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Upcoming Contest (recipe this time!)

Karma — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:09:38 +0000

I’m putting together a recipe contest to promote my book The Cow Loves Cookies. I will announce the contest in about a week.

What prompted this contest? Well, I was reading a review (very positive I might add) of Cow Love Cookies and one of the only cons the reviewer mentioned is that the book would encourage kids to want to eat cookies. BUT this assumes all cookies are bad or “junk”. I maintain that there are delicious but healthy cookie recipes out there.

So I will be coming up with a nutritious, delicious cookie recipe and it will probably incorporate foods that cows really DO enjoy, like oats, carrots or apples.

Put on your thinking cap (or your chef’s cap) and get to work brainstorming up the perfect cookie for cow to crunch! Winners will receive a batch of signed books and their recipe will be featured (fully credited, of course) on my website in “Features for Teachers”. Look forward to trying lots of great cookie recipes!

Summer!

Karma — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:36:47 +0000

I’m back after an embarrassingly long absence. I’m in this difficult adjustment period leading up to “empty nest syndrome”. My oldest is almost 18 and we are helping him prepare for college, navigate high school, etc… Add to all that the fact that I am almost 40. Oy. Can anybody say, “Big life changes”. I have struggled this last year with inspiration (or should I say “lack of inspiration”).

But summer is here now, a sunny respite from the hurry and worry of life. And with the summer months has come a refreshing rush of creativity and renewed sense of purpose. Part of that purpose is staying more connected with my readers and focusing on creating.

Tomorrow I will post some news about my upcoming book “The Cow Loves Cookies” which will be released in early July. I am very excited about this book, and I hope you all enjoy it. It is fast becoming a favorite read aloud during school visits. Kirkus gave it a starred review!

Hey honey! Pumpkin pie!

Karma — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:39:33 +0000

I’m posting my favorite pumpkin pie recipe just in time for Thanksgiving! And it’s fitting because the sweetener used is honey, which of course Bear loves.

I want to start by saying that I *recommend* you use fresh pumpkin. I know, I know… I can hear you now. “My snarky relatives are coming, there are a million things to cook, and who has time to process pumpkin for pie? This this isn’t the Plymouth Plantation ya know!”

If you have no time, then canned pumpkin is fine, but really processing pumpkin is easy. So easy you don’t even need pumpkin! Any hard orange- fleshed squash will do, including the readily available butternut. Jack-O-lantern pumpkins will work, but Sugar pumpkins especially grown for baking are optimal. And get this—no peeling or boiling required.

How to Process Fresh Pumpkin

Stab the pumpkin or squash a few times(pretend it’s your snarkiest relative and relieve some pent up frustration), and throw it on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until a knife inserted goes in easily. Let cool. Cut pumpkin or squash in half, and carefully scoop and discard seeds. Scoop out the flesh away from the skin and pop it in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. You now have the most beautiful, bright orange pumpkin you’ve ever seen in your life.

If you used regular Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins you may want to put the pumpkin in a fine strainer set in a bowl for a few hours. Jack pumpkins have high water content. Squash or baking pumpkins don’t usually require this step. You are now ready to bake a pie. If you skipped this step and opened a can of Libby’s I won’t be mad, but I will insist you are missing out on a real treat. Fresh pumpkin is better than canned. Trust me.

Honey Pumpkin Pie

I don’t bake too often with honey. The added liquid content can throw off a recipe. The flavor isn’t compatible with everything (though it’ works for quick breads absolutely marvelously). But honey and pumpkin are literally made for each other. The first time I made honey pumpkin pie I swore I would never go back and I haven’t. My whole family raves. So does anybody else who tastes it.

This Honey Pumpkin Pie recipe makes two large pies.

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or spice to taste)
• 1.5 cups honey
• 2 deep dish pie shells
• 3.5 cups pumpkin or 1 29 oz. can of pumpkin puree.

Preparation
In large bowl mix all ingredients except pie shells until smooth. Pour into shells. Bake at 400F for 15 mins. Turn oven to 350 and bake for about 30 more minutes until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Be sure to cover with tinfoil tent if pie browns too quickly.

Serve with Honey Whipped Cream, if desired. (To make honey whipped cream just whip up heavy cream and carefully fold in a few tablespoons room temp honey and a small splash of vanilla or almond extract—I prefer the latter).

I leave you with a picture. I don’t have a picture of pie, but I do have a cute picture with a pumpkin in it. Two if you count the adorable child.

