Sunday Post and the Classics Club

This is my Sunday Post #9

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

I am not consistent.

My last Sunday Post was on April 17th..

That's EXACTLY  how I began my last "Sunday Post", except for the date of course.

At least I am consistent on my non-consistencies.

Before I get started,  I am going to do this....

I am joining the Classics Club!

I've given this a lot of thought and read thru the 'very relaxed' rules a few times and decided to join---with my own spin put in.

The rules  (check out the Classics Club Blog here for everything you've ever wanted to know about it)  say I have to list 50 classics that I will read in the next 5 years.

Let me do that now....

Random Classics that I want to read:

1. Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut

2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

3. Maggie: a Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane

4.  Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

5. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

6. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

7. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allen Poe

8. Stoner by John Williams

9. From Here to Eternity by James Jones

10. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

11. Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

11.  Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

12. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

13. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

14. The Hound of the Baskervilles  by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15. Petyon Place by Grace Metalious

16. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

17.  Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

18. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

19. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

20.  The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bown

Classic Mysteries that I want to read:

21. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

22. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

23. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

24. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

25. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

26.  Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

27. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by PD James

28. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

29. Beast in View by Margaret Millar

30. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Classic Science Fiction that I want to read:

31. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

32. Dune by Frank Herbert

33. Logan's Run by William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson

34. Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

35. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

36. The Robber Bride by Margarett Atwood

37. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

38. The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester

39. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

40. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Classic Children's Fiction that I want to read:

(Newbery Award Winners from 1964 thru 1974)

41,  Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
42. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
43. Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
44.  Sounder by William H. Armstrong
45. The High King by Lloyd Alexander
46.  From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
47. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
48. I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
49.  Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
50. It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

*****

My spin being the themes.

Also, this list is subject to change, as the rules state that this is a 'living' list.

My goal date is: December 31st, 2021

(yes that is 5 years 3 months---it was bugging me to end in the middle of a year--even tho I am starting in the middle. Go figure?)

Okay, now on to the rest of my Sunday Post:

On the blog this past week:  (it was a really busy posting week for me)

Monday-- Elizabeth is Missing.

Wednesday -- Friday Friend Recipe #103 - Lemon Lush

Wednesday -- Outdoor Wednesday

Wednesday --  Cookbook Countdown #94 -- The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

Wednesday -- Food n Flix: Frida -- Fruity Slaw

Friday --   Book Blogger Hop and Fabulous Friday

Saturday --  The Wednesday Wars

Saturday --  Saturday Snapshot

Saturday -- What should I read next? (from my TBR List)

Sunday (this morning) -- Sunday Soup! Chicken and Kielbasa Soup

So, sometimes I'm a bit obsessive---but I had to get all those things done! Right?

Off the blog?

Walking-- I haven't done any lately and that makes me sad.

TV-- Well, all the new fall shows have begun, but I've been too busy writing blog posts.  Actually We are watching the latest "Walking Dead" season to come out on Netflix, as well as their new original series "Stranger Things".  And Football and the Seattle Seahawks of course.

Music -- Nada

Letters -- Nada lately and I have a whole stack to answer.

In the Kitchen -- oh my gosh I've done lots of cooking lately.  I don't know why, maybe the change in the weather.

But cooking lots and not walking is a dangerous combination!

The Handyman told me this morning that eating at the Stone-house (our house) is like going to a wedding.  I was like "what?"  He said, 'yep, you can't have any fun (or eat) until all the pictures are taken. 

It's not THAT bad. Really.

I still have coffee every Tuesday morning at 6am with my friend Debbie.  Have been doing it for 15 years or so.  Yesterday we snuck in an extra coffee date as her daughter was visiting from Kentucky and it was nice to see her and catch up.

Had dinner with our Friday Night Friends on Saturday!  Kind of discombobulating.

And today I am defrosting the freezer and guess what I found?  Christmas Cookies from last year.  Tossed them of course, but please remind me to not make so many this year.  Oh well, wait a minute---I will have grandkids here this year.

