Tutorial: How to make origami heart with wings

Homemade Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients

1 pound fettuccini                                                     

1 pint heavy cream

1 stick of butter (unsalted)

1 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated

1/10 tspn nutmeg

½ tspn salt

½ tspn black pepper

½ tspn garlic powder

Step 1: In a saucepan heat heavy cream over med-low heat and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Add butter and stir to melt. Whisk together to combine both ingredients.

Step 2: Add cheese to mixture and stir. Add salt, garlic powder, pepper and nutmeg to mixture and stir. When the cheese has fully melted the sauce is rich, creamy and ready to serve.

Step 3: After the fettuccine pasta is cooked but firm drain and pace in the bowl. Pour the alfredo sauce on top of the fettuccine, serve, and enjoy! :)

Homemade Pasta with Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

1.   Pasta (any type)

2.   Ragu sauce

3.   2-3 pounds ground meat

4.   Red pepper powder

5.   Crushed black pepper

Step 1:

Place your pasta in a cooking pot, and fill it with water. Cook it on med-low until it is nice and squishy. Drain all the water out in a strainer and let the pasta sit for about 5-10 minutes.

Step 2:

Take the meat and cook it on med-low until the meat turns a brownish-reddish color. While the meat is cooking add in the spices, which are red pepper powder and crushed black pepper. Feel free to add any additional spices to make a specific flavors. Stir the meat until the spices are absorbed in the meat.

Step 3:

Add pasta in the pot with the meat. Then add in 3 cups of the Ragu sauce and mix until the sauce is spread evenly across the meat and the pasta. Now your easy simple pasta with meat sauce is ready! Serve immediately and enjoy! J

2015 Summer Reading List

Tangle of Knots                                                  
Author: Lisa Graff

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age level: 8-12

****

Absolutely Almost

 Author: Lisa Graff

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age level: 9-13

*****

One for the Murphy’s

Author: Lynda Mullay Hunt

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age level: 10-12

*****

Turtle in Paradise

Author: Jennifer L. Holm

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age level: 10-12

***

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

 Author: Avi

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age level: 10-14

****

One Crazy Summer

Author: Rita Williams -Garcia

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age level: 10-12

****

Inside Out and Back Again

Author: Thanhha Lai

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age level: 10-14

****

All Summer Stars

Author: Jara Davis

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age level: 10-14

*****

Lily’s World

Hi! I am Lily from the one and only Lily’s hobby lobby. I am 10 years old and I live with my mother, father, and my younger brother in Virginia. My blog is about my hobbies which include reading, art, baking and origami. So far I have mostly written about books I have read. Reading is a very important part of my family’s daily routine. Everyone in my family loves to sit in a cozy corner with a book.

 Books have given me incredible knowledge, intellect, excitement and great life lessons. I wanted to share all that I learnt from books with all of you. You know how that saying goes “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it” (Margaret Fuller). So I hope you will find my book reviews /summaries interesting and may be you will feel tempted to read those books as well.

Please feel free to give your positive comments that can help me improve.

I look forward to this adventure J

 

Book Review: The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

The Breadwinner

By Deborah Ellis

This book is about an 11 year old girl, Parvana who lived in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Taliban, the extremist group who use the name of Islam to oppress people ruled her country. She lived in one bedroom apartment with her parents, baby brother, and 2 sisters. Her entire city showed signs of destruction and devastation. Her father, the only breadwinner of the family, was a history teacher. He lost his leg in a bomb explosion and could not teach any more. All he could do was sit on the roadside and read or write letters for people who were not literate. Things got even worst for Parvana’s when her dad got arrested, his only crime was knowing a foreign language. Parvana had to step up and earn some money to support her family. Since The Taliban did not allow women to slip out of their homes, allowing them to work was out of question. Parvana decided to dress up as a boy to avoid the Taliban’s attention and become the breadwinner of her household. Will Parvana be able to earn a livelihood for her family? Will she ever be able to escape from the Taliban’s oppression and live a free life? Will she be able to do something to get father out of jail? I will not spoil the ending for you J

I enjoyed reading this book a lot. Throughout this book I felt sadness in my heart for all those girls who actually have to live under the oppression of Taliban. They are not allowed to go to school and are forced to do what they do not want to, like wearing a burqa ( a full body cover). No one deserves the kind of life Parvana had to live. While reading this book, I felt gratitude for the free life I live. I get to make choices as to what to wear, I get to choose my activities, I will get to choose my career, all of these are blessings that I am truly grateful for.

I hope one day Kabul is a free city and that girls get to school and have respect in the society. Hopefully you will want to read this book and discover how this young girl Parvana changes the course of her life. Parvana is a symbol of hope, courage and perseverance. Many thanks to the author Debborah Ellis for writing this book and bringing awareness about issues in Afghanistan to the young American audience.  

Book Review: Sahara Special By Esme Raji Codell

Sahara special is one of my favorite books. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this phenomenal book. A 12 year old girl Sahara who lives in a bad Chicago neighborhood, has 2 files. Her counselor keeps one file which is evidence that she is a fifth grader that needs special services and one that she keeps, hidden from everyone, her Heart Wrenching Story and Amazing adventures. Her father abandoned her and her mother when she was in third grade. Her personality has been severely affected by her dad’s move. She spends all her time writing letters to her dad and not focusing on her school work at all. This has caused Sahara to be pulled out in the hallway for a Special Needs program. Everyone calls her Sahara Special because of her special needs class. Things get even worst when her mom intervenes to pull her out of the special needs program and makes her repeat fifth grade. Sahara is very intimidated to be in the class with normal kids. 

             The story takes an interesting twist here. Her new fifth grade teacher turns out to be a blessing in disguise. With the help of Madam Pointy and her sort of weird ways Sahara learns how to bring her true self to life. The last chapter unfolds Sahara proving to everyone that she is not a special kid. Her true self was in her all along, she just did not know how to bring it out. 

          My favorite part in the book is when they read their essay My Name in the class. I liked reading Sahara’s essay. I loved seeing Sahara’s character transforming from a shy and intimidated person to a confident girl who believed in herself.

        I highly recommend this book to kids in grades 3-7. I hope my review is helpful and that I have convinced you enough to read this book.