A Library Haul

 

There are two places that I go "for me": church and the library. Both have obvious functions and they are by far my favorite places to go.

When I go to the library, sometimes I'm in a hurry. I might be armed with a list, I might be swinging by just to drop off something that's due, or I might be running in to pick up a hold that came in. Other times, I can take it slow. I'll wander around looking for just the right books to take home. Depending on the day, my visit to the library may differ, but I always come away with at least a book or two to dig into.

I'll be telling you about my 2017 Reading Challenge soon enough, but today, I wanted to tell you about a little library game that I play. I don't know what to call it, so I'll just explain. This is the game that inspired me to become a reader. My sister and I played it just last week.

This nameless game is great for getting out of reading ruts. It challenges you to read things you might not normally read AND it gives you an excuse to talk about books with someone else. In order to play this game you just need two things: a library and a friend.

The rules are simple. The game begins by you asking someone to pick out a few books for you. They can put as much time into it as they choose. They can read descriptions, flip through the book, or make a choice based on some previous knowledge they have. OR They can select the book simply by looking at the cover. However they do it, they need to attempt to find books that give them some indication that you will enjoy them.

Once the books are chosen, you commit to read at least three chapters of each book. Once you reach the third chapter you are free to abandon the book if it's not for you. You don't have to have a "good" reason. If your friend's selections draws you in, keep reading!

After that, you and your friend can talk about their selections. They can tell you WHY they chose it for you. You can tell them why you kept reading or what caused you to toss it aside. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the books your friend chooses with you in mind and maybe even convince your friend that THEY would enjoy them too.

This very game is responsible for the place reading currently has in my life. It was 2013. I was recovering from missing my best friend and her kids like CRAZY. I had spent six months going back and forth between their house and mine helping my friend take care of her brand new baby, his older sister, and their house. All of a sudden, my time was my own again and I was beside myself.

I missed the kids. I couldn't seem to stop thinking through my day in terms of snacks and naps and feeding times. I missed my friend and our chats at the end of the day after the kids were tucked away into bed.

My Mom went to the library and I asked her if she'd get a few books for me. I didn't make any requests. I hadn't really been reading much during those six months and I didn't even know what I was in the mood to read.

She came back bearing three books that were completely unfamiliar. I didn't know the authors and I didn't know a thing about any of the books. She said, "Pick one. Give it three chapters before you decide to quit." and then she walked away. I spent the next month making my way through those books that neither one of us knew anything about. I haven't stopped since.

Last week, I asked my sister if she wanted to play. I explained how it worked and she decided that it was too fun to pass up. She chose two books and brought them to the place where I was browsing.

I'll invite you to play a little game now: of the three books pictured in this post, I chose one because of the cover and the other two are the ones my sister chose for me. Of the two she chose for me, one is one I wouldn't ever pick up and the other is one that I would choose based on the cover alone. Care to guess which is which? Go ahead!

Okay...Here are the answers:

 

Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Ellen Meister // The book my sister chose for me that I would choose for myself.

I know nothing about Dorothy Parker other than that her name is vaguely familiar. As for Meister, I've never heard ANYTHING about her in my life. The colors and font come together making this book look like something I would snatch off the shelf in a heartbeat.

 

Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum // The book my sister chose for me that I would never pick up. 

It's something about the hands belonging to a child. If I had to guess what this one is about, I'd say it has something to do with those Amish stories. It looks sad and the falling petals make me think of tragedy. 

Everything I Don't Remember by Jonas Hassen Khemiri // The book I chose for myself based on the cover alone.

The title caught my eye. When I pulled it off of the shelf, I knew it was for me. It reminds me of a piece of writing being edited, there is a tea cup, and again with the font...I have high hopes!

 

This game has been on my mind because I recently put one of my Mom's picks for me back in 2013 back into her own hands. I've mentioned it over the years, but the time hadn't been "right" until now. She read the first one and has since read the next two or three books in the series!

Some other discoveries I've made this way include: Emily and Einstein and Minding Frankie.

I haven't started on any of these books yet, but I'll be sure to share what I think when I'm done.

Does this sound like a game you would like to play?

What places make you happy?

