A Review of "Shore Excursion"

Shore Excursion: A Sidney Marsh Murder Mystery
by Marie Moore
Camel Press, ISBN 978-1603818742
April 1, 2012, 230 pages

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Sidney's mom was not happy when she quit college to move to New York City, or with her career in a dying profession as a travel agent. So Sidney will not mention that a scary looking homeless man seems to be stalking her as she is about to start her cruise as the travel leader of a group of senior citizens..and a few others who may have chosen the wrong group. Or that as the cruise has barely started, one of the High Steppers has been found strangled in her cabin.

Perhaps just as upsetting for Sidney is the fact that everyone on the ship seems determined to say it was not a murder, including the very handsome Captain Vargos and the on-board medical doctor. But when a second body, another High Stepper is found naked and very dead in one of the ship's freezers, no one is going to be able to deny that something very bad is going on..and that Sidney herself may be the next intended victim.

"Look, Sidney, you are not a detective, or a trained investigator, or any of that stuff. You are a travel agent, not a cop, and you could get yourself in a whole lot of trouble messing around in all this..."

Well, yes!
Why has no one thought of this before, an amateur sleuth who is a travel agent and the leader of travel group? Well, if anyone has, I has not read it and now, ex-travel agent Ms. Moore has done a very nice job at using this very good idea. I can hardly wait to see where future adventures will take us..not that this one, to London and a cruise through Scandinavia to Russia, is not good enough because it is. In fact, it is a trip that I would love to take myself in real life! Which is at least one reason that I enjoyed this book. But not the only one.

Ms. Moore has put together a nice case of characters, including Sidney, but also joined by her friend and co-worker Jay Wilson, a young man who is gay in every sense of the word and an interesting group in the High Steppers. By the way, if you read my rant recently about introducing too large a cast of characters all at once, thank you Ms. Moore for that sweet list Sidney made, early in the book, describing them all. Life saver! OK, maybe the dashing Captain Vargos is just a bit too good to be true, but I guess poor Sidney deserves a little fun after all the goings on this time around.

Throw in some great settings and more than a little bit of real travel advice and all together Shore Excursion is a very nice and very promising start to a new cozy mystery series, a fast, fun read. I know that I will be traveling along on the next adventure!

It you would like to check out some more reviews of Shore Excursion  or find out some more about the author,  Marie Moore, head over to the Tribute Book Blog Tour site. We are just about halfway through the tour, so there are links to lots more reviews there and a link to Ms. Moore's website.
Maybe she will give us a hint where the next book will take us!

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Wordless Wednesday...Montauk Lighthouse

In honor of it recently being named a  National Historic Landmark...
"Welcome to the Montauk Point Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in New York State. The Lighthouse was authorized by the Second Congress, under President George Washington, in 1792. Construction began on June 7, 1796 and was completed on November 5, 1796. This historic landmark has been part of Long Island's land and seascape for over 200 years and still serves as an active aid to navigation."

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Montauk Fisherman Memorial

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...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

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Guest Post! The Niece Goes A Cruising..

The Niece, lucky girl, just returned from a cruise over her Spring Break.
A cruise on the largest ship in the world, Allure of the Seas. She was busy..rock climbing, wave surfing, zip lining...shopping, eating, having a beverage or two.
But she did not forget her Dear Auntie. She got her a couple of lighthouse photos!
Well, sort of...

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Recently, I was lucky enough to cruise through the bright and sunny Caribbean. Nothing says happiness like a Kindle, a lounge chair and a Pina Colada, right!? The first port of call on my Caribbean adventure was Nassau, Bahamas. Those of you who have been there probably understand why we did not even get off of the ship... those of you who haven't – well, don't put it at the top of your list. Instead, we snapped pictures from our balcony and took advantage of the significantly emptier cruise ship. I took this picture especially for my dear aunt who has an overwhelming fondness for lighthouses.