How much holiday baking do you do?

Do you make any fun stuff for Halloween?  Cookies? Caramel apples?  Do you read any good spooky books?

Have a good week!  Happy Reading--Cooking--blogging!!

Sunday Post (and other things--Music and Cookbook Countdown #87 and weekend cooking)

 

 

This is my Sunday Post #9

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

I am not consistent.

My last Sunday Post was on February 21st.

It's not that I don't mean to join in---I'm going to blame it on--I give up, I can't think of anything to blame it on.  I mean I'm not any more busy than the rest of y'all.

WHICH brings me to this:  The term y'all is making it's way west!  I'm hearing it more and more.

Maybe because my daughter-in-law is from Virginia?  And she uses it all the time--it's the only concession to her southern upbringing in her speech, as she doesn't have a drawl at all.

So, anyway, I was going to write "you guys" instead of "y'all" but...

 

....I'm meandering.  Yes. It's what I do.

I don't know how to start....

 

I have not been blogging much and it's hard to get started again.

What have I been reading?  What have I been doing? What have I been cooking?

 

Before I get to meandering off again....

only 1 thing on the  blog this past week:

 

Tuesday--And the Winner Is....

 

THAT'S IT!

That's the only bookish post/link I have in this bookish meme.

So if books are all you are about---sorry.

 

 

Off the blog?

Work is crazy-- 2 big events coming up next weekend.  Who the hell plans 2 events on one weekend?  2 different committees who didn't communicate?  Yes!  At least they are at different times and won't overlap.  It just makes it crazy for me.

 

Letters-- Yes, I've been writing them, because I love to.  I love getting them too. I can get  a little wordy and crazy, but whatever (that happens to be the most annoying word/phrase in the world, but ?? )

 

TV-- I don't watch a lot, but I just started watching THE PATH, which is a HULU original series, about a mainstream cult.  Cults intrigue me.  The show I find strangely addicting. To me.  But unlike Netflix, who dumps their whole season at once so you can binge watch, HULU puts up one show a week, so I HAVE TO WAIT!

 

Music-- I've been making my way thru my parents extensive record album collection.  I just wanted to listen before I gave them away, passed them on to a record store or whatever.  But there are seriously hundreds of albums.  And then when I add in what the Handyman own and what I own (from our teenage years), that's a lot of listening.  Some of it GREAT old music.  Some not so much.

I have found I love old album covers.  Look at these couples!

Conway is dead.  Love did not keep the Captain and Tenille Together, but Herb?  He's still alive and well. And yes, that's him on his cover.  (I am showing my age, but does anyone remember his Whipped cream album? Racy for the times!! )

 

 

 

 

And then I came across this set of albums, which I had forgotten I owned.  Remember the Top 40 Countdown with Casey Kasem?  Before computers, etc they used to be sent to radio stations on vinyl (complete with commercials) to be played on Saturday mornings.   My friend Laura gave me these series of albums from the week of March 29th, 1986.  Laura's family owned the radio station in the little town we lived in.

It was fun to revisit, but there certainly are a lot of songs in the bottom of the countdown that didn't make it.  Like some really bad songs I had to suffer thru.

And the NUMBER ONE HIT for the week of March 29th, 1986? (in case you're wondering)

Rock me Amadeus by Falco. (okay, so the number one song was really bad too)

 

 

 

 Because I'm using this post to catch up on things, I am going to leave you with some updates on my cooking club.  And end with a bunch of photos from it.

  So you can leave now if you want...

First, I just was given the best compliment by my friends--and it was behind my back!!

Some of my friends and I are  struggling with  getting a bit older, health issues or just staying healthy as we age,  aging/dying parents, adult children in crisis, and other life issues, but also at the same time knowing and feeling that this is the BEST TIME EVER in our marriages and friendships and family.

It's hard to explain.

