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…an awesome recipe for pumpkin bread/pumpkin muffins/pumpkin cupcakes.
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…awesome “chapter books,” appropriate for 7-8 year-olds, in which black boys represent major characters.
If you have suggestions for either (or both!), please post in the comments here!
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In the meantime, we’re taking a little blog break. We’ll catch ya back here in about a week!
Hi!
Well I can help out with the first but unfortunately no ideas for the second…curious to hear what others suggest.
I frequently try out recipes from this blog http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com and so far enjoyed every one!
Pumpkin Cupcakes – http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pumpkin-cupcakes/
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread – http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-bread/
We really liked both of those
I have yet to try out these ones:
Pumpkin Nutella Bread – http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pumpkin-nutella-bread/
Pumpkin Nutella Snack Cake – http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pumpkin-nutella-cake/
Hope that helps!
– Kate
I have never commented on your blog, but I appreciate your honesty and the many stories of your lovely family.
I am not sure about the pumpkin bread/muffins/cupcake recipes
But as a black elementary teacher, I love reading “The Stories Julian Tells” by Ann Cameron to my students. This story is about 2 black brothers and the many adventures they find themselves in on a daily basis. Ann Cameron has several other titles that highlight Julian and his brother as major characters. I think your boys will love the series!
A few more favorites…
Julian’s Glorious Summer
Julian Dream Doctor
Julian, Secret Agent
We love the Julian books and have already read them all. More suggestions please?! Julian is RIGHT UP K&O’s alley… Can you recommend similar other things?
–heather’
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/pumpkin-bars/
I made this for the first time a week ago, and have made them twice more since then. SO incredibly delicious!!
Enjoy your blogging break
My son liked the “Akimbo” series by Alexander McCall Smith (the author of the Ladies #1 Detective Agency series for adults.) Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo and the Lion, etc. Another good series is “Ruby & the Booker Boys” – about a girl & her three older brothers. They tend to be marketed to girls but I am guessing you won’t let that put you off.
Have you checked http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2009/09/29/the-color-of-us-chapter-books/ for books?
Also when I get home I’ll send pumpkin bread recipe.
Hi Heather,
my children loved “Jim Button and Lukas the Engine Driver” by Michael Ende. Michael Ende is the author of “neverending story”, but he is most famous in Germany for his 2 Jim Button books. I have to admit that I did a bit of editing when reading it to my children right at the beginning of the book (for example there is one passage where they talk about Frau Waas (sorry only know her name in German) and that she is not his “real” mother. As an adoptive mom I obviously felt the need to change that, but apart from the few edits in the beginning it is a wonderful tale of a black boy who goes on an adventures with his friend Lukas and in the end finds out about his origins.
Best from Germany, Alexandra
Good pumpkin muffin recipe called “Pumpkin Pie Muffins” from Mostly Muffins, a book of about 75 recipes by Barbara Albright. Made a double batch this morning, and my house smells great! They’ll go into the freezer and I can pull one out each morning on my way to work.
My 3rd graders love, love, love the Julian/Gloria series…
I also have the Miami Jackson series by Patricia McKissack. There are only 3 books so far in the series but they are really cute and my boys enjoy them.
I will definintely keep looking for you
This is THE best pumpkin bread recipe! I got the recipe from a former co worker of mine. She used to bake the little loaves and bring them in to work for us. No one could eat just one slice, they were so addicting and the loaves would disappear fast! Now I make them and share with family and friends. I always bake a few loaves for my kids’ teachers every Fall, and they all love it. You will not be disappointed with this recipe. It truly makes the best pumpkin bread I have ever eaten! Everyone raves about it.
The Best Pumpkin Bread Ever
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7×3 inch loaf pans. (I use the disposable ones so I can give away to friends)
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
As for book recommendations…have your boys ever read “Kickoff”? It’s a book written by Tiki and Ronde Barber (NFL players who happen to be Black twins!) I think your boys would love it since they are so into sports, and can identify with the Barber twins! It’s also a great storyline about brothers sticking together and supporting each other to achieve goals. They also wrote, Game Day and By My Brother’s Side.
Another book… “The Low -Down, Bad-Day Blues” by Derrick D. Barnes. It’s a story about a boy who has a day where everything goes wrong, but shows that having a great attitude can make everything better.
Oh, and one more….”Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It” by Sundee T. Frazier. My kids love this one. The main character is a 10 yr old boy.
Yes, we have all the Tiki and Ronde Barber books. K & O love those. Keep the suggestions coming!!!
I am always looking for new pumpkin recipes but lately time has been short. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, their Pumpkin Bread mix is the best. Not the real thing but about as close as you can come.
Sounder- but it may be a little heavy for their age?
