Books, books and more books

While I wasn’t blogging much in November and December, I was reading a lot. Partly because reading was a great escape from the stresses of work and a great way to unwind and clear my mind at the end of the day. I found a few great books and I’ll be sharing my thoughts about them over the next few weeks.

This week, I thought I’d share this book with you – it’s one that I stumbled across (I can’t really remember how I did) and thoroughly enjoyed.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore was a really good read. It starts off innocuous enough and then before I knew it, I was sucked in and couldn’t put it down.

The story starts out with a former tech industry employee who is downsized out of his marketing job stumbling into a job at a 24 hour bookstore. Clay is not really sure how the bookstore stays in business as his night-shift hours have relatively few customers and those that do come in ask only for the “special” books on the shelves in the rear of the store – and these they do not purchase, but return when they’re done.

Fascinated with the mysterious books and yet afraid of stumbling across what this bookstore may be a front for, Clay is irreversibly drawn into finding out what is going on.

What follows is a great story that weaves ancient mysteries with modern technology and keeps you enthralled until the very end. Clay’s quirky friends (new and old) as well as the totally unique Mr. Penumbra and a few of his cohorts are charming and entertaining and make a great ensemble of characters.

I have to say, once I finished it, I was online searching to see if Robin Sloan had any more books to offer – or even a sequel to this book. I hated to say goodbye to the characters and am really looking forward to whatever the next adventure Mr. Sloan has to share.

Final Verdict: Read it

Stitchy Gifts

For Christmas this year, I made my sister-in-law a scarf. My niece and nephew are on ski race teams and they spend every weekend on Mount Hood racing and skiing. I figured a scarf would be a good gift for her – something to keep her warm and cozy while the kids were zooming down the mountain.

I had bought some Deborah Norville chunky weight yarn that was so soft and just crying out to be made into something like a cozy scarf.

I did a take on a pattern I’d found on the Fiber Flux blog.

I have to admit, it was a little challenging for the first couple rows. Once I saw the pattern emerge, though, it was a very quick crochet project. I think I finished in about 2-3 days.

I love that it looks a little lacey even though it is a substantial scarf and very warm and cozy feeling.

I used two skeins and then about a half skein for the fringe at the end. I have a skein and a half left from my original purchase and I’m thinking I may make another, narrower, scarf for myself.

I think my sister-in-law liked it. She wore it one day while she was here. It was cute on her with jeans and a sweater. I should’ve gotten a picture, but I forgot. Sorry!

I have to tell you, I LOVE this yarn. I think I may go back and pick up another color to make an afghan. It’s so soft and cozy I think it would be great to snuggle under on a cold night. The scarf is made in the Amparo Blue color, just in case you’re wondering.

** UPDATED **

My sister-in-law saw my post and had my nephew take a picture of her with the scarf. I think it looks MUCH better on her! (Isn’t she beautiful!?!)

Menu Plan Monday and other things

Happy Monday, y’all.

It’s raining cats & dogs outside and my body is telling me that I need to curl up on the sofa with a good book and take a nap. Hibernate until the rain is gone. But, since it is supposed to rain for the next THREE DAYS I don’t think hibernating is a good idea. Especially since the girls would not be too happy when I didn’t pick them up at school this afternoon.

So, I’ll fight the urge to nap and instead focus on my ever-growing to-do list for work… right after I tell you about the fabulous meal we had last night. I’m bragging, just a little, because I made it, you see. But it truly was scrumptious.

We had friends over for dinner and I made Pasta Fagioli soup. I served it with a hearty salad and some whole grain rolls. We all pigged out. It was a yummy, filling, make-your-mouth-sing-and-your-tummy-happy kind of meal.

Have you ever had Pasta Fagioli? It’s super easy and super good. And a great way to get some veggies into your body (or your kids’ bodies) in a hearty soup. My grandpa used to call it “pasta fazool” (read with a heavy Italian accent) or he’d call it “pasta beans.”

Basically, pasta fagioli is a tomato and beef-broth based soup with beans, vegetables and ground beef. Only this time I also added a pound of mild Italian sausage. Oh.my.goodness. I’ll definitely be adding it to the recipe from now on.

For dessert, I made the cream cheese coffee cake I’d posted about on my Facebook page (you can follow me here) on Saturday. Little Bit was my assistant baker and we had a great time making it.

