Newt is still working at the farm, though technically we can’t call it an internship anymore. She is now being paid: a half gallon of farm fresh milk and a dozen free-range eggs every week. She is so proud to be helping put food on our table.
She may be the one with a pitchfork in her hands, but I do my part too. Every week, I perform quality control tests on the front porch rocker. It has to hold my weight, the weight of whatever book I’m reading, and quite frequently to weight of one of the oh-so-friendly farm cats. So far, there have been no problems but I’ll keep testing it out every week, just in case.

What I’ve Been Reading
I should sub-title this week’s Reading Chair as The Not Much New Week.
Are you sick of hearing that I have not started anything new because I am still working on Cheaper by the Dozen and Gulliver’s Travels? Me too, but good news! I finished one of them this week and am almost finished with the other.
In the meantime, there is always time to peruse cookbooks.
I spent a lovely afternoon on the farm reading The Amish Cook: Recollections and Recipes from an Old Order Amish Family. When we lived in Maryland we would occasionally drive into Pennsylvania and go the the Amish farmers markets. This book made me homesick for those trips. It is stuffed with beautiful full-color photographs depicting Amish life. I’d enjoy this book for the pictures alone, but the recipes look wonderful too. Interspersed through the book are little snippets about the history of the Amish and how they live today. I knew that they did not use electricity, but I had never considered that that means they do not have refrigerators. It was interesting for me to learn some of their methods of food storage and preparation.
Much like the people themselves, the recipes are simple and hearty, yet graceful. There are such basics as cooked oatmeal or mashed potatoes alongside the less well known Amish Wedding Nothings, a traditional wedding pastry. I’m intrigued by Zucchini Brownies and Peach Custard Pie.
Fall is here and I’m ready to do some baking. My only problem is deciding which recipe to try first.

What I’ve Been Reading to Newt
We’re still enjoying The Magician’s Nephew and I Walked to Zion, but we did read a good picture book today. Even though Newt is getting older, picture books are still a great, and entertaining, way to add to her knowledge base.
We have been studying Christopher Columbus. Who Discovered America? proved to be a really nice supplement. It talks about many different groups of people who may have made it to the Americas before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Some, like the Vikings in about 1000 AD, have been proven by archeologists. Others, like João Vaz Corte-Real in 1472, have no hard documented proof but the strong possibility exists. There are so many “discoverers” of America, not to mention the original inhabitants. This has been quite an interesting read for both of us.

What Newt’s Been Reading
Are you ready for this? Surprise! Newt is still reading The Land of the Silver Apples. It’s a pretty long book; I don’t expect her to finish it too soon.
She is also spending some quality time with her favorite comic characters with Peanuts 2000: The 50th Year Of The World’s Favorite Comic Strip. Newt loves to listen to Beethoven while she reads comics. Interesting kid, but I don’t question her methods.

How is your reading coming along this week? Anything new and interesting? Do tell.

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