Special Days, Special People

We had such a busy weekend! We had a birthday party for my grandmother who turned 90 on Sunday! Ninety years old! I find that so amazing and inspiring. We have very strong women in our family who have been through hard times and she is definitely one of them. Both of my grandmothers are widowed and are now 90 (and still live in their own homes). My great-grandmother lived to the age of 92. My mother, who is another great inspiration, hosted the party at her house and we had many extended family members and friends who showed up as a surprise for grandma. It was very personal and my mom had asked everyone in advance to send or bring something they would like to share. She put together a touching scrapbook that was made up of pages that we all had worked on individually for a month. It was made up of cards, letters, pictures drawn by the little kids, photos, memories...It was the perfect gift. It was a long afternoon but it was a joy to see my grandma the center of attention. She deserved it.


The next day was my poor husband's birthday. No party for him! We are partied out. The poor guy. We will have a special dinner later in the week. It takes longer to round up the kids now that they have lives of their own. Two are in college but they are close by. Besides, they would never pass up a chance at a free dinner, especially if we go out to eat. My husband is very patient and kind and never asks for anything. We may not be able to spend lots of money for gifts but he does deserve special recognition for being a great guy. We'll find someplace cheap, er, inexpensive and embarrass him when the waiters sing to him while carrying out a flaming cupcake, just because we love him. It's the celebration that counts. I'm very lucky to have the family I do. They are the best. Now that this round of birthdays are over I have a week or two until the next flurry starts. If I hurry I might get to read a book!

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**Special Note**

Thursdays Thoughts : Celebrating Your Family's Best.

Share who is your family's oldest member and what makes them special for a chance to win Breathing Out the Ghost by Kirk Curnutt. Use the link for all of the rules on how to enter. Hurry, the contest ends 1/29/09!

Review: Amazing "Cookbooks"

The Flavor Bible
by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

The Essential guide to culinary creativity, based on the wisdom of American's most imaginative chefs.

When I first heard of this book I thought it would be filled with recipes but this is all about flavor and how to enhance it. Until recently, dishes were based on geography and what was available near you. Now that ingredients are available all over the world they are based on flavor. This book was eight years in the making and is meant to inspire greater, more innovative creations. This guide to hundreds of different ingredients along with different seasonings, herbs and spices will allow you to derive the most flavor from the various combinations.

The book is divided into three chapters. The first is a short chapter on how to recognize the language of food. This explains taste and touch (perceived by the mouth), aroma (perceived by the nose) and the "x factor" (perceived by the heart, mind and spirit). The second chapter is also short and is about how to make food taste great by understanding the moment and the ingredients. The moment is comprised of such things as the weather, budget, time, occasion and other resources. The ingredients are based on regionality, season, weight, function and flavor. Chapter 3 makes up the rest of the book and has detailed charts on flavor matchmaking. They are listed in alphabetical order with easy to follow symbols and instructions. Mixed throughout are sample dishes and tips from leading experts from top restaurants.

I am amazed by the details in this book. There are flavor combinations and enhancements I never would have dreamed of. My husband is the cook in the family and loves to collect spices, sauces and seasonings. I'm pretty sure he will also be amazed by the contents of this guide.
(380 pages)

Confetti Cakes for Kids

by Elisa Strauss with Christie Matheson

Delightful cookies, cakes and cupcakes from New York city's famed bakery.

This bright, colorful book has been put together especially with children in mind. The author, who is also a pastry chef and bakery owner, was inspired by the memories of her own childhood cakes. Every page is inviting with patterned trim and bold colors surrounding pumpkin mini-cakes, pajama cookies and a backpack cake (complete with zipper!) among many others.

There are detailed instructions along with illustrations to help you create 24 different projects that include cakes, cupcakes and cookies. from beginner to advanced level. 20 different recipes for various flavored cookies, cakes, frostings and fillings are also included. The results will make your masterpiece delicious as well as beautiful. Extras include a conversion tables, photos and explanations of equipment and decorating tools, baking terms and decorating techniques.