Giving Thanks…

Karma — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:39:16 +0000

Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite holiday of the year. People expect less of me than they do on Christmas. Cooking is one of my hobbies. I adore Turkey. And I have a lot to be thankful for.

We tend to list the big things we are thankful for each year. But it goes without saying that I am grateful for my family, friends, career, house, pets…etc…etc…

What are some of the small things you feel thankful for? I’ll go first.

Farm fresh brown eggs.

Coffee in the morning.

Slip on shoes.

A child’s sense of humor.

That my favorite authors existed.

The hutch my husband built me.

Making apple butter.

The smell of my favorite spices.

Family jokes.

There’s just a few. It’s fun to sit down and take a moment to think of the small things we so easily overlook that have contributed to our joy and content.

Happy thanksgiving.

Vote for Bear’s New Friend!

Karma — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:31:31 +0000

Cheerios Spoonful of Stories literacy project is holding a vote for books that will appear inside of boxes of Cheerios, and BEAR NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Vote for Bear!

To recap, Spoonful of Stories is a great project designed to get free books into the hands of young kids. Millions of quality children’s books are printed in itty-bitty kid-sized copies and put in specially marked Cheerios boxes! Talk about the best cereal prize ever!Books to read!

Bear’s New Friend is behind and Bear needs your help. VOTE. And you can vote daily too.
Here’s How To Vote

1. Click on this link.

2. Click on the “MORE BOOKS” link at the bottom of the page.

3. Vote for Bear’s New Friend.

4. Remember to visit the site daily to vote again!

I thank you all for your support! And I apologize for the shameful begging.

Hey Baby, it’s an Easter Giveaway!

Karma — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:29:39 +0000

Easter day is a week away and I’m up for a great, big GIVEAWAY! Two lucky people will win a collection of three of my board books for babies and toddlers signed by me. The selections will be assorted, but all will include one copy of my touch-n-feel board book for babies, Beautiful Babies, illustrated by YOURS TRULY.

How do you enter? Visit my contest page and fill it out and answer the question, “What animal wears loafers in Karma’s crazy world?” The answer is somewhere in my book page about my new poetry book What’s the Weather Inside.

On Easter day I use a random number generator to pick two lucky winners.

Thanks for joining! Be sure to blog or tweet about this contest to spread the word!

Karma

Twittericks!

Karma — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:46:50 +0000

It’s poetry Friday and for fun I’m going to be posting some “Twittericks” on my Twitter account. What’s a Twitterick, you ask? It’s a word I made up for a cute little poem small and silly enough to qualify for a Twitter entry (140 characters max). Mine will all rhyme and will be about anything I happen to be thinking about. I’ll do a couple today. After all, it is National Poetry Month! Join me, and be sure to post a comment with your Twitter tag if you participate in Twittericks!

My Twitter Page

For those who have no patience for Twitter (non-twits) here is a list:

#1 If you’d like for me to do a task, don’t beg or plead or rant. Just look me squarly in the eye and tell me once, “You can’t.”

#2 Just when I thought I had no time to fritter, behold I discover TWITTER!

Karma

MSRC Speeches

Karma — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:05:18 +0000

My presentation for the MSRC went great! I didn’t use the computer at all. I just tried to be myself. People are being really nice and saying I entertained them. I’m just glad I managed to stay upright and remember who I was! Thanks for all the great suggestions. You’re all awesome!

Karma

What would you like to hear about?

Karma — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:20:24 +0000

I am preparing a presentation for the Montana State Reading Council. I’ll be the keynote speaker on Friday the 17th at the Great Falls Best Western Heritage Inn. Am I terrified? Absolutely.The last time I spoke in public I completely bombed (and I’m not just making it up or trying to paint it worse than it is: I BOMBED!)

The talk will be titled: Breaking All the Rules: A Rebel’s Path to Publication

What are the types of things you would like to know about how I got published? What would interest you? Give me some ideas! I’m so scared.

Also, would you prefer an interactive talk that incorporated some powerpoint, or just a down-home talk?

I’m also going to be giving some breakout sessions about using rhyme in the classroom. Leave me some of your best ideas and I may include them in my talk!

K…..

Back to School Big Book Bonanaza Giveaway!!!

Karma — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:00:58 +0000

Well, it’s time for another giveaway and this is a big one!

Two lucky winners will win five of my signed books each!

All you need to do to enter is answer this question:

“When she was a child what were Karma’s two favorite genre’s in fiction?” Take a gander at my “Meet Karma” page to learn the answer!

So click on over to my contest page, read the fine print, answer the question and fill in the form and you’re in the contest. I will choose the winner lottery style.

K…