I also saw this
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Galore-African-American-Childrens/dp/0471375276
Totally not your ‘real pumpkin bread’ recipe – but an easy and yummy twist…
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 yellow cake mix
Mix together these 2 ingredients (nothing else, no eggs, oil, water, anything) and bake at 350 until done. They have a light pumpkin taste and are just delicious plain, w/ cream cheese frosting or with just cream cheese – we also make them as cupcakes (or muffins – when I decide I’m serving them at breakfast!)
& I’d recognize a Tabora Farms cookie anywhere – soooo yummy!
What about Kid Caramel books and Impact books?
My mom’s recipe. It is so delicious!
http://kaynou.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/harvest-loaf-cake/
I don’t have a baked goods recipe with pumpkin, but my mom has a recipe for Pumpkin Custard, I’ll have to get back to u on that though. Hey, I noticed there was a juice extractor in one of ur photos, something that I want but no one in my family or friend network owns. You can make Pumpkin Juice with it, like in Harry Potter. I’ll be in touch, hang in there.
Hello lovely family. I read this post this morning and immediately sent my mom an email asking for her recipe for Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing! Oh so delicious…. So delicious…. Here it is!
One yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil or substitute 1/2 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 can pumpkin (20 oz)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients, fill paper lined muffin cups (24 regular, 100 mini) 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool, then frost with icing.
Frosting
one 3 ounce package of cream cheese
3/4 cup butter softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
2 cups powdered sugar
Cream together butter and cream cheese. Beat in vanilla and milk, gradually add powdered sugar until frosting is desired consistency.
oh, and I found some book titles for you, I just hope this link works, if it doesn’t, just copy and paste it.
http://als.lib.wi.us/AACList.html
God Bless!!!
Okay, I just looked through the kids’ bookshelf and here are a few more good book suggestions…
Encyclopedia Brown series. My husband loved these books as a young boy, and has recently started reading them with our kids. They love them! The older books (that we have) show a black boy on the front cover, however I have seen the newer ones in the book store show a white boy on the cover. Either way, I think the books are fun, interactive reading and I think your kids would enjoy them. The boy’s real name is Leroy, but he has the nickname Encyclopedia because he knows so many facts! His father is the Chief of Police and his son plays detective by helping his dad solve crimes. My kids love to find the clues, and try to figure out the case along with Encyclopedia. It encourages good listening skills by forcing them to pay attention to the different clues.
Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs by Sharon M. Draper
Ziggy is a Jamaican boy with a great sense of humor. He and his friends have a little club called The Black Dinosaurs, and they love to solve mysteries. (see a theme? my kids love mysteries!) There are a lot of African American history lessons throughout the books. There are several books in the series. The author is a former high school English teacher. She originally wrote the series for her black son because she noticed there was an absence of black boys as main characters in books. We have a few of these books and the kids enjoy them. They think Ziggy is very funny and he makes them laugh out loud.
I see someone already mentioned the Miami Jackson books. I second the recommendation. Awesome books!
Have your boys ever read, “Seven Spools of Thread”? It’s a Kwanzaa story by Angela Shelf Medearis, It’s a good story about 7 brothers living in Africa. Delivers a great message about getting along, putting aside differences and working together.
Okay, hope those are helpful!
I wanted to add that we are always on the look out for good childrens books with Hispanic and/ or biracial main (kid) characters, so if you or your readers have any suggestions for us we would greatly appreciate it! My husband is Dominican and I am Cuban/Italian and we rarely find good kid books with Hispanic main characters. My mom has found some good ones in Spanish though, but my kids have enjoyed identifying with the main character and it has helped their bilingual skills. This was a great post! Thanks so much for writing it!
I know you want chapter books, but Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney do some amazing picture books with AA main characters. They also write a lot about black history. Met them last year and love them! We read Akimbo last year with my students, he is a very smart and brave boy!
How about Gregor the Overlander? Gregor and his family are VERY briefly discribed as brown skinned (like blink and you miss it). This is a series, though we are in the middle of the first so I can’t speak to the actual content, other than to say it’s a fantasy action/adventure book. I’m always on the prowl for books that include black boys, especially those in which being black isn’t an issue. Gregor the Overlander fits the bill perfectly for that.
I’m bookmarking this post for the other recommendations! Heather and Braydon – you should do another round up of books your kids enjoy! I remember a few posts about books WAY back in the day that were very helpful.
Yes! Heather, I’d also LOVE a post about your family’s favorite books, with links to past posts since I must have missed those (except I remember one about the boys favorite audio book–Skippy Jon Jones). Great comments from your readers!!
Matt Christopher books – sports books and pretty sure some of them had minority characters.
We are dabbling in the Matt Chistopher books, and K & O like them enough (although don’t love them), but almost all the main characters are white. Searching for a Julian-like (Ann Cameron -like) series where major characters are black boys. Keep the suggestions coming!
