Weekend Cooking...Cool Whip Cookies

In my attempt to circulate items out of my freezer, I took a look this week to see what I might use up.
Hmmm...that tub of Cool Whip, something I never use and bought for some now long forgotten recipe...look like it's time was up.
And a light bulb went of in my head, some vague memory of a cookie recipe that use the fluffy white stuff.

To Google I went..and low and behold..there they were. With the understandable title of Cool Whip Cookies.

4 simple ingredients.
A bowl, a spoon.
A few minutes of your time

Cool Whip Cookies

Makes: About 36 cookies
Ingredients: 

1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip, thawed 
1 eggs 
1 (18.25 oz) Box Cake Mix (whatever flavor you like) 
1/2 c powdered sugar 

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line grease cookie sheets with parchment paper. Beat together the Cool Whip and the egg. Add cake mix and continue to mix together. Dough will be VERY sticky. 
Place the bowl in the refrigerator for an hour.
Drop by  scoops into a bowl of the powdered sugar. Roll to coat and form into balls. Place on prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool on a rack until they start to firm up.

I used a #40 scoop but you can make them bigger or smaller, just adjusting the bake time accordingly.  I used a chocolate fudge cake mix, but you can just use your imagination. I saw comments on a site where they used a lemon cake and added some lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice..and you know how I love lemon! Next time....

Putting the 'dough' in the frig for a bit helps a lot, because this is a VERY sticky material. But if you use a scoop, drop it right into the powered sugar and then roll in the sugar without touching the dough you can do this without making a terrible mess.
Of course, there is the powered sugar. It makes that nice crackle top, but it can be dangerous.
I should have worn an apron!

Or you could let the kids do it, if you have some of them around.
Then, when they are done,
 just remove them to the backyard and hose them off.
Then give them a cookie for their trouble.

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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...Brandywine River Museum

A lovely spot for a museum, on the side of the cool green river. Sadly, I could not get a picture of any of the Wyeth paintings the museum is famous for, what with the guards and all the 'no photos' signs...but I enjoyed them! So you will just have to go yourself.

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

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Review of "The Healer" [42]

The Healer by Antti Tuomainen
Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 978-0805095548
May 14, 2013, 224 pages

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Which was worse—complete certainty that the worst had happened, or this fear, building up moment by moment? Sudden collapse, or slow, crumbling disintegration?

I lurched with the force of a swerve that shook me out of my wandering thoughts, and looked up.

Yellow-black flames from a wrecked truck lashed the pillar of the pedestrian bridge at the Sörnäinen shore road. The truck looked broken in the middle, embracing the pillar like a pleading lover. Not one of the passing cars slowed down, let alone stopped. They moved to the outside lane as they flew by, passing the burning wreck at the greatest possible distance.

So did the bus I was sitting in.

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Scandinavian mysteries have a reputation for being a bit bleak, but this one adds an element that takes it to a whole new level.

It is set in Helsinki in the near future, a city falling apart, in a world falling apart.
We are in the midst of a global ecological collapse, constant rain and flooding, food and drinking water become more scarce as each day goes by, electric and Internet unreliable, hundreds of millions of people try to move north to places they feel might be livable for a bit longer. Bangladesh has sunk into the ocean, unstoppable fires are consuming the rain forests of the Amazon, the US has been attacked by missiles from Mexican drug lords, the European countries that are left are at war. Things like police protection have become impossible, as most cops have left their jobs, medical care almost impossible to get, as those doctors left try to deal with widespread epidemics of TB, Ebola and the plague.
Well, that is unless you are very rich. Then you hire one of the many private security companies to protect you and your family and to buy the scare resources.

But it seems even a great deal of money can not offer total protection. The city has a killer, a serial killer, who calls himself The Healer. He is killing whole families of people he feels are guilty for creating the situation the world is in and the police seem helpless to stop him. Detectives are few, things like DNA testing or fingerprints almost impossible to get done.

