Northern Nevada Weather

On Sunday it was 94 degrees and we enjoyed ourselves at a couple of  outdoor picnic graduation BBQ's.   We tended to stay in the shade because it was HOT in the sun.  We wore our sunscreen and our sunglasses.

That was Sunday.

Tuesday was another story.....

The view from my back patio

The snow doesn't accumulate under the tree cover.

It was  a heavy, dense, wet snow.

I had just planted flowers in my pots and beds and some veggies in the garden.

I was worried that even this little bit on the flowers would freeze at night and kill them, even tho protected by the house like my tomato plants below.

So I covered them all for a couple of nights to insure no frost bite.

Today, Thursday, it is sunny again and supposed to be in the  80's.

When tourists call me at the Chamber and ask what kind of clothing they should bring... they are coming in May, I tell them, winter AND summer clothing.  They get frustrated with that answer.

I don't know why. It's true.

Armchair BEA Day 4

I didn't do Armchair BEA Day 3--all about networking in real life---because it didn't really pertain to me. 
I live in a small town.  I just want to read some good books and cook some good meals and enjoy my friends and family.   AND talk about all these things.

I am forced to do enough networking with my job---on my own time I just want to relax.  I do sport a license plate on my car that is personalized with  BOOK LOVER.   Or rather  Booklvr,  cuz it fits.  Freinds and aquantinces mention it all the time, but  I  even have strangers that will come up to me and tell me that they love my licence plate and that they love to read and so on and so.  There you go for the networking.   I am like the random networker.

Today's topic from Armchair BEA is this:
Has blogging opened up opportunities for you beyond getting free, advance copies of new books? Has it helped you get offers to write or review elsewhere (maybe even for pay)? Have you gotten invites to special events or places you might not have been to otherwise? Today, we'd like you to talk about those opportunities in you own posts, and later this morning, we'll have a guest post from one of our own Armchair BEA team members, about her freelancing experiences


okay, I'm just going to be honest and put myself out there.
I haven't even gotten one free advanced copy of a book.  LOL.  I don't want to write a review  (I cannot do justice to a review type of post),  I don't care about going to events or other places  (well, I do care, but that's not why I blog).  I just blog because I enjoy it.  
I don't want the pressure of all that other stuff.

On Twitter this morning, there was a Tweet  (I don't understand Twitter at all.  I'm like the old lady of the Twitter world.  Anyway, I digress),  I can't remember who from  (but I think it was retweeted from Armchair BEA ) or exactly what it said word for word, but it was something like this:
 Controversial!  Book Bloggers seem to look down on 'not only book bloggers', why?

In my humble "not only book blogger" opinion,  I think this statement is false.
The book bloggers who I know and  who comment on my blog are VERY NICE.  Granted, there is not a lot of them, but even the ones I've contacted or asked a question to, were very friendly.  
I've never felt snubbed.  I am sure somewhere out there are purists who don't care for my type of blog, but the same could be said of any 'themed' blog, and as long as they don't seek me/us out and talk bad about me/us, then I think we can all live in peace, right along side each other.
Don't you?

I bounced all over in my post today---hmmm.  Am I throwing a rant?  Well, it's a good one!  I  just read and cook and write up a post every now and then to share my hobbies.  And because I just might like to hear myself talk.

Armchair BEA Day#2--Best of the Best

Never fear fellow Armchairers....I registered!!  All is good.

Today's topic from Armchair BEA is:
Today’s suggested posting topic is “Best of 2012”:

Share some of your favorite books so far this year, and/or the the books being promoted at BEA that you hope will end up among your favorites for the year!

Sheila from Book Journey just Tweeted that she is standing in line at BEA  to receive an advanced copy of "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin.
I really liked her, but now?   Now I am filled with a jealous rage.  Why?  Because I just checked and the book doesn't actually come out until October 16.  I don't know if I can wait that long.  (I purchased it to be delivered on that day and then I had to buy a cookbook to make myself feel better for having to wait some more).
I loved the first book in the trilogy, The Passage, and have been waiting for this 2nd book since the minute I read "the end" (or rather 'to be continued') in the first one.
(haha.... I still like Sheila. Her enthusiasm for reading is amazing)
So, that is one book being promoted at BEA that I hope will end up among my favorites!

