Friday Read & Write: Some Good Reads For Cold Weather!

New on the library magazine rack!

Also from the library...

 Before Cheryl Strayed's Wild there was Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis.  I enjoyed Wild but I'm enjoying this book much better. Just as Ms. Strayed made me want to hike the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) Ms. Davis makes me want to head off onto the Appalachian Trail(AT). Someday, someday!

I have read all of the other Duck Dynasty books (all enjoyable and interesting) so I'm about to embark on Si's. He by far is the most eccentric character of the bunch. I think it will be fun to learn what makes him tick.

Also doing some studying on herbs for some blog articles and future herb gardening. Love my local library system!

Anyone reading or writing anything they want to share?

Friday's Read & Write

Last week I tackled Scott Westerfeld's series Uglies, Pretties, and Specials.  Really good reads but I would have preferred a different ending after investing all that time. Still need to get the last book in that world, Extras.

I attempted A Commonwealth of Thieves a book on the history and founding of Australia (I'm a history buff and an Austraphile.) But I found the writing a little too heavy for me at this time.  I think all day and when I sit down to read I want to be carried off on an adventure not have to think more.  This is nothing against the way the author writes but rather my feeble brain rejecting the information.

I also tried the novel Feed but only got a few pages in and decided it was not for me. Too much casual swearing.  I understand swearing in appropriate spots like, say, getting your thumb smashed by a hammer but this was just conversational swearing with no purpose.  I decided if the first few pages were riddled with said words that the rest of the book wasn't bound to be any different.  Great concept though... advertising fed straight into everyone's brains.

This week brings me the new Writer's Digest issue and a new Costco Connection. I also am re-reading Mary Kole's book on writing YA and MG. Good stuff it is!

On the writing end... I've finished the beginning of The Follower and an now headed into the dreaded middle section.  Trying hard not to let it sag.  Good thing my readers (my two teen girls) are around to tell me if it's any good or not.  At least if my book never sees the light of day I will have two fans.  My girls admitted that they had been fan-girling over the book all ready.  That's a compliment!

What are you all reading? Writing?

Alice Waters Helps Me Sneak Veges!

 Chef Alice Waters is brilliant when it comes to vege recipes.  I've been turning to her book The Art of Simple Food for ideas on what to do with my garden bounty.

Tonight we are using fresh tomatoes and making her Simple Tomato Sauce: 2 lbs ripe tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and seasonings.  And I'm going to sneak in some roasted patty pan squash into it too! (Of course I will also put in some ground beef so that my meat loving son will be appeased.)  Served over pasta it will be simple and yummy.

She also has a recipe for raw tomato sauce.  Fresh tomatoes, basil and olive oil!

 

Last night I used some of my chard for her Chard Frittata.  Chard, olive oil, onion, garlic, seasonings and eggs (from our chickens) served on garlic toast. Yummy!  What I love about her recipes is that they really are simple yet cheffy and taste delicious!

If you are not the best "scratch" cook (like me) I recommend this cook book highly!

Friday Read & Write

Recently I invested in the most wonderful book on writing.  If you are even thinking of entering the Middle Grade (MG) or Young Adult (YA) market then this is a must read.  I feel like I've gotten a full college course for the $20 price tag.  Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole is the real deal.  The subtitle is The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers and I would say this is not an exaggerated claim.

Ms. Cole is not only an author with a MFA in Creative Writing, but she is also a literary agent at Movable Type Management (MovableTM.com). This positions her to not only teach you how to write but what to write if you're looking for the best chance of publication.  I'm only half-way through the book and I've learned so much.

She gives you a market overview, a MG/YA mindset, story building ideas, storytelling foundations, character development, plot development, advanced kidlit info and career advice.  There are writing exercises throughout the book to give you an opportunity to put what you're learning into action. It is published by Writer's Digest Books which I have found to put out superior products.

Another equally valuable book by Writer's Digest Books is Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, by Christina Katz.  I originally checked this book out of the library and knew I had to purchase it because it is just that good.  She leads you through; finding the easiest routes to publication, networking, writing cover letters and queries, choosing your writing speciality, creating web presence, setting up office, and making time for everything.  It is all from the viewpoint of a mom for moms.  This book too has lots of practical exercises for you to work on.  It retails for $15.

I've read a lot of books about the craft of writing but these two are tops!

UPDATE: Just found out that as of 7/31/13 Mary Kole has left Moveable Type Management and is no longer a literary agent.  She is however opening her own freelance editing biz and is still blogging at kidlit.com.  You can read about these changes HERE.

1/2 Duggar For A Day (Friday's Read & Write)

Well, I apologize for not getting Friday's Read & Write up yesterday (on Friday... what a concept!) But I was busy experiencing what it would be like if our family was 1/2 the size of the Duggar Family instead of 1/4.