 

Interestingly enough, our cruise ship also housed a lighthouse – The Boardwalk Bar! The world's largest ship, Allure of the Seas, boasts seven “neighborhoods” which we found to be a truly unique experience. The Boardwalk was home to a full-sized carousel, Johnny Rocket's restaurant, the breathtakingly impressive Aqua Theater and of course, The Boardwalk Bar. We stopped by a few times on our trip to grab a daiquiri (or two)!

 

I really could go on and on about my experience aboard this ship but that would take a couple dozen posts, lol! I do, however, consider myself to be somewhat of an expert as I did EXTENSIVE (some might say embarrassingly obsessive) research before our voyage. Secret spots? Found them all. Specialty sandwiches? Ate them gladly. Top notch entertainment? Enjoyed each show thoroughly. Therefore, if any of you are planning to take the Allure of the Seas, I would be happy to share my experiences and answer any questions.

Have a happy day!
Your (rested) guest-blogger, The Niece.

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Musing Monday..."Won't You Let Me Take You on a Sea Cruise..."

Yep, it is Monday! You can smell it in the air! Let's see what  MizB at Should Be Reading is asking this week on Musing Monday...

This week’s musing asks…

What book do you wish you were reading right now? Where would you take it to, if you could go anywhere to read for a while?

I am rather later here today.
And not around much this week.
I was having a bit of a sleep in, since I have been sick all week with a cold/upper respiratory thing.
No, it did not stop me from going to the Flower Show Friday and Saturday, photos you will no doubt be seeing something of in the coming weeks. Maybe one or two, or a dozen, of the 259 I took. Being sick is one thing, but this was the Flower Show!

But today is Monday and let me say, in answer to today's question, that the Flower Show is NOT a place I would go to read. They do keep it nice and cool, for the flowers, but a really comfy chair is almost impossible to to find and the crowds..well, the crowds are huge and noisy.

I will pick the book I am actually reading. At the moment, I am reading "Shore Excursion" by Marie Moore.
From the publisher's description...

"Travel agents are a vanishing breed, but Sidney Marsh, a New York transplant from Mississippi, is holding her ground--at least on land. She is the tour leader on a cruise through Scandinavia for a group of eccentric senior citizens who call themselves the High Steppers. Sidney expects her days to be filled with long meals, shopping expeditions and visits to museums, churches and fjords. But this cruise is anything but routine. There is a killer on board..."

It is a fun little murder mystery and what better place to read a book that is set on a cruise ship would be...a cruise ship!
My ideal would be one that starts here..Liberty Park in NJ would be perfect...goes tran-Atlantic and then goes someplace nice for another week or two. South, into the Med or north, checking out some fiords and such, either would be grand. I would like to have the same cabin I had on my last cruise. I will get up whenever I wish, grab a comfy chair, on the desk if it is nice or up in the Crows Nest if there is a chill, a hot beverage by my side, an endless view and a good book. My only decision will be in what restaurant to have dinner and whether to go to the show or not.
And of course, when I finish this book, there is that nice library just waiting, not to mention my ever more crowded Nook.

Wow, I seem to me having an issue posting this today, screwing up things left and right, so I will leave you with a fitting cruising song...

..just wait for the 20 second intro to play

and you will be awarded with Mickey Mouse!

Weekend Cooking...Pistachio Cake

Wait a second, let me pull my soapbox over here for a minute or two.

OK, I am a little sensitive about Saint Patrick's Day.
I don't like the jokes, actually often ethically offensive jokes, about the Irish. Even if someone who is "Irish' tells it.
To me it is a religious day, a celebration of the patron saint of Ireland, the place of my father's birth and the birthplace of all my ancestors.
So to make it a 'silly' day, with drunkenness, and leprechauns and Four Leaf Clovers (Shamrocks, folks, have three leaves, like the Trinity) just grates on me something fierce.

But the worst of it all must be green beer!
Beer should not be green! It is an offense against one of the greatest, most ancient, beverages of all time. Do not dye your beer! Please.