What did you bring home on your last trip to the library?

Learning From Her

December 21, 2014

I was scrolling through FB this morning and Alicia shared this post called "On Baking Bread and Slow Days". The title alone was enough to get me to click over to it. As I read the paragraph about the author's mom's cooking lessons, I was transported back to the lessons I received from my own Mom when I was growing up.

And all of a sudden, I realized what a gift they were. My sister is 18 and is always getting onto me about being the reason that she can't cook (she totally can, but she doesn't have her kitchen legs under her yet as far as getting a whole meal onto the table at the same time goes...she can do that too, but her point is that she doesn't have the experience that I had when I was her age). I go back and forth between feeling totally bad about it and realizing that it's more circumstance than anyone's fault.

From the time I was little, I was always right by my whatever adult was in charge of me. I asked questions, I imitated, and I wanted in on whatever "we" were doing. I still remember standing over the stove at my grandparents' house helping my Mom make tomato soup. She whispered in my ear something about it being a good thing grandma couldn't see us (my grandma tended to be a bit nervous, especially when it came to small children and things that could hurt them). In that moment I realized that I was doing something special. I've never forgotten the feeling of grown-upness that set into my shoulders.

The years went by and I started scrambling my own eggs for breakfast and browning the ground beef on taco nights. Eventually, I settled into being the resident baker. When I was in jr. high, I didn't play a spring sport or have to attend confirmation like my friends did, so I found myself in the kitchen. I sat at the bar across from my Mom chatting and watching her work. I never offered to help and she never pulled me into what she was doing.

I started learning what went into certain dishes and being totally grossed out more often than not. She put up with my many monologues that went something like this, "Gobs and gobs of mayonnaise in Chicken Divan?" That was worth complaining about. "That much vinegar in the cabbage salad that I love? I'm not sure I'll ever eat that again." "Wait, you're putting mustard in that? I'm gagging now." She would tell me to hush and that that's the way she always made it and that I would eat whatever it was and love it just like I had every time before.

Eventually, I made my way around the counter and started cleaning up after her and doing prep jobs. I'm not sure which one of us asked, but I can still see us in that harvest gold kitchen working magic and having the time of our lives. I didn't know it then, but I was turning into a cook and one of my greatest joys was being passed on to me. I learned her tips and tricks and before I knew it, I was ready to do it on my own. By the time she let me loose we had been co-cooking for several years. I had been helping plan and shop and cook and one day I was ready to have her be my assistant. Another year or so went by and I found myself being the resident dinner maker. Eventually she didn't even join me in the kitchen any more.

Learning to cook took time. It was time that I had and time that my Mom gave. Those days were slow. They weren't perfect, but looking back on them makes me so happy that tears follow. Learning to cook wasn't the reason I sat down in the chair at the bar or why I went around the counter to help. Learning to cook, like just about everything else I know how to do, happened when my Mom and I lived life the way we'd been living it. Together.

I can't cook anything without thinking about where I had it or who taught me to make it. My Mom comes to mind quite often when I'm in the kitchen and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Scenic Route: Summer Adventures (So Far)

I'm sad to say this, but it looks like my trusty point and shoot camera is dying. I recently uploaded some pictures from the geocaching my Mom and I did on Memorial Day along with a batch of shots I took during a little hike we took while my brother was at rehearsal one evening.

Some of them are blurry and some of them are a little wonky, but they're the pictures I took and they're the ones I'm sharing today!

 

This round of geocaching was inspired by the fact that we had a couple of travel bugs that we NEEDED to drop off. We haven't done much geocaching lately, so it took a little bit of effort to get everything together and out the door. It was Memorial Day which meant that there might just be people EVERYWHERE, so we would have to be careful.

Well, the first cache almost stumped us. It turned out that we were in the wrong area, but we looked and looked and looked. We use a GPS, but people don't always get the coordinates right which means that you put the GPS in your pocket and start looking anyway.

I kept waiting for a hobo to pop out of the bushes. We did run into two kids who were on the way to "a cool place to hang out", but other than that, we were all on our own. We probably spent most of an hour circling around and around on this trail before giving up and moving onto the next one.

