiration and when it was lost, she became downhearted and felt she could no longer draw. Thankfully, her younger sister came to the rescue and convinced her to make lemonade signs. While making the signs, something miraculous happened. Bridget began to draw again proving that drawing block is not permanent. A great book for encouraging children to create as well as a good reminder for authors and illustrators that blocks of any kind are always temporary.

The second book was called Ben Draws Trouble and was another story of a child who loved to draw. Ben doodled in his sketch book all the time. He especially loved to draw people, much like my Emily. But one day, while riding home on his bike, his sketch book got lost. When he returned to school the next day, someone had found the book and had placed it on the teachers desk. Ben thought for sure he was going to be in big trouble for the sketch he had drown of his tall bearded teacher, but instead he was invited to make art for a school program. This was another great book encouraging kids to draw.

And while both these books were about drawing in particular, I loved them because they encouraged children to explore their artistic side. So if your child doesn't necessarily like to draw, let them know that they can paint, color, craft, bake, or even arrange leaves into attractive arrangements for photos. Anything at all as long as they are creating and having fun!

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 sequels, Return To Fern Valley,  and Cooking In Fern Valley, along with my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

 

One Author's Journey To SOKY And Back: Part 2

I woke bright and early Friday morning ready to start Children's Day, and by early I mean about 4:00 am. I must have been super excited because I couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. So I watched television until it was time to go down to breakfast, and then I headed over to the conference center. Amy Ignatow and I were walking  briskly towards our destination when Mark Wayne Adams stopped and asked us if we wanted a ride. The conference center was only a five minute walk, but the temperature which had been around 85 degrees the day before had plummeted to 45 degrees that morning. We gladly jumped into the back of his vehicle!

Once inside, I got my pen, sharpies, and card stock ready. I knew from experience that I wouldn't sell many books because my book, which retails for $11.99, is priced just above the ten dollars that most parents send with their children. But I didn't let that dampen my spirits, and I got busy drawing farm characters for the children. Now in case you aren't already aware of the fact, I did not illustrate Fern Valley. But since so many people always ask me that, I thought it prudent to learn some basics. I practiced for months on a dry erase board with my eight year old  as my toughest critic. Once I got my six characters down, I could whip one up with the ease of a master chef torching a Cherries Jubilee. The only problem is that six farm characters are all I know how to draw with the exception of a few boy and girl faces. But all was well and fine until someone asked for a duck. A duck, you see, is not one of the six things I know how to draw; thankfully the young man settled for a turkey.

The fun was only beginning because  my friend and fellow author,  Amanda Stephan, came up from Tennessee to attend the Writers Conference that was going on simultaneously with Children's Day. After we were both done for the afternoon, we headed to Cheddar's to hang out. This was a special treat as we had never met in person before. We hit it off splendidly and managed not to embarrass her daughter Brenna very much. The waiter was kind enough to snap a picture of us which I will cherish always.

Amanda Stephan and I

We were only able to spend about two hours together because I had to get ready to attend the Author Meet and Greet Fund Raising Reception. It was a glorious night of smoozing with celebs, other authors, and locals from Bowling Green. I really do love a good party.

Mr. Winkler and I

 

Mary McDonough and I

Mark and I

Virginia Smith and I

 

Stacy Curtis, Bruce Kessler, and I

As much as I love to mingle though, having been up since four made for a long day; so around about seven, I headed for my hotel room to ponder the amazing happenings of the day.

Signing off for now with wishes for a bright and beautiful day and encouraging you to tune in tomorrow for part three!