by Kat | May 13, 2022 | General, Museum of Me
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. ― Charles W. Eliot
Greetings, Gentle Readers!
This month is all about reading…specifically Your favorite book as a child/kid/teenager…
Let me get my docent hat on and begin to tell you all about The Reading Life of Kat!
This week there was great debate over what book was my actual favorite… there are oodles. Truly. Oodles. Do I talk about Laura Ingalls Wilders Little House Books? Or maybe Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series? Those were absolutely beloved books of my youth. Deeply beloved. Or maybe I should talk about E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, or Stuart Little, or The Trumpet of the Swan… yep, deeply loved one and all. Or perhaps John Peterson’s The Little’s series… gosh, I loved them as well!
And so the Favorite Book Debate began… and while I loved every book mentioned above, none of those are what I am going to talk to you about today.
This exhibit has one book with some absolutely magnificent characters. It is a story of survival, over-coming loneliness, and so much more.
Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins was a “turning point” book for me as I was growing up and it is a book that has stayed with me all these years later.
I am pretty sure that I had no idea what a Caldecott Medal winning book meant back then, but yes… it is absolutely an award winner. It was published the year I was born in 1960… which I don’t think I realized either when I first read it.
I clearly remember getting this book from the library for a Summer Reading Contest. It was a time when I was living at my grandparents house and I can remember laying in bed reading it late into the night (at least for a 10 year old girl!) Karana was a true heroine… a survivor… smart and capable. And who can forget Rontu, Tainor, Lurai, Mon-a-nee, and Rontu-aru! Karana overcame adversity, made friends with her enemy, and survived for eighteen years…alone…which to 10-year-old-me seemed like an eternity!
I remember having long conversations with my grandparents, describing to them life for Karana on her island. My grandpa was decidedly more interested than my nana was and he and I imagined how we might survive if we were stranded somewhere! But my grandpa’s favorite part was her befriending birds… such a smart choice!
I spent lots of time “being Karana” as a child… I desperately wanted to get a dog I could name Rontu. (I eventually got a dog, who got named Mitzi) And there were plenty of times as a child when I imagined being “left” permanently at my grandparents house (which did finally happen but not until I was a sophomore in high school).
Beyond my 10 year old self, this is a book I have read again too many times to count… and in each reading, it loses nothing, but rather, with each time I have read it I have gained new insights… it is absolutely a book that is a patient teacher!
If you have not read Island of the Blue Dolphins, today I would encourage you to do so! And if you’d like to take home a copy of the book, you will find one in the Museum’s Gift Shop! (Haha, yes that is my Amazon link)
Thank you so much for stopping by today and visiting this Museum of Me exhibit! A big thanks to Kym for all her work on this (and for the gorgeous new image!)
I wish you a great weekend from a house that at long last has a sofa! See you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | May 11, 2022 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Tegna!! She is finished. She just needs a bit of a spa treatment and a quick tumble in the dryer and she will be camera ready!
I spent some time earlier this year contemplating my wardrobe needs… and I have one sweater I really like to wear but the neckline bothers me. It is Carrie Bostick Hoge’s Lucinda, which I knit for myself some years ago… I love the sweater, but the unstructured neckline is not my favorite, nor has it (the neckline) worn well over the years. So when I saw Calamus in a Quince email, I thought that might be the perfect replacement for Lucinda. I had some Holst Tides in my stash and I got gauge… on.the.first.try! In my book this is a sign from the Knitting Gods that you must cast on…immediately…and so I did! I am almost done with the ribbing and I am very much liking this marled fabric!
I also had a bit of a May the Forth incident…an incident of Galactic Battle proportions most certainly… anyway, somehow four perfectly matched sets of yarn fell into my cart and soon after were winging their way to my mailbox. I have plans for two of them… and perhaps some selfish knitting with the other two skeins…we shall see.
Left to right: Laugh it up Fuzzball (aka Chewie), Princess General (aka Leia), The Dark Father (aka Anakin), and Old Ben (as in Obi-Wan Kenobi)
A slow reading week with just one finish. I listened to Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You and as you can see from my review below, it was a book with good parts and some not so good parts, but YMMV.
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
For parts of this book I felt like I was listening to actual conversations, had by real people. The dialog between characters is witty, relevant, and engaging. I listened and the narrator, Aoife McMahon, was excellent. I liked all the characters… they were wonderful!
