Detroit Bean Salad $ Hack Recipe by Ruth Paget

Detroit Bean Salad $ Hack Recipe by Ruth Paget 

This bean salad with cheese cubes and sliced celery is something I made on “snow days” when Detroit (Michigan) Public Schools would be closed due to inclement weather that threatened power lines and clogged city streets. This Detroit blizzard bean salad does not require cooking, and is an inexpensive, vegetarian dish. You can easily leave out what you do not like as well. 

Serves 6 to 8 

Ingredients: 

1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed 

1 (16-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 (16-ounce) can navy beans, drained and rinsed 

1 (16-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed 

1 cup cubed cheddar or Swiss cheese 

4 stalks celery, rinsed and sliced in ½-inch slices 

1 cup French dressing or Italian dressing 

Steps: 

1-Place all ingredients in a large salad bowl and mix. 

2-Chill until serving 

Other blizzard weather tips: 

-serve the above salad on torn iceberg lettuce 

-place canisters of peanuts, cashew, and other nuts on counter tops while you can see them in case of power outage. 

-make tea in several pots and add bottled lemon juice. The tea that gets cold can be easily made into iced tea. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Eating Venetian Food in Detroit (Michigan) by Ruth Paget

Venetian Food in Detroit (Michigan) by Ruth Paget 

I ate my first Venetian meals in Detroit (Michigan) at Syros Restaurant, which was located behind my apartment building on Griswold Street.  The island of Syros is Greek, but at one time it was part of the Republic of Venice, which explains the restaurant’s Venetian dinner specials. 

My neighborhood’s Catholics, the priests from Saint Aloysius Church, the rabbis from the downtown synagogue, and fashion district workers all ate one or two meals at Syros thanks to reasonable prices on liver and fish dinners. 

I used my allowance on fegato alla veneziana (liver with caramelized onions) and baked fish made with lemon, olive oil, garlic, halved cherry tomatoes, and chopped parsley. Both dishes came with a side of peas and rice (risi e bisi). Detroit’s large Eastern Market kept produce from warmer climates available all winter long. 

Those two dinner items came with a cup of soup or a salad. The soups were chicken noodle or meatless minestrone. I liked the minestrone for the pinto beans, which tasted good with grated Parmesan. I never ate dessert, but they always had custardy rice pudding with vanilla and cinnamon available. I drank iced tea with my meal in summer and coffee with cream in the winter. 

These dinners are nice weekday meals. They are inexpensive and easy to make at home, if you learn how to handle the ingredients. Liver is rich in iron. There is a good recipe for it with grapes, sour cherries, and polenta, if you do not want onions, in Venetian Republic: Recipes from Veneto, Adriatic Croatia, and the Greek Islands by Nico Zoccali. 

For more information about the history and culture of Venice, readers might be interested in the book Inventing the World: Venice and the Transformation of Western Civilization by anthropologist Meredith F. Small. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Wisconsin $ Food Hacks by Ruth Paget

Wisconsin $ Food Hacks by Ruth Paget

Short post for big nutrition on a budget:

Oatmeal - lots of protein bang for your buck and fiber

Cranberries - full of vitamin C.

Cook fresh berries with sugar and add them to oatmeal muffins.

Maple syrup - sweetens up buckwheat pancakes

Buckwheat is a good source of iron.  Buckwheat pancakes have a sour taste, but maple syrup makes it less pronounced.

Food for thought for today.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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English Writing Skills Book List by Ruth Paget

English Writing Skills Book List by Ruth Paget 

I have used books like the following to prepare for college entrance exams and to write media releases over the years: 

For writing organization: 

 -Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide to Middle School by Ruth Culham 

-Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities for Students by Prestwick House 

-Cracking the AP English Language and Composition Exam by the Staff of Princeton Review 

For Vocabulary Building: 

-The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists by Jacqueline E. Kress and Edward B. Fry 

-Gruber’s SAT Word Master by Gary R. Gruber 

-1100 Words You Need to Know by Murray Bromberg and Melvin Gordon 

-Word Smart: 823 Words You Need to Know by Adam Robinson 

-Word Smart II by Adam Robinson 

-Word Smart: Genius Edition by Michael Freedman 

For Grammar and Punctuation: 

-English Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Woods 

-English Grammar Workbook for Dummies by Geraldine Woods 

-Complete English Punctuation Rules by Farlex International 

Reward for Learning the Basics: 

-A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver 

-The Making of a Poem: The Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland 

When I was the Youth Services Library for the Monterey County Free Libraries (California), I purchased books like these for the Youth Services Nonfiction Collection. This collection is updated yearly so there are probably even more books like these now to keep tomorrow’s writers busy. 

