What I am Reading and Cooking Now

Yesterday, my sister chastised me (gave me a look with raised eyebrows) about not writing in my blog more often. She writes on her blog, Prose and Kahn (I came up with that nifty title, thank you very much) EVERYDAY! Blech! No, just kidding. It's very good, I just can't keep up with mine. I just wrote a great paragraph and then lost it, when a patron asked me for help spelling "broccoli." Ack! I'm working at my second job in a library in northern New Jersey. Then I wrote something up in a Word document and discovered one of the limitations of Blogspot--you can't copy and paste from a Word document, for Pete's sake! Anyway, I've been reading and cooking up a storm.



I just finished Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. A large tome, but a page-turner. It tells the story of Ethan Wate trying to cope with high school and supernatural forces in the small southern town of Gatlin, S.C. Ethan can't wait to leave town when he graduates until he meets the new girl in town, Lena Duchannes, the niece of the town shut-in Macon Ravenwood. But then he begins to question whether he's ever fit into this town of people who hate outsiders, even though his family has lived in Gatlin for over a hundred years. When students and parents begin turning on Lena because she's different, an outsider, Macon's niece, and strange things happen when she's around, their portrayal is almost a caricature of southern bigotry. Overall, an enjoyable read sure to appeal to teens.



I have been cooking a lot on most weekends, making lots of healthy meals for me and my mom. I'm so happy spring/summer is here because the bounty at my neighborhood farmer's market just keeps growing. I wish I were more adventurous with what I try, but alas, I'm not. I get the standard fare that I know I like such as Swiss chard, spinach, and salad lettuces. I bought some rhubarb and strawberries a few weeks ago but did not have the ambition to make a pie, so I made a crisp. The strawberries were soooo delicious! The next week the strawberries were too tart. Jersey blueberries are in season right now and are deeeeliciously blueberryee. Does that make sense? I can't wait for peaches to be in season, so I can make a peach-blueberry pie. Hope I have the energy but now I have an air conditioner which makes all the difference.