A year of books - 2009

Each year I set a personal goal of reading an average of three books per month and rarely do I fail to meet this. 2009 was a banner year.... I read almost double this amount! Sure, many of them were lightweights, but I read for pure pleasure and entertainment. They don't have to be lengthy tomes that impact the world or make a statement.

I can honestly say I liked every book I read this year. Some are always better than others, though, so the following is a list of the ones I enjoyed most. I've never been good at reviewing books so I'll just make a comment or two then provide the Amazon link for more information.

In no particular order:

1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Recommended by my sister-in-law, it's possibly my favorite of the year. If you're a dog-lover, it's a must read.)

2. Matthew Shardlake Mysteries by C.J. Sansom (I read the first three and decided to group them as one here. Thanks again to Petty Witter for introducing me to this author.)

3. Day After Night by Anita Diamant (A gift from Quid who knew that I loved Diamant's novel The Red Tent. I liked this one even more.)

4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (One of many great recommendations from Bob.)

5. T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton (This series "sagged" a little for me about midway, but the past few installments have been very good. I look forward to reading U.)

6. The Forest by Edward Rutherford (I love Rutherford's writing style and have read all his novels with the exception of the two about Ireland. They're in my TBR stack for 2010.)

7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Another pick from Bob, I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. Written in an interesting format, it reads quickly.)

8. Imperium by Robert Harris (I love reading books set in ancient Rome. This was almost as good as Pompeii, also by Harris.)

9. The River Wife by Jonis Agee (Parts of this novel were much better than others, but overall I enjoyed it.)

10. I couldn't decide between these three for my last pick: The Sweet By and By (Todd Johnson), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson), and The Good Thief (Hannah Tinti).

Good Luck Peas

New Year's Day is just around the corner and all true Southerners know that means eating black eyed peas for good luck. Although I'm not one for superstition, I do like to keep with tradition and will have black eyed peas on the menu at my house.

For years I cheated and served purple hull peas instead of black eyes. We grew them in our garden and it was convenient to just pull some out of the freezer for the occasion. A couple of years ago I decided to switch to the real thing and have found several good recipes using black eyes. Today's paper had a recipe for black eyed pea soup that I plan to try this year. If it's good, I'll share it here. Meanwhile, this recipe from a friend at church is what I've prepared the past two years.

Black Eyed Pea Salad

from the 1988 Southern Living Recipe Book

3 cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 (2 oz.) jar diced pimento, drained
1/2 cup diced purple onion
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 T. vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine first 3 ingredients, toss gently. Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients in a jar or bowl, shake or blend well. Pour over pea mixture, cover and chill at least 3 hours. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Favorite Five - Holiday Eating/Drinking

I'm sure all of you have certain snacks, dishes or drinks that you associate with specific holidays. You know... Grandma's plum pudding at Christmas or Aunt Sally's homemade peach ice cream on the 4th of July. Or maybe it's just the candy corn you always buy for Halloween.

My family does a lot of holiday eating. We often try new recipes, but there are a few staples that I always look forward to. Here are some of my favorite holiday treats:

1. Cornbread Dressing - I've been making dressing for Thanksgiving since my mother died when I was 17. My version might be a wee bit different from hers, but I still follow her advice for keeping it moist. "When you think it's sloppy enough, add a little more broth!"

2. Stuffed Eggs - Some folks call them deviled eggs. No matter what they're called, they're wonderful. In recent years my younger daughter has taken over the task of preparing them for our holiday celebrations.

3. Cadbury Eggs - This treat is only available in our area at Easter. Not only do I love them, so do my kids. I'll never forget the look on my son's face when he saw his first Cadbury vending machine in the London underground a few years ago.

4. Sun Dried Tomato & Pesto Torte - Cheese is one of my absolute favorite foods! I treat myself and my sister to this yummy snack each holiday season.

5. Sparkling Catawba Juice - There wasn't much alcohol in our household when I was growing up. My dad knew he couldn't drink, therefore we just didn't have it around. Instead, we toasted special occasions with non-alcoholic Catawba juice. Though I no longer drink, during my "partying" days I preferred Catawba to real Champagne. Welch's sells several varieties, but the sparkling white grape juice remains my favorite.