 I guess Robert Browning said it  "Grow Old along with me, the best is yet to be"

Although, None of us want to be THOSE old people -- those cranky old people who yearn for the past and say  "what is this world coming to?"

(our parents and grandparents said it, and guess what?  Everything will be fine people--it always is)

So we don't want to turn into those old people....curmudgeons!

We refuse!

We like to dance with our grandkids, hike mountains, run marathons (well, maybe 10ks?) start new businesses!

FIRST OF ALL THO, let me make this clear---WE ARE not OLD.

It's just that it's on the horizon and we can see it---so it's

 

DAMN IT!  I always meander....

What was I saying?

Oh, my compliment.  Because we are 'middle aged' (OMG!!! WHATEVER)

We do have to deal with some life facts.  In 2014, I lost both my parents.  My dad in a tragic death and my mom to Alzheimer's.

We all have to deal with our own stuff--no one gets out  of life without it,  right?

We all have our issues to deal with--stuff we're going thru.

ALL OF US.

But---and I'm getting to the compliment part---in talking behind my back about their problems, two of my friends said  "Look at Debbie. She had that awful year and what did she do?  She started a Cooking Club!"

 

They thought that was really admirable, so

Yay!!

 

I am happy they think that nicely of me, but I find it funny too... why wouldn't anyone have a cooking club?

Food, Friends, Cocktails?

What's not to love?

(I'm sharing that story tho, because it made me love them all the more)

 

 

I have two Cooking Clubs to post about

One themed  FAMOUS CHEFS

and one themed MEATBALL MADNESS or SOMETHING ROUND

 

I'm just going to add a bunch of photos of them, but first,  I did use another of my cookbooks for my countdown:

The Essential James Beard Cookbook

450 recipes that shaped the tradition of American cooking.

 

 

 

He was my Chef for the Famous Chef's cooking club night. 

I had the side dish and I made 2x baked potatoes.  And I only remembered to take this picture of them:

 

 

They were good tho!  You can't go wrong with a 2x baked potato!

 

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

James Beard’s American Cookery

 

4 baked potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons grated Cheddar or Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons cream
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Cut the baked potatoes in half and scoop out the meat into a hot bowl. Blend well with the seasonings, cheese, and cream. Heap into the potato shells, dot with butter, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven and bake at 375 degrees until nicely browned – about 15 minutes. Serve with any roast or grilled food. Rich as they are, they also need the company of a sharp salad.

 

 

And our famous Chefs?

Main Dish--Gina-- Beef Bourgeon by Anne Burrell and the Barefoot Contessa 

(She combined and made it her own)

It was SO GOOD!!

 

 

She served Moscow Mules as her cocktail.

Hostesses have to have a signature cocktail too.

 

 

She sets a pretty table too!

 

 

The girls (Ladies? Women?) as we wait, drinking Moscow Mules and having....

....this appetizer by Julia Child (and Debbie E, who is on the right in the picture above)

Blue Cheese balls.  And grapes.

YUMMY!

 



 

The guys are waiting too!

Old?  Middle aged? 

Naw!

We still see the as they were when we first met them.

(as they do us--THANK GOODNESS--we've all been together since high school or college.  When I see the Handyman in my mind, he has dark hair.  But LOOK, it's white. Huh, imagine that. Mine is still brown.)

(HM is on the right)

 Sally's Chef was Alice Waters, and she made a salad with homemade Green Goddess dressing.

 

 

 April made 2 desserts from 2 different Chefs.

Banana Pudding from Paula Dean

and then....

.....Red Velvet cake from (sigh) Duncan Hines.

(she's funny)

Ta Da! 

Let's Eat!

If you haven't left already, I'm impressed!

 

Now for Cooking Club--Meatball Madness! (or something round)

I was the Hostess this time.

I thought about spaghetti and meatballs OR Swedish meatballs but I was kind of feeing VERY casual, so I went with hamburgers.  Yes, it is the ultimate big meatball--smashed course.

I just had a hamburger bar.

