The Happy Award came to me from Home Girl’s Book Blog who is the new owner of J. Kaye’s blog. Have you been over to visit her lately? She is fantastic – terrific reviews, wonderful writing, and a good sense of humor. Although I miss J. Kaye, I am SO HAPPY to have Home Girl filling my Reader these days with her awesome posts!

The Crowded Leaf also awarded me The Happy Award (wow, I had no idea I made so many people happy!). Have you been to visit Alayne’s blog yet? She reads and reviews some great books and her blog is warm and friendly. I recommend you stopping in…and tell her I sent you!

This award asks that we list ten things which make us happy. Here are mine:

1. My wonderful, wonderful spouse whose thoughtfulness and quiet presence in my life not only makes me happy, but keeps me grounded.
2. My animals – Raven, Maia and Gizmo. They keep me smiling and give me unconditional love.
3. My stacks upon stacks of books – I love them.
4. A warm, spring day with the flowers in bloom and the snow capped mountains in the distance.
5. A walk in the woods – preferably with my husband and Raven.
6. Sleeping in on the weekends.
7. Discovering new places.
8. Cooking – especially when I have the time to play, experiment and try something new.
9. My new closet – now everything has a place and I am SO happy to be able to find things in there now.
10. Blogging – yup, it still makes me happy!

One Lovely Blog Award came to me from Too Many Books, Too Little Time who made me blush with her very kind comments about my blog! I have discovered she and I share many similarities, including the books we like (and don’t like!). If you haven’t already discovered this terrific blogger, make sure you pop over there and give her a read…I think you’ll find, as I did, that she’ll add something special to your blog reading!

The I Like and I Don’t Like Meme

Lisa from Books on the Brain tagged me for this fun meme. The Rules: Fill in the blanks after each bold word and tag 3 friends. Easy peasy….

I like going to bed on clean sheets.
I like starting a new book.
I like sitting in front of the woodstove on a cold day.
I like a hot shower.
I like an unexpected day off of work.
I like learning a new craft.
I like when books arrive at my house.
I like seeing the tulips poke their heads through the soil.
I like walks in the woods.
I like taking photos.
I like cooking something new.
I like hanging out in my sweats all day.
I love being married to my soulmate.
Today was a lazy day.
I hate pettiness.
I hate gossip.
I hate commercials on television.
I hate paying bills.
I hate olives.
I hate dishonesty.
I hate intolerance.
I hate irresponsibility.
I (secretly) like spending time all alone.
I love the potential in life.

Now I am supposed to pass this on to THREE people: Laura at Musings, Terri at Reading, Writing and Retirement, and Jackie at Farm Lane Books.

To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the answers to these questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

The Book:

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

Set in the second half of the sixteenth century, this book revolves around the practice of sending young girls off to live in convents in Italy. Dunant’s book focuses on sixteen year old Serafina – a willful girl who arrives at the convent and immediately begins plotting her escape. I am enjoying this historical fiction book and will be finishing it today – so watch for a review soon.

The Tea:

Organic Hibiscus Zest Tea

This spicy tea is a combination of hibiscus petals, orange zest, lemon balm, lavender, licorice root and stevia. It is made by Heidi’s Plant Pep. I really like this tea – it is rich and a great “pick me up” kind of tea.

Do they Go Together?

Well, I think any herbal tea goes with historical fiction…but perhaps this book is even more appropriate for an herbal beverage since one of the main characters is the convent dispensary mistress and she uses herbs in varying degrees to treat illness within the convent.

I have been in New Hampshire since January 7th – spending time with family, especially my older sister who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and had surgery right before Christmas (she is doing REALLY well and has an excellent prognosis for full recovery). I knew I wanted to make some good food for her and a recipe in the February edition of Every Day with Rachael Ray caught my eye.

What tastes better than homemade soup when you aren’t feeling 100%? And is there anything more yummy than than a combination of chicken, lots of vegetables and pasta? Rachael Ray’s Toasted Orzo Chicken Soup (page 89 in the February 2010 print edition) fit the bill. Although there is a bit of prep time involved, this was a quick and easy soup which uses toasted orzo, finely chopped zucchini, carrots, red bell pepper, onion and garlic, fresh lemon and parsley, and of course chicken to make a delicious, rich soup. We had ours with a loaf of garlic rosemary bread, and we also topped the hot soup with freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (an edition to the original recipe) that added some saltiness. I doubled the recipe so we had leftovers…which were actually more tasty than the first day.