 

But now cake...cake can be green.
So when the Niece made this cake a few weeks ago, and it was quite tasty, I thought..Saint Patrick's Day!!
A simple quick cake, using a box cake and a box of pistachio pudding. But while the cake was quite good, and a lovely shade of green due to a little dye, it was lacking in pistachio taste. So in order to up the pistachio flavor, I add some...pistachios!
I would have added some pistachio extract too, if I could have found it. You can buy it online..but that seemed a little extreme. Put if you have some, I would certainly replace the almond extract with it.
I also decreased the food color a bit from the original recipe when I made it, which I think was a mistake. If you are going green, go green!

It is a nice moist cake, very tasty. And Green!!

Pistachio Bundt Cake

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
7 drops green food coloring
1 cup chopped pistachios, 3/4 for batter and 1/4 to top cake


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
In a large bowl mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, water, oil, almond extract and green food coloring. Blend ingredients, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
Pour into prepared 10 inch tube pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.


Meanwhile, make a glaze of confectionery sugar and a little milk and a tiny dash of vanilla. You could, id desired, make the icing green also, with a couple of drops of green dye. As soon as you pour the glaze over the cool cake, sprinkle with chopped pistachios and let harden a bit.

 

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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Wordless Wednesday..."Oh, Canada..."

..a few from some trips to our neighbor 

to the north a few years ago.

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Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site, Baddeck, Nova Scotia

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Flower Pot Rocks, New Brunswick

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St. John River, New Brunswick

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Halifax Harbor

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...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

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My Fake Musing Monday..

Here it is Monday, 6 a.m..I checked, it is Monday...and no Musing posted. What to do?
Well, I could just wait.
But I just got home from work and am going to sleep, so the wait would be extended. So I decided to make my own question up.

Today's Fake Monday Musing question, as rarely, from the addled, sleep deprived brain of Caite is...

Do you have any book related pet peeves?

If so, would you care to share and rant about at least one for a bit? Oh, please!

Why, oddly enough Caite, yes I do have a book related pet peeve!
And I would love to share.
Thank you for asking.

A book that I just finished reminded me of one of my favorite book peeves.
I will call it Character Overload.

Now see, my dear beloved authors, I know writing a book is a great deal of work. You have spent months and months, maybe years and years, working on your book. And over this time, you created all your characters. Then you started to flesh them out, getting to know them, giving them a personality, a voice. Maybe they are like friends..or enemies...to you.

But remember, we, your readers, open that first page and them is the first we know of them. And just like going to a party or a meeting, full of people you do not know, all these people, all at once is very confusing. I can't even remember their names..party, meeting or book.

That recent book introduced maybe a dozen characters all in the first 40 pages. Would they all be important? Would I have to remember them all? They all started to blend into each other. Was that Bob who was from South Africa...or Bill or Bart? Which one was the 6 foot blond with the mustache and which was the 5'10" guy with the beard. And do I care? I had to actually go back and make a little cheat sheet. NOT GOOD.
And do not make the names similar.
This recent book.
Two, yes, two characters, both named Jimmy. I kid you not.

OK, my other pet peeve has nothing to do with books.
But I am on a roll.
Who the heck told people it was OK to show up at the free breakfast at the chain hotel in you PJs?!?
I do not want to see you or your kids, with your sleep disheveled hair, your unshowered bodies, your unbrushed teeth and you nighttime attire bodies while I am eating my microwave oatmeal and freeze dried eggs! It is bad enough as it is!

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Oh wait. the 'real'  MM is up now...I will make it quick.

This week’s musing asks…

When you walk into a bookstore — any bookstore — what’s the first section you head toward (what draws you)?

Wow, since our Borders close, and having no independent bookstores in the area, I can not remember the last time I was IN a bookstore. Let me think...
Well, as I remember, I would first check out the New Trade Paperback tables. Then the bestsellers, not that I was going to buy them there at those prices, then the leftovers table. Where you might actually find a bargain.
Then buy coffee, use the restroom, read some magazines and leave.

Which yes, may explain why they went out of business.

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Weekend Cooking...Curried Chickpea Salad

As the end of the week starts approaching, I begin to think about what I will post here on Weekend Cooking.
And since it is Lent, and therefore Fridays are meat free, I take that into consideration also.

