Gray Mountain

I have had Gray Mountain on my reading list forever.  I enjoy reading John Grisham novels so I picked this one up and started to read.  It is everything you would it expect from a Grisham novel.  Samantha works for a large Wall Street law firm in the real estate division far from the world of litigation.  She has been there a year or so and then the real estate market crashes.  I am sure many of you are familiar with this subject and the year 2008 since it sent the United States into a recession.

She loses her job.  But her firm agrees to pay her medical insurance if she volunteers her time.  The law firm sends her a list of potential places but only one takes her up on her offer, a legal aid clinic in Brady West Virginia. So she packs up her things and off she goes.  There she is exposed to the dark side of the coal industry.  While she has never done litigation a man walks into the clinic and she is hooked.  She takes on his case and a huge law firm and her life changes.

In reality it changed the minute she drove into Brady.  This book has some of the elements of the Runaway Jury by Grisham. In that case, the tobacco industry was the bad guy and rightfully so.  It is a good book if you like Grisham and I do.

Grilled Cheese and Snow days. Some things never change

It's  a tradition.  When it snows lunch is grilled cheese sandwiches.  Some serve it with tomato soup, Campbell's of course.  I prefer just the sandwich.  However, this past Saturday when it was snowing hard, I decided to add Cheetos and a glass of red wine.  I think it added a nice touch don't you think.  I mean the sandwich is great by itself but adding wine and Cheetos, call me mellow yellow.  I made the sandwich totally healthy.  I used Trader Joe's soft multigrain rustico bread key word here, multigrain.  The cheese was white cheddar.  And wine is made from grapes so I had my fruit serving, maybe.

Who knows when this tradition of grilled cheese on snow days started all I can say is that my Mom served them to my brother and I and I served it to my child.  Hopefully she too will pass on the tradition. 

Even though my sandwich leans more toward the traditional, I found some variations if you want to experiment and add variety. Here is the link The Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Perfection.  It might snow again soon  so start warming up the frying pan.

Munch Munch Munch after some good Weed

The District has gone and done it, legalized marijuana.  There are some rules about smoking and possession of course there always has to be rules.   You must be twenty one, only posses 2 ounces and you can't smoke it in public.  Furthermore you can only have a total of six cannabis plants but only three can be mature.  Oh and the most important rule of all, you can not sell it.

Some members of the federal government are not happy about this at all and want to declare this illegal.  They even want to put the DC mayor in jail or so I heard. It is also a crime for federal employees to smoke because marijuana is a drug so you all can not partake.

All I can say is lighten up .  Wait maybe  I mean light up but only of you want to no pressure. 

A side effect of smoking marijuana is a case of the munchies.  Allegedly because I have no proof. Ha. This is the Washington Post’s suggestions if you have the munchies after smoking 15 Dishes to consider to cure the munchies. 

 I am sure you have your own ideas of where you want to go and what you want to eat.  Heck if you plan accordingly you can stock you fridge and pantry with your own snacks.  I mean who wants to brave the cold for some munchies right now.

So those of you who live in the city or have friends to share with in the city have fun.  All of us who live in areas surrounding DC, well we will just have to wait.

Gaga and a Few of my Favorite Things

When we lived in Europe we would often drive to Piding, Germany.  There was a lovely gasthaus Pension Einzinger that we stayed at.  The beds were dreamy with eiderdown comforters that you sank into and which enveloped you like a warm cocoon while we slept.  It was so quiet in that little town and after being in the never quiet Frankfurt it was a pleasure. 

 

We didn't just stay here for the lovely hospitality of the hostess.  It just so happens that it was twenty clicks (that's kilometers) from Salzburg Austria and both myself and my husband absolutely loved it there.  I can't decide if I loved it because it was a magical place or if it was magical because the movie The Sound of Music was filmed there and around the city.  Honestly it really doesn't matter.  I love both the movie and the city.

Usually I do not watch the Oscars.  It is not one of my favorite shows but I decided I would Tivo it and I was so very glad because towards the very end Lady Gaga gave an amazing performance.  I like a lot of her music but everything she has sung did not compare to her performance of the songs from The Sound of Music.  She has an awesome voice and she is a great performer. As a pop singer she never gets the opportunity to show her singing range.  I am glad she was able to do that on Sunday.  When Julie Andrews came out it just brought tears to my eyes. She had the most incredible voice and I keep wondering if she had not had throat problems that silenced that amazing singing voice, would it have been her on stage singing those songs.  No matter Lady Gaga filled Julie Andrews very large shoes smashingly. It was lovely to see Julie Andrews again.

Man can not live on Bread Alone. Wrong!!!!

