Food Friday—Menu

What I am eating these days:

Fruit
Tea

Shakshuka on whole-grain toast (Shakshuka is this Israeli dish where you poach an egg on top of some spicy tomato vegetable business. So good. Recipe in Vegetarian Times June 2012.)
Toast and honey

Tacos with refried beans, red cabbage, and avocado mango salsa

Fresh veggies
Bananas
Smoothies

Pasta with asparagus, broccoli, and tofu ricotta

Homemade donuts
Beaucoup toaster pastries

Any new recipes you're excited about? Any advice on how to use up a head of cabbage?

Literary Lunes—Favorite YA

Today we are discussing favorite YA and teen novels, series, and authors. In making the below list of favorite YA, I've noticed two qualities that reappear: humor, and feminism. Apparently I like funny books with strong heroines. There's also a fair amount of fantasy.
Some of the books I read when I was a teenager, some I've read for the first time more recently, and some are beloved both now and then. Some I've listed the entire series, sometimes I've listed only the first book in the series, because I am also noticing the first book in a series is often the best, even if the rest of the series is still worth reading.

My favorite YA and teen books:





All books by Tamora Pierce. I haven't read most of these since high school, maybe my first year of college, but I remember them as being awesome. Think the Song of the Lioness series. Page-turning fantasies set in alternate realms, knights, mages, magic. What makes these books truly stand out (for me, at least) are the heroines and the feminist themes. In the Song of the Lioness, a girl disguises herself as a boy to train as a knight.  What is more, Tamora Pierce does not shy away from sex like most YA novels do.



Celine by Brock Cole. Celine is a painter trying to survive high school. She is quirky and clever, and I laughed really hard while reading this book. It's gotten a string of awards, including an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I debated putting this book on the list, not because I don't adore it, but because I wasn't sure if it was considered YA. It was originally marketed for adults, but we just got at work we just got in a glittery copy aimed at teens. So. This is one of the few wholly and truly good vampire books out there. It's similar to the Sookie Stackhouse books (y'know, True Blood). The protag works in a cafe, there are were-animals, etc. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Charlaine Harris read Sunshine before she wrote her own series. The difference is that Sunshine is actually good. It's actually well-written.

I like Sunshine, beyond things like good plot and interesting characters, because it doesn't fall into the cliched tropes that most in the vampire genre do, and the heroine is someone a feminist could actually support. Vampires are not sexualized and romanticized, but nor are they merely blood-thirsty monsters. The protagonist does not fall in love with a vampire, nor does she become a vampire. Romance is not at all a main plotline, you could barely even call it a sub-plotline, but the protagonist owns and is comfortable with her sexuality in a way even few modern heroines are.

Robin McKinley's other books, specifically aimed at teens, are all good, too.

The Pagan Chronicles by Catherine Jinks. A historical series set in medieval times. The sarcastic sixteen-year-old Pagan Kidrouk becomes the squire of a Templar Knight. I read these in high school, and I remember the primary qualities of the books being hilarity, but as the series went on, there were surprisingly heart-wrenching moments.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Duh.

All books by John Green. Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, The Fault in Our Stars. John Green's books have a mix of pop culture and high brow allusions, humor and elegance. Green exceeds at creating entertainment studded with poignant observations of what it means to be human. Be prepared to laugh out loud, and with his latest book, to cry.

All books by Dianna Wynne Jones. Especially Howl's Moving Castle, the Dalemark Quartet, and Deep Secret. Jones was the sort of author who was quietly subversive, blending zany new elements of fantasy with more traditional fantasy without giving into certain negative cultural norms. For instance, it was not unusual for her to have heroines that could fully hold their own. There were no off-to-the-side Hermiones nor modern-damsels-in-distress like Bella of Twilight. Another example is that her books neither danced around nor romanticized sex.


The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. These books are flat-out funny. Also rather British. I read them both in high school and in present day. They are mainly about a girl and boyfriends and school and all those teenagery things. I don't know what to say about them that could fully convince you of how great and hilarious these books are and how much I heart them.







That's probably a long enough list for now. Here are a few honorable mention roughly in descending order: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Sabriel by Garth Nix, The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud.

What are your favorite YA? Any recommendations?

Food Friday—Avocado Mango Salsa

The last few days I've been craving Mexican food with really fresh bright flavors. This salsa fits the bill. I've eaten it on scrambled eggs, with tortilla chips, and on flat-bread tacos. Yum! The only thing to note is that the avocados can get mushy, especially the riper they are.


Avocado Mango Salad

Ingredients

1 avocado, peeled and diced
juice of 1 lime
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
salt to taste

1. Put avocado in a small bowl. Add lime juice and gently toss to coat.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and gently toss.
3. Enjoy!

Gardening Wednesday—Dear Diary

What's going on in my backyard this week: I've got spinach and snap peas growing! The last week we've had plenty of sun and warmth, and my little seeds are taking off. No chives coming up yet.

