Monday, July 28, 2008
Book Review: I, Robot by Howard W. Smith
This starts out as a political thriller about a coming war between Iran and Lebanon versus Israel. Then there's a Japanese police inspector investigating a murder. I never understood the connection between the two storylines. Not my sort of book at all. This was an ARC, so I hate giving it a bad review, but I just couldn't force myself to read it. By the time I quit, there was still no mention of robots, so I don't know where those even came into the story. My husband gave it a try, but didn't like it either.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I (almost) won an award!
My virtual friend Irish has nominated me for an award! I'm so excited, as I usually just assume that I'm writing in a vacuum unless notified otherwise. You know, that you type in the stuff and hope SOMEONE will read it and find it as witty and insightful as you yourself do. And I love getting comments from my friends and neighbors, but hey, you have to be nice! You know me. So this was fun.
Irish's blog is listed in the sidebar, but here's the link to check it out again Ticket to Anywhere. The title comes from a couple of quotes listed at the top of the page.
"There is no frigate like a book/ To take us lands away... " - Emily Dickinson
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” ~ Saint Augustine
Both great quotes that describe the very best side effects from reading - the expanding of your imagination and your vision.
So thanks so much for the nomination! I am still working on coming up with my nominations, but I have a few to post now.
First up is Dana from Library Thing. This busy lady contributes to three blogs, but I'm picking two of them. The first is One For the Books. Witty and fun, it makes me laugh.
The next one is Mommy 4-1-1. This excellent blog is written by several moms and centers mostly on pregnancy and young babies, which is not quite the stage of motherhood I am in, but what I appreciated is the honesty that is there. Not so much a focus on how a mom should do something. It's okay to be imperfect and real. A great message there.
One more from my Library Thing friends (for now) and that's VirginiaHomeSchooler's blog Traci's Book Bag. Some great reviews of teen and children's books and some other fun stuff too.
Another one I enjoy reading is not necessarily for moms, but it is by a mom, and it is very well written. Amy's Humble Musings is full of, well, musings on life and motherhood. Worth reading.
Still working on the rest! I have blogs that I love, but many are private, and I don't want to publicize anyone who isn't comfortable with that.
To those I have listed, here are the rules:
First up is Dana from Library Thing. This busy lady contributes to three blogs, but I'm picking two of them. The first is One For the Books. Witty and fun, it makes me laugh.
The next one is Mommy 4-1-1. This excellent blog is written by several moms and centers mostly on pregnancy and young babies, which is not quite the stage of motherhood I am in, but what I appreciated is the honesty that is there. Not so much a focus on how a mom should do something. It's okay to be imperfect and real. A great message there.
One more from my Library Thing friends (for now) and that's VirginiaHomeSchooler's blog Traci's Book Bag. Some great reviews of teen and children's books and some other fun stuff too.
Another one I enjoy reading is not necessarily for moms, but it is by a mom, and it is very well written. Amy's Humble Musings is full of, well, musings on life and motherhood. Worth reading.
Still working on the rest! I have blogs that I love, but many are private, and I don't want to publicize anyone who isn't comfortable with that.
To those I have listed, here are the rules:
- Put the logo on your blog.
- Add a link to the person who awarded you.
- Nominate at least seven other blogs.
- Add links to those blogs on your blog.
- Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.
New Family Cookbook
Cookbook
I decided what I am giving for Christmas presents. Are you impressed? You should be! No, really, it's not that impressive. I know there are some people who do their shopping on December 26, but I could never do that. How do you know what people will like in a year? Or what size will fit? Or if they decide to buy it for themselves? No, I usually start my holiday shopping in November and finish by mid-December. I hate last minute shopping.
So here's what I have decided. I'm going to make little cookbooks of all our favorite family recipes to give to our extended family. So I can send them to Randy's siblings and my aunt and uncle. I may even give them to neighbors too. And as I was going through my recipes, Sarah asked if I would give her one too.
Food is such a powerful way to stay connected. It seems like every major event in life occurs around food, with the exception of giving birth. Birthday parties have cake, Halloween has candied apples and trick or treat candy, Thanksgiving is the huge turkey dinner, July 4th has the cookout in the backyard, and Christmas would be incomplete without cookies for Santa. And it's not just in my family - every culture and every holiday has a food associated with it.