Who ever came up with the saying "Man cannot live on Bread alone"  got it wrong or maybe the person got it right.  Maybe men cannot live on bread alone but I can tell you as a woman, I sure can! I remember as a kid going into the bakery store to buy the most delicious fresh rolls. Just walking into the bakery and catching the smell of fresh bread baking was enough to make my mouth water and my stomach growl.  At the time  grocery stores had baked goods but it really wasn't up to the standards of the bakery.  But then the Grocery stores decided to take on these wonderful bakeries and practically made them extinct.  

Now it seems that the bakery is back and I am so happy.  I am not sure exactly when they started their resurgence and I don't care.  This past week, The Washington Post had a great article about some of the bakeries that are popping up.  They even have a little quiz that steers you toward the bakery that fits your personality.  The outcome of the quiz for me was a new bakery that opened in Van Ness called Bread Furst.  I certainly plan to try it as soon as possible. Here is the link to the quiz Which Bakery fits my personality.

So if you are planning on making a trip to the district you may want to try some of these bakeries and when I try Bread Furst I will report back to you.

Here is the list of bakeries  ON the Rise  and here is the link to the article Area Bakeries are making us feel like a kid again.

Landline

I  have had this book sitting on the side of my bed for weeks until I finally cracked it open and started to read it. Couldn't put it down.  Neal and Georgie met in college at the school paper.  This couple is an example of the saying "opposites attract". He is a cartoonist and she is a writer.  He grunts at people and she knows how to work a room. 
 
They  have been married for fourteen years. The book starts right before Christmas.  Georgie and her writing partner make a pitch for a new show.  This show can sky rocket her career.  Just one problem they want the pilot and four episodes written by December 27th.  She and her husband Neal and their kids are suppose to go to Neal's family in Omaha for Christmas.  She goes home to tell him and he is pretty ticked off.  He takes the family leaving her behind.  Alone, Georgie starts going back over her past with her husband.  Dreading going to an empty house, she stays at her Mom's house where she finds her old yellow landline phone.  Many of you may remember those phones.  Mine was pink and I use to talk with my friends for hours. She plugs the phone in and the conversations they have are fascinating.  There is a twist because these were no ordinary conversations.

Neal and Georgie love each other but the question still remains, Is love enough? Does their life together make them happy?

I really liked the book.  Give it a try.    Landline
 

Baby its cold out there so pack in the Calories

I just discovered after reading this article what my weight loss problem is, I don’t live and work in a cold enough climate.  I need to find somewhere cold because according to what I just read the people traveling in this pack needed to eat 6000 calories just to maintain their weight. Food is heat and you need to keep your body well fueled.

Can you imagine eating that much?  I think 1500 calories is a lot.  On the down side eating that many calories is harder than you think.  You can't just eat a whole layer cake.  This article discusses treks by Will Steger crossing Antarctica on a bobsled and their diet just to stay alive.  They ate a lot of carbs and butter but really had to be mindful of their weight and its impact on their dogsleds and their health.  This is a very interesting article and here is the link. Keeping Your body Fueled

Making Mozzarella

My friend's husband gave her a cheese making kit for Christmas and she has been making cheese since then.  She is an excellent cook and know she can add cheese making to her list of accomplishments.  I am totally in awe that she can make cheese in her home. 

As fate would have it, this morning I was reading the Food Section of the Washington Post and there was a recipe for making mozzarella.  Maybe if I feel industrious I will try to make it.  Not sure.  I am including the link so that you can take a look for yourself. Making Mozzarella .

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman

If you love To Kill a Mockingbird as much as I do you might be aware of the "newly discovered" Harper Lee Novel that the literary world is all abuzz about.  Apparently the original manuscript written by Lee was not exactly what the publisher Lippincott was willing to publish.  But they liked her writing, thought she was onto something  and worked with her to revise her original manuscript and To Kill a Mockingbird was written and published.  It remains on most middle school/high school curriculum to this day.  I have read it multiple times and each time I walk away with a new perspective.

It turned out to be a mega hit, one that has  provided Lee with approximately 3 million a year in royalties.  Now the original manuscript is getting edited and there are plans to publish this "new" old novel.  It would seem that Harper Lee is in no physical condition to approve the publication of this book and their is a lot of controversy on the legal implications of publishing it.  From a purely literary sense, I am thrilled at the prospect of reading the book however, what is going to happen to the rights to the book and does the publisher really have the right to publish it. What are Harper Collin's rights.  Who is looking out for her and her property.  I look forward to seeing how it all works out. The new novel Go Set a Watchman is due to be released in July 2015. I am willing to go out on a limb and say it will be extremely popular.

For those of you who are not from the DC area and do not read The Washington Post I am sharing this link so that you can read this extremely interesting article. To Shill a Mockingbird

Sunday Notes on Monday

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Here in the Mid Atlantic it is cold and windy. I hate wind. We had some snow but compared to the Northeast it was a dusting.  It was so cold on Sunday that I stayed in the house.  I bet you think that I sat around and read all day.  Wrong.  I sat and read half the day.  The other half I spent organizing my office.  It was long overdue.

