Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Books
I've been doing a lot of reading. Partly for classes but also spring break was a nice chance to catch up on reading for fun and now that The Crucible is over I've got more free time.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult was great. It's about a school shooting: who it affected, what led up to it, how relationships changed in the aftermath. I've read several of Picoult's books now and I've liked all of them. They always involve a court case about some controversial issue but it's about the lives of the people involved not the drama of the court. Keeping Faith: stigmata and custody. Change of Heart: terminally ill child needs a heart transplant and death row inmate found guilty of killing her step-father wants to donate his. My Sister's Keeper: daughter sues parents to prevent them from forcing her to donate her kidney to her dying sister. All were wonderful in my opinion. Vanishing Acts is about a women who finds out that her father kidnapped her as a toddler. The book focuses on her father's trial and her love triangle with her alcoholic husband and best friend who's always loved her but has played 3rd wheel since they were all kids together. This was the only one of her's I didn't care for.
Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska I read for my history class but I couldn't put it down. It's about a Jewish girl living in the slums of New York in the early 1900s. She rejects her family traditions (getting married to whatever con-man dupes her dad) to go work her butt off to support herself and pay her way through college to become a teacher. I loved the author's voice and the relationship with her father. He comes up with one crazy scheme after another, all of which fail miserably and much as she wants to abandon him at times, he's still her dad.
I'm reading Beloved by Toni Morrison right now. So far, I like it but I won't say more until I finish.
I'd love suggestions on what to read next.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult was great. It's about a school shooting: who it affected, what led up to it, how relationships changed in the aftermath. I've read several of Picoult's books now and I've liked all of them. They always involve a court case about some controversial issue but it's about the lives of the people involved not the drama of the court. Keeping Faith: stigmata and custody. Change of Heart: terminally ill child needs a heart transplant and death row inmate found guilty of killing her step-father wants to donate his. My Sister's Keeper: daughter sues parents to prevent them from forcing her to donate her kidney to her dying sister. All were wonderful in my opinion. Vanishing Acts is about a women who finds out that her father kidnapped her as a toddler. The book focuses on her father's trial and her love triangle with her alcoholic husband and best friend who's always loved her but has played 3rd wheel since they were all kids together. This was the only one of her's I didn't care for.
Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska I read for my history class but I couldn't put it down. It's about a Jewish girl living in the slums of New York in the early 1900s. She rejects her family traditions (getting married to whatever con-man dupes her dad) to go work her butt off to support herself and pay her way through college to become a teacher. I loved the author's voice and the relationship with her father. He comes up with one crazy scheme after another, all of which fail miserably and much as she wants to abandon him at times, he's still her dad.
I'm reading Beloved by Toni Morrison right now. So far, I like it but I won't say more until I finish.
I'd love suggestions on what to read next.
Veggies for My Omnivore
Living with my husband and brother I've had to work on compromise when it comes to cooking: they love meat and I love veggies. Not that any of us refuses the other but over the last year and a half I've been working on getting them to eat more veggies and finding meals that keep all of us happy.
Yesterday and today I made two delicious vegetarian meals which satisfied everyone.
This pasta primavera was delicious served with rosemary bread fresh out of the oven. The bread recipe makes 4 small loaves (more like large rolls). Stephen came home just as I was taking the first batch out of the oven; he was greeted with an amazing smell and me gobbling half a loaf at the stove! The leftover rolls are going to make great sandwiches, or maybe bread bowls for later in the week. Oh yeah, and I didn't have any plain rosemary on hand so I used some rosemary garlic. I'm a huge garlic fan, maybe this way was even better than the original? Haven't tried it the "right" way yet so I don't know.
Tonight we had black bean soup with johnnycakes from Cooking with Mickey... The guys loved it. It was pretty similar to vegetarian chillies I've made in the past which always go over well, they're very hearty so no one misses the meat. I've never had johnnycakes before but they were pretty much pancakes made with cornmeal so it was kind of a fast version of cornbread.
No pictures, everything was so good we ate it all before I could think about a camera! Next time I make these I'll try to remember to take pictures and add them in.
Yesterday and today I made two delicious vegetarian meals which satisfied everyone.
Tonight we had black bean soup with johnnycakes from Cooking with Mickey... The guys loved it. It was pretty similar to vegetarian chillies I've made in the past which always go over well, they're very hearty so no one misses the meat. I've never had johnnycakes before but they were pretty much pancakes made with cornmeal so it was kind of a fast version of cornbread.
No pictures, everything was so good we ate it all before I could think about a camera! Next time I make these I'll try to remember to take pictures and add them in.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
NUTritious Chocolate
Microwave a handful of chocolate chips until melted (go for dark, pleanty of antioxidents!) About 1 min stirring at 30s should be good.
Meanwhile chop dried fruit and nuts into small pieces, you want lots! 2-3 good handfuls per handful of chocolate. There should be just enough chocolate to coat and hold the ingredients together, not to be the main body of the mixture.
Now mix it all together and plop in spoonfuls onto foil then chill. Done and delicious!
I made walnut-apricot and cranberry-almond but you can really use any combination you like. I just used what I had on hand but I imagine apple-pecan would be great too and lots more... I won't go on forever, just raid your pantry and be creative.
Making these reminded me of a favorite snack I thought I'd share. Try blending a banana with a generous splash of milk and a spoonful of nutella. Because the banana thickens the mixture, it's almost like you're drinking a chocolate milkshake.
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