My Mom's Apple Cake...

 When I was a child growing up in a small town in Ohio...this is the time of year my dad would take us apple picking.  All that I remember of it was that it was so much fun.  We would wander through the rows of apple trees and play while my dad and mom did the serious apple picking.  The house that I grew up in was the same house that my dad grew up in and there was a very cold room in the basement that my parents called "the fruit cellar".   I think it was my mom's official pantry.  There were jars of stuff and bottles of stuff and cans of stuff and bins of things...I think onions and potatoes and my mom kept the big basket of apples there after our day of apple picking.  My mom would always get one of us to run down to the "fruit cellar" for a can of whatever she needed when she was cooking.   So when my mom handed one of us a bowl and asked us to get apples from the "fruit cellar" we knew she was making apple cake.  My mom was an amazing cook but she never really liked to bake...on the rare instances that she did she loved making apple cake.  I only remember having it in the fall.  My mom always made it in a clear glass 13 by 9 inch pan.  She never put nuts in it because she knew none of her kids liked nuts.  And it was the best apple cake in the world.  When my mom died...this recipe was sort of lost.  Whenever I yearned to make some of the foods my mom always made...I would just call her and she would read it off to me, I would write it down and then misplace it.  So as much as I wanted to make this cake I had no real recipe for it.  My sister Paula thought she had it but it was not the right one...I searched on line everywhere but none of the recipes were like the one my mom used...until yesterday when I read Cora Cooks...a food blog that I love to read.  Cora posted this really simple apple cake recipe and I knew it was the right one.  My mom threw everything in one big bowl and mixed it up, baked it and it was heavenly.  My mom always dusted the top with powdered sugar or she would let one of us do that with her supervision.  She would put it in our lunches and we would have it for an after school snack and our house would smell cinnamony and wonderful.  

So...I am making it today...in a 13 by 9 inch pan...in my mom's big bowl...and I will dust it with powdered sugar all on my own this time...but memories of her just surge through my soul. 

Saving The Ivy For Another Day...

I rarely ever give up on a book...but I have just thrown in the towel for The Ivy...I am not sure why...I couldn't get into it...it seemed far too light and frivolous after my week spent with The Hunger Games.  I hate giving up on a book...hate hate hate it...and again...I rarely do it because even though I buy tons of books I know what I like and I don't make bad choices about my reading material...I hate memoirs, hate books about thieves...and I am afraid to read about zombies...although I want to read Amanda Hocking's new book called Hollowland...which is sort of about zombies.  But I am closing my Kindle on The Ivy for now...that is what I am telling myself.  I will try it again at a much later date.  I feel really badly that I am doing this but I have read about 25% of it...according to my Kindle...and I am just not that into it...

A Book With A Quest...

My Thoughts

This book is quite a bit different from the books that I usually read but at the same time and in rather odd ways…unusually similar.

It is a bit fantastic. It takes place in the year 1498.  Lots of people are starving and hungry while living in Venice…one of the wealthiest cities in the world at that time. When I began reading this book…I had doubts about my interest in it and whether or not I could even finish it. Now here comes the but…but I did and it was quite an adventure.

You have to understand that I had just finished all of the books in The Hunger Games…I was so involved in those books and so caught up in the mad adventure that I actually did not read anything for an entire day. And then I remembered that I needed to review this book. Once I began reading it…it was impossible to not be caught up in it and the misery and trials of Luciano…a poor impoverished orphan who roams the city of Venice hunting for food. In a very odd way…this book reminded me of Katniss and her trials in The Hunger Games…there were lots of serious similarities and not so serious ones…this book even has a cat…Bernardo…but he is much loved by Luciano.

The Story

This book involves a quest. Everyone at that time is looking for a rather mysterious book that holds the secret to many things but most of all the secret to immortality. Luciano is seen stealing a pomegranate from a fruit vendor by the very important chef of a very important minister…or doge…as he is referred to in the book. The chef takes him to the doge’s villa where he is given orders to take a bath, put on fresh clothes and eat…a meal of cheese and bread. Luciano then begins his role as sort of a helper/servant within the kitchen of the doge’s villa.

Luciano is the narrator of this story and it is told from his view. He is happy to be working with the chef who has many mysteries of his own…one which is a locked cabinet full of odd potions and herbs. The chef also has the ability to manage appetites through some of the amazing food that he cooks. Luciano becomes more and more curious about what the chef does with his gardens and recipes and cannot leave the chef alone about any of this and is adamant that the chef tell him about this mysterious book. In addition to all of this Luciano sees many depraved and illegal things happen in the dining room of the villa. This is all because the doge is dying and is desperate to find the book. People are imprisoned and murdered and tortured…all because of this book.

This incident occurs at the time of the Renaissance and there are fascinating stories told within the book itself. Tales of sailing to the New World and all of its dangers were exciting and almost unbelievable. The food talk alone was mesmerizing…the descriptions of the vendors and the foods were so interesting…how tomatoes were thought to be poisonous and only certain chefs knew how to use them and people were afraid to eat them. The stories of the street orphans and their hunger…and how they had to fend for themselves and how mean people were to them…sad and distressing…I mean there were orphans everywhere and people thought nothing of just tossing their babies out if they couldn’t care for them…

My Thoughts Again

I am not sure if I would have chosen this book on my own but I am very glad to have read it. It made me think about another time, it was a totally fascinating story, and it held my interest until the last page. Elle Newmark  amazed me with her knowledge of this time and place. Her research was very thorough. She managed to make these characters very real to me and I was caught up in their story.


This book was sent to me by Tracee from Pump Up Your Books!!!
Thank you again, Tracee!!!

Crisp Cool Days...

  I love this time of year.  I don't even mind raking leaves.  When we first built this house there were no trees in the yards at all.  We barely scooped up a handful of fall leaves and now we have bags and bags of them. It is time to take down the garden.  I need pumpkins and mums and squashes and dried corn and pumpkin in anything and everything.  Finally the weather is crisp and cool.  I am thinking about roasted vegetables.  I am getting out fall wreaths and quilts and putting away seashells and white slipcovers.  I truly think fall is the most rewarding time of year...that wonderful time right before Thanksgiving when life is all about getting ready for winter.   We put an extra blanket on our bed last night so it is time to replace the light summer quilts with heavier wintery ones.  I am thinking about all of the different soups that can simmer away on the stove all afternoon.  Crisp walks with an actual jacket or sweater on...gloves...a hat...I can't wait.  This summer was just so hot...we barely could turn off the air conditioner and it was not fun sitting outside or being outside.  Last week it was still so hot we were still running the air conditioner and now...suddenly...it is cool...I love it...so far...

I Am Back...

Hmmm...I feel as though I have been away...not on a vacation...but a self imposed exile on Districts 12 and 13 and the Capitol...not to mention some tunnels and underground rooms and other weird and frightening places that are home to Katniss Everdeen.  There is no point in reviewing these books...they are just so remarkable and thought provoking and I am one of the last people in the world to read them other than my husband who will start them soon.  I feel forever changed from this reading experience.  I said to myself over and over and over...that I did not ever want to read these books and finally when I began reading the first one I could not stop until the last page of Mockingjay was flipped.  Suzanne Collins is a genius.  My admiration for her is endless.  The events were gripping and frightening and amazing and sad.  I loved every minute of reading them and now that I am finished...it is taking me a while to decide which direction my reading should take now...