Food Co-op February 2010

There's been a few changes to the food co-op in recent months. One can buy a meat share ($15) or a produce share ($10) or a standard share which is one meat share and one produce share ($24). For February we just bought a produce share (only $10!) with 1 cauliflower, 1 celery, 1 romaine lettuce, 1 box grape tomatoes, 3 avocados, 4 peaches, 5 pears and 6 bananas. For more information on the food co-op, visit www.foodco-op.net The order for next month is due Friday, March 12 with the pick-up on Saturday, March 27. For the month of March they are offering the following add-ons:

• Colosimos's Kielbasa (19.75 oz) for $3.50
• Nutty Guys' Natural Peanut Butter (32 oz) for $4.05
• Nutty Guys' Sampler (4 lbs total) for $13.50 which includes 1 lb bags of the following:
  
  • Roasted and salted Cashews
  • Roasted and salted Sunflower Kernels
  • Deglet Noor Pitted Dates
  • Jordan Almonds (the candy coated ones in Easter colors!)
• Main Street Thick Sliced Bacon (1 lb) for $1.75

So if you've never ordered or it's been awhile, think about ordering from the food co-op and help stretch your budget dollar and enjoy some fresh food at the same time.

Author 29: Chris Heimerdinger-Nephite adventures

Travel back in time to visit the Nephites.
Chris Heimerdinger has written ten books in the Tennis Shoes Adventure Series. Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites is only the first book in a series spanning history and the globe. The books are a mix of adventure in modern and ancient times with enough research to make one feel as if one really is back in the time of Captain Moroni or in Jerusalem or the Tower of Babel or Cumorah. Find the Tennis Shoes Adventure Series at a library near you!

Mr. Heimerdinger also wrote the movie, Passage to Zarahemla, a adventuresome little film about a modern day brother and sister going to live with relatives in Utah. They end up crossing time to go back to the days of Zarahemla with people from The Book of Mormon. After a series of adventures they return home to learn more about their family and The Book of Mormon. Read more about Mr. Heimerdinger at his blog: www.frostcave.blogspot.com

Cookie project

While they didn't have to do the science fair this year, Eva still had to do a project for class if she wanted to try for an "A" in the science section for her class. Eva chose a cooking project since we had all the supplies. (The shortening and margarine were from pie making during the holidays.) (The apple butter was bought for a recipe and we've been slowly consuming it on sandwiches and toast. We prefer the traditional spreads like raspberry and strawberry jam so the apple butter has lasted for some time.)Ingredients: brown sugar, white sugar, flour, salt, egg, baking soda, vanilla, fat & chocolate chips
(recipe courtesy of Small-Batch Baking by Debbie Maugans Nakos)

Fats used: Butter (B), Margarine (M), Apple Butter (AB), Shortening (S) and Oil (O)

We didn't sign up to do taste testing [that required a separate form (government bureaucracy-even at the elementary level)]. I'm sure there's many legal and logical reasons behind the extra form but we chose to just go by appearance for this test.

The oil cookies looked the prettiest but smelled and tasted the worst. The apple butter came out soft and chewy but really sweet and the apple tones were....unusual. The margarine actually tasted the best in this particular recipe but normally we use a combination of butter for taste and shortening for texture and softness.

Since the tri-fold boards were only a dollar, we went ahead and bought one from the school. The final score came in around a B+ to A- so that was pretty good. If Eva had to do it again she'd add taste and overall appeal-not just appearance.

Author 28: Anthony Horowitz-Spy books

Adventures with Alex Rider, teen spy:With eight books in the series, of which Stormbreaker is the first, Anthony Horowitz introduces suspense and adventure with Alex Rider. The 14 year old teen is a spy for M16. After being recruited following the suspicious death of his Uncle Ian, Alex fulfills his Uncle's last mission while tracking down the killers. With lots of cool gadgets and adventure at every turn, the Alex Rider books are popular novels for excitement and intrigue. Read more about Anthony Horowitz and the Alex Rider books at: www.anthonyhorowitz.com

Author 27: Sarah O'Leary Burningham

Continuing with the teen theme, a teen self-help book:

Sarah O'Leary Burningham has Utah ties-she still comes back to visit her parents-and to thank them for doing their best in raising her. The book, How to Raise Your Parents, has some good tips on how teens and parents can work together. Things like explaining your side to your parents about your grades and how hard you've worked to get the grades you have received. Other items in the book include deciding what kind of parents you have such as: the hippie, the schoolmarm, the teen wannabe, the yuppie, and the sibling activist. There's even a section for translating common parent phrases into language for teens. With all that said, Sarah is located in Manhattan and sections of the book may be a little too permissive for some parents depending upon personal idealogies. It's a take what you want kind of book, not a you must follow everything kind of book. Sarah was raised by a librarian so the book obviously has some good ideas. Read more good ideas at Sarah's site: www.sarahburningham.com

Author 26: Rick Riordan & Greek Mythology

Switching to teen books for the month starting with:

Book one out of five, The Lightning Thief. We're reading this right now. One says it is a very cool book. Another has read the whole series at least four or five times. Read more about the series at: www.rickriordan.com
Look for Mr.Riordan's newest book with The Kane Chronicles, Book One: The Red Pyramid coming out in May of 2010. This new series looks at the mysteries of Egypt.