And a ROUND of cocktails for everybody.

Then, I had secretly gathered everyone's birthdates, anniversaries and wedding songs, and we played "name that tune' in a weird way.

I played clips of everyone's songs (#1 on the day they were born, the day they were married, etc)  and we had to guess whose they were.

I think everyone had fun.

 

I had the main dish --hamburger bar (bacon and ham, some green chilies and jalapenos,   blue cheese crumble sauce, pineapple and teriyaki sauce--and then your basics, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles etc.)

Sally had the most amazing appetizers!  Cheesy bread in a round sourdough loaf and some Brussels sprouts with pancetta. (OMG YUM!)

Debbie E brought a pea salad

April brought some new round red potatoes for a side

and Gina made a round cake for dessert.

* we had bacon in almost everything this time--salad and potatoes and appetizer!

Yay bacon!

 

Poor Sally had given up sweets for Lent, so she had some round slices of fruit for dessert.

 

 

This is the closest I came to taking a picture of my hamburger.

(and we are  Seahawk fans, as you can tell)

 

I used a recipe for the basic buger---sour cream onion burgers--it has dry onion soup and sour cream in it, and makes the burgers so moist!

This was before they went on the grill.

Sally's appetizers!

To Die for!  (and I don't say that often)

I guess you have to actually like Brussel sprouts,

Cheesy bread tho? Who can resist?

 



 And our meal was rounded out with  round potatoes and pea salad.

 

Finishing touch?

Chocolate Cake with Ganache. 

 

 

I used my glass plates which was kind of weird.

Everything looks like it is just right on the table.

 

Finally, yes, I'm done!

Caught up with Cooking Club.

 

Next month's theme?

Breakfast for dinner.

 

Cooking Club is the best!

Next week I have 3 book clubs all in the same week!

I'm so excited!!

I have 2 books to read-I better get busy.

 

I'm going to link to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Post #8: my latest obsession, Sunday Soup and....

 

 

This is my Sunday Post #8

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

 

Yay Sunday! Awesome day!

Until  4pm when you realize you have to go to work tomorrow.

But this afternoon---I'm going to READ!

 

Ok, let's get started.  I should just tell you what was on the blog this week first, so you can  not have to muddle thru all my ...stuff.

 

I said,  I SHOULD, but I didn't say I would.  (gotcha)

My latest obsession has been Ancestry.com.  I've collected things for years and now it's fun to catalog and enter and get 'hints' to other branches of the family tree.  I've been doing it all week long!

That and I finished a couple of books.

 

I've had a plastic Rubbermaid tub in the closet where I've been tossing things I've thought important for the Family Tree Project, for years, but  look what I came across this week while perusing thru it again!

 

 

 

This is too much fun to pass up.

Let's see what happened  39 years ago today.

 

 

 

Apparently Kathie 'likes' Len Hirschman.  (I wonder whatever happened to Len?  He used to work with the Handyman)

And then, on Saturday,  we went driving around with weird guys.

 

 

Then on Jan. 30th, I had to have a SERIOUS talk with my boyfriend Kenny.

What WILL happen??  (insert dramatic music here)

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday Gerald breaks up with Kim and then on Wednesday Kenny breaks up with me???

What's up with that?

(although I don't seem to upset about it--I said I'll live and I did)

EXCEPT!  I think he broke up over the phone--loser!!

I have our relationship date noted there:  July 30th to Feb 9th.

Ahhhhh.... six months of teenage bliss.

 

There's lot of  'church' in this diary-- we all went to youth group together.

(hung out in the alley and smoked cigarettes afterwards...shhhh, don't tell.  It was my rebellious 1977, church kid, daughter of a policeman WILD PHASE!)

 

 

At least I got a quick date for the Valentine's dinner at church!!

But then.... OMG,  Kenny's going out with Dedra.  Or is he?

This is all hysterical to  me!!

 

 

Let me just give kudos to Clint Eastwood though. 

