Hold Tight

From Goodreads:

Tia and Mike Baye never imagined they'd become the type of overprotective parents who spy on their kids. But their sixteen-year-old son Adam has been unusually distant lately, and after the suicide of his classmate Spencer Hill - the latest in a string of issues at school - they can't help but worry. They install a sophisticated spy program on Adam's computer, and within days they are jolted by a message from an unknown correspondent addressed to their son - 'Just stay quiet and all safe.' 

Meanwhile, browsing through an online memorial for Spencer put together by his classmates, Betsy Hill is struck by a photo that appears to have been taken on the night of her son's death and he wasn't alone. She thinks it is Adam Baye standing just outside the camera's range; but when Adam goes missing, it soon becomes clear that something deep and sinister has infected their community. For Tia and Mike Baye, the question they must answer is this: when it comes to your kids, is it possible to know too much?

From Me:

I thought this was just a fun read.

How can a 'thriller' be fun?

I don't know, but Harlan Coben makes them that way.

I first found out about this author from Sheila at Book Journey and thought I'd give him a try because she loves him.  She raves about him.

This  year alone, I've read 3 of them.

Good story lines, fast paced and not too complex.

I'd recommend Coben to anyone who likes a fast-paced thriller.

3.7 stars.

Saturday Snapshot--I'm home

Home at last!

Internet at last!

I'm all about nostalgia.  I love it.  I love having grown up in the 60's and 70's and all that it entailed for kids...yadda,  yadda, yadda

(you know those Facebook posts that say, when I was a kid--- we drank out of a hose, rode bikes without helmets behind the mosquito truck---)

But there is something fun about technology too.

We were up  at our family cabin in Oregon last week. 

We over-lapped 4th of July weekend with my brother and his wife--had a great time--but none of our adult kids (5 boys) could make it that weekend.

We had fun doing family group texts while waiting for the fireworks.

We couldn't do family group texts WITH photos between 9 people, in an instant, in the 60's and 70's.

I say this because it WAS fun, and that was about the only time I had internet service last week-- because we were at the foot of the lake, close to town.

We didn't get service at our cabin.

It drove me just a little bit crazy.

*************

While I am home and do have internet service--I am still without a computer.  I assume it's waiting for me to pick it up on Monday morning, all fixed and ready to go!

I had to run into work for a second today and this is what I'm doing...

writing this blog post to say how happy I am to be home and have internet again.

Yes, we did do some upkeep and stained the deck. 

We also sat down by the river (our back yard) and enjoyed cocktails in the afternoon ... and our grandkids when they came.

I am sharing a few photos for Saturday Snapshot --

in no order of our trip, nor any rhyme or reason --

Saturday Snapshot is  hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

Deliverance (and other news)

from Goodreads:

The setting is the Georgia wilderness, where the states most remote white-water river awaits. In the thundering froth of that river, in its echoing stone canyons, four men on a canoe trip discover a freedom and exhilaration beyond compare. And then, in a moment of horror, the adventure turns into a struggle for survival as one man becomes a human hunter who is offered his own harrowing deliverance.

from Me:

4 stars.

Let me just say --- one of the best books ever.

Perhaps not in your comfort zone, but the way it was written?  Wow!

It's expressive and  poetic and emotional....and troublesome and alarming.

I listened to this on audio and I love Will Patton's voice.

I'm a little bit in love with that teeniest of southern twang in his voice.

He does an excellent job with this book.

I bought this book because of his voice.

Audible was having a two for one sale---something I didn't feel I could pass up, but the list was a bit limited, and I saw this and thought,  why not?

I'm so glad I did.

We've all seen the movie (haven't you?), so you know the gist of how it goes.

Creepy hillbillies and all?

Let me just say in defense of Georgia....  even Nevada has  hillbillies.

They live in the flat desert, but still, same thing.

***************

We are leaving for our cabin in the morning, where I'll have no internet or computer, but I'll have books and coffee and mountains and rivers and pine trees and a lake, and trails to walk along.

Oh..and the Handyman.  I'll have him too.

I'll be back in a week... and you can picture me here:

This and That

I came to a difficult decision this morning while having coffee in my back patio.

I am putting a book down after 140 pages and moving on to something better.

I never do this and it makes me feel bad!

I am setting aside "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August"

I just can't get into it.

