Book Review: An Inconvenient Alphabet: Benjamin Franklin & Noah Webster's Spelling Revolution

Beth Anderson writes about evolving goals and long term projects in her book about the first American English dictionary, An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin & Noah Webster’s Spelling Revolution (Simon & Schuster). Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, bright colors and lively characters draw the reader through history. A fun read for elementary students and older readers as Ms. Anderson includes a bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

Learn more about Beth Anderson: https://bethandersonwriter.com/

Support your local bookstore: https://www.tatteredcover.com/

Mixed Berry Cobbler

Variation 1 – Everyday Mixed Berry Cobbler

3 cups small frozen mixed berries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter – 1 stick

1/16 teaspoon lavender salt

Add flour, sugar and lavender salt to a bowl and mix with a slotted spoon. Cut in butter and mix with a hand held mixer. Mixture will be crumbly. Grease an 8.5 inch deep dish pie pan. Place 3 cups of frozen mixed berries in the pie pan. Top with half of the flour, sugar and butter mixture. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes.

Serves 2-3.

Refrigerate the remaining flour, sugar, butter topping and in two or three days make a second cobbler.

Posted by Beth at Monday, May 18, 2020

Variation of Guacamole

Variation of Guacamole

1 jalapeno

1 avocado

1 blood orange

Wash and dry all ingredients. Roast jalapeno on burner until skin is black, turning to roast all sides. Remove jalapeno from heat and cover with a small bowl for five minutes. This helps with the removal of the skin. Slice avocado in half. Remove the pit. Wash the knife and slice the insides into cubes and then scoop out with a spoon. Place avocado in a small mixing/serving bowl and mash. Rinse jalapeno under cold running water and remove the skin. Place on cutting board and remove both ends and seeds. Dice jalapeno and add to the smashed avocado, stirring to distribute the jalapeno. Using a knife peel the blood orange, removing all pith. Separate the orange into sections, leaving the membrane intact. Cut each section into thirds and add to the guacamole. The orange will not mush into the guacamole. The colors in this dish are contrasting and striking.

Serves 2-6 people.

Caramelized Root Vegetables

Caramelized Root Vegetables

1 orange sweet potato

3 medium russet potatoes

5 small to medium carrots, white, orange, purple

6 pearl red onions

5 cloves garlic

Butter for greasing casserole dish

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon lavender salt

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon lavender pepper.

Wash and then peel, the sweet potato, russet potatoes and carrots. Cut out any bad spots. Slice the sweet potato and russet potatoes into 1/4 to 3/8 inch medallions and then slice the medallions in half. Slice the carrot in half horizontally and then slice each half lengthwise and then again until one has multiple lengthwise quarters of carrots. Peel the red onions; trim off the root ends and slice the onions in half. Peel the garlic cloves and trim both ends. Grease a 2.5 liter (9x9x2 inch) casserole dish with butter. Place vegetables in dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with lavender salt and pepper. 

Cover and Bake at 300 degrees F. for 2 hours. Onions and garlic will caramelize. Vegetables will be soft but not mushy.