It’s that time again, when I let you know what I have been reading these past 2 months! Let me tell you, I read some gooders! My focus was on spring romance, strong women for International Women’s Day, and general spring feelings, like hope and renewal.
After I read the Inheritance Games, the first book in a trilogy, I had to read the other two. I didn’t do reviews, but they are just as good as the first! I also started Wellness by Nathan Hill. I read 100 pages and had to stop. Not this that the story wasn’t good, it was fascinating actually! However, the type is very small. It is also a very large book, over 700 pages and I got overwhelmed. That’s OK though! I could have stuck with it and spent weeks in a reading rut, or I could put it down and pick up a book that drew me in and kept me reading, which is what I did! Maybe, I’ll pick it up again, maybe I won’t. There are too many good books out there to get stuck on one that doesn’t fit you! Hopefully, 1 of these awesome books will though! I have added my Amazon link for anyone who may want to pick one of these great books, and if you do, let me know! I love talking about books waaaay more than reviewing them! LOL
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This is the first book of the young adult series, the Inheritance Games. If you like a book about mystery, puzzles, attempted murder, love triangles, and secrets, this is your book! It has it all. I liked it so much that I read the other 2 books in the trilogy right away! The story of Avery and the Hawthorn Brothers was fun and intriguing and the perfect palate cleaner from some of the more serious reads.
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkah
I was interested right away, but the writing confused me at first. It was hard to keep track of who was narrating, and who the narrator was talking too. The timelines switched without warning as well, jumping between memories and present day. The story had many twists and interesting observations about being a teenager in the 1990’s. If you are a fan of Only Murders in the Building, you will probably love this book!
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
This book was frustrating. Sometimes I liked the characters but mostly they were unabashedly unaware and unpleasant. This book is a prime example of what happens when people don’t communicate. It got there. It faced classism, they evolved and it was a satisfying ending. If you like The White Lotus show, you would probably like this book.
The Authenticity Project by Claire Pooley
What a great book after the last few heavy reads. The characters felt like friends by the end of this book. It was a book filled with happy surprises, hope, friendship, growth, and it really made me take stock of my life and realize how lucky I am.
The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Loigman
Love. It’s such a strange and magical thing and this book explains exactly that! Reading about a close knit Jewish community in New York for the past 100 years was very interesting. This book shows you how love comes in and out of your life so randomly and how to see signs and grab opportunities whenever they appear.
Things I Wish I Told My Mother by Susan Patterson & Susan DiLallo with James Patterson
This book made me laugh and cry. After a medical scare, a highly successful Mother and her successful daughter take a vacation to Paris and Norway, meeting suitors, long lost family members, uncovering secrets while navigating their tricky relationship along the way. As someone who has lost their mother, this book really got me.
I didn’t know much about the Vietnam War but what I read made me want to learn more. Frankie’s story, like most of Kristin Hannah’s heroines, is tragic. I loved Frankie and her combat nurse friends! I cried and smiled and reflected and Googled and finally gave this book a great big hug. Weeks after reading this book I was still thinking about these characters. I was also still thinking about the Vets and the way they were treated. It is shocking how similar the world feels right now to the descriptions of that time. I also loved the many mentions of music, clothes, pop culture and politics of the time.
Wow. How does someone come up with a story like this? What would you do if you received a box with a string that measured how long your life will be? Every chapter introduced another layer to an already thought provoking plot. Lots of conversations could come out of reading this book. I really saw the parallels of the world that we live in now, in the class system that emerges in this book. All the different characters and storylines that fit together throughout the novel reminded me that we are ALL connected.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
I love Canadian books with Canadian references like, Romper Room. This was a heartbreaking book, filled with hope, family, and regret. I bawled like a baby throughout this whole book thinking about how one small action can affect so many people.
DNF I was so excited for this book! But I got 100 pages in and found it a very difficult read. The book is over 700 pages, the type is very small and the wording is very detailed. I feel like there are way too many books out there to waste my time reading something I didn’t enjoy. If I’m 100 pages in and still don’t know the characters names, it’s time to start a new book! So I did.
Other reads:
The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #370 Bright, Not Sunny. This week, we get together but Chris isn’t feeling all that great. Topics: spring cocktail, eating habits, Wonka, surge pricing, US vs CAN, scotch tasting, SOW, tubing, and dissonant music.