Even on everyday occasions, it seems like nothing brings back the memories like food. I remember the thousand-and-one variations on hamburger and rice my mom used to make for dinner, the sound and smell of reaching into the cookie jar for peanut butter cookies at my grandma's house, the disgusting ground turkey and spinach meatloaf I made when we were first married and counting every penny. Today I could eat any of those foods again and it would take me right back to that particular time.
So my hope is that these cookbooks will provide a connection, more for my children than anyone else, that will bring back some happy memories or at least, provide a way for us to be at the dinner table with our family even though we're miles, sometimes countries away.
Just to get in practice, here's another recipe that my family (well, most of them) just love. I planned to make this for a party once but got my words tangled up. Since then it's become known at Tacken Chico Fingers. But you can call it:
Taco Chicken Fingers
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
3 Tb. milk
1 Tb. taco seasoning
1 bag (9 oz.) tortilla chips
Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease baking sheet. Cut each chicken breast into 1/2 inch strips. In a large shallow bowl combine mayonnaise, milk, and taco seasoning until blended and smooth. Place tortilla chips in a ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into crumbs. Dip chicken first into mayonnaise mix, then into the bag. Shake bag until the chicken is well coated. Then place on baking sheet. Chill for 20 minutes. Then bake until browned and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Can serve with salsa or guacamole.
This makes a great appetizer, but when I make it, everyone except Will gobbles it down. It says on the recipe that it serves 10, but we can only get 4 servings out of it. You can also vary the recipe by using cheese crackers or even cornflakes instead of the chips and Italian seasoning instead of the taco seasoning, but we like the Mexican flavor best.
I will keep you posted about the cookbooks; meanwhile, if you really want one, let me know, and I'll get you a copy when they're ready. Just from picking out recipes, I can tell you that they will be lots of desserts and just a little of everything else, probably because I tend to make things up as I go based on what's in the fridge. Oh well. Dessert is the best part anyway!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Cookbook Reviews
I am on a quest to find cheap ways to feed my family. Like most of you, I am on a budget crunch and we're trying to cut corners every way we can. So I've been looking through some cookbooks at home and from the library, looking for new ideas and solutions to the ongoing challenge of keeping 5 people fed. Here's a few of the books I've looked at recently and my thoughts.
The Make A Mix Cookbook has been around since the 1970s. I remember my mom using them when I was young. I bought a copy of their 90's version and found some helpful recipes in there, but I lost my copy and got one from the library. The idea is that you use their recipes for mixes and make up several batches of things that you use often, like taco seasoning, sloppy joe seasoning (both of which I've used and I like). This time I also tried the all purpose hamburger mix and a snack cake mix. I like the hamburger, but it's so simple you hardly need a recipe for it. But it was a great idea, since we just signed up for Costco and I can get ground beef for $2.49 a pound. I used one batch last night for enchiladas, using canned enchilada sauce, cheap cheese I also bought at Costco, and tortillas. But some of the recipes are not very yummy sounding to me.
I found some mix recipes on the internet too, including one for a white sauce mix that I made up into 6 batches. This I used with dehydrated potatoes to make my own scalloped potatoes that are basically like the ones that come in a box and to make cheese sauce for pasta, which my family devoured. I went ahead and ordered their latest version, shown here. We'll see how much I actually use it.
I also got Eat Well ... Stay Well ... Spend Less! from the library. This is written by a former neighbor who presented this enrichment all about saving money on groceries that I went to about 12 years ago. The problem with this is that the writer assumes you have unlimited time to spend on bargain shopping and whipping up meals from scratch. Not these days, I don't! I doubt many people do. Totally not practical in today's world.
Then I looked for books on freezer meals. The library has several, but they are all checked out. So I found another book, Will It Freeze?, that I thought might be worth looking at. After a closer look, it wasn't what I wanted exactly, but it was exactly what the title suggests - a book that tells you how to freeze any food you want. And I mean any - how to pluck your freshly killed chicken and freeze it right away. OK, not useful, but there was enough in there that I wouldn't mind having a copy. A good reference book, but no recipes or meal plans or anything like that.
Then I checked two food storage cookbooks, one I own, and one from the library. Simply Ready: a Guide to Provident Living and Personal Preparedness is the one that I own and it is excellent. It really covers every aspect of food storage and much more besides. I got it several years ago at Deseret Book and it's been useful. I want to start using it more to plan meals. The newer one, Simple Recipes Using Food Storage, is not as comprehensive about overall preparedness, but has lots of recipes. That one is at the library and I noticed it for sale right now at Deseret Book too.
