winter – Peaceful Reader

January Bits

(Our view)

Winter came in like a fury two weeks ago with lots of snow and cold temperatures. It’s beautiful out with the snow glistening under the bright sun. All the winter gear is necessary at this point; hats, gloves, big, long coats, scarves, plus warm beverages for your insides.

Successfully getting ahead of a winter storm we took Japhy to Minneapolis so she could get on a plane to Guatemala. She will spend the next 4 weeks at a yoga center on Lake Atitlán to become a certified yoga instructor. I miss her desperately yet I know she’s on an amazing journey in a very cool place. Also it is 83 degrees there…very different from 3 degrees!

(Japhy’s view)

My mom’s birthday was January 15th and we celebrated her life with a Red Lobster lunch with friends, game of spite and malice with another set of friends, texts with my brothers, and a toast over FT with my sister-in-law all to say we miss her very much yet are glad she’s not in pain anymore. Her pictures flash up on my phone all the time and it all gives me a reason to pause and think of her for a brief moment.

Today I’m sitting in front of a beautiful burning fire thinking about the last time she and my brother Jason sat in this same space and I’m thankful for the good things she brought to my life. While reminiscing I pulled out one of her Big Sky Montana cookbooks to browse and I found a little note on a recipe telling me when she made it and what she liked. While browsing I found a Brussels sprout and walnut recipe I’m going to make tonight.

Because of the temperature I’ve made soup to keep our insides warm and happy. I made a cauliflower/potato soup and a red lentil soup last week and both were very good. I made the red lentil soup for book club on the 15th and then made it again on the 17th for friends visiting from New York. It’s easy to put together and I paired it with jasmine rice so it could be served as a dal and we had toasted pitas for our bread.

Stay warm wherever you are and appreciate the little bits about your life…

Huge gap

I’ve been diligent over the past months to post once a week and I’ve failed on this through this first half of January. What began as, I assumed, a simple cold quickly became so much more and as December ended and the week to return to school approached I decided to get tested for Covid-19. I didn’t have the major symptoms of loss of smell or taste but I did have a cold that defied all my natural home remedies and proven in the past methods of alleviating a cold. It was a lot of deep symptoms and the worst was that we were homebound over the holidays and could not pinpoint how we picked up this terrible virus. Not only did I feel terrible physically but I was angry because we’ve been so careful all throughout this pandemic.

The only highlight was that we’d made it through the Christmas holiday feeling good. It doesn’t matter that I spent New Year’s Eve on the sofa in my pajamas with a box of tissues near me instead of a glass of champagne. I did have an extra week off from school because of how I felt plus my positive Covid test. I went back to school last week and made it through the week with fairly flying colors. I did crash once I made it home but that’s okay. I wish I could say I feel great but that’s not the case; I’m still sneezing, coughing and tired. My husband shared the same symptoms with me and he still feels exhausted. Somehow our Groovy Girl did not get sick and really did a fantastic job of taking care of us. She is going to make an amazing healthcare professional when she finishes school. I felt really blessed that she was still home for her winter break. We all know (most) husbands are not great caregivers and mine was busy being sick himself. It was good to have someone else here who has a gentle hand and a thoughtful heart. She’ll be gone after next week and I hope by that time I feel 100%.

While I’ve been sick I’ve read a few books of course and streamed a little. After watching all of Bridgerton while I was curled up in bed I set a goal to get caught up on The Handmaid’s Tale. I’d lost the thread after a few violent and too close for comfort episodes so I shelved it for quite awhile but recent events got me fired up and I am now finished with season 2 and ready for season 3. With a lot more laughter I finished up Schitt’s Creek and will go back at some point and rewatch all of this series. Laughing out loud is a perfect way to recuperate or stay sane through a pandemic! We also enjoyed the adaptation of our favorite author Chris Bohjalian’s The Flight Attendant on HBO.

Right now I’m reading Deathless Divide, the second in Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation series and Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. I would love to see Dread Nation and Children of Blood and Bone turned into movies.

I’m anxiously awaiting Inauguration Day because I’m very excited for Dems to be in the WH but most importantly for Kamala Harris to be sworn in as our very first female VP. I’m anxious for our country, for the protests but I have to hope for the best. Welcome to 2021.

Happy February!

We are in the middle of some crazy weather here in Iowa. School is already canceled for tomorrow. I’m excited to sleep in a little bit extra but tomorrow night we have to road trip to Des Moines so fingers crossed the weather will be calm. NO major blizzards.

Luckily with all this freezing weather I have an excellent book to read; The Nix by Nathan Hill. It’s our book club pick of the month and I’m the host for February. I’m fascinated by Faye, Samuel’s mother, as she’s portrayed as a hippie/radical who questions the politics and policies in the 60’s and still. There is also a small Iowa connection.

Other than reading we’ve been putting together puzzles at our lovely Grandma Bruch heirloom table. My husband’s brother and his wife came for a long weekend recently and we put together a cool puzzle of record albums from Uncommon Goods. This inspired us and Groovy Teen said we should always have a puzzle going at this table. We never eat there anymore so it is now deemed the puzzle room. Now we have a puzzle of old baseball cards in the works.

