Bravo Zulu, Samantha!

Ideas for book clubs

FOR BRAVO ZULU, SAMANTHA! :

VENUE: Do you live in Wisconsin? Lucky you! As a book group, you could attend EAA Venture and see all the newly designed planes competing. However if, like me, you live on the other side of the country, why not set up your home for a night of World Record contests? Here are a few for you to try along with the current world records. They aren’t as easy as they look:

1. Longest time for keeping a soccer ball controlled on your head while seated.
The Record? 4 hours, 2 minutes, 1 second by Agim Agushi of
Serbia on August 12, 2005

2. Longest Time Breath has been voluntarily held
The Record:? 16 minutes, 13 seconds by Tom Sietas in
Madrid Spain on February 23, 2008

3. Fastest Game of Operation
The Record? 1 minute, 2 seconds by British Association of
Urological Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland on June 28, 2001

4. Most Powdered Donuts Eaten in 3 minutes
The Record? Five by Christopher Boykins in LA, California
on September 27, 2007

5. Most Clothes Pegs Clipped on One Hand in One Minute
The Record? 48 By Mohammed Ahmed Elkhouly in Dubai
on April 21, 2007

6. The Tallest Cookie Tower Ever Built
The Record? 5 Feet 2 inches Built by the Girl Scouts of
Columbus, Ohio on September 15, 2007

Or why not try spelling your name out in the phonetic alphabet? You can even send each other secret messages that you will have to translate.

Here is an online resource to help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet

FOOD: Grandma and Sam pick strawberries and then, make a strawberry pie. My grandmother was an amazing pie maker, and she gave me some great pie recipes. Here is her recipe for strawberry pie and another one for strawberry tarts with whipped cream. They are easy to make and fun to serve.

Strawberry Pie:
I frozen pie shell- or you can make your own
1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
¼ c. lemon juice
1-quart fresh strawberries
Bake pie shell. Cool. Mix milk, lemon and cleaned strawberries. Pour into pie shell. Refrigerate for two hours before serving.

Strawberry Tarts:
1 Box Frozen Mini Phyllo Shells
1 cup whipping cream
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ c. sugar
1T. fresh lemon juice
1 pint strawberries, cleaned and cut into small pieces

Beat whipping cream to soft peaks. Using wooden spoon, stir cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice in large bowl until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Cover and chill until ready to use.

To prepare, fill each mini phyllo shell with whipped cream mixture. Top with strawberries and serve.

ONLINE RESOURCE: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/peopleevents/index.html

SPECIAL GUEST:

Why not ask your grandfathers to attend your book group? Have each child introduce their grandfather and explain what their grandfather did or still does for work. What did he find interesting about his career? Does he like being retired? What has he done to fill his time since leaving the work force?