Sir James Paul McCartney (my other secret husband) is 71 years old today!

He’s still one of the most well preserved classic rockers out there. Can’t get enough of his boyish good looks and irresistible charm. Plus, he makes good mashed potatoes.

Despite having been a member of the greatest rock band ever, and now described by the Guinness Book of World Records as “the most successful composer and recording artist of all time,” (wow) he seems remarkably down to earth. Paul just keeps on doing what he loves and we love him all the more for it.

Did you see him on Stephen Colbert last week? A little cheeky and always quick on the draw.

* * *

Macca is the wealthiest musician in the UK (and probably the world); as of this year, his net worth is estimated in excess of £680 million. Not bad for a lad from Liverpool with a modest working class background. In this interesting BBC Radio 4 interview with Sheila Dillon, he talks about being raised on traditional meat and potatoes meals. His mother served Yorkshire Pudding as a dessert (with Golden Syrup), and the Sunday roast was the highlight of the week.

He enjoyed the usual chops and liver but drew the line at tongue, a cheap alternative to meat in those days of rationing. Can’t blame him in the least. As he says, “It’s a tongue!” Ewwww.

While touring with the Beatles, food was basically fuel. He remembers huge steaks drooping over the edge of the plate and thinking how Americans always like to do things “big.”

Though he was introduced to vegetarianism in the 60′s while studying meditation in India, it wasn’t until he met Linda that he adopted it as a lifestyle, initially because of his compassion for animals. Over the years, his commitment to a meat-free diet intensified as he learned more about its health benefits and the detrimental effects of livestock production on the environment. These days he passionately campaigns for animal rights, using his fame to help spread the word about how greenhouse gas emissions impact climate change.

The McCartney kitchen at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool, is now maintained by the National Trust.

I like looking at the humble kitchen at 20 Forthlin Road, imagining 15-year-old Paul eating beans on toast or sausages for tea and writing songs with the Quarrymen, never dreaming where his life’s journey would take him.

Other things I love about Paul:

• Sometimes, just for fun, he uses the pseudonym “Apollo C. Vermouth”
• He wrote “Yesterday,” the most covered song in history (3000+ recorded versions)
• He had a rare and genuine-for-real, 29-year enduring marriage to Linda, the love of his life
• He’s a firm believer in family life and never spoiled his children, wanting them above all to be people with good hearts
• He’s also a painter and a poet
• He can’t read music and is largely self-taught, a natural-born instinctual artist
• He’s considered one of the most generous musicians in the world, having contributed millions of pounds to various charities
• He wrote beautifully lyrical love songs inspired by his real-life muses: “And I Love Her,” “You Won’t See Me,” “I’m Looking Through You, “Here, There and Everywhere,” “For No One” (Jane Asher), “Two of Us,” “I Will,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “My Love” (Linda McCartney)
• “Blackbird” is his favorite song, and it’s mine too

Lookin’ good in Melbourne, Australia, 1975:

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To celebrate his birthday, I made the Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe included in The Meat Free Monday Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2012), which Paul launched with his daughters Stella and Mary. It was nice to get a quick chocolate fix made with ingredients I already had on hand. It turned out to be more like a cakey brownie with a moist fudgy layer on the bottom. Yum!

EASY CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE 
(adapted from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
7 tablespoons melted butter
2 organic eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons organic milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 1-quart baking dish.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup sugar. Make a well in the center, pour in the melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and organic milk, and beat until well combined.

Stir in the chopped pecans, and pour into the prepared pan. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and hot water. Stir well and pour over the cake batter.

Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. During baking, the cake will rise to the top and underneath there will be a delicious chocolate sauce. Serve hot with cream.

Serves 4.

* * *

Here’s Paul to sing us out with “Birthday” from The Colbert Report. The song was written mostly by Paul in the Apple Studios 6 days before Linda’s 26th birthday.