So if I liked all of that, why did I not rate the book higher? Honestly, I could not get past the endless email bits… those did not at all feel real…nor did the text messages. Had I been reading the book with my eyes instead of my ears, I would have skipped those parts. I tried to think about how those parts might have worked for me and for the emails… those might have been better as “journal” entries because I don’t know anyone who writes a tome in an email. It just does not happen. And those text bits… gah. They should have been edited out as well, imo.
What about you? Did you have any knitting incidents this week? Do share!!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | May 9, 2022 | General
…is for sharing!
Gentle Readers, do you have a spouse who is an IG Junkie? Steve must send me at least 4 “reels” a day… and most of them are about food… specifically IG Recipes.
Some weeks ago he sent me a recipe for baked feta, and I was so curious as to why he would send it to me… a main ingredient was fresh cherry tomatoes (which he hates!) Now I don’t know about the flavor of cherry tomatoes in February in your area, but in my neck of the woods… they are flavorless things. But I thought the idea of the recipe had some merit, if I could somehow figure out a tomato work around.
Enter a group I am in on Facebook… I know… but while FB by itself has no redeeming qualities, that is not necessarily true of some of the FB Groups! LOL… Anyways, in the Milk Street Community Group someone shared that Mutti Ciliegini Tomatoes were crazy delicious straight from the can. And so I began my search… no grocers near me stock these babies, but Amazon does but they seemed pricey to me. So began The Great Mutti Tomato Price Watch… and when the price fell to what I felt was reasonable, I nabbed a case of them!
And… Oh.My.Gosh. Really, it is summer perfectly preserved in a can. Cherry tomato flavor bombs picked at the peak of ripeness and snuggled in a silky, rich sauce. Now I had everything I needed to make the Baked Feta… and so I did. It is super easy… and I am so happy to share my tweaks that pushed this utterly simple dish to perfection.
I present my take on…
Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Chickpeas:
- 1 can of Mutti Ciliegini Tomatoes
- 1 can of TJ’s Greek Chickpeas, drained but not rinsed (you can do this with a can of regular chickpeas, but you absolute need to drain and rinse the chickpeas and then get those skins off… I rub them between a couple of layers of paper towels, but golly is this tremendously fiddly and time consuming. Thankfully, Steve found the Chickpeas at TJs! They are so good and no zero fiddly-ness)
- 8 ounces of Sheep’s milk feta in brine (the best I have found to date is Trader Joe’s Israeli Feta… it is the least salty and bakes beautifully)
- One (or two?) baguette, sliced and toasted… or Pita Chips… whatever your preference!
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
While the oven is pre-heating, drain and gently pat dry your feta. (If you are using the block of Feta from TJ’s, I recommend cutting it in half.) Place the feta in a baking dish and pour around it the canned tomatoes, including every bit of the sauce, and the drained chickpeas. If you are using regular chickpeas, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over the entire dish. Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper over the feta and bake in the oven for 25 minutes (or until the tomatoes are beginning to pop open and the sauce is bubbling)
Then turn the broiler on high and broil for 5-8 minutes until the cheese begins to brown a bit and the tomatoes start to blister.
Remove from the oven and serve with a crusty bread or pita chips. I baked this Olive Bread this weekend and served it with that… delish!
This is my new favorite for Friday Happy Hour… it is so good! Don’t like chickpeas? I have tried it with olives (Kalamata and Sicilian Olives are both excellent choices) and it is amazing. I even think canned artichoke hearts would be a great addition!
Oh…and if you should happen to have any leftovers… never fear! It reheats beautifully… or even better, toss everything in the food processor and puree it. Yes, any leftover feta, chickpeas, and tomatoes/sauce… oh my gosh. So Good! We had this last night with the rest of that Olive Bread but it would be great with fresh veggies… carrots, peppers, cucumbers, etc.
And there you have my take on a truly delicious Baked Feta!
Happy Monday everyone!
by Kat | May 6, 2022 | General, In This Moment
When April steps aside for May, like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten; fresh violets open every day; to some new bird each hour we listen. ― Lucy Larcom
I thought this quote was fitting, especially for the weekend weather forecast Pittsburgh has… lots and lots and lots of rain-drops. I am not complaining because with the weather we have had, it could as easily be snow (which I would be complaining about!)
