What I Really Think

Sizzling Sixteen

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:06:32 -0500

I've been reading a lot lately but I keep forgetting to come here and jot down my thoughts. Anyway, this is the latest book I read (finished it last night). I took a break from Stephanie Plum but returned with Finger Lickin' Fifteen a couple of weeks ago (by the way, I enjoyed that one. Not sure if it was the break or not, but it had me laughing out loud at parts). This one, on the other hand, was just okay. Pretty much her standard formula, Ranger or Morelli, cars demolished, buildings burning down - you know the drill, add in some contrived hobbits and well... Oh, and does anyone know whatever happened to her sister or nieces? They haven't been mentioned in the past two books and I'm not sure if I missed that somewhere.

Oh, well, on my five point scale, with one being "hated it" and 5 being "loved it", I'd say 2.5 - I didn't dislike it but I didn't really like it either. Guess I'm just ambivalent. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Finger Lickin' Fifteen was a three (liked it).

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Little Bee

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:22:01 -0500

Our latest book club book was Little Bee, the story of a young Nigerian refugee and how her life affects and intertwines with a British couple. This one is hard. Do I recommend it? Absolutely. Did I enjoy it ... well, no. Here's the thing, the novel can be graphic and the subject matter is disturbing at best but the pace is good and it's not a difficult read. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Chris Cleave uses his words well and paints vivid pictures. His characters are well developed, flaws and all and I found myself amazed that a man could write women so well. So yeah, if you're looking for a quick-paced engaging book, pick up this one.

The Swan Thieves

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:10:45 -0500

I found out two weeks ago that you can take out books from your libraries now (if they have the capabilities) for your Kindles. So immediately went online and searched through the available books (there aren't as many as I had hoped and so many had long waiting lists), but I found this one available. I really wanted anything available just to see how the whole "check-out" process worked.

I was excited to see The Swan Thieves because it's written by Elizabeth Kostova who also wrote The Historian which I thoroughly enjoyed (one of those blow off things and sit on the couch to read type books for me).

The Swan Thieves tells the story of a psychiatrist, his crazy artist patient and the women in the artist's life that help the psychiatrist figure out why the artist attacked a work of art in a museum and then subsequently won't speak. There, I think I gave a one-line summary without spoiling anything.

At first, I really enjoyed the book (maybe the first 30 - 40%) as the mystery does hook you but soon you figure out the few possibilities that could be the solution and then it just feels like the author is going through some mental masturbation as she writes. Seriously? How many times must she describe the artist's "thick curly hair" or his large hands (wink, wink) before we get the idea he's someone women would want to screw (well, not this one, personally I thought he was a bit of a self-centered ass). And maybe that's one of the problems is that the more I learned about the artist, the more I could care less whether or not the psychiatrist cured him. I had the same feeling about the psychiatrist - things with him felt improbable and the more I learned about him, the less I cared there too. Now that I'm writing this, I actually think perhaps the author just shouldn't be focusing on men as her protagonists because I'm not sure she can develop them fully (avoiding cliche and stereotypes), yet I did like some of the women characters.

Oh well. I've already finished my next book and that definitely grabbed and held me. I'll write about that shortly.

Three Years

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:12:53 -0500

Today is the three year anniversary of the day I found that lump in my breast. I wrote a bit about it on The Amy Foundation Blog yesterday in case anyone would like to read it.

I'm also doing two walks over the next two Sundays. Nothing big, just 5ks but if anyone would like to donate, you can either go to Support Kim in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer or to Walk for Diane for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer. The latter link is for The Amy Foundation for whom I now blog.

Thanks!

The School of Essential Ingredients

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:22:49 -0500

Okay, maybe it's me. Maybe I've just grown to cynical. Why does everything seem so cliche?

Okay, forget that. I didn't hate the book but I didn't like it either. I'm really ambivalent. A friend warned me last year (when I was supposed to read it for book club that the simeles would drive me crazy, "fingers stroking brass pots or picking up a glowing red pepper, like small children drawn to low-hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree." She was right about the quantity of these, it's as if the author made a list of simeles to use, and proud of her achievement decided to incorporate as many of them as possible into her story. Eventually they stopped distracting me.

What did distract me or bothered me more was the telling of the story from nine different view points, a chapter for each person involved in the cooking class. I have the same issue with A Game of Thrones (and it's one of the reasons I put it aside), just as I'm starting to relate, understand and maybe even like a character, I'm torn from that world and pushed into another.