Just one more terrible thing Tapani Lehtinen can do nothing about ...until his wife Joanna disappears. She is an investigative report, a dying breed, as is the newspaper she works for. But she is one of the few who feels a sense of duty, to try and do good. Tapani is a poet who still writes poetry every day that no one will read, as his wife is a writer after a story that no one really cares about. She never came home from work days ago and does not answer her phone. As her husband tries to find her, he discovers that she seems to have had a lead on the Healer and her last act may have been to meet with someone who had information on him. He also finds out a number of other things about the people in his life that in less shocking times might be shocking. Now, not so much.
Some things like greed and love, revenge and hatred, good and evil persist, regardless of what is going on in the world. Even if society is collapsing around you, human nature remains human nature.

OK, I will warn you, this is a dark book, in both its plot and setting. I think the sun appears for only one day in the whole story. It is a dark mystery set in a dark place.
But...except for one little issue, I really enjoyed this book. So let's get the issue out of the way. At times it can get a little preachy, a bit simplistic about the whole climate change issue. I think we get the author's point on that. I could do without the lecture.

Now, on to the good! Tapani is a great character, very likable, very smart and willing to go to any lengths to find his wife. Several of the minor characters, like a sympathetic police detective and a life saving immigrant cab driver are excellent as well. The plot, the actual mystery, is good, even if with a point or two that stretches believability. The writing is beautiful, odd to say about a story set in such a harsh world, with the translator, Lola Rogers, doing a fine job.

But I dare say, what you will remember about this book when you finish it will be that world the author creates, a world literally rotting. And the question it raises..what makes some people go on when faced with a hopeless situation. Can love, even a love as strong as Tapani's make a difference? Are they the good, the brave, doing the right thing, or are they fools? You decide, right until the very last page and it shocking ending.

Musing Monday...Book Greed

 

Yet another Monday..yet another muse...Check out the other muses at...
 Should Be Reading...

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Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

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Are you book greedy?
I will admit, I am.
I try to keep it under control, but I will also admit I am not too successful.

I remember the days before the blogging. I bought some books, I got some from the library. I would maybe have a book or two in reserve for when I finished what I was reading. The SIL would buy some and we would trade.

And then the blogging.  
I would request books for review from various sources and, as time went on, I started to get a few.  
Wow, how exciting!!
Then quite a few.  
I needed to keep some sort of record, so I joined Library Thing. Oh look, they have this Early Reviewers thing. I can request a book from hundreds, and as I faithfully reviewed them, I 'won' one many months.
Then there was that e-mail from Amazon Vine, asking if I would like to join, guaranteeing 4 books a month if I so desired.

I started to get offers from blogging book tours..offers from publishers...offers from publicists..offers from authors.

And so many looked good. Or at least good enough. And I wanted them. I certainly don't need them. I WANT THEM.

Of course, I am still buying some books. I read a great review and I want it. Look, in seconds I can get a copy for my Nook! And Barnes and Noble has a Nook free book every Friday! Will I like it? Well, it is free, so way not take a chance? 
And who had the nerve to tell me about this site called BookBub. Free e-books, .99 cents books for your Kindle or Nook or iPad.

And I still go to the library on occasion. I tell myself I will be good. Not buy the book but get it from the library. That is responsible, right? Of course, I get the call to pick it up, and leave with 2 additional books because I was stupid enough to check out the New Releases section. 

I must sort them, physically or, for e-books, in my mind. Amazon Vine has a new policy that you must review 100% of last month's requests to be able to get any new ones. At first I was upset, but honestly it is a good thing, keeping me in line. And I try to really keep after the Library Thing books. The library books go ahead of the ones I buy, and the review books often go ahead of them both. So many books are waiting.
Well, my eyes are bigger than my ability to keep up.

But they make me happy.
OK, a little concerned when I think of the show Hoarders, 
but at this point, they still make me happy, happy. 
All those books I have stored up, each one, possibly, a great adventure, just waiting for me, hours of pleasure just sitting there, patiently.  

Is it greed..or saving for a rainy day?
Or a rainy year.  
Perhaps a decade. 

Do you understand??
Oh please, say you do!  

    

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Weekend Cooking..When You Feeling Liking Whining...Think Wine

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What in the world can I write about this week?
I cooked nothing.
I read no foodie books.
And yesterday,instead of cooking something, I went on a little road trip.
I went to Longwood Garden (no doubt you will see more of that come Wordless Wednesday)
and the surrounding area.
As you could see above, there were foodie books in the gift shop.
But I did not buy any.

