Another week and a half of reading

I'm a bit behind on blogging thanks to a crazy-busy week, so here's what I've read since last time:

I just got back my favorite parts of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, which I'd loaned to Rose Lerner for several months, so this month so far I've done more re-reading than reading. (Unfortunately, I failed to hook her--apparently my tactic of giving her a summary of the early books and major characters, then handing her Memory, Komarr, and A Civil Campaign backfired, because she wasn't familiar enough with the characters to get excited about them. I see her point, and she's interested enough to want to try again from the beginning of the series. I only tried starting her midway because to me Memory is where the series goes from good fun to flat-out awesome, and also because the more Barrayar-focused books are more fun for those of us who generally read more fantasy, romance, and mystery than science fiction.

I'm not counting re-reads when I just sort of skim a favorite for relaxation, but with these I'm reading almost every word, so...

19) Memory. Not quite a coming-of-age story, more a coming-of-maturity one. With one of my all-time favorite lines: "The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart."

20) Book Which Must Not Be Named (5 of 8): Another Rita entry that I ended up enjoying quite a bit and scoring well despite it using certain characters and tropes I normally avoid like the plague.

21) Komarr. I love how Ekaterin's strength gradually reveals itself over the course of the book. I remember the first time I read it thinking, "Really? She's Miles's One True Love?" for the first half of the book, but by the end changing to, "OH, yeah. She's perfect."

22) A Civil Campaign. Just plain fun, and even though it's shelved as science fiction it's one of my favorite romance novels of all time.

23) I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui. The story of the girl you may have heard of on the news a few years back, married against her will at age 10 in Yemen, who ran away to a courthouse and successfully petitioned for divorce. A straightforward, harrowing read, all the more so because Nujood is still only 12 or 13, living with her none-too-pleasant or progressive family, so it's by no means certain she'll get the education and independence she longs for.

52 Cookbooks - Week 17, 1997 Joy of Cooking

I'm the proud owner of two editions of the Joy of Cooking--a 1997 edition, which my parents gave me for Christmas in 1998, the year before Mr. Fraser and I got married, and the 1951 one, which I inherited from my mom. Last week I drew the 1997 version. I haven't cooked from it much in the last 14 years, partly because it's just so dauntingly encyclopedic.

But at the front of the book are a couple pages of menu suggestions, and I decided to choose one--beef stew, roasted garlic spread on baguette slices, and apple-spice cake.

Beef Stew

- 2 lb. boneless stewing beef, such as chuck, short-rib meat, or bottom round, cut into 2-inch cubes

Season the meat with:
- 1/2 to 1 t. dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, savory, oregano, and/or basil)--I used all but the savory
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1/2 t. black pepper

Dredge the meat with:
- 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Shake off any excess flour. Heat in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat:
- 2 T olive or vegetable oil, bacon fat, beef drippings, or other fat--I used canola oil

Add the meat in batches and brown on all sides, being careful not to crowd the pan or scorch the meat. Remove with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 2 T of fat from pan (add more if needed). Add:
- 1/2 c. chopped onions
- 1/4 c. chopped carrots
- 1/4 c. chopped celery
- 1/4 c. chopped leeks (optional)
- 2 T chopped garlic (optional)

(I used the garlic, but not the leeks.)

Cover and cook, stirring often, over medium heat until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add:
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 to 1 t. of the same herbs used to season the meat
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1/2 t. ground black pepper

Add enough to cover the meat at least halfway:
- 2 or 3 c. beef or chicken stock, dry red or white wine, or beer--I used 3 c. of red wine

Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer over low heat until the meat is fork-tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add:
- 2 to 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3 to 4 boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 turnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks.

Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 35-40 min. Remove the pan from the heat and skim off any fat from the surface. Taste and adjust the seasonings. If you wish, thicken the sauce by stirring together and whisking into the stew:
- 1 to 1/2 T kneaded butter--I did not add

Simmer, stirring, until thickened. Garnish with:
- Chopped fresh parsley

It looked like this:



As you can see, I forgot the parsley garnish. It was a long Sunday afternoon of cooking, and by then I was pretty tired.

Unfortunately, the turnip completely spoiled it for me. It had a sort of bitter, metallic taste that ruined the dish, at least for my taste buds. Mr. Fraser found it edible, if unexciting. I'd probably like it OK if I substituted extra potatoes and carrots for the turnips, but for that much chopping and cooking I expect more than "like it OK." The roasted garlic smeared on bread was good, though--how could it not be? I'm not including the recipes for those two, because I just roasted the former the way I always do, and bought a baguette from my friendly local grocer.

Dessert was:

Apple Spice Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour one 8x8 inch pan or line the bottom with wax or parchment paper.