Then I happened upon this link to a Whole Food blog with a bunch of recipes using curry, including one with chickpeas. Oh my, I love chickpeas. So I was all set.
Wow, look at that..more limes...more cilantro. Love it.

Now, you know I had to make a change or two, right?
I have always considered curry a spice that needs to 'bloom' in hot oil. So I just took the olive oil in the recipe, heated it in a pot and added the curry, letting it cook for a few minutes, (gosh, that smells good) and then letting it cool before continuing. It said the whole cumin should be toasted, so I put it in a dry pan and heated it just until you could smell it.(wow, that smells good too!) And I increased the lime juice for 2 to 3 tablespoons and added the lime zest.
I will tell you that while this is very tasty as soon as you make it, if you let it sit a few hours or, even better, overnight, the flavors really get even better.

Curried Chickpea Salad
(adapted from Whole Food recipe)
Serves 8

Traditional Indian spices and flavors imbue this chickpea salad. Serve over mixed salad greens with pita chips for dinner. If you have any leftovers, spoon the salad into whole wheat pita bread and top with alfalfa sprouts or shredded lettuce for a tasty lunch.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons lime juice
zest of one lime
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup seedless raisins
2 (15-ounce) cans cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2/3 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup cilantro or parsley, chopped
8 cups mixed greens
4 cups pita chips (optional)

Method
In a small pot heat oil and add curry power, sauteing for a minute. Let cool before you continue.
In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, lime juice, zest, maple syrup and salt. Add cooled oil and curry. Add raisins, cumin, chickpeas, bell pepper, onion and cilantro and toss to combine. Spoon chickpea salad over salad greens and serve with pita chips on the side, if you like.

 

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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A Review of the "Flatey Enigma"

The Flatey Enigma by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson, translated by Brian FitzGibbon
Amazon Crossing, ISBN 978-1611090970
February 21, 2012, 224 pages.

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Off the west coast of Iceland, in the Breidafjordur, a large shallow bay encircled by mountains and glaciers, there are many, many islands, including one called Flatey. When this novel takes place, in the 1960, there is a small community living there, subsisting on their seal skin harvest and eiderdown collection. They eat seal meat and puffin and collecting the eggs of wild birds, doing some fishing and raising a few cattle and what little crops can be raised in this wild climate with bitter winters.
But once, centuries ago, Flatey was a center of Icelandic culture and best known for the construction of a national treasure, the medieval 13th century manuscript called the Flateyjarbók, or Book of Flatey. The copy that is held in the island's tiny library is it's greatest treasure. And the source of a never solved puzzle, the Flatey Enigma.

But the sleepy pace of the island is going to undergo a big change. A family of fisherman, grandfather, son and grandson, land on a tiny, uninhabited nearby island when sea hunting and find the body of a stranger. It seems that he somehow got trapped on the island alone, with no boat, and died of exposure. Who could he be and how did he possibly get out there, to die that horrible death? This is not a place where strangers go unnoticed, yet no one seems to know who this man is..or how he came to die. But it is soon clear that it is closely tied to Flatey and it's great treasure.

The oldest and smallest library in Iceland (est. 1836) is located on the island of Flatey,

I have a weakness for mysteries set in the Far North, but interestingly, this is set in an Iceland that we rarely see. No urban Reykjavík here, but a wild, barren island and a fascinating look at a culture, in a setting decades ago, that is both interesting and at times quite foreign. Example...seal meat, fermented ray and puffin breast for dinner...hmmm. But if you can overcome a weak stomach, I think you will agree that the author bring us a fascinating and very real look at a great setting, one of the strongest positives of this book.

Flatey's tiny library is where the facsimile of the Book of Flatey is housed.

And then we have our cast of characters and quite an unusual bunch they are, including the lead investigator who is not like any you will have met before..or wait, he is the lead suspect? Especially when a second body turns up. My, this little island is becoming quite the hot bed of crime.
And I must say that I enjoyed many, if not all, of the vignettes from the Flatey Book that ended each chapter, each giving and answering one of the forty clues in the unsolved puzzle. Some are amusing, most are terriblly brutal, but all are interesting. And then we have some ties in the plot to the characters' history during WWII, just a few decades ago when the book takes place, also rather intriguing.

