Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Cookies and Welcome

I want to welcome the new followers! I'm not a great blogger, so I apologize in advance. Thanks for taking the leap of faith.

A friend asked if I was going to post another recipe today. I wasn't planning on it, but the weather here is Maine is gray and soggy and just the kind of afternoon I like to bake cookies with my son.

So here is what we're making:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies


No harder than regular chocolate chip cookies and there's something satisfying about mashing bananas. Hope you all have a sweet day!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cooking

I don't love to cook, but I do love to eat and since I live in a small town in Maine where there is no delivery (I don't count Domino's) and very little take out, we cook a lot. So Wednesdays will now officially be Recipe Wednesday.

When I was home in Santa Barbara over the December holidays, Tortilla soup was on everyone's menu. At friend's houses and in restaurants. It's weird how foods suddenly become trendy. I'm a vegetarian and so is this recipe, but you could easily toss in cooked chicken at the end, along with sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado and cheese. This has become a favorite around here. And it's easy to make.

Tortilla Soup

Monday, March 1, 2010

Reading

This is what I'm enjoying this week:

Finally got a chance to read the first in Claudia Gray's EVERNIGHT series. Though, I had a general idea about the plot, she handled it in unexpected ways. Really loved the major twist at the midpoint--caught me by surprise. Romantic and thrilling. Can see why so many readers loved it.

This short story by Claire Keegan in the New Yorker made me cry: Foster

And I'm reading TOYS GO OUT, by Emily Jenkins, to my five year old son. I've had trouble finding chapter books for this age group that are more charming than sarcastic. Adore Beverly Cleary's RAMONA series, because she manages to be both. But it's nice to see something contemporary (TOYS GO OUT was published in 2006) that isn't all seven and eight-year-olds calling each other "stupid head." Or a total snoreville, like the 143 MAGIC TREE HOUSE books. This is funny and sweet about the lives toys live.