weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

Monthly Archives: February 2010

Book 6: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Book #6: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer. My mom was so distraught by my reading of The Inheritance of Loss that she gave me this book to cheer myself up. A quick and easy read, the book consists entirely of letters between an author and her publishers, friends, and new acquaintances on the island of Guernsey. Quite an enjoyable, mostly lighthearted read (although, set in the aftermath of WWII, the book is not all laughs and chuckles). Made waiting in the doctors office for my dad a bit easier.

288 pages
3.5/5

Book 5: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Book #5 was “The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai. I should have known by the title that this book was going to be utterly depressing, but I had high expectations anyway. The book follows a few key characters and the stories of their past and present (and by assumption, they all have quite bleak futures ahead of them). The writing is very descriptive and lovely at times, but mostly just depressing.

384 pages
2.5 out of 5

ain’t no party like a root veggie party…

Tonight I was in a hurry to use up as many of the veggies as possible (while leaving some delicious leftovers for Emily). So for dinner I made:

Roasted Cauliflower:
Heat oven to 400. Chop cauliflower into big chunks, put on a baking sheet (one with sides, preferably). Mince some garlic over top. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. olive oil over the top Put a little sea salt on top. Roast for 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

Root Veggie Soup:
Chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Saute in a big soup pot. Chop up a parsnip or two, a turnip, a potato, and some carrots. Put them into the soup pot, and put the lid on. Turn the heat down to medium, and let steam/fry for about 10 minutes. Pour in 3-4 cups of broth (I used chicken broth) and simmer for 30 minutes. Pulse blend the soup until mostly pureed.

Apple Crisp
I used this recipe – not as good as my Mom’s, but still good.

Everything was great. The soup was sweeter than I expected – I guess because of the carrots.And the roasted cauliflower transformed Emily into a cauliflower-lover with one bite.

vegbox #1

Emily got her first nursing paycheck, and it was a good bit more than we expected. While entering it into Moneydance (which I check compulsively), I noticed that our budget surplus for the month equaled the same amount a 3 month subscription to GrowAlabama – a local CSA that I had been meaning to subscribe to for years. And they were running a 10% sale! So we signed up under their Silver Plan – 3-4 servings of 6 fruits and/or veggies each week.

I went into work early so I’d be able to pick up our box before 4:30. I was expecting a farm trailer to be parked in the parking lot, so I was a bit confused when I walked up to the pickup point and there were no trucks or trailers in sight. I noticed a woman walking very purposefully, so I followed her…through the doors of the church…and lo and behold, there were stacks of actual boxes with our veggie shares inside.

This week we got:
a beautiful head of cauliflower a bagful of carrots & parsnips & turnips. (I love carrots that have an actual flavor! I have no idea what to do with parsnips!) 4 yukon gold potatoes a huge portabella mushroom (bigger than my head)
4 or 5 zucchini 3 large winesap apples I’m so excited! The only bad part about this is I’m leaving town in a few days, so either we’ve got to use everything up by Saturday or Emily had better learn how to cook parsnips.

Book 4: Push by Sapphire

This book was very hard to read. The descriptions of abuse were vivid and graphic. A heartwrenching story – but not for the faint of heart or spirit. A great example of character development and “voice”.

I wasn’t going to give this one a rating, because it is a complex read…it is not a “good” book and I am not recommending you read it.

192 pages
4.5/5