I had a total of 10 children for 24 hours to celebrate my son's 13th birthday and to help good friends celebrate their 21st anniversary.  Wow... ten kids consume a lot of food and create a lot of dishes.  But it was a lot of fun and the Kooshian family is wonderful.

I had three 16 year-olds, two fifteen year-olds, two thirteen year-olds, two eight year-olds and one four year-old.  Needless to say I crashed out on the couch about 9:30 last night after all was said and done.  I was trying to watch a PBS documentary, Eating Alabama, (about eating locally) and 1/2 way through had to mumble at my son, "Don't delete it when it's done." Then I was out until 11:00 when I moved to my bed.  Sleep is truly a wonderful blessing from the Lord.

So for yesterdays Read & Write...

Two new magazines: The newest issue of The Costco Connection (Free at the warehouse.) and the newest issue of Hobby Farm.  The Connection usually has good info on books that are coming out for release and didn't disappoint.  They had a nice little write up on Carol Rifka Brunt's debut novel Tell The Wolves I'm Home and an interview with journalist/writer Tom Wolfe.

Hobby Farm has a great article on grafting tomatoes but I think I stick with just trying to grow them before I get all fancy.  It also had a blurb (answering a reader's question) about showing chickens.  I think I don't want to get into that either as you have to bathe the chickens and I can't see any of mine submitting to that.  But they had an article on Herbs to sell at farmer's markets that was quite intriguing and I can see myself growing some of the varieties mentioned.  I love herbs!

This week, at the library, I picked up two books: The Duck Commander Family (Duck Dynasty Fare) by Willie & Korie Robertson (with Mark Schlabach).  It is a delightful little read with a look into the inner workings of the Robertson family and some unique recipes- Fried Bologna anyone?  The best part is the pictures of pre-bearded Robertson men!

The second book is The Weekend Homesteader- A Twelve-Month Guide to Self Sufficiency by Anna Hess.  This books contains easy weekend projects for all months of the year for those of us working to provide for ourselves and lead a different type of life than mainstream. Some of the things are for beginners and some are for more advanced practitioners. The July topics are Fall Planting, Freezing Food, Hanging Clothes Out To Dry, and Budget.  I need to start thinking about fall, I have plenty of food to freeze and put up, I desperately want a clothes line and budgeting advice is always welcome. Can't wait for reading time tonight.

Okay, well I have kiddoes that want to be fed, farmer's market shopping to do, weeding, harvesting and two roosters to butcher today as well as dinner out at Red Robin. (My parents are taking the whole family out- yeah!)  I think I must get started!

Have a great weekend!

Picnics, Neighbors, book review and more...

We're having a picnic and bonfire tonight. Doesn't the weather look great?

It's raining and everything is wet.

But the weather people have promised it is going to get nice around noon and dry out! I hope so because microwave smores are just gross.

I just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I enjoyed it for the most part- especially the time the author spent with Joel Salatin. But parts of it were quite dry. (I got a lot bored with the technical bit about how corn or fungi reproduce.) But I still recommend it for reading IF you are a mature Christian who can filter out the humanist/evolutionary hoopla that infiltrates the author's worldview. It will make you want to change your eating habits and even reconsider if shopping at Whole Foods is a good thing. It really changed my mind about fast food. If you don't want to spend the time or money on this book then I recommend watching the documentry, FOOD INC. It is a film by Pollan and the guy that made Fast Food Nation and catches the highlights of Ominvore's Dilemma. If every American watched this film or read Pollan's books we'd be much closer to getting back to an agrarian way of life and maybe my neighbors wouldn't watch the family and I sweating away as we work on the garden plot and comment. "Are you all starting a farm?", "Wow, that sure is a big garden!", "Wow, you sure are working hard!" And you know all the while they're thinking in the back of their heads, "Why don't these silly people just go to the store and buy their food." Actually I have heard my kids verbalize this. "Why can't we just go to the store to buy food like everyone else?" Someday they'll thank me, right?

The next book I'm going to embark on is Keeping Our Children's Hearts by Steven and Teri Maxwell. I'm looking forward to it. A friend from church loaned it to me and I'm very familiar with the Maxwell family. I'm sure I will benefit greatly from this read as reaching and keeping my children's heart for God is my utmost priority.

Finally, I wanted to get a cute shot of the sweater outfit that Taylor is in today. (I must keep the Grandma's content with grandchildren fodder.) Clearly she didn't want her picture taken.