I know that some people loved it and it had some great reviews... it's just not for me at this time.

I am moving on to  "A Hundred Summers".

More of a summer read.

Not so complex as Harry August.

Not that I never read complex books---it's just not the time for it right now, I guess.

In other news--- The Handyman and I are going to Arizona in September for our granddaughter's 6th birthday party.  On the way, we are going to the 

"Standing on the Corner" Festival in Winslow, AZ

Because I was searching about the festival...

this came up on my Facebook page  (they are watching us!)

I got it!!

Do you get it?

Misery RAL

From Goodreads:

Misery Chastain was dead. Paul Sheldon had just killed her - with relief, with joy. Misery had made him rich; she was the heroine of a string of bestsellers. And now he wanted to get on to some real writing. 

That's when the car accident happened, and he woke up in pain in a strange bed. But it wasn't the hospital. Annie Wilkes had pulled him from the wreck, brought him to her remote mountain home, splinted and set his mangled legs. 

The good news was that Annie was a nurse and has pain-killing drugs. The bad news was that she was Paul's Number One Fan. And when she found out what Paul had done to Misery, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

From Me:

I had read this book years ago, but decided to join in the fun with Care's Online Book Club as she hosted a Read-a-long (#miseryRAL)  for Stephen King's book:

MISERY.

I had a lot of fun, but I'll get into that in a minute.

I had forgotten how CREEPY Annie Wilkes is!!!

Creepy!

With a capitol C!

It was a great King classic!

Ominous and horrible and twisted!

(I am over using the !  I know, but I can't help it.  I'm trying to get a point across on how--Stephen Kingish it was!)

I listened to this on audio and I know that some of the others in the RAL weren't impressed with the narration, but it worked fine for me.  

The story within a story (because Annie Wilkes makes Paul Sheldon write another Misery Chastain novel)  Eh.  That's never been a big draw for me, but it too, worked okay in this great novel.

Because I am late in writing my round-up,  I had the pleasure of reading every one else's reviews/opinions and I also noticed that their is mention of King's struggle with his endings.

I'm with you there #miseryRAL sisters!

I  have felt the same way in some of his books.

Also, they say the movie has a better ending than the book too.  I'll have to re-watch that sometime this summer.

As far as suspense tho, I feel this book far outweighs any King book that I've read so far.

At the first of the month, I had fun Tweeting  (#miseryRAL) every once in a while, but let's face it....I'm old.

(not really, but I figure if I say it enough now, it won't be so bad when it happens in a couple of years*)

And social media-- well, I could make a ton of excuses about why I'm not any good, but really--you don't care, do you?

So, let me just say---that when I did join in, it was fun!

And you all were very gracious and told me,  "yeah,  you just jump in, any time'.

So, I did.

And I would do it again.

In October!

I'm excited!

As well as having a fun time, I discovered some great blogs during the #miseryRAL

That's always a good thing.

*ps-- I'm not really that old.

except to my grandchildren.  Then I'm ancient!

Cooking Club -- CAJUN FOOD.

Cooking Club!

Meeting number 2.

You remember the rules, etc from the last cooking club meeting, right?

Of course you do.

You remember everything I've ever said!

Check out our first meeting here!

Gina and Mark were away so Shelly and Lorin filled in as subs.

Shelly is a permanent substitute. 

We figure that someone will always not be able to make it...  that's where Shelly steps in.

And she was just MOVED beyond WORDS to have that honor bestowed upon her, as you can tell!

And the category was:

CAJUN FOOD

In a wild west setting.

This is it:

I wish I had been more vigilant about taking photos of April's backyard.

She was the host.

This photo above is  just one small part of her yard.

It's her husband's shop in the back.

She just has such a knack for decorating.

It's lovely.

While April was busy preparing her Cajun, low country boil, the rest of us were visiting and having wine.

 Sally snuck in to make sure that April didn't need any help!

While the rest of us sat with our wine glasses and enjoyed the evening.

One nice thing about summer evenings in Northern Nevada is that it cools off and there comes a slight breeze.

And we have hardly any bugs.

Um...what did I say about a 'slight' breeze?

LOOK AT THAT HAIR!

A monsoon came up---tropical hurricane winds!

Look at it whipping thru the trees!

( so I can take pictures of WIND but not the rest of April's backyard? )

These guys sat calmly thru the 5 minute windstorm, waiting for their food.