Some of my personal best (having read them in  2012, not that they were published in 2012) are:
(all descriptions are from Goodreads)

A Grown up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

A GROWN-UP KIND OF PRETTY is a powerful saga of three generations of women, plagued by hardships and torn by a devastating secret, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of family. Fifteen-year-old Mosey Slocumb-spirited, sassy, and on the cusp of womanhood-is shaken when a small grave is unearthed in the backyard, and determined to figure out why it's there. Liza, her stroke-ravaged mother, is haunted by choices she made as a teenager. But it is Jenny, Mosey's strong and big-hearted grandmother, whose maternal love braids together the strands of the women's shared past--and who will stop at nothing to defend their future.



It by Stephen King 

They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they were grown-up men and women who had gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them could withstand the force that drew them back to Derry, Maine to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name. What was it? Read It and find out...if you dare!








11-22-63 by Stephen King

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed forever.

If you had the chance to change the course of history, would you?
Would the consequences be worth it?


Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.


Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.


Three Day Town by Margaret Maron

Judge Deborah Knott and Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant are on a train to New York, finally on a honeymoon after a year of marriage. January in New York might not be the perfect time to visit, but they'll take it. The trip is a Christmas present from Dwight's sister-in-law, who arranged for them to stay in an Upper West Side apartment for one week. While in New York, Deborah has been asked to deliver a package to Lt. Sigrid Harald of the NYPD. Sigrid offers to swing by the apartment to pick up the box, but when they reach the apartment, they discover that it is missing and the doorman has been murdered. Despite their best efforts to enjoy a blissful getaway, Deborah and Dwight soon find that they've teamed up with Sigrid and her team to catch the killer before he strikes again



Henry's Sisters by Cathy Lamb

From the acclaimed author of "Julia's Chocolates" and "The Last Time I Was Me" comes Lamb's most heartwarming novel to date, as three sisters reunite during a family crisis.







A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

Welcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.



No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines. CC de Poitiers managed to alienate everyone, right up until the moment of her death.


When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Quebec, is called to investigate, he quickly realizes he's dealing with someone quite extraordinary. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village, as she watched the annual curling tournament. And yet no one saw anything. Who could have been insane enough to try such a macabre method of murder—or brilliant enough to succeed?


With his trademark compassion and courage, Gamache digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life to find the dangerous secrets long buried there. For a Quebec winter is not only staggeringly beautiful but deadly, and the people of Three Pines know better than to reveal too much of themselves. But other dangers are becoming clear to Gamache. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is coming for Gamache himself.



When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

I am red now. It was her first thought of the day, every day, surfacing after a few seconds of fogged, blessed ignorance and sweeping through her like a wave, breaking in her breast with a soundless roar. Hard on its heels came the second wave, crashing into the wreckage left by the first: he is gone.


Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family. But after she’s convicted of murder, she awakens to a nightmarish new life. She finds herself lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes—criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime—is a sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red for the crime of murder. The victim, says the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she shared a fierce and forbidden love.


A powerful reimagining of The Scarlet Letter, When She Woke is a timely fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of the not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated, and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can. In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a journey of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith and love.



Those are just a few, but they are ones that I've really enjoyed. 

Most of my reading is done in a big easy chair in my living room, so  having to think of my 'bests' brings up great memories!  These books, cup of hot coffee and a cookie or two.

What are some of your favorites for the year?

Before I Go to Sleep

We read this book for my  "Totally Lit" book club in May.  I had heard mixed reviews, one being--Sheila at Book Journey  (and by the way, she gives a great review of the book, even tho she was frustrated by it), so I wasn't quite sure what to think.  I ended up reading the book in one whole sitting.  Of course I was in the car on our drive back from Washington state over  Memorial Day Weekend. 
One could say I had no where to go--so I couldn't exactly put the book down, BUT, I had other books, magazines and an audio I could have switched too.  I didn't tho.  I  really liked it.  It kept me guessing....it was one of those stories where you knew something wasn't quite right, something sinister was going on, but you are not quite sure what it is.  It kept me guessing till the end, as it did all those in my book club.
We all enjoyed it.  As my friend Kay said, she kept coming back to it because she wanted to find out what happened.

I, too, have heard the rumor it might be made into a movie...I will be looking forward to that one.

Oh...and for some reason most of us were surprised to discover that S.J. Watson was a man.  We just assumed SJ was a woman.  (and you know what my dad always told me about assuming... )

Here is what Goodreads says:
'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me ...' Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine's life

It sounds a little reminiscent of  "50 First Dates", doesn't it?  At least I thought so when I first  read the synopsis, but  while the basic idea of using amnesia as the story's main perdiciment is the same, the storyline, situations and characters are nothing like that comedy/movie.

Next up for Totally Lit?
Catherine the Great by Robert Massey

Light and Fluffy Lemon Pancakes (or hotcakes?)

