Author 38: David Biedrzycki can bug us!

Buggy. With insects. And bug theme parks. And a mystery. And cotton candy and honey nectar! More info at: http://www.davidbiedrzycki.com/

Author 37: Leo Lionni in Holland, Italy and the U.S.A.

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/lionni/
Born in Holland in 1910, Leo Lionni started writing and illustrating children's books at forty-nine years of age. He continued writing and illustrating over forty books until his death in Tuscany, Italy at the age of 89. He and his wife spent time living between homes in Italy and the United States.

Frederick, featured above, touchingly tells of intangible talents that affect us in positive ways. Frederick seems not to contribute to the winter collection but his contributions helped sustain his family at the end of the winter months.

Crepes-with video from Taste of Home

Crepes
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp. butter, melted (not margarine!)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup flour
additional butter for cooking

Whir everything together in a blender. Heat small skillet on medium-high heat or until a drop of water skitters across the surface. Grease with a little bit of butter. Pour in about 1/4 cup batter and quickly tilt and swirl the pan to form a large thin pancake covering the bottom and part of the sides of the skillet. Cook crepe like a pancake, looking for little bubbles, a dry top and a light golden brown on the bottom. Gently flip over and cook for a few seconds on the other side. Remove from pan and start the process over until all the batter is used.

This video is a good example of how to cook the crepes-the batter should have the consistency of heavy cream before cooking. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour or so if needed. We tend to like our crepes a little lighter than the video and I think they cook up yummier with a little butter in the pan-about a 1/4 tsp smidge of butter per crepe. Serve with fresh fruit or syrup or jam or nutella or ice cream.... The crepes also freeze beautifully. As the video mentions, practice. Crepes take practice-just remember, non-aesthetically pleasing crepes taste just as good as the pretty ones.

Author 36 :Pamela Duncan Edwards loves alliteration

Pamela Duncan Edwards loves alliteration as evidenced by her old books like Some Smug Slug and The Worryworts and Four Famished Foxes and her new book above, Princess Pigtoria and the Pea. She's written over fifty books and has worked with Henry Cole as the illustrator on over 17 of those books. Read more about Ms. Edwards at: www.pameladuncanedwards.com
These are some of the funniest books to read. You'll find a large selection of her books at your local library!

Author 35: Fran Manushkin makes Cheese Blintzes

Learn how to bring a touch of Spring with Mama's Cheese Blintzes in How Mama Brought the Spring by Fran Manushkin. She has many other books with Jewish themes and customs such as Latkes and Applesauce and Miriam's Cup: a Passover Story. Read more about this editor turned author who includes family members in books at www.franmanushkin.com.


We attempted to make the blintzes at the end of the story-the crepes turned out fine as seen below...
but the filling did not turn out for us-I think the Farmer's Cheese in the recipe is not the cottage cheese we used. The filling had farmer's cheese, eggs, and butter and was a liquidy gloppy mess for us. So, we just enjoyed the crepe part of the blintzes. I'm sure we'll eventually try another blintz recipe but with a different filling. Leave a comment if you'd like me to add the blintz crepe recipe.

In other news, Happy belated Easter! We tried coloring hollow eggs this year and we enjoyed a regional treat, Fernwood Almondettes!
The picture above is from the almondette we enjoyed. You can still buy them around the Salt Lake area or buy them through the Fernwood candy site at www.fernwoodcandy.com and here's their picture of almondettes: http://www.fernwoodcandy.com/p-almondettes.html . These sweet and delicious little morsels are a nougat-type divinity surrounded by chocolate and crushed almonds in the shape of an egg. They are scrumptious!

Author 34: April Fool's with Teresa Bateman

More fun books include A Plump and Perky Turkey, Fiona's Luck and The Ring of Truth among books written by Teresa Bateman. But of course we had to choose April Foolishness for April Fool's!

There is an short biography on Ms. Bateman at: http://www.charlesbridge.com/contributorinfo.cfm?ContribID=116

The biography includes a lesser known fact: she served a mission to Argentina and spent a year teaching school in Honduras. But she has ancestors from Ireland and enjoys Irish tales.