* * *

Paul with daughters Mary and Stella

♥ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MACCA! ♥

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Copyright ©2013 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

Seriously, who could resist a poetry book called Laughing Tomatoes?

Well, I certainly couldn’t, but I shamefully admit I didn’t actually know about this fabuloso feast of pure delight until just a few months ago.

This Pura Belpré Honor Award-winning bilingual 20-poem collection by Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón and Maya Christina Gonzalez was first published by Children’s Book Press back in 1997. Where was I?!

Likely staring at grumpy, aloof tomatoes and not appreciating strawberries for the “sweet tender hearts” they are, living a bland life full of ho-hum edibles, certainly not hearing the warm morning sun calling to me through my window, and — *shakes head* — totally oblivious to dew, “the fresh taste of the night.”

But now, having read this glorious, jubilant celebration of Spring and its earthly delights, family, culture and community, my life is complete!

I’m happy to say Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risueños y otros poemas de primavera is one of my favorite children’s poetry books ever.

Oh, I know what you’re thinking. But it’s not just because of the food (though it’s easy to love tortillas who applaud the sun, exploding chiles, and the gift of corn, whose “tender ears are born pointing to the sky”). It is the exquisite marriage of text and art, that rare commingling of creative visions that takes your breath away, when you know you are witnessing something extraordinary (Red Sings from Treetops and Water Sings Blue come to mind).

Here, poetry is art, and art is pure poetry.

In a Writer’s Sanctuary audio interview, Gonzalez compares their collaboration to jazz improvisation. Alarcón playfully riffs on the wonders of nature and life (first rain, smiling green hills, his grandmother’s songs, his dream of “a garden in every home”), enabling us to see everything for the first time. Gonzalez responds with vivid, exuberant, magical, bursting-from-the-page riffs of her own, complete with an expanded narrative featuring dogs, cats, and joyous children swinging from trees, picnicking, picking strawberries, adorned with colorful flowers.

Perhaps you are wondering why the tomatoes are laughing? How much do I LOVE these tomato smiles!

Sí, this festive feeling is downright contaigious, and it’s beautifully balanced with tender feelings of sadness and reverence — we play, but we also honor these marvelous people and things in our lives. Have you ever laughed and cried at the same time?

In his Afterword, Alarcón says he started writing poems by jotting down the songs his grandma sang to him in the kitchen. He believes a poem is incomplete until someone reads it and makes it their own.

A collection of poetry is like a tomato plant. From a small seed it sprouts, then grows and grows. Poems need good soil, sunlight, air, and lots of care and tending. Some of these poems were written first in Spanish, others in English, and some came out in both languages almost at the same time. Poems, like tomatoes, grow in many forms and shapes. And somehow they change every time you read them. This is the magic of poetry.

Laughing Tomatoes was Alarcón’s first published book of poetry for children, and is actually part of his Magical Cycle of the Seasons Series, which earned three Pura Belpré Honor Awards as well as many other well-deserved accolades. I’m anxious to see the other books in the series, especially From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems/Del ombligo de la luna y otros poemas de verano. I imagine it has the same timeless feel, perfectly capturing child mind and spirit.

A beautiful closing thought:

Did you know “words are birds that arrive with books and spring . . . the letters they leave on this page are the prints they leave by the sea.”

*swoon*

What child could resist this invitation to wonder?

* * *

LAUGHING TOMATOES AND OTHER SPRING POEMS/JITOMATES RISUEÑOS Y OTROS POEMAS DE PRIMAVERA
written by Francisco X. Alarcón
illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez
published by Children’s Book Press/Lee & Low Books, Inc., 2012
Poetry Picture Book for ages 6+, 32 pp.
Cool themes: Seasons, Family, Community, Cultural Diversity, Bilingual, Poetry, Mexican Americans, Spring, Nature, Food

*Visit the publisher’s website for a Teacher’s Guide and audio interview with author and artist

* * *

Margaret is hosting today’s Roundup at Reflections on the Teche. Flash your biggest tomato smile and check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up in the blogosphere this week.