I love using holidays as a way to change up my every day dinner menu! St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and over the years we have tried some Delicious Irish dishes like Dublin Coddle, Irish Soda Bread, Colcannon, Guinness Braised Beef Short Ribs, Irish Onion Soup, Irish Sausages, Irish Potato Cakes, and Irish Cream Bread Pudding.
This meal is a PERFECT addition to our St. Paddy’s Day Dinner options! The potatoes were creamy and delicious, the chicken was so juicy and that sauce??? Rich, creamy and absolutely whiskey dreamy! We added my Mom’s Mandarin & Feta Salad because it’s the colours of the Irish flag! Honestly, this meal was fantastic! We made it even better by topping it off with these EASY No Bake Rainbow Cheesecake Bars! Honestly, these were SWEET! The Kids LOVED them but Ninja and I, were a BIG thumbs down. Honestly who eats the marshmallows out of Lucky Charms? GROSS LOL
Irish Chicken in Whiskey Cream Sauce
4
servings15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
3 chicken breasts, cut in half and thinly pounded out into cutlets
6 tablespoons butter, separated
2 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons flour, separated
4 ounces Irish Whiskey
1 cup chicken broth
1 ½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons green onions + more for garnish
Directions
Slice the chicken breasts in half, then pound them out until even and thin between two pieces of plastic wrap.
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dust each side with flour.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat on the stove, melt the butter and oil together. Place 3-4 pieces of chicken in it and cook till golden brown on both sides. Repeat until all the chicken has been seared, removing the browned chicken to a plate.
In the same skillet, add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour to it and whisk together to form a roux, cook for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the Irish Whiskey. Whisk in the chicken broth, heavy cream, vinegar, salt, pepper, and green onions. Cook the sauce, stirring often until it thickens slightly.
Return the chicken with any juices it released back to the pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer.
Ingredients
2 lbs Russet potatoes
1 cup milk
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter + more to serve
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Peel the potatoes, cut in quarters and boil in water until very tender.
Mix the green onions (reserve 2 tbsp for garnish) and with the milk in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to gentle boil on the stove, then immediately remove.
Drain the potatoes, add the butter and season with a good amount of salt & mash until mostly smooth. Slowly add the hot milk and onion mixture while you continue to mash. Taste and add a bit more salt if needed. Season with pepper to taste.
Add a lump of room temperature butter to the center of each serving and garnish with green onions.
Ingredients
1 package pink wafer cookies
6 tablespoons butter, melted
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 container Cool Whip, thawed & divided
2 cups colored mini marshmallows
sprinkles
marshmallows from Lucky Charms cereal
Directions
Line a 9x9 pan with foil.
Place the wafer cookies in a food processor and pulse until you get 2 cups of crumbs.Stir the crumbs in the butter. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Refrigerate.
Using hand beaters, beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat again.
Fold in 2 cups of Cool Whip gently. Stir in the marshmallows. Spread mixture evenly on top of pink wafer crust. Cover and chill for a few hours.
Cut into squares. Top with the extra Cool Whip, Lucky Charm marshmallows, and sprinkles.
This week was like the weather, sometimes sunny but mostly grey and cold. For real though, the weather is messed up! One day the birds are chirping and you can hear lawnmowers doing their thing, and the next day it is snowing! Ninja and I went grocery shopping and did a BIG stock up including getting a beef loin for $50, the Kids celebrated Pink Shirt Day, Oliver got a bath and his nails done and I went for a drive with Ninja as he put out quotes leading up to the start of a busy work season. On Friday SBean and her classmates FINALLY got to go up to Apex to go tubing! The field trip had been postponed numerous times over the past few months due to lack of snow up on the mountain. Ninja and I took a drive up to see the fun and to have lunch at The Gunbarrel Saloon. On Friday night the Kids went with my Dad, J, her Mom and Ninja’s parents to see Bye Bye Birdie! On Saturday HBear had a curling bonspiel in Summerland, Ninja and my Dad went to a Scotch Tasting Event on the SS Sicamous and SBean baked and watched movies with me! We ended the week with spring cocktails and blue sky!
