by

Weekend Cooking with…Woman and Home

wkendcookingThis is a meme hosted by BethFishReads to be found here.  Yesterday I made what was called a casserole – Beef, Mushroom & Thyme Casserole to be exact, but it was more what I would call (and maybe I’m dating myself here so I haven’t heard the term in years) an oven stew.

The recipe is one that I clipped to my Evernote recipe book from Woman and Home Magazine’s recipes.  This is another online resource that I use quite a bit for recipes.

The full recipe is found here.  It had a wonderful layering of flavors, red wine, beef stock, sherry, onions, thyme, garlic, tomato puree  and… yes, anchovies.  When cooked like this anchovies provided a depth of flavor without being fishy at all.  I suppose you could substitute anchovy paste.  I used beef chuck and cut it into pretty decent sized chunks, maybe 2 inch by 1 or 1-1/2.  I did this rather than use any of  the pre-cut “beef stew meat” because:

  1. I could control the quality of the meat…what exactly is beef stew meat??
  2. Due to the long cooking time 3 1/2 hours plus, I wanted the cubes big so that they did not get tough or alternatively break down

I also substituted baby bellas for chestnut mushrooms because I have never found them here.

 

Picture courtesy of Woman and Home, my own attempts at food photography have been sadly lacking.  Mine came out looking very similar with the exception of just a little less liquid.  I think you can see why I would call it a stew more than a casserole.  I served it with smashed red skinned potatoes.

Good reliable recipe, that has the added bonus of tasting even better the second day when the flavors have really melded.

Hope everyone else has had a wonderful time cooking (and eating) this weekend!  Off to read other posts.

by

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

 

Found this book at Booktrader of Hamilton and since I had read Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro #1), I thought I would give it a try.

I have to say that I  while I was able to suspend my disbelief for many things, I had issues with the ending of Good in Bed…most significantly, why the “pusher” was not arrested and why Cannie’s family didn’t seem concerned about that.  (If you read Good in Bed you will know what I mean.)  That leads me to another warning, if you didn’t read Good in Bed, most of this book won’t make much sense to you.

In the first book, I liked the character of Cannie and felt like I could really relate to her and that was basically what held the book together for me.  Unfortunately, in this second book I don’t find Cannie very likeable (or even very rational).  She obviously has still not dealt with her own issues and yet is quick to suggest therapy the minute her daughter, Joy,  acts like a teen, which Joy happens to be.  My biggest issue is that Cannie doesn’t seem to have learned anything from everything she went through in the first book.  So, there are no spoilers, let’s just say secrets and lies.

Finally, this is really not a happily ever after book, seriously NOT happy ending.  Stop reading around chapter 35, after that it is a big downer.

 

by

Mysteries….and a Lone Romance

 

   
   

I have been going to bed early because I am still sick, but then waking in the middle of the night and reading because I can’t sleep.  These three mysteries and 1 romance/chick lit were on the top of my stack next to the bed.  Very briefly:

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, a cute cozy mystery with an slight magical slant.  The sleuth is a big city girl who has taken a job now in a small town library.  Kathleen, the sleuth was interesting and intelligent and the cats, Owen and Hercules are great as well.  The book dragged a little in the middle, it could have done with being a smidge shorter.  The ending did pick up.  The mystery and setting were both well done.

Death Al Dente, the sleuth returns home to take over or rescue the family business, a general/food/local produce and products store.  I didn’t get into this one as much as I had expected to.  I just didn’t really care about the characters and some of the  reactions/actions didn’t really ring true.  It might work for someone else.

The Body in the Vestibule, I picked this one up out of order.  I was somewhat hesitant due to the fact that the sleuth (and main character) was a minister’s wife. I was afraid that it would have heavy religious overtones, but it didn’t.  The mystery takes place in France, I loved the setting and it was very well done!  The mystery  was full of twists and turns and lots of characters.  Well written and the pace of the plot was steady.  The only criticism was that it was slightly dated (some political references to the European Union, etc) but other than that a nice, cozy mystery.

Goodbye, Jimmy Choo, not so sure what to classify this, romance definitely occurs but there is lots of family drama and shopping as well.  I guess it is a romance/chick lit.  Well developed characters and an interesting plot.  You will have to suspend your disbelief slightly on the business portion of the book, but it is quite a good upbeat (at the end) read.

 

 

 

by

Weekend Cooking

wkendcookingThe is a meme hosted by BethFishReads found here.

I spent most of this weekend fighting off some stupid cold, ugh.  In between, I did manage to fit in a visit to Soonja’s, a local Korean restaurant where I had amazing Gobdol bibimbap, which is a Korean rice, veggie, and in my case chicken dish served sizzling in a stone bowl.   The high heat means that when you douse it with some soy sauce it caramelizes with the rice and is just amazing. Excellent restaurant to visit if you are ever in the Princeton, New Jersey area.  They also make amazing sushi.

I did spend a few minutes and threw together a chocolate rum cake with a recipe from Trisha Ashley found here.  It was super easy to throw together, baked beautifully but was just okay as far as rum cakes go.  I like that moist, dense effect for a rum cake and this was just more like a regular bundt cake.  It did make a nice treat with coffee for breakfast though.

