Saturday, August 22, 2009

A mysterious suggestion...


It seems that we have had a lot of requests to add a mystery book to our reading line-up (or maybe I am making that up)...so may I suggest "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". It is pick #12 from the list that Sarah K. shared with us. Here is a little synopsis to wet your appetite:

"A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue. It's about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. It's about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it--who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism--and an unexpected connection between themselves. It's a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and about the intimate lives of a brilliantly realized cast of characters, all of them forced to face the darker aspects of their world and of their own lives."

Just something to think about! ~Krista

Monday, August 17, 2009

Best of 2008


Thought this list from Amazon.com might be helpful. Scroll down and all the past years are on the left. Thanks again for coming tonight!
~Sarah K.

P.S. Lou is zonked out on my lap now :)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Mexican Dip

I have made this recipe for book club and also brought it up to Krista's cabin.

Mix together the following in a large bowl:

8 oz sour cream
16 oz cream cheese
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can green chiles (drained...I never use these)
1 - 10oz can of Rotel tomatoes (I always buy the can that already has the green chiles in it)
1- 15oz can of corn (drained)
1 pkg. Fiesta Ranch dressing (dry powder)
cilantro

Serve with chips and enjoy!

Special K Bar Recipe

So I figured since I haven't read any other books recently besides for our book club, I would contribute with a couple of recipes. The first is the special k-bar recipe (I brought these to the cabin).

1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo (white) syrup

Bring to a boil (keep stirring and keep an eye on it, remove from heat quickly after it boils...it should become a thinner consistency)

Add 1 1/2 cup peanut butter
Pour in 6 cups of Special K or Rice Krispies (I always use Rice Krispies)
Stir until mixed well.

Put in 9x13 pan.

For topping, melt 6oz of chocolate chips and 6 oz of butterscotch chips (together) and spread on top.

ENJOY!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Julie & Julia


Perhaps since our common themes are reading and eating... we should think about reading this book and then going on a movie date together?
~ Sarah K.

Book Description: Powell needs something to break the monotony of her life. So, she invents a deranged assignment: She will take her mother's dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and cook all 524 recipes in the span of just one year.

Movie Description: Julie and Julia , the bestselling memoir that's "irresistible....A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef" (Philadelphia Inquirer), is now a major motion picture. Julie Powell, nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, resolves to reclaim her life by cooking in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves' livers and aspic, but a new life-lived with gusto. The film version is written and directed by Nora Ephron and stars Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia. http://www.julieandjulia.com/

NPR's Summer Books






Just stumbled across this list. Might have some good stuff.
~ Sarah K.