My strawberry plants have little yellow fruits on them. Their original leaves are going limp and brown, which is troubling, but most of them are putting out new leaves. I'd really like a few handfuls of straw to use as mulch around them to keep the temperature of the soil right and keep the berries out of the mud.

My tulips and daffodils are all losing their petals. Anyone know how long it takes for bulbs to go dormant, are how to tell if they're dormant?

Lilacs started blooming just a few days ago! The ones in my yard are not only fragrant, but have large pale petals that are lovely. When I drive around Moscow and Pullman, I'll catch wisps of lilac scent through my open windows even when I don't see the trees. My neighborhood is full of lilacs, and they're one of my favorite flowers.

I'm having issues with the lawn mower (user error?) but I don't mind too much because I love the long grasses. When Kingsly the cat comes to visit our yard is a jungle for him to explore. Tall seeded grasses look like little trembling aspens, and the dandelions-gone-to-seed rise even taller, scattered throughout like clouds.

Gardening Wednesday—Don't Throw Out Those Coffee Grounds!

Gardening tip: Add those coffee grounds to your garden after you've had your morning cup.

You've probably heard coffee grounds are good for the soil and a good ingredient in compost. I'd already mixed grounds into my soil in the fall before I planted my bulbs, and now I'm putting little piles of my used grounds around my strawberries. Coffee grounds contain nitrogen, calcium, and magnesium.

But wait, there's more! Turns out slugs hate caffeine. Who knew? If you have a slug problem, make little coffee borders around your garden or scatter the grounds over the plot. I'd heard that the coarse grounds aggravate the slugs' slimy underbellies, but caffeine in high enough concentrations can kill the little guys. Coffee grounds probably won't kill the slugs, but it'll deter them. Also, when it comes to adding coffee, moderation is advised. But the reason for that I do not know.

Have any gardening tips you'd like to share? Suggestions for keeping the slugs away, or more information on the many fabulous uses of coffee?

Literary Lunes—Review of Gilt

Gilt by Katherine Longshore
YA, historical fiction

This book is published today!

15-year-old Kitty Tilney works for the Duchess of Norfolk, one of hundreds of distant relatives living at Norfolk House, hoping to make connections and get into the court of King Henry VIII or make a successful marriage. In this world everything depends on who you know or who you are pretty enough to catch the eye of. But Kitty is neither of these things; she is without connections, plain, and her only talent is making lace. Until her best friend Cat—Catherine Howard—wins the heart of the king. Now Kitty gets to join the royal court as the Queen's chamberer. But life at court is not all that Kitty and Cat dreamed it would be when they played as children. There is always someone watching, there is always a secret to keep, and rumors can get you killed. Whether or not your head stays on your neck depends on how well you can hide behind your gilt facade. Kitty must decide who to trust and who to put her loyalty in.

This was an enjoyable, engaging book. While I'm familiar with Henry the Eighth and his many wives, I haven't read much historical fiction from this period. I didn't know a lot about Catherine Howard, and it was fun to be immersed in all those period details I wasn't familiar with—all those snoods and gables and kirtles. And of course, the codpieces.

The relationship between the manipulative Cat and the backbone-lacking Kitty is fairly transparent and has been done before, but then, this is for teenagers. There were occasional moments (like reactions to a rape) that seemed out of keeping with the times, bordering a bit too much on a modern woman's perspective. But despite a couple flaws, I found myself willing to sit for a few hours to engross myself in the novel, and once I finished reading it I continued to think about it.

What I appreciated about this book is that for a YA novel targeted at girls, the protagonist's romance was really downplayed. There are a couple strapping young men Kitty gets involved with, and drama ensues, but whether or not she ends up married is not in any way the main focus of the novel, and nor do her romantic interests play a role in the climax of the story. While I like a good romance as much as the next person (don't you know it!), it's refreshing to read fiction for young women that doesn't hinge on whether or not the gal gets the guy.

Gilt is nothing special, but if you have an interest in historical fiction or YA you could certainly do worse than read this book. Thanks to Gilt, I'm going to try other historical novels from this time period, and I'll be interested to see what more comes from Longshore. I've heard hints this might be a series.

Sundry Sunday—Menu

Tea
Grapefruit or pear
Scrambled egg with spinach and tomato
Overnight oatmeal
Goat milk yogurt

Pad Thai (the batch I made a week ago or more is lasting forever, and that's a good thing!)

Vegan sushi (I am practicing my sushi making skills, and it is going fabulously. To celebrate the end of the school year, on Friday night the gentleman friend and I had Japan night: We made sushi while listening to J-pop and rock, drank sake, ate pocky, and watched anime. Good times.)

Vegan chalupa with red cabbage and kale and avocado mango salsa

Chopped vegetables
Smoothies

And the usual little sugary treats plus maraschino cupcakes.