Tribute

We're big fans of The Berenstain Bears over here.

So I was sad to hear that one of the authors Jan Berenstain passed away a few days ago.

I was impressed to read that right before her stoke she was working on 2 books. Which is saying a lot since she was 88.

I grew up reading these books and the girls love them too. I especially love that they always teach a lesson in a fun way.

So here is our tribute to a great author.

One of the many books from when I was little. Bella loves seeing how I used to write my name.

Help me read!

I guess I worded that wrong. I know how to read. What I need are some book suggestions. I want to read the kind of book you can't put down and ignore all other responsibilities because the book is so good. You know the kind, right? So I thought I would ask everyone for some ideas. I'm up for anything.

Worth Reading

I just finished the book Escape and I can't say enough about it. If you are at all interested in what's going on with FLDS stuff in Texas than I would highly recommended reading it. That said, you should know some of it is hard to take in. There were times I had to stop completely because it was too much. But at the same time it's a real page turner. I won't say too much because I don't want to give it away(although if you watch the news at all, you are watching the end all come together) but after reading it I felt so blessed for the freedoms which we enjoy. I always love reading about women who are empowering and Carolyn Jessop is nothing short of amazing in my eyes. Her story is remarkable.

Everyone I know who has read it has finished it in less than a week. So please give it a try and let me know. I'm dying to hear what people think.

Deceptively worth it?

I got this book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, for Christmas and decided to try it out today. If you haven't heard of it,(have you been living under a rock?) it's a cookbook. She was tired of auguring with her kids about eating their vegetables so she started to "hide" them in their food. Basically the cookbook has all these really yummy recipes but with things like spinach, and cauliflower and other vegetables added that you can't taste. All the recipes are backed up by a nutritionists and the book has lots of good info, like guidelines for how much fiber you need and things like that. When I saw the author on TV she was saying that she spends one hour a week pureeing all the food, measuring them, and putting them in ziplock bags. Then she stores them in the freezer. When she's cooking during the week she just has to grab one of the bags and add it to the recipe.
It sounded easy enough. I was naive to think I could get everything done in an hour. I won't even say how long it took me, it's too embarrassing. But I did finish. I was able to do butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, raspberries, and pineapples. Once I was done it was gratifying to look at.
Tonight I made three of the meals and they were all good. Seth really liked the "tortilla cigars" (they had butternut squash and carrots), I loved the fruit punch (that had carrots, pineapple, and raspberries) and we all enjoyed the ice cream sandwiches (in the book Jerry Seinfeld says he loves it so much he would request it as has last meal). The crazy thing was you really couldn't taste the vegetables.
All and all I guess it was a success. Now my freezer is stocked with lots of fruits and vegetables that are ready to be added to any of her recipes. But after all that work, and considering that there are so many vegetables I still haven't done, I can't decided if it's worth it.

Peer Pressure at 27?

I finally gave into peer pressure this last weekend and read Twilight. It seems like everyone I know is reading it or has read it. And after reading it I give it a "B". Don't hate me. It was a good book, I'll give it that, and I liked it, but I'm still confused about why there is so much hype behind it. At one point during the weekend Seth asked me if I was just reading it to finish it, and I have to admit that was partly true. I had a hard time getting past the vampire stuff. Maybe that's my problem. Anyway, I hope I still have friends after this blog since I can only think of 2 people who didn't like this book and they don't even read my blog. So tell me, everyone who just loves this book, is the 2nd book what really got you hooked or am I just missing something?