It’s a very mild cake that’s not too sweet and has a ribbon of cream cheese running through it. It’s topped with a drizzle of a powdered-sugar and milk glaze which adds just the right amount of sweetness to it.

It’s kind of like cheesecake and pound cake got together and had a baby and this is what the baby is. And since pound cake and cheesecake are two of my favorite desserts, I really like this one!!

It was perfect with a cup of coffee (or tea, in my case) and we all really enjoyed it for dessert last night.

As far as the rest of this week’s menu goes, I’m going to be cooking from my freezer for a few days – using up my stockpile of meats & veggies in there. Here are a few things I’m thinking about:

Meatloaf on Monday – I’ll make little individual meatloaves so they bake faster and everyone gets their own little loaf.
Chicken stir fry with rice – ever since I got my rice cooker, I love making a huge batch of rice once a week and then finding different ways to serve it (quickly) for dinner. This one is a favorite of ours.
Big Girl has been begging for some Shepherd’s Pie so I will probably make that one night, too.

SuperMan is working a big “shut down” at work and is going to be gone most of the week – 14 hour days – so I don’t know if I’ll do too many more big meals than that. Cereal and/or pasta nights might creep in as they’re easy and quick to fix and the girls are quite happy with that.

And now I’m off to brew some Tazo AWAKE tea, because I think I’m gonna need that extra jolt to get me going today.

The best laid plans…

Do you know that quote?

The best laid plans of mice and men
oft go awry…

Yes, that’s me. The little mouse who had the greatest of plans to blog every.single.day this week.

And, well, we know how that went, don’t we?

Please be patient with me.

Apparently, I’m going to have to ease back into this blogging schedule. But I’m here. I have big plans. I just have to get myself settled down to write again. Life is busy and when it is busy my brain finds it hard to focus to write. But I’m feeling the tug to write, so it’s coming. And my list of things to share with you is growing… I have a page full of topics already!

Anyway…

Here’s a little something I was working on in December. Well, actually, the week we spent at Mom’s house. Have I mentioned before that sometimes I can get “stuck” on one thing to the exclusion of others? Well, if I haven’t, I’m confessing now.

This little obsession is actually my friend Kim’s fault. We went to a craft show together in November and they had these beautiful ruffled scarves. And all we could both say was “I can make that! Why would I pay $20+ for it?!”

And so, Kim promptly went out and bought some of the yarn and started to make them. And they were beautiful. And she made one for me for Christmas. And I thought “Hmmm, I would love to have more of these!”

And thus it began.

I got SuperMan to take me to JoAnn’s to pick up some Homespun yarn to make a scarf to match the hat I got last year at Christmas. And there they were, gazing at me from the bins – those beautiful, ruffley, sparkly yarns. And they said to me, “Take us home, please! And make something with us!”

And so I did.

And then I went back two days later and brought some more of their friends home with me.

And while the kids played and my family visited, I crocheted. Quite happily.

The best part of these is that they work up quickly. Once I got the hang of it, I could make one in about two hours. Fast results. I LIKE that!

The girls wanted their own scarves, too. Big Girl got the one with the pinks and greys. Little Bit got the one that is pink and white. The others are mine. All mine. But I’ll share if I have to…

After all, I can always make another one…

If you are interested in making one, they have super-easy instructions posted online. That’s how I figured it out.

I’m baaack…

Well, hello there!

Sorry I’ve been away so long.

The last couple of months have been rather hectic and I made the conscious decision to take a step back from blogging for a while. I figured it was better to not post anything at all than to post “filler” things that didn’t really have my heart in them. I hope you understand and that you’re still around to read my ramblings on here.

The girls are back in school – even Big Girl! – and we’re getting back into our normal routines around here. Big Girl’s surgery went well and she is doing fantastic in her recovery. She spent the last 8 weeks doing exactly what the doctor told her to do and has seen tremendous improvements in her foot post-surgery. Hopefully, she will be out of the “boot” and in a walking brace in a few weeks. That’s the final step to her recovery, I think.

She spent the recovery time doing her schoolwork from home. I was so proud of her dedication and her time-management skills. She managed to stay up-to-date on all of her assignments and got everything done on time.

We had a really nice Christmas and then spent a week at Mom’s with my brother and his family. The kids had such fun together and we all enjoyed being able to spend time together.

They’re all getting so big!!

