Just Life| Chocolate Bible

For all the chocolate lovers out there, I have got a few recipe books for you.

The first book is " Chocolate Bible" by Christine McFadden.

So, I am browsing through this book. The Hazelnut chocolate cake looks so tasty. Since I am a terrible baker, I am looking to see if this recipe is meant for me or for Chef Gordon Ramsay. Thank goodness, the recipe seems easy enough even for me. 

Hazelnut and Chocolate cake

Then a co-worker mentioned that there is a book called " Death by chocolate". 

No way!

But he wasn't kidding. We even have this book in our catalog.

• Death by chocolate: the last word on a consuming passion

And guess what, we have another book with similar title. 

It is called:

• Death by chocolate cakes: an astonishing array of chocolate enchantments

When it is my time to go, death by chocolate or chocolate cake wouldn't be all that bad.

Now the question is who is going to bake that Hazelnut chocolate cake for me to taste.:)

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Just Life| Wonders of Storytime

There is this cute little boy who has been coming to my story time for the past few months.

When I first met him, he was too shy to even look at me.

Every story time, he would sit in front of me like a perfect little gentleman and he would listen attentively when I was reading.

However, anytime we sang songs, he was either too shy to participate or he didn't know any of the songs that we were were singing. He would simply observe us.

Nowadays, he is a totally different kid. Thanks to his awesome mom who has been bringing him to the story time every week. 

Now he feels at home during the story time and I am happy to report that recently, he has been singing up a storm.

These days, he proudly sings the ABC song, counts to 10, and knows many of the other songs.

And best of all, he looks so proud. That little boy knows that he has accomplished so much in the past few months.

I can't tell you how happy I am.

Story time is wonderful. It helps kids blossom and flourish. 

Please click on " LIBRARY EVENTS AND PROGRAMS"  for the list of free library programs near you.

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Just Life| Packing School Lunches

Packing my daughter's school lunches are a bit of a challenge. Since my daughter hates school lunches, I have to pack her lunch five days a week.

Whenever I ask her what she wants for her school lunch, she tells me Nutella sandwich. I need some new ideas for her school lunches.

So, I searched the library catalog and I was pleasantly surprised to find some good books on this topic.

So this book " THE BEST HOMEMADE KID'S LUNCHES ON THE PLANET" by Laura Fuentes sounded promising. 

I checked it out and showed it to my daughter. she said that she would gladly try "the Red Beans and Rice" and "the Hawaiian Sliders". They look simple enough to make in a short amount of time.

Red Rice and Beans 

So this week, I am packing two new lunches for my kid. 

Hawaiian Sliders

Here are a few more books:

• The healthy Lunchbox: How to plan, prepare& pack stress free meals kids will love.

• Cool lunches to make & taste

• Beating the lunch box blues

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Just Life| Making Your Child Smarter

I was taking my kid to school the other day and on the radio, there was an announcement by the First 5 San Joaquin. 

I think it went something like this: 

Talk, read, and sing to your children to make them smarter.

It is simple isn't it? 

Talk to your child. If you are folding the laundry, fold the laundry in front of your child and talk to her about it. Tell her the name of the items you are folding, tell her the colors of the items you are folding. By just talking to her about your laundry, you are teaching her new vocabularies and you are making her smarter.

One of our little readers at the Troke Library

Don't place your child in front of the television, while you are cooking in the kitchen.

The American Pediatric Society recommends no television for kids younger than two.

So if you are making a salad, put your child in front of you and tell them how you are making the salad. While you are at it, let her touch the tomato and the lettuce and the cucumber that you are going to use in the salad. 

Then sing to your child. She wouldn't mind if you don't have a singing voice. Sing to her to make her smarter and give her a better chance of succeeding in life.

Of course, read to your child as often as possible. Read the same book over and over for her. Then after a while, she would be able to decode the words on the pages you are reading.

Please Talk, Read, and Sing to your child and visit the First 5 of San Joaquin to learn more about the early literacy by clicking on the link below:

First 5 San Joaquin

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Just Life| Remodeling Fiasco

A few weeks ago, we were going to change the flooring in our house. The job was supposed to be done in three short days.

The crew started in the man cave upstairs, and all the sudden it started raining in the kitchen downstairs. Holy #$*@.

We had to find a plumber on a Sunday. The first plumber told us that he would get there in an hour, two hours later, he was still at the Mall with his family. We told him not to bother. The second plumber arrived hours later. He charged us $860 to fix the pipe, but he was a nice guy.

The plumber fixed the pipe and in the process created a huge hole in the second floor closet and another big hole in the kitchen ceiling. 