I enjoy baking and look forward to trying these ideas with the little people in my life. They all look too nice to eat!
(224 pages)

Award

The Well Worth Watching Blog Award!

A BIG thanks to Monie at Reading With Monie for passing the Well Worth Watching Blog Award my way! This award was created by The Book Zombie. The details of the award are simple. It is for all those blogs you cannot wait to read every day, that you look forward to seeing updates on and that have inspired you in your own blogging!

I expect that these people have received this award already because they really deserve it. I enjoy so many blogs but these are the ones that I visit every day. I'm passing this on to:

1) J. Kaye's Book Blog
2) A Novel Menagerie
3) Fizzy Thoughts
4) Stone Soup
5) Pudgy Penguin's Perusals

Author Web Sites

I was reading an article recently in the Dec. 15th, 2008 edition of PW (Publishers Weekly). My library puts their extra copies of magazines on their used book sale shelf. This was an $8.00 magazine that I got for 5c. Yep, that's right. 5c! What a bargain.

In the article Finding Value in Author Web Sites by Judith Rosen, she mentions that almost every author now has a Web site. They also often have a blog and/or page on Facebook, MySpace and Goodreads. Is it worth it? Do they need to be on the web? Designers can charge between $3.000 and $35,000. Some authors feel that it is definitely worth it. They establish a Web presence and that allows them to extend the conversation to their readers. Fans enjoy direct contact with the author not just their publisher. That also provides for more opportunities for readers to add reviews.

Since there isn't any proof that a fancy, expensive site sells more books some authors choose no-frills, do-it-yourself options. This allows the author to save money, access it themselves for updates but doesn't often include blogs. Some would argue that the blog is the most important part of keeping the site fresh. And it doesn't have to be about the book alone. There are many authors who add tidbits about their personal life, funny news and jokes, videos and more. It also allows relatively unknown authors to get their name and their work into the blogosphere. They can promote their books in ways that they may not be able to without a blog since they don't have the recognition yet.

There are so many options now that authors and publishers can create almost anything they want. It all depends on their needs and the fans needs. I personally was floored the first time, well every time, I had direct contact with an author. Email and blogging have given me opportunities I never dreamed possible. What do you think? Do author websites and blogs make a difference to you as a fan? Do you think they help sell more books or would they sell just as many without them?

Miracles and Cold Weather

We got home from working at a fund raiser dinner for my kid's team last night and it felt a little chilly in our house. We live in south western NY state, the area near Buffalo, Rochester and Niagara Falls, and it's been really, really cold here this week. It was -8 but -21 with the wind chill factor (that means with the wind it feels like -21) and today was even colder. It's not the norm but it happens every now and then. It's not so cold that my kid and his buddies felt the need to put their sweatpants on over their shorts after basketball practice. I picked them up from the school and they wandered out in their shorts. They did have the decency to put on their sweatshirts though. I didn't even argue with them. In fact, I debated on turning the heater off in the van just to see how manly they felt then. I didn't though. Yet. Each of these kids are the youngest of three brothers and they are all ages 15 or 16. They weren't going to listen to me and I wasn't wasting my breath on any of them.

But I digress. We got home at 7:30 last night and it was too cold inside. I checked the thermostat and it was 60 degrees in our house. Our furnace wasn't coming on. My husband works in the heating and plumbing supply business so he has a lot of know how but he couldn't fix it this time. We had to call the Furnace Guy. The Furnace Guy is a friend and a good egg and we felt bad dragging him out in the cold at night. But we would have felt even worse if we didn't call him and froze to death. We really, really wanted heat again. He got paid for it so I don't think it bothered him for too long. It was an easy fix once they discovered the problem so he got to scurry back home to his recliner. And we got to start unwrapping our layers of blankets. Whew! Broken furnace - not good. Easy fix - very good. It may have been a nuisance to deal with but I feel very fortunate that it wasn't any worse and again count my blessings.


