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Whoopie Pies

The cool crisp air in November makes visiting a bakery or baking in your own home feel really nice and cozy. This weekend, turn on your oven and treat yourself to some chocolate and marshmallow whoopie pies:

Whoopie Pies
Recipe reprinted from Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year by Nan Forler, paintings by Peter Etril Snyder

Ingredients:
1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cups cocoa
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon milk
2 cups marshmallow cream

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. Gradually melt the chocolate. Let it cool slightly.
  3. Using a wooden spoon, cream butter and brown sugar together.
  4. Add egg, vanilla extract, cooled chocolate, and buttermilk. Beat well, scraping sides and bottom of bowl.
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.
  6. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture gradually, mixing well.
  7. Using a small scoop, drop batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the pies.
  8. Bake for 12-15 minutes until tops crack slightly and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  9. Let the pies cool completely before adding filling.
  10. Using a wooden spoon or mixer, cream butter and sugar together.
  11. Add vanilla extract and milk, blend in.
  12. Add marshmallow cream and beat well.
  13. Spread filling generously on the flat side of a whoopie pie. Place another half on top and gently press together.


Recipe excerpted from Winterberries and Apple Blossoms by Nan Forler. Copyright © 2011 by Nan Forler. Photographs Copyright © 2011 by Sylvia Chan. Excerpted by permission of Tundra Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Good Nutrition Month


November is Good Nutrition Month! Eat well and learn about your growing body with books from the Body Works series:

My Achy Body
By Liza Fromer and Francine Gerstein MD
Illustrated by Joe Weissmann
Hardcover | 24 Pages | Ages 6-9
ISBN: 978-1-77049-204-2

“…informative, straightforward and, most of all, entertaining…. The fun and frank approach isn’t, however, just for kids. It’s meant to be appealing to parents and caregivers, too, and wit and warmth – along with solid information about the intricacies of the human body – are in no short supply.” – The Medical Post

My Messy Body
By Liza Fromer and Francine Gerstein MD
Illustrated by Joe Weissmann
Hardcover | 24 Pages | Ages 6-9
ISBN: 978-1-77049-202-8

“Using amusing, cartoon-y watercolor illustrations and a couple of paragraphs of text per page, the book provides correct terminology for the kid-familiar terms.”- Kirkus Reviews

My Noisy Body
By Liza Fromer and Francine Gerstein MD
Illustrated by Joe Weissmann
Hardcover | 24 Pages | Ages 6-9
ISBN: 978-1-77049-201-1

“Helping launch the Body Works series, this informative guide explores the facts behind ‘burps, hiccups, stomach growls, and farts.’ Weissmann’s cartoons depict wafting fumes and awkward glances as Fromer and Gerstein discuss what causes these sounds” – Publishers Weekly

My Stretchy Body
By Liza Fromer and Francine Gerstein MD
Illustrated by Joe Weissmann
Hardcover | 24 Pages | Ages 6-9
ISBN: 978-1-77049-203-5

“…the books keep things simple, straightforward, and almost entirely squirm-free…. Fun facts are offered, as are true-or-false questions and health tips…. You couldn’t really ask for a more straightforward and snicker-free handling of body-related topics. These books would work very well in a classroom or as a health primer.” – Quill & Quire

EXTRA! EXTRA!

  • Co-author, Liza Fromer, has written a piece about how the series came to be on the Yummy Mummy Club.
  • Win 1 of 10 Body Works Prize Packs from the Yummy Mummy Club!
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Chocolate Cinnamon Sparkle Cookies

Trick-or-Treat? Here at Tundra, we always prefer treats. To celebrate Halloween, I made some chocolate cinnamon sparkles cookies for my colleagues. The recipe is from The Case of the Missing Deed by Ellen Schwartz, a culinary mystery for ages 8-11.