 Ta Da!!

And here it is!

 We learned

that....

• CREOLE refers to the original European — particularly French and Spanish — settlers of New Orleans. They were mostly from wealthy families and brought or sent for chefs from Madrid, Paris, and other European capitals.
• CAJUNS are the descendants from the former French colony in East Canada, called Acadia (Nova Scotia) who were exiled by the English in 1755.  Many made their way to Louisiana, settling in the swamps and bayous. Cajun cooking has very little influence of the classical cuisine of Europe--it is truly an American Cuisine.

The cultural difference between the two methods of cooking lies in the fact that Creoles had access to local markets, and servants to cook their food while Cajuns lived mostly off the land, were subject to the elements of the seasons, and generally cooked meals in one large pot.

It is said that a Creole feeds one family with three chickens and a Cajun feeds three families with one chicken.  

Another major difference between Creole and Cajun food is in the type of roux used as the base of sauces, stews, soups, and other savory dishes. Creole roux is made from butter and flour (as in France), while Cajun roux is made from lard or oil and flour. This is partly due to the scarcity of dairy products in some areas of Acadiana (Acadia + Louisiana) when Cajun cuisine was being developed. Gumbo is perhaps the signature dish of both cuisines. Creole gumbo has a tomato base and is more of a soup, while Cajun gumbo has a roux base and is more of a stew.

We are certainly not experts at cooking, but we all like to eat, and we all like to learn new things.  And we like to enjoy each other's company and laugh.

We took a quiz on crawdads.  Because crawdads or craw-fish are big in Cajun cooking.

And by the way, it was split down the middle of this table on who said crawdad and who said craw-fish or cray-fish.

This time our theme was Cajun  Cooking.

Shelly had the appetizer --- Cajun meatballs  (was supposed to have alligator meat, she comprised with elk meat)

April  had the main dish-- Low Country Boil

Debbie E had a side dish --- Cajun cheesy corn bread with jalapenos

Debbie/me had a side dish-- Dirty  Rice

And Sally?

Here she is getting ready for her Bananas Foster!

Banana Liqueur AND Rum!!

 Paul tastes the rum to make sure it's good!

Very important step.

Smelled so YUMMY in all it's brown sugar and cinnamoniness!

 And then....the lighting of the rum!!

 Ta Da!

Flambe`

The finished project!

Mmm... Mmmm... good!

And the night wouldn't have been complete without some Cajun music.  Or... New Orleans Jazz.

As you know, I made Dirty Rice (much to the disappointment of Shelly's husband Lorin.  He was sure I'd make Red Beans and Rice)

I did discover that originally, Dirty Rice was cooked with chicken livers, but... well, I found a different recipe that  used ground beef and ground sausage.

We like to try out new things, but chicken livers is not  one of them.

Dirty Rice is really good!

A bit spicy, but not too bad.

Now  don't think bad of me, but I didn't pay attention to the recipe.

No, I didn't leave anything  out.

No, I cooked it according to directions.

But I didn't read the fine print.....

... serves 45-50.

I now have three 9x13 pans of dirty rice in my fridge!

We ate one pretty much at the Cooking Club.

One is going home with my son and his wife.

And... Rich and I are eating leftovers for a while.

Lots and lots of leftovers!

Dirty  Rice Casserole

from Taste of Home

2 pounds of ground beef

2 pounds of ground sausage

2 large onions, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 jar diced pimientos, drained

5 cups of water

2 cans each, undiluted of:

cream of chicken soup

cream of mushroom soup

condensed French Onion soup

2 T Creole seasoning

1 t salt

1 t pepper

1/2 t cayenne pepper

4 c ups uncooked long grain rice

In several Dutch ovens or stockpots

**this should have been my first clue--several stockpots!

cook the beef , pork and onions over med.  heat until meat is no longer pink.  Drain.

Stir in the celery, green pepper and pimientos.

Combine water and soups, stir in Creole seasoning, salt, pepper and cayenne. Stir into meat mixture, bring to a boil and stir in the rice.

Carefully transfer mixture to three greased 13x9 baking dishes. Cover and bake at 350F , stir. cover and bake for  30-40 minutes longer, or until rice is tender.

 At the end of the meal, we picked from a hat and next time our theme  is:

Let's Go To Hawaii!