Miracle on the Hudson

Speaking of counting your blessings, the plane crash yesterday in NY city was tragic that it crashed but a miracle that everyone survived and there seem to be relatively few injuries. From all the accounts I have heard so far the pilot and crew did an amazing job diverting a disaster. The plane apparently hit flocks of birds after take off and damaged the engines. The pilot and co-pilot attempted to return to the nearest airport but couldn't make it so they had to land in the Hudson River. Witnesses said it was a perfect landing and all 155 people survived. All of the rescue personnel performed their jobs remarkably well. If you have to be in a crash it sounds like this pilot is the man to be flying your plane. With a 20 year career in the Air Force flying fighter planes, a 30 year career with US Airways and a variety of even more very impressive credentials he was the man for the job. A Facebook page was created for him before the day was even over! It was so very nice to hear something good in the news for a change.

I know Christmas is over but...

I won these children's books recently from The Friendly Book Nook and they are so beautiful I had to share them.


We Believe in Christmas
by Karen Kingbury
illustrated by Daniel Brown



If we want the perfect star
to shine upon our tree,
Look and see that Brightest Star;
and there will Christmas be.





This is the story of why we place the star on the Christmas tree. It has a rhyming verse and beautiful, full page, water color illustrations. A family is going to church to watch their children perform the play of Jesus' birth in the manger. During their drive and the performance a reminder of what the real Christmas is about is told throughout.


The Gift of the Christmas Cookie
by Dandi Daley Mackall
illustrated by Deborah Chabrian


A simple story of giving -
not just cookies,
but gifts of the heart
that last forever.



Another beautiful story of the generous spirit of those in need themselves. Jack smells delicious cookies baking in the oven but is disappointed when they aren't for him. Times are tough and even though they have little money of their own his mother is baking them for needy families at the church. While baking, his mother tells him the story of the Christmas cookie and inspires Jack to also be generous. This also includes amazing, full page illustrations of the past and the current time of the story. A yummy cookie recipe is included!

I have been lazy, hence I make excuses

I have been lazy, hence I make excuses

(**OOPS! I screwed up! I left off the person who sent this to me. I have since corrected it. Thank you Popinfresh!)

I've been tagged for a Meme by Popinfresh at Popin's Lair and it's appropriately titled, "I have been lazy, hence I make excuses." When I first saw the name of this meme I wondered if my laziness was really showing. I have a bunch of books that I want to read, but like the meme says I've been lazy. Enough about that, here is how this meme works:

1) You have to give at least two excuses. More the merrier. Your excuses can be real serious one or very wacky ones.

2) Tag as many as you want, but not less than seven.

3) And try tagging bloggers you only occasionally visit. You want to be a regular visitor but you can't. (Remember the excuses?!) It is important to involve everyone, even those in the peripherals of our own narrow vision. Also you gotta tell them about the tagging. How else will they know?

4) Spread the word, by hook or crook. (Optional). I am not an ogre, you know!

5) Do link me (Gautami, the originator) in your post along with that person who tags you. That way I can keep a tab of how far and wide it spreads.

Ooh, fun! Although I'm not usually lazy about my reading. In fact, I'm tend to be lazy about everything else so that I can read. I'm going to change it just a little bit. So these are my lazy excuses for reading and reviewing my ARCs.

1) I'm not always speedy about posting my reviews. Sometimes my narcolepsy kicks in and I fall asleep on my keyboard. I've woken up many times with keys z, a, s, x and 1 imprinted (backwards!) on my face.
2) I have so much laundry to do. I always have laundry to do.
3) My booklight batteries died.
4) I'm still trying to get my internet to connect and the pages to load... dial-up connection! ARG!!
5) I'm still doing laundry.
6) My kids have a game, and then a parent/teacher conference, and then a fund raiser...
7) My active social life keeps me so busy. (I'm laughing myself silly over that one!)
8) I could go on and on but I seem to be getting sleepy again ZZZzzzzzzz.......


This was such fun that I'm going to leave it open to anyone else who would like to participate in this hilarious meme!