Book Review: When Love Blooms

I am very super stoked to announce that I get to be a blog book reviewer for Zondervan! Some women go gaga over shoes or clothes or make-up... for me... it's books. I can spend a better part of a day in any bookstore and I'd survive just fine on a desserted island with food, water, shelter and books. No volleyball needed.

My first set of books Zondervan sent me consisted of a romance novel, a suspense novel and non-fiction book. Hmmmm... what did the hopeless romantic pick up first, yup that's right- the suspen... oh, wait! HaHa, just kidding. It was the romance novel When Love Blooms by prolific writer, Robin Lee Hatcher. (One of my favorite authors.)

The premise for the book: The main character, Miss Harris, takes a job as a governess for two little girls in the remote Stanley Basin of Idaho in the late 1800's. Unbeknowst to her, the girls mother, Dru, is dying and is desperately hoping that Miss Harris and Dru's husband, Gavin, will fall in love so that her girls have a new mother in place when she is gone.

If you are looking for a light read and don't want to dwell in deep thought then this is a very enjoyable book. However, I felt the characters were flat and underdeveloped, the story line too entirely predictable, and some of the situations forced upon the characters by the author. This is not Hatcher's best book. I will say, spending two years living in Boise, Idaho, that the author caught the magic of the Stanley Basin, which truly is one of the most beautiful (and harsh in winter) places in the world. Putting me into the late 1800's Stanley Basin made the read entirely worthwhile. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it a 5 and given Hatcher's track record I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another of her novels.

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal!

This is the title of the book I'm currently reading by Joel Salatin. I recommend it heartly!

Anyone who thinks we live in a free country or that the American Dream is still within reach needs to read it. Here is my favorite quote so far..."How much evil throughout history could have been avoided had people exercised their moral acuity with convicitonal courage and said to the powers that be, 'No, I will not. This is wrong, and I don't care ifyou fire me, shoot me, pass me over for promotion, or call my mother. I will not participate in this unsavory activity.' Wouldn't world history be rewritten if just a few people had actually acted like individual free agents rather than mindless lemmings?"

My criminal thoughts? I want to be able to bake bread in my own home and... wait for it... SELL IT! How deviant is that!? It is a sad state of being we Americans find ourselves in. We have given ourselves over to the entity that is government. A government that allows women the freedome of "choice" to kill their unborn but not to sell bread from an un-government inspected kitchen. Even if I were to move to one of the few states that do indeed allow this, I'm still probably not allowed to buy or sell milk directly from... wait for it... A COW! The government thinks it's too dangerous. We must make it "safe" first. Thank you, but I think I can make decisions on my own. Certainly there is a place for processed milk but I should be able to buy a gallon of straight from the cow milk if I desire too. When did simple living go the way of the dinosaur?

Show and Tell Friday

Yesterday we cleaned out our garage! I found treasures I hadn't seen for three years. (Since we moved from Texas to Michigan). Two of my favorite quilt books. One big (see above).

One small!

Both are filled with beautiful pictures of quilts, as well as quotes about quilts and quilting history. I'm glad to have re-discovered these treasures.

For more Show and Tell Fridays go to http://kellishouse.blogspot.com

During Hiatus I've been reading

I've found new cookie recipes, candy recipes, cake and cupcake decorating ideas, and quilting inspriration. The DH and I are doing Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. (Our stimulus check went to stimulating our savings account.) I've been researching the Christian Writer's Market. I also have been enjoying a lot of fiction.

Terri Blackstock's Restoration Series is highly entertaining. There are four books in the series: Last Light, Night Light, True Light and Dawn's Light. The premise of these books is a world wide power outage caused by pulses from a collasped star. No electricity, no cars, no nothing... anything with any type of computer chip in it doesn't work. The author follows a family and a small town as they struggle to adapt and survive. Blackstock is a Christian author and the books have a Christian world view.

The other series I've been pulled into is Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilter's series. (10+ books, I believe.) While not written with a Christian worldview, the stories are entertaining and focus around a circle of friends and the craft of quilting. If you love quilts or quilting then you will enjoy this series.

Okay, I'm off to start school... have a great day!

More on Candy Making

Can you guess what the pregnant lady is eating for breakfast as she types this? Ha... bet you can't... refried beans with lots of extra cheese and pinapple juice. Scared yet?

Continuing on with info from my new candy making book:

If you let caramels stand for 24 hours before cutting them it will make them less sticky and easier to cut. I can't imagine my family letting candy sit untouched for 24 hours.

Divinity, nougat and marshmellow are all classified as similar candies.

Homemade marshmellow creme is known as "mazetta" or "frappe"

There is a recipe called "Snicks" in the book which resembles a snickers bar. Uhmm... I am so gonna be trying that one! There is also a Mounds candy bar like recipe. I suppose you could add almonds if you are an Almond Joy person.

