The girl with the fleur-de-lis tattoo...

...has a review for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And on the first of the month, too! Wow, that was a lot of rhyming.

This book was way down on my list, in the back of my mind, in the "I'll read it someday before I see the eventual movie" section. But I ran out of reading material in the Tampa airport, and it was only $7.99, so I bought it. Several people stopped me in the airport and on the plane to tell me they loved the book. One person said, "It doesn't get good until around page 87, or whenever he gets on the train."

I have to admit, it did start out pretty slow for me. I thought whoever "he" was was never going to get on the train. But I did have a feeling it was going to pick up and get better. The plot is intricate and kept me wanting to find out more. I enjoyed that it was different from a lot of the novels I have read in the past. There were several times I had to read a sentence twice or three times just because the translation from the Swedish didn't quite click, but it didn't make it hard to read.

I liked the book, though one friend's warning that it was pretty graphic in parts was very true. It's probably not for the weak-stomached or easily offended. It's dark and gritty but it still resonates emotionally. I think everyone knows what it's like to feel, at times in your life, lost, lonely, afraid, angry, victimized, etc.- this book touches on all those emotions. I am definitely planning on reading the next two books in the series, but after a break to read something a little less dark. I'm hoping to read at least one book this month, despite how busy it  will be. Happy December!

Thanksgiving recipe wrap-up

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning stresses me out a little, but I do love the holiday. This year we had our Iowa family with us, which was a lot of fun. Ben wanted to roast a turkey, which neither one of us had ever done. My family was never very traditional on holidays- our Thanksgivings over the years included everything from chicken to lasagna to BBQ. Anyway, he did a great job and it tasted delicious. He used Alton Brown's recipe (here) and he also added a package of frozen berries into the aromatics. We got a Honeybaked ham as well- I know those are quite a bit more expensive than the store-brand hams, but wow, they are so good and I think they are worth paying extra for.

I've been slacking on my 300 new recipes I'm supposed to try during my 30s, so I thought Thanksgiving would be a good time to add a few. I had actually never made homemade stuffing or sweet potatoes before, so I did both of those and they turned out good. To save oven space, I made the stuffing in the crock pot, and a little while before serving, we spread it out on a pan and put it in the oven so it would be nice and toasty. We also had gravy, cranberry-apricot sauce, rolls, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes.

For desserts, I made an apple crumble, my mom's chocolate pudding dessert (I'll have to do another post with that recipe sometime), and another new recipe- butterscotch crescents. It was a Taste of Home recipe I found here. Good, but labor intensive and I'm not sure I'd make them again. The frosting was wonderful, though!

Now we plunge into December- parties, birthdays, shopping, Christmas, and traveling! Hopefully a little time in there to also relax and enjoy the season!

Simple desserts

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, I thought I'd post a couple of my recipes for simple but yummy desserts. We had a community meal at church last night, and I made both of these. Either are great for when you don't have a lot of time and need to throw something together quickly. The first actually doesn't even qualify as a "recipe." You just take your favorite brownie mix, make it as directed, and when you take it out of the oven, open an entire package of Andes candies and place them evenly all over the top of the brownies. In a minute or two, they'll melt, and you can spread them evenly over the top. Let the brownies cool and the chocolate on top will harden. It looks pretty and tastes delicious! You can also chop up the Andes candies and put them in the brownie batter.

The other is a recipe that's been in my family for years. My mom got it from one of her friends long before I was born. These bars are satisfying without being overly sweet. They're a favorite of my best friend Courtney and taste so good warm with a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Toffee Bars

Cream together:

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Add: 

2 cups flour

1 (6 oz.) package chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Spread in ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Make sure you don’t overbake! They may not seem quite done when you take them out, but they will bake a little more in the hot pan. If you overbake them, they won't be good. 

I'm a sister, and a wife, but I'll never be a sister wife

I'm behind again on my book reviewing. November has been such a busy month so far, it seems like a blur, and I can hardly believe it's half over already. Right after my grandma's birthday party, we took off for a week in Atlanta visiting my cousins. It was so much fun. Bennett & I got back on Saturday and now we are in full-scale catch-up mode getting ready to host the Borich Family Thanksgiving next week. We can hardly wait to see everyone, especially cousin Gretta who will be turning one! We also have a couple household and sewing projects underway which I will post about as soon as they're completed!

This month I have a review for The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. I read it while Michelle & I were on our cruise last month, and it was pretty absorbing. It's been on my book list for a while, and I just happened to read it right before the Sister Wives shows came on TLC. The whole phenomenon of plural marriage is utterly fascinating to me- its origins and its implications.

This novel follows two stories simultaneously- the story of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young's 19th wife who sued him for divorce and exposed many difficult truths regarding polygamy, and the story of a modern-day 19th wife living in a fundamentalist Mormon community and accused of murdering her husband. Her son, the narrator of the story, had been kicked out of the community at the age of 14 for holding hands with a girl. I found both stories good, but I was really interested in the history of Brigham Young and the Mormon church. There were so many things I didn't realize or know. In the end, I'm not sure how great the murder mystery itself was, but overall, it was a good read, well-written, and very informative.

Special birthday

Today is my grandmother's 90th birthday. She was born on the farm in Roodhouse, Illinois, in 1920, and grew up going back and forth between the farm and her parents' grocery store in Jacksonville, Illinois. Her mom died when she was 17, and when she was 20 she married my grandpa- they will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this coming February. Not long after they got married, my grandpa went off to serve in World War II and they were separated for over three years. After he came home, they built a life together in Alton, Illinois, where they lived for over 50 years before they moved out to Ohio to be closer to all of us.

I love my grandma's personality. She is so feisty and adventurous and always has been. At one time she was a hairdresser. For several years she worked in a jewelry store. She put my dad through college making wedding cakes. She always loved going to the beach and collecting seashells. There are a ton of things I remember us doing over the years, like going on trips and making chicken & dumplings and creating homemade Christmas ornaments. As long as I have known her, my grandma has always had a plan or a scheme to go somewhere or do something. She is one of my inspirations for dreaming big.

We had a ladies' luncheon for her yesterday with some of her friends from church, so I thought I'd share a few pictures (I'll have to do another post about the delicious food). I love you, Mamaw!

A few pictures from the table:

School picture- 1936

Threshing day- 1939

Wedding day- February 28, 1941