cleaning – Peaceful Reader

Not much is the answer. It was a busy month and my lowest reading in history. I read 2 (two) books in all those 30 days. It was a month of starting books. Hopefully more free time in May will help me clean up my record.

I started:

The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow: This is the book club pick for May. I’ve read the first 5 chapters and I don’t know if I’m going to continue. It was recommended by our oldest member, Jean, who diid this year. We are reading it in memory of her so I would like to finish it but I’m not drawn to the story or the character of Gertie.

Girl at War by Sara Novic`: I won a copy of this book by responding to a tweet from David Ebershoff from Random House. Girl at War is a story from Croatia, 1991, when the war is just beginning and Ana’s childhood is a changed forever. Ten years later Ana is in NYC for school and is haunted by memories of war. I like this one and plan to read more this week now that I’ve made the choice to let The Dollmaker go for awhile.

Dreamsleeves by Coleen Murtagh Paratore: Groovy Girl and I started this one a few days ago. I’m lucky she hasn’t gone back to “I don’t want to read with you” shenanigans (read all about that here) because it is the best way to end our day together. Spunky main character, Aislinn, has a lot going on with her 4 younger siblings and an alcoholic father. They are saving money for a dream house in the country and her mother is pregnant again. Groovy Girl and I feel this is not going to end well.

The life-changing magic of tidying up; the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo: I read an article about this book and ordered it from the library (I already have enough books clutterin up my house) I like her advice and am in the process of rethinking objects in my house.

The Organically Clean Home by Becky Rapinchuk (from cleanmama.net): Healthy recipes for cleaning. Also ordered from the library. Recommended by V and a topic of conversation while in Arkansas.

The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney: Recommended to me by a neighbor friend who happens to be a counselor. One of my two kids at home right now is withdrawn and I’m trying to learn more. This book is helpful and makes me realize why I’m socially awkward at times.

This is what I finished:

Nest by Ester Ehrlich: Marvelous tale of Chirp who loves birds, nature, and playing outside. Her mother is diagnosed with MS and Chirp, her sister, and father have to watch as she struggles to deal with this new reality. Her family sets her apart in school as well, they are Jewish and her father is a psychologist. Luckily they are surrounded by nature on Cape Cod and this serves as a healing force for Chirp.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart: Crazy story of four orphans ready to save the world from mass brainwashing. Mr. Benedict places an advertisement looking for gifted children and once they pass all of his tests they are rushed off to save the world. Read for 6th grade book club and it was just exciting enough to take their minds off of Legend series for a just a bit. Our last book for the year is Champion by Marie Lu.

My mom is going to be here tomorrow for Easter dinner. I’m Spring cleaning today. Deep down cleaning. Dusting, rearranging, organizing, dispelling clutter. Soon I’m going to vacuum all the pet hair. A natural offshoot of cleaning is to cull some of the old and this idea brought me to my cookbook cabinets. I blew a fine layer of dust about and took a long look.

I know I get many recipes from the internet; blogs and Pinterest and I do have several magazine subscriptions, thanks to my mom, but my cookbooks are somewhat sacred. Something my mother taught me. I don’t get rid of them easily and I don’t buy them very often. As I reorganized this cupboard (I tend to stuff printed recipes in randomly even though I have folders to put them in) I reflected on my top 5 favorites.

In particular order with recipe titles linked to my posted recipe:

The Healthy Kitchen; Recipes for a better body, life, and spirit by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Rosie Daly. (2002). This book has been so well loved it is coming apart at the binding. It splits open right at the Vegetable Lasagna recipe I’ve made dozens of times in the last 10 years. My other top recipes in this book include the Miso soup, Tomato, Corn, and Basil soup, Seared Salmon with orange glaze, and the Lemon cayenne tonic. Filled with pages of healthy information about spices, eating mindfully, and tips from both Weil and Daley I’ve learned plenty.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. (1997). This one looks used as the top is peppered with post-it notes sticking out like a yellow mohawk. My favorites recipes include the page of peanut sauces, Thai tofu and Winter squash stew, and Sweet potato muffins with candied ginger. My mother-in-law gave me this book for Christmas one year and the inside front cover still holds the sticky note she included telling me how much use she thought I would get from this book. She was right.

Fresh from the vegetarian slow cooker by Robin Robertson. (2004). This one my mother-in-law also gave me when she gifted me with a new slow cooker. I’ve made the Caponata for book club, the No-Hurry Vegetable Curry, the light and easy vegetable stock, the Pintos Picadillo, and the Lentil Soup with Kale. Right now I have chili cooking in the same slow cooker and I’m excited for our chili and baked potatoes.

Not Your Mother’s Casseroles by Faith Durand. (2004) This one I actually bought myself and it is newer than the other three. The Baked Cheesy Chili Grits, the Simple Pot Bread, the Pot Chicken and Potatoes in Cinnamon-Saffron Milk, and the Baked Buttermilk Pancakes are all fantastic recipes from this book.

Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentis. (2005). My kids could eat buttered pasta every day of the week, making this book a perfect match for us. Now they love several of Giada’s pasta dishes, making it easy to upgrade their taste buds just a notch. I also started making my own pesto from her recipe and love it even more in the winter as a pull it out from the freezer. The Checca sauce is an easy summer favorite, the white bean dip with pita chips is perfect for happy hour, and the Lemon Spaghetti is too die for because I have a thing for lemons.

Now that I’ve made myself hungry by paging through my favorite cookbooks I realize I need to explore them more, perhaps challenge myself to choosing a recipe from one of them on a regular basis. I don’t want them to get old and dusty. Cookbooks are like friends, something I want my daughter to experience as well.

I happened upon an article in my Real Simple magazine and found this pie baker extraordinaire, Beth Howard of The World Needs More Pie. She lives just down the “road”, well, a few towns over but I’m thinking Summer ROAD TRIP. I want to check out her pies, she has a new cookbook out, and she lives in the American Gothic house in Eldon, Iowa.

Happy Cooking~
This post is linked to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Click her link to find many other food-related posts from a wide variety of bloggers.

Tag: cleaning

What DID I read in April?

Weekend Cooking; My favorite cookbooks.