Not everything is positive about this book.
I will admit that it is a bit difficult to keep all these Icelandic names, unpronounceable to this English speaker, straight. It gets off to a very interesting start, when we meet all the players and learn about this island. And the ending, I thought, was very clever and very nicely tied up all the threads. But it takes a distinct lag in the middle, including a side story with a police investigator on the mainland that I think could have been greatly reduced. A bit tighter there and this would have been a much better book. As it is, the middle is rather boring and drags.
But for all that, it was still quite good and very interesting, showing us a place and a culture that I would love to see more of, some good characters and a nice mystery.

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My thanks to Amazon Vine for a review copy of this book...and for the use of those photos of the island from their web site.

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A Review of "Pineapple Grenade"

Pineapple Grenade by Tim Dorsey
William Morrow, ISBN 978-0061876905
January 24, 2012, 352 pages

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From the publisher's description...

"Miami has always set the weirdness bar, but Serge Storms is back in action and ready to pole vault over it.

First, there’s the media frenzy over the “Hollow Man,” a gutless corpse found on the beach. And yet people think it’s perfectly normal to find dead sharks in the middle of downtown boulevards—or to spot black mushroom clouds behind the airport. Then there are the roving bands of carjackers who suddenly find themselves inconvenienced. Not to mention people lurking outside sex-addiction meetings.

Could this be the work of Serge, that eccentric trivialista and one-man vigilante? And why is he extensively photographing foreign consulates right before the critically important Summit of the Americas comes to town? Does it have something to do with Serge’s declaration to tell his ever-stoned sidekick, Coleman, that he’s decided to become a spy? Of course he’s not working for anyone yet, so Serge is content to just spy for himself until he shows up on radar and his talents are appreciated. His ace in the hole? Serge’s newly revamped Secret Master Plan! His spider senses tell him something big is about to go down in Miami, and it just might involve the recently reactivated CIA cell operating in the same historic building that plotted the overthrow of Fidel Castro."

When I read that description, I will tell you I was psyched.
I love thrillers and mysteries set in Florida. I am not sure why, but somehow it just makes a great setting. The sun, the swamps, the heat, the storms, the beautiful ocean..it just adds up to a very interesting place. Not for me, but for a book.
And I love a good killer. Yes, it is a little out of the box when the 'good guy' is also a bad guy, but it is totally doable. Speaking of Florida and a good guy killer, where it totally works, let me just say one word.  
Dexter.

Well then, why did I not like this book? And I did not.
I think a large part of it goes back to what I wrote in my Monday Musing post this week, except this is the example of a series where the author does not do what must be done.
Yes, here I am stepping into the middle of another big series. This is book 14. And that can be OK for the reader, as it has been in a couple of books I recently reviewed. In fact, in a series, a reader must be able to step in anywhere and still 'get' the book.  But it does not here. I never felt any connection to the main character, Serge. He is clever, he and his sidekick are funny at times. But I just did not care.

And this book is written in a very particular style. The book jumps all over the place, from one storyline to another, with a lot of information, much of which just seems for our education or amusement.  Again, you can look at a recent review here of a book that had a similar 'confusing' storyline, and let that time it totally worked. Here it did not. For me, it never came together.

Even the Florida angle did not really pay off this time, since we seem to spend way too much time just wandering around bad neighborhoods on the edge of Miami. Not quite the Florida feeling I was looking for.

Now, I will tell you that previous books in this series got some great reviews. I checked them out before I requested this one. But Pineapple Grenade, so far, is getting decided mixed ones, even from longtime fans of Serge and his friends. So if the premise sounds interesting, of a killer and his sidekick on a bunch of funny, madcap deadly adventure in the sultry Sunshine State, you might want to try a book early in the series, like Florida Roadkill, the first. And again, stop before you get here.

Honestly, unless you are a die hard fan of this series, I would not recommend this one. Even then, you might not be too thrilled.

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My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

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Wordless Wednesday...Another Day At The Shore

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...as always, for more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

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Just One Minute...

