March Madness! Postcards and Beer Bread

the worlds gone crazy!  Yep.  It's happened.  My month has been crazy.  I went back east to visit my folks and help with some health issues and life changes.  While I was there the COVID 19 situation exploded.  By the time I got home, Seattle was closing down.  Like, really closing down.  We are working from home for 6 weeks, restaurants are closing, folks have cleaned out grocery stores and social distancing is the new thing.  I am trying to figure out the new normal and struggling a bit.  This weekend i'm hoping to build some routines.   Things I need to figure out

1. How to organize my work day so that i'm not sitting in the same place for 8 hours staring at a screen.  How do I move around a bit, take breaks, organize my work so i'm getting it all done, etc.  Plus organize my work area.  Right now it's the dinning room table but I think i need to set up an office since it's going to be a while.  
2. How do i get my steps in?  I usually log 8K-10K a day in steps just from the daily dog walks and running between meetings.  This week, 3K-4K.  Yikes.   I am going to plan a 30-60 minute walk a day.  Unfortunately Sonny isn't able to really do that but he can do some short burst.  I swear i want to get a dog stroller to help him!   
3. Eat on schedule.  This week I snacked all day!  sitting here in the dinning room had me grabbing food constantly and snacking. 

 That's a good start.
Not reading a ton right now.  I find when i'm really stressed that I have trouble focusing on a book.  But, I'm starting a new one this weekend so we'll see how it goes.
I have been doing some baking and cooking so that's something.

Bibliophile 

Since I don't have a book update, i want to give you a bookish update :)
I have this postcard project.  I send out postcards every weekend to about 30 different friends or family.  I try to do at least 8 every Saturday.  I can't tell you how many postcards I've collected over the past few years!  This started probably 5 years ago.  Started when my niece went off to college and then my favorite Aunt had a health crisis.  I started writing to both and then my list started to expand.
Today, I'm sharing some of my favorites that happen to be book postcards!!

Worlds greatest bookstores! 

The Snooty Bookshop 

Now for the food update, Thought I'd share my favorite beer bread recipe.  What I love about beer bread is that it is so easy and delicious.   You do need to like a slight taste of beer.
This is my go to recipe when i don't have a lot of time but want something comforting.  Enjoy

3 cups of all purpose flour
1 T garlic powder
3 T sugar (less if you don't want any sweetness)
1 T baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Mix together
add in cheese
1 cup shredded cheese- I go with a sharp cheddar

pour in a bottle (12 oz) of favorite beer
Mix together.
Pour into a greased 9 X 5 loaf pan.
Bake in 350 oven for 35-45 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Pour 2 Tablespoon of melted butter over the top for a delicious addition!

Let cool  10 minutes and flip pan.  Enjoy!

The Dutch House! And a Dutch Baby Pancake

I'm really starting the year on a high note!    I've finished 5 books this year so far and 2 of them I gave 5 stars to.   Last year I only gave 5 stars to 2 books for the entire year. !  I'm hoping it is a sign of things to come and this year will be full of great books.
I finished up the Dutch house a couple of weeks ago.  I adore Ann Patchett <3  .   I read Bel Canto years ago, read Commonwealth in 2017 and read Truth and Beauty maybe 12 years ago.  All were so good that I couldn't wait for this new book.  It did not disappoint.
The Dutch House is the story of a brother and sister who grew up in the Dutch House.  Their mother left them because she could not stand the house and their father ends up marrying a terrible woman who is obsessed with the house.  The story is told by the brother and takes us through their life over the next 50 years.  The house has a hold on them.  Their step mother throws them out when their father dies and they are left to start over. They can't leave the house so they keep going back to it.   It is a story of the bond between the siblings and the baggage they carry because of their mother, the house and their father.  It is just wonderful.  I thought about Danny and Maeve long after reading the last page.  Not sure it ended the way I wanted it to but the ending was the right ending.    So good.  Go read it!  NOW!
So, I made a Dutch Baby pancake.  It just felt like the right thing and to be honest, I had never made a dutch baby before.  So easy and delicious.

that's a lot of butter!  