All these cookbooks and no recipes! OK, here's one I made up. In my quest to be more frugal, I am trying not to waste any food but find a way to use it up. Here's one I came up with when I had an extra graham cracker crust, whipped cream, and half a package of cream cheese I needed to use.
Fruit Cheese Tart
1 graham cracker crust
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg yolk (or 1 egg white, but a whole egg is too much)
1/2 ts. vanilla
Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Beat cream cheese in a mixture until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until filling is almost set. (Insert toothpick in the center - a few crumbs should cling to the toothpick.) Remove and let cool about 20 minutes, then chill in refrigerator about 1 hour.
Topping:
strawberries, kiwis, and about 1 c. whipped cream
Slice the fruit and arrange on top of the filling. Top with spoonfuls of whipped cream and serve.
I wish I had a picture of the pie, because it looked really good.
If you have any ideas or recipes for saving money on groceries, please share them. I put the freezer meal books on hold at the library and will review them when I get them. I plan to keep adding recipes as I discover them.
The Make A Mix Cookbook has been around since the 1970s. I remember my mom using them when I was young. I bought a copy of their 90's version and found some helpful recipes in there, but I lost my copy and got one from the library. The idea is that you use their recipes for mixes and make up several batches of things that you use often, like taco seasoning, sloppy joe seasoning (both of which I've used and I like). This time I also tried the all purpose hamburger mix and a snack cake mix. I like the hamburger, but it's so simple you hardly need a recipe for it. But it was a great idea, since we just signed up for Costco and I can get ground beef for $2.49 a pound. I used one batch last night for enchiladas, using canned enchilada sauce, cheap cheese I also bought at Costco, and tortillas. But some of the recipes are not very yummy sounding to me.
I found some mix recipes on the internet too, including one for a white sauce mix that I made up into 6 batches. This I used with dehydrated potatoes to make my own scalloped potatoes that are basically like the ones that come in a box and to make cheese sauce for pasta, which my family devoured. I went ahead and ordered their latest version, shown here. We'll see how much I actually use it.
I also got Eat Well ... Stay Well ... Spend Less! from the library. This is written by a former neighbor who presented this enrichment all about saving money on groceries that I went to about 12 years ago. The problem with this is that the writer assumes you have unlimited time to spend on bargain shopping and whipping up meals from scratch. Not these days, I don't! I doubt many people do. Totally not practical in today's world.
Then I looked for books on freezer meals. The library has several, but they are all checked out. So I found another book, Will It Freeze?, that I thought might be worth looking at. After a closer look, it wasn't what I wanted exactly, but it was exactly what the title suggests - a book that tells you how to freeze any food you want. And I mean any - how to pluck your freshly killed chicken and freeze it right away. OK, not useful, but there was enough in there that I wouldn't mind having a copy. A good reference book, but no recipes or meal plans or anything like that.
Then I checked two food storage cookbooks, one I own, and one from the library. Simply Ready: a Guide to Provident Living and Personal Preparedness is the one that I own and it is excellent. It really covers every aspect of food storage and much more besides. I got it several years ago at Deseret Book and it's been useful. I want to start using it more to plan meals. The newer one, Simple Recipes Using Food Storage, is not as comprehensive about overall preparedness, but has lots of recipes. That one is at the library and I noticed it for sale right now at Deseret Book too.
All these cookbooks and no recipes! OK, here's one I made up. In my quest to be more frugal, I am trying not to waste any food but find a way to use it up. Here's one I came up with when I had an extra graham cracker crust, whipped cream, and half a package of cream cheese I needed to use.
Fruit Cheese Tart
1 graham cracker crust
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg yolk (or 1 egg white, but a whole egg is too much)
1/2 ts. vanilla
Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Beat cream cheese in a mixture until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until filling is almost set. (Insert toothpick in the center - a few crumbs should cling to the toothpick.) Remove and let cool about 20 minutes, then chill in refrigerator about 1 hour.
Topping:
strawberries, kiwis, and about 1 c. whipped cream
Slice the fruit and arrange on top of the filling. Top with spoonfuls of whipped cream and serve.
I wish I had a picture of the pie, because it looked really good.