So, after a few hours in the hot sun..and the still warm shade, I was hot.
And tired.
So,  I took a little ride down the road.
To the Chaddsford Winery.

Look, they have wine tastings!
Hot day, free, cool wine.
Sounds like an idea!

Pretty building

And 6 or 7 different bottles to taste.
Warning.
Skip the Spiced Apple. Nasty.
But the rest..quite nice.

So, off to the retail space to buy a bottle or two.
Or six.
I felt refreshed enough to go back for an evening free concert.
And the Main Fountain light and music show.
Cool!

Pretty labels.
Safely resting in my kitchen.
Grab a glass!
And bring a snack.

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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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Review of "Norwegian by Night" [41]

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Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 978-0547934877

May 21, 2013, 304 pages

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"A luminous novel, a police thriller, and the funniest book about war crimes and dementia you are likely to read."

Well, that sounds like something interesting, a bit different..and it is.

Sheldon Horowitz might not be quite like any character you have ever met. Jewish, a New Yorker his entire life, a Korean War veteran, a watch repair man, a widower, a father, a grandfather, he is a man lost in his new world. At the insistence of his beloved granddaughter, he has moved to Norway to live with her and her Norwegian husband. He does not know the city, he does not speak the language, but he does know that something bad is going on with their upstairs neighbor when he hears the terrible fighting.

Soon, he finds himself the witness to a murder and the lone protector of a little boy, the son of the murdered woman. And so starts the great Huck Finn like adventure to rescue the boy and find who Sheldon can trust to protect him. But of course, it will not be that simple

Sheldon is a man with issues. Is he mad, is he suffering from dementia...or is he just haunted by his past, his duty as a sniper in the war, his guilt about his son joining the army and getting killed in Vietnam? That is left up to the reader, but whatever you decide, he is a pip, believing he is being chased by Chinese soldiers, assisted by his long dead comrades.

For once, this is a book that does not take too long to tell the story. It is tight and to the point, not a scene wasted. The book moves along at a snappy pace, covering a lot of ground, by stolen boat and stolen tractor, as a Serbian madman hunts him and the boy down. But I will warn you, it is a very crooked path they are on, literally and figuratively. some of it is real and some of it is real only in the old mans mind. It jumps back to the past, way lays into discussions of religion and theology, morality and mortality along the way. Sounds too heavy? Well, no, because at times it is also laugh out loud funny and for a bit, so sad that I dare you not to cry. But sad in a very uplifting, dare i say redemptive way.

Is it a mystery, a thriller?
A book about a road trip?
A character study of an elderly man looking back on the perceived failings of his life?
Is it a story about guilt and attempted redemption?
It it a shout out at God by an angry man?
Is it a story of true good and evil?
Is it a police procedural?
Is it funny?
Is it sad?
Is it a book that will make you think?

Why, yes it is!
It is all these things and more, a very enjoyable book, a charming book, with a great character, Sheldon, who will remain with you after you have read that last page and flipped the book close.
I think you will enjoy it.

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My thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

Review of "Crime of Privilege" [40]

Crime of Privilege by Walter Walker
ISBN 978-0345541536, Ballantine Books
June 18, 2013, 432 pages

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George Becket is such a solid sounding name.
Sadly, George is not just a solid young man. Unlike some of the people in his circle, he was not rich, certainly not rich and powerful like the bad boy cousins of one of Cape Cod most famous families. Yes, think Kennedy. So when two of the cousin's take advantage of a very drunk young woman at a Palm Beach party..still getting the Kennedy thing?..sexually assaulting her, at first George does nothing. He steps in only to keep the assault from continuing, but too late to make a difference.
George kept his mouth shut, as he was expected to, even when the girl ended up killing herself. And he got his reward, admission to a good law school, a job, even if not a very good job, at a Cape Cod DA office.

Sure, it bothers George. But not that much.
Then an elderly man comes to see George. His daughter was murdered years ago, her body found on a nearby golf course and the murderer never found. He has hounded everyone he can find to bring justice to her, but no one will listen to him, being told all leads on the case went nowhere. But George is intrigued and starts to follow up. And he finds some seeming ignored facts..which all lead, once again, back to the town's, the state's most promoinate family, a family that will go very far to see some things remained covered up.

