Not all Caramel is like that Caramel

So I had this plan. It was a great plan.

I love going to check out Creation Corner she has a link party every Friday and I saw this project

and I thought - I can totally make that happen for my book club.

We read - Water for Elephants. Which by the way is a super fun book. It's a quick read and a little saucy in some places. I am looking forward to seeing how it's going to be adapted for the big screen - but not super excited that "Edward" is going to be playing the main role.

So because our book was about the circus I thought it would be fun to have food themed around the book. Who doesn't love food on a stick.

And so there was a plan to go to our friend Ellen's house for a good ol' time. Well Ellen's daughter got sick and so we had to make a quick change and our very generous friend Jess offered to host at her house.

She was awesome and put together a party in a matter of minutes - full on with food on a stick. I planned to bring caramel apple bites.

Sadly my caramel apples did not look like this:I had a little issue.

I couldn't find the same caramel bits that had been used in the recipe. So I thought that it would be okay to use branch's caramel pieces. I put them in a sauce pan and started to melt them down.

I used my melon baller to cut out my little mini apples. I was on my way to mini apple greatness.

Or so I thought...

I set out my parchment paper and was ahead of schedule. I was able to see that the caramel set and thought people were going to be amazed by my crafty-goodness. I went to bed dreaming of my delicious treats.

I got up in the morning and this is what I found:
Here was the problem. The apples were very juicy which is typically a good thing. But in my case it was bad. My caramel melted right off my apples.

But I had to bring some treat to book club. I was determined not to show up empty handed.

So thank goodness for supermarkets.

I tried - and that's what counts right?

Book Club

Today I am meeting with my friends to discuss the quirky novel Water for Elephants.

I am looking forward to an afternoon of fun, laughter, some good food, and a great discussion about a fun book.

spirit week

I love my job. Today I got to wear a Bobba Fett shirt* and jeans.
Tomorrow I get to wear a wig and act like I have a secret identity.
Wednesday I will wear my cape and dance in a rally.
Thursday is twin day.
Friday is extreme spirit day.

It's a good life.

transition

Today was another day in the library for research. It's amazing to me that some kids don't know how to find a publishing company or copyright year when looking inside of a book. They spend so much time online and not in real libraries that they don't know how to work when they are in one.

While they are working I'm reading the new book for book club. I'll read a page or two - go help a kid - three or four pages - help a kid. And while I was in the middle of a page a kid strikes up this conversation

R: Why are you reading that
Me: It's for my book club
R: I can't read like that
Me: do you mean while standing up or because I only get a few pages in at a time?
R: No - I don't like to read for fun. I only read the stuff I have to and I don't really even enjoy that.

This is a conversation that sadly happens more often than I would like it too.

So go read a book - and because it's ALA.org banned book week - go read a banned book!



*Bobba Fett is from Star Wars - he's a bad guy.

A tree grows

How did I miss reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when I was in my teenage years.

My book club read it for our big summer read. Normally we go about 4 or 5 weeks in between books. But because people were going to be away for summer trips and none of us had work we chose to go for a longer gap as well as a longer book. We last read Angry Housewives Eating BonBons (a book about a book club - which we read for book club), and so we picked one of the books those women read as one of our books.

There are few books in my life that make me want to name children or pets after the characters - this book was one of them. I'm not crazy about naming a child Frances - but someday I will have a cat named Francie.

This was not a 'my life is now different because I read this book book' - It was a 'I could read this again after I finished the last page book' - the kind of book that makes you happy and sad, and as much as my friends tease me about being a fan of Oprah, I heard her say this once and it totally applies to this book.

"It's the kind of book that makes you think the characters are going on without you when you put the book down and go do something else"

Francie is the kind of girl who might just be the perfect character. She is witty and brave - sassy and loving. I adored every second of it. It reminded me a bit of Angela's Ashes. The idea of being so poor but still so alive and aware of the world.

I loved that she was always saying 'I wonder' - she was a lover of books and the page that describes her understanding words for the first time - and therefore was able to read - made me cry. It was so well put and really just what it feels like to read for the first time and really get it.

I love that I am here in Sydney while reading it. It always seems like there is time to read on vacation - that somehow doesn't really exist when I'm at home. I also love that it's cold here. It's nice to curl up with a cup of tea and a blanket and read.

An amazing tale.

I just got done reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It is a historical fiction piece about Dinah the only daughter of Jacob and Leah. It made me aware of so much history and culture that I really didn't know a whole lot about.

It was beautifully written. Diamant does an incredible job of building characters that have been known for so long and yet breaths new life into them. The amazing love that they have for each other really inspires me. I was so interested in the rights of passage that the describes. That Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpath love Dinah with such passion and delight. They take her into their arms and love her so uniquely compared to the way they love their sons. They treat her with such respect once she is able to wear the belt of womanhood.

Historical fiction is not normally my genre - I love post modern lit and YAL - But this struck a cord in me that I have not had with previous books. I picked it up because this was the choice for this months book club. I'm really looking forward to discussing it with my friend in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see what they have to say about it.

Have you read it? What did you think?