Friday, January 16, 2009

The book that nearly did us in......

One Hundred Years of Solitude will not be voted as the favorite book of this years' club.  It's long and confusing and of six generations of a family, they recycle the same four names over and over.  I resorted to making flowcharts and family trees to keep myself awake and on track. I thought I was gonna lose my bookclub friends over this one.....but this group of women never disappoints.  We found plenty of meaningful discussion and then went on a tangent to dividing the room into two camps....those with OCD and those with ADD.  We all know which camp I fall into and if you can't remember, I'll give you a clue.  My dishwasher is half unloaded.....I have four books going right now....and I can't find the piece of scrap paper that I jotted stuff down on today at bookclub. 

We now move into the chapter of The Well Educated Mind on memoirs.  We start with an autobiography on St.Teresa of Avila....hosted by Sue....on Feb. 20.  I have to say I'm thankful to be done with the book of magical realism with too much insest and too few names.  I need to read some literary fluff before I start back into the 'classics'.  

Our schedule for the spring, in case you want to read along, is as follows:

Feb. 20  The autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila
Mar. 19  The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin  (changed to Thursday because of G-parents day)
Apr. 17  Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis  (Leigh Ann's)
May 15  Elie Wiesel   (Kim's)

More info upcoming on the children's bookclub that we will start in June.  We will try to do three books this summer and potentially have 2 groups- a 1-3 grade and 4-6.   The book we will use to guide the children is called Deconstructing Penguins.  I haven't ask yet, but maybe Pamela would like to be our moderator for one of the groups? Pretty please.

A huge thank you to Polly for opening her amazing home to us.  Shame on me for forgetting my memory card.  I will have to make a trip back soon to take pics.  The food and fellowship were wonderful as always!  And even though this wasn't my favorite book, I'm loving this bookclub.
Thanks for hanging in there girls even when the going gets tough.

Love to you all,
Edie
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5 comments:

Pam said...

Hang on,hang on,what are you signing me up for now?? A little more information please--if you can get your head out of the dishwasher and stumble you way through the laundry room to the computer, I would be very much obliged.
Pam

January 16, 2009 at 5:46 PM
leigh ann said...

Yee Haw!!! I'll send out an email so everyone knows the new schedule, etc...since I'm pretty sure just Pam and Edie are the only ones reading this...today was fun!!

January 16, 2009 at 7:33 PM
edie said...

So Ms. Pamela,
Would you be interested in leading the discussion for the kids book club? You'd be so good at it. What'd you think?

January 16, 2009 at 7:47 PM
Pam said...

"They"--who ever-"they" are, say that you should try everything once-except murder and incest--although--acording to the last book we read, some people people try it more often than they should.
So, to answer your question, I'll give it a try, but you are going to have to give me a little more insight into your needs.
Wasn't Polly's house just a dream, almost made me want to wear period costume and sip 'Pims" on the lawn. That got me all a flutter and I felt the need for some drama, so I started reading 'Brideshead Re-visited'. The movie has just come out on DVD, so I have promised my self that I will buy it once I finish the book. I have also promised myself a lot of things lately--Pamela, if you just finish 100 years of solitude, you'll be more educated, I promise. What happened? I feel just as much an idiot as I did before I read it.
See ya
Pam

January 17, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Pam said...

Dear Edie,
Hope you don't think I am being rude! Once you start reading Saint Teresa-- I think you may have the urge to write out a chronography of her life--you'll find one at the beginning of the book--thought this insight mught save you some time and paper.

Love ya

Pam

January 18, 2009 at 12:48 PM

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Our Recipes

Our Recipes
Baked Brie

Baked Brie

1 Whole Wheel of Brie
1 Sheet Puff Pastry or
1 Sheet Regular Pastry
3 T Orange Marmalade
1 egg for glaze


Bring the Cheese and Pastry to room temperature.
Do not remove the rind from the Cheese
Place the Marmalade on the center of the pastry.
Place the Brie in top of the Marmalade.
Wrap the Pastry around the Brie, use a small amount of a water wash to help the Pastry adhere to itself.
Invert the wrapped brie on to a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and coat with the egg wash.
At this point the Baked Brie can be stored in the refridgerator for up to 4 days, when you are ready to finish the cooking of the Brie, pre-heat your oven to 350', bring the Wrapped Brie back to room temperature, place in the hot oven and cook for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Do not serve immedistely, but place on your serving platter and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Serve with Crackers or French bread

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Cordon Bleu

This recipe can be served as an entree or cut into bite size pieces as an Hor'sD'oeuvre

Awaiting recipe

Petite Fours and Croissant

Petite Fours and Croissant
Petite Fours

Petite Fours and Croissant

Recipe to be submitted

Mini pickled Okra sandwiches

Mini pickled Okra sandwiches

Mini Pickled Okra Sandwiches

This recipe can be made up to 2 hrs in advance, due to the Cream Cheese acting as a barrier and preventing the Bread from absorbing the liquid from the Pickled Okra--simply make your sandwiches, cover them with a slightly damp piece of paper towel , then some Saran Wrap and refridgerate for up to 2 hours. The Cream Cheese mixture also works well with Cucumber Sandwiches.

1 Loaf of Bread
8 oz cream cheese
2 T Dill.Herb Spice Mix (Tastefully Simple)
1 Jar of Pickled Okra
Bring the cream cheese to room temp and add the Spice mix.
Remove the crusts from the bread and roll out with a rolling pin.
Take 2 pieces of bread apply some of the cream cheese add the Okra cut in to desired shapes and serve.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Recipe to be submitted

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

This recipe is dangerous, Why? because you are only 5 minutes away from Chocolate Cake at any given time of day.

4 T Flour
4 T Sugar
2 T Cocoa
1 Egg
3 T Milk
3 T Oil
# T Chocolate Chips (otional)
a small dash of Vanilla Extract
1 Large Coffee Mug

Add all of the dry ingredients to the mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and again mix well. Add the chocolate chips ( if using ) and vanilla extract, after you have mixed well, place the mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1,000 watts ( high ). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, do not be alarmed! Allow the cake to cool a little and then invert on to a plate. This recipe can serve 2 ( if you want to feel slightly more virtuous ).
Recipe by Tina Faust