I love the Julian books too! At my pre-school, I’ve recently come across a couple of early reader chapter books based on Ezra Jack Keats’ Peter. The ones I’ve read are The Clubhouse and The Loose Tooth, and I believe there are a couple more. They’re not as fantastic as the Julian books, but they’re good, and they have African American kids in leading roles.
All the best to you and your beautiful family!
Heather,
My boys loved the Gregor the Overlander series. It was one of our favorites.
Jen
Hi!
These pumpkin cupcakes are to die for! Well, anything Ina Garten makes is. You have to try them..
http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/recipes/ina-garten-pumpkin-cupcakes-1010
Take care! Love reading!
Meg
I’m brainstorming about books and if I come up with some not already mentioned I’ll post again.
On the pumpkin front…My local coffee shop makes awesome pumpkin cranberry ginger muffins. I don’t know their recipe, but found this one online and am excited to try it myself.
http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/bakedgoods/r/pumpcranmuffins.htm
Hi Heather,
This is the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. I’ve made it with white whole wheat flour to make it somewhat healthier, and it was just as good. We always use fresh pumpkin, but you can use canned if you prefer.
Hope you guys find some new books, too- sorry we don’t have any suggestions right now for you.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-pumpkin-bread-recipe
Love to you guys from VT!
I apologize, I thought there was an actual Pumpkin Custard recipe, but it turns out it’s just pumpkin pie filling without the crust.
Anyway to make pumpkin juice (as made famous by Harry Potter):
Using your juice extractor, start by using canned pumpkin to make:
2 cups of Pumpkin puree
Put that in a blender with:
2 cups Apple cider
1/2 cup Pineapple juice
1 tsp Honey
Dashes of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
Blend the stuff together then put it in the fridge to chill.
Eric and I don’t exactly bake, but this is always good for a quick loaf! And, technically, I consider it baking because you have to add eggs.
xoxo
http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=234
I have twin boys from Haiti as well (I have asked you before about hair!). We get the questions ALL THE TIME “are they identical?” and “who was born first?” We do not know the answer to either of these questions since we know nothing about their birth history. I’m sure you’ve gotten those questions a lot to. What is your response? I hate saying “We are not sure…we don’t know their birth history” b/c I don’t think it’s fair for the boys to hear that all the time. But then I also don’t feel comfortable making something up. We are seriously thinking about getting their DNA tested so that we can know if they are identical or not. We think that might be one thing they can know FOR SURE about their history. Anyway, thought I’d ask about your experience with these questions, etc. My boys are 5 right now.
Hello Laurie!! We get the “are they identical?” & “who was born first?” questions ALL THE TIME too. We have standard answers:
1. “We don’t know! We’ve never done DNA testing to find out! But we’re pretty sure they are not identical!”
2. “We don’t know who was born first! This is one of the things we’ll never know. They were born in Haiti and we have no information about who came out first.”
We say these with cheery voices, smiling, as if it is noooo biiiiig deeeeal, and we act very relaxed and comfortable with it… and quickly try to move on, without making it awkward.
This has seemed to have worked pretty well. Sometimes people push it, but usually they let it drop. My main priority is to not make K & O feel self-conscious about it, and to try to put my boys at ease (the comfort/ease of whoever is asking definitely comes secondary!).
We also get ALL THE TIME: “Which one is older?” I *always* say: “They’re twins! They are the same exact age!” Sometimes they will stop there. Sometimes they’ll go on and say, “Yes, but which was born first?” and then we go to #2 above.
Interestingly enough… When K & O were about your boys’ age (around 5), they started to claim — on their own — that “Owen was born first!” They claimed that they “remembered it,” and they then proceeded — over the past couple of years– to make up all sorts of stories (“We were both in there just waiting to come out, and then Kyle kicked Owen over and over with his feet, and just pushed him right out, and then Kyle came out right after!” OR “We remember bing born and Owen was born first because Kyle pushed him out ahead of him and then Kyle held on to Owen’s feet and got pulled out right behind him!” ETC.). They still sometimes say stuff like this. I think they feel empowered to claim that THEY remember something (and know something) about themselves that we don’t know. So, we kind of roll with it, and just let it all slide. Sometimes they’ll tell these stories to strangers who inquire with the “who was born first?” question…. I get a real kick out of watching people’s reactions! It kind of stops people in their tracks, and the conversation usually ends right there! LOL!!!!!!!!!!
Adopted Twins… it is a whole other form of parenting!!!!! I swear!!!!!!!!!!
😉
Thanks for reading!
~Heather
Saw this today and thought about your post. Better late than never…
http://www.makeandtakes.com/pumpkin-quinoa-breakfast
all the best,
Violet
Hi Heather. I had to come back here and find this post – – to share this blog (and her blog list is awesome too!) http://sproutsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html
You’ll love this resource for book ideas – and the resources found in her blogroll!
~Meghan
Meghan, This is an awesome blog! Thanks so much!!!!!!! ~Heather