As the summer is winding down, I am unhappy to report that I haven't had time to read one book this summer.  But I have been gardening.  I sure love the gardening this summer.  I could spend all day outside in my garden if I didn't have other things to do or get too hot and tired.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my garden this year.  It is now harvest time and we have quite a few things coming on.  We have picked our peaches and pears, I have done 12 quarts of tomatoes, and we eat zucchini or cukes at every meal.  Green beans are coming on so I will have some of those soon too.  Potatoes look promising, but we won't know until we dig them up in October.  There are about 6 banana squashes and peppers galore.  I am waiting for the peppers to turn red so I can roast them and bottle them.  Apples look plentiful too.  What a great summer it has been!
(Mom)

Book Review: The Spellman Files (Steph)

At the beginning of the summer, I dusted off the ol' library card.  I haven't been to the library in about 6 years, so I decided it was time to pay my $9 fine, update the information on my card, and get to reading. 

My first trip back to the library was a little overwhelming, because I wanted to read a book, but didn't know what to read.  So, I basically walked up and down the fiction aisles, pulling out books at random and speed reading the dust jacket summary (speed reading because I had Abi tugging on my arm asking me if we were going to go home yet). 

I found one I thought I might enjoy, so I took my chances.

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

 3 1/2 out of 5 thumbs up (yes, I am going to adopt a Homer-Simpson-like rating system)

This story revolves around Izzy Spellman and her dysfunctional family of private investigators.  Izzy grew up in the family business of detective work and has learned the tricks of the trade.  She tries to juggle her personal life with her family of sleuths, which becomes tricky, especially when she it comes to personal matters. Tailing, phone tapping, bribing, car chases- nothing is really off limits when it comes to this quirky family.

Overall, this book kept me engaged.  It was well-paced and well-written, though I had a hard time relating to the main character, only because I'm not as hard-core rebellious as she is.  She's into wearing trench coats and combat boots and I'm... well, not.  She also comes home too drunk to remember anything on a couple occasions and has sort of a potty mouth.

There are 4 other books about the Spellman family: Curse of the Spellmans, Revenge of the Spellmans, The Spellmans Strike Again, and Trail of the Spellmans.  I may decide to read them.

MPAA Rating- R for language.  Most of the language it at the beginning of the book, in fact she uses the F-word at least a dozen time in the first 50 pages.  Other than that, it's not too bad.

A New Year!

We are almost through a full month into the new year, and not one post from anyone.  Soooo... I figured I would put something down.  I finished all of the Mitford series - 7 books in total.  By the time I finished, the characters were close friends and I wanted to be part of their little community.  I have been trying to read some Jane Austin or Charles Dickens but so far no luck with that.  It just puts me to sleep.  So now I have been trying to get through the Book of Mormon again, only to really study it.  I am already behind on that.  Do I get points for trying?
We had decided to work on some emergency preparedness this year.  On February 21, our Relief Society is going to have mylar bags, packets and the sealer, if anyone wants to come and make food packs for your 72-hours kits.  My goal is to have them done by April, hopefully.  Here is the list of contents you will need for each packet.  The  packet is good for 2-5 years, depending on where you keep it and if it gets opened.

Ultimate 72-Hour Kit
3 packs of instant oatmeal
3packets of hot chocolate
2 granola bars
3 beef jerky sticks
4 apple cider packets
3 packs of Ramen
2 small cans of fruit (lunch sized fruit cocktail things)
9 pieces of small hard candy ( like a pack of Life Savers)
1 small pack of gum ( no peppermint flavor)
2 fruit snack type food ( this can be fruit roll-ups small boxes of raisins, fruit chew snacks...)
1 plastic spoon

If you plan to do multiple kits, you times the above amounts by the number of packs needed.
You will need to store a gallon of water per pack for cooking some of these items and another 2 liters per person per day in your completed 72 hour kit.

I would guess that if you can find an appropriate substitute for any items that you don't care for on this list, you could include it.  Remember this is just for emergency purposes, so you can't put a lot in your kit.  Also, I cannot stress that you do not put anything peppermint in your food pack.  It will permeate all of your food pack and it isn't very good.

If you want to go in together, let me know.  Give me a call if you have any questions.

The Recipe Stash (Mel)

I was looking for some recipes that I'll never make but sounded good and I found a few that sounded pretty good to me.

Crock Pot Chicken W/ Black Beans and Cream Cheese (I got this from www.food.com)

Ingredients:

Servings:

  4   4

4

Units: US | Metric

• 4 -5 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can corn
• 1 (15 ounce) jar salsa , any kind
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Directions:

1. 1
   Take 4-5 frozen, yes, frozen, boneless chicken breasts put into crock pot.
2. 2
   Add 1 can of black beans, drained, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of corn drained.
3. 3
   Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked.
4. 4
   Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour.
5. 5
   All done and enjoy!

If you want more flavor use fresh made salsa! I think I'll eventually make this one and every now and then I'll post some more recipes. This website is pretty good. There is also a place called myrecipestash.com

Happy Thanksgiving (Mom)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gregor, the Overlander (Mom)

So I have been devouring books lately.  I just read the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins, the same author who wrote the Hunger Games series.  There are five books in the series. It was written for the younger reader, but some of the thoughts and actions are not that of  Gregor, an eleven year old boy.  I certainly pictured him older as a 17 or 18 year old.  Maybe I don't think that an eleven year old would be able to cope with such an adventure with giant rats, bats and spiders, be able to wield sword and daggers and fight like a grown person.  There was a lot of fighting and violence in this book, but nothing extremely graphic.  I liked the series, I liked the characters, I just thought the main character, Gregor, should be older is all.  The moral of the the story is that parents should listen to their children, no matter what they say.  You never know what you may encounter!

Vacation in Mitford (Mom)

So I've been away for a while.  Well, it seems like it because I just  read the next three books in the Mitford series.  Even though I should be some fall cleaning or canning, I choose to read.  What uplifting and great books they are.  Written by Jan Karon, they are based around the life of an Episcopalian priest.  If anyone recalls, I read the first book in the series a few months ago and really wanted to get my hands on the rest of the series.  No swearing, no sex, not one thing to make you uncomfortable or weird.  The characters in it are delightful and recognizable.  There are some very sad parts when some old friends pass away, but such is life right?  I highly recommend this series and I am anxious to finish it and read some more by this author.
      I also read all of the Hunger Games.  Great books! Easy reads and can't wait for the movie to come out in March of next year.