Both big girls on crutches – one from surgery, the other from a mishap on the swing which resulted in a sprain.

Pile on Pop Pop!

I got a new cookbook for Christmas from SuperMan. You will probably be hearing more of my exploits as I cook my way through it in the next few months. It’s all about baking artisan breads at home. Totally different way to make breads that I’ve ever done before. These have LOOONG rise times (like 12-14 hours) and are baked in dutch ovens. We made one at Mom’s and it was totally awesome. I actually have one rising on the counter now. I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

I’ve also been doing some crafting – I’ll share those projects with you over the next few weeks… lots of catching up to do!

So, I’m back – I hope you’re still there – and I have lots more to share with you soon!!

Merry Christmas!

As we are enjoying the eve of Christmas around here with anticipation of feasting with friends and celebrations with family, I hope that you are also enjoying your loved ones during this holiday season.

I have a very special video to share with you – I’ve watched it many times the past couple weeks. I hope you enjoy!

I’ll be back to blogging on a regular basis after the first of the year.

See you soon!

Turkey & Rice Soup

I mentioned yesterday we had two turkeys this year for Thanksgiving. SuperMan felt if one was good, two was better. Not really. We just couldn’t decide between smoked or fried, so we ended up doing both. I had gotten a free turkey, so it seemed like a good thing to do. Well, now I have a ton of turkey to deal with and so this will most definitely be on my list of things to make this week (maybe even today).

It’s super quick, super easy and super good.

If you’ve got leftover turkey to deal with, you might want to give this a try. I’m betting you have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.

Turkey & Rice Soup

~1 pound cooked turkey (or chicken) diced into bite-sized pieces
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 – 2 1/2 cups (cooked) rice
~ 1/2 cup celery, diced
~ 3/4 cup carrots, diced (I just used a handful of shredded carrots)
2-3 cups chicken broth (I used one box of broth)
Houston House Seasoning to taste

In a large stockpot, combine all ingredients except rice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. (You could also do this in your crock pot on low for 2-3 hours)
About 10 minutes before serving, drop the rice in and mix to combine. Heat through.
Serve.

Homemade chicken noodle soup with vegetables (enjoyingrealfood.wordpress.com)
10 quick ideas for leftover turkey (circleoffood.com)

After the Feast

Well, Happy Monday to you!

I’m still trying to convince myself I’m happy it’s Monday. I wasn’t too happy at 5AM when the alarm went off, but I’m trying valiantly to embrace the day. The weekend was so nice and relaxing I hate to get back into the grind of the work week.

We had a really, really nice Thanksgving. SuperMan was home for four days with us – no side jobs, no work – and it was heaven. The girls and I really enjoyed having him around.

Thursday, we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner. We couldn’t decide between a smoked turkey and a deep-fried turkey, so SuperMan decided to make both. (Now, I’m overrun with turkey!) Little Bit enjoyed helping in the kitchen.

She helped her daddy with the turkeys and helped me on Wednesday with most of the prep work as well.

Watching the pecan pie bars baking (recipe soon)

And while I did most of my “work” in the kitchen on Wednesday, SuperMan did his on Thursday… it worked out well. We didn’t step on each other’s toes that way.

Here they are checking out the smoked turkey – is it done yet?

And frying the other turkey. This always makes me so nervous, but the turkey tastes so good!

After what seemed like forever frying, it was done!

And then it was time to feast!

Wonderful day.

And, now we’re faced with MONDAY staring us down, daring us to take on the challenges it brings… and all I want to do is crawl back into my warm flannel sheets!

And menu planning? Well, I’m thinking about it. Not absolutely sure yet what I’ll do. Here’s what I’m thinking of:

Monday: Beef stew
Tuesday: Meatloaf, roasted potatoes & veggies
Wednesday: Teriyaki chicken w/ fried rice
Thursday: leftovers or salads w/ rotisserie chicken & baked potatoes
Friday: Mexican (eat out)

I do have lots of fun things planned for the blog this week, though – a few recipes for you and hopefully some more scrapbooking as well as a book review (or two?). So, I hope you will stop back by.

linking up with OrgJunkie for Menu Plan Monday.

Project Life Tuesday (no really!)

I know, I know… I bet you thought I’d quit scrapbooking, didn’t you?