While our family was here I made a recipe I’d made years ago, a sweet potato chili, which we had with loaves of fresh bread. I do love cooking for people and chili hit the spot for how cold it was that weekend. I’ve also been binge watching Stranger Things; it’s a little creepy for me at times but Groovy Teen (who’s watched it all several times) holds my hand at critical moments. I’m also finally caught up on This is Us; always a cry fest for me! The fire was just too much. We’ve also had a great time playing Spot it! and Listography. We lead crazy fun lives.

Stay warm out there, wherever you are.

Craving Chickpeas…

{Source}

Happy December!

Last week I was craving spicy soup, which has nothing to do with Christmas or December but just my own odd taste buds. I looked through recipes both online and in my massive stacks of books looking for just the right one. I found this one by Rachael Ray that looked interesting: Indian-spiced Chickpea, and this one, Morroccan Chickpea, from Good Foods, and then this, Chickpea Chili, from MyRecipes. I ended up kind of making my own up loosely based on the last one except I did not have butternut squash on hand and I left out pimento-stuffed olives because seriously I couldn’t imagine that flavor with the soup I was craving. Once I settled on a recipe I found some friends to invite over to be my tasters.

I made a batch of brown rice, tossed up a fresh salad, and this rustic bread to break together. Oh and I had a couple of chicken breasts on hand and as other people love their protein I shredded it and left it as a topping to be tossed into the soup like the parsley and sour cream. They left quite full, smiling and with half a loaf of bread in their hands. Also they’d both done well at Spite and Malice and Taboo; games that we played. It was a lovely winter night; cold outside, toasty on the inside.

I finished Maggie Stiefvater’s new book, All the Crooked Saints, tonight. She is a very imaginative writer and I think she casts a spell on each of her stories. This one, set in Colorado in 1962, is about the Soria family and their ability to collect pilgrims looking for miracles and it’s about radio waves, saints, and love. I don’t understand how she weaves that altogether but she does. My Maggie favorites are The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys series. Now I’m on to Choosing Civility by P.M. Forni and Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam.

29 days of book love

When you love books as much as I do you look for them in odd places. I was having a girl’s day with my friend Mary Kay one day, a lovely afternoon of lunch and second hand/antique shops. As we were browsing I happened upon a book by Elsa Beskow. I was in love.

First published in 1910 this is a beautiful picture book from a different era but many children would love it. Tiny forest people with mushroom caps on their heads. Elsa’s story relays the fun the children have in their woodland home, playing with other animals, and going off to school to learn. Following the little folk through food gathering in the fall, winter snow games, and fresh spring beginnings…the seasons are beautifully portrayed by Elsa Beskow, an artist and author from Sweden.

I have another Elsa Beskow book-Ollie’s Ski Trip-that my friend Mary Kay found for me later. It is as small as my palm and filled with beautiful illustrations and it is like a small chapter book with pages filled with words about Ollie waiting for winter so he can use his new pair of skis. Old Man Winter eventually does show up but first Ollie gets to meet Jack Frost.
Charming books-ones I bring out when I need a moment of respite from the busy world around me.

29 days of book love…

The Snow Child is a magical book about 1920’s Alaska where Jack and Mabel decide to homestead. Life is lonely for Mabel while Jack works nonstop keeping their farm afloat. Wishing for a child to fulfill their life they build a little snow child in fun. And that’s where the magic begins to happen. Magical realism mixed with their difficult Alaskan life is a perfect juxtaposition for an amazing story~perfect to sweep you away on a bitter cold day.

29 days of book love…

This is the perfect book to be snowed in with, the kind of book you could curl up on the sofa and read for the whole day. In front of a roaring fire. I love talking students into reading it-they always come back happy. It’s mysterious, adventurous, and built on friendship. A trifecta.

Totally loving my snow day today even though the amount of snow we got is not record breaking. I’m soon to head out to take some snow photos of Groovy Girl and her BF, BF’s brother and little sister building snow people.

Snow days coming our way…

Did you know that we are about to get hit with a major snowstorm here in the Midwest? Yes. Lots of snow, high winds, crazy kind of weather. We’ve had two smaller storms but no snow days. We are due and I am ready. Hot chocolate and pancakes, lots of reading here we GO. Sadly we are not wusses though so it takes a major snow to cancel school. I checked out a few snow books to get me in the mood. Here are a few of my favorites from our public library.

Hooray for SNOW! by Kazuo Iwamura: Sweet squirrel family learns to play in the snow altogether. Lovely illustrations.

Here comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara: A young boy, feeling blue during winter, has a chance meeting with Jack Frost and makes a new friend to play with all winter long until Spring begins to sprout. Lovely woodcut illustrations.

Snowman’s Story by Will Hillenbrand: Sweet wordless picture book with forest animals and a snowman with a treasured book sharing the love of reading. I love the Bear and Mole series by Hillenbrand also so no surprise that this one is a hit as well.