Well, what did I think of this one?
The fact that it has taken me months to write the review is a clue.
It is not bad...but it could be better.
The prominate "Kennedy-esk" family is a little heavy handed, and they certainly come across as a very sleazy bunch, which depending on your feelings about the Kennedys, you might like or hate. I admit, I rather liked it..lol
And George is a fairly likable fellow. A bit morally challenged and a bit of a slacker but a pretty good character. Even if sometimes you just want to give dear George a bit of a kick. Open your eyes George! Still, since everyone else in the book is so sleasy, George stands out as the White, or maybe Gray, Knight of the book.

As is so often true, the book is just too long for the story. Bring out the Big Red Pen and cut 75-100 pages. Really, totally doable, and would make for a much tighter book. Sadly, it was one of those books where I was checking how many more pages I had to go until the end, not a great sign. And the jumping back and forth from the present day story to the past, not as smooth and clear as it could be, with an ending that I found more than a bit of a letdown.

Did I hate it? No.
Did I love it? No.
A nice middle of the road book, maybe a nice beach read, but not one I would run out and grab.
Or recommend that you do.

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 My thanks to Library Thing and the publisher for providing a review copy of this book.

Wordless Wednesday...Black and White

If there are no more colors, 

we will try NO COLOR..

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

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Musing Monday...I Am in Desperate Need of These Books!

 

 Let's start the week
 by picking a bookist question at Should Be Reading...

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Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

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I think I will go with #3 this week...What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on?
Tell us about it!
Book, as in singular? I think not! No, I have a few.

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The first is the latest S.J. Bolton book, Lost. I have reviewed a couple of the book in this series and after reading a small preview of this new one in her last book, I was..am...desperate to get my hand on it.

Like everyone reading the newspapers these days, 10-year-old Barney Roberts knows the killer will strike again soon. The victim will be another boy, just like him.

The body will be drained of blood, and left somewhere on a Thames beach. There will be no clues for London detectives Dana Tulloch and Mark Joesbury to find. There will be no warning about who will be next. There will be no real reason for Barney’s friend and neighbor, Lacey Flint, on leave from her job as a London police detective, to become involved…and no chance that she can stay away.

With the clock ticking, the violence escalating, and young lives at stake, Lacey and Barney both know they can’t afford a single wrong step if they hope to make it through alive.

It will be out June 4th, so the wait is short now. For fan of the series, those who want to see what Lacey is up to, let me tell you the opening of this book is excellent!

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Next, is the latest book in Ann Cleeves Shetland Quartet. Now the problem is, this is the 5th Shetland book in the Shetland quartet. Hmmm....but I loves these books so much, I will forgive Ms. Cleeves. Especially when I read on her website that the new book, Dead Water, is the first in a new quartet. Hopefully full of my Inspector Jimmy Perez!

When the body of journalist Jerry Markham is found in a traditional Shetland boat, outside the house of the Fiscal, down at the Marina, young Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted in to head up the investigation.

Since the death of his fiancée, Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his interest in this new case is stirred and he decides to help the inquiry. Markham – originally a Shetlander but who had made a name for himself in London – had left the islands years before. In his wake, he left a scandal involving a young girl, Evie Watt, who is now engaged to a seaman. He had few friends in Shetland, so why was he back? Willow and Jimmy are led to Sullum Voe, the heart of Shetland’s North Sea oil and gas industry.

It soon emerges from their investigation that Markham was chasing a story in his final days. One that must have been significant enough to warrant his death . . .

But there is a problem. While it was published in the UK in January, I can not find out when it will be publish in the USA. What is going on here? So I did what any desperate fan would do and ordered it from Canada. Big shipping fee, but what can I do? Watching the mailbox...

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And then last, I have to get my hand on the soon the be released latest book by Karin Slaughter, one of all time favorite authors. I have read every one of her 14 Grant County/Atlanta/Georgia series and I must, must I tell you, get the next one, Unseen, do out in July.

Will Trent is a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent whose latest case has him posing as Bill Black, a scary ex-con who rides a motorcycle around Macon, Georgia, and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. The cover has worked and he has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer who thinks he might be a useful ally. But undercover and cut off from the support of the woman he loves, Sara Linton, Will finds his demons catching up with him.

