I always put off doing dishes. It's not that I terribly despise doing them, and I definitely enjoy the result of having a clean kitchen, but there are just so many other things I'd rather be doing. My mom has always taught me that it makes things much easier if you wash dishes as you go, as in washing as you make them, so when you're done cooking you don't have a mountain of dishes left behind. Also, she recommends finishing any meal dishes immediately following said meal. I've never mastered either of these things. Sometimes I think it would make life much easier if I looked forward to them, if I enjoyed the actual washing of dishes act. Who knows...
The Books of Pellinor Series.
The Books of Pellinor are an epic tale of a girl named Maerad (pronounced MY-rad) who discovers that she is expected to save the world she's only recently come to know as her own. It takes place over the course of a year and a halfs time, during which she goes from being an orphaned slave to a free woman who makes family and friends out of those she meets along her way. She also discovers more enemies than she's known could exist.
Maerad is rescued from slavery by Cadvan, a man who she later learns is a well-known bard. In this world, bards have abilities that are intended for use in service to those they live amongst - abilities to heal, promote growth of crops and herds, and create works of art and song, not the least of these abilities. Most still continue in this service, but some have chosen to turn away from that, seeking instead power over all. The leader of these, most often known as The Nameless One, seeks to destroy and rule all in his path. Maerad and Cadvan soon discover that Maerad has been foretold as the one who is to defeat The Nameless One. As she struggles with this destiny, she overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds and grows into a discerning young woman.
These books are intended for a teen/young adult audience, but the level of writing makes them appealing for adults as well. The story is well crafted, engaging and unpredictable. The tale is reminiscent of the Wheel of Time series, though, in my humble opinion, of a better length. Each book is hefty, but with only four, there is an end in sight. :) Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fantasy tale. With the exception of rather dark foes and desperate situations at times that dissuades this from being for a young (preteen or younger) audience, there is little within these stories that could cause offense. I highly recommend that you lose yourself in this series as soon as possible.
The Naming, by Allison Croggan
The Riddle, by Allison Croggan
The Crow, by Allison Croggan
The Singing, by Allison Croggan
Bagels.
Bagels are a lovely thing. Made well, they are chewy, lightly browned, with a lovely light texture. Poorly made, they are so tough your jaw may just wear out before you finish eating them. Now, I do not claim to be a bagel connoisseur, I have not had the famed H&H bagels or anything like that, but I do know that I do not want to wear my jaw out on food that is supposed to be tasty. On top of all that, store bought bagels, the ones that are usually the worst offenders of the toughness issue, are much too expensive per bagel for me to justify buying regularly.
Read moreRatatouille.
This is NOT a traditional ratatouille recipe. If you think I could get eggplant in any form past my guys, you don't know us very well. :) Still, this is a delicious sauce-like creation to serve over pasta, that changes it just enough that I'm not bored, and is similar enough to other pasta dishes that my guys will still eat it. Jonathan even agreed to eat one of the tomatoes! (After which he promptly declared he still doesn't like tomatoes.)
Read moreCoconut Whipped Cream.
This isn't so much of a recipe as a suggestion. If you like coconut, and want to try it in a completely different way, try this. You must start with full fat coconut milk, the light has too many additives that interfere with this process.
Read moreMerry Christmas!
My senior year of high school, I convinced my dad that, despite having never owned one previously, I would prefer an apple laptop for college instead of a dell. The iBook I received then held up quite well through most of college until a shirley temple was spilled on it accidentally my junior year. After that, while it still worked, thanks to the quick rescue made by my husband, (then fiancé), it had a weird faded stripe running down the center of the screen. It was also noticably slower than it had previously been, partly due to the spill, and partly due to software updates that quickly outstripped its hardware. These issues combined with a fraying power cord inspired the purchase of an iMac, which has since served me well.
Lately, though, my iMac has been having, well, "issues". Nothing too concrete, save a few hard drive hiccups, increasing slowness, and a mic that has not worked well for as long as I can remember. It is showing its age though, and my husband and I have been considering replacing it for some time. This Christmas, he surprised me with an early christmas present of a MacBook Air! I love it, and I no longer have to worry about my computer dying on me unexpectedly.
What does this all mean for you, my lovely readers? Well, anyone who has been around here for awhile has probably noticed that I'm rather inconsistent about posting. The fact is, I'm rarely in the office with a quiet bit of time to type up a post. Most of the time I chase our lively toddler around the apartment, and when he's sleeping I'm likely doing clean-up, damage control, preparation for the following day's whirlwind, or simply unwinding. Now, with a laptop again, I hope to be able to be more consistent sharing here. Here's to hoping!
Peanutty Chicken and Pasta.
Lately on my son's and my regular date to the library, I pick up a couple cookbooks to browse though. Usually I find one, maybe two recipes I'm truly interested in making, and I usually don't get around to making those. This cookbook, though, the Southern Living Kids Cookbook, has so many post-its sticking out of it now I hardly know where to begin. Jonathan even helped me choose which recipes to make, though I suspect he was just having fun sticking on the post-its to as many pages as possible. I know for a fact he wouldn't eat the chicken salad he picked out.
Read moreCornmeal Breakfast Pudding.
Soon after I got married, my mom called me and said she'd found a couple of my grandma's cookbooks, and did I want them? I, who nostalgically cherishes almost anything that has belonged to my ancestors, and would collect cookbooks until my shelves were full of them if I could, of course said Yes! As soon as they were in my possession, I scoured them for recipes I could easily create. This recipe was one I made almost as soon as I saw it. (I believe I found the recipe and had it made within that hour.)
Read moreThe Art of Eating In.
This is the tale of how the heroine, Cathy Erway, gave up eating out in New York for two years. She goes through all the different varieties of not eating out, from simply cooking at home, to supper clubs, to foraging and dumpster diving. Along the way she shares other details of her life: romance and heartache, new jobs and boredom, failures and discoveries. It's inspiring and demonstrates that anyone, anyone, can cook at home if they only have the desire and tenacity to do so.
There are recipes included throughout, most that are more adventurous than I would normally make, and some that are extremely appealing to try right away. There are asian influences in many of the dishes, which makes sense as Cathy is half Chinese, and comes from a family in which experience and community are shared over delicious food of many varieties.
As I generally try to cook at home, the concepts in this book weren't earth-shattering to me, but rather commiseratingly wonderful. I enjoyed following along with her cooking adventures, and was intrigued by the foraging chapter especially. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone with even a mild interest in either learning to cook or eating in more often. Great read.
Facelift.
I love using Squarespace to host my site. Their service is impeccable, and they make it ridiculously easy for me to customize and play with my site. Today Squarespace released a bevy of new site templates, and I found three that I loved for this site. What you see is what won out in the end. (The other two may be cycled through at various times throughout the year, maybe...) Anyway, hope you enjoy the redesign as much as I do!