Happy Writing! 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Math Word Problems Practice Books List by Ruth Paget

Math Word Problems Practice Books List by Ruth Paget 

Students interested in careers in careers in engineering, accounting, finance, science, and management consulting might be interested in books that allow them to strengthen their skills in: 

Analysis - determining what a problem asks you to find as an answer and in what units 

Strategy Development – using the data in the problem to develop a plan to solve the problem 

I used books like the following when I was in high school to prepare for college entrance exams: 

-Math Problems Demystified by Allan G. Berman 

-How to Solve Word Problems in Arithmetic by Phyllis Pullman 

-How to Solve Word Problems in Mathematics by David Wayne 

-How to Solve Word Problems in Algebra by Mildred Johnson and Tim Johnson 

-How to Solve Math Word Problems on Standardized Tests by David S. Wayne 

-How to Solve Word Problems in Calculus by Eugene Don and Benny Don 

-400 Practice Algebra Word Problems (with Help and Solutions) by Douglas N. Shillady 

I purchased these books for the Young Adult Nonfiction collection when I was the Youth Services Librarian for the Monterey County Free Libraries in California. This library system also has online homework help that you can access with your library card number from a library computer or a home computer for problems that stump you despite explanations in the books. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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U.S. States and Capitals Game Created by Ruth Paget

U.S States and Capitals Game Created by Ruth Paget 

This game might interest aspiring politicians, journalists, customer service representatives, and public servants. 

For one or more players. 

Goals: 

1-Learn to pronounce names of U.S. states and capitals 

2-Learn to spell the names of U.S. states and capitals 

3-Learn the capitals of U.S. states 

Method: 

Make your own playing index cards to help with memorization. Write the name of the 50 U.S. states on index cards. Each state gets its own card. On the back of the card, write the name of the capital. 

Use the Google pronunciation feature to find out how the states and capitals are pronounced. 

Game 1: Learn State Pronunciations 

Look at the state name and pronounce it. If you need help memorizing pronunciation, write out your pronunciation tip in your own language on the back of the card. 

Keep playing until you know the pronunciations. 

Game 2: Learn State Capital Pronunciations 

Look at the capital name and pronounce it. If you need help memorizing pronunciation, write out your pronunciation tip in your own language on the back of the card. 

Keep playing till you can say all state names accurately. 

Game 3: Learn State Spellings  

Look at the state name or say it. Try to write down state name accurately. Check how you did. 

Keep playing till you can spell all state names accurately. 

Game 4: Learn State Capitals Spelling 

Look at the capital name or say it. Try to write down the capital name accurately. Check how you did. 

Keep playing till you can spell all state capital names accurately. 

Game 5: Identify State Capitals 

Look at the state name on the front of an index card and try to identify the capital. 

Keep playing till you can identify all state capitals with their states. 

Game 6: Reverse State Capital Play 

Look at the capital name on the back of the card and try to identify the state that goes with it. 

Keep playing until you can identify all states by their capital city. 

Games Created by Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tennessee Treasures by Ruth Paget

Tennessee Treasures by Ruth Paget 

Tennessee is world famous for its music (mountain music from East Tennessee, Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, and Memphis for Beale Street Blues), its barbecue, and its Tennessee whisky, but after reading Tennessee Hometown Cookbook by Sheila Simmons and Kent Whitaker, you can see that Tennessee’s rich cuisine deserves better recognition as well. 

The following appetizers and sides make resourceful use of Tennessee’s produce: 

-cowpea caviar – made with green, yellow, and red peppers; onions; tomatoes; and parsley 

-ham and cheese ball made with mushrooms and green onions 

-lime and cilantro creamy coleslaw 

-fried green tomatoes with onions and honey Dijon sauce 

A calorie-rich lunch for snowed-in mountain days follows: 

-sweet beer bread 

-smoked sausage lentil soup 

Tennessee whisky is the star of the following dishes: 

-George Dinkel Tennessee whisky pork chops 

-Jack Black barbecued ribs 

-Jack Daniels country-style beef ribs 

-Jack Daniels salmon 

Wine lovers might like the following cake: 

-muscadine wine coffee cake 

Tennessee Hometown Cookbook by Sheila Simmons and Kent Whitaker wraps up with a monthly listing of music and food festivals, which have oral storytellers, beauty pageants, carnivals, food contests, and children’s games. The cookbook packs a lot of information into 256 pages, making it a good purchase for a home cookbook collection. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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