Good Press

This is the second full week in a row that our county's schools have been closed because of bad weather. My daughter's teacher sent home work to be completed on snow days. To supplement that, she reads and has Play-Doh and crafts and she loves to write stories and letters. She gets a little bit of screen-time to go on PBSkids.org/go and to watch the occasional PBS cartoon. One morning this week she watched a "Sid the Science Kid" episode about nutrition. That, and the Olympics, spurred a full day of discussion about eating right and exercising to be strong and healthy. She worked out to her Denise Austin "Fit Kids" DVD and afterward said, "My heart is happy." Our "unit" included printables from the USDA and a story book about sneaky rabbits published right here in Terra Alta by Headline Books -- for which I am the new publicist. Every children's book Headline Books publishes has an educational component. "Grandfather's Garde...

My husband rolled his eyes at the name of this recipe. Hey! I didn't make it up! But he changed his tune once he bit into a warm, chewy cookie. "These cookies rock!" is his totally subjective and not all that descriptive opinion. CHOC-OAT-CHIP CHERRY COOKIES (All props to the recipe writers at Quaker Oats) 2 sticks margarine or butter, softened 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 tablespoons milk 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked) 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup dried tart cherries Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars with electric mixer until creamed. Add eggs, milk and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the butter-sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and cherries; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9 ...