Archive: April 2010

I’m not sure why, but I never blogged about this last month. In my pre-k classes in March we spent the month reading all of Karma Wilson’s Bear books except Bear Stays Up for Christmas. The kids loved the books, and now when I ask them if they remember the books and what happened to Bear, this is what I hear:

Read more on Karma Wilson’s Bear Books With Pre-K…

Two recipes for the price of one!

In the April 2010 issue of Food and Wine there was an article on great 60 minute meals, and these were both part of the “Steak Dinner, Italian Style” meal. With some changes. The Gorgonzola deliciousness was originally mushrooms and onions, but swapping out potatoes worked perfectly. And I did not make the polenta. And I only made 1 lb. of flank steak instead of the 2.5 lbs. called for in the recipe, but I made the full amount of marinade. That was just me not thinking about it at the time, but it was nice having the steak good and smothered.

This was super delicious, and most of the hour was hands-off waiting time. So that was also pretty excellent. PLUS, I’ve discovered the joys of Picasa’s soft focus feature when editing my pics. Look out, world.

Read more on Grilled Balsamic-and-Garlic Flank Steak w/ Gorgonzola-Roasted Potatoes and Onions…

I really love this book.

I do, last April for National Poetry Month I used it with my 3rd graders. Because April is such a short month for us, we didn’t get very far with it. I love Jack Prelutsky in general, and I decided to give this one a shot with my 1st graders this year (my 3rd graders are still reading Hugo Cabret, so we kind of skipped poetry month to make sure we finish by June). For some reason after beefing up my Prelutsky collection this year I neglected to get Scranimals, which would have been a great companion with this. Next year.

Read more on This Month With 1st Grade: Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant…

Today I’m posting twice. Both the Philly Modern Quilt Guild meeting and the Beefsteak deserve their own posts. And it was quite a Beefsteak this year.

We had 10 people this year for our table, and we had to defend our title from last year in the bread sculpture competition. We take this competition very seriously, I’m not sure why. But once everyone has doubled over into a beef coma from the all-you-can-eat food, we get a second wind and set out to build these elaborate pieces of art with bread. And we won again, 2nd year in a row. Next year the competition will be fierce, I can feel it.

It was my niece Grace’s first beefsteak. You have to start young.

This year we built a ship out of bread, complete with skewers as masts (we bring skewers and toothpicks for support each year). We covered the masts in the decorative napkins my mother brought to make our table look festive. I swear, that’s who I get it from.

Read more on The 2010 Nutley Rotary Beefsteak Dinner…

Yesterday I was finally able to get to a meeting of the Philly Modern Quilt Guild. I’ve missed the 1st two, so I definitely didn’t want to miss this one. Especially after I made my House in the Night pillow for the occasion. It was great to put some faces to the blogs I read and hang out with these very cool ladies. And I got tons of inspiration from the pillow theme. Forgive the terrible pictures, I didn’t have my regular camera with me.

Read more on April Philly Modern Quilt Guild Meeting…

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