Later on, the plumber told us that one of the baseboard nails was lodged in a water pipe, when the crew pulled the baseboard, it caused flooding downstairs.

Then a contractor was called to fix the hole in the man cave.

Then the fancy wood floor that we ordered and waited weeks to arrive ended up being defective and 1/3 through installing the wood floor, the crew had to yank it off the floor and return it to the store. We had to order new ones.

At this point, my calm and collected husband had turn in to a grumpy old man. Who can blame him?

Our living room was a total disaster for two long weeks since we had to put all the furniture etc. from the other rooms in there. You couldn't find a place to sit.

We are in our third week of "home improvement" and there is still a big hole in the kitchen ceiling that needs to be fixed.

The moral of the story is that, if you are planning any home improvement projects, get ready for unexpected problems, out of the blue added costs, and possible weeks of a messy house.

If you are up for a home improvement challenge, the library has tons of home improvement books and DVDs for you to check out free of charge.

Here are a couple of books on this topic from your local library:

• Home improvement for dummies 

• Ultimate guide to home repair and improvement

For me, I am done with remodeling for right now.  If I had money, I would be heading to Maui for some needed relaxation.

Signing off until next Monday- A very tired Panteha

Just Life| Food for the soul

The other day, my mom made us this wonderful dish. All I had to do was pick it up from her house after work. It was so thoughtful of her to do that for us. Even if you can afford restaurant quality food every night, homemade food is something else.

Speaking of cooking, a few months ago, I was reading this article written by a woman whose husband had become disabled out of the blue. That disability caused the family financial hardship and isolation. She was telling everyone that if you have such a person in your inner circle, one of the best ways to help them out is to share some of your homemade food with them.

Dinner at my aunt's house

My mom did the same thing for one of our friends and it was totally appreciated. So I followed her example and did the same thing for a friend recently and it felt good.

Me and my mom posing for the camera

Since we are talking about food, I just want to mention that your local library has thousands of cookbooks for you to check out free of charge.

Here are a few of these books at your finger tips:

• Slow cooker revolution: One test kitchen, 30 slow cookers, 200 amazing recipes

• Cooking light, Italian

• The gourmet dad: easy and delicious meals the whole family will love

• Taste of Home simple & delicious cookbook

Happy Monday everyone.

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Award-Winning Reads | To Kill a Mockingbird

Hello there readers!

I'll be honest. It's been some time since I posted a blog here on Award-Winning Reads. It's been so long that I almost forgot how to log into Blogger! But I hope you all will stick around with me as I now post twice a month about beloved award-winning books.

This week I'm sharing one of my all-time favorite modern American classics: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This literary gem won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded by Columbia University for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the U.S. The similarly-titled 1962 film based on the book is also a critically-acclaimed prize-winner, having earned three Academy Awards.

Pulitzer Prize. Claiming fair use, this photo is being used for informational purposes only, to illustrate what the award looks like.

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. 

To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, or bildungsroman, told from the viewpoint of young Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout. Scout is a headstrong, curious girl who witnesses the fictional Alabama community's uproar as her father, Atticus Finch, legally defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. Scout's experiences move her to question the deeply-held racial prejudices of her neighbors.

I remember being required to read the book and watch the movie in Mr. Thompson's eighth-grade class at Hamilton Middle School. As a young girl, I appreciated that Scout was a strong female character. She wasn't afraid to voice her thoughts and opinions while she was yet still trying to understand the scope of what was going on around her.

Until recently, this was Lee's only published novel. However, a month ago, on July 14th, Go Set a Watchman, a follow-up story, was released. It features many of the same characters from its predecessor twenty years later. I'll be listening to the audiobook. Reese Witherspoon is performing it!
 
Not by coincidence, the title of one of my most cherished cocktails recipe books is a play on words of Lee's first story. Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist serves up literary libations such as "The Joy Luck Club Soda" and "Gin Eyre" as well as a few tasty treats like "Alice's Adventures in Wonder Bread" and "Prawn Quixote." It even offers non-alcoholic beverages that are puns of juvenile book titles such as "Pear the Wild Things Are" and "The Blizzard of Oz."

Now that I think about it, I just might celebrate Lee's sophomore novel by making myself a "Tequila Mockingbird" (with more tequila and less hot sauce than the recipe requires), before listening to Reese's sweet southern drawl.

Next time I'll discuss the work of another female author - the first female to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. There's always more Fan Favorite Fiction from Females to love! 

Until then, have a good reading! (And if you need a "Rum of One's Own," to get you started off right, I promise, I won't tell! *wink, wink*)
Raquelle