However, it is May and that means Macro May! This month I am going to play a bit with my iPhone and see what I can learn. Of course, Apple had an article that was both inspiring and overwhelming. I think I need to get my tripod out..lol. Good thing I nabbed that photo last night, this morning that blown dandelion is just a stalk.
A bit of a sofa update for you all… yes, I have a chair to sit on. No, the sofa issue has not been solved (i.e. no new sofa, no new parts, no repaired light post…) And yes, I am almost a raving lunatic at this point in time…But!! Steve fixed the storm door… so there is that.
This is not really a find… but perhaps a reminder… many of us (myself included) have put off things during the pandemic but one thing you should NOT put off is a colonoscopy. I called this week to schedule mine (I am now on the 5-year plan because my family history has a vibrant thread of colon cancer running through it… sigh) I think this colonoscopy will be the 5th one I have had (my first was at 30) and it amazes me that not much has changed since then… at least not that I have noticed. I confess I am not eager for that evening with a gallon jug of NyLYTELY, however I don’t need to worry about it until August. I chuckled at the scheduler who said she would update me on the COVID protocol closer to the date (as if COVID might not be a thing 3 months from now, lol)
Now how about a find or two?
First, I wanted to share a new podcast I discovered thanks to Ada Limón…As She Rises. This is from the podcast description:
“As She Rises is …from Wonder Media Network. It brings together poems from artists throughout the US and territories that depict the effects of climate change on their home and their people. Each episode carries the listener to a new place through a collection of voices, local recordings and soundscapes. Stories span from the Louisiana Bayou, to the silent tundras of Alaska to the receding coastlines of Puerto Rico. Centering native voices and women of color, As She Rises personalizes the elusive magnitude of climate change.“
I listened to season two while in Erie and it was really amazing. The poet reads their poem then there is a bit of a discussion with the hostess, Amanda Frances, that was both interesting and enlightening. I thought you all might enjoy listening to some beautiful poetry and a bit of a discussion on climate change with the poet. I have queued up season one to listen to this week!
Finally, it is #MeMadeMay which for me is really #MeMadeEveryDay! Yes, that is right, I have arrived at the point in my life where almost my entire wardrobe has been made by me. (Jeans and under garments are the only not-me-made items left in my wardrobe) I have been so inspired by the #MeMadeMay2022 thread on IG… it is my one guilty pleasure for the month! And, yes… I will be doing some sewing in May! Kym has inspired me to sit down and sew some knits!
There you go, Gentle Readers… have a great weekend! See you back here on Monday!
by Kat | May 4, 2022 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
I wish I could be perky and cheerful today… but I am not. The leaked news this week was a gut punch… although I was expecting that very outcome, reading the leaked brief made it a reality that I don’t want to accept. In my life, I never imagined that I would lose rights… and it is just so damned wrong and it makes me mad as hell that the SCOTUS and the GOP believe women are not capable of making their own decisions about their own bodies. It feels very… dystopian … and so effing wrong…sigh.
Anyways, I did finish last month’s Gnome and I thought I should show Bonny that her arms are now attached!! Meet Gnorwen! I made one last year for Steve’s mom and I really liked her so I am thrilled now to have my own Gnorwen sitting on my mantle now. I do not have plans to make ice cream cones for her to hold… rather I think she is perfect as she is! (although, to be completely honest, I am contemplating knitting a tiny uterus for her to hold)
Apparently a bit of angst is apparently good for knitting… because I am one very short sleeve away from a finished Tegna! Woo! I should have the stitches picked up today and a completed sweater shortly after that! I need to weave the ends in and give it a nice bath and then I am ready for summer! (now if spring would just stay here! ha!)
On the reading front, things are moving slowly. I am still making my way through The Books of Jacob. I have about 200 pages to go and I really don’t want it to end! I did have one finish this week… I raced through another Allon book… they are hard to put down!
The Other Woman by Daniel Silva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Whatever hiccup happened in book #17, The Other Woman is back on track. It was full of intrigue…someone’s service has a mole and people are paying with their lives.
It is fast paced and Allon is back in excellent form!
I highly recommend this series!
That is all I have today, what about you? What are you lingering over?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