Dutch Baby pancake
I used my blender to combine the ingredients
- 2 cups of milk
-4 eggs
- teaspoon of Vanilla
1 1/3 cup of flour
4-5 Tablespoons of sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)
1 stick of butter

topping - lemon juice and powered sugar

Take a 9X13 baking dish and put the stick of butter in it.  Put it in the oven at 400 degrees

Combine other ingredients in a blender.  Take the pan out when the butter is bubbling and not burned.
Poor the batter into the baking dish and cook for about 20-25 minutes.  You want the middle set.
I put lemon juice and powdered sugar on it but you could do strawberry's or blueberry's or even syrup.
nice eggy pancake!

the finished product! 

The World that We Knew- Alice Hoffman . Kugel, Potato and Vegetable

I adore Alice Hoffman!  I had read 13 books by her and just finished number 14.  The World that We Knew is so wonderful and that I  read it in 3 days.  Once I started it was hard to put down.  I love the magical realism she weaves in the books and in this case it was a "Golem" , a mystical Jewish creature.   The store is told from the view point of the major characters- Lea , the young girl whose mother sends off to France to save her from the Nazi's.  Ava, the golem created to save Lea.   A creature made of clay with no soul but starts to feel love and sadness.  And finally Ettie, the Rabbi's daughter who creates the golem and is then on the run .  She joins the French resistance and waits to become a fighter.   The book is sad and lovely and wonderful.  Of course there are tough parts because this is a WW2 book and you know there will be lots of death.  But the Golem adds such an interesting twist as she starts to become more human and develops  a wonderful  connection with a Heron.   There are so many other memorable characters that you want to know about each of them.   Loved this book so much.  I gave it 5 stars!  ★★★★★

I have always had a great love for the Jewish religion and culture.  (Some of you might know my story of pretending to be Jewish in high school)  I think it started with reading the All of a Kind Family series as a child.   It is a series about 5 girls growing up in NYC at the turn of the century.  They are Jewish and you learn about their holiday's and over the course of 5 books you watch them grow up and love them.   I highly recommend these books to anyone with a young person in your life and even if you don't, I think adults will enjoy them.

I decided to make Kugel in honor of the book.  I actually made 2 kinds of Kugel.  One is a Cheesy Potato Kugel.  It turned out pretty good!   I posting the link to the recipe below.  Next time I would change 2 things-  Less garlic  and more cheese.  Besides that it was good.
I also made a Vegetable Kugel with Caramelized Leeks.  This one was good but I didn't love it.  It has leeks, sweet potato and zucchini.   I liked it but once again I thought it had too much garlic in it.  I also just didn't find it super flavorful.   I couldn't find Matzo Meal in the store so just used bread crumbs.   I think I would double the bread crumbs and cut the garlic. 
Both recipes are below. 
I had planned to make Chocolate Babka but I didn't realize that it needed to rise overnight and I waited to start mid-day.   I think that will have to wait for another day!

Cheesy Potato Kugel

Vegetable Kugel

Social media and Books!

Lot's of cool stuff happening in the world of Social Media.
I follow about 50 different book Instagram pages.  Some have blogs attached and some don't.
But 2 of them are doing a theme of #fedbybooks .   Share a food memoir, post about a cookbook, share food you've made inspired by a novel or any variation you can think of with books and food.  That is right up my alley!  Of course there are giveaways but I'm just excited to see what folks post.
The 2 instagramers are  @thebookishcookier  and @because.my.mother.read   Both great instagramers . 
the @ardentbiblio is featuring a different country each month and challenging folks to read books translated from that country.  January was Japan and February is France.  I didn't participate in January but looking to pick up something for February.
And finally, I have my Very Hungry Reader Instagram account.  called @Veryhungryreader   .  I'm committed to posting more now that I've gone public with friends and family that this exist so stay tuned!     Woohoo!  8 followers and I only know one of them :)  

Little Women !

Little Women is one of my favorite childhood books!  I read it multiple times as a young adult and watched every movie version that came out.  I think as a child i had never read a book that had a character named Beth.  I thought it was me but to tell you the truth I'm nothing like Beth (except my love of animals )   We all want to be Jo.  Daring and brave and taking on the world.  So, i went forward convinced I was a Jo but the heart of a Beth <3
Folks always ask about my favorite movie version.  Well, The Katherine version in 1933 is great because of her.  She is perfect as Jo.  The 1949 version is also great because Margaret O'brien is so great as Beth and Elizabeth Taylor is the best Amy.  Then you have the 1978 version with Susan Dey and Eve Plumb.   (William Shatner plays Prof Bhaer!).  that version was fun at the time because it had all of the 70;s superstars in it.  So fun.     There was a great version on Masterpiece Theater  in 2018 that played as a mini series.   And finally there is the 1994 version with Winona Ryder which is the one I've seen the most and probably my favorite.
But, now we have the new Greta Gerwig movie.  So good!  It feels fresh and different from the other versions.  I loved it.   Saoirse Ronan is fantastic.  Emma Watson is also really wonderful.  I didn't love the actor who played  Laurie, Timothee Chalamet, but I didn't hate him either.     This one could be in the running for my new favorite.     I think I need to see it again just to confirm :)

