Thinking of you all today, especially anyone for whom this is a difficult day. Hugs!
Month: May 2023
The book is always better
Paul Tremblay is one of my favorite contemporary horror authors. Back in 2018 I read The Cabin at the End of the World and it was hands-down one of my favorite books of the year. When I found out that the novel was being made into a movie, I was excited, but admittedly wary. And as it turns out, rightfully so,
I almost went to see Knock at the Cabin in the theatre when it was released back in February, but after the initial reviews I decided to wait. Truthfully, M. Night Shyamalan movies always disappoint me and I knew I’d be purchasing the DVD for the library so I kind of didn’t want to spend the money on a movie ticket.
Well, the DVD came out this week and I watched it tonight with Drew. Ugh… I almost abandoned it about a quarter of the way through. Drew did not read the book so he really had no idea what was happening, what the motivations were, or any of the backstory the book describes. He absolutely hated it. I was very disappointed because I wanted it to live up to how good the book was.
But, as usual, the book was certainly better.
Caviar on a Friday
All I know is that you can chop up all the onions and the whatevers you want and put it on top of caviar, but you still can’t disguise the fact that you’re eating fish eggs. Ugh!
This quote really made me laugh! You might remember that for my husband’s 50th birthday a few weeks ago I gave him a variety of caviar. He loves the stuff. I can’t say I’m crazy about it. Yesterday he finally decided to try a bit and he pointed out that even though I say I don’t like it, I have never had good caviar, and I’ve never had the full experience with blinis and crème fraiche.
I realized that he was right and he made both of us a little caviar snack before the kids got home from school.
This is Hackleback caviar. Hackleback Caviar (Scaphirhynchus Platorynchus), also known as Sturgeon Caviar, comes from the Shovelnose Sturgeon. This wild freshwater caviar is found in the Missouri, Ohio and Mississippi River systems in the U.S. The taste profile is said to be nutty and buttery.
Well, I decided to just pop the whole thing in my mouth without thinking about it too much and you know, buttery is absolutely the right description. It was so weird, but it really did seems like I was just eating a delicious mouthful of butter. The caviar was nowhere near as fishy as the other stuff I’ve tried. Of course, it makes sense — this is definitely “the real deal.”
Would I have it again? Hmm… probably not. It’s something I’m glad I tried, but I will let Drew enjoy the rest of his caviar himself.
Currently reading…
I have a pile of books that I want to read right now, and I feel like I just don’t have the time! I’m doing my best, though. Here’s what I currently have going on. First, is Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. I bought this book for the library’s collection when it was originally published, but haven’t gotten around to it until now. And actually, I’m listening to it on Hoopla. IT IS FANTASTIC.
Do you love language? You will enjoy this book. My husband once told me that I’d make a terrible cult member because I hate people telling me what to do. I’m also very skeptical. However, this book is making me realize just how much words play into the equation. And it’s not just cult-cults… it’s also MLMs, fitness crazes, and corporate culture. It really is making me think about what words I choose and when in my own life. The library world definitely has its own lexicon, and its own favorite terms and you know I am now second-guessing some of the key phrases we use. Very interesting.
The next book, which I hope to read this weekend, is This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. If you’re on book Twitter, you may be familiar with the crazy story from earlier this week. This guy who runs a fan account for 90s anime very excitedly posted about it and somehow the tweet went viral, people (myself included) rant to buy it, and the book skyrocketed on Amazon to #1 in Sci-Fi! Book Riot has the whole story. Twitter is pretty much a flaming garbage dump at this point, but these types of things are why I just can’t quit it. Occasionally something wonderful happens.
This time of year all I want to do is sit in my yard and read, and sadly the next month is so jam-packed with events it’s going to be hard to make the time. But I’ll grab those moments when I can!
What about you guys? What are you reading right now?
Quick visit to Massachusetts
Since I am not able to see my mom for Mother’s Day, I decided to take advantage of my weekly Wednesday off and take a drive up to Western Mass. to visit with my parents. We had such a nice time! They came to visit for the high school musical last month, but there was still a lot to catch up on.
