The Measure served with a cold Peanut Noodle Salad

 The Measure by Nikki Erlick and served with a cold Peanut Noodle Salad. 

This book is getting a ton of play on Bookstagram and for good reason.  It grabbed me on the first chapter.  One morning everyone wakes up and outside of their door is a box with piece of string.  The string is the measure of their life.  Some have short strings and some have long strings.  After the frenzy dies down around how the boxes appeared, now everyone is realizing the strings are accurate.  We follow a handful of characters dealing with the fate of the boxes.  One of our characters refuses to look.  The others look and we have fallout based on the string.  The story jumps from character to character so we hear their views and struggles and decisions.  

I thought this concept was really good.  I spent a lot of time thinking about if I would want to know or not.  I'd like to say that I wouldn't look but I think the box would taunt me and I'd end up looking.  But how does that knowledge change your life?  I enjoyed that it covered multiple characters even if a few of them I had a hard time connecting with.  My only criticism is that it touched on how society changed due to the strings but I kind of wanted more of that.  We heard about discriminations and policy changes due to the string and I felt like this part of the story could have gone deeper.  I wanted to understand the greater impact.  So, overall a cool concept, some good characters but maybe lacking some depth that I would have liked.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

What to make for a book that has little to no mention of food? I decided it must be noodles since they look like strings and since it has been very hot lately, I went with a cold peanut noodle salad.

I used soba noodles, added Edamame, peanuts  and yellow peppers.   I made a peanut sauce with peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, a little bit of maple syrup, a clove of garlic, some fresh ginger and a squirt of lime juice.   I shook that up in a small jelly jar and poured it over the noodles.    

Yummy!   

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina served with chips and salsa

 The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova and served with Chips and Salsa. 

If you are willing  to jump into some magic and deal with family drama, this book is for you!  I really enjoyed it.   Magical realism at it's best!  

Marimar along with her cousins Rey and Tatinelly all receive notices to head home as their grandmother is dying and they need to collect their inheritance.  When they arrive in Four Rivers, their grandmother is not just dying but becoming a tree.  There is a lot of family rage against grandma Orquidea because she has not answered questions and been honest with the family.  With the family gathered, there are more questions and Orquidea fades away leaving a gift for Marimar, Rey and Tatinelly's daughter, Rhiannon.  I don't want to give too much away but the story goes back and forth between current day and the cousins trying to figure out life and what their legacy is and then back to the beginning with Orquidea and how she was cursed and who is still trying to get vengeance on the family.   Lot of magic in this one.  We travel with a circus and then back to Ecuador to explore myths of the country.   It's hard to explain but if you are willing to suspend belief and like a great fairytale, you should read this.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

I had an abundance of tomatoes so I decided to make salsa.  It turned out sooooo good.  I cut up the 4 roma tomatoes I had , cut up a half of an onion and  added a small can of diced green chilies (drained) .  

From there I added some apple cider vinegar, salt, a dash of sugar and lime juice from a half a lime.   OH and don't forget the cilantro.  I know many people hate cilantro but I love it.  I added quite a bit.  It turned out great.  I had planned to just eat a little bowl of it with chips but ended up making that dinner.  I paired it with a Mango Wheat Ale and some slices of Avocado.  It was a delicious dinner.