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl, pinching out any lumps in the brown sugar:
- 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 c. packed dark or light brown sugar
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- 1 t. ground cloves
- 1/2 t. freshly grated or ground nutmeg
- 1/2 t. salt

Add and stir together until smooth:
- 1 c. buttermilk
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 2 T. rum or brandy (optional)--I used rum
- 1 t. vanilla

Stir in:
- 1 c. chopped apples
- 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans--I used pecans

Scrape batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes clean, 40-45 min. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 min. Slide a thin knife around the cake to detach it from the pan. Invert the cake and peel off the paper liner, if using. Let cool right side up on the rack. Serve warm plain or with vanilla ice cream. Or let cool completely and frost with white, butterscotch, or penuche icing.

I served it with vanilla ice cream, and it was a sophisticated, subtly spicy dessert which also served for breakfast the next two mornings.

Books read, week of 1/31

I had a busy week of reading, though most of these books were extremely short.

13) Book Which Must Not Be Named (#2 of 8). Another Rita entry, like #11 a book filled with words collected into sentences, about which I will not comment.

14) Catching Jordan, by Miranda Kenneally. If this book was one of my Rita entries, I'd give it a perfect 9. It's a YA romance that I loved despite being, oh, 20-25 years older than the target audience. Aside from that, it could've been written for me. The heroine, daughter of an NFL quarterback, happens to be the best high school quarterback in her state, and she dreams of playing for an elite program in college. Given my love for college football (War Eagle!) and the fact I was always more one of the guys than a typically girly girl, I couldn't NOT enjoy this book.

15) Book Which Must Not Be Named (3 of 8): Another Rita entry.

16) Wellington's Generals, by Michael Barthorp. This one wouldn't be of interest to anyone who isn't a devoted scholar of Wellington's army, but for me it was a useful reminder of how the command structure worked and what divisional and brigade commanders did. (The hero of my current manuscript is a fictional major-general.) Also, I'll probably be scanning the color plates of generals in uniform to include with my cover art information sheet once the book is finished and in production. Not that I get too worked up over whether every single detail is right, but I'm hoping I can keep my streak of heroes actually wearing clothes on my covers going for at least a couple more books...

17) Book Which Must Not Be Name (4 of 8): Halfway through my Rita entries! Since I'm avoiding any hint of identifying information, I think I'm safe in saying this one was an especially sweet, satisfying mini-gem of a story. And it's NOT one of the ones I expected to enjoy based on the cover blurb. The one I thought I'd like best in fact got my lowest score so far.

18) Avatar: the Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1, by Michael Dante DiMartino, Brian Konietzko, Gene Luen Yang, and Bryan Gurihiru. I was late to the party on Avatar:TLAB, only discovering it last summer because my daughter is into anime, manga, and anime-esque shows and I thought she might like it. I'm glad I found it, because IMHO the storytelling is on par with Buffy or Deep Space 9 at their best (i.e. my all-time favorites). I'm even more excited for The Legend of Korra this summer than I am for the second season of Game of Thrones. So naturally I got the first entry in the comic book series bridging the two as soon as Amazon would bring it to my doorstep.

52 Cookbooks - Week 16, Colorado Cache

Though Mr. Fraser grew up in Oklahoma, he has family in Denver (and he's an alum of the University of Colorado). Because of that connection, one of our 52 cookbooks is the Colorado Cache Cookbook, a 1978 production of the Junior League of Denver.

I'm trying to up my vegetable intake and get out of the habit of eating the same round of carrots, bell peppers, green beans, and caesar salad again and again, so I decided to try Honey-Glazed Acorn Squash. It reminded me of a recipe my mother used to make with butternut squash and molasses:



Honey-Glazed Acorn Squash
4-6 servings

2 or 3 acorn squash
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. honey
2 T butter, softened
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. raisins

Cut squash in half, remove seeds. Place cut-side down in shallow pan. Add 1/2 inch hot water to pan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until almost tender. Turn cut-side up, season with salt and pepper. Combine other ingredients and spoon into cavities of squash. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until filling is heated.

The good: It's a simple, straightforward preparation. The hardest part was sawing through the squash.

The bad: It's edible, but I wouldn't go beyond that--on the bland side, and the squash is somehow squishy AND stringy. I think my mom's butternut squash with molasses tasted better, and I didn't even much like squash when I was a kid.

Books read, week of 1/24

I continue on my journey toward reading 75 books in 2012:

10) Tough as Nails: One Woman's Journey Through West Point, by Gail O'Sullivan Dwyer.

I have a much-older brother who was in West Point Class of '80, the first US Military Academy class to admit women. He was my idol and my measuring stick when I was little. I remember going to his high school graduation, and on the way home asking my mom why Jim got to give a speech when none of the other students did. She said it was because he was valedictorian, which meant he had the highest grades in the whole class. I decided on the spot that I would be valedictorian of my class, too. I was five. But 13 years later I made good on that vow.