Have you got any favorite holiday treats?

The Day After

Looking around our house tonight you'd never know we just celebrated Christmas. I've never been one for keeping the decorations up after the fact, so the afternoon was spent UNdecorating.... not nearly as much fun as putting it out. Mission accomplished. Everything is back to normal in the house.

I wish I could say the same for everything outside. In yesterday's post I mentioned the large amount of rain we got in a short amount of time on Christmas Eve. Turns out the damage to our pond was much more extensive this time around. The gravel we had brought in for the repairs a month back is all gone, along with most of the road around it. Many of the items kept under our equipment shed are now somewhere out in the surrounding woods. The good news is that the pond is still holding for the moment. The bad news is that rain is in the forecast again for the coming week and it's too wet to try and make temporary repairs.

When I think of the horrible weather people across the US have been faced with the past few days I feel a little guilty moaning about our problems. They might seem trivial by comparison... but they matter to me.

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas we've had !! Things got off to an iffy start. The weather system working its way across the south decided to stop over us and dump more than 6 inches of rain in just a few hours. We seriously feared for our pond since the area we had just repaired from the flood this fall started washing again! So far, though, things are holding.

The bulk of our celebrating takes place on Christmas Eve and by mid-afternoon everyone had gathered at our house to begin the festivities. The afternoon and evening were filled with lots of laughter, game playing, gift opening, photo taking, and of course.... eating.

There were several new recipes on the menu, but my younger daughter's cookies were the hit of the holiday. I'll leave you with a photo and the recipe:

Gingerbread Sandwich Trees

contributed to Simple & Delicious by Steve Foy of Kirkwood, MO

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
M&M's miniature baking bits
3/4 cup vanilla frosting
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Green food coloring, optional

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-in. tree-shaped cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Gently press baking bits into half of the cookies.

Bake at 325F for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine frosting and confectioners' sugar until smooth; tint green if desired. Spread over the bottoms of plain cookies; top with decorated cookies. Store in the refrigerator.

Pre-holiday snacking

My younger daughter enjoys cooking and when she's home from college we like to try new recipes. Here are some recent efforts, all "keepers". She prepared the sweets and I did the party mix.

Lemon Square Bars

Submitted to allrecipes.com by RCOMP

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, melted

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5/8 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups flour and confectioners' sugar. Blend in the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour so there will be no flour lumps. Stir the sugar mixture into the eggs. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.

Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until bars are set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Kickin' Snack Mix

Contributed to Simple & Delicious by Kim Vogt of Creighton, NE

3 cups Crispix
3 cups Wheat Chex
2 cups cheddar-flavored snack crackers
1 cup pretzel sticks
1 cup almonds
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup pistachios
1/2 cup butter-flavored popcorn oil
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 tsp. dill weed
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the oil, dressing mix, dill, garlic powder and cayenne. Drizzle over cereal mixture, toss to coat.

Transfer to two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake at 250 degrees F for 45-55 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 qt.

Pecan Pie Bars

Great American Brand Name Recipes Cookbook

2 cups unsifted flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup cold margarine or butter
1 (14-ounce) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (6-ounce) package almond brickle chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F (325F for glass dish). In medium bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in margarine until crumbly. Press firmly on bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla. Stir in chips and pecans. Spread evenly over crust. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Cut into bars. Store covered in refrigerator. Makes 36 bars.

Favorite Five - Holiday Songs

I love Christmas music! I like to listen to it and I love to sing along. I have Christmas albums (the vinyl stuff) and Christmas CDs plus lots of Christmas music in my iTunes. I've been a satellite radio subscriber for a number of years. XM Radio (now Sirius/XM) switches the programming on several of its channels to holiday music this time of year. There's Hanukkah music, Country Christmas, Holiday Pops (Classical), Holly (Contemporary) and my personal favorite, Holiday Traditions (music from the 40s, 50s and 60s). Whether at home or in my car, I can surround myself with holiday music. It's a feast for the ears!

Considering I enjoy most all Christmas music, both sacred and secular, it's really tough to pick just five as favorites. Some songs I prefer specific versions, others I love no matter who is singing. I'll see if I can narrow it down...