********************************* SPOILER ALERT **********************************************

Then there are the cliches. The grieving widower whose wife of course died from breast cancer (saw that from the beginning), the wise-beyond-her-years teacher whose relationship with food and cooking is almost magical (reminded me of trying to be like "Like Water for Chocolate" in that regard and failing, the happily married couple, who of course, had troubles during there life and well it goes on. Not to mention poor Ian, who seemed an after-thought, thrown in so Antonia could have a nice happy ending.

Like I said though, maybe I'm overly cynical. It's an easy read and won't take much time, so check it out for yourself.

Apple Braised Chicken

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:26:13 -0500

I like apples. I like chicken, so as I perused Weight Watchers recipes, looking for a simple but good weeknight dish, this seemed like a no brainer. I decided to make it last night because my Mom was staying with me so at least I knew I wouldn't just be making it for me (my daughter, Sammi, is the quickest to exclaim, "I don't like chicken!").

It's a bit of prep with the slicing of the onion and peeling and slicing of the apple, but made a little simpler because I used Perdue perfect portions (which actually are more like 4.75 oz per serving) so as not to have to worry about my chicken breast size. Weight Watchers says 20 minutes prep, and I think that's about right. The nice thing though, once the chicken and onions are cooked, you set it to simmer for 30 minutes which is plenty of time to make a nice side dish of rice or couscous and a salad to go with, set the table, and clean up your workspace.

I worry when making these dishes that there will be enough sauce to enjoy with the meat, but this had plenty, with enough apples to correspond with the chicken. So much so that Sammi even agreed to try it and liked it!

It's a great fall dish, one that I'm contemplating making again for the holidays!

Apple Braised Chicken

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil
1 pound uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces (again, I used Perdue Perfect Portions so came in at almost 5 ozs a piece)
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 large onion, sliced (I used two small ones, didn't have a large one)
2 medium apples, firm, cored and sliced - they're not kidding - use firm like granny smith otherwise 30 minutes will make them too soft. I also peeled mine.
1 cup apple cider
1 cup fat-free chicken broth
1/2 tsp table salt (I used kosher, I always use kosher salt)
1/2 tsp ground ginger (I used scant ginger and a bit of curry because my Mom has an aversion to ginger)
2 tsp cornstarch

Directions

In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, warm oil over high heat. Toss chicken with flour in a medium bowl, patting off excess (next time, I'll do this in a ziploc bag). Place chicken in skillet and brown well on both sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Reduce stove temperature to low and add onion to skillet. Sauté, stirring often, until onion is tender and lightly browned. Stir in apples, cider, chicken broth, salt, ginger and chicken. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer chicken, onions and apples to a serving dish (I covered the dish with foil) to keep it warm).

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 2 to 3 tablespoons of pan juices. Combine cornstarch mixture with remaining pan juices, whisking constantly. Simmer for one minute. Pour sauce over chicken and serve. Yields 1 chicken breast and about 3/4 cup of apple-onion mixture per serving.

And it's 6 Weight Watchers PPV. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:57:44 -0500

I think the title should say it all. But if you need more convincing here's the picture!

These were quite good and came together easily enough. The batter was very thick though which made distributing the chocolate chips at the end a bit difficult. I think next time, I may use mini-chocolate chips to get a better disbursement. Also, these were 4 PPV (points plus value) as described in Cooking Light at 20 servings for the pan, but I used my Perfect Brownie Pan which only allows for 18 servings, so that brought them into the 5 PPV range.

These will definitely be made again!

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

Ingredients

5.6 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I swirled the melted butter into the measuring cup so the peanut butter came out a little easier)
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray
4 (0.75-ounce) peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped - This was one King Size Reeses package that contained 4 cups.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Combine peanut butter and next 4 ingredients (through eggs), stirring well. Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Scrape the batter into a 9-inch square metal baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray (mine was 12x8), and arrange the peanut butter cups over batter. Bake at 350° for 19 minutes (it took mine 23 minutes and I've seen others say 24 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:56:20 -0500

I know, when you think of creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese, the first thing you reach for in the refrigerator is your ... butternut squash? No, well, maybe you should.

We saw this recipe on the cover of September's issue of Cooking Light and Sammi, a Mac & Cheese whore, requested it immediately on the weekly rotation for dinner. So last Sunday, I checked the ingredients and couldn't believe that it included butternut squash. What I couldn't believe even more was that Sammi was still game to try it.

And it was good!

The flavor of the squash really blends into the background and because you use sharp, flavorful white colored cheeses the squash actually makes the dish yellow so it looks like the stuff from the box.

A bit of prep work involved with peeling, chopping and cooking the squash (you may want to buy the already peeled kind in the market) and grating the cheeses but then you stick the casserole in the oven and can straighten up your kitchen so after dinner, it's a matter of just cleaning up the dishes.

