Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

Journey to the River Sea was picked as Number 3 on the UK BookTrust's list of books for 9-11 year olds.  It was a goodie.

The author also writes books for adults.  I remember reading one years ago.  I think it was called The Morning Gift – it was good too.  The author was a refugee from Nazi Germany – but you would never think that English was her second language.  How wonderful it must be to be able to be truly fluent in more than one language.

The book has a plucky heroine, Maia, who is an orphan.  She is sent to live with some distant relatives in Brazil – who are true villains (and duly come to a somewhat sticky end). 

There is a voyage down the Amazon river and lots of interesting wildlife.

The plot is a little bit unsophisticated – but, people, this is a book for kids.

Foodie Friday – Peking Duck

Peking Duck is a Chinese dish.  For those of us old enough we remember that Peking is what we used to call Beijing. This dish dates back to imperial China (from the 1300's).

Traditionally, the dish is served in stages – first, the crispy skin with a garlic and sugar dip.

Then meat served with little pancakes, spring onions and cucumber.  The diners dip the pancakes wrapped around the duck etc into a sauce – often Hoisin sauce.

Lastly the carcass of the duck is made into a soup.

A word of warning – if you are picking up Peking Duck from a specialty shop, do eat it straight away – if you let it sit and then reheat it it will lose its crispiness.

Go for it - girls (and guys)

30th January in History

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

I enjoyed Talking to Strangers but wasn't sure at the end what the main message was meant to be.  I've read previous books by this author - David & Goliath, The Tipping Point

Talking to Strangers is about the difficulties in assessing other people's behaviours – are they telling the truth?  Are they hiding something?  He looks at some notorious crimes and police actions and asks why it went so wrong.

One thing I was surprised by is just how tethered to place various behaviours seem to be.

It is a quick read.  I'd be interested to know what you thought of it.

A Heroic Blunder!

Parsnip Chips

These parsnip chips were baked, not fried, so at least they are healthier.  As you can see I only cooked them til they were lightly coloured.  Next time I do it I'll leave them in longer.

I cut the parsnips up into matchsticks (taking the core out first).  I par boiled them for 3 minutes in salted water.  Drained and dried on kitchen paper.  Then tossed in oil and salt and pepper and baked in a moderate to high oven.

Happy Auckland Anniversary Day!

St Heliers in the 60's

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell died in 1978 at the age of 84.  He was a prominent US artist – but not popular with the critics who found his work too sweet.

Some of his famous works included Rosie the Riveter and Freedom of Speech.  He also illustrated Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

He produced more than 4000 original works – now that's what I call a body of work.

He married 3 times – an optimist!