What's Cooking...

I love this cookbook!!!  Sophie Dahl is a vegetarian who puts actual meat recipes in her cookbook!  This is really perfect for those of us who are trying to make a conscious effort to eat less meat.  There is a recipe for Sunday Roast Chicken that is really delicious.   Sophie tells us that even though she is a vegetarian Sunday would not be Sunday without a roast chicken so she makes it for others.  The best parts of this book are the breakfast recipes.  Baked eggs with Swiss chard, tawny granola, grilled figs with ricotta and thyme honey.  Other delightful recipes include grilled and roasted vegetables with fish, a warm winter vegetable salad,  and easily made fresh soups.  I should mention that yet one more thing I love about this book is that it is easy to follow and is divided into seasons and within seasons it is sectioned into breakfast and lunch and dinner...perfection!!!  I must add that the stories that sort of mingle throughout the book are also delightful.   I believe that she is the grandaughter of Roald Dahl...the author of Fantastic Mr. Fox and many more books. 
Beautiful photos only add to the pleasure within this very special cookbook.

A Cold And Cloudy Day...

Well...our hint of Spring has suddenly just slipped away.  We have gone from shorts and tees and looking for sundresses this past Sunday to sweaters and sweatpants and blankets tossed over toes tonight.  I am deep into reading The Three Weissmanns Of Westport.  It is incredibly absorbing...takes place in NYC and, of course, in Westport.  Strong yet emotionally torn women,  a mother and her two grown daughters are dealing with abrupt and difficult changes in their lives.  There is also charming humor in this book. It is an engaging and appealing  book and well worth reading.

Waiting For...Linger...

I am not sure how much longer I can wait for Maggie Steifvater's next book entitled...Linger...what are you waiting to read?

A New Author For Me...

Hmm…I did not know what to expect when I opened this book and prepared to read it. It turned out to be a totally enchanting and captivating retelling of Alice In Wonderland. I think I loved this book because it is so totally quirky. There is a banner on the front cover which proclaims this book as “STICKFIGURATIVELY SPEAKING”. Here is the delightful reason why…all of the characters are black pen line drawn stick figures!!!  All of the important characters are right in the story where we want them…Alice and the Queen Of Hearts and the King and the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat as well as the White Rabbit and the caterpillar. But there are also some amusing and annoying other characters like pigs and birds and a cook and a Gryphon and even a Do Do bird. Alice has a very practical nature and is even a bit bossy and impatient. The story begins in the normal way…with Alice falling down the rabbit hole but as she is falling she is wondering about her latitude and longitude. As she follows the white rabbit she eats and drinks various things and becomes smaller and then taller, she fits into a small house and then bursts out of it, she floats within a pool of tears, she engages in a Caucus Race, and a Lobster Quadrille. This is a tiny lovely little book that has a ton of side stories going on within it. There are all of the conversations between all of the characters, of course and the main story retold in chapters. There are also quite a few story poems told by the characters.  My favorite parts of this book were all of the hysterical comments and conversations between all of the stick figure drawings. My favorite of these many many conversations is this one:
Alice is talking to a Mock Turtle who yearns to be a real turtle. Within the conversation the Mock Turtle talks about when he went to school and studied Reeling and Writhing. I loved this…Reeling and Writing…very funny stuff.
The main story winds itself to the croquet game while all of these little sidebars are taking place. Sometimes these can be a distraction but in this case they just add to the charm of this story.
So…to summarize and end this little review…it is a sweet funny charming retelling of a story that was a bit scary in its original format but has been retold in a unique and interesting way.
And as the author states in his note to his readers…he is lovingly and respectfully retelling this story and others in this stick figure format. He states that he truly  respects these stories and does not mean to mock them in any way.  His intentions are to provide us with enjoyment and pleasure. I truly think he does.

My copy was sent to my by Rianne…a production assistant at Publishing Works, INC.  Publishing Works is an independent publisher.

What I Am Reading Now...

This past weekend has been just delightful...the weather was warm and sunny...we put the big comfy "reading" swing out on the deck...Kindles were fully loaded...and it felt so close to being like a summer...lazy summer... afternoon that we even pulled out shorts and tees.  I love weekends like this one...we totally blew off yardwork because after all...it is still March. We lazed in the sun, watched ducks and geese on the pond, and chatted about how to redo the garden beds. Then my lovely husband and I promised each other that we would get really busy on them in a few weeks.

We did plant two beautiful big green pots with ruffled pansies.  Just that little bit of digging in the dirt was a reminder of gardens to come.  I am reading The Hollow by Jessica Verday.  It is good...sort of  a meandering story that is based in the town of Sleepy Hollow.  It has a really slow build up but it is interesting enough to keep my attention and make me crave Snickerdoodles.  I never realized how books affect my cravings but obviously they do.  Oh...the Snickerdoodle craving is because that is the cookie that Abbey, the main character, is always making for her friend Caspian...love the names in this book...more about the book upon completion.

I Do Love Awards...

Thank you so much, Jeannie for thinking of me!!!

Memories...just a little bit of sadness...

It seems as though my mom should still be here...I should be calling her right now to find out what she and my dad are doing...she always had so many things to tell me about the neighborhood...the one that I grew up in.  My mom was a bit of a character in our quaint little town.   She was a bicycle rider.  She thought nothing of putting herself on her bike and riding everywhere.  The town had sidewalks and safe streets and a local grocery store...so if she needed milk or bread or ice cream...she would hop on her bike and away she would go.  People would wave to her and she would always stop and talk to everyone...and come home with even more stories.   I think she rode her bike even when she turned 80...and it was incredibly sad to see it in the garage...parked and lonely...after she died.  My thoughts are on her and my dad since our house or rather my parents house has just been sold.   Most of their everyday things have been given away... to shelters and missions and people who needed stuff...for the first time in my life I saw the house empty...not full of cooking and family noise and grandchildren and laughter.  I know I cherished all of the times we had together...she was such a wonderful mom...her children were everything to her...but I wish she was still here with us...