Feeling Bookish

We have a pretty good thrift store within biking distance of our new home. I have been going there a lot because there's nothing I like more than discovering a little treasure. Thrifting for books is tricky. There's usually a lot of dime store paper backs. A lot of Jon Grisham and Mary Higgins Clark. I look every time I go, but almost never are there books of my liking. But lately, at this thrift store, I feel like I have a little friend who is a well-read-generous-donor. I love people who give great books away. I am not one of those kind of people. Maybe someday I will be.

I thought I'd share my little stack with you. Because it's a small step to becoming a well-read-generous-donor. A small step I can take right now.

Mister Pip. Oh my! I will admit that I bought this book mostly because I loved the cover. That bright red sticker on top of those green palms?! Yes! I'll take it. This book was so interesting. As any well read person would know, Pip is a character in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I should admit right now that I'd never read that book before. So I'm not one of the "well read" I guess. But it is about the influence of this famous book upon a small island of war-torn kids. I would recommend this book. And not just because of the colors of the cover.

And this little gem. I have loved every book I've read by Joanne Harris. And her winning streak continues with this novel. This book was hard to put down! It was a sort of mystery. Which I didn't know going in, and have since decided that I like mystery novels. And don't be thrown off by the title Gentlemen and Players, it's not about pimps, but about a very prestigious private school for boys.

And the best for last. Caramelo. I love you. I just finished this book today and have been savoring it all week. It's one of those books that you can't stop reading but want to pace yourself because you don't want it to be over too fast.

So add these to your summer reading list. Any other reading list suggestions? I will make a sticker chart. Perhaps.

Ben, Jerry, & Holly

We got an ice-cream maker for our wedding. Hooray for impractical wedding gifts! It came with a little recipe booklet, which we used a couple of times. But the ice-cream it produced was iffy.

Luckily, my dad is an ice-cream maker. When we were still living close by, we would drop in every Sunday for dinner and super homemade ice-cream. And then we moved. Feeling a little sentimental, I got him some ice-cream recipe books for Christmas. I accidentally read through the Ben & Jerry's one, and it was so FUNNY! It's part recipes, part biography. And I really felt that this book would be the answer to our ice-cream maker woes. So I 'earned' it by shoveling up some cat deposits on the side of our house. Evan couldn't handle it. Too 'icky'. I have a feeling I will be earning a lot of books in the coming years.

So, meet our new best friends. Ben and Jerry. They are super cool guys. And coincidentally, they are ice-cream wizards. It's a coincidence because as of last night, I am also an ice-cream wizard.

I decided to go with the Heath Bar Crunch. Because it's the first recipe in the book, and it's also their best seller.

I started by chopping up some heath bars. And I didn't even steal a little piece. Er, yeah. Didn't.

Lots of heavy cream and thirty minutes later, it's ice cream. This is the whippy wonderful goodness in all its glory. We simply couldn't believe it. Or stop eating it.

It has been decided that we are going to get some baggy t-shirts made. To go with our stretch pants. Because I'm pretty sure this is going to be a Sunday tradition at our house too.

How's it reading?

It has been a good winter. There have been lots of books. Some have been thrifted, others gifted, and some borrowed. Have I mentioned I like to read? Okay. Love to read?

I love it so much, in fact, that I make things for my books. I had some leftover scraps of felt from Reece's pillow, and they were quite handy for the making of bookmarks. I simply cut out different shapes and embroidered them on. They were so simple that I felt silly just explaining that. A bookmark made of felt is nothing new. Just new to me.

Some of my favorites of the winter:

*My Life in France by: Julia Child (I love you Julia! You are so great)

*Goose Girl by: Shannon Hale (this was actually a re-read. I first read it when I worked at a health food store that hardly ever got business. I would sit in the bag dispenser at the cash register and read it. The herb man always called me 'goose girl' after that. His name was Craig.)

*Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by: Dai Sijie and Ina Rilke (I really do love a good book about books)

* The Help by: Kathryn Stockett (alright. So I am not actually finished with this one yet. My mom lent it to me two days ago and I am halfway there. But. I like it a lot. Thanks mom.)

*Tisha: the story of a young teacher in the Alaska Wilderness by: Robert Specht and Anne Purdy (it's true. And so crazy interesting. Thanks Colette.)

What have you been reading?

Ganache love

I love ganache. I love saying it. I love eating it. And coconut covered in ganache? It's pretty amazing.

We were headed down south to visit family for a few days, and I wanted to make something to bring along. I discovered the secret to being a good guest a while ago. It's so simple: Bring something sweet. People love baked goods, and once you walk in the door with a Pyrex dish full of goodies, it doesn't matter what else you do the rest of your stay. You can be a piggy at dinner and no one says anything. You can hog the baby and no one cares. You brought a treat. You are golden.

I found the recipe for these coconut macaroons with chocolate ganache in this book. It is such a lovely book. It had me laughing, crying, and really hungry the whole time. I love books about food.

Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate Ganache

From A Homemade Life

Macaroons:

3 c. lightly packed sweeted shredded coconut

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. egg whites (from about 5 large eggs)

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

Ganache:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 c. heavy cream

Place the coconut, sugar, and egg whites in a heavy saucepan and stir well. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture will look very creamy as it heats, and then it will slowly get a bit drier, with individual flakes of coconut becoming discernable. Stop cooking when it no longer looks creamy but is still quite sticky and moist, not dry. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Scrape the mixture into a pie plate or small baking sheet, spread it out a bit to allow it to cool quickly, and refrigerate until cold, about thirty minutes. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using your hands or a small ice cream scoop, scoop and firmly pack the coconut mixture into small domes. Space them evenly on the baking sheet.

Bake the macaroons until evenly golden, about 30 minutes. Cool completely on the pan on the wire rack.

Put the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until it is hot and steaming. Do not allow it to boil. Remove the pan from the heat, and pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth. Spoon the warm ganache generously over the macaroons.

Refrigerate the macaroons on the rack until the ganache sets, at least 2 hours.

Makes 14-18 macaroons

A rainbow in December

Don't you just love books?

A couple of moves ago, I rearranged all the colorful books into rainbow order. Being a visual person, it is so easy for me to remember the color of the book I want, and so placing them this way made perfect sense. Plus, it's awful pretty.

This morning as we were sitting in the sunny living room, I was going on and on about how much I loved books. I was going into all sorts of details about how I need more books, and what kinds of books and blah blah blah...and then Evan said "oh well, it's a good thing I got you a Kindle for Christmas then." My jaw dropped in speechless horror. He was joking though.

And now he knows we don't joke about Kindles in this house. Especially right in front of the books.