Tonight, I’m just making a tray of roasted root veg and a stuffed pork loin. I cannot get enough of root vegetables this time of year.  Super easy to make, just cut them into uniform sizes, toss with olive oil, sea salt, cracked pepper and some rosemary and roast in a hot oven until done.  I just butterflied the pork loin with a mixed dried fruit stuffing and then roasted for about an hour and a half. Pretty low key, quick dinner.

The benefit of all this roasting was the house warmed up nicely:)

In other foodie type news, I am going to a demonstration tomorrow night at Williams-Sonoma for deep frying Turkey.  I don’t think it is something I would do, but it will be interesting to see.  I am picturing a result that requires fire trucks, but I hope not!

 

by

Sunday in Bed with… Ellery Adams Pies and Prejudice

d0728-sundaysinbedwithsmall A meme hosted by Midnight Book Girl found here.

I have had Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams on my cozy TBR list for quite a while.  I found a copy at my local independent book shop, Booktrader of Hamilton.

I really liked this book!  I read a lot of cozies and I will say many fall into the very light, fun read category.  This is fun and it is certainly cozy, no blood or gore here, but the writing has much more depth to it than the average cozy.  The use of metaphors and just the nature of the descriptive language goes far beyond the average cozy.  Excellent writing.  The main character, Ella Mae, is strong and independent as are the rest of her a family, a group of strong southern women.  The setting is well defined and enchanting. The mystery plot develops at a nice pace, not rushed but also it doesn’t drag.  The magical element is not overwhelming, just a touch a magic :), which is how I prefer it.

After reading this, I will definitely continue with this series and I will also read the other series by Ellery Adams, Books by the Bay.

 

by

Leading an Elegant Death by Paula Carter

 

I had never heard of this series before, but I saw it in my local used bookshop and decided to give it a try.  The book’s theme revolves around one of the now myriad home styling/cooking/gardening/entertaining experts and TV personalities, a la Martha Stewart.

The TV personality, Hillary, is not the main sleuth. Her new executive assistant, Jane Ferguson, law school dropout, divorcee with a child, is the primary investigator.   Hillary’s character is kind of a silly flake, but it seems like it might be an act.  A persona she has adopted to go along with her TV identity because when push comes to shove she takes action and is decisive.  In the beginning of the book Jane came across like a victim, but by the end she seemed much more capable.

The mystery was well done with clues dotted across the landscape and Jane as a sleuth actually doing investigating, not just stumbling across them.  This was a light, quick cozy with a definite southern accent and I will read the others if I come across them. Fans of the Southern Sisters Mysteries might enjoy it.

by

Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend.

Finished this tonight.  I was intrigued by the theme, fortune telling, as there are a couple fortune tellers who set up shop relatively near my home and I found the cover really pretty as well.   The mystery was fine.  An interesting intrigue involving  several red herrings.

My issue was that I absolutely could not relate to main character, Sunny.  She just seemed like a stereotypical spoiled rich girl and on top of that she acted very immaturely .  Put her together with a male lead, who didn’t act much more mature than her, and I just couldn’t connect.  The name calling and temper tantrums were just really unattractive.

Maybe I’m just too old to relate??

 

by

Breathless by Louise Marley & A Canterbury Crime by Brian Kavanagh

Couldn’t sleep last night and decided to pull a few more books off of my Kindle.  The first was Breathless by Louise Marley.  There was a lot to like about this, a strong, interesting lead character, well built back story and setting. The plot involving Greg, Will, Zac and Drew ticks along at a nice pace.  I found a couple of the characters actions and reactions off putting or odd.  On the whole, a fun, quick romance with a dash of mystery thrown in to the mix.

 This book is 4th in a series and I did not read 1 through 3, so I hesitate to review because perhaps my thoughts are influenced by that fact.

I found the murder mystery plot interesting, especially the connections to the past and the archaeology aspects that were involved.  Other than that, I really didn’t connect to the characters and found some of parts a little heavy handed.  Perhaps I would have gotten more out of it, if I read the series in order.

by

All That Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft

 

Very light romantic read.  Interesting characters and a nice happily ever after ending.  The plot “twist” was very obvious to me early on and that took away from some of the enjoyment of the book.  I simply couldn’t understand how seemingly intelligent characters couldn’t see what was happening.

Overall, well written with enjoyable characters.

by

Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman

 

A novella that I heard about on a blog and downloaded quite cheaply from Amazon.

A delightful read, touching and heartfelt Christmas story. It was laugh out loud funny in places.   I am only sorry that it was such a short story. Very mood elevating and definitely in aid of getting into the Christmas spirit.

In one scene Carol receives a massage as a gift/bribe from her sister and she is definitely not the type of person who gets massages.  She had just laid face down on the table and the masseur whipped down her panties…

Is this a back massage or is it not a back massage?  Because she’s kneading my cheeks like they’re bread dough.  I’ve watched Mum make loaves since I was a child.  I know what happens next.  They double in size.

If you need a pick me up or are just in the mood for a Christmas romance, this book would be a good fit for you.