Friday roundup

Weekday vegetarian tips plus some fun recent reads

Happy Friday! And welcome, new Frog Troublers! We’re so glad you’re here. On Fridays we like to post a mix of things—books we’ve loved recently, new stuff we learned, and sometimes an update on current projects. If we haven’t prepped ahead of time, sometimes (like today) the post comes at the end of the day, because that’s when Bea gets home from school.

We started a weekday vegetarian experiment for the New Year, and so far… we’ve kept it up! Recent dinners the kids have enjoyed include crispy brussels sprouts with gnocchi (very easy!), this broccoli pizza, and this recipe for sweet-and-sour tofu. The girls love anything with rice or pasta, anything crispy-but-not-spicy.

What they don’t love, for the most part, is too many flavors at one time. I served Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala burgers (which I really like), and this is what happened to Harriet:

So, if I know something will be a tough sell, I try to deconstruct the meal if I can (last night’s kale-and-butternut squash penne was served with veggies on the side for Harriet). I also put out a little platter of things I know they will eat, like oranges, snap peas, boiled eggs, grapes, carrots—whatever we have that doesn’t take extra time to cook.

It has also helped a lot to have a CSA share from In Good Heart Farm. Local, freshly picked squash, carrots, and greens just taste so much sweeter. The kids also like when carrots have two legs or are otherwise interesting-looking.

Also interesting? Read on…

“Groundhogs Emerge from the Scientific Shadows” Who knew that groundhog social behavior hadn’t been extensively studied? Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks or whistle pigs, are totally cute, not rare, and not all that people-averse (Mamie found one in her tree in downtown Walkerton!). Anyway, they have been mostly known for being solitary—until Christine Maher began tracking a coterie (that’s what a group of groundhogs is called) in an animal sanctuary in Maine. We loved reading about their territories and relationships. It was also interesting to learn that development and forest clearing may have made groundhogs less social! Through the article, we also discovered Woodchuck Wonderland, an online compendium of observations, photos, and videos of a coterie in Michigan.

Mamie’s experience trying to identify a mysterious large raptor (not a regular bald eagle, which she sees pretty often) led us to this story about a rare sighting a a Steller’s Sea Eagle (not usually seen outside of Russia) in Maine.

My book recommendation this week is Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang. Set just before and running through the beginning of the pandemic, this novel is narrated by a bristly Chinese-American attending physician in a New York City ICU. People are always pressuring Joan, or Jiu-an, to act against her own preferences: to take time off, to socialize and buy furniture, to get married and have kids and move to the suburbs. I love how her resistance to all of these pressures, and to accepted small-talk and attitudes, prompts her sharply funny insights.

Like this response to an American stranded in Japan by Covid, and who wants to go back to home soil: “But what does the soil of home feel like? Because doesn’t all soil, at some point, get stuck under your nails and need to be cleaned out?” Or this response to a neighbor who shares that he knows a handful of Chinese characters: “Fantastic. But what’s a handful? Was that like 10? Or five? Neither will get you very far.”

Here is a pick from Bea:

My pick this week is Code Name: Serendipity

We met the author, Amber Smith, at Weymouth Writing Center. She was really nice, and we made tiny books together. Her first middle-grade novel (she also writes YA books) is about a girl named Sadie whose best friend has just moved away. She has other challenges too: her grandfather has just moved in with her family, and she has a learning disability. It affects her because, as I’ve learned from other books, if you are different, people sometimes use it as reason to treat you differently or badly. On one of the first days of school, she gets bullied by a girl named Macy.

Sadie is hopeful, a loyal friend, and very, very, very imaginative and creative. One day, Sadie meets a dog, and she can communicate telepathically with it. She wants the dog, but it’s at an animal shelter and she only has until the end of the week to bring her home. Sadie’s arch-enemy, Macy, has also had a change of heart because she’s been bullied too. Will Sadie be able to rescue Dewey? Will she be true friends with Macy after all?

I don’t want to give it all away, but I really recommend this book. It’s funny, sweet, and full of changes for the main characters.

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What about you, Frog Troublers? Any new books to recommend? Have you seen any bald eagles or interesting birds lately? Are you watching the winter Olympics?

See you Sunday, with a follow-up to this post.