Book Reviews

I finished two books this week.
The first, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris, I loved! Delicious, little morsels of cynicism and insanity. Yum, yum, yum. I caught myself laughing out loud many times and I would recommend this book highly!

The second, “Little Alters Everywhere” by Rebbecca Wells, I’m going to pretend I never read. I adored “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and I loved the movie of the same name. Little Alters Everywhere, was about the same characters, but wherein “Divine Secrets” gave Vivi and Shep a ton of redeeming qualities, “Little Alters” most definitely did not. Kymberlie warned me and she was right. I’m seriously going to pretend I never read it.

The Day After

Remember that movie? That’s not what my post is about anyway.

Thanksgiving went very well. Dinner was fabulous and I must tell you, my creamed spinach cheat was delicious!

Garlicky Creamed Spinach
• Two packages Seabrook Farms Creamed Spinach*
• 1 head of garlic, smashed, then chopped
• Olive oil
• Bread Crumbs

*Yes, it makes a difference
Microwave spinach according to directions, place in an oven safe dish. Using a small pan, heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, when it’s hot enough (it sputters when you flick a little water into it (BE CAREFUL!), add garlic and saute till almost golden. Add garlic and oil to spinach, mix by hand.
Add two TBS olive to the pan, heat in the same manner described above, when heated add breadcrumbs, maybe half a cup. When the breadcrumbs are moist and golden and starting to clump slightly, carefully pour the breadcrumbs on top of the creamed spinach mixture. Lightly spread and pat down to cover entire mixture.
Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

It was so good, I can’t even tell you. Even the kids loved it. I was originally going to make the creamed spinach myself and then decided that was just too much work.

The day was really nice. I got teary-eyed a few times though. First, being so far away from friends and family is always harder during the holidays and really the only thing missing from the day was guests. Also, my Thanksgiving dinners would not be nearly as good if it weren’t for my Grandmother. That woman fed 20-30 people every year and never complained. She loved Thanksgiving. It was HER day. My Grandmother was terrific all year long, but on Thanksgiving she positively shone. Knowing how much work it is now gives me a tremendous appreciation for her. I take my food processor completely for granted! To think that she did all this work without the conveniences that I’ve always had is just mind boggling… and for that many people. And really, she loved it. I miss her so much and Thanksgiving is always the day that I miss her most.

Anyway, dinner was fabulous and we were all so full, we never even had dessert. So the pumpkin cheesecake is about to be cut into as soon as I make the whipped cream.

So how was your dinner? And did you watch Dinotopia? Anyone who knows my son, knows that we certainly did. What did you think?

I wish I had a smellophone

I’d call all of you and let you smell the pumpkin cheesecake that’s in my oven right now. It’s delightful!

I think it’s time

This two column layout isn’t doing it for me anymore. I think one of my projects for the long weekend is going to have to a reorganization and an addition of a column.

Ok, this is why I moved to Florida…

Look! This is what I’d be dealing with tomorrow if I went home. Um, no thank you. I hate snow. Sure, it’s all pretty and peaceful for the first 12 seconds or so and then it’s just a slushy, dirty, cold, wet mess. Maybe it’s only 50 degrees here this morning and I’m damn cold but, Thank God, it’s not snow.

Got tons of stuff done yesterday and I’ve got a ton more to do today, but at 10pm this evening, I’ll be kicking back with a glass of wine in front of the fireplace, watching the movies that I pick up today. I’m going to see if “It’s a Wonderful Life” is available for us to watch on Thursday while the turkey’s cooking, either that or “Miracle on 34th Street, but tonight, I do believe it’s “Queen of the Damned” for me.

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