Archive for November, 2006
November 27, 2006 at 2:07 pm · Filed under book reviews
I picked up a new book the other day (actually I have a *few* new books to talk about but I wanted to mention this one while it’s still timely). It’s called The Autobiography of Santa Claus and it’s written by Jeff Guinn. The book takes a look at the origins of the man we know as Santa Claus, combining legend, lore, and history.
It is conveniently organized into 24 chapters, so starting on December first, I plan to read a chapter a night outloud to the boys. Kind of a read aloud advent calendar. Of course, I couldn’t wait until then to take a peek; I read the introduction and part of the first chapter and I’m charmed by what I read. I think it will become a Christmas treasure.
November 26, 2006 at 11:25 am · Filed under My Musings, island life
Another earthquake (5.0) rattled us early Thanksgiving morning. When will the earth settle down?? E had his pumpkin pies in the oven when the electricity went out. Thank goodness they were close to done and the warmth in the oven was enough to finish cooking them. We worried that we might have to improvise, but the power was back on in an hour, meaning that we just ate our wonderful Thanksgiving meal a little later than planned, rather than not at all!
We decided - kind of at the last minute - that we’d try kalua turkey this year, so while the power was out, we went for a drive to find some ti leaves to wrap the turkey. We don’t have a place in the yard to do an imu (traditional underground oven), but we found a recipe to do it in the oven. A nice compromise, really.
See how pretty my turkey looked before it went in the oven?
November 26, 2006 at 7:52 am · Filed under home education
You will have to register to read it, but it’s free.
November 22, 2006 at 6:45 am · Filed under publishing
This November, children all over America will don black construction paper pilgrim hats in honor of the first Thanksgiving. But are they hearing the real story?
Myth: The pilgrims were the first colonists in the New World.
Fact: The famous pilgrims that we associate with Thanksgiving arrived in 1620 – thirteen years after the first successful English colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia. Spaniards built the first permanent colony in North America in 1565 in St Augustine, Florida.
Myth: Once the Pilgrims landed in the New World, they left the Mayflower behind.
Fact: The Mayflower arrived off the coast of Massachusetts on November 21, 1620 which left little time to build homes before harsh winter weather began. Anchored off the coast, the Mayflower was home to many Pilgrims throughout their first winter in the New World.
Myth: Pilgrims dressed in black and white with buckles and pointy hats.
Fact: Black is a very hard color to achieve using natural dyes – the only source of dyes available during colonial times. Colonists lucky enough to have black clothing reserved it for Sunday church services and special occasions. During the rest of the week, Pilgrims were more likely to be found in earth tones.
Myth: The feast celebrated in autumn, 1621 was the first Thanksgiving.
Fact: Native peoples on this continent have celebrated the harvest and given thanks to their creator for thousands of years.
Myth: The Thanksgiving feast included mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
Fact: It’s more likely that the feast included wild fowl such as turkey, swan and eagles; venison and seal; vegetables like pumpkin (perhaps stewed), peas, beans and carrots; and fruits and nuts.
Myth: The Pilgrims prepared a lovely feast and invited the Native Americans to Thanksgiving.
Fact: The Pilgrims did not call this feast Thanksgiving. It was more of a harvest celebration. For them, Thanksgiving was a day of prayer to thank God when something really good happened. As for the food, much of it was likely brought and prepared by the natives.
Myth: The Pilgrims and Native Americans sat together around a table for their feast.
Fact: Historians believe that about 90 native Wampanoag people joined the 50 or so Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation. With so many people eating, seating was limited and they didn’t even use forks!
Myth: After the meal, the Native Americans went home to their village.
Fact: The harvest celebration lasted for three full days and included eating, drinking and playing games.
**Adapted from the new book Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself by Kris Bordessa (Nomad Press, 2006). Ask for it at your local book store or find it online.
This article may be reprinted in its entirety as long as the end credit is included.
