SNOW!

Visit my Amazon author page to see the books I've written or co-authored!

I've been writing since childhood, and my published output reflects my diversity of interests:

• I wrote deeply philosophical poetry in middle school...
• I edited my high school newspaper, the Columbian, and wrote articles on a variety of subjects...
• I spent my college years writing papers and voiceovers for my radio program at WBRS-fm...
• While working backstage in the theatre in my first years in New York, I began proofreading for a publisher...
• As a book editor, I wrote a zillion reader's reports on some great but mostly not very good manuscripts...
• I wrote more than 1000 (!) back cover blurbs for romance novels and the flap copy on many hardcovers...
• And as for writing "what you know"--
• I've written a book on sisters (don't have any), a little handbook on being a bride (never married), two humor books about Christmas (don't celebrate it)--I like becoming an expert on something new!

As a professional co-writer, I wrote more than 40 cookbooks (plus a diet book, a self help book, and a coping with cancer book) with the late great JoAnna M. Lund. Under my own name, I've published anthologies on women's friendships and adoption, sold articles to Cosmopolitan and Hemispheres (United Airlines), and will have my first books for children coming out in fall 2011!

Please visit my Amazon page to read about my very interesting and varied writing career!
http://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Alpert/e/B000APG4C8

Beachcombing--Wind Chill Below Zero!

Phil Tates (from NY Paleo) invited me to go looking for arrowheads and fossils on the Tottenville, Staten Island beach Sunday. The weather was frigid, with tremendous wind, especially on the way back. But we had all the right clothes, including balaclavas (those hats that cover the lower face). I'll post what I found later. Also found some interesting sea glass, a native sponge, and some moon snail shells.

My last post appears to be missing--Sorry! Here's a look at our Lego Team!

I'm sure I uploaded an entry between January 4 and now, but perhaps I only previewed it and didn't put it in place. As I said, I'm still learning how to do this.

Saturday, January 16, our middle school Lego Robotics team took on many top private schools in the Manhattan qualifier event, top finishers to compete at the Javits Center later this spring.

The Little Warriors of East Harlem, the younger brother/sister ofTeam 1880 (which is currently designing this year's amazing robot--Jackie 6, I guess), did an amazing job. The research team gave a presentation about the Bionic Eye, though Sharai, Jahkia, and Egypt were disappointed they didn't get to do their Bionic Eye rap. The Lego Robot with drivers Karl Mena and Edwin Dominguez did great at the tables in three rounds of competitions!

WAR-RI-ORS!

oops, I'm still learning how to do this...here's the link again:

http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/Hello__Cupcake__Club.html

Did I mention I'm also a newbie cupcake baker/decorator?

Most of my baked goods projects have been fruit breads (applesauce raisin bread, cranberry pecan bread) although I have made a few pies from Ken Haedrich's books (Cranberry Pear Maple Nut Pie for Thanksgiving!). I even went through a yeast bread phase back in the early 90s during the first Gulf War (again, when Bantam published Ken Haedrich's COUNTRY BAKING book).

Recently, however, I fell madly for Karen Tack's and Alan Richardson's two cupcake decorating books, HELLO, CUPCAKE and WHAT'S NEW, CUPCAKE! I spotted them online, avidly watched their videos on Amazon, and finally got a chance to meet them at an event at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center--a bookstore that will be very much missed! One of my favorite cupcakes from the 2nd book is a fantastic creation: the Lo Mein cupcake. Here's a photo of my first effort-- not bad!

You tint commercial white icing with yellow food coloring and a bit of cocoa, then pile "noodles" all over the top of a cupcake. Then you take a green fruit chew or Tootsie Roll, split it partway with a sharp knife, and put a blob of green icing at each end of the two split pieces. Finally, you dip those blobs in green-tinted nonpareils--it's totally believable as broccoli! A few snips of pink and green Twizzlers for roast pork and scallions, and you've got the sweetest Chinese food this side of Paradise....

Karen and Alan are so amazingly inventive when it comes to cupcake decorating. Their newsletter this month has the greatest football cupcakes, so if you are planning to have anyone over for the playoffs or the SuperBowl, you've got to try them. Here's the link:

http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/Hello__Cupcake__Club.html

They are GREAT!

A nice guy named Frank helped identify my turtle shell...

According to him, it appears to be a female red-eared slider turtle shell. They apparently grow to 12 inches and are native to Staten Island.

Yikes! I have two red-eared sliders in my classroom that I got on Craigslist. One is about 4 inches, the other about 5-6 inches. Apparently they can live for many years and grow quite a bit larger.... Well, I'll hope they don't grow too much too soon.

So--on the same day I also found this giant fish head with tongue but no teeth. A nearby fisherman suggested it was from a 65 pound striped bass...and no, I didn't keep it!

HAPPY TO BE HOME! and HAPPY 2011!

It felt strange watching the ball drop in San Francisco airport terminal while waiting for the red-eye to depart. I read the last 200 pages of THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE and caught a couple of hours of restless sleep before we landed nearly an hour early! Home via the AirTrain and subway, then a few more hours' sleep.

While I was away, I realized I had left my 8 inch turtle shell soaking in alcohol--yikes! (It's the one I found on the beach in Staten Island back in November.) I figured the extra time wouldn't matter but I really didn't know. Preparing specimens is something I know very little about. I removed the shell from the alcohol and rinsed it thoroughly. Then I used scissors, a pliers, and some kitchen knives to try and get the remaining bits of flesh from the inside. After a while, I realized that the shell had cracked and that the top and bottom had separated. Phooey. But it did make it much easier to clean.

Here are photos of the top and bottom. I don't know what kind of turtle it is but I'm hoping to get some help in identification as well as do more research online.