All through elementary school, I dreamed of going to West Point too. Jim left his cadet sabre with us after graduation because he moved so often as a young officer, and I used to get it out and pose with it. I even think some of my interest in the Napoleonic Era might spring from having imprinted on West Point dress uniforms, which wouldn't have looked at all out of place at Austerlitz or Waterloo!

I ended up changing my mind about the military by the time I got to high school, which is just as well. I'm allergic to chains of command. I can fake it in my day job, but one of the reasons I hope to write full time someday is if I'm self-employed I neither have to boss or be bossed. Gail O'Sullivan Dwyer, however, did follow her brother to West Point. She's Class of '81, so just behind my brother (and her husband is one of his classmates). Her memoir is mostly a straightforward account of her years at the Academy and how she toughed her way through as part of the second class to include women despite being tiny, not particularly athletic, and having almost no practical knowledge of Army life when she went in. I'd love to read a follow-up about her post-West Point years, how she managed as an officer despite not having what I think of as a typical officer's personality (she doesn't come across as assertive as most of the officers I've known, either in my family or on the pages of history), how she came to terms with the disordered eating habits she picked up during her education, and what it was like making the transition from officer to Army wife. (Two VERY different roles. I'm glad I never seriously tried to date any of the cadets I met when my brother was a math instructor at West Point while I was an undergrad at Penn, because if a lone wolf like me would be a less than ideal officer, I'd be even worse as one's wife.) I'd also like to read about other women's West Point experiences, because hers is very much an individual story.

11) Book Which Must Not Be Named (#1 of 8). I'm a first-round judge for Romance Writers of America's annual Rita awards, and the contest rules obligate me to keep strict confidentiality about the books I'm assigned to judge. Since I want these books to count toward my 75, I will just say that it was indeed a book, which I read and formed an opinion of in the form of a score somewhere between 1 and 9.

12) Mighty Be Our Powers, by Leymah Gbowee. The memoir of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner and a leader of the Liberian women's peace movement. A moving book, and all the more so because Gbowee isn't the kind of person you'd expect to take on such a role--after escaping an abusive relationship, she was a single mother with four young children, she struggled with alcohol abuse, etc., but she kept fighting to get an education and then to organize women from across tribal and religious boundaries to work together for peace.

A cancer awareness post

I have a fairly significant family history of colon cancer, including a brother and a cousin who were diagnosed in their mid-40's. As a result, I had my first colonoscopy four years ago when I was 36, and my second one yesterday, a couple weeks after my 41st birthday.

I'm not going to go into details, because I'm naturally squeamish and unwilling to publicly discuss bodily functions--it isn't ladylike, gosh darn it, and I was Raised Right. I will say that I'm glad that between my primary care doc's persuasiveness and my utter terror of cancer (when we say "the C-word" around my house, that's the one we're talking about), I was able to overcome said squeamishness and have the test done.

I'm also not going to lie to you and claim it's an easy process. The prep is pretty much 24 hours of misery. The procedure itself, though, is not so bad, because you're sedated, and at least where I had mine done, they're very kind and understanding about the fact you're scared and feeling like every last shred of dignity you have is being taken away.

But it's still worthwhile if you have a family history like mine or you've turned 50 (the age at which screenings are recommended for everyone). Either you find out you don't have any signs of cancer, as has fortunately been the case for me so far, and you get to go home with one less thing to worry about, or the fact you're having it done as a screening rather than waiting to develop symptoms means they'll be able to catch any issues while they're still at the easily treatable and highly survivable stage. And isn't that worth an uncomfortable and undignified day or two out of your life?

52 Cookbooks - Catching up

I've still been cooking a new recipe from one of my randomly chosen cookbooks every week except when we were out of town for Christmas, but between one thing and another, I've neglected to blog about it. I intend to go back to proper blogging with recipes and pictures next week, but here's a quick summary of the cooking I've been doing in the meantime:

Mom and Me Cookbook, by Annabel Karmel. I made spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce with Miss Fraser, age 7. She enjoyed it, and I mean to find ways to cook with her more often, at least once or twice a month, so she'll learn.

Calling All Cooks Two, by the Alabama Telephone Pioneers. Lesson learned from this week: if you're making a chocolate-pecan pie, choose one with more pecans than chocolate. Otherwise it's so chocolatey you can't taste the pecans.

How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman. I also have the mobile app, so I decided to make the two top-rated recipes. The meatloaf turned out tasty, if a smidge on the bland side, but I'm baffled by the popularity of the "boiled water" soup. It's sort of like French onion soup, but with garlic. To me, it's boring and a waste of good garlic.

Good Eats 2: The Middle Years, by Alton Brown. I think this is my favorite of the cookbooks I've attempted so far. I made broiled steak, German hot slaw, and chipotle-mashed sweet potatoes, all of which I'd gladly make again.