November 21, 2006 at 4:47 pm · Filed under publishing
I had a message from someone with that in the subject line - I thought it was funny.
I promised an update after my interview on Martha Stewart Radio. It went well! I am always worried about the questions that some of the radio hosts might ask. What if they ask something that I don’t know? What if I know, but completely blank out and drool out of the side of my mouth? Thankfully, that didn’t happen. We chatted for about 10 minutes about some of our misconceptions about Thanksgiving, discussed what the table might have looked like at the feast that we now know as the first Thanksiving (NOT Martha worthy!), and even talked over some of the activities from the book that she really liked. And she didn’t even guess that I was concealing all of my dirty dishes inside the oven. 
November 21, 2006 at 2:11 pm · Filed under Food
I polled the kids last night before heading out to do my Thanksgiving Day shopping this morning; I wanted to make sure I didn’t skip anything that was crucial to their Thanksgiving meal. Wanna know what they consider to be a “must have” side dish? Cranberry sauce. Jellied. Out of the can.
For me? Stuffing. Absolutely. I make it with sausage and giblets (the only good use for a giblet, IMO) and sometimes nuts.
What about you? What’s your must have Thanksgiving side dish?
November 21, 2006 at 8:07 am · Filed under book reviews
The list of books submitted for consideration in the non-fiction picture book category for the Cybils includes 40 books published in 2006! You can see the complete list here. Thanks to Chris Barton for compiling this list of titles. Stay tuned for progress on this category - which I’m participating in judging - and all the rest.
November 18, 2006 at 10:34 am · Filed under My Musings
I (mostly) gave up coffee about six months ago. But I had to be up at 4:30 this morning for an east coast radio interview and you can bet I wasn’t going to do that without a little java. It’s now almost 10:30 and three (!) cups of coffee later, I am feeling -um- quite energetic. I might actually get something done today! 
B is threading my new sewing machine for me, so that I can start on a couple of simple Christmas projects for my nieces and nephews, I’m soaking hala leaves to make more lauhala bracelets, and I have some tiny matchboxes halfway painted for another project I’m working on. E is upstairs listening to a book on CD and I suspect avoiding me. He’s mad because last night I (very reasonably) told the boys that due to a lack of completed chores (as in, they managed to skip *all* of their chores, *all* week), they’d be losing certain electronic privileges. And that boy can hold a grudge! He has to emerge for food at some point though.
November 18, 2006 at 8:56 am · Filed under publishing
A month ago I didn’t know Martha Stewart had a radio show. Today, I ran across another author who will be interviewed on the show in January. I’ll let you know how my interview goes on Tuesday!
November 18, 2006 at 7:08 am · Filed under Uncategorized
…in my mailbox. When we moved, I stopped getting many of the catalogs that used to cram my mailbox. Most of those were unsolicited and not missed, but I realized not too long ago that I was really missing one: Chinaberry. What? You don’t know about Chinaberry? It is only the most fabulous book catalog available!
Yesterday I found the winter edition of the familiar Chinaberry catalog in my mailbox and promptly sat down to devour it. Chinaberry offers – I think – some of the best books out there in bookland. Quality stuff. Seriously; if I won the lottery (if I played the lottery) I think I’d order one of everything from Chinaberry. But it’s not just about the quality of the books they sell – it’s the warmth and personality of the catalog itself. The books are categorized into appropriate age levels and each catalog entry comes with a thorough review, so that I can tell right away if it’s something that my kids would like (it usually is – remember, this is good stuff). They also carry a small assortment of really good adult books, with those same thorough reviews. My favorite part of the Chinaberry catalog though is their audio collection. They have some of our favorite books on CD and carry the works of the fabulous Jim Weiss and Odds Bodkins.
The catalog (and then some) is online, but I love to have the paper version to flip through. Are you convinced yet? You can request a catalog of your own, here. Or if you’re shopping for the holidays online, check out their sale page – there are lots of good books available.
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