We went to lunch at this adorable little breakfast/lunch place nearby. I decided to try the chicken salad wrap special and it was delicious! It was full of dried cranberries and candied pecans and was absolutely delectable. I never make my chicken salad like this, so it really was a treat. The wrap was so huge I could only eat half.
When Laura visited last month they went to this same restaurant on golumpki day and had to wait for half an hour! You can’t beat good Polish food, and I’d probably wait that long too.
After lunch we had to go over and say hello to the goats! I didn’t get a photo because they were just acting too crazy. We did not have any treats for them, but obviously that’s not what they thought!
Then we took a quick drive into town where they have flags up honoring Purple Heart veterans for Memorial Day. My folks had no idea this was being done until someone on a local Facebook group posted photos and they saw one with my great-uncle’s name on it!
Uncle Frank served in WWII and never really talked about it. After he passed away we learned a lot more about his time in the service and as a member of Merrill’s Marauder’s. Of course, after learning this, many of his health problems made a lot morse sense. It was touching to see him honored this way. We lived next door to him and my grandmother growing up (my grandfather passed away when I was a baby) so we were very close.
We chatted for a while on the back porch and then mid-afternoon I headed home. So glad I got to spend the day with them!
A secret about the buttermilk grilled chicken…
I had a few people ask me about how I prepare the buttermilk grilled chicken and I’m here to tell you… there’s really no recipe! I kind of make it different every time. Obviously, the key marinade ingredient is buttermilk, but aside from that it varies. I usually toss in some dried dill, and always lots of pepper and of course a little salt (which, of course you can omit). Sometimes I give a few shakes of herbs de provence. And sometimes I’ll drizzle in some pickle juice.
This week I happened to have just enough homemade ranch (made with the buttermilk) that I didn’t want to toss it, so I just added more buttermilk and poured it over chicken breasts before I let them sit in the fridge for a few hours before tossing them on the grill. It’s all very scientific, right?
It just adds a really nice flavor to chicken breasts, thighs, or drumsticks and is great to make on a Sunday so you have leftovers for easy lunches during the week. Easy peasy!
199. Or is it 200? I don’t even know.
Yesterday we got to Mass early and as I was sitting there, for some reason I started to think about what we would do in the case of a shooting.
After Mass I dropped off Laura at her friend’s house, then I grabbed dinner for me, Noah & Drew, and when I got home I learned about yet another mass shooting. The 199th mass shooting of the year. Or was it the 200th? I couldn’t even be sure. But it was absolutely one too many.
When will it ever end? Our country is so broken.
Boba tea
One of the cool things about having kids is when they introduce you to fun treats. Like boba tea. Laura had a hair appointment this afternoon and then we had about an hour to kill before Mass, so we got a really good parking spot in front of the church and then walked down to the new tea shop in town. Now, of course, Laura has already had boba from the new tea shop but I have not so I was really excited to try it.
She got honeydew and I got matcha. Rhinebeck, tourist town that it is, can be a little pricey but I thought the cost for these drinks was totally fair. Less than $10.00 for the two of them. They were loaded with tapioca boba and really delicious.
I loved this treat! We enjoyed it outside on a bench while watching the traffic go by. The weather was perfect and we were just off of E. Market St. so it wasn’t too crowded. I look forward to trying more flavors in the future!
Cinco de Mayo
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Truthfully, and probably obviously, it’s not a big holiday here for us, but I am down for any excuse to enjoy some of my favorite things! After work, a friend from up the street came over so we could catch up a bit and we enjoyed margaritas and chips and salsa. Thank was about the extent of my “celebration” LOL! I did make chicken quesadillas for dinner, too. Does that count? In my opinion any time you get to spend time with your favorite people is a good things, so hopefully you were able to enjoy as well.
A day late and a dollar short
That is exactly how I am feeling this week for some reason! I haven’t even been all that busy, but I am just behind on everything it seems. It’s odd though because I am getting a lot done, I just feel like a day behind on everything.
Anyone else off-track this week?