Kim Jong has Il taste.

This photoshoped picture (via a fab Forever Young Adult post) delights me to no end. 

Kim Jong Il, let's share YA and ladies sunglasses, and possibly even the codes to those nukes with my other friend, Obama.  Maybe we can start a book club? Think about it.  

But not the polyester.  That's all yours to keep. 

Recipe 51 - Lentil Soup w/Balsamic Roasted Winter Vegetables

Let's call this meal what it was: A Dinner Fit For Dames.  

And while we're at it, let's just call this recipe what it is:  the best darn lentil soup I've ever tasted ever.   I'm being entirely earnest.  I know I made it and that this fact makes me completely biased.  But know this:  I am always right.  Especially when Blue and I join forces to host a Downton Abbey finale party for 6 lovely ladies dames with an affinity for British accents (and men), excellent food, and of course, Dame Maggie Smith, who, incidentally, stole the entire show.  I dare you to watch the following video and not laugh. 

It can't be done.  You know you watched it five more times.  

I totally already bought the DVDs.

Anyways, onto the main event.   A few quick thoughts and tips: I was delighted by the pretty factor of the rainbow chard at the grocery store, so I used it.  It was a feast for the mouth AND the eyes!  This recipe makes more than the 6.5 servings it claims.   We had enough for 7 to have seconds and for two leftover meals!    Finally, I was cooking for vegetarians, and consequently left out the pancetta.  I bet it's really good with it, but it was also really really good without it.  Instead of browning the onions in the fat, I added a little olive oil.  

I served this soup w/Pumpkin Cornbread (except I made it with squash it was what I had) and regular cornbread.  This was a decidedly more exciting combination than when I ate the leftovers with a regular dinner roll, but it's really up to you!  For desert I made Blackberry-Lemon Pudding Cake.  It was good warm, but even better cold, and even more better with some extra blueberries (I like them frozen) mixed in.  Photos below!

Lentil Soup w/Balsamic Roasted Winter Vegetables
(myrecipes.com via Cooking Light)

Steamy hot, like Mr. Kemal Pamuk.

Ingredients:

1 2/3  cups  cubed peeled sweet potato, (about 8 ounces)

1 2/3  cups  cubed peeled parsnip (about 8 ounces)

1 2/3  cups  cubed peeled carrot (about 8 ounces)

3  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar, divided

2  tablespoons  olive oil

1/8  teaspoon  kosher salt

1  cup  (4 ounces) chopped pancetta

1  cup  chopped shallots (about 6 large)

1  cup  chopped red onion (about 1 medium)

1  tablespoon  fresh thyme leaves

1  tablespoon  minced garlic

1/2  teaspoon  black pepper

1/4  cup  dry white wine

1 1/4  cups  dried lentils

6  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided

8  cups  Swiss chard, trimmed and chopped (about 9 ounces)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.

1) Combine sweet potato, parsnip, carrot, 2 tablespoons vinegar, oil, and salt in a large bowl; toss well.

2) Arrange vegetable mixture in a single layer on a large foil-lined jelly-roll pan; bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

3) Cook pancetta in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until crisp. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon; set aside.

4) Add shallots and onion to drippings in pan; cook 15 minutes or until golden brown.

5) Add remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar, thyme, garlic, and pepper; cook 1 minute. Add wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

6) Add pancetta, lentils, and 4 cups broth to pan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

7) Add remaining 2 cups broth and roasted vegetables to pan, and simmer 15 minutes, uncovered.

8) Add chard, and cook 2 minutes or until wilted.

9) I'll try not to look smug now that you've just admitted that it is the best darn lentil soup ever.

Chase this with a picture of some Blackberry-Lemon Pudding Cake: 

You're welcome for that cleansed palate (and also plate).

The Year of Secret Assignments, by Jacklyn Moriarty: Adventures in Pen Pal-ing around town (Down Under)

The Year of Secret Assignments
by Jaclyn Moriarty
New York: Scholastic, 2005.
ISBN: 0-439-49882-1

      Ashbury school 10th graders Emily, Cass, and Lydia are dismayed to learn that their English class will be required to participate in a Pen Pal project with Brookfield, a school they believe is populated by delinquents. Thus begins this delightful epistolary tale of their unusually funny, imaginative, and supportive friendship over the school year. Emily, an amusingly consistent misuser of words that sound the same but have incredibly different meanings, is assigned to Charlie. Puckish Lydia, who wants nothing but to be a writer, is assigned to soccer-obsessed Seb. Athletic Cassie is recovering from the loss of her father, and becomes fascinated by her pen pal, Matthew Dunlop, who tells her to get lost in some strong language in his reply. Friendships, then romance blossoms, as do challenges, or the titular secret assignments that seem orchestrated to disrupt the school day. But one of the boys is not who he says he is, the rivalry between the schools escalates, and the girls and their new friends seek their revenge on the imposter before the pen pal project is eliminated for good! This fast paced book is recommended for grades 7-10. Book talk hook: read Emily and Charlie's first letters to each other and follow with a very brief summary, ending on a "what will happen now?"