Take a dash of colorful characters, a pinch of danger, and generous scoops of adventure and you have a terrific culinary mystery for young readers. Ellen Schwartz introduces her young readers to a delicious genre. She even provides easy-to-follow and yummy to eat recipes. Here is one of them:

Chocolate Cinnamon Sparkle Cookies
Star light, star bright, can you see the sparkle tonight?
Recipe reprinted from The Case of the Missing Deed by Ellen Schwartz

Ingredients:
9 ounces (approximately 1¾ cups) bittersweet chocolate
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 eggs
1½ cup granulated sugar, plus 1 cup more for rolling
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup finely ground almonds or almond meal
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

  1. Chop chocolate, then set aside ¼ cup. Fill a small pot halfway with water and bring to a simmer. Transfer remaining chocolate to a heat-proof bowl, then place bowl on top of simmering water. Stir the chocolate gently until it melts. Add cubes of butter and stir until they melt, set the mixture aside to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. Beat the eggs, sugar, and honey until the mixture thickens. The eggs are ready when you can lift the whisk and the mixture holds a ribbon-like shape when you dribble it back on itself.
  3. Gently stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then add the ground almonds, cocoa, salt, ½ teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the chocolate you set aside earlier.
  4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill it until it is firm enough to roll, at least 4 hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
  6. Prepare a bowl with 1 cup of granulated sugar and the other ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll the chilled dough between your palms into 1¼” balls, and drop the balls into the sugar.
  7. Gently shake the bowl to coat cookie balls with sugar, then place on a lined or buttered baking tray 2 inches apart.
  8. Bake cookies until the tops are dry but the centers are still soft, about 12 minutes.
  9. Remove cookies from oven and cool 15 minutes, then gently drop the cookies (round side down) into the remaining sugar to add more sparkle.


Enjoy!


Recipe excerpted from The Case of the Missing Deed by Ellen Schwartz. Copyright © 2011 by Ellen Schwartz. Photographs Copyright © 2011 by Sylvia Chan. Excerpted by permission of Tundra Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Launch of: The Case of the Missing Deed

What a perfect place to launch a mystery with recipes – Barbara Jo’s Books to Cooks, a warm, welcoming cookbook store with a complete demonstration kitchen! About 40 people gathered there on October 13 to celebrate the launch of the first title in Ellen Schwartz’s Teaspoon Detectives series, The Case of the Missing Deed.

Ellen and her daughter, Merri Schwartz, a professional pastry chef, who had created the recipes that form an integral part of the story, had prepared Grandma’s Famous Pesto, Brown Sugar Spice Cake, and Chocolate Cinnamon Sparkle Cookies, all featured in the book, as snacks.

After Merri did a cooking demonstration on how to make the Sparkle Cookies, Ellen read a short scene in which two characters attempt to make the Spice Cake – only to have it explode in the oven.

Ellen signed lots of books, and guests commented on how much fun it was to have a cooking element as part of the book launch. Bon appetit!

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2011 Aesop Accolades

The Aesop Award Committee of the Children’s Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society have announced the 2011 Aesop Awards. It’s Not About the Apple, It’s Not About the Crumbs, It’s Not About the Hunter, It’s Not About the Pumpkin, and It’s Not About the Rose have received 2011 Aesop Accolades! Congratulations to Veronika Martenova Charles and David Parkins!

This is what the Award Committee had to say about the Easy-to-Read Wonder Tales:
By learning that the same stories have been told throughout history across many cultures, children can begin to feel a connection to the people of different nations. This is a message that rings true in this series of easy reader books that feature cross-cultural versions of folk and fairy tales familiar to all children. Each volume presents three different versions of a story told by three culturally diverse characters, Jake, Ben, and Lily. In It’s Not About the Rose!, Jake tells the European story of “Beauty and the Beast.” Ben is then reminded of the Indonesian version of this story he knows as “The Lizard.” Lily finally tells her story, based on the Norwegian folktale, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.” In It’s Not About the Crumbs!, the three friends compare three different versions of Hansel and Gretel tales. It’s Not About the Pumpkin! features Cinderella stories from Europe, India, and China. The children compare versions of Little Red Riding Hood in It’s Not About the Hunter!, and Snow White stories from Greece, Armenia, and Italy are the subjects in It’s Not About the Apple!

These beginning-level books are presented in a format inviting to young readers, including the comic style illustrations of David Parkins. Each book cover shows the three main characters expressively sharing their stories, inviting the reader to join the group. The children compare the stories in familiar venues such as the park or at school, demonstrating how folklore can be part of a child’s everyday life.

Perhaps the best aspect of the series is that it includes folklore in the repertoire of first literature available to young readers. As children grow and mature they will find that folk and fairy tales form the base of much of the body of literature they will be reading. The committee would like to commend the publisher and author for this project that brings folklore into the realm of early reading literature and at the same time works in support of cultural consciousness.

For more information, please visit the American Folklore Society’s website. The Easy-to-Read Wonder Tales are also available as e-books.

Tundra Book Group