Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I want it to be, because seriously, I loved Counting by 7s that much.  My friend Andrea picked it for book club, and while it looked good, the size put me off for a bit.  (It’s a stage of life problem.)  I finally went for it, however, and OH.  MY.  GOSH.

I loved it.  I was SURPRISED by it, both by the book itself and by how very much I loved it.  Not many authors can take a scene of heart-wrenching tragedy (that is not hyperbole, by the way) and interject laugh-out-loud comic relief without detracting from the poignancy of the moment; Holly Goldberg Sloan, however, can.  And does.

What is it about, you ask?  Well, 12-year-old (or thereabouts) Willow is a genius whose parents are killed in a car crash at the beginning of the novel.  That sounds like a depressing premise, right?  And yet–this is an uplifting book.  AND a funny one.  Willow’s transition to her new reality–one she helps shape in surprising ways–makes for a story you don’t want to miss.  I’m not sure I can easily tell you more than that.

Bottom line?  Buy this book.

Buy it now.

It’s THAT worth it.

Today, my amazing aunt watched my one-year-old so that I could take my three-year-old into the doctor without his sister crawling around, licking everything, and picking up the latest virus going around during his appointment.

My neighbor kept an eye on my son while she was gardening because he wanted to go outside and play with HER son, and I was feeding his baby sister.

My friend’s husband willingly watched my one- and three-year-olds so that I could help with the birthday party my six-year-old was attending.  (My daughter said it was the best birthday party she’d ever been to.)

My carpool friend picked my 9-year-old up for a church activity for me.

AND my fabulous in-laws came down from Davis County to watch my kiddos so that my husband and I could attend a free event my cousin invited us to.  They even brought some cousins along for my kiddos to play with.  (The event was entitled “Death by Chocolate,” by the way.)

I am blessed.

You know what I love about March Madness?  Even though I know VERY little about current college basketball or its relevant statistics, I’ve got as much of a chance of doing well (or not so well!) with my bracket as anyone else–because anything can happen.  That’s what makes it fun, even when I don’t spend a lot of time watching the actual games.  Some years I tank, some years I scrape by, and one memorable year actually saw me winning it all (among my in-laws, anyway).  This year I’ve got Kansas edging out Utah in the final game.  Who did you pick?

It is anyone’s favorite weekend?  Of course, I suppose if you live in Arizona (is that the only state that doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time?), it could be.  I have yet, however, to meet the person who truly enjoys the act of springing forward.  (Many who enjoy the effect, yes, but the springing forward itself?  Not so much.)  Certainly I find it even more objectionable as a parent than I did before my oldest was born, and it wasn’t my favorite even then.  Add a sick/teething/not sleeping well baby and a 3-1/2-year-old boy recovering from strep, throw 8:30 church into the mix (yes, that’s AM), and it really wasn’t a great weekend at all.  (And did I mention that my daughter’s first Show Choir rehearsal was at 7:15 this morning?  Who planned THAT?)  On the other hand, it’s OVER, and I at least got a keeper recipe out of the deal.  After most of a day’s worth of screaming at EVERYONE over EVERYTHING from my son, an easy meal was a must, so I decided to indulge a bit and try these Apple Coffee Cake Muffins, because streusel.  (It makes everything better.)

Now, I’d like to say I followed the recipe without deviation, but really, how often does that happen?  My changes weren’t biggies, though.  I was forced to be a little scant on the apples because I thought I had more than one right up until the last minute and my neighbors didn’t have any to spare; I’d have chosen to be generous if I could.  I subbed whole wheat flour in for half a cup of the flour, and I threw in a generous half teaspoon of nutmeg with the cinnamon (because that’s how I roll).  I also filled the muffin cups pretty full, because I don’t mind a bit of spilling over; even then, this recipe made 18 muffins.  And, of course, we ate them warm.

Because streusel.

If you’re wondering how they went over, well, we had 1 of 18 left by the end of dinnertime, and even that one disappeared rather mysteriously after the kiddos went to bed.  (I’m sure I don’t know anything about that.)

They were definitely one of the (few) highlights of the weekend.

Once upon a time, when my friend Andrea and I used to cook together on a regular basis, we decided to try this Asparagus Leek Chowder when asparagus was in season (not to mention leeks!).  Our kids ate something else for lunch and then played while we fixed this for ourselves–they were young enough that feeding them soup wasn’t worth the effort–and oh, the joy of it!  It’s creamy, it’s delicately flavorful, it’s swimming with veggies, and it really does, as another friend told me, taste like spring.

The best part is that it’s relatively easy, especially if you buy your mushrooms sliced.  It comes together quickly and makes an amazing lunch.  (Honestly, it makes an amazing anything, and writing about it is making me want to finish off the leftovers in the fridge right now.)  I substitute evaporated milk for the half-and-half, or at least a cup and a half of it (that’s one can) topped off with regular milk.  I also leave out the pimientos.  They’re not my thing, but even if you like them, they don’t really fit with this; they would just obscure the loveliness of the other flavors involved.  Other than that, I follow the recipe, and it’s always incredible.

Bottom line?  Go buy asparagus, leeks, and mushrooms, and go to town!

Tonight I finally tried the recipe I printed off several days ago; taking my son to the pediatrician yesterday evening for a (positive) strep test kind of derailed my plans yesterday, and my hubby took the girls to a “benefit the school with your order” night at Zupa’s on Tuesday.  Tonight, then, was the night for this Mexican Chicken Alfredo.

Yes, you got that right.  Yes, I know it’s an odd combination.  On the other hand, it sounded easy, I had the ingredients, and I thought it might appeal to my children.  And did it?, you ask.

Hmmm.