I just started getting Rachael Ray’s magazine which my sister gave me as a gift – and I have to say, I’m impressed so far with the number of recipes I want to try. She also has a great website, and if you are interested in soups which warm body and soul…check out this page on the website that includes numerous 30 minute soup meals.

Do you like to make homemade soups at this time of year? What are some of your favorites? Do you subscribe to a cooking magazine that you absolutely love? Please share in the comments!

I am hopelessly addicted to collecting cookbooks and food related books…and then not reading them. I don’t know why they sit unread on my shelves, but they do. I do know why I buy them…I love food, I love thinking of food, I love cooking.

My cooking skills have evolved over the years and I am happy to say I no longer religiously follow recipes. I like to take a recipe and improvise it, substitute in (or out) ingredients, and make the dish my own (which is probably one reason I am also hopelessly addicted to watching Top Chef every week…I am simply amazed at what they create, especially during the Quick Fire challenges).

I digress…back to the subject at hand.

Really what I want to share with you today are some of the fantastic food related books I’ve bought in the last year or so…and which I am determined to read before the end of 2010.

Fiction/Novels:

• Bread Alone, by Judith Ryan Hendricks – Emotionally devastated thirty one year old Wynter Morrison heals from a failed marriage by baking bread.
• The Baker’s Apprentice, by Judith Ryan Hendricks – Wynter Morrison faces more challenges in Seattle.

Memoirs:

• I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, by Giulia Melucci – A woman looking everywhere for love, and finding it on the stove.
• Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell – 365 days of cooking with Julia Child
• Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl – The coming of age of a culinary sensation
• A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure, by Marlena De Blasi – An American chef and food writer takes the reader to Tuscany…and the world’s best food.

Non Fiction:

• American Artisanal: Finding the Country’s Best Real Food from Cheese to Chocolate, by Rebecca Gray – Discover how and where food is being made the right way.

Cookbooks:

• The Improvisational Cook, by Sally Schneider – Declare your independence from recipes and a set list of ingredients
• The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters – Eat locally and sustainably, eat seasonally, cook simply…

Have any of you read these books? They look great, don’t they?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but about two weeks before Thanksgiving I start craving stuffing, roasted poultry, squash, yams and pie. I think it is just  thinking of Thanksgiving that starts my mouth watering.

Yesterday I decided to kick off the Thanksgiving season with some pre-Thanksgiving fare. I stuffed a 5.5 pound chicken and roasted it; made a bit of acorn squash and gave the plate a bit of green with steamed broccoli.

My very first cookbook I ever owned was Betty Crocker’s Cookbook which my mother gave me. For many years this was my sole inspiration and reference to cooking…until I became more adventuresome. But I still use this cookbook – primarily for reference. And so when I roasted my chicken yesterday, I dragged my dog-eared, food splattered copy of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook off the shelf and looked up the time-frame for roasting a chicken. What I love is that any basic food information you could want can be found inside this simple cookbook (their pie crust recipe comes out perfectly). I looked up chicken, and referenced the roasting schedule (which is conveniently divided up into the SIZE poultry and whether it is stuffed or not). For my chicken, I planned on 2.5 hours of roasting time at 325 degrees.

I don’t reference a cookbook for making stuffing because I mostly improvise when it comes to that. Stuffing is one of my favorite foodie things to make at this time of year and yesterday I pretty much used what I had on hand to create it. Here it is just in case you want to give it a try (sorry about the lack of exact measurements for some ingredients…I tend to just add a little of this and a little of that as I go):

To stuff a 4-5 pound chicken…

• 4 cups of dried, cubed bread
• diced up celery (at least 1/2 cup)
• diced up sweet onion (at least 1/2 cup)
• diced up fresh mushrooms (I used about 5 large ones)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup to 1 cup of liquid (I use canned chicken broth…but you can use water or homemade chicken broth instead)
• pepper to taste
• currants or dried cranberries to taste
• pecans – crumbled into bite sized pieces to taste
• chopped up fresh parsley to taste