1. Do You Hear What I Hear? - This is one I really like by anyone, but Whitney Houston does a nice version of it. I use to sing it year round when I was a little girl. I would ride my bicycle to my aunt's house then ride round and round the tree in the middle of her driveway, singing it at the top of my lungs!

2. White Christmas - Bing Crosby's is the best. Would you believe I've never seen the movie?

3. The Christmas Song - No one can really sing this one like Nat King Cole. I have several versions, but his tops them all.

4. Little Drummer Boy - This didn't become a favorite until I heard Mandisa's upbeat version in concert last year. The drum solo in it is awesome!!

5. Carol of the Bells - Another one that I enjoy by anyone. One of the segments from Claymation Christmas uses this piece.

I won't try to list any runners up. There would be too many!

So.... what are some of your faves?

Christmas Reading Challenge

Petty Witter had an entry recently about a Christmas Reading Challenge she was participating in. Normally I don't go for things like that since it can be a burden having to stick with a schedule or specific books. However, this challenge sounded fun and didn't seem too difficult. I already had two holiday books in my TBR stack and figured I could easily find a third. I completed the challenge last night, with time to spare! Here's what I read:

1. Home for the Holidays by Rebecca Kelly - Part of the "Tales From Grace Chapel Inn" series from Guideposts. I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought this book was probably the last one I would receive in the series. They are light reading, but always inspiring and uplifting with their Christian message.

2. The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson - Ms. Carlson also wrote several of the "Grace Chapel Inn" books. This, however, is a stand-alone book about a widow, her granddaughter, an odd neighbor and a dog that comes into their lives. Again, light reading... but that's the best kind for this busy time of year.

3. The Gift by Lauraine Snelling - This thin little book was buried in my stack from a past holiday season. Another widow (a young one this time), a widower, a boy, and a horse. Oh... and a dog, too! More light reading that was enjoyable enough.

The Sing Off

When my daughter is home, I tend to watch things on TV I might not otherwise watch. Earlier in the week we tuned into a new reality show airing on NBC called "The Sing Off". It has the typical set up: A celebrity host, three celebrity judges and eight groups of contestants vying for big bucks and a recording contract. What makes it a little different is that each group performs a capella. Another difference is that the show will be wrapped up within a week - not drawn out like many reality shows.

The performances took place over several nights this week with the judges making the eliminations. Three groups remain and the final results are now up to the public. Viewers are limited to ten votes each and these can be cast anytime up until Sunday. The final show will air on Monday evening.

Did you miss out? It's not too late! If you go to NBC.com you can watch all the episodes in their entirety as well as learn about the contestants, watch individual performances, and ...vote.

The Night Before Christmas

"Now Dasher! now Dancer!
Now Prancer! and Vixen!
On Comet! on Cupid!
On ______! and Blitzen!"



There was a letter to Dear Abby recently ranting about the use (or perhaps misuse) of the name that fills the above blank. The writer insisted it should be "Donder" instead of the more frequently heard "Donner".


My copy of The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore is a 1935 edition published by The Platt & Munk Co., Inc. of New York. It's the version I read over and over while growing up and, therefore, the version I like best. Neither Donner nor Donder.




How do you fill in the blank?

Favorite Five - Christmas Albums

I'm going to divide my Favorite Five Holiday Music choices into two entries. I'll come back later with individual songs, but tonight I want to focus on albums in general.

I try to treat myself to a new holiday album each year. This year it was David Archuleta. (and no, I voted for David Cook when they competed on American Idol) I enjoy the new ones, but there are a few that get pulled out every year. The first two listed are my absolute favorites.

1. Hallmark presents The Tradition of Christmas - A collection featuring Harry Belafonte, Jennifer Warnes, The American Boychoir, and The London Symphony Orchestra.

2. Majesty & Wonder, an instrumental Christmas by Phil Keaggy with the London Festival Orchestra.

3. Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas

4. Classical Christmas - A CD which includes selections from Handel's Messiah as well as pieces from Mozart, Corelli, Bach, and Vejvanovsky.

5. The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky

Dijon Chicken Salad (& a rehash)

My church Circle group had their annual Christmas salad luncheon today. In addition to the marinated carrots* I always take, I tried a recipe for chicken salad that I found at Allrecipes.com. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so it will be a keeper.