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*Spreads posted by permission of the publisher, text copyright © 1997 Francisco X. Alarcón, illustrations © 1997 Maya Christina Gonzalez, published by Children’s Book Press/Lee & Low. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2013 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

Recently sniffed out Stephen Fowler’s wonderful illustrations at Gemini Studio Art. His current collection  contains 1000+ designs inspired by the many dogs in his old Wrigleyville, Chicago, neighborhood, his former day job designing labels for whiskey and tequila bottles, and his fascination for big graphic artwork, vintage/urban design and advertising posters. Pretty fetching, I say.

More of my faves with food-related themes:

I can hear you panting for more. No need to sit up and beg.

Stephen also features other animals (yes, cats!), sports and Chicago themes, stuff for children, and a whole collection of cool typography designs.

All illustrations are available in several shapes and sizes and three formats: Gallery Wrap Canvas, Canvas Panel, and Giclee Print. Yes, he accepts custom orders.

For all the kibbles and bits, follow the scent to Stephen’s website and Gemini Studio Art Shop at Etsy.

Woof!

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Copyright © 2013 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

Farida (pictured here on Orcas Island) lives in Seattle, Washington — land of evergreens, dreamy rain, good bookstores, coffee, music, and uncommonly gifted creative types.

On any given day, you might find musical storyteller and doll maker Farida Dowler training for a half marathon, homeschooling her daughter, writing and performing songs and stories, making Danish pancakes, or putting the finishing touches on a Pink Heart Fairy or Red Math Gnome.

Whether she’s picking guitar strings or embroidering french knots on fairy capes, Farida seems to thrive in an enchanted world of her own making — a kind and gentle one that harkens back to the days of wandering minstrels, exults in the magic of story, champions creativity and the imagination, and treasures the invaluable human connections that blossom in the name of art.

Orange Blossom Queen and Bee Boy (wooden trees and shrubs by The Enchanted Cupboard)

Her Mission Statement is:

I care about each doll I sew, and hope you will find a doll in the shop that you feel is yours.

One at a time, one of a kind, full of heart.

I like picturing Farida in her Seattle home, head bent over her work, humming to herself as she adeptly draws needle and thread through felt, creating a new violet or cherry blossom friend who’ll find her place displayed on a nature table, held in a child’s eager hand as an original story emerges, or peacefully resting on a writer’s desk, a friendly companion offering quiet inspiration.

Blueberry and Strawberry Dolls

Dark and Light Purple Violet Root Children

A former children’s librarian, Farida became interested in making these tiny wool felt figures when her daughter was attending a Waldorf school. Since then, she’s fashioned hundreds of them (angels, fairies, box babies, root children, ladybugs, wee witches, daffodils, daisies, wizards), and each has a charming personal story of its own.

Buttercup

Adorable Flower Box Babies

Alkelda Dolls are made with natural materials and celebrate the Earth’s beautiful diversity with a variety of skin tones, hair hues and eye colors. Faces are kept simple according to Waldorf tradition to encourage open, creative play. Farida’s dolls make perfect gifts — her work represents what I love most about the handmade tradition: a genuine joy of creating, a personal touch, a human connection, feeling her sweet abiding spirit in every piece.

Behold and marvel in her forest of once upon a time.

Knights, Wizards, Red Riding Hood Set, Magenta Princess (wooden foliage by The Enchanted Cupboard)

* * *

♥ MEET FARIDA DOWLER ♥

Rainbow Butterfly Fairies

Name of shop or business: Alkelda Dolls

Year established: 2009

Items you make: embroidered wool felt dolls

Studio Location: Seattle, Washington, USA

Online: http://alkelda.com

Rose of Lima with Sewing Box

Three words that best describe your art: tactile, detailed, colorful

Self taught or formal training? Self-taught through books and observation of family members

Tools of the Trade: wool felt, embroidery thread, needles, wool batting

Inspirations and influences: Goldie the Dollmaker, by M.B. Goffstein, the work of embroidery artist Salley Mavor (Felt Wee Folk); the illustrations of Elisa Kleven; The Story of the Root Children,  by Sibylle von Olfers; my maternal aunt, who embroidered my overalls with bucolic scenes:

Farida’s husband “Bede” with their daughter “Lucia” wearing overalls embroidered by her aunt.

