BAKING AND BOOKPLATES

We could hardly wait to try this recipe from For the Love of Cooking.

I just spent a couple of days with my sister's kids (while she and her husband took a little get-away trip in celebration of her birthday).  My niece Tatiana loves to bake, and she and her younger brother are avid readers, so we had plenty of fun of our own...baking blueberry scones, making bookplates, and - of course - talking about what we are currently reading.

What could be better than homemade scones and morning sunshine?

While the scones were cooling, Tati and I downloaded some cute bookplates as part of a birthday gift for her friend.

We downloaded the pdf for these fairy bookplates, by Valerie Greeley,
from her Etsy website ACORNMOON.

Are you curious to know what good book recommendations I came back with? My nine-year-old nephew, Peter, handed me two, as he gushed, "Aunt Wendy, you have got to read these and write about them on your blog!"

Two new friends...

I immediately started the first, Summer of the Monkeys, by Wilson Rawls. Tati informed me it's by the same author who wrote Where the Red Fern Grows.  Peter said that boys, especially, will love it.  The second one is A Tree For Peter, by Kate Seredy, which - according to Peter - "might make you cry".  I'll report back about these two new friends as soon as I finish them.

Oh, and if you're wondering:

"Tatiana's Fresh Blueberry Scones with Lemony Glaze" were as good as they look! She adapted the recipe a bit:  she added an extra tablespoon of sugar to the dry ingredients, and lemon zest to the scone dough (instead of putting zest in the glaze).  She also substituted half & half for the "heavy cream" called for in the scone recipe above. [hint: if you can get Meyer lemons, they are a great compliment to the blueberries]

BLUEBERRIES AND ICE CREAM

Well, I guess July is National Blueberry Month as well as National Ice Cream Month (and boy, do they taste yummy together!)  Did you know that ice cream dates dates back to the 2nd century B.C.? Alexander the Great liked snow and ice flavored with honey and nectar. (You can read more about the history of ice cream HERE.)

BLUEBERRIES aren't just good tasting, they're healthy...according to the North American Blueberry Council (yes, there is such an organization): out of 40 different fruits, juices and vegetables, the blueberry has the highest antioxidant level.  And just three and a half ounces of blueberries are equivalent to over 1700 International Units of vitamin E. (Find some snack recipes with blueberries HERE for kids).

And while you and your kids enjoy a bowl of ice cream (topped with blueberries of course!), take the opportunity to read them one of my favorite picture books, BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL by Robert McCloskey. Your children are bound to love his (now retro) illustrations and the "kerplunk, kerplunk" of the blueberries hitting the bottom of Sal's pail -- well, they're at the bottom until she eats them!

In the story, Sal and her mother decide to go out and search for blueberries at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. This story is sweetly and humorously told, as Sal and the cub wander off and absentmindedly trail behind the wrong mothers!

Don't worry - it all turns out okay in the end!