He either makes it or breaks it for me.

I went to the same movie about 3-4 months  apart...one guy broke up with me (movie Dec 26th, 1976), one I married (movie on Good Friday, March?

 April? 1977).

Yay Dirty Harry!  Destiny took it's course!

 

 

Enough of that.

 

What happened on the blog this past week?

 

 

Saturday--  A Drink Before the War  and Saturday Snapshot

Wednesday -- Book Blogger Influence

Monday-- BBAW  5 books that are ME

Sunday-- Guamanian Chicken and Rice (and the best family story!)

 

It was a crazy week and I didn't get to participate in BBAW as much as I would have liked, but I  just want you to know... I LOVE THE BOOK BLOGGING WORLD!   I don't consider myself a true book blogger, I just hang out with the cool kids!!  Which would be you book blogger.  I find you all witty and smart and well-read and most of all--you love books!  And sometimes food!  I love food.  And sometimes you just talk about weird, crazy stuff, and I love that too.

 

Enough about you tho...

It's Sunday and that means SOUP!  (usually)

 

Yesterday I made this soup:  SPICY CHICKEN AND RICE FLU CHASER SOUP!

 

 

 

From this cookbook again:

It's a really nice soup cookbook. I love it, but if you are going for healthy, MOST of them are cream based.  This one is not.

 

 

 

Spicy Chicken and Rice Flu Chaser Soup

 

20 whole cloves of garlic, peeled

1 1/2 cups olive oil

1 whole chicken, about  5lbs

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced

6 carrots, peeled and diced

3 ribs celery, diced

12 cups of chicken stock, plus more if needed

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 T lemon zest

2 tsp dried mint leaves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

2 T chopped fresh basil

3 cups cooked white or jasmine rice

kosher salt to taste

 

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Place the garlic cloves in a small, ovenproof casserole.  Pour the olive oil over the garlic*

 

*let me just say---you DO NOT need that much olive oil to roast some garlic. I boiled mine in 1 cup only and still way too much.  I think you can figure out how to roast some garlic cloves, right?

 

and bake for 45-50 minutes, until the garlic is soft, brown and caramelized. Strain the oil to use in other recipes.  Mash the cloves and set aside.

 

In a stockpot place the chicken, onion, carrots, and celery.  Pour the chicken stock over the chicken and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add the roasted garlic, lemon juice, zest, mint, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and bay leaves.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or until the chicken is very tender.

Remove the chicken carefully and place on a plate to cool.

 

Remove the soup from the heat.  If it looks to thick add chicken stock.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bone and add the meat back to the soup. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Taste, add more lemon if you'd like.  Add the basin, rice and salt.

Stir and serve.

 

I did not have fresh basil so I used dried and I did not have dried mint, so I used fresh.

I know the author of this cookbook say she goes thru gallons of it every winter when people have the flu.

We did not have the flu.

We liked the tad bit of spice, but not so much the cinnamon.  Still it was very good and the chicken was oh-so-tender.   If I make it again, I would reduce the cinnamon. But that's just for us.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I made an oatmeal pie!

A Very old-fashioned oatmeal pie that I found in an Amish Cookbook.

It's good.  It's like a big oatmeal cookie on top of a pecan pie filling.

Kind of.

 

I have a funky octagon shaped pie plate that I like to use, but  then the pieces are kind of misshapen.

 



And then, because yesterday was National Cherry Pie day (I was reminded by my friend Care at Care's Books and Pie), I put a cherry sauce on top and the cherry sauce was really good on top. (It would have been good on the bottom too, but I put it on the top.  Oh.. already  said that.  2x! )

 

I am not giving you the recipe for the oatmeal pie...another time perhaps...but I am going to link up with Weekend Cooking!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts!

 

I found a new Foodie podcast on her site this week, so I'm excited!

Stop by to check things out over there.

 

A word of warning as I leave you..

Do not  go driving around with weird guys.

 

We are not 17 anymore.