Book Review: The Kitchen House

After putting it off for quite a while, I finally finished reading The Kitchen House this past week under deadline.  I had to turn it in because someone else was waiting at the library to read it --- the nerve!  ;-)


The Kitchen House takes place in late 1700s and early 1800s at a plantation in Virginia.  The main narrator is an Irish girl named Lavinia who becomes an indentured servant at age 7 to ship captain James Pyke when her parents die during their passage across the Atlantic.  The secondary narrator is Belle, a slave at the Pyke plantation assigned to work in the kitchen house (where all the cooking takes place) and happens to be Captain Pyke's illegitimate daughter who he conceived with one of his slaves.  Lavinia is given to Belle to care for and instruct upon her arrival at the plantation.  Much of the action in the book takes place in or around the kitchen house, thus, the books' title.


The author did an excellent job with the narrative.  The voices were clear and distinct and I really enjoyed how she used dialect to make the characters spring to life on the page.  It was interesting to read in the author interview in the back of the book that she had actually toned the dialects down to make for easier reading.  There are so many surprises and twists in this book that I don't want to give too much away plot wise, but I must admit I did have a moment when I thought--- "Not Snow Flower and the Secret Fan again!!!!"  I keep reading these books where characters keep secrets from each other, lie to one another, and don't communicate.  I know this is how people are (being one of them and all), but oy!  It drives me crazy when you can see that the character is about to go down in flames but they can't because they're too busy hiding their dirty deeds from the other characters.


All that being said, I really really liked this book.  While I didn't connect with Belle very much (I had a hard time with her persistence in hiding a secret from Lavinia that could have saved EVERYONE a ton of trouble), I enjoyed reading Lavinia's narration and adored some of the supporting characters. Mama Mae, an older slave who works at "the big house", was one of my favorites.  And while he made for quite the villain, the author made the Captain Pyke's son Marshall very believable and sympathetic.  I can wholeheartedly recommend that you pick this one up.


On a unrelated note, we're entering the home stretch this week.  The Cobbler returns from Germany on Thursday afternoon (with cheesy souvenirs in tow), and the house guests (all 8 of them) arrive for my sister Christy's wedding that night.  Maybe I should think about cleaning...oh yeah, once I'm done with hemming my bridesmaid dress.  :-)

Preschool Read Aloud of the Week: The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog

Tom Thumb is in love with the Pigeon!  A while back we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and it started a phenomenon.  Thereafter, every time we went to the library we had to "find the Pigeon books!" (imagine that said in a crazy commanding baby man voice).  I can't tell you how many times we've now checked out Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, and The Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog, but there's something about the hot dog one that resonates with Tom Thumb.  Maybe it's because he likes hot dogs.  Maybe he likes the squeaky voice I use for the duckling.  All I know is he loves that Pigeon!  


And here's why I love that Pigeon---

No matter how many ways he asks to drive that bus, I still stand firm. It doesn't work out quite the same way with real children, but I can always practice saying no to the Pigeon. :-)

I'm so jealous!

I was totally fine about the Cobbler going to Europe for work for 10 days.  Well, I was a little nervous about how the kids would be without him for almost two weeks, but I was still okay until I found out he was staying here first for seven days---

and here for four days (notice the rockin' view out the window in the second photo)---

I wish I could have jumped in his suitcase and come along!  

Let's just say there better be some amazing souvenirs come September 29th. ;-)

Teaching the 10 Commandments with Hand Motions

I'm one of three Sunday School teachers at our church.  Because our church is so small, we teach using a "one room schoolhouse" format --- the kids are all in one room being taught the same material regardless of age.  The youngest in the room is Tom Thumb and the oldest is in 5th grade.  This proves to be challenging at times, but most of the time the older children step up to assist the teacher and the younger children.

Over the next couple of months leading up to Advent, we are teaching a segment on the ten commandments.  We'll be covering one commandment per week.  Since I was up to teach on week one, I offered to make a learning aid for the kids.  I made the typical looking tablets and printed out the commandments individually so the kids could tape them up each week.  

The number one thing I wanted to find for week one, however, was a good hand motion mnemonic to help them remember the commandments.  If you search online for "ten commandments hand motions", you will find a million You Tube videos and other links on how to do it.  I liked a lot of what I saw, but my problem was I liked #6 from video A and #4 from video B and #3 from video C and so on.    Not to mention, the motions on some of these videos were completely nonsensical and sometimes inappropriate.  There was even one for commandment #5 where you made a spanking motion on the word "mother" and the pastor mentioned in his teaching that "this may not be politically correct, but..."  What?!?!  In the end, I made up my own instructions for me, the kids, and the other teachers with all the motions that I thought made the most sense and would be easiest for the kids to learn.  

So for your commandment teaching pleasure (ha ha!), I present the Fairy Tale Mama version of the 10 Commandment Hand Motions:

Commandment 1:

You shall have no other gods before Me.

(Hold up one finger, like a big #1)

Commandment 2:

You shall not make any idols to bow down to and worship.

(Hold up your index and middle fingers together and make them “bow” up and down.)

Commandment 3:

You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain.

(Hold three fingers up to your lips, instead of the usual one finger, and say, “SHHH.”)

Commandment 4:

Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

(Hold up your index and middle fingers on each hand, joined together like a steeple. Then, rest your cheek on your right hand like you're sleeping.  This is to represent going to church and then using the Sabbath as a day of rest.)