I finally picked up Landline. It has been sitting on my nightstand for several weeks.  Again the title caught my eye.  Once I started I could not put down the book.  It is about this couple married for fourteen years. Their marriage is a little shaky  She writes for TV and has just pitched a show that the network is very interested in picking up.  She calls him on a Land line phone. The book is better than I expected. I will post my blog this week.

I am also reading Gray Mountain a John Grisham novel that has been out for a while.  I am just catching up.  Look for my post on this book by next week.

Have a good week and read a good book!

Boyhood

Every now and then I write about a movie I have seen.  Yesterday I watched the movie Boyhood.  The movie was shot over twelve years and  watching it I felt like I was reading a book.  It is a fascinating concept.  Usually when you watch a movie the plot develops very quickly even if it covers many years.  In this movie the director actually developed the characters over a long period of time and you can almost see  this family's life unfolding chapter by chapter. You get to watch the characters age and experience different periods of their lives. 

I don't want to give too much of the story away so I will keep this brief and hope that I whet your curiosity enough for you to watch the film. It is about a single mother raising two children.  Mason the youngest is six when we first meet him and Samantha is eight. They live in Texas while their Dad is in Alaska.  He will eventually return to Texas and the children's lives.  We get to watch this family as they go through their average life and deal with situations that I am sure many of you have experienced. You can feel their emotions.

I won't say more because I don't want to give anything away.  Watch it.

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher

I very rarely read short stories.  I guess it is because I love the journey of reading a full length book and watching the characters develop at a slower pace.  Every now and then I make an exception.  I think Jeffrey Archer is an author who writes short stories extremely well and I would highly recommend A Twist in the Tale and A Quiver Full of Arrows. 

If you are someone who only have a short window of opportunity than short stories are perfect for you.  You may want to consider  The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher or the other ones that I suggested above.

Today is National Read in the Bathtub Day

February is such a dreary month.  Perhaps that is why there are so many bizarre “holidays” or so I have read.  Of course there is Groundhog Day February 2nd.  Who can forget the movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell where he relieved Groundhog Day over and over again?  I liked the movie so much that I watched it over and over again. I mean it literally put Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on the map and made Phil the Groundhog a celebrity.  His success rate allegedly is 39% and this year at 7:25 am he saw his shadow.  No surprise there since the US is having a pretty hard winter.

Another February “holiday” is on February 4^th, Ice Cream for Breakfast day.  No offense but if I want ice cream for breakfast I do not need a holiday to give me permission.  I just eat it.

February 16^th is Do a Grouch a Favor Day.  If anyone in my family would like to do a favor for me maybe I will consider being less of a grouch.  No promises.

But my favorite February holiday is Read in The Bathtub Day.  What a great and relaxing way to spend an hour or so. I personally celebrate that holiday at least once a month.  I fill up the soaking tub, have a chilled glass of wine, light a candle (only for the scent of course) and sit back and read. 

For those of you who love cherry pie, make sure you enjoy one on February 21.  Isn’t that George Washington’s Birthday and isn’t there some type of cherry pie story?  Whatever, have a piece for just the simple fact that you can. Oh and don’t forget the dollop of ice cream on top.

First Frost

It was Super Bowl Sunday. It was dull.  It was gray.  It was cold and I felt like staying in all day. Even though it was a lazy day, I actually did not stay in my PJs .  I thought that would just not be right. So I sat down with the book First Frost.  This is the sequel to Garden Spells.

For those of you who like books with a hint of magic this is your type of book.  The two Waverley sisters have special gifts.  It is approximately ten years since we were first introduced to them in Garden Spells.  They both are now  married and have a daughter each.  They own their own business and are successful. But a stranger, really a con artist has arrived in town and may upset the apple cart.  The great thing about a sequel is it updates you on the characters you liked in the first book.  The bad thing is it is not always as good as the first one.  I still enjoyed the two books.

To Kill a Mockingbird Two?

Part of the curriculum of the English Departments in the United States includes the amazing novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  It is the kind of book you never forget.   I have seen the movie and I have seen it performed live and I have read it multiple times. 

Up until know Harper Lee has been a one hit wonder and that is ok.  I figure if you write one amazing novel in your lifetime that is better than a series of unforgettable ones. I just read in today’s Washington Post that there may be a second novel. As with many things there are roadblocks to getting it published that I hope are not insurmountable, but sign me up to read it when it is published. 

If you are curious, here is the link to the story in the Post Harper Lee's second novel and if you have never read To Kill a Mockingbird please consider putting it on your reading list.  It's a great book.