Although she has no idea where Will has gone, or why, Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home. Sara holds Lena, Jared’s wife, responsible: Lena, a detective, has been a magnet for trouble all her life, and Jared’s shooting is not the first time someone Sara loved got caught in the crossfire. Furious, Sara finds herself involved in the same case that Will is working without even knowing it, and soon danger is swirling around both of them. In a novel of fierce intensity, shifting allegiances, and shocking twists, two investigations collide with a conspiracy straddling both sides of the law.

Karin Slaughter’s latest is both an electrifying thriller and a piercing study of human nature: what happens when good people face the unseen evils in their lives.

Imagine my delight when I saw it was available on Amazon Vine this month. As I clicked on it, I was sure all the copies would be gone, but no, I got it! And any day it should be here!

I am not good about keeping track of what books by my favorite authors are coming out. I tend just to trip on them, not very effective. But I know many of you are much better at it, have a system, some websites you use. If so, would you share? I need more books to obsess over, don't you know!

Weekend Cooking...Ra Ra Ramen!

"Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese style wheat noodle served in a meat- or (occasionally) fish-based broth often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork , dried seaweed, green onions, and occasionally corn." (Wikipedia)

I love ramen noodles. You know, the kind in those packs at the supermarkets, add to boiling water, add 'flavoring' pack.
They are quick and cheap and tasty and filling.
But, are some ramen better than others?
Is there a top quality ramen out there?

I can't say I ever really considered it until I saw an article picking the author's top ten ramen noodles. This guy has tested over 670 different ramen noodles!
OK, I never ever knew there were 670 different ramen noodles.
Actually, I am not sure I knew there were 10.
But there are!
And his number one pick is...drum roll...Indomie Special Fried Curly Noodles!

So, off I went to the internet to see if I could buy a pack. I could not find it, but I found a bunch of different flavors from the same company.
Soon I was the owner of a case.
A case of Indonesian ramen noodle packs.
But there are 6 different varieties in the case! And they have a very long expiration date.
Indomie BBQ Chicken, Onion Chicken, Regular, Spicy Beef, Satay, Rasa Soto Mie (Beef and Lime).
And they are all mine!

But what if you want to take it another step. Jazz them up a bit.
So I Googled ramen recipes and there are many. Many. There is a guy on YouTube who makes Ramen with peanut butter and BBQ sauce. Which is many not so odd since one flavor I now own is BBQ Chicken. But I have not tries that yet. I started with the Satay flavor.

Quite nice really, all by themselves, with a much more interesting pack of flavorings that the ordinary sort available at the supermarket, with that salty "chicken" or "beef" powder. But lets see what we can do with them as an easy, economical ingredient.  As usual, I took a bit from this recipe, a bit from that. I had bought these cute little bok choy, so in they went. Except for the mushroom and the ginger, I think I had everything else on hand. Love that bag of frozen shrimp, bought whenever they are on sale for a good price.
One pot..10 minutes..and you can have...several serving of...

Thai Shrimp Noodle Soup

cute baby bok choy..

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 
• 1 tablespoons peeled and very thinly slivered fresh ginger
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 green onions, minced
• 1 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoons fish sauce 
• 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Thai hot chili sauce
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 packages oriental- or chicken-flavor ramen noodles (I use 1 Satay  and 1 chicken onion flavor)
• 6 ounces medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach 
• 1 cup chopped bok choy
• Juice and grated zest from 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1. Heat oil in a soup pot. Add garlic and ginger, saute a minute, then add mushrooms, green onions, carrots and stir for another minute. 

2. Add three cups boiling water, ramen noodle seasoning packets, fish sauce and chili sauce to pot. Boil 4 minutes.

3. Add shrimp, spinach, boy choy and ramen noodles. Cook 3-5 more minutes, until noodles are done. Add lime juice, lime zest and basil. Stir well and serve.
I sprinkled my wee pack of included peanuts of top!

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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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Review of "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" [39]

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Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Back Bay Books, ISBN  978-0316204262
April 2, 2013, 352 pages

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Once again, it seems I am the last person in Blogland to read a book.
I read the reviews, and they were all good.
Maybe that is what scared me.
If everyone loves it, I just know I will hate it.
Ok, I was wrong about that, yet once again.

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle–and people in general–has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.
To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence–creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.