Three significant milestones in your career:

1. In December 2008, my husband gave me several books on my wishlist:  Feltcraft, by Petra Berger, Felt Wee Folk, by Salley Mavor, and Making Flower Children by Sybille Adolphi.

2. Joining the Natural Kids Team on Etsy several months after my shop opened was a great way for artisans to support each other’s work both professionally and personally.

3. In 2011, I teamed up with Bossy’s Feltworks to make full nativity sets together. They made the lovely felted animals, and I made the human figures.

Nativity Scene made in collaboration with Bossy’s Feltworks

Here is a little stop-motion film that showcases one of the sets:

* * *

Food that inspires your best work:

Sometimes something edible will inspire the creation of a doll, such as the gingerbread fairy or Pi Gnome, but in general, the foods that give me focus and energy are related to my running life. I rely upon black tea with milk, coffee with milk, Justin’s maple-almond butter on toast, Honeycrisp apples, and spinach pies. Squares of dark chocolate are medicinal, and Middle Eastern cuisine makes me feel as if someone loves me.

Bestseller: Sunflower dolls sell really well, as do the butterfly fairies.

Sunflower Queen and Child (wooden trees and shrubs by The Enchanted Cupboard)

What is your earliest memory of being creative? What is the first thing you ever made as an “artist”?

I used to write and illustrate books of poems and stories. The stories were always more vivid in my head than on paper. Inevitably, I’d get tired and end the story with, “And then they lived happily until they died and went to heaven.” With the exception of a glazed yellow clay alligator made in first grade art class, I think this board game is the oldest creative piece that survives.

Daisy with her basket

You say at your shop that your dolls are “Waldorf-inspired.” Could you please explain what that means for those of us who may not be familiar with that particular educational philosophy?

Waldorf education uses dolls and animal figures made of natural materials like wool, cotton and wood to tell stories. The stories themselves are based on folktales, nursery rhymes, or come from the teachers’ own imaginations, but they inevitably take their inspiration from nature.

Tell us about your favorite creation so far, some of the challenges you overcame to make it, and how it influences what you’re doing now.

Most of my shop listings are individual dolls because I want to be mindful of my customers’ budgets. Even so, it takes me at least two hours to make one doll, and I have to balance setting a fair price for my work with making the dolls accessible to the people who want to bring them into their homes. Sometimes I am compelled make a story set for my own pleasure, and let the dolls remain together, as I did in this set inspired by the Brothers Grimm story The Seven Ravens, plus my lifelong fascination with outer space:

Seven Ravens Set

While I am always grateful and pleased when a set like this sells, I think of sets like the Sun/Moon/Stars ensemble as display pieces for people to admire before heading on to the fairies and flower folk.

Farida’s personal favorite: Springtime Wanderer among the forget-me-nots

Please select a favorite item from your shop and tell us what inspired it.

I am partial to this little snowdrop doll I made recently:

When my daughter was in a Waldorf kindergarten, each child received a plant-inspired “little one” from the Little One Meadow, to be his or her companion. (These friends were distinctly not dolls, as my daughter reminded me.) My daughter’s little one was named Snow Drop. For the next three years, I listened to stories of Snow Drop and her friends in the kindergarten. I have had a particular fondness for the galanthus nivalis and its variations ever since.

Daffodil, Fuschia, Snowdrop and Crocus

Describe your studio or workplace. How have you fashioned your work environment to enhance creativity and maximize productivity?