If you have any ideas or recipes for saving money on groceries, please share them. I put the freezer meal books on hold at the library and will review them when I get them. I plan to keep adding recipes as I discover them.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Free Concert!
Thanks to my wonderful friend, Deanne, my sweetie and I got tickets to a free concert last week! Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band was playing in Provo. Timpview High School held a summer concert series to raise money to buy new instruments. Deanne got tickets, and gave us a chance to attend this one. It was so much fun!
They had an opening band, which was about like most opening bands, not bad but in need of a little more practice and a little more experience. I don't know whose fault it was, the drummer or the sound guy, but you could hardly hear anyone BUT the drummer. I'm not even sure what songs they did. They experimented with some new sounds, which was cool, but didn't really connect with the audience that well.
What a difference when Ryan Shupe and his band members came on stage! They literally ran on, and hardly stopped for the rest of the night. I had never heard of them, but after one song, I was completely a fan! They had some silly songs - 'Corn Dogs' was the best one - and some fun songs - I loved 'Banjo Boy' and some ballads. The audience went wild over their version of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia.' Super fun! Then they came out for their encore wearing Timpview Band t-shirts, which I thought was a very classy touch.
So we had to get a CD! We got their older one, 'Dream Big,' because I loved that song. But when we got home, I checked out itunes to find that 'Corn Dogs' is on their new one! Oh well, it's one to put on my wish list.
In summary, if you get a chance to catch these guys in concert, it is absolutely worth the money. They gave a great show and we had a wonderful time. Here's a link to their website so you can see them for yourselves http://www.shupe.net/
(Just another note - once again, we sat in the boring section of the concert. Last time we saw a band - ZZTop - we sat with a bunch of losers who could hardly bother to clap after every song. Why shell out money for a concert you don't want to see? This time we sat with all these families. I can understand that a little, I mean, they probably came to support Timpview and didn't know anything about the band. But after you're there, why not put away your distractions and watch the show? I sat across from this teen, and I kid you not, he sat there braiding some plastic laces into a lanyard THE WHOLE TIME! He looked up once or twice, and maybe applauded a little, but honestly! A lanyard? Are you kidding me? And the whole front row was little white-haired grandmas and grandpas. I don't know why they sat on the front row. I'm sure they could have heard farther back. It must have been really loud up there. The fun section was near the back, where all the band students were really enthusiastic. Next time this happens, we are going to move. I came to have fun, not work on arts and crafts!)
They had an opening band, which was about like most opening bands, not bad but in need of a little more practice and a little more experience. I don't know whose fault it was, the drummer or the sound guy, but you could hardly hear anyone BUT the drummer. I'm not even sure what songs they did. They experimented with some new sounds, which was cool, but didn't really connect with the audience that well.
What a difference when Ryan Shupe and his band members came on stage! They literally ran on, and hardly stopped for the rest of the night. I had never heard of them, but after one song, I was completely a fan! They had some silly songs - 'Corn Dogs' was the best one - and some fun songs - I loved 'Banjo Boy' and some ballads. The audience went wild over their version of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia.' Super fun! Then they came out for their encore wearing Timpview Band t-shirts, which I thought was a very classy touch.
So we had to get a CD! We got their older one, 'Dream Big,' because I loved that song. But when we got home, I checked out itunes to find that 'Corn Dogs' is on their new one! Oh well, it's one to put on my wish list.
In summary, if you get a chance to catch these guys in concert, it is absolutely worth the money. They gave a great show and we had a wonderful time. Here's a link to their website so you can see them for yourselves http://www.shupe.net/
(Just another note - once again, we sat in the boring section of the concert. Last time we saw a band - ZZTop - we sat with a bunch of losers who could hardly bother to clap after every song. Why shell out money for a concert you don't want to see? This time we sat with all these families. I can understand that a little, I mean, they probably came to support Timpview and didn't know anything about the band. But after you're there, why not put away your distractions and watch the show? I sat across from this teen, and I kid you not, he sat there braiding some plastic laces into a lanyard THE WHOLE TIME! He looked up once or twice, and maybe applauded a little, but honestly! A lanyard? Are you kidding me? And the whole front row was little white-haired grandmas and grandpas. I don't know why they sat on the front row. I'm sure they could have heard farther back. It must have been really loud up there. The fun section was near the back, where all the band students were really enthusiastic. Next time this happens, we are going to move. I came to have fun, not work on arts and crafts!)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Happy birthday to Ellen (and a cake recipe)
Last week was my oldest daughter's 16th birthday! I'm always one for a party, but she wanted a small, family celebration without a lot of fuss. So I'll just share some highlights for those who didn't get to come. (and I'll add pictures as soon as I can.)