Yes, it is an ad, but I think it is a great one.

A trip around the world in just one minute!

Musing Monday...Off With Their Heads!

It's Monday once again, so let's check out the Monday Musing
question,  as always from the mind of Miz B at Should Be Reading.

This week’s musing asks…

• Do you read books that are part of a series?

• Do you collect all the books in the series before starting? What if the series is brand new, and the only book that’s been published so far is Book one? As subsequent books in the series are published, do you go back and re-read the preceding books?

Yes, I have been known to read a series or two…or 20.
Ideally, I would read them in order, but if I get one as a review book and it is maybe 15th in the series..well, that is not going to happen. Especially if the author does not send me the previous 14. Then I might. OK, just a suggestion..lol
But if it is a very good book, that should not be a deal breaker..as we will discuss in a minute.

Do I collect them? No, not before starting to read one or after starting to read one.  No, at this point I really have to be very careful what books I decide to actually keep. See, I have just a few too many books around my house.A few hundred...maybe a thousand. If you find yourself in NJ, stop by with a box, maybe a hand truch, a wagon, fill it up and take some home!
So no, except for review books, I am really trying to stick to library books these days. Nice library books that go back there after I read it...or e-books, because while, yes, they too can ‘pile up’ you can’t see the piles, so they aren’t really there. Right?

If I start with a new series, do I reread the previous one before I start the newest? What, are you crazy? Are their people who actually have time for that? Well, no, I have lots of new books waiting for me and do not reread books these days. Each book is only getting one turn…then move on my little bookish friend. Next!

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with series.
Ideally they are great, but the reality is sometime different.
I love mysteries and a lot of mystery writers write series. And, yes, there are many that are very book, where I eagerly awit the next. One of my favorites, one that shows some of the finer points of a series, are the books of Karin Slaughter. As with any good series, any individual book can be read as a stand-alone, yet each also builds on the previous to keep the returning reader interested. It takes really skill as an author, I think, to be able to give the background information the new reader might need if they have not read the previous books and yet to do so concisely enough so as not to bore the reader who has read the others. Keeping that series reader in mind, the storyline, the characters, have to evolve. There has to be change, there has to be developments, new characters coming in and yes, some characters going away.

Sometimes that means someone must die!

I will not give any spoilers, but Slaughter takes the very brave step of killing off a very major character several books into the series. It is a real shocker when you read it, but it is the sort of step I think an author has to be willing to take if they want to keep things fresh and exciting and unexpected and have the readers buy the next one to see where things can possibly go now.

And that leads us to the ultimate brave step an author can take…finishing a series off.
If books are still selling and the publisher is happy, it may be very, very hard. But sometimes it is just time. Things have run their course.
Times to go out with a bang and start something new.
Off with their heads!!

Weekend Cooking...Rice Noodle Soup with Shrimp

Yes folks, another soup. I am on a soup kick.
Here is it another of my days off, and once again chilly and rainy.
Pouring rain and thunder.
It is also a Friday in Lent, so for me, a meat free day.
And dinner time is fast approaching.
In the spirit of Lent, let's see if we can keep it fairly simple and also, maybe, at the same time, use up some things hanging around in the frig before they get furry.

So, I have that frozen shrimp in the freezer and that package of brown rice noodle I got for review from Amazon Vine. Let's check the produce drawer in the frig..a red pepper, carrots and onions, some cilantro and some limes left over...oh, I think I see another soup in my future, but this time let's look East...'cause I have to use those rice noodles!

There are dozens and dozens of recipes for soup with rice noodles out there and once again I read a bunch of them and then took an idea from here and and an idea from there. And once again, I think the result was pretty darn good.
The broth has a bit of a sweet and sour taste, with the vinegar and lime juice on the one side and the touch of sugar on the other, a little salty from the fish sauce and soy and a little hot from the chili sauce..or a lot hot if so desired.
The vegetables you add are up to you. I love the texture of rehydrated mushrooms and the crisp bok choy, the finish of scallions and the cilantro add a nice fresh taste. A lot of recipes called for lemongrass, but that would have involved a trip to the Asian Market and I was in a bit of a rush because I had to get to the beer tasting at my local liquor store before it was over. But we will talk about that another day. So no lemongrass.
And of course the choice of noodles is up to you too. The rice noodle are very quick and easy, and gluten free....but personally I have never met a noodle I didn't like so use what you like.
When they are all listed like this, it seems like a lot of ingredients, but it really is a very fast, pretty easy recipe. So don't get scared away.