My workspace is a desk in the living room. I try to keep it tidy, but entropy quickly takes over. I was brave and took a photo of my desk in chaos, and two days later, in a more harmonious state. As of this writing, the state of this desk is closer to photo 1. The items you may notice are: a Playmobil Victorian lady named Roberta, a Bossy’s Feltworks needlefelted pincushion of a sheep on a circus ball, and a couple of my creations including my “Springtime Wanderer” inspired by Snufkin of the Moomintroll books by Tove Jansson.

Chaos

Harmony

What you don’t see in the photo are the three guitars in the living room. Two belong to me, and one belongs to my daughter. Often, I will take a break from sewing to stretch out my fingers on the guitar. Steel strings on the guitar give me calluses, which are helpful in regard to the inevitable needle jabs. (A friend of mine once asked me, “Haven’t you ever heard of a thimble?”)

Left and right handed Guitar Dolls

How do you chart your growth as an artist? How do you define success?

I often don’t notice my growth as an artist until I look at photos of my older work. I welcome requests from friends, family, and customers. Sometimes my experiments work out differently than I expected, and sometimes those surprises are fun. My mission statement is, “I care about each doll I sew, and hope you will find a doll in the shop that you feel is yours.” Success comes with the pleasure of having created something beautiful, and sending that beauty out into the world. Getting paid for my work ensures that I can justify the time and materials to keep doing what I enjoy.

Bulb Baby Root Children (wooden shrubs by The Enchanted Cupboard)

Gingerbread Fairy

Bee Lady and Honey Drop Baby

What do you like best about the creative life?

Sewing gives me the space to daydream while being productive. Sometimes, I’ll listen to a music mix or a podcast (Another Mother Runner is a favorite podcast about the running life), but I welcome the rare, quiet times when my thoughts are my own.

Any new projects you’re especially excited about?

My husband has requested that I make a “special-edition” Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game inspired set with the archetypal characters of a knight, a thief, a cleric, and a mage. That endeavor could be fun.

Queen and King of Hearts wish to help you make yummy tarts!

Rainbow Queen + Sunbeam Baby, Heart Fairies and Heart Baby

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♥ BRAVO! ENCORE! ♥

• Alkelda Dolls Etsy Shop: In addition to the current listings at her shop, Farida is accepting custom (not rush) orders for any of the dolls featured in this post, and any dolls pictured under the past sales link in her shop’s sidebar.
• Alkelda: Dolls for Storytelling Facebook Page
• Farida Dowler.com for info about hiring Farida for storytelling gigs at schools, libraries, and private parties
• Saints and Spinners Blog for more about her life as a musician, storyteller, artisan, parent, reader and writer
• A Storytelling of Crows Blog: an audio-visual resource of storytelling and music for parents, educators, caregivers, or anyone needing or desiring these materials. A place to hear Farida sing!
• Check out this article Farida wrote about Waldorf Storytelling at The Magic Onions.

Ladybug Child wishes you a fond farewell!

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Click to read more Spotlights!

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Copyright © 2013 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

A book of taste-tempting riddle poems with gorgeous art, yummy recipes, food for thought, and gardening tips, of course!

In What’s in the Garden? (Dawn Publications, 2013), Marianne Berkes and Cris Arbo celebrate the joys of growing and eating twelve familiar fruits and veggies with a cast of adorable, happily-engaged multiethnic kids.

This delightfully fun, interactive feast is served up in a clever format: children are asked to guess which fruit or vegetable is described in each of the catchy four-line poems, then turn the page for the answer, where they’ll find an easy recipe featuring the produce to stimulate their appetites.

Delicious, nutritious, what could it be?
In spring there are blossoms all over the tree.
Red, green, or yellow, with fruit that is round.
If you don’t pick it, it plops to the ground.