When they say a book is funny, I get nervous.
Humor rarely translates to the written word for me.
But honestly, this book is laugh out loud funny. And sad and touching and sweet and satire at it's best.

Hey, Bernadette has problems, an issue or two, but don't we all? She doesn't really do well with people..I totally get it. The helicopter parents at her daughter school drive her mad...maybe literally, according to their version. Her husband is so obsessed with his job at Microsoft that she appears not to see that their house is falling down around their ears and his wife is dealing with daily life in some rather odd ways.
Like getting a virtual assistant...in India. Less than $1 an hours! Wow, I wanted one of those, at least until things turned a little bad. Suggestion- do not give your virtual assistant power of attorney.

Most of the book is written as a series of e-mails, letters, faxes, emergency room bills, police reports, FBI investigations, petitions of commitment to a mental institution, which might seem like a bit of a stunt at first, but Semple totally makes it work. One character is better than the next, good and 'bad', they are all so wonderfully and believably painted. The book is fast paced, will garb your attention as we race from rainy Seattle to the frigid land of icebergs and penguins, Antarctica.
Really, how can you not love a book that makes fun of the Microsoft, McMansion culture, has penguins and a sweet story about the love and strength of a pretty quirky family?

If you are the one person out there that has not read this one, I really recommend you grab yourself a copy and get ready for a great read.

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Wordless Wednesday...Orange

This week...orange.

Or close enough. 

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

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Musing Monday..Not an Open Book

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 Another Monday, so let's Muse!! Here are the questions from  Should Be Reading...

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Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.

• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!

• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.

• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!

• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

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Since we were talking about libraries...

We were last week, and it seems that many of us have fond memories of the local library as a child and probably as an adult as well. Most likely we are thinking about our local branch. However, if you live in a city or a large community, how about your central library. You know, like the place in NYC with the lions outside. Whatever the future of our local outlet in this digital age, what about those places with stack after stack of 'real' books? Are they needed in the modern world, the digital information world?
Well, according to another article from the WSJ, The Library's Future Is Not an Open Book....what can I say, they have good articles!...that future is not as clear.

Branch libraries have long served as community hubs offering book clubs and after-school story times. But central libraries, dedicated to the care and maintenance of weighty collections within ornately crafted and lofty spaces, are having to recast themselves. Thanks to the shift of emphasis to online resources over hard copies, the prevalence of mobile technologies and changing approaches to studying and learning, libraries have a different social purpose.

These day, these central libraries are not about books, those stacks often being moved to other places. No, now it is about 'information', it is about being 'relevant'! The problem is no one is really sure what that means. And if they can determine what it means now, today, and shape the library for that use, what will it mean in a year or 5 years. Timeless this is not.

Librarians themselves don't talk about "books" much anymore. The library today, said Michael Colford, the director of library services in Boston, "is more of a platform launching you in all different directions."

Launching you in different directions...
Is that how people learn? Personally, I know I need guidance, direction. If not, why just not give everyone a laptop and launch them out there. In fact, lets close the schools altogether and let kids just decide what is revelant themselves.

I fondly remember my days in my local branch library, but I also fondly remember my trips downtown to the central Newark Public Library, an impressive old building, to work on some school project. Yes it was full of stacks of books, and microfiche for newspapers article and rooms full of cabinets with illustrations and prints. There were librarians to help me and guide me and get me to pull my scattered ideas for a project into some sort of order, to guide me to where and for what I might need to look.
But maybe most of all, the building, the atmosphere, convinced me that learning was an important thing. Look at this beautiful building built to its honor, in honor of knowledge. There was a timeless quality to it, something way bigger than me, Big Things and Big Ideas. These beautiful buildings, these..

structures still serves the function for which it was created—to hold books—and inspires awe through the ideals expressed in its architecture and the intellectual resources housed within.

Inspire awe..what a nice idea!

Weekend Cooking...A Happy Birthday Two-Fer

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Step right up folks!
Two Recipes for the Price of One!

The Niece had a birthday this week, and since I was off work for the big day, I volunteered to make dinner for the Sil and Bro and Niece and Niece's Fiancee.
Am I not the nicest Aunt ever??
This and a present! Wow!

