I have the sweetest giveway EVER for you guys today, but first you get to hear about my Valentine’s Day.
This year, my Valentine took me out for my very, very, very favorite thing, which is a cream tea. For those of you who haven’t yet had the experience of the wonderfulness that is cream tea, it is a lavish spread of little sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, and all sorts of delectable little cakes and pastries, all served on elegant plates with linen tablecloths and china teapots and teacups and fancy little napkins. There is a lovely little tea-room near us that he takes me to every now and again, and he is always the only guy in the place…further demonstrating his love and devotion and reminding me why I am so head over heels crazy about him.
Well, that and the fact that there is something about how he looks in his cowboy boots that just kills me.
But I digress.
So there we were in the Harmony Tea Room, having our tea and scones and gazing into each other’s eyes and acting generally all Valentine-ish, and all the scrumptious little tea cakes reminded me of this wonderful and easy crumb cake I made last weekend. It was fast and simple and just delicious, and perfect to have with your own cup of tea at home.
It also gave me a great idea for a Valentine’s Day giveaway. I knew I wanted something pink and fancy, and since I have been on a run of cookbook giveaways lately, I wanted something just a little tiny bit different. (don’tworry, I am not at ALL done with cookbooks to give away. Many more to come.) But in the meantime, here is the pinkest, fanciest book I know.
Isn’t she fabulous? And lo and behold, look at this:
She is a girl after my own heart.
Now, while the folks who will adore these books the most are probably around 4 or 5 or 6 years old, I have to tell you that I do adore them a whole lot myself. Fancy Nancy is funny and sassy and fancy and loves a good recipe, especially if it involves sprinkles. The recipe below doesn’t involve sprinkles, but it DOES involve blueberries and a delicious crumb topping, which is almost as good. So the next time you are looking for something special to make for your own Valentine, give this a try. In the meantime, I have three copies of both FANCY NANCY and FANCY NANCY TEA PARTIES to give away to three lucky commenters…just leave me a comment below telling me what your favorite children’s book is. (As always, my beloved email subscribers can enter by clicking on the title of this post, which will take you to the website where you can leave your comment.) Winners announced Saturday, February 20 at 7pm.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. I love all of you.
BLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE, from Everyday Food
Ingredients Directions
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My favorite children's book is definitely "Aesop's Fables." I still can remember putting myself into the stories. Can't wait till my granddaughter is old enough to truly enjoy this book!
My favorite children's book, which is STILL one that i can not read out loud because i choke up progressively with each page and wind up having to put it down, is "Love You Forever" by robert munsch.
but i have 2 girls here that LOVE fancy nancy! although junie b. jones holds her own pretty well around here, too!
My favorite children's book is Angelina Ballerina! Either that or Goodnight Moon….
Oh this would be fun- my daughter is 4 and just taught herself to read. I think she'd like the Fancy Nancy books! Her favorite books right now are the Madeline books, anything with Max and Ruby (by Rosemary Wells), and Woolbur (the story of a little sheep who does everything a little differently). Fun, thanks!
I've read so many books to my children when they were younger that it would be hard to choose a favorite. Now I read to the neighbor's children when I sit with them. We love An Outlaw Thanksgiving, A Cricket in Times Square, Good Night Moon, Ned and the Purple Crayon, If you give a pig a pancake. I could go on and on. With a book and a child, life is satisfying.
My daughter is four, and one of our favorite books at the moment is "Paper Bag Princess". I love "Goodnight Moon", but my favorite children's books are "The Giving Tree" and "Bear Snores On."
My little girl would LOVE the Nancy books!
have you saw the Pinkalicous book? So cute, it is my 5 year old's current favorite book. My favorites were the Little Bear books & Richard Scary (I loved the drawings in his books, still do)from that age and then Little House when I was a bit older (I read those till the backs were loose)
and thank you so much for this recipe, I have all of the ingredients and was wanting to do something with the blueberries besides muffins which is my usual blueberry bread type recipe to use. This will be perfect for an afternoon treat tomorrow
such a darling post… it all sounds so wonderful… fabulous yummie food and lots of love… it doesnt get much better … happy valentine's day… xx pam
i can't wait to make this!
cute story, btw.
my favorite would be, "The Giving Tree." =
Goodnight Moon has always been and will always be my fav!
I am buying blueberries today ! We have tea every afternoon and usually scones from the local bakery make do, I will surprise my husband with something fresh..
"The Giving Tree" .. my all-time Favorite .
Oh my goodness – how to pick just one favorite?! Winnie the Pooh, the original A.A. Milne books, Angelina Ballerina series, Bramly Hedge series, and all of Marie Louise Gay's books. Thanks for the chance to win the books, my little nieces would really enjoy them – maybe my teenage daughter will too…Take care, Michele
How in the world does one select just one?! I totally enjoy Jan Brett's books..any of them. There are too many to name. The art is wonderful and there is always a "hidden" picture/hint to lead you to the next page!
Judith Viorst has some lovely titles, also…who doesn't love Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!
I love the Skippy Jon Jones books. They make me laugh! There are, however, about a million children's books that I'm in love with, including Fancy Nancy.
I love Angelina Ballerina and also There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly. The blueberry crumb cake looks great, I can't wait to try it.
I loved the Little House on the Prairie series when I was younger and before that, it was all about the Berenstein Bears, then Ramona Quimby and that maid who always did everything wrong except make really good cake. LOL–that sounds a lot like me now!
Always loved "Winken, Blinken and Nod" – wonderful bedtime reading!
Hands down, Shel Silverstein is my favorite children's author. The Giving Tree (already mentioned above), Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic – I loved them all as a child, and today I still delight in his poetry!
I didn't ever realize until about 6 or 7 years ago that Shel had also written alot of "adult" material. A boyfriend introduced me to his music, an I still remember listening to "Freakin' at the Freakers Ball" for the first time, wide-eyed with surprise. This was the same guy who wrote Hug O' War (my favorite!) and Eighteen Flavors?? LOL!!
~Carrie
iheartpink@q.com
My favorite children's book was Mrs Piggle Wiggle. Can't wait to read it to my children.
My favorite children's book is Goodnight Moon. The other night my daughter was reading it to my friends toddler and it melted my heart!
I have always adored The Velveteen Rabbit….it's message about inner beauty seems perfect in this day and age!
Pattie in Las Vegas said…
My favorite children's books are the Dr. Seuss books. I love to try reading them as fast as i can without messing up the tongue twisters.
Growing up I had a lot of favorites but looking back a few stick out.
- Box Car Children
- If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
BTW that tea spread sounds awesome.
Love your blog! Lots of fun recipes! Thank you
My favorite Childrens book is Ping! Its about a little duck that lives on a boat on a river in China and he gets left behind on the shore one day….Anyway, LOVE Fancy Nancy! Really cute books!
I Will Always Love You. A tear jerker of a story about the love between a boy and his dog!
I think my favorite childrens book is Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs with Ham. I can't wait for my new grand daughter to be born so I can read to her.
Thanks so much for the yummy recipes. We loved the Italian Wedding Soup.
Too many to choose from, but I will always sit down to listen to Good Night Moon or Harold and the Purple Crayon no matter how old I am