Commandment 5:

Honor your father and mother.

(Have child put 5 fingers of right hand to their temple in a military salute.)

Commandment 6:

You shall not murder.

(Hold up six fingers, pointing one finger like a gun into the palm of the other five.)

Commandment 7:

You shall not commit adultery.

(Hold out your left hand palm up and have your index and your middle finger of your right hand walk on the palm, like a bride and groom walking down the aisle.)

Commandment 8:

You shall not steal.

(Hold up five fingers on your right hand and three on your left.  Have your right hand grab the three fingers on your left.)

Commandment 9:

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

(Hold up nine fingers. Then, cover your mouth with one hand after the other.  No lying!  God always wants us to tell the truth!)

Commandment 10:

You shall not covet.

(Hold up ten fingers and pretend to “grab” in front on you as if saying, “Gimme! I want it!” )

Is there a special way you have learned to teach the 10 Commandments?  Any related games or crafts you've done? If so, please share!  We have 9 more weeks to go!

Making the veil for my sister's wedding...

I've been gradually working on my little sister Christy's veil for her wedding in October over the last month.  I made the veil itself a few weeks ago using McCalls 3508, which is an old pattern my mom had.  Here's the picture from the pattern envelope of the view that I made (without the ribbon attached to the border.  Christy wanted the edge raw):

She tried it on when she was in town for Labor Day weekend.  She liked it, but asked if I could sew Swarovski crystals all over it in a random pattern.  I searched the web high and low for a good DYI on how to sew Swarovski crystals to tulle properly, and I think I found the best tutorial ever.  If you ever find yourself needing to sew crystals to tulle, this link has everything you need to know.


I started sewing them on last night and I seriously thought I wanted to slit my wrists for agreeing to do it.  I was sitting there in front of the TV watching a Glee rerun while cursing.  Finally, the Cobbler said, "Do you think you might have an easier time doing this in the daylight?"  Always the voice of reason, he was right.  I got about half the crystals sewn on this afternoon during Tom Thumb's nap.  Check it out:

We're making some good progress.  I have about 20 more to sew on and we'll be good to go.  Yay!


On a unrelated note, I think summer is officially over.  Red and Tom Thumb collected the remains of our tomato harvest last night.  Sniff, sniff...

Recipe: Double Chocolate Banana Cake

I got a request in my comments from The Reader at Musings on the Move for the recipe for the chocolate banana cake I made for Tom Thumb's birthday.  The recipe is from the Entertaining! Fast and Fancy cookbook by Renny Darling that my mom gave me a million years ago.  Her own copy from the 1980s is worn out!  


The recipe said the cake didn't need frosting and it really didn't.  It was that moist!  Plus, it was easy peasy.  You can't ask for more when it's 7 o'clock at night on your kid's birthday and he wants a chocolate banana cake.  Here's the recipe:


1/2 c. butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. sour cream
2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
4 T. cocoa
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
pinch of salt
2 bananas, coarsely mashed
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips.


Beat together first five ingredients until blended.  Stir together the next five ingredients and add, all at once, beating until blended.  Stir in bananas and chocolate chips.


Place batter into a greased 10 inch springform pan and bake in a 325 degree oven for about 65 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center, comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pan, and cut into wedges to serve.  Serves 10.


Note: Do not mash bananas to a pulp, or baking time will be slightly longer.
1/2 cup walnuts (optional) can be stirred into the batter.


Obviously, we passed on the nuts because my kids hate them and I'm nut sensitive, but we didn't miss them.


Here's to cake!  Cheers!

Preschool Read Aloud of the Week: Whopper Cake

"Today is Grandma's birthday,

and Granddad has an itchin'

to bake a whopper chocolate cake

and traumatize the kitchen."

With these words, the story of the whopper cake begins in Karma Wilson and Will Hillenbrand's Whopper Cake.  You might know Karma Wilson as the author of the Bear Snores On, The Bear Wants More, and other books about Bear.  The librarian introduced me to Whopper Cake a few years ago when Red was a toddler, and I came across it at the library again a couple weeks ago.  I thought, what a great book to read to Tom Thumb leading up to his birthday!

I love Wilson's fun, off beat rhyming style.  The rhyming paired with the story makes kid magic!  Tom Thumb loves it!  That crazy Granddad just keep adding more and more ingredients than the recipe calls for.  At one point, the recipe calls for 4 eggs and he adds 86!  As the amount of batter grows, it winds up in a pickup truck bed being stirred with an oar from their rowboat.  In the end, the cake gets baked by the hot July sun in the truck bed and the whole town comes over to surprise Grandma and celebrate.  The cherry on the cake is when Grandma says she has but one birthday wish --- I'll enjoy this whopper cake and you clean up the mess (the whopper mess that is).  Love it!  Not to mention, there is literally a recipe for whopper cake in the back of the book.

With Red, I was really deliberate about what read alouds I picked for her as a preschooler.  I often drew from the lists of others, like the Ambleside Year 0 list and The Simply Charlotte Mason Early Years list.  While I still think these lists are valuable, I'm going to get a little more adventurous in the kids' section with Tom Thumb and really try to find some new gems to share over the coming months.  I hope you'll join in and comment if you've read the book or if you've found any good reads for your little ones lately.

So who else wants to bake a whopper cake?