Classical Music & Cookbooks

 Andrew's 1st grade class was connecting the characters of "Peter and the Wolf" to their assigned instruments.  It was a 2-week study, and at the end, I was wanting to hear additional versions of the story, especially since his teacher mentioned how in some versions some of the animals really do get eaten by the wolf.  The combination of a book with a classical CD is wonderful! My seven-year-old not only listened to the story, but hung in their for the music as well.  If you have young children in school, check in with them to see if they are studying any works like this in music class.  

Our classical music investigation has continued with "The Carnival of the Animals."  We were listening to a CD of selections to help Olana select something to work on for her spring piano recital.  "The Swan" seemed easy enough.  As I looked into the background of the piece, I was surprised to find it in a collection called "The Carnival of the Animals."  I was even more surprised to find a children's book written by Jack Prelutsky. His short 8-12 line poems about the different characters in the work really depicted the music beautifully.  Our favorites in his compilation were the elephant, piano instructor and fossils.  Such humor and artistry!

For myself, I've been reading cookbooks.  "Entice with Spice" has Indian recipes I'm excited to work on for our family.  I found ground coriander at Wal-Mart and that was the only store in Sioux Falls that carried it.  Evidently there are more worldly shoppers at Wal-Mart than its counterparts.  Anca's cookbook had several recipes I made including pizza crust, popovers, rice pilaf and blueberry crumble.  I was impressed with the nutritional information as well as the way the food turned out (sorry, no photos...we were hungry!)