So, in the spirit of of the movie, I picked up a new book called Meg & Jo by Virginia Kantra.  It is s fun modern retelling of the story but focuses just on the 2 older sisters.  (I hear the 2nd volume , Beth and Amy comes out next year)   In this version, Jo is a blog writer working in a restaurant.  She falls in love with the chef but of course there is trouble.  Meg is married with twins and struggling to be a good mom and take care of her family.
I liked the restaurant part and the focus on food.  I liked that Marmee is a strong woman and the dad is a bit of a loser.  I was glad the Laurie character was there but didn't take up too much of the story since we all know she isn't going to end up with him.   I didn't like the tension between Jo and Amy.  In the original book, while they fight, at the end of the day, they are sisters and love each other.  Wasn't sure i felt that the same in this version.   I enjoyed the comfort of the familiar but the modern twist.  It's a fast read and i'll pick up the 2nd one when it comes out! 

4 stars for the fun premise and characters.

I made an omelet to finish the last chapter.  There is a scene where the chef cooks eggs for her so it seemed the right thing.  I've never been great at omelets.  They always become scrambled eggs.  But this one turned out pretty good.  I cooked up  some mushrooms and onions and added some fresh tomatoes.
yummy breakfast and a fun book.  Best kind of Saturday! 

EW RANKS THE MOVIE VERSIONS

PBS ranks the versions of Little women

Which March sister are you?

New year- 2020

So, a new year has begun!  I didn’t have a great reading year.  I usually read 24-30 books a year.  My goal was 30 but alas, I only read 17.  Not sure what happened here but I just got a little stuck.  I couldn’t seem to get into every book I started.  I think I have 5 or 6 started and not finished.  I’m going to set a target of 30 again and see what happens. 2020 is a new book beginning!

Bookish Shows

I've seen 2 plays in the last 30 days and loved them both.
First up is Austen's Pride, a new musical based on Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.  Since I love Austen I really enjoyed this one.  It combined Jane trying to write the novel and the novel.  It's a story i know by heart but having Jane Austen pop in and out and make comments about what she was trying to do gave it a nice twist.  I don't know that it's going to break all records for a musical because it is pretty typical musical material but the actors were great, music fun and a story i love.

The second play was just last week and it was Dracula!  Saw it 2 days after Halloween which was pretty appropriate.   The ACT theater produced this and i really liked it. Spooky and super well done.  I haven't read Dracula in years so i didn't remember the entire story but really enjoyed it.  They had a woman sitting up at the top of the set who played cello and sang which gave it an eerily feel to it.   Also really liked that it was a diverse cast which makes me super happy.   Perfect Sunday afternoon activity! 

Leaving Time

For my birthday, a friend gave me the book Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.  I put it on my bookshelf but kept reading all of the other books on my list.  She would ask me every now and then if i had read it yet.  Finally out of guilt, i picked it up.  It was really good.  I had read one other Jodi Picoult book but for some her reason had not read others.
The story is told from different view points and time periods.  Jenna Metcalf is a young girl searching for her mother who disappeared when she was a baby.  She doesn't know if she is alive or dead.   Alice her mother tells the story starting with her research in Africa and when she met her husband, Serenity Jones is a psychic who has lost her abilities but agrees to help Jenna and Virgil is a detective who has left the police force and has fallen into a drunken hot mess.  Together they piece together the story of what happened.  Throughout the book, Alice talks about elephants, how they live, how they remember, how they grieve, etc.  All of her research is on elephants and they play a critical role in this story.
I really enjoyed the characters.  You have to be willing to believe in a little paranormal activity especially for the Serenity story.  Overall all, a really fast read and one that kept me guessing.  No spoilers here but I was completely surprised by the twist near the end. 
I will say that sometimes all of the elephant talk got to be a bit much for me.  It is a lot.  But it was interesting and connected to the story.  I'd give this a solid  4 stars out of 5!

