Adult Summer Reading Club

If you're a fan of reading, you might want to check out the Adult Summer Reading Club at the TNRD Library.

It runs until the end of the summer with some great prizes.

While there is no way I could come close to completing the list by the end of the summer, I will be taking it on as a longer term project.  I had fun reading the categories and thinking of books I've got to read that would fit in.

You can see all the rules here.

Big THANKS to the always entertaining and informative A.L. Smithey for posting about this cool event.

The categories are:

• A graphic novel 
• By a female author 
• Romance 
• An Autobiography or Memoir 
• Published in the decade you were born 
• Out of your comfort zone 
• An award winner 
• Adapted into a movie (Watch the movie too) 
• Recommended by a friend 
• An overdrive E-book or E-audiobook 
• Has more than 500 pages 
• By a BC author 
• A book “everyone” has read 
• By a person of colour 
• A magazine on Zinio 
• Published this year (2016) 
• Science Fiction or Fantasy 
• Juvenile or Young Adult

Make sure you check out the booklet that you need to fill out (and color!) -it's super cool.

Heavenly Roasted Cauliflower

This is a new favorite around our house.  I've been in a veggie rut the last little while, choosing "easy" veggies for the baby (peas, corn) and raw carrots, brox, pea pods and the like for the rest of us.  I had a jumbo head of cauliflower that needed to be used up but I wasn't in the mood for steamed or raw, so we roasted instead.

This recipe is brilliant and can be made ahead - roast almost until done in advance, then when you are ready to eat - toss back in for 10 minutes or so.  And don't leave out the onions and garlic!  

Parmesan roasted cauliflower

Slow Cooker Beef Roast

We had a cheapie beef roast in the freezer that I wanted to use up, 

but I wanted, nay, needed the recipe to be quick and easy.  

First I pulled out the crock pot, then I headed to Pinterest to see what I could see.

I found this slow cooker french dip sandwich and ooooh boy, was it tasty.

We didn't follow the recipe exactly, we don't have any creole seasoning, 

and The Mister added a big glug of red wine from the previous Sunday dinner, 

we added some carrots and other spices, but this is a good recipe to 

follow to the letter or play around with.  

The meat was tender and flavorful and the sauce was delicious.  

I did omit the mayo on the bun because that just doesn't seem right on a beef dip sandwich.

Is that just me?

Farmers Market Visit

We made our first visit of the year to the market last weekend,  

Picked up some cherries, carrots and green onions.

Bought the Boy a stale overpriced cookie from the bakery stand we usually frequent.  

Probably not any more.  

The Girl charmed a vendor out of a free cookie herself - hers was much more fresh and delicious. 

 I was on the lookout for strawberries, but there were none to be found.  

Did I wait too long?

Everyone had spinach and garlic scapes, it seemed.  

Not many choices for ready to eat food - the Bellringer Bus was there - with a For Sale sign on it.  Kamloops needs a good kick in the pants some days it seems.  

Why can't we support local eats, food trucks, culture?  Nope, not for us. 

 We'll take smoking in our parks, running food trucks out of business, 

and banning sales of local wines in the stores.  

What a town.

Watermelon, Feta and Mint

It was hot as heck around here for a few days back, and since we don't have air conditioning in our house, I was almost glad to go to work in the mornings - ALMOST.  

I made this salad as part of our dinner on one of those crazy hot nights when we were trying not to cook much, or even move around much. 
It's a simpler version of  this - just feta, watermelon and mint.  Yum.
The Boy was not a fan - he doesn't like feta - but he and The Girl devoured most of the watermelon while The Mister and I ate what scraps were left behind.  

This could possibly be our salad of the summer?

Book Club - Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

" "I wanted it to be right between us, but I think somewhere deep down I always knew it couldn't work, if that makes any sense?'  'I know just what you mean' she says, knitting her brow in sympathy.  'Like when Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett.'  "

"I can almost see the letters that formed the words suspended in the air between us.  Part of me wants to bat them away and watch them fall to the ground by making a joke, or saying something deflective, but I also want to leave them floating there, to savor the complement for just a second more."

"Positive thoughts.  Positive thoughts.  It's not always easy to think positive thoughts."

Sunday Dinner - Quesadillas and Lazy Daisy Cake

Often on Sundays The Grandfolk will come over for dinner. 

We like it and are always happy to see them, but it's just another meal to plan and cook. 

Will there be enough veggies? Can't make anything too spicy. 

What is The Boy refusing to eat this week? 

I'm a bit sad to start this new series off on a low note - this dinner - 

the main course at least, was not well received. 

 I made quesadillas, and for the filling I made a batch of taco meat from The Maui Taco Cookbook. We ate there on our trip 9 (!!!!) years ago and it's still a big happy memory for me.  

The beef is cooked for an hour with pineapple juice, spices and water and is so delicious, although the recipe calls for too much salt in my opinion.  

We used the beef, some cheese, and salsa, veggies....I thought they were pretty tasty, but no one seemed to like them much except me and The Mister, who had to eat the leftovers every day for about 4 days.  Oh well.  I guess they can't all be winners.

The big hit was the dessert - I made a Lazy Daisy cake, since The Mister was complaining that I made one for the bake sale and not for him.  IT WAS SO GOOD.

I'm on the lookout for this week's Sunday Dinner recipe - stay tuned!

Snapshot - new chocolate shop in The Kam

Bad photo, but I'm not a good public place photo person.

New little - and |I mean little, maybe room for 2 or 3 people at a time 

- chocolate shop opened on 3rd. 

A.L. of Kamloops Bumbling has some details - check it out.

Instagram - 80 books reviewed.

80 books down, with 61 staying on our shelves. 

6 additional books left without being tested - a French Bistro cookbook from a garage sale, a Tuscan cookbook from a charity sale, a Betty Crocker book, a (gasp) Jamie Oliver AND an Ina Garten, plus an old Emeril Legasse, possibly from before his BAM days. 

Coming soon - bbq, bread, and Indian food.  Yum!