I may try freezing this puppy to see how it holds up. If well, it's going on the Thanksgiving Day rotation too (heck, I can squeeze some veggies into all the nieces and nephews without them even knowing!).

Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 [1-pound] squash)
1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fat-free Greek yogurt (I forgot this)
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1 pound uncooked cavatappi (I used small shells - it's all I had in the house)
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (didn't bother)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Combine squash, broth, milk, and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Place the hot squash mixture in a blender. Add salt, pepper, and Greek yogurt. Remove the center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Place blended squash mixture in a bowl; stir in Gruyère, pecorino Romano, and 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano. Stir until combined.
4. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain well. Add pasta to squash mixture, and stir until combined. Spread mixture evenly into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
5. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add panko, and cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Sprinkle evenly over the hot pasta mixture. Lightly coat topping with cooking spray.
6. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

This came in at a whopping 10 PPV but I'd work out and do it again.

Banana Snack Cake

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:09:20 -0500

Yesterday was the first day of school for my youngest, it was pouring and I had some over-ripe bananas sitting on my counter. I don't know what that adds up to for you but for me that means baking. But Sammi, I don't think, is not a big banana bread fan and personally, I wanted something that would be warm and wonderful when she walked in the door only 45 minutes later - banana bread takes too long. So I scoured My Recipes, looking for things made with banana, that had appeared in Cooking Light, and found this recipe. Easy to do, tasty and it was ready when Sammi walked in the door.

Banana Snacking Cake

Ingredients

6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups - btw I love measuring flour but c'mon do scales really measure to the hundredth decimal?)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (didn't have but used 1 cup of low fat buttermilk instead)
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/2 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed (we didn't bother with this)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next five ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of flour mixture - not sure why I bothered, with the buttermilk the liquids totally overpowered the dry ingredients anyway.
3. Combine yogurt, banana, oil, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; stir until well blended. Add yogurt mixture to the flour mixture in large bowl, stirring just until moist.
4. Pour the batter into a 9-inch square metal baking pan (I used an 11x7 pan) coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Serve with whipped topping.

This came out to 5 Weight Watcher Points Plus (no topping), when I plugged it into their recipe builder.

Drawing Conclusions

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:40:51 -0500

I'm not going to hold back on this one, I love Guido Brunetti and Donna Leon but this book just didn't do it for me. I felt it sputtered along, without much suspense, a lot of repeating or rehammering of the same exposition without much action or interaction with some of the characters we love (i.e,. very little with his family, his in-laws). It felt ... taped together to me. Come one, we know Brunetti has the "map in his head" of Venice, to tell us once at the beginning is fine but to repeat it every time he goes for a walk, not necessary. Not to mention how he feels about certain suspects, art dealers, over and over. Okay - I guess I made my point.

I'll read the next Brunetti in hopes it will be better but I fear this may be the end of the line for me and this much loved character.

State of Wonder

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 06:27:08 -0500

Maybe the fact that I read this book right after Deja Dead colored my opinion on this book's main character or maybe she really is just another one-dimensional weak woman? Sorry folks I think it's the latter.

I'm really tired of these weak woman protagonists who have no common sense, do stupid things and bend to the will of the men in their lives. Sorry. And because Marina, our main character, fell into that group until the last pages of the story, I could never really relate. I also found her antagonist, Dr. Swenson to be one dimensional (until near the very end) in her strong-feminist way. Can we all be pigeon-holed so easily? I will tell you, the one character I would have liked to spend more time with was Karen, I bet she could have kicked both Marina and Dr. Swenson's butts! But we get so little time with her, who knows...

That said, I didn't hate the book. The first 50% (yes, I'm a Kindle reader so no page numbers) moved very quickly. Patchet definitely has an ability to create scenery. Whether the scenery, insects, heat, rain, snow, etc., was accurate for the environments she described, I do not know. I do know, I now have no desire to be anywhere near the Amazon - that's for sure.

I think the the next 30-40% bogged down a bit and became somewhat muddled - maybe because I couldn't relate to Marina, through her time in the jungle, I never got a good feel for where her head was at.

**** SPOILER ALERT *****

The ending, once there was the great "reveal" zipped along of course.

I won't go around recommending this book but I won't tell you not to read it either. I think (hope) next month it will make for some interesting book club discussion.

Deja Dead

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:27:19 -0500

I'm a big fan of the Bones TV series and for years have been meaning to read the books, by Kathy Reich on which the series is based, the first of which is Deja Dead). The story told from the point of view of Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, takes place in Montreal Canada (which threw me since the series is set in Washington DC), and does not feature a partner FBI agent (like the series either) but some stereotypical (unfortunately) police counterparts. I would like to say I loved this book and cannot wait to continue with the series but I won't.