Melt the butter in a fry pan, add the vegetables and saute until the celery and onions are clear or just tender. Dump the butter and vegetables into a large bowl and add the bread cubes, currants (or dried cranberries), pecans, pepper, and parsley. Mix well. Add in the liquid a little at a time until you have the right level of moisture (this is completely up to you…some people like very moist stuffing, other people like their stuffing a bit drier). Taste and adjust seasonings or ingredients as needed. Then stuff that bird and pop it in the oven. The left over stuffing I add to a buttered casserole dish and bake it for about an hour at 350 degrees or until the top of the stuffing is brown and crunchy.

To make acorn squash:

Chop your squash into halves and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash upside down in a casserole dish and then add water until it comes about 1/2 way up the sides of the squash halves. Bake in a 400 degree oven until the squash are easily pierced with a fork (about 45 minutes depending on the size of your squash). Remove from the oven; drain the water and flip the squash right side up (be careful..they are very hot!). Add a dollop of butter and brown sugar into the squash halves and place under a broiler (set on high) until the sugar and butter are bubbling (they actually begin to caramelize a bit). Remove from the oven and cut into serving sized pieces. Serve hot. These also taste great leftover – just heat them up in the microwave.

Today Kip and I are enjoying leftovers. Yum!!!

What are you making this weekend? Are you already anticipating a Thanksgiving feast? Do you have a favorite cookbook for reference or basic recipes?

To read more Weekend Cooking posts, visit Beth’s blog today and check out Mr. Linky!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.

I always feel especially creative in the kitchen at this time of the year and I tried a new recipe last night I thought I would share with all of you. This came from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Julie Rosso and Sheila Lukins (I also have the equally good New Basics Cookbook by the same two authors). Anyway, I had thawed out four boneless chicken breasts yesterday and wanted to do something more imaginative than throw them the grill. On page 278 of The Silver Palate Cookbook, I found a terrific seasonal recipe called Baked Chicken With Cider and Apples. And it was simple. Simply marinate the chicken breasts in some apple cider for an hour (I used Odwalla’s Cider with Caramel), then dredge the breasts in flour with some ground ginger, cinnamon, pepper and salt. Bake in a shallow dish for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven and pour reserved cider and sliced apples over the top of the chicken; return to the oven for 25 minutes…and you’re done. The recipe also called for Applejack (which I had to look up because I’d never heard of it…apparently it is a liquor) which I did not have…I left it out and the meal came out great, so I guess it wasn’t needed. Besides this easy dish, I also used a left over baked yam to make sweet potato pancakes with roasted pecans. Yummy.

Do you have some favorite seasonal recipes for this time of the year? I also love to make soups and stews with a loaf of homemade bread. I better stop now, my stomach is growling!

1. What does feminism mean to you? Does it have to do with the work sphere? The social sphere? How you dress? How you act?

I grew up in the midst of the woman’s movement and feminism has a pretty broad meaning to me. I was raised by a strong, professional mother (she earned her degree in nursing and later went on to become National School Nurse of the Year). Most people think about women’s rights in the workplace, and yes, that is important…but I think it really is more than that. To me, feminism speaks of a woman’s strengths in whatever she chooses to do…whether it be a professional position, a mom, an artist, a spokeswoman, etc… Woman bring compassion, empathy and courage to our world. They consistently reach out to others. Having the freedom to be who we dream of being is a big part of feminism. Many women are not living where they are free – and yet the feminist movement continues in these countries through many different means. To me, feminism represents the courage of women, the striving to be able to pursue our dreams, and the battle to ensure our safety in a world which does not always recognize the rights of women.

2. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?

Yes, I do (read my definition above!) I don’t burn my bras, but I speak out on issues I think are important to women (really issues that are important to all people). I am inspired by the women out there who are making a difference in our world, who have fought against injustice, and survived some pretty horrible things. I also consistently vote for government representatives who support women’s issues.

3. What do you consider the biggest obstacle women face in the world today? Has that obstacle changed over time, or does it basically remain the same?