No matter how hard I try to find an answer to explain the difference between hotcakes and pancakes... I can't.
I find  explanations of hotcakes on one site and then on another that same description fits a pancake.   They flip-flop  depending on..... where a person grew up,  what their parents called them, what type of restaurant they are served at.
The best  answer I found  said  that the difference between the two was:
the name, duh!!

Having said that, I am sure to get a couple of comments telling me what the difference between hotcakes and pancakes is.  It's okay because I really would like to know.
Growing up we called them hotcakes....maybe because they were  slightly fried in a bit of oil like these are.  It makes the edges just a little crispy, and I really like them that way.

These Lemon Pancakes--while I don't like how they look--they  are not evenly colored nor do they have  a nice  light tan color as most normal pancakes do--tasted REALLY GOOD!  (these look a little like  griddle cakes, which opens up a whole  other can of worms)  (or some dark english muffins ?)

I had lemon ricotta pancakes at the Peppermill Casino in Reno  once  and they tasted heavenly... more like a dessert than a breakfast food, so when I saw this recipe in the Extraordinary Meals cookbook, I had high hopes.
My hopes were---not in vain.  These tasted extra lemony.  You didn't need any syrup whatsoever.  I just picked mine up and ate it, no butter, no syrup, no yogurt.    They were  very moist and  so lemony.    I said that before, didn't I?  Well, they were.  Lemony like a flat lemon cake. And so moist you didn't need syrup or  extra fruit.
The Handyman was not as impressed as I was.  He ate them but he didn't love them.  He's kind of a 'regular'  pancake man.  No flavorings for him...and definitely no ricotta cheese. 
But if you like lemon flavor, I think you should give them a try.   They're worth it.

The batter was really really thick, it didn't spread like regular pancake batter, it plopped and I kind of had to spread it with the spoon.    That reminds me that sometimes the argument between hotcake and pancake had to do with how thin the batter was.

Light and Fluffy Lemon Pancakes
Source:   Reader's Digest Extraordinary Meals

4 large eggs,  separated
4 T. sugar
1 cup park-skim ricotta cheese
3 T butter-melted
1 T fresh lemon juice
2 t grated lemon peel
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 to 3 t canola oil
1 cup vanilla fat-free yogurt

1. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks begin to form.  Beat in 2 T of the sugar until the egg whites hold stiff peaks, being sure not to over beat them.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, the remaining 2T of sugar, ricotta cheese, butter, lemon juice and lemon peel. Gently fold in the flour until just combined.  Fold  the beaten egg whites into the ricotta mixture in three additions until just incorporated.

3.  Preheat the oven to  200F

4.  Lightly oil a large nonstick skillet or griddle with  1 t of the oil and heat over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the batter in  1/4 cupfuls and cook until lightly browned and puffed,  2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Turn the pancakes and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, 1-2 minutes longer.  Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven.  Repeat with the remaining batter and oil.

5.  Serve the pancakes topped with  1/4 cup of yogurt; bananas and pecans are optional.

First day of Armchari BEA--THE INTERVIEW

I'm not really registered for Armchair BEA, but then....I'm not really a book blogger, (altho lots of times I do talk about books and I am passionate about them) nor am I a food blogger, (altho most of my posts are about food), I am just a blogger, one who is going to participate in  Armchair BEA...I did last year and had so much fun!!

Shhhh....don't tell, but I'm not registered yet.  I might get in trouble.  I'm not even sure if I have to...  I'll look into that, but for now:
DAY ONE of Armchair BEA,  I have questions to answer....for a self-interview, if you will.    I have to introduce myself to you.   On the official  Armchair BEA website there is a list of 10 questions, and they want us to choose at least 5. So, that is what I am doing...just  5.  (I was never an over achiever)

Question 1.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

My name is Debbie.  I am a wife, mother of four grown sons, a very young grandmother of 10...oops, I mean 9, and one on the way  (I just get so excited, I get ahead of myself).  I live in the high-desert of Nevada (that's the north part) and I love to read books, give dinner-parties, read books, cook, read books, bake, read books, garden a bit, read books in my garden,  eat cookies that I've made, as I lounge in my garden  reading a book, go for walks,  listen to audio books as I walk.
As you can tell, my interests are many and varied! 
Okay, I jest, but since we are all here for the same reason.....because we love books and are sad that we don't get to go to BEA,  I figured you'd understand if I mentioned how much I like to read books. 

