Monthly Archives: March 2014

Corn Guru

Posted on March 4, 2014 by maryjane

Daniel and Mirra of The Perennial Plate were researching fascinating food stories to investigate during their trip to Mexico, and they encountered multiple people with the same recommendation:

Speak with Amado Ramirez Leyva of the Itanoní Tortillería in Oaxaca.

Amado, they said, is the corn guru.

Photo by Alejandro Linares Garcia via Wikimedia Commons

Renowned chef Rick Bayless is one of those who revere him. “Amado Ramirez Leyva believes that corn, domesticated some 9,000 years ago in Mexico, is the basis of Mexican culture,” says Bayless’ website. “From championing the protection of ancient varieties, to cooking and grinding it into masa for tortillas, Amado just might be the corn guru of Oaxaca.”

Daniel was intrigued. “His restaurant serves only the most traditional of Mexican foods, showcasing the various organic corns, harvested by local Oaxacan farmers in their purest form. But beyond the taste of history and tradition, Amado brings a poetic truth about the power of this ancient grain.”

Watch the resulting video, “The Flower of Corn,” and feel your appreciation for this golden … well, rainbow colored … grain bloom anew.

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Posted on March 3, 2014 by maryjane

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by megan

“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.” What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss than with a day of reading.

Dr. Seuss

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2, students, teachers, parents, and grandparents nationwide will pay homage by reading book after book in honor of National Read Across America Day. Mia’s teacher is celebrating with their 2nd Annual Book-a-Bunga Day, and the kids are encouraged to wear their coziest pajamas and bring their favorite blankies, teddies, and books. The lunch ladies will even be serving up green eggs and ham for lunch! Mia has been talking about this author’s birthday for weeks.

“Mom, did you know Dr. Seuss is an author? Do you what an author is? A book writer!” my Mia has said over and over in recent weeks.

Dictionary art prints by BluePoppyGallery

We know many of his stories by heart, read a particular pick every year at Christmas, and might own all the movies made from his marvelously rhymed works. But while they’re all such fun for an adult to read aloud, they address so many pertinent life lessons for children and adults alike.

Dr. Seuss quote

“Don’t cry …” My favorite of Dr. Seuss’s reminders. If you don’t have a Dr. Seuss book nearby, pick up anything with words and honor an author. They matter.

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Posted on March 2, 2014 by maryjane

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Unlikely Loves

Posted on March 2, 2014 by maryjane

“Love is in the air. Just as the New York Times bestseller Unlikely Friendships documented incredible stories of interspecies bonds, Unlikely Loves offers a heartwarming look at animals who have a deep, loving attachment to each other.”

Author Jennifer S. Holland interviewed scientists, zoologists, and animal caretakers from around the world. You don’t want to miss reading about the girl and the moose.

Or the hen and the pups.

Or miss a good happy cry when you get to the part about the Dalmatian who cares for a motherless newborn lamb.

With 43 stories, Unlikely Loves shows us that love means never having to say you’re different.

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Posted on March 1, 2014 by maryjane

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Knocker Up?

Posted on March 1, 2014 by maryjane

Ah, the sounds of morning …

Birds singing,

Photo by Brian Robert Marshall via Wikimedia Commons

tea kettle pouring,

Photo by Patrick George via Wikimedia Commons

and the pelting of peas upon windowpanes.

Photo by Parvathisri via Wikimedia Commons

Curious?

I thought you might be.

Pea pelting was the work of “knocker ups” in England and Ireland before alarm clocks put an end to the profession.

Note, gentle reader, that “knocking up” bore no resemblance to our modern slang terminology (ahem).

In fact, it was a valued service generally provided by elderly women and men, and occasionally undertaken by police constables looking to pad their paychecks during early-morning patrols.

Each morning, the knocker up was charged with rousing sleeping people so they could get to work on time. She would use a heavy stick called a truncheon to knock on clients’ first-floor doors. For residents above arm’s reach, the knocker up would wield a long stick, often made of bamboo, to tap upper-story windows.

Image courtesy of Au Bout de la Route blog

Some of the more adventurous knocker ups, like Mary Smith of London’s Brenton Street (shown below), employed pea shooters to hurl dried peas at windows until the sleeper within woke up.