Here's my problem, I'm so tired of reading about women crime-solvers who seem to lack no common sense. I mean, I could put up with that in the Stephanie Plum series because she wasn't a trained professional but a lingerie saleswoman by trade, so you'd expect her to mess up and do stupid things as a bounty hunter. But this series starts out with her already entrenched in and experienced in her field, so she has no excuse.

*** Spoiler Alert ***

Really, if you had suspicions that a serial killer was on the loose, and your picture was found in the suspect's apartment, would you go out in search of a possible body dump site by yourself on a stormy night? And if that suspected serial killer left a skull on a stake in your garden, would you ditch your police protection, again, to go searching for him? I'd be like take me to the police station; I'll stay here until you catch the guy.

About 80% of the way into the book it seems Kathy Reichs even realized that her protagonist was stupid and spent a couple of paragraphs having Temperance explain to us why she was choosing to act in this erratic (really stupid - can I say that enough?) way but too little, too late. It was all too many coincidences, stupid behavior and of course some predictability to move the story along and that bothered me.

Here's the thing though, this is the first book in the series, and it can sometimes take some time for an author to develop characters well, so I may give the second book in the series, Death du Jour a try. But if Temperance Brennan turns into another Kay Scarpetta (i.e., a woman who doesn't learn from her mistakes), I'm outta here!

Lobster Rolls & Korean Cucumber Salad

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:27:15 -0500

I've been hankering for a long weekend in Boston this summer but we just can't seem to work out the dates. So instead, I decided to make one of our favorite Boston treats, lobster rolls, for dinner at home (and luckily the weather gods cooperated and we got a beautiful night on the deck in which to enjoy it). As usual, got this recipe from Cooking Light, well actually, their recipe site (for all their publications), My Recipes. It's really an easy to put together recipe (well, other than de-meating the lobster), when you're local grocer/fish monger steams the lobsters for you ahead of time. We had 3 1.3 lb lobsters and were probably shy of the quantity of meat required.

Lobster Rolls

4 cups cooked lobster meat, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash hot sauce
4 hot dog buns (we prefer ours toasted, either in the toaster oven, or on the grill, if already lit)

Combine first 7 ingredients. Spoon 3/4 cup salad into each bun.

This comes in at 8 Weight Watchers PPV.

Lobster Roll w/ Korean Cucumber Salad - apologies for iPhone picture quality

Korean Cucumber Salad

To go along with the lobster, I used one of our plethora of cucumbers to make this dish. Again, easy peasy to come together, can be made ahead, and really great for a hot summer evening. The recipe calls for an English Cucumber but I used our regular garden variety, slit in half, with the seeds scooped out. It's got a bit of a kick, so be careful.

Korean Cucumber Salad

3 1/2 cups (1/16-inch-thick) slices English cucumber (about 1 large - see note above about cucumber)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Combine cucumber and salt, tossing well. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze dry.
Combine cucumber, onions, rice vinegar, sugar, crushed red pepper, and sesame oil. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Honestly, I didn't bother counting even 1 Weight Watcher PPV for this, but you probably could/should count it as 1 because of the sugar/oil.

Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Salad

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:51:44 -0500

Batting 1000 this week. Last night I made this Cooking Light recipe and we all (sans Sammi, who is away and doesn't eat anything anyway), loved it. I sprinkled my shrimp with Chipotle Chili Pepper instead of ground black pepper and I didn't use a grill pan (they're a pain to clean) but a large frying pan (because I couldn't get our outdoor grill to light). Other than that, I kept it pretty much the same and it was good! Oh, and I left the tail shell on the shrimp, next time, I'll remove it.

Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Salad

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I used chipotle chili pepper)
Cooking spray
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 Boston lettuce leaves (I didn't bother with these)

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and black pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add half of shrimp to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove shrimp from pan; repeat procedure with remaining shrimp. Cool shrimp for 5 minutes.

2. Place shrimp in a medium bowl; stir in celery and next 6 ingredients (through cumin). Arrange 2 lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 3/4 cup shrimp mixture.

This came in at 6PPV on Weight Watchers (four servings). I still need to convert my other recipes.

Photo by: Photo: John Autry; Styling: Cindy Barr. I stole it because I was too lazy to take my own.

How Many Lives is Enough Lives?

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:55:04 -0500

If you're looking for an entry today, I wrote something over at The Amy Foundation Blog with regards to mammogram screenings you may want to check out.