I've been blogging since 2007, but I don't have a themed blog.  I am a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And that's okay with me.   I discovered blogging and used it as a forum with my friends for while, but  the blogging community, be it books or food, is interesting and supportive and you get to know people a bit.


Question 2.
Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.
This is non-book, but related to  (sorry I can't follow directions*)  I have an extensive book mark collection.  Like over 200 hundred.    Man, I bet my kids fight over that one when I die!!

Question 3.
If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?
Margaret Maron, the author
or
Deborah Knott, the character
I love those series of books.  In fact, it is raining outside right now and I wish I were home curled up with one!
Why?  Because I am in love with Margaret Maron of course!!  Seriously......the south, her south, beckons to me---minus the murders of course---but the talk, the food, the family connections, the stories...ahhhh, I love them.



Question 4
What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?
I am trying to read John Irving's 'In One Person' but am having a hard time getting into it.  It's not the subject matter or storyline...and I've loved some of his other books, but this one is just hard.  And I've also had to interrupt the book for ones I had to get read for bookclubs I belong to, so that never helps.
My favorite so far this year?
Stephen King's   11-22-63!!   If you haven't read it, do so now.



Question 5
Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?
I don't think they have changed at all.  I've always  been a reader of many different genres.
OH WAIT---audio.  I never used to listen to audio, but once I started I discovered I love it.  I guess that would be a change in HOW I read, but not what I read.  I like everything.

And that concludes DAY ONE of Armchair BEA.
I'll be back tomorrow.
Now I'm off to check out some of these 360 other book bloggers  (I'm not kidding, that is how many who have linked on with Mr. Linky )  that couldn't make it to NYC and BEA either this year.  And I'm going to have a glass of wine while I read them all.  Maybe 2--this could take me quite awhile.

Denio BBQ

Denio  isn't a type of BBQ, but rather a place in Nevada, where they have an annual BBQ (cookout for all you southerners), which is the BIGGEST event in their town all year.  It's a big fundraiser for them.  Their town probably doubles in size on the day of the BBQ.  But, as their population is less than 100  (I would say close to  50 in town) , it only goes up to about 200 people.

Here is a short description of Denio,  Nevada, :

 /  / 41.99; -118.63306
Country	United States
State	Nevada and Oregon
County	Humboldt and Harney
Time zone	Pacific (PST)

Denio, Nevada is an unincorporated community that lies on the Nevada-Oregon state line in Humboldt County, Nevada and Harney County, Oregon, in the United States.  The community is also known as Denio, Oregon. There was formerly a Denio, Oregon post office north of the state line.  The population of permanent residents is less than 100.  Most of the town lies south of the state line in Nevada.  The southern part of the community includes a post office, a community center, a library, and the Diamond Inn Bar, the center of the town's social life.  Recreational activities available in the Denio area include fishing, opal mining, rockhounding, hunting, and visiting the hot springs.   Humboldt County School District operates the Denio School, a kindergarten-eighth grade (K-8) school, on the Nevada side of the state line.

I've often said that we live in the middle of nowhere, but today, we drove  96 miles from Winnemucca to attend the Denio BBQ....and that really is  'in the middle of nowhere."

(the long road out there)

(lots of roads in rural Nevada are long roads...and look exactly like this)

(the mountains on the way out are beautiful!!)

(every 25 or more miles a ranch will appear in the horizon---that clump of green trees in the middle of the sagebrush is a HUGE ranch house/yard.  They raise cattle)

But what a nice nowhere!!  It's a lovely little community, with nice people--ranchers, all of them--very proud of their  community.   They still have a post office, which IS NOT going to be closing.  For now.

and they have a  Community Hall (slash) basketball gym (slash ) library...

And they have a nice bar/tavern next to the community hall...

It's the old kind of bar----where your dog can just come in and make himself at home behind the bar.

The fireman do the grilling--steaks and chorizos--and the community brings  side dishes and desserts for the potluck.  Lots of old fashioned jellos and things like cornbread salad.  Mmmmmm.   
They have a quilt show and a book sale during this time also.
Earlier during the day,  they have a rodeo and roping events and kids games.  It's quite the deal.  And a band to play for dancing after the BBQ.

It was a very small book sale, but I couldn't leave without buying at least one book you know....so I looked thru the tables and chose three.   No one was out there helping  us, so I turned with my books to go inside and pay and The Handyman pulled out two dollars and put it in the can.  I said,  really?  On the honor system?   Man, I love small communities!!

We had a nice afternoon/evening.  One funny thing out there in the middle of nowhere was this phone booth. I thought it was funny anyway.   The Handyman said,  even Superman needs a place to change clothes. 

Night!!