Immortal Trees Bookshop weekly newsletter: Issue 10

Thursday, July 6

Hooray for July! This month is one of my favorites! My mom's birthday is this month (happy birthday, Mom!), decorations are colorful popsicles and red/white/blue fireworks, and people are posting pictures of family, outdoor fun, and traveling. Food colors are even vibrant: deep pink watermelon, rich green leafy salads, juicy red tomatoes...summer is celebrations and color for me. It brings up memories of summer camp, family vacations, and pool fun.

What does July mean to you? Do you have anything fun planned for the next few weeks?

You don't have to go far or spend a lot to add a little fun to your weekend. It's hot here in the Valley of the Sun, so consider moving the furniture, getting everyone to bring their pillows, lay down some sheets in front of the tv, and have a sit-in movie theater! Offer popsicles and popcorn, and turn off all the lights so it's like you are outside at the drive-in. Or check out your city's community pool. When Aurora was younger, we would go to the pool in North Glendale, (we lived at 35th Ave and Union Hills at the time), and it was only a few dollars to get in. I would take a few extra dollars for ice cream bars, and she would meet new friends to play with. The one we went to had a lazy river, a slide (maybe two? I can't remember), and a splash kids area. At the time, it was under $5 admission. That was more than 10 years ago, so I don't know what current prices are, but I'm betting they are cheaper than the big water parks. And don't forget that Culture Pass thing I told you about a few weeks ago. If you missed it, go google Arizona Culture Pass; lots free things to do, and some of them are even indoors.

I hope your summer is memorable. Come in and tell us the fun things you are doing!

SHOWCASED GUEST AUTHOR: July 8

PUBLISHING WORKSHOP EVENT: July 27

Hershey KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly)

Anyone who has known me long enough knows that I don't cook very often, and I usually volunteer to do the dishes at parties rather than host the meal. When I have attended "everyone brings something" events, I usually volunteer for dessert. (Or deviled eggs because they are hard to get wrong.) My go-to dessert is often a hit, and because I love our customers so much, I've decided to share my not-so-secret dessert recipes with you. I have two, and they are really easy.

Recipe #1: Peanut Butter cookies:

1 cup Peanut Butter (I use creamy, but I imagine you can use chunky too)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Unwrapped Hershey Kisses (enough for one for each cookie and a few extras for you)

Mix peanut butter, sugar, and egg together. Roll into balls. Put on baking sheet. Press a Hershey Kiss into center of each cookie.

Bake for 10ish mins at 350. Tips of kisses will be a little burnt. Cookies should be soft. Number of cookies depends on how much dough you use per. (Sorry, I just eye-ball things, so cooking details is not a strength.)

Recipe #2a: Devil's Food Cake Mix Cookies

1 box of Devil's Food Cake cake mix (I get whatever brand is on sale)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. It will be thicker than usual cake mix. Roll into balls. Bake for 10ish mins, 350 degrees.

Optional: Before baking, wrap dough around unwrapped Hershey Kisses, Rolos, or Reese's cups (the smaller, individually wrapped ones). I call these Surprise cookies.

Recipe #2b: Pineapple Upside Down Cake Mix Cookies

1 box Pineapple Cake cake mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

ICING:

Powdered sugar

Maraschino Cherry jar liquid

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. Roll into balls. Bake for 10ish mins, 350 degrees. Let cool before adding icing:

Mix powdered sugar with a TINY amount of liquid from Maraschino Cherry jar. You don't need much. Drizzle thin stripes of icing over cookies. (And then you can use the cherries to add to a fruit salad.)

These are easy and quick, and good recipes for kids to help with. They are easy to transport, not too messy, and are good for different food needs and tastebuds.

• The first recipe is good for people who cannot eat gluten. Smart thing to take to a party with lots of people, especially children, because they are finding more and more people who should not eat gluten-foods. Label it with the list of ingredients so that person knows they can enjoy dessert too. (Check your peanut butter label ahead of time just in case.)

• Peanut butter is in a few of these recipes. Make sure to label cookies to inform those with peanut allergies.

• Some people don't like chocolate. <shrug> I don't understand, but I try not to judge. :) The pineapple option (or yellow, strawberry, lemon, or even carrot cake mixes) would be great for non-chocolate eaters (or for a summery, colorful dessert.) The pic below shows Red Velvet with white choco chippies. Might be my next batch!

• None of these options are sugar-free or vegan.

• Because the first cookie has so much peanut butter in it, consider taking them on long day trips or even the airplane. If it's going to be hot, trade out the kisses for M&Ms or Reese's pieces. The protein in the cookies is a good snack to get you to the next meal.

So let me know if you make any of these recipes. And let me know if you have any other easy, party dessert recipes I can add to my collection. :)

Happy baking!

P.S. The cookies are pictured below. They look pretty good, eh?

Saturday, July 22: Christmas in July!

Reaching out to our community

We are looking to reach out to more people through newspaper and magazine paid advertising and then hopefully hire a few employees so we can plan more events and programming for our shop. We are asking our community to help us out by spreading the word about our Go Fund Me account. You can read all about our shop and our plan to use the funds at the link below. (I took the previous really long-winded descriptions from previous newsletters out so I could add new stuff to this newsletter.)

Thank you, as always, for supporting us!

Editor's last words: Water

I don't like to drink water. I know, I live in Arizona, so it's definitely a must, but it's not my go-to drink. (My kid drinks almost ONLY water.) I prefer soda pop, and if I have to drink water, I often times add MiO. (Strawberry Watermelon flavor is my favorite, and the generic brand is good too.)

However, I just finished a really good book called Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown, and I got to thinking differently about water. This book is an 1819 historical realistic fiction novel about a woman pirate who kidnaps a rich man's chef because she likes his food. The chef is given the choice of cooking for her once a week or being thrown overboard. (I don't want to give anymore away because I'm book-club reading this with a sweet friend of mine, and she might not be done reading yet.) The chef has a French cuisine palate, and he is used to the luxuries of wealthy, shore living. Fresh drinking water, as you know, doesn't keep very well at sea, so ships often carried some form of liquid that had fermented fruits/grains added (wines, punches, ales, and most commonly, rum) so they wouldn't get dysentery. (Look it up. Bad cooties.) The chef in this book talks about the different things they have to drink on the ship, including something they call "panch". He says it is AWFUL, and when he finally gets a chance to go on land and drink fresh water, he is in heaven.

It got me thinking about how important water is here to our hot-weather culture. Even though I don't like drinking water, I know how wonderful it can taste if I am hot or dehydrated. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to have to live in an environment where the water is dirty and poisonous, going days even weeks without fresh, pure, unflavored water. I know there are people even today in some places who live daily with only undrinkable water within walking distance. I'm thankful for science and our municipal engineers who work to keep our water drinkable. I love having the choice to drink safe, clean water whenever I want it, and I recognize it is a luxury.

I highly recommend both this book above and another book Aurora read in middle school: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Both show environments where water's moods, value, and life-giving magic are showcased, and fresh water is a gift rather than a norm. Read them while drinking a tall glass of water. I'm positive it will taste great.

Have a happy and hydrated week!

P.S. Cinnamon and Gunpowder is actually a fantastic book, especially if you are a foodie or like to cook. Great parallel international history, some good make-you-think things about religion, and lots of piraticalness. Arrrrr!

~ Charity and Amy (and Jack and Toothless)