I have already ordered flip flop shaped lollipop molds to make lollipops for DD2's pool birthday party this June. All that is required for the recipe is corn syrup, water, sugar, flavoring and color. (And lollipop sticks if desired.)

The DH has two and half weeks of vacation coming. Little does he know that pulling taffy is on my agenda.

For those of you with frequent chocolate attacks: there is a great microwave no-fail fudge recipe. 14 ounces of sweet condensed milk, 12 ounces chocolate chips, pinch of salt, teaspoon of vanilla, nuts if desired. Microwave milk, chips and salt for two minutes (on half power), stir in vanilla and nuts, pur into greased pan, refridge until firm.

Tomorrow we'll have a little talk on chocolate, chocolate like substances and perhaps marzipan.

If I have piqued your interest in Candymaking (the book) or candymaking the subject, look for Ruth Kendrick and Pauline Atkinson's book: Candymaking. I found mine at Barnes and Noble and it is available on line as well.

A great source of supplies and ingredients is: http://www.countrykitchensweetart.com/ . They are based out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Perfect for us Midwesterners.

Overdone on Monday

Well, apparently, I overdid myself on Monday. I crashed and burned on Tuesday about 3:30pm. I got the basics done but didn't have energy for anything extra. I even had to have the DH bring home dinner. (KFC- yummy, but no great nutritional value.) I spent the rest of the day, parked on the couch, instructing the children on what needed to be done. (I love having kids old enough for a lot of responsibility.) I did start reading Candy Making (Ruth Kendrick, Pauline Atkinson). I like that they recommend using what you already have rather then going out and purchasing a lot of fancy equipment. Though I do want to invest in a really good candy thermometer. I go through the cheap grocery store ones like, well, candy.

They go through basic instructions on how to test your thermometer for any needed altitude adjustments and have a handy altitude conversion chart. They list out basic candy making ingredients and give you some of the "why" these are used.

The best thing I come away with so far is a new understanding of Fondant. I had purchase some premade fondant at a craft store last year to work with cookies. I thought it was awful tasting, and despite the beautiful things you can do with it, I want a good tasting product not just a pretty one. So I wrote off fondant. Well, with these homemade fondant recipes, I might just change my mind. I can't wait to try some out. Both for candy filling and for cookie/cake decoration. They give me 14 different basic fondant recipes, each with many different flavor variations.

The next chapter is on truffles and fudges. I have a fudge recipe that I faithfully use so I don't know if I want to change recipes but we will see. Also, I tried making truffles a couple of years ago and didn't care for the results, so we will see if they can renew my faith in truffle making.

Tips I picked up: Candy temperatures raise as water boils out of the mixture, leaving more candy. (Water doesn't get any hotter past boiling.) The reason to wipe sugar crystals off the side of your pan is because even one crystal can cause a chemical chain reaction in your candy and make it grainy. And lastly, the liquid in a cherry cordial is actually a fondant that is firm when wrapped around the cherry. The cherry juice reacts with the sugars in the fondant to cause it to liquefy days later, after being encased in chocolate. I had always wondered about that!

Book Review: Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet

I had a "hankering" to read something "new" as I climbed out of the hole that was the Lewis house flu of 2008. So on a grocery shopping trip to Costco, a couple of days ago, I skipped on over to the Christian Bookstore across the street (something I rarely do) and sent myself browsing through the fiction section. I wasn't in the mood for anything particular, I just browsed until something grabbed my interest. I settled on Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet.

I love fantasy. C.S. Lewis is my favorite author and I hope to sit on bookshelves next to him some day as C.L. Lewis. I also love the Harry Potter series. (Can a Christian admit to that? Please don't stop reading me just because of that.) I was hoping to find a new world I could love.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, Mr. Overstreet did not deliver. Though I can tell he is a gifted writer, full of beautiful prose, I feel the way he chose to tell the story left us distant from his characters (of which there were far too many of) and I never really grew to love them or the land he tried so very hard to create. I was lost half of the time trying to figure out what was going on. I think he was trying something allegory-ish but I don't think he suceeded.

There are two fantasy styles: The C.S. Lewis type and the Tolkien type. As mentioned above I fall in line with Lewis side. I think perhaps my dislike of Auralia's Colors was because of its similarities to Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings-therefore I do not want to get into the details of the book. I want to leave it open for you to explore. You may love this new world that Overstreet has created.

Auralia's Colors is first in a series. (I don't know how many are planned.) I do not plan to continue on with the series but I wish Mr. Overstreet the best in his writing. I am hoping the fantasy market will open wide in Christian publishing. I do so enjoy delving into new worlds.