Rice Noodle Soup with Shrimp
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 red pepper, cut in matchsticks
1 carrot, cut in matchsticks 
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. chili sauce or 2 Thai chilies
1 tsp. sugar
Grated rind of one lime
Juice of one lime 

1 lb. raw shrimp, cleaned, peeled
2 cups snow peas
1/2 head bok choy, roughly chopped
1 oz. dried mushroom, rehydrate in boiling water
4-8 oz. rice noodle, pre-soaked as instructions on package direct.

1 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 small bunch scallions, finely sliced
dark sesame oil

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In a large pot, heat the oil and add onion, garlic and ginger and saute. Add carrots, pepper and stock and let simmer. Meanwhile, mix the soy, vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, lime rind and juice and chili sauce in a small bowl to combine and then add to the stock and simmer for a few minutes.
Add the shrimp and the mushrooms and snow peas and let cook for a few minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, then add the bok choy and noodles and cook until noodle are desired consistency, another minute or two.
Ladle in bowls and served with a drizzle of sesame oil, some sliced scallions and a little chopped cilantro.

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This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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A Review of " The Most Scenic Drives in America"

The Most Scenic Drives in America, Newly Revised and Updated: 120 Spectacular Road Trips by the Editors of Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest, ISBN 978-1606523582
March 1, 2011, 400 pages

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My dear readers, you may have noticed that I like to travel.
And I like to take picture of places I travel to.
I am happy to go by air or sea or train..but what I love most is a Road Trip.
Charge the GPS, fill the tank, pack some snacks, make sure the camera is ready, pick a direction and let's go!

Well, if you too love a great road trip and need some ideas for some future trips...or if you just want to sit on your couch and take a beautiful journey in your mind, the newly revised and update The Most Scenic Drives in America is a book I think that you will love. I know I do.

The book gives 120 different trips, divided into four major areas of the US, Western, Rocky Mountain, Central and Eastern, in each case also extending up into Canada to include some trips to visit our northern neighbors. For each, there is a very nice map, a great deal of useful information, beautiful photographs and links to the web sites of attractions and places that are discussed so you can go online and get additional information. Each point of interest along the trip in each drive is numbered, with a discussion of the must see sights. The length of each trip is given, with suggestions of when the best time to go is and other nearby attractions that you might want to visit while you are in the area.

Looking over the list, I figure that I have probably driven about 20 of the included drives, in Nova Scotia, New England, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland...oh, and New Jersey! So that only leave me about 100 to go and I wish I could just grab this book, take a few months off work and hit the road. But honestly, as great as my trips were, I wish I had a look at this book before I took them, because there are some things I missed. This book is just full of great ideas, and really, no matter where you live in the US, there is probably a route nearby for you to explore.

And did I mention the hundreds and hundreds of fabulous photographs? I must say, one thing I really enjoyed looking through this book was checking out the pictures from places I have been and comparing them to my own. Mine don't come off too badly but I picked up a lot of great ideas for the future.

Now, I do think I should mention that when you set out on any of these trips, you may need to gather some additional information..like from those web sites the book gave you. It does not discuss where to stay, except in general terms, or some mentions of a few lodging that are sights in themselves and the same is true with places to eat. But I have no problem with that because that is not what this book is.
What it aims to do, to give us ideas of some fabulous places to visit and a lot of great information about planning those trips, it does a great job at. But even if you are not going to take any of these drives..even if you don't own a car!...this book will give you many enjoyable hours, just paging through, getting off the Interstate and checking out some of the most beautiful places in our country.

My thanks to Amazon Vine for providing me with a copy of this book to review.