Peter and the Winter Sleepers by Rick de Haas: Peter lives in a lighthouse with his grandmother and his dog Leo. During a particularly snowy week the lighthouse becomes a makeshift home for many forest animals! Peter and his grandmother welcome a freezing rabbit, an owl, birds, bats, a squirrel family, and finally one lone, cold fox. The house is starting to smell, there are droppings everywhere but worse yet they think fox might have eaten Gull. My teacher brain says this book is great for empathy, grit, kindness, and problem-solving.

First Snow by Peter McCarty: I love Peter’s work! Pedro comes to visit his bunny cousins and snow arrives the very next day. Pedro doesn’t like the cold so he’s unhappy to see his first snow. Poor Pedro complains as all the neighborhood bunnies frolic in the snow but, of course, he sleds down a big hill and loves it. No more complaining! Lovely illustrations.

Cheers to a snow day. Our traditions include hot chocolate and chocolate chip pancakes, Gilmore Girls, reading, and lots of cuddling under big blankets. I’m ready like I said.

Best book club choices-2016

December and January were good reading months for my book club. We read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller. Both books, while different styles, are very good.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014) by Gabrielle Zevin: This is a quirky story about A.J., a young man after his wife’s death. The couple built their life around owning an interesting bookstore on Alice Island, a fictional area near Boston. A.J. drinks a lot after he closes the book store at night and one night while passed out a prized collection of poems by Edgar Allen Poe is stolen.

Soon after a baby Maya appears in his bookstore with a note attached and the mother cannot be located. Until a proper family or a relative can be found A.J. agrees to foster the child only because he feels an obligation to the mother who trusted him, the owner of a bookstore because she felt that a bookstore was a good place for a baby to grow up. The rest of the story unfolds around Maya, the bookstore, an interesting police chief, a book representative from the mainland and A.J. of course. This is an delightful tale that loves literature. Each chapter opens with a short story suggestion such as Lamb to the slaughter by Roald Dahl, The diamond a big as the Ritz by F. Scott, and What feels like the World by Richard Bausch. Everyone at book club decided it would be great fun to reach out and read the short stories suggested by Fikry. Witty and unique I would read this one again and I would give it for a gift.

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller is a bit of a mystery adventure set in Norway. Sheldon Horowitz, an aging vet, moves across the ocean to live with his granddaughter and her husband after his wife dies. His granddaughter Rhea feels that her beloved grandfather is losing his mind and will be better off away from the memories of NYC.

One day home alone Sheldon hears arguing from an unknown man in the upstairs apartment and in another moment he opens the door to trouble. Fleeing to safety wherever that may be in a country he hardly knows with the young son of the upstairs neighbor Sheldon takes off on a wild adventure with his silent (and terrified) charge. Sheldon is a funny character and keeps us thinking with his wit about racism, family, vengeance, war, and human nature.

If you need a good book to read to get you through another few weeks of winter-these are two excellent choices.

Beautiful soup!

I love soup. If I had to pick a last meal I would pick soup and I’d have to make it myself. I’m not a fan of canned soup or most soups in a restaurant. They generally don’t excite me-even though I want them to be splendiferous. When I order a tomato-basil soup I want it to be great-as great as the one I make or better even!

Jason’s Deli makes a good soup but we don’t have one around here. We had one in Little Rock when we lived there and used to go after church and have soup, sandwiches, and salads. I found one in Denver, Colorado when I needed to order chicken noodle soup for my 19-year-old son who was sick- I sent him a delivery person with soup. I couldn’t be there so this was the next best thing. It’s all about the soup.

Soup, glorious soup. I found a keeper as I scanned through my very special copy of Dinner; A love story by Jenny Rosenstrach. I found myself standing in my kitchen lazily paging through looking and reading many of Jenny’s stories (again) when I came upon this soup and I had all the ingredients (Love that!) + I’m under the weather so perfectly in need of a bowl of quality soup.

{Jenny’s photo}

Butternut Squash Soup with apples (101-102)

1 medium onion, chopped
few glugs of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
1 T. curry powder (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes. (about 4 1/2 cups cubes)
2 apples (Fuji, Macintosh, or Cortland preferred., but just about any except Red Delicious will work.)
3 1/2 cups or more of chicken broth (or vegetable broth-which is what I used)
Garnishes: Chopped walnuts, chopped chives, sour cream

In a Dutch oven or a large stockpot, brown the onion in oil until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, thyme, curry powder and cayenne. Stir in the squash and apples, then add enough broth to cover it all by about a half inch. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes-checking and adding water or broth every 10 minutes or so-until the squash is tender. Turn off the heat and puree with a handheld immersion blender or in batches in the blender (see warning about spinning hot liquid), adding more water or broth until it reaches desired consistency. Serve with toppings.

Hopefully by now everyone has an immersion blender because they are one of the greatest kitchen tools ever invented! Mine is a Braun and I’ve had it for about 14 years and it is still going strong.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads; Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts. Maybe others are talking about their deep love of soup as well.