 

As you can probably imagine, this spot was a little prettier and we did run into quite a few people who were out enjoying the day. We walked around trying to get the GPS to show that we were within 10 feet of the next cache when we realized that we were pretty sure a family of four and their dog were RIGHT ON TOP OF IT.

Thankfully, their dog kept running around trying to visit with people, so they decided to head home. As soon as they were on their way, we went over to where we thought it was and were stumped for the second time that day. We think the cache was discovered and removed by whoever found it. So, we moved on to the next cache which turned out to be the first one we were looking for.

After that, we found the rest of the caches and I stopped taking pictures. We were moving quickly and were eager to finish up and get home for some lunch. The day got off to a rough start, but we found three of the four caches on our list, which made us both pretty happy!

Our hike consisted of a short walk to a historical site that we had tried to find one other time. The last time we tried to find it we were short on time and gave up before figuring out where it was. Before my sister left for her trip to SC she said that she really wanted to find it this summer, so with a little extra time on our hands one night, my Mom and I decided to scout it out to save us all the frustration later.

I'm not surprised we couldn't find it. It was NOT where you would expect to find it at all. An apartment complex and little strip mall have gone in convincing tourists that they are in the wrong area. We followed the directions and sure enough, there is history buried behind all of our modern eyesores.

So far, so good, right?

What have you been up to so far this summer?

Dinner Fit For Winter

Every family has their list of favorite dinners. They are usually indulgent. They might require a bit of planning ahead and maybe even a little more effort in the preparation department. As I write this post I happen to be listening to The Shirelles' song "Mama Said" on repeat and thinking back to the January day my 19 year old self copied this recipe down into my recipe book.

The recipe I'm sharing today is for those winter days when you want comfort food, but need it to be quick and easy. I've been making it for years and I think it is responsible for helping my sister to come around when it comes to stuffing.

It's a weird combo, but you've got to try it at least once. Trust me.
 

You can go one of two ways with this recipe! You're going to need three things: 4-6 pork chops, one can OR one recipe of apple pie filling, one box OR one recipe of stuffing. That's it!!!

Whether you choose to go the easy route or the homemade route, you'll get no judgment from me because I've done both.

My Mom taught me everything I know about cooking. One important lesson I learned from the years I spent shadowing her in the kitchen is to pace yourself. If you need to take shortcuts, take the shortcuts. My Mom is one of those women who doesn't apologize for every little thing. She just goes for it. That's what this recipe is about: if you've got time, go for it. If not, go for the shortcut.

The first and most important step is to trim and debone your pork chops. Everything is layered and melds together as it cooks. Those bones will disappear into the stuffing and you DO NOT want to have to deal with that.

So, trim the fat and remove allll the bones from those chops. Then, lay them in the bottom of your crock pot so that they are touching.

Next, scoop your prepared stuffing out onto the pork chops. You want to keep as much of it ON the pork chops as you can. Easy, right???

Then, you'll scoop your apple pie filling out onto the stuffing, put the lid on the crock pot, and set the timer for 3 - 4 hours. My crock pot only has a low and high setting, so I end up cooking them for about 3 hours on high.

The key is making sure your pork is DONE, but not overcooked. If you do this recipe right, you will have the tenderest pork chops EVER.

Here you have it, your pork chop dinner alllll ready to dig into! I serve it straight from the crock pot so that everything stays nice and toasty, but you could separate each layer in individual serving bowls if you wanted to. By the time the food makes it onto my plate, I separate it out. My sister, on the other hand, likes hers to stay all piled together! 

The best family dinners include CHOICES. This is one of those from start to finish.  

 

When I made this a few weeks ago, I challenged my family to take pictures of their plates. ^ Here ^ is my sister's prize winning picture! I told you she likes hers in one big heap. :)

Special thanks to my brother for jumping up from his homework to take some pictures over my shoulder for me!

Ready for the recipe?

Crock Pot Pork Chop Dinner
adapted from cooks.com serves 6

4-6 pork chops, trimmed and bones removed
1 recipe stuffing, prepared
1 recipe apple pie filling, prepared


Layer pork chops in the bottom of the crock pot so that they are touching. Cover with stuffing. Top with apple pie filling.