Dear Australia,
Since this is an epistolary letter, I think this is a great time to take advantage of the style and send my thoughts about this book/your awesome YA scene to you via fauxmail. As in, I'm typing them right here. Firstly, seriously, this book is such. a. delight. Maybe I was reading a lot of Debbie Downer type books leading up to reading this (okay, it was King Downer the Incredible: The Road), but man did I enjoy reading this! It is definitely fast-paced, but I couldn't put it down! Jaclyn Moriarity is tres funny. She captures the loyalty, compassion, creativity, and yes, the righteousness and silliness of teenage girls aptly. I loved Emily's sound-alike misspeaks (There is totally a literary term for this. Literary nerds, chime in now or forever hold your peas.), possibly because I have a strong feeling it would be something I may have done... I love how the slow build of the relationships across mail/email allows for a sweet smolder; it totally made me yearn for the bygone days of AIM flirtations and totally tame high school games of less Truth and more Dare. Plus, who doesn't love a good pen pal story?
But back to you, Australia. Seriously. What is up with some super duper awesome YA coming from your vast shores? Melina Marchetta, Jacyln Moriarty, Justine Larbalestier, Marcus Zusak, etc. You keep me entertained, titillated, and occasionally in awe. Okay...so I haven't actually read any Marcus Zusak yet. BUT I WILL! And you and I both know I'll love it, Australia. So keep up the good work, Australia(n authors).
Truly, Madly, Deeply,
PaperblogPrincess

Things that make me sad: Goodbye, Brian Jacques

Today I was extremely saddened by the news that Brian Jacques had passed away over the weekend. I loved his Redwall books as a kid; Redwall, Mattimeo, and Salamandastron still live on my childhood bookshelves. I loved recommending them to kids as a children's librarian, and I love reminiscing about them fondly. In fact, I always take it to be a good sign if someone else had read his books too. It was, is, a defacto signal from our past imaginative, dreamy selves (wearing tapered sweatpants in primary colors) to our present selves (more seasoned, but nostalgic for those imagination filled days and definitely for those sweatpants), that if we both dug talking rodents, we'd probably be cool.
In fact, one of my best friends and post-college roommates and I bonded over our mutual love for Brian Jacques. And three years ago when he visited the library I worked in, she skipped work just to come and see him. We met him very briefly, but even in this brief interaction, I got the feeling he was a lovely individual. He had a kind, but humorously reassuring way of talking to the kids that many tour-weary authors lose, and seemed to relish (glow!) being in front of the sizable crowd. I don't think I'll ever forget his deep laugh or BBC baritone voice (true story!) rumbling throughout the room. He was truly a captivating man and author. Even though his family has had a huge loss, I hope that they can take some measure of comfort in how missed he'll be by his fans, old and young.

Let's make my dreams of dysentery a reality.

On snow day #4.5 of 2011, I woke up, rubbed my eyes in the dewy morning light, fired up the ole laptop and checked the headlines. I gasped. Not because of what is happening in the world, or because the Snowpocalypse was upon us yet again. Oh no. The following headline caught my sluggish morning attention: "Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego to go on Facebook." The article, which is really mostly about the company doing this game making for Facebook, ultimately fails to adequately capture the fervent love of my generation for the Oregon Trail. It states:

"[T]he game migrated to succeeding generations of classroom PCs, where it became a favorite among schoolchildren. Players are cast as 19th-century pioneers trying to survive a journey from Missouri to Oregon, fending off hunger, disease, and accidents."

Um, just a "favorite?" Hello understatement. A search for Oregon Trail on CafePress turns up 155 t-shirts, all spun from the images and vernacular of the original low-tech graphics game. My personal favorites are all dysentery related. Why, oh why would my favorites be those of the dying a violent death due to epic poo-ing? Because in a highlight of my life, 6 summers ago, my all-American co-administrators at an all-girls overnight camp and I convinced our lone British colleague to create a live-action role playing version of this game.

It was...amazing. As you can see above, we made the teenagers be the hunted animals, and had packs of eight year old girls screaming joyfully while pegging them with water balloons. The bison herd had a rough day. The camp director walked around carrying a scythe, impersonating death. There were old prospectors, a build and test a raft station, and oh yes, oh yes, there was Dysentery. And oh yes, oh yes, I played the timeless and classic role of Dysentery. As you would expect, Dysentery wore brown, carried a roll of toilet paper, and hung out by the water fountains and wash-houses. Dysentery, to her great joy and to the chagrin of her unwitting victims, repeatedly used the infamous Oregon Trail line "You have died of dysentary!"

In short, it was pretty fantastic. Also fantastic? Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. I hard-out loved that show. It was one of the very few programs I was allowed to watch, airing on the ever safe PBS. I wanted to go on that show so so bad, and have my chance to run around and put flaring lights on the correct countries, buzz in to best Carmen at her own game, and rock out with Rockapella. I was delighted to discover that one of my C.I.T.'s (at the same camp, clearly a breeding ground for coolness) had actually BEEN ON THE SHOW.

Now, let me just say that video games in general are not my thing, with the exception of Oregon Trail. Facebook games? Reallllly are not for me. Despite my great love of these two fantastic game shows, I probably won't be playing them on the 'book. But I am excited they will be making it back into the public eye. Why? They are pretty much the two exceptions to my No-Reality-TV-Shows rule (along with Amazing Race, someday). I feel that their increase in popularity could, just maybe, might, result in some crazy-awesome Hollywood producer being all "HECK YES, let's turn this into a show!" I mean, PBS (or rather Thirteen/WNET New York and Wall to Wall Television) did Frontier House, Texas Ranch House, and Colonial House. Why not My House is a Chuck Wagon and We're Headed West for Oregon? And why not an adult game-show version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I mean...come on. If they can be Facebook games, and if film adaptations of Ouija and Battleship are in the works, why can't they have their spot of honor on my DVR list? Seriously, Hollywood. Get. It. Together.

Come on, people. I can't be the only one.
Join me in my appeal:

Thirteen/WNET New York and Wall to Wall Television, if you are out there, make Oregon Trail the reality show happen!

And call then me. If you need someone to ford some rivers, go hunt buffalo, and NOT die of dysentery, I'm your woman.