Confessions of a Naive, Ditzy Gal.

Dear Ashley,
Thank you for your last posting of which you entitled, "Chic Lit". Yes, you had some great recommendations, but I more so wanted to thank you for clearing something up for me...I have been calling that type of literature, "CHICKLET" for QUITE some time now! Lucky for me, chicklet still sounded right...Chic Lit definitely makes a whole lot more sense! SOOOOO typical. :)

Dear Everyone,
Anyways, I have added some new things to the blog! I put a list of books we've read, and I also categorized the posts like we said we wanted to do. This way we can somewhat keep the recipes and the book stuff separate. It also makes it much easier to search for a recipe at a later date.

It is REALLY easy. When you are creating a post, it says "Labels for this post" right under your text box. In this box, enter the category (appetizer, dessert, book recommendation, etc.). When you start typing, some of the ones I have already used will pop up for you!

Hopefully that makes sense...let's post some of those yummy recipes!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Sara

Chic Lit Submersion

Hello, lovely book club ladies! I've recently been trying to survive my singledom by submerging myself in some easy-reading, female-friendly literature. In seems, my dateless dry spell has spurned weekends filled with grocery shopping for one and lots, and lots of reading time. Thus, I have a lengthy recommendation list to upload to our book blog.

First and foremost, you MUST read Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single. McElhatton is a Minneapolis native and writes with the wry, sarcastic humor of a Diablo Cody. Jennifer Johnson is slightly chubby, on-line dating impaired, cubicle working and a gay friendly girl that is trying to survive Minnesota winter and her quirky family. When she does seem to land a guy, this book ends with a uniquely and unhappy ending, unlike most chic lit reads. This book is FUNNY. So read it.

Er .... I hate to admit this .... but I seriously (in the last month) have read three of Emily Giffin's books. Something Borrowed, Something Blue (a series) and then Love the One You're With - Easy to read and for the most part relatable characters struggling with less than perfect relationships.

Moving on ..... to what you ask? Could Ashley possibly read more of this romantic crud? Oh, yes!

Next on my list: The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum. This is Julie's first novel and I feel like she would be an author I could love. The main character, Emily, is running from the ideal engagement and chooses to get a grip on her life rather than diving head first into a marriage she isn't ready for. Unlike most girls her age, the wedding isn't everything (a refreshing plot line for once) and has to deal with family issues and her own need to grow up.

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

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 :)

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!

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/