Place lid on crock pot and set the timer for 3-4 hours, just until pork is cooked through and still tender. My crockpot only has high and low, so I end up cooking mine for about 3 hours on high. 

Remove lid and dig in!!!!

If you need stuffing and pie filling recipes, click HERE.

What are some of your family favorites?

What's one piece of cooking advice your Mom taught you?

 

A Saturday At The Library

While we were out shopping in the city last Saturday, I asked if we could swing by the library before heading home. My Mom and I went in while everyone else decided to go get some food and make some stops of their own. This turn of events meant that we had as much time as we wanted.

The little bookshop where they sell used books for a song and a dance was open, so that was our first stop. I found a little book of short stories by Herman Melville right away. As we continued looking through the shelves, a lady came with another cart and left it by the entrance. I wandered over and almost immediately my eyes fixed on "Fitzgerald". I turned to make sure that these books were allowed to be sold and then snatched it right off the cart without a second thought. My Mom settled on a copy of "My Antonia" because we keep hearing about Willa Cather, but neither of us has read any of her books. 

With our new treasures in tow, we headed into the actual library. I went in with a list of books on my phone. My Mom sat right down at the computer to look for whatever books she had in mind. After browsing my way through the shelves and coming up with NOTHING (all the books on my list were checked out), I went back over to have her work her magic with the computer JUST IN CASE something was not shelved yet.

When we both realized that none of the books we had hoped to check out were available, we started browsing together. I pointed out books for her, she found random books that looked interesting, and then I was reminded of a the next book in a series that I had been saving for later. She went to look for something and came back with the newest book in another series that I got hooked on this spring.

We walked out with a stack of books. When we got into the van, we looked through the loot and one of the books in the pile was one I never noticed as we were checking out. I said, "This one looks REALLY good!" And she smiled and said, "I'm going to read it, but I got it for you."

I love my Mother! And I absolutely adore slow Saturdays at the library with all the time we need to weave our way through the shelves looking for the perfect stack of books.

What's your library strategy?

What's your go-to genre? 

That Time We Made It Out Alive

On Monday, my Mom and I decided to do some geocaching while my brother was doing driver's ed. It started out just like it always does. I drove us through the countryside, down this paved road and that gravel road until we were within a few hundred feet of the cache. At that point, I pulled over and got out to take pictures while my Mom fiddled with the GPS.

We found the cache, signed the log, and traded a marble for a little army man. I started heading for the van when I realized that the church was practically begging to have its picture taken. That's when everything went wrong...

My Mom said, "Did you try the door?" And I said, "No! It's locked. Why would it be unlocked? We can't go in there." She said, "Try it." So, I put my hand on the knob and continued telling her that it was not going to open, when all of sudden, it did. No sooner did the door open, than I quickly slammed it shut and started heading for the van as quickly as I could.

At the sight of an open door, my Mom started making her way from the van to the church. The next thing I knew, we were standing in the vestibule signing the guest book. Because when you break and enter  go through an unlocked door, you go ahead and make sure they know who you are.

She started wandering around the church and telling me to take pictures of this and that. I'm just WAITING for some old lady to pop out from nowhere and say in the creepiest voice possible, "Can I heellllllp you?" In short, I'm basically freaking myself out while my Mom is celebrating this little piece of history and our own private tour.

I've convinced her to leave  She's finished looking around and I'm starting to be sure that we'll hear our van start up and drive off leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere any minute. That's when she discovered another door...Which is also unlocked. Do you know where this door leads? Down into the darkest, most horror movie worthy, basement EVER. This time, I didn't give her an inch. As soon as the door opened and I saw where it led, I slammed it shut and said, "NO! We need to get out of here."

She laughed at me and said, "What?!?!? Are you afraid?"

Yes, yes, I was. That's the stuff horror movies are made of. And I'm not 100% sure that we weren't trespassing. But...Like any good blogger, I further incriminate myself by posting about it.

The church was beautiful. The pictures on the wall were fun to look at. Slamming the basement door and getting out of there was golden. I visited a creepy old church and lived to tell about it.