Mrs Everything and Jello Salad

 Mrs Everything by Jennifer Weiner served with Jello salad  

My book group is reading this for our December meeting.  We usually try to read something we think will be fairly light because the December meeting is all about our cookie exchange.  I will  actually be going to California for the gathering which will be the first time i'm seeing the group live in 2 years!  Woohoo! 

I liked this one but didn't love it.  I listened to it on audio and it is long!  14+ hours.  The narrators do a great job but I just wasn't super interested in the story.  It goes back and forth between 2 sisters, Jo and Bethie starting when they are little kids in the 50's and working through their entire lives.  There are struggles and turns in their lives they didn't expect.  Lots of tough topics including racism, rape, abortion, drug use, etc.  throughout it all the sisters tell their stories and even when they go their separate ways, they are still tied together.  Jo has 3 daughters of her own and the story starts to become their story also.   

Couple of things that I struggled with.  I felt like it needed a good editor.  the book tried to cover too much.  Yes, our lives are full of struggles but did we have to throw in every single struggle you can think of?  Being overweight, being sexual molested, being gay, being jewish, being a multiracial couple.  The list just keeps going.    I appreciated that it added drama but I also think she covered a lot.  it makes it hard to really latch on to one issue and feel the struggle.    I didn't like Jo's kids very much so when the story started moving to her daughter who is struggling, i didn't enjoy it.  I had grown attached to Jo and Bethie but didn't really want to follow along with a new character. 

Obviously the names of the characters are a reference to Little Women the ultimate story of sisterly love.  If someone ask me about books that influenced my life, Little Women is always on that list.  The story of how we love family and how family/sisters are there for each other.  Jo and Beth are the sisters that are the most bonded and similar to this story, Jo is a tomboy and trying to figure out who she is.  

Overall I give this 3 stars.  I enjoyed it enough to finish it and did feel  emotionally invested in the characters.  But, as stated above, I think less is often more and that was the gap.   ⭐⭐⭐

I knew I must post this Thanksgiving weekend.  There is a big scene in the first half of the book where Jo makes a jello salad for Thanksgiving and of course it goes bad.  It doesn't set up and spills all over the table and ruins the table setting.  This leads to giant argument/ confrontation with her mother where hurtful things are said.  I grew up with Jello salad for every holiday.  Either mom or Nana would make one and the 2 I most remember is the pink jello with pineapple and cream cheese  OR the layered salad with bananas and marshmallows topping. 

I decided to go with a jello salad that I discovered in college and have made it since then.  The strawberry pretzel salad.  If you've gone to a picnic in the last 20 years, there is a chance you've had it.  I find when I take the other jello salads to dinners with friends, not many folks eat it.  There is a jello prejudice thing happening!   But folks are more likely to eat this one. 

This isn't an original recipe because it is all over Pinterest.  I'm going to link in the recipe i used.  I made 2 small batches in 8 X 8 pans but the recipe calls for a larger pan.  The advantage to 2 small ones is that I can take one and keep one!    The other thing I love about Jello salad is that I can tell folks i'm having salad for lunch.  Enjoy

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/99853316728984489/

Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and finger foods

Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo served with Tik Tok pasta chips.  

 I'm a little late with this review but wanted to go ahead and post.  I kept seeing the 7 Husbands all over Bookstagram and decided to make it a summer listening on audibles.   So glad I did!   This was my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book and I think i need to read her others now.  

This is the story of Evelyn Hugo telling her life story to a young journalist.  She has never revealed her secrets and chooses an unknown  for the job.  Monique can't figure out why she is invited into Evelyn's life but she recognizes an amazing opportunity and takes it.    

Evelyn is a Hollywood Icon who just happens to have married 7 times.  Her story is her journey to fame and all of her loves along the way.  And yes, there is one true love but to be honest I think she loves each husband in her own way.  She isn't always likable and is honest about the things she did to get ahead in her career.  A totally flawed character but you also understand her and what drove each of those decisions.  By the end you understand her connection to Monique.  It actually caught me by surprise as i didn't see it coming.   

I really loved this book.  The narrators were great. There are 3 that read, 1 for Evelyn's story, 1 for Monique's story and 1 who is the newspaper articles about Evelyn and Hollywood gossip.   This was 4.5 stars for me.  I think the only reason i'm withholding that half star is that there was a spot in the middle where I thought it dragged just a bit.  I was like....  okay, let's get going here.  Besides that it was delightful!  I highly recommend it, especially the audio. 

I knew I wanted to do finger foods/ appetizers.  Every year when I watch the Academy awards, i do a spread of appetizers and that is dinner on Oscar night.  When i was much younger, I would host friends and we'd all dress up and have a party while watching.  Now I barely go to the movies (actually I haven't since COVID started)  and most of the time i haven't see what is nominated.  But it is still fun to watch if just for the outfits.  I decided to make the Tik Tok pasta chips i kept seeing on my feed.  Okay, here's the thing...   they were not good.  Not sure if i did it wrong but I did NOT like them.  It was a waste of perfectly good pasta.  I'll let you look up the recipe but eating crunchy pasta is not my thing.  I would say....  skip the pasta but read the book!  Enjoy! 

Last Summer at the Golden Hotel served with Golden Beets

Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland.  

This was a fun one.  I saw it described as Dirty Dancing meets Mrs. Maisel !  The Golden Hotel was the gem of the Catskills back in the day but now it has fallen on hard times.  The 2 owners, the Goldmans and the Weingolds have a long history together and at times it is full of love and frustration.  The story goes back and forth in time as the family is coming together to make a decision on selling to a large company who wants a casino.  

To be honest at the beginning I had a hard time keeping the characters straight.  I kept getting confused on who was who and which family the belonged to.  But once i figured that out, it was a fast fun read.  I enjoyed the nostalgia of the days when the Catskills was THE place to vacation if you were jewish.    The family drama kept it interesting.  I loved how the grandkids really started pushing the parents and grandparents to go modern with social media.  I liked the tension between the families and the tension between parents and children. Of course there are secrets revealed and confessions made.  Overall just a fun trip through some family drama and history.  I was torn between 3.5 to 4 stars but i'm going with 4.  Enjoyable quick read ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of the best parts was all of the references to the jewish dishes the resort served.  They were so old fashion and the kids just couldn't understand them.  They had borscht a lot!  I am not a borscht fan but to be fair, I think i've tried it 1 time.  BUT I love beets so much .   I decided to pair this with golden beets (golden hotel...) served on a bed of soft polenta which is my go-to comfort food.  Just roasted the beets in the oven for an hour.   I took the beet greens and sauteed them with some onions and sprinkled just a pinch of apple cider vinegar over them.    I didn't find the golden beets to be a flavorful as my usual red beets so next time i'll go back to red.  

Enjoy the book and my borscht substitute!