Dijon Chicken Salad

2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken

1 cup sliced celery

1 cup halved seedless green grapes

1 cup halved seedless red grapes

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 teaspoons dried chives

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix together the chicken, celery, green grapes, red grapes, cranberries, and chives in a bowl. Whisk together the honey, mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl. Add the mustard mixture to the chicken mixture, stir to coat.

*I thought I'd already "rehashed" this recipe. I couldn't find it, so here it is again. This is for you, Barbara.

Marinated Carrots

1 cup sugar

1 cup vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick cinnamon

1 bay leaf

18 whole cloves

18 whole allspice

2 cans baby carrots, drained

Combine first seven ingredients, bring to a slow boil and simmer five minutes. Pour over carrots. When cool, cover and place in refrigerator for 24 hours before serving. Keep refrigerated.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The message in church this morning was entitled "Seeking Peace on Earth" with Luke 2:10-14 as the scripture focus. Our pastor spoke of the time in his life when he first came to the realization that Christmas was not a magical happy time for everyone. It was while singing the hymn "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day", the second to last verse in particular. I did a little research on the hymn when I got home and found that the lyrics were taken from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written during the American Civil War.

As we continue in this Advent season, may we keep all those who serve in the armed forces in our thoughts and prayers.

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The heart-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The household born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!

A pot of soup

It got cold this week. Perfect weather for soup!

My mother made a wonderful vegetable soup when I was growing up. She's been gone for many years now, but my sister and I have carried on the tradition with our own takes on the original. Mine has evolved into more of a cabbage-tomato-barley soup. Here's how I make it:

Put a soupbone, an onion or two, and some seasonings in a soup pot half filled with water. Bring to a boil then simmer about 45 minutes to an hour to form the stock. After removing the soupbone add a chopped head of cabbage, some diced fresh carrots, a large can of crushed tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. Top off with tomato juice until the soup pot is full. Simmer on medium low heat all day. An hour or so before serving add a can of green beans (drained) and about 3/4 cup of barley.

Mmm, mmm good!

Keep that mind alert!

I think it's pretty much agreed upon that as we age it's important to "exercise" our brains. There are many ways to do this: attempt another language, play bridge, learn to play a musical instrument, take a different route to the store or to work each day. I enjoy working jigsaw puzzles when time allows for it. Life's been too busy for that in recent months, but there are a few "brain exercises" that I always make time for. My local paper carries three daily puzzles that some folks would consider time-wasters, but I look at as ways to enhance my brain power.

I begin with the daily crossword puzzle, which is a simple one. Created by Thomas Joseph, it rarely takes me more than ten minutes to complete. If I'm really feeling daring, I work it using my left hand. (I'm right handed) There is one a little more difficult in the state-wide paper my husband reads, but I'd rather do the easy one and still have time for the other two puzzles. On rare occasions I will work the more challenging Los Angeles Times puzzle which appears in my Sunday paper. If my husband and I take a road trip on a Sunday, I'll take it to work in the car. (Yes, I'm one of those lucky people that can read while riding in a car.)

I next move to the cryptoquote. It's all about looking for patterns that appear in words and grammar. Sometimes the author of the quote is what gives it away. (look for anonymous, source obscure, source unknown, or some country's proverb) Also, if you do these enough, you'll start to recognize a lot of the folks who are quoted. I can't always work the cryptoquote. If nothing jumps out at me I move on to my last puzzle and come back to it later. Even that doesn't always work and it just goes unsolved.

The final puzzle I work is the sudoku. The version in my paper is called Conceptis Sudoku and starts the week easy, getting more difficult as the week progresses. I challenge myself on Mondays to work the puzzle without making any notations in the process. As the puzzles get harder, though, I have to makes notes. By the end of the week, I don't always complete them. If I find I've made an error or I just plain get stuck, I won't slave over it. I think one of my pet peeves is when folks claim they won't try sudoku because they "don't do math". It has nothing to do with math. The numbers could just as easily be substituted with the first nine letters of the alphabet. It's all about logic.

So..... that's how I try to spend about a half hour of my day. I find it relaxing. Hopefully it's doing my brain some good in the process!