Well, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure myself. I haven’t felt the urge to scrapbook at all since July. I am not sure whether it was just because life was so busy or what. I had an album project I was working on besides Project Life and I got a little stymied there and it sort of killed my mojo.

I have been thinking for weeks about how sad it would be to not finish Project Life for the rest of the year – to only have January – June captured and then… nothing. Sad indeed.

But I couldn’t seem to get started. I didn’t want to sort through pictures and piles of paper. I didn’t want to cut and stick and all that stuff. And then one day I thought, well what about digital? So, I mulled that over for a few days and finally decided that anything was better than nothing and if doing it digitally got me started, it was worth doing.

So, on Saturday afternoon, when it was quiet and I had a few minutes to myself, I sat down and decided to tackle a few pages and see how things went.

I managed to get two weeks done – six pages in all – and I’m pretty pleased with the results.

I think I may just do the rest of the year this way. It’s nice and neat and easy for me to do. I guess I’ll see. Right now, it’s working for me.

So here are the pages:

I hope you enjoy!

and, I hope I have some more to share next week!

Countdown to Turkey Day

Happy Monday, y’all.

It’s quiet (sort of) around our house this morning. As I sit in my office sipping tea and looking out at the grey morning I can hear Little Bit’s giggles in the sunroom – she’s playing on her computer and Scooby cat is snuggled up next to her, enjoying the heat coming out of the fan of the laptop.

Big Girl is still sleeping – she had a rough night last night. Lots of swelling and pain in her foot. I tried, at 2 AM this morning, to figure out what we might’ve done yesterday to make it so bad last night. The only thing I can figure is that she was more active yesterday – even in her wheelchair – and that maybe having her foot down more than up is the culprit.

Today, I’ll encourage her, strongly, to stay still a bit more. I think it will be difficult, but I am hoping reminding her of last night will be incentive enough.

We are quite the trio – the girls and I. Big Girl with her foot and Little Bit and I with our brochitis-like colds. Quite a pitiful crew. And Thanksgiving is coming! To be honest, right this minute, I could care less. But I want us to have a good day, so that will mean rising above the blahs that this virus has given me and taking on some baking and preparations today.

I think, though, that I will keep dinners simple this week – I’m thinking about making some turkey & rice soup today. Mom’s dear friend sent us a cooked turkey (among other delicacies) last week to eat after surgery day (she didn’t want us to have to cook) and so we have those remains to eat. Turkey & Rice soup sounds like good comfort food and something I can toss in the crock pot and forget about.

I have some leftover rice in the fridge, too, so it should be really simple to toss together. I’m just wondering how the girls will like it. It will be an experiment, I guess.

Yesterday, SuperMan piled up all the leaves in the front yard – Little Bit has been asking for a leaf pile to jump in and he decided to oblige. He uses a blower to do this – I remember raking leaves as a kid. Boy, the blower is so much easier. For the past two years, I’ve done that job, but this year, I sat with Big Girl and guarded her foot from the over-zealous attentions of the puppies who were “helping” SuperMan in the yard. They missed her and kept wanting to climb in her lap (not a good idea when they’re 80+ pounds!)

Once the pile was finished, Sydney and Little Bit couldn’t wait to dive in. They had the best time in the leaves. SuperMan tosses the tennis ball into the leaves and Sydney dives down deep, sniffing and searching. It amazes me that she always, always finds it. Truly a needle in a haystack and yet she sniffs it out every time. Little Bit just loves leaping into the leaves and the puppies leap in right behind her. They’re pretty cute to watch.

I’m not a big fan of leaf piles. Neither is Big Girl. We both agree that the leaves and grit in our hair and clothes is not the nicest feeling. My issues, however, go back much further, I think.

I remember a time as a girl that my grandfather had this huge (huge) leaf PIT. He had a pit dug in the front yard for some reason and everyone in the neighborhood, it seemed, had put their leaves in there. It was like a leaf pool instead of a pile. All of the cousins were there and everyone was jumping in and having a great time.

I wasn’t too crazy about the idea so I was hanging back and watching. I’m not sure who did it, (daddy maybe?) but someone picked me up and threw me in. I was terrified and came up with a mouthful (and shirtful) of leaves. Not fun.

That was pretty much the end of my leaf pile days. But, I’m glad that Little Bit loves it and I certainly don’t want to take her joy away. It won’t be long before she decides that she is too old for those type of games.