Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Book Club - Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

2019-31





Along with the joy of parenthood, with every child comes a piercing vulnerability.  It is at once sublime and terrifying.

"You've got to wonder what Jesus was like at seventeen,"  Anne Lamott wrote.  "They don't even talk about it in the Bible, he was apparently so awful."

He tells us Al-Anon's Three Cs: "You didn't cause it, you can't control it, you can't cure it."

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Book Club - Buddhaland Brooklyn by RIchard C. Morais

2019-30



"There is no such thing as a small job.  Only a small mind."

But such is the way with bullies and charlatans.  They scurry under rocks at the merest challenge.

"It is an illusion to think we can do whatever we want, without consequences."

The privilege to be alive.
The immense privilege.


Monday, July 29, 2019

Book Club - The Tao of BIll Murray by Gavin Edwards

2019-29




.....The America public has a hard time accpeting a woman in certain jobs (ghostbusting, presidenting), no matter how qualified she is for it or how much marketing muscle is behind her.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Book Club - Where'd You Go, Bernadette?


2019-28




"The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be."

I felt so alone in this world, and so loved at the same time.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Book Club - The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

2019-27





"Party is an attitude, not a destination."

Why was it so easy to wound the people you loved the most?

Friday, July 26, 2019

Book Club - The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

2019-26




Perhaps it had rekindled because her hero, like all the best heroes, was dead; perhaps it would burn forever now, like an eternal flame, and she would forget the worst and cherish the idea of him she once loved.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

1 weekend, 2 recipes from Jamie Oliver

I borrowed Friday Night Feast by Jamie Oliver from the library this Spring and made Saturday and Sundays dinners from it.

Instead of lamb in the Epic Lamb Kebabs I used pork.  
They were good, but the star of the recipe was the flatbreads.  Delicious!  






For Sunday dinner we tried the Carbonara Cake - and used up some leftover ham from the freezer too (woot woot).  This was soooooooooo good, a bit nerve wracking to get it cooked and crispy but not make the pasta so hard it wasn't good eats, but I managed.

There was also some braided cheese bread, but I don't recall that recipe.  Looked good though.








___________________

Jamie Oliver related posts from long ago:

ABC's of Food - J is for Jamie Oliver 



Saturday, July 20, 2019

a delicious peanut butter and chocolate treat



Man, those guys are work are so lucky to have me.

Here's another treat I made them - chocolate peanut butter no bake cheesecake bars.

These bars are super simple and also super delicious.
It's light and fluffy and dreamy as long as you don't think about calories and fat.

Who doesn't love chocolate?  Or peanut butter?

Some other peanutty faves from over the years:







Friday, July 19, 2019

Book Club - Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark


I'm coming at you with 5 days of Book Club to get those out of the way so I can post my books for the Adult Summer Reading Club!
___________________________________

  2019-25




Fuck Politemess

...you're responsible for your own quality of life.  

Don't be a fucking lunatic.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Book Club - Audiobook - My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper

I'm coming at you with 5 days of Book Club to get those out of the way so I can post my books for the Adult Summer Reading Club!

___________________________________

 
2019-24


Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Book Club - I'll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara

I'm coming at you with 5 days of Book Club to get those out of the way so I can post my books for the Adult Summer Reading Club!

___________________________________

2019-23





But every so often a blue moon surfaces.  A snow leopard slinks by.

At thirty-nine I understood my mother's love for me for the first time.

She was born with a true cop's heart and mind - she craved justice, not glory.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Book Club - Big Gal Yoga by Valerie Sagun

I'm coming at you with 5 days of Book Club to get those out of the way so I can post my books for the Adult Summer Reading Club!

______________________________

2019-22





You can't change the past; you can change the future.

I can't be anyone or anything else than who and what I am.

Monday, July 15, 2019

Book Club - Is Your Chair Killing You? by Kent Burden


I'm coming at you with 5 days of Book Club to get those out of the way so I can post my books for the Adult Summer Reading Club!

_____________________________________

2019-21 




"If you stand still long enough, death will find you."



Sunday, July 14, 2019

Adult Summer Reading Club 2019

The 2019 Summer Reading Challenge is underway at the TNRD Library.

This year is a bit different - there are 12 spots to be filled in, with any book you like as long as it has one of the letters on each line.  The exclamation mark is a wild card.

It's a shorter list than prior years so I might have a shot of completing it before the end of the summer.

Details above if you want to join in - submissions must be received by the library by August 24.



Thursday, July 11, 2019

Cookbook Cleanup - Book 2 - Nigella Express

The second book in my cleanup is Nigella Express which I got for Christmas 
wayyyyyyy back in 2007.
 


This one has always been on the edge for me - there is a lot of stuff in here I won't ever make either because it isn't appealing or it contains ingredients I can't find.  Every time I think about cleaning out my shelf I always think this one should go, and this time was no different; even before I had opened it to find some recipes to try I was already thinking I would add it to the donate pile.

I have had some good luck with this one in the past - the crepe sandwich recipes are good, the scallops and chorizo and the banana butterscotch muffins too. 
The real winner of this book for me is and always will be her Rapid Ragu; which she makes with ground lamb and I make with ground turkey- and tomatos, lentils and cheese.  Delicious and comforting.  

I chose 4 recipes to make - Flourless Chocolate Brownies, Goujons of Sole with Dill Mayonnaise, Home-made Instant Pancake Mix, and Macaroni Cheese.  

First up was the Sole and it was an easy recipe to follow that produced crunchy fish and a tasty sauce.  The pancake mix was easy to mix up, and also easy to scoop and prepare a nice breakfast of 'cakes.


The Flourless Chocolate Brownies were so easy and produced one of the BEST brownies I've ever had.  They were raved about.  The sun and the heat came out here, so the Macaroni Cheese was swapped out for Instant Chocolate Mousse; a recipe I have stared at for years.  I needed to make a birthday dessert and had all the ingredients on hand and this was another one that knocked it out - such a fabulous mousse from a simple recipe. 


This book is not a perfect fit for me, but it does keep showing me that it has some great recipes, and I need to get over my assumption that it isn't worth keeping.  It stays!

Bookshelf - 2  Donation pile - 0

Monday, July 08, 2019

Beautiful BC - Harrison Hot Springs

Happy Summer!  

This Spring we took a trip to Harrison, our first time.  The weather was cloudy and cool but the water was warm and there was a poolside bar so we were happy.