Luciana, the National Air and Space Museum, and Astronaut Ice Cream

Boldly going where few dolls have gone before!

Way back when I started collecting American Girl dolls again, I told myself I wasn’t going to collect the modern dolls. Several Girls of the Year later, and we all know how that turned out. 

This year, the Girl of the Year is Luciana Vega, a Chilean-American girl growing up in Virginia who dreams of being the first girl on Mars. To make that goal happen, she attends Space Camp, gets SCUBA certified, learns about teamwork, and presumably will have a few more adventures before the year’s out. Everyone – myself included – is very enchanted with her STEM focused collection and unique accessories, and while I had a couple issues with her first book, overall, she’s an extremely solid addition to the Girl of the Year line up. 

I was also excited about her introduction because there’s still an obvious Public History connection between Luciana and the museum world in DC: the National Air and Space Museum! I’ve visited there before with Molly (and plenty of times since then!), but our coverage was a lot more Air than Space. A few weeks ago, I headed down there to give you all a look at one of the most visited museums in the world from a doll’s eye view, complete with a discussion of one of the most popular items sold in any space themed museum gift shop.

Nellie's Irish Brown Bread

Homemade bread made easy!

If there’s a baked good to enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s definitely traditional Irish soda bread. I shared my family’s favorite recipe for it with you guys a couple years ago if you’re looking for a tried and true favorite that’s really easy to make and guaranteed to hit the spot. It was also the first Nellie themed post on A Peek into the Pantry! 

But if you’re looking for something new and different, I think I’ve found something that will fit right in to any Irish themed festivities you might be planning that’s just as easy, and way tasty. Whether you’re eating it with a nice stew or a morning cup of tea, this bread is definitely worth checking out.

Nanea's Guava Bread

Just like Mrs. Mitchell used to make… more or less!

I really can’t gush enough about how hungry I was reading Nanea’s books. It seemed like her mother was always taking the time to make some delicious treat for special occasions, average weekend mornings, or to bring comfort to friends in need. One treat that came up over and over again was her guava bread, which the Mitchell family would often enjoy for breakfast. 

I’m going to say right off the bat that it didn’t live up to my expectations as a fruit bread. However, as a nut bread? I think we have a winner. Read on to find out what went in to making this Mitchell family favorite!