Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Teaser Tuesday-Harvest: Field Notes From A Far-Flung Pursuit of Real Food by Max Watman

TeaserTuesdays-ADailyRhythm3
Teaser Tuesdays
 is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


"Crops and orchards are heavy users of pesticides, and John didn't want to inherit someone else's tainted land. Land without woods will simply dry up because there aren't trees to store the water."
pg 118 Harvest by Max Watman

Sunday, March 29, 2015

What To Eat This Week


Last week I hardly cooked so there will be repeats from last week this week.

Steaks. I'm sure we had something with it but I can't remember.
Nachos. Such a great idea. I will make these again.

 Unstuffed pepper skillet. I can't find the recipe. Grr. But it was super easy. Brown meat, add 1/2 onion and a couple of cloves of garlic. Add one jar of spaghetti sauce, simmer for 10 minutes. Add cooked rice and bell peppers. Cook until bell peppers are slightly soft. 
Baked Halibut with veggies





Dinner Out
 Dinner Out



Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.


I've enjoyed the other graphic novels I've read by Telgemeier.  

An entire graphic novel series based on the life of Buddha. This is just the first one but I'm interested. 

What did you get this week? Claire's got the linky this week.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Teaser Tuesday-Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

TeaserTuesdays-ADailyRhythm3
Teaser Tuesdays
 is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"At no time had the Major allowed himself to feel guilty about being the eldest son. Of course the order in which one was born was random, but so was the fact that he had not been born into a family with a title and vast estates."
pg 58 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Sunday, March 22, 2015

What To Eat This Week




Corned Beef, Roasted Cabbage and roasted potatoes for St. Patty's Day. 

Linda's Stuffed Flak Steak with Roasted beets with a balsamic glaze-Very good. Everyone loved the beets. Will make again. 

Beefy and Cheesy Green Chili Bake-this was my second time making this dish. I love the idea of the green chiles but the tastes don't suit us. 
Spinach Artichoke Egg Casserole-Ok but bland. Won't make again.

Pepperoni Pizza Soup- LOL! This was marinara sauce! I don't know what went wrong. Won't make again.

Nachos
Dinner out
Dinner Out







Saturday, March 21, 2015

Weekend Cooking: Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

I first heard of Marcus Samuelsson when we saw him on Chopped All Stars. We watch a lot of cooking shows at home but Marcus blew us away. He was an amazing chef to watch. I know that the majority of the chefs on there are better cooks than me but he was by far and away the best chef I've ever seen work. For weeks, we kept watching to see if he popped up again. Around that time, I saw he'd published a book, Yes, Chef. I kept getting it from the library but it always had to be returned before I could read it. This time, I made sure to read it. And I'm so glad I did.

Yes, Chef is more than the story about how Marcus became a chef. It's a story about a man trying to help connect people through food and make sure food history isn't lost. Yes, Chef made me like Marcus more than I already did.

Marcus was born in Ethiopia, adopted by Swedish parents, trained as a chef in Switzerland and France, and now lives in New York. I loved how Marcus was led around the world by his tongue. Not only did he want to learn cooking techniques, Marcus wanted to learn about flavors. He's always seeking to be better, to learn more. And he would learn from anyone, not just the master chefs. He had a great story about learning how to make injera from a woman in Ethiopia. In fact some of his best stories were about him, learning to make food from regular folks, not professional chefs.

Marcus' commitment to bring good food to everyone made my heart sing. Food inequality and food deserts are a huge problem for people of all ages. I would love to get more involved with the movements helping bring fresh foods to those living in poverty but it's not in the cards for me right now. I love knowing how's he's helping bring real food to those who have been without.

The only downside is that there are no recipes! Marcus speaks so lovingly about so many foods. I wish there had been recipes but I understand this was not a cookbook. This book will make you hungry and you will want to wander through Manhattan, eating or head to kitchen to play with your food. Others who share their thoughts on Yes, Chef: Pen and Fork, Write Meg, and The Well-Read Redhead.
This is my second read for the Foodies Read Challenge.


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, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Awkward And Awesome Thursday


Awkward:
-Bacon was on sale this week. I bought so much bacon the checker asked me what I was going to do with it all. Um, eat it?
-My addiction to Timehop. It's the first thing I check every morning. I love the look down memory lane.
-I'm also addicted to bubbly water. I keep looking for new ones to try. I should do a post on all ones I've tried so far. 


Awesome:
-I'm really sticking to the meal planning. I love knowing what I'm making each night. 
-Tomorrow, Tai and I are going to Cirque du Soleil! 

What's been awkward and awesome for you this week?

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

I added Last Train To Istanbul after reading Trish's thoughts on it. Sounded like a book I would like. 

I really enjoyed Ford's other book, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Looking forward to this one too. 


What did you get this week? Add you link below!

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Teaser Tuesday-Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

TeaserTuesdays-ADailyRhythm3
Teaser Tuesdays
 is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"My own family ate out two or three times a year, tops. We'd go out to celebrate big events, like Anna getting into a selective school, Dad getting his PhD, or Linda landing a job at a record company."
pg 57 Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

Monday, March 16, 2015

The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle

I added The Antelope in the Living Room to my library hold list because someone said it was full of humorous stories about marriage. I hoped it was full of funny stories and antelopes. Who doesn't love antelopes? Melanie does a good job of telling her humorous stories but they start to wear thin after a while.

Melanie reminded me of that cousin who gets drunk at Christmas and tells funny stories but spams you the rest of the year with ultra religious, right wing emails/Facebook posts the rest of the year. You kind of like her but not really. Most of her stories are amusing, slice of life tales. How she met her husband. How they bought their house. Their differing opinions about household renovations. A lot of "I'm lucky he loves me because I'm so emotional/anxious/uneducated that if I were him I would have divorced me".  Anyone in a relationship has some of those stories. And afternoon dishing with friends is fine. An entire book of that got on my nerves. There was some religious talk, plenty of church references, and more than a few bible verses. I would up skimming most of that.

I've never read Melanie's blog, Thebigmamablog.com. I probably won't regularly but I might drop in occasionally. She's got a very conversational tone which I like. I just didn't care for how much she put herself down. Others who shared their thoughts on The Antelope in the living room: Books and Beverages, Kindred Grace, and Annie F Downs.
The Antelope In The Living Room satisfies the animal category for the What's In A Name challenge.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

What To Eat This Week



Simple Spring Fritatta-My usual spinach fritatta with asparagus too. 
 Mexican Rice Skillet-A favorite. 
Japanese Curry with chicken and spinach-another favorite.
 Cold Soba Noodle Bowl-Perfect. I can't wait to make it again. 
Ketchup Spaghetti-Another family favorite.

 Corned Beef and Cabbage
 Dinner Out
Crockpot Roast Beef and mashed potatoes