I got mostly thumbs middle from the crew, except for the baby (she seemed to be a fan).  And honestly, it was about a thumbs middle for me, too.  I like strong flavors–I always have–and I’ve found that the problem with melding two together is that there is generally not enough of either for my taste.  It tastes like, well, neither one thing nor the other.  This was not a bad dinner, mind you, but it felt–generic, a creamy-ish chicken pasta dish without a clear standout flavor.  If everyone had loved it, I’d probably keep it around and make it again–easy is happy–but thumbs middle isn’t a strong enough reaction for me to bother.  (Also, it has jarred alfredo in it.  I’m not a big fan of jarred alfredo, although I keep it around for one recipe that is super easy AND loved.)

Note:  If you prefer a milder flavor, this might go well for you.  All I’m saying is that whether or not you should try it yourself depends on what you’re looking for.  

I have snacking issues.

I didn’t used to, particularly.  It was creeping up on me, but I had it mostly under control until my hubby took me to the Utah Shakespearean Festival and we bought snacks for our hotel room.  Now, I do 99% of the grocery shopping, usually with a child or two in tow; they see what I buy, and that serves as a pretty good built-in restraint.  My hubby, on the other hand–let’s just say he did nothing to save me from myself.  Suddenly there were all of these delightful snacks, and ever since then I’m been struggling to try and reign myself back in, because a snacking habit gathers momentum frighteningly fast, especially when combined with a curiosity about how new things taste.

On the other hand, I can offer you some suggestions, if you’re looking for something snacky and coming up dry.  If you want savory, I have to say that the new Smoked Gouda Triscuits are tasty, and the Fire Roasted Tomato and Olive Oil variety continue to be delightful; the Mediterranean Style Olive ones are a bit much for me, but if you love Kalamata olives, you probably want to give them a try.  The new Lays Smoked Gouda and Chive chips are delightful as well (although the Korean BBQ kind are strange and the herby ones are a little much).

If you want sweet, on the other hand, may I suggest the Dark Chocolate Covered Coconut Almonds at Costco?  AND the Lemoncello Almonds, although I’m not sure they’re available at all locations. Cinnamon Bun Oreos are tasty as well (as are the Red Velvet ones, although they may just be a Valentine’s thing).

What are YOUR favorite snacky foods?

In this case, the author of Bearskin went to high school with one of my favorite of my hubby’s cousins, and so she (the cousin, not the author) asked me if I would like to read it and review it on my blog.  I hesitated initially because I don’t read a ton of youth fantasy anymore, but I am fond of fairy tale retellings, and so I said yes with the disclaimer that I might not get to it right away.

Which I haven’t.

It did make its way up my to-read list, however, and so I finally picked it up with the intention of doing a bit of a speed read.  (Because I really don’t read a lot of youth fantasy anymore.  Unless, of course, it’s written by Robin McKinley, but since her husband died in December, I’m not expecting to see anything new from her any time soon.)  Interestingly, while I started out at an almost-skim, the book ended up thoroughly engrossing me in a way I wouldn’t have thought possible.  The first several scenes took me by surprise (I am in no way familiar with the original fairy tale), and while I wondered just how invested I would become in the fate of the witch’s children (both step and biological), I ended up lost in the story. The journeys of the three young people were not at all what I expected, and while the endings of two of those journeys were relatively predictable (there is a certain structure to fairy tales, after all), the evolution of the third surprised me from beginning to end.

Okay, I’m not sure how much more I want to say; I don’t want to be guilty of spoilers, and some stories are hard to describe without any.  What I will say is that while it’s not perfectly written, the quality of the writing surprised me.  I noticed on Goodreads that several people thought it started out too slowly, but that didn’t bother me.  It took me a bit to get emotionally involved with the characters, perhaps, but enough was happening in the meantime to keep me reading.  Bottom line?  If you like fairy tale retellings, I wholeheartedly recommend this one.

Several months ago my friend Britt picked Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict for our (extremely casual) book club; in the last couple of weeks, we both finally got around to reading it.  Sadly, neither of us loved it, although you’ll have to go to her blog to see what she thought of it.  (Google “Confessions of a Book Habitue”.  She does pictures.)  The narrator just seems on the vulgar side for someone THAT into Jane Austen, and some of the plot elements didn’t–quite–work for me.  Its companion novel, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, was actually quite a bit better, but unfortunately, that just made it between “okay” and “good” on my book scale.  Confessions tells the story of a girl from LA who wakes up in the body of a woman in 1813 England, while Awakenings gives us the story of the displaced English girl in LA.  If this seems totally your thing, you might enjoy them (especially the second one), but I can’t advise you to rush out and read them today.  (Although I did enjoy the second one a good bit more.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to read that one first, however, because I didn’t, and it’s so difficult to un-know in hindsight.)

Anyway.  It’s up to you on these two.

On the one hand, it’s good to be back; on the other hand, it means my sister’s family has gone home already and my parents are leaving tonight.

Sigh.

To add insult to injury, I found Bryn Barnard’s Outbreak:  Plagues That Changed History to be ultimately disappointing.  I had such high hopes!  It’s not that it wasn’t interesting, you understand.  It was accessible and provided fascinatingly gory details about the Black Death, cholera, smallpox, and a few other diseases.  My problem was that as the book went on, it became increasingly obvious that it wasn’t a meticulously researched, well-presented work of nonfiction in the tradition of Jim Murphy, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and Russell Freedman.  Instead, it felt anecdotal; there was a lot of fact there, certainly, but the presentation had a definite bias, and when I looked into a claim that I’d never heard before, I found that it had been a theory, but had been abandoned because the science didn’t support it. Barnard spent a decent portion of the book talking about what we can do to curtail current and future outbreaks, but his solutions felt mostly one-sided and oversimplified.

Bottom line?  There are good storytellers who are also excellent authors of intermediate nonfiction; Bryn Barnard is one, but not the other.