Favorite Five - Holiday Specials

I figure I'd better get in a couple of Favorite Five posts pertaining to the holiday season. I'll begin with an easy one.

I'll admit, there are lots of Christmas movies I've never seen. They air all through the holidays, but I rarely sit down and watch any of them. I prefer the shorter Christmas TV specials... the ones geared towards kids.

Here's my top five list. Bet you won't have any trouble telling me yours, either!

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - Naturally this tops my list. After all, it made the cut for my "Favorite Five - Movies" entry. I noticed A&E had it on several times this past week. I saw bits and pieces, but will wait and watch it from start to finish closer to Christmas. I replaced my old VHS copy with a DVD this past year.

2. A Garfield Christmas - Jon, Odie and Garfield go home to the farm for Christmas with the parents, Doc Boy and Grandma. Silly in places, but leaves you with a warm feeling at the end.

3. Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas - This show first aired in 1987. I don't think I've missed it a single year since then. We originally taped it on VHS, then found it on DVD several years ago. Each "claymation" segment revolves around a different song. I think my favorites are "Joy to the World" and "O Christmas Tree".

4. A Charlie Brown Christmas - This one's a favorite from my childhood. (original air date: 1965) I miss it most years, but saw it scheduled for this past week and set up the DVR. I'm looking forward to watching it a little closer to Christmas. Also love the music in the show from the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

5. It's a Wonderful Life - A wonderful movie, a wonderful cast, and a wonderful message. Everyone should see it at least once in their life. It's been awhile for me. I need to remedy that.

Posting

Last month I questioned your blog reading habits. Today I'm curious about how you post.

In the past, I composed my entries in Word then pasted them over to Blogger. I liked keeping various "ideas" in my Word documents to work on at my convenience. It was easy to pick up recipes from other Word documents and to paste links from the Internet that I might want to include in an entry.

I have a new laptop. My old one was five years old and in laptop years that's pretty old. The new one is wonderful! I love Windows 7 (so far) and I have all the newest versions of the programs that come on a computer. That includes Word 7. Now when I try to copy and paste from Word to Blogger, it won't let me!! I can copy, but it won't let me paste. Instead, it wants me to use the new Windows blog publishing feature. It's compatible with Blogger, but when I set mine up, it didn't work correctly. *sigh*

I've had to go back to composing in Blogger. If I don't have time to finish a post, I have to leave it as a draft. No, it's not really a problem, but it's not what I was use to. And it will be a bit of a pain until I eventually "rehash" all the recipes from my old blog (which are in a Word document).

So.... how do you post? Do you do everything in Blogger? Do you compose in another program and paste to Blogger? Oh, and how many of you take advantage of that handy feature to "schedule" entries for posting at a future time?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Favorite Five - Breakfast Cereals

I've always been a fan of cold breakfast cereal. That's not to say I don't enjoy oatmeal, muffins, eggs, pancakes and other breakfast fare, but most mornings it's just cold cereal with soy milk. Actually, I don't limit cereal (or any other traditional breakfast food) to my morning meal. Any of the above make a great lunch or supper!

There aren't many cereals I don't like, however these are the varieties most often found in my pantry.

1. (Quaker Oats) Honey Graham Oh!s - I love these so much I devoted an entire entry to them on my old blog. They are my all-time favorite.

2. (Post) Honey Bunches of Oats with Pecan Clusters - This is their newest variety. I also like the original and the version with Real Peaches.

3. (Kellogg) Special K Red Berries - They have several more twists on the theme, but this strawberry version remains the best.

4. (Post) Grape-Nuts - My favorite way to eat this as a kid was with half & half rather than milk. My kids liked it warmed in the microwave with syrup and milk. As an adult I prefer it with light soy milk and a sprinkling of white sugar... and I like it cold and crunchy.

5. (General Mills) Honey Nut Cheerios - I think the company got in some trouble recently for making claims about the effectiveness of Cheerios as a "heart healthy" food. Regardless, they're certainly better for you than a lot of the options out there.

More decorations

While on the topic of decorations, here are the links (if they work right) to a couple of entries from my old 360 blog.

This entry about our mantel is from Christmas 2007.

I wrote this entry mentioning our creche in 2006.

How lazy is this.... recycling old blog entries!!