On the birthday, the Birthday Boy or Girl gets to choose the menu and the Niece picked Shrimp Scampi. So Shrimp Scampi it was, with a nice salad of red leaf lettuce and arugula, with pecans and chopped dried cherries and a nice vinaigrette and some Italian bread.
Off to the cookbooks I went, taking an idea here, an idea there.

Actually, they are all pretty similar, but each..and I think I looked at a dozen online..had a little something different.
My beloved American Test kitchen had no wine in theirs..what is with that?! They think it adds too much acid, so I used a slightly sweeter Riesling. But the idea they have of cooking at a lower heat, sort of poaching rather than browning, seemed like a good idea, creating more shrimpy liquid for the sauce.
Pioneer Woman adds onion..I don't see the need really, but you could. And I like red pepper flakes better than the hot sauce she uses, if just for looks. A little red, a little green. And speaking of green, I do like her addition of both basil and parsley. And lemon zest. Don't waste that zest!
I would suggest getting all the ingredients measured and prepped before you start, because once you start cooking, it goes fast. No time to stop and chop.
Have everyone ready to eat, waiting with forks in hand, because once that water boils it is 10 minutes until dinner.
If I do say so myself, it was delicious. Easy, quick and delicious.

 Shrimp Scampi

• 3 tbs butter 
• 3 tbs olive oil 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 
• zest of 1 lemon 
• 1/2 cup white wine 
• 2 pound  peeled, deveined, tail-on shrimp 
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 
• 2 tbs finely chopped parsley 
• 2 tbs shredded basil 
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice 
• 1 pound of a long pasta 

Boil the water for the pasta.
As the pasta cooks, start cooking the shrimp.

Heat butter and olive oil in a skillet over high heat until butter foams. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic starts to color. Be careful not to burn.
Add the shrimp, zest and the white wine, tossing everything and spread shrimp into one layer, reducing heat to medium, stirring to cook all evenly, until pink and opaque, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, toss in parsley, basil, lemon juice, pepper and salt to taste.

Put cooked, drained pasta into pot with shrimp and toss, adding a little of the pasta water if needed to loosen up the sauce.
Top with 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

So, it was a birthday, right, so there must be a cake!

A Happy Birthday Cake!

The Birthday Girl requested Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing, so Chocolate it would be!
Off to find a recipe, again. Consulted America Test Kitchen...consulted King Arthur Flour...took something from one and something from the other and came up with...

Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Raspberry Cream and Chocolate Cream Icing 

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup boiling water

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon instant coffee or expresso powder

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour 3 8" cake pans (can also use one 9" x 13" pan, two 9" round pans or the wells of two muffin tins.)
Mix cocoa and coffee in a small bowl and add the boiling water, mixing well. When cool, add vanilla and milk and mix well and set aside.

Beat butter with electric mixer about 30 seconds, until smooth and shiny. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time, and beat 1 minute.

Place a strainer over a large mixing bowl. Measure in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift/shake the dry ingredients through the strainer into a mixing bowl, to eliminate any lumps. 

Add 1/3 of the dry mix to butter mixture, followed by 1/3 of the chocolate. Continue until done. Stop mixer, scrape down bowl and mix another 30 seconds, until batter looks satiny. 

Divide between the three pans and bake for 23-25 minutes, until cake springs back to touch, cake is pulling back from pans and skewer comes out clean. Cool pans on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pans and COOL TOTALLY before you frost. 

Chocolate Cream Frosting 

1 cup heavy cream
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine (Do not use chips, use bar chocolate)
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring cream to boil. Pour over chocolate and stir until chocolate melts. Add corn syrup and whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Refrigerate 1- 1 1/2 hours, stirring several times until reaches spreading consistency.

Chocolate Raspberry Cream Filling 

Whip 1/2 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks. 
Add in 1/2 cup of the chocolate cream frosting. 

To assemble cake, spread 1/4 cup raspberry jam on one layer cake, topping with half of the cream filling. Top with another layer, spread on the rest of the jam and the rest of the filling and top with last layer.
Ice sides and top with remaining frosting.

OK, this was delicious too! I am on a roll!
I put sliced almonds on the side of the cake..it makes it look pretty and is so easy. Then I used a fork to make some swirls on top. Very nice. Personally, I loved the filling, a nice contrast to the frosting and a great raspberry taste.

Winner, Winner, Birthday Dinner!

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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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