My parents, my sister, and her son, Xander all came. Xander, who will be 4 soon, was all set to help Ellen open her presents, but we persuaded him to just hand her the next one. She got all sorts of good stuff - clothes, a CD, books (what's a birthday without books?), some website related swag, jewelry, and best of all, a new phone. She actually got the phone a little early, and it is a soooo cool. It has a camera and a MP3 player. Plus we went out for Mexican food on her birthday and her Aunt Mandy took her out for Italian food the next night!
But I promised a recipe, so here it is. It's called Texas Sheet Cake. I have this every year for my birthday and it is monumentally good. Ellen wanted her own, so this is what I made. The recipe comes from an old cookbook from the 60s of recipes from home economics teachers.
Texas Sheet Cake
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1/2 ts. salt
2 sticks butter
1 c. water
3 Tb. cocoa
2 eggs, beaten
1 ts. soda
1/2 c. buttermilk (or use 1 1/2 Tb. vinegar plus milk to equal 1/2 c, let sit for 5 minutes before adding to recipe)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. In a saucepan, heat butter, water and cocoa to boiling. Pour over dry ingredients. In another bowl combine eggs, soda, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to batter and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured jelly roll pan (15x10x1 - must have an edge). Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Start the icing the last 10 minutes while cake is baking.
Icing:
1 stick butter
3 Tb. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
about 2 c. powdered sugar (the recipe calls for "1 box confectioners' sugar", so I always have to guess - and thanks Keri, for letting me borrow some sugar)
1 ts. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)
Mix butter, cocoa, and milk in saucepan. (I always reuse the saucepan I used for the cake.) Heat just until butter melts. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, pecans, and vanilla. Mix well. AS SOON AS THE CAKE COMES OUT OF THE OVEN frost with icing. This will cause the icing to soak into the cake, creating a fudge-like cake that's almost like a candy.
This cake tastes best warm, but is still yummy at room temperature. You can serve it with good vanilla ice cream to make it even better. It is BY FAR my favorite chocolate cake. Ever.
My parents, my sister, and her son, Xander all came. Xander, who will be 4 soon, was all set to help Ellen open her presents, but we persuaded him to just hand her the next one. She got all sorts of good stuff - clothes, a CD, books (what's a birthday without books?), some website related swag, jewelry, and best of all, a new phone. She actually got the phone a little early, and it is a soooo cool. It has a camera and a MP3 player. Plus we went out for Mexican food on her birthday and her Aunt Mandy took her out for Italian food the next night!
But I promised a recipe, so here it is. It's called Texas Sheet Cake. I have this every year for my birthday and it is monumentally good. Ellen wanted her own, so this is what I made. The recipe comes from an old cookbook from the 60s of recipes from home economics teachers.
Texas Sheet Cake
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1/2 ts. salt
2 sticks butter
1 c. water
3 Tb. cocoa
2 eggs, beaten
1 ts. soda
1/2 c. buttermilk (or use 1 1/2 Tb. vinegar plus milk to equal 1/2 c, let sit for 5 minutes before adding to recipe)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. In a saucepan, heat butter, water and cocoa to boiling. Pour over dry ingredients. In another bowl combine eggs, soda, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to batter and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured jelly roll pan (15x10x1 - must have an edge). Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Start the icing the last 10 minutes while cake is baking.
Icing:
1 stick butter
3 Tb. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
about 2 c. powdered sugar (the recipe calls for "1 box confectioners' sugar", so I always have to guess - and thanks Keri, for letting me borrow some sugar)
1 ts. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)
Mix butter, cocoa, and milk in saucepan. (I always reuse the saucepan I used for the cake.) Heat just until butter melts. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, pecans, and vanilla. Mix well. AS SOON AS THE CAKE COMES OUT OF THE OVEN frost with icing. This will cause the icing to soak into the cake, creating a fudge-like cake that's almost like a candy.
This cake tastes best warm, but is still yummy at room temperature. You can serve it with good vanilla ice cream to make it even better. It is BY FAR my favorite chocolate cake. Ever.
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