Wow, that’s a tough question to narrow down. I guess I would have to say freedom of choice…and by that I mean, being able to be in charge of our own bodies, escaping from abusive situations, and having economic freedom. I think that has been an ongoing challenge for women. There is still a lot of sexism in the world. Our laws do not always protect women. We find ourselves continuing to face threats to our freedoms. I don’t see this as something that is changing very quickly.

Available or single? Isn’t that the same thing? I’m not either – I’m married to the best guy in the world!

Best Friend? My husband

Cake or Pie? Pie – specifically blueberry or apple (although I also love pumpkin!)

Drink of choice? Wine if it is alcoholic; Coffee first thing in the morning; Gatorade as a thirst quencher; and Lemonade if I want something with a bite.

Essential item for every day use? Blue jeans

Favorite color? Purple

Google? Absolutely – what did we do before Google?

Hometown? I live in California, but I always think of my hometown as where I grew up: Bow, New Hampshire.

Indulgences? Chocolate. Books. Sleeping in.

January or February? Which do I prefer? January…because it marks a new beginning.

Kids and their names? I was never able to have my own kids – but I am an aunt and pseudo-aunt to many children…and of course, there are my furchildren!

Life is incomplete without…? My animals.

Marriage date? May 4th.

Number of siblings? Two sisters who are both older than me.

Oranges or apples? Oranges.

Phobias and fears? Heights for sure…spiders…and I have always had a fear of drowning.

Quote for the day? “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reason to smile? Raven – she makes me laugh every day.

Season? I love the Springtime in Northern California because everything is green and the wild flowers are amazing. But Autumn in New England is my most favorite time.

Tag 3 people? Anyone who reads this and wants to play – consider yourself tagged!

Unknown fact about me? Well, it depends who you ask! But most people don’t know I was the 1/2 mile New Hampshire State Champion in 1977.

Vegetable you hate? Olives – aren’t they a vegetable?

Worst habit? Chewing my nails

X-rays you’ve had? Well, I had a lot of X-Rays through the years for sports injuries (but only had a broken finger once).

Your fave food? It used to be lobster – but then I developed a fatal shellfish allergy. So now I would have to say Shepherd’s Pie. Love those mashed potatoes!

Zodiac sign? Leo

Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It’s a lot harder than you think!

Describe yourself: The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga)
How do you feel: Between Here and April (Deborah Copaken Kogan)
Describe where you currently live: In the Woods (Tana French)
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Out Stealing Horses (Per Pettersen)
Your favorite form of transportation: In Hovering Flight (Joyce Hinnefeld)
Your best friend is: Matrimony (Joshua Henkin) – a ’round about way of saying Kip!
You and your friends are: Everyone Is Beautiful (Katherine Center)
What’s the weather like: Beach Trip Cathy Holton
You fear: The Mechanics of Falling (Catherine Brady)
What is the best advice you have to give: Chocolat (Joanne Harris)
Thought for the day: Love Begins in Winter (Simon Van Booy)
How I would like to die: Sea of Poppies (Amitav Ghosh)
My soul’s present condition: Best Intentions (Emily Listfield)

I did a meme yesterday as an introduction.

Today there is another short set of questions:

Tell us more about your mystery/thriller reading habit?

I’ve been reading mysteries and thrillers ever since I was a pre-teen. In fact, this was one of the first genres I really fell in love with. My reading expanded in the last few years, and now I dip in and out of a variety of genres, but I always come back to mysteries and thrillers.

When did you start reading this genre?

See above!

What was your first experience with the genre? The ever popular Nancy Drew or Agatha Christe? Or someone completely different?

Nancy Drew was one of my favorite childhood series. I read all the books and I think they are still boxed up in my parents’ attic. As I got older, I read quite a bit of the true crime stuff that Ann Rule writes (still love her books), although they often gave me nightmares!

How did you discover it?

My mother got me a library card before I even started school. I went the to the library every single week for years and it was only a matter of time before I stumbled across mysteries.

Do you exclusively read mysteries and thrillers or do you mix it with other genres? If you switch genres, which other genres do you read?

I read all kinds of books – my favorite genres include literary fiction, historical fiction, women’s fiction (chick lit), and non fiction adventure books. I’m on a big mystery/thriller/suspense kick right now because I’ve been away from it for a while. Also I have really been loving some of the women’s fiction I’ve been reading.