Now completely unrelated, I've been making soups lately.  The weather has turned cool and soups are so perfect.
Made a Squash soup with some Kabocha Squash that a friend gave me already cubed.  I roasted it and then added some chicken broth , onions and heavy cream .  I used my immersion blender and blended it up.  It was delicious! 
Then the next weekend I made a Chicken and wild rice soup.  It was listed as a copycat soup for the Panara soup which i have never had so not sure how to compare.
I've copied the link below.
Really good!  I will make that one again.
Happy reading!

https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Copycat-Panera-Chicken-and-Wild-Rice-Soup-2227894#directions

Year of Magical Thinking and the end of summer

Where did the summer go?  Holy cow!  It flew by.
In August I took a week of vacation and didn't go anywhere for half of it.  The first half I flew to Sacramento to spend a few days with my amazing sister and family.  The timing was perfect because the Beehive book group was meeting that weekend.   And we celebrated Jane's Birthday!   We discussed Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue.    This is a great example of a book I would have never picked up on my own.  It just wasn't on my radar .  But it was the choice for the August meeting so I read it.  Really like it a lot!  That's why I love book group because it forces you to read stuff you wouldn't have normally read.
This is the story of Jende Jonga a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem.  He is trying to earn a living for his family and gets a job as a chauffeur for an executive at Lehman Brothers.    The story is about the American dream for the immigrant family and for the family of privilege that they work for.  Overall I really liked it .  Wasn't a fan of the wife Cindy and felt sorry for the son Mighty .   thought it was an interesting view from an immigrant of America .  It is far from perfect but yet they want to stay and yet they miss their home country.  Fast read.  I gave it 4 stars.
When I got back to Seattle, I had some donut adventures (searching for the best donut in Seattle!) and I went to one woman plan of Year of Magical Thinking.    I read this book back in 2009.  I remember thinking it was just heartbreaking.  The one woman play was the same.   Joan Didion lost her husband in 2003.  At the same time her daughter was very ill and eventually also dies.   The book is about how she dealt with the grief.  The play was great.  I remember that I liked the book but it is really a hard book to say you like.  It is about death and grief and not the kind of book you are so happy you read.  The play was the same.  Glad I saw it, actress was amazing but the topic is heavy.  You leave there feeling a bit crushed.
Overall a great week of vacation.  Good books, good donuts and lots of good friends

Homemade Jelly filled donut 

Homemade donut stuffed with Nutella

My lovely sister! 

The whole family was home!

Educated!

The summer is flying by me!  My reading year has been a bit slow, only 10 books read this year.
But, I'm on vacation this week and hoping to get a couple of books under my belt.
But, i want to review one I finished up last month-   Educated by Tara Westover.  Now, i know everyone has loved this book.  It is on all of the "Best of 2018" list but it was not for me. 
I think it is well written and it is truly remarkable that she survived this upbringing.  It is remarkable that she managed to educate herself and push herself through college and beyond.  But it was painful to read.  So much abuse and pain and emotional drama.
If you don't know the story, it is a memoir of a woman who grew up off the grid in Idaho.  Her father is a self proclaimed prophet of impending doom and her mother becomes a mid-wife. Her father doesn't believe in doctors or medicine or education or the government.   They are Mormons and survivalist.  Tara doesn't go to school and is home schooled (thought not really) by her mother ..   She wants more for herself and manages to get into college and studies philosophy and history at BYU.   It is a story of her growth and eventual separation from the family and the crazy belief system they live with. 
I just struggled with all of the terrible accidents they endure.  Between car accidents, burns, and accidents in the junkyard, it felt like someone was always hurt and not being treated by a real doctor.  Plus she has this very abusive brother who inflicted pain on her, her sister and his wife. 
I struggled with how she was constantly saying..  I knew I should do something but i couldn't.  Or I wish I had done this, but i didn't.  I get that it is very traumatic and living in that situation is not even something I can imagine but I didn't enjoy it.  Some would say that it is more important for us to experience these things and to understand them and to admire how she overcame and that is fine.  I read primarily for fun. 

The author- Tara Westover 

    I gave it 3 stars- well written, important topic, amazing journey but really difficult to read and so upsetting. 
.