The spreads containing the poems show the edible plant growing in a variety of garden settings teeming with birds, beetles, caterpillars, butterflies, rabbits and slugs. Some of the animals are pests, others pollinators — all are vividly brought to life in Arbo’s realistic, exquisitely detailed illustrations, where children can practically feel the sun’s warmth, hear the bees buzzing and birds singing, smell the apple blossoms and damp soil. I cannot think of a better way to foster a love for the planet than by showing kids the vital connection between the natural world and the food they eat.

You plant them in rows and each forms a head.
Or else you can grow the “leaf” kind instead.
It grows rather quickly in loose, moist soil,
And if there’s some frost, it won’t even spoil.

After correctly guessing the fruit or veggie, of course the ultimate reward lies in preparing and eating the food — who doesn’t love applesauce, carrot muffins, blueberry pie, mashed potatoes, a fresh green salad? Yum! Arbo’s pictures show the kids having fun watering plants, pulling up carrots, biting into corn-on-the-cob, hugging a pumpkin. More spaghetti with tomato sauce, please!

* * *

It’s round. It’s tiny. It grows on a bush.
When made into sauce, it turns to a mush.
This fabulous fruit can be used as a dye,
And is really yummy in muffins and pie.

(click to enlarge)

* * *

Just bite its long leaf — you’ll be able to tell
The bulb underneath has a very strong smell.
It makes people cry so it’s cut in great haste,
But added in cooking, enhances the taste!

(click to enlarge)

* * *

I love the back matter — rich resources beautifully presented, inviting and accessible, never boring or overwhelming. Included are facts about each of the fruits and veggies, cooking tips and terms, plant parts, the basics for planting your own vegetable garden, and a list of garden songs, books and websites for further reference. You can also find a fabulous list of free downloadable activities at the publisher’s website that includes lots of bookmarks, a challenge to make a salad using all six plant parts, and a chance to find and identify all the pests and pollinators in the book.

(click to enlarge)

Just released this Spring, and already the recipient of several notable awards, What’s in the Garden? contains just the right ingredients to help kids understand where their food comes from, while encouraging them to get busy outside in their home or school gardens as well as inside their kitchens, on the way to developing a lifelong, healthy habit of eating good, fresh fruits and veggies.

And now, since you insist, I’ll have another bowl of French Onion Soup!

* * *

WHAT’S IN THE GARDEN?
written by Marianne Berkes
illustrated by Cris Arbo
published by Dawn Publications, 2013
Nonfiction Poetry Picture Book for ages 3-8, 32 pp.
Cool themes: science, nutrition, gardening, vegetables, fruits, cooking, poetry, diversity, nature, botany
*Available in hardcover and paperback, 25% off discount at publisher’s website

♥ Click here to learn more about how Cris Arbo creates her amazing artwork.

* * *

♥ WORDSWORTH WINNER! ♥

Thanks for all the great comments and guesses last week in our Wordsworth! Stop the Bulldozer! Giveaway.

In Frances’s current draft of It’s in Your Pocket, Wordsworth!, Wordsworth actually has three things in his pocket: a shell, an old penny, and a black and gold fountain pen.

No one guessed a shell or a penny, but someone, the first commenter, guessed “a pen.” And guess who that smart someone is?

Tabatha Yeatts!

– Congratulations, Tabatha, you’re our winner! –

Please send your snail mail address to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com to receive your signed copy of Wordsworth! Stop the Bulldozer!

And thanks for playing, everyone!

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Speaking of the brilliant Tabatha, she’s our Poetry Friday host this week at The Opposite of Indifference. Take her some Ants on a Log, and check out the full menu of poetic goodness being shared in the blogosphere.

All natural peanut butter made from freshly ground Virginia peanuts made just for you by Mr. Cornelius. ♥

Happy Gardening and Happy Weekend!

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* Spreads from What’s in the Garden? posted by permission of the publisher, text copyright © 2013 Marianne Berkes, illustrations © 2013 Cris Arbo, published by Dawn Publications. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2013 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.