Welcome 
Hi! My name is Margot. My blog is about the things I love to do. That could be what I'm reading, places we visit, my family, food, or whatever else is happening. I hope you'll stay and visit a while.
Contact me by email: joyfullyretired (at) gmail (dot) com. What I’m Reading  The Spellman Files
 Saying It Well
My Book Rating System A = Excellent in every way
B = Very good story
C = Good/Average
D = Poor
F = So Bad I couldn't finish it
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 Two weeks ago I asked readers of Joyfully Retired to participate in a survey on the frequency of cooking at home. (See post here.) I’ve been reading a book by Mark Bittman (Cooking Solves Everything) and I quoted these statistics:
“Seven percent of Americans say they never cook; 30 percent say
they cook three or four times a week.”
I found those statistics hard to believe, so I asked you to tell me your experience with cooking at home. I honestly thought the results of my survey would be skewed in favor of more home food preparation. After all, I was asking this question during the Weekend Cooking post. Weekend Cooking’s bloggers and readers are “foodies.” I thought they would show higher numbers for cooking at home. Here are the results:
Good news: 76% of survey participants eat the majority of their meals at home. That’s 35 people who rely on outside food places for 5 or less meals each week. According to Mark Bittman (and others), these folks are healthier. He believed that, once a person focuses on food at home, they begin to see food in a different way. We begin to see the raw ingredients in light of what they can become. The creative process encourages the home chef to try even more creative endeavors. In the process, everyone eats healthier.
There are still some of us who see food preparation as a job. I totally understand. I do remember those times, after working all day, when the last thing I wanted to do was face a stove and then all those dirty dishes and bowls and pans. Take-out, fast-food, or restaurants were attractive alternatives. I knew I wasn’t eating healthy, but I was caught in a cycle where other things than food had a higher priority. I’m sure we’ve all been there.
What’s the solution? Mark Bittman has an idea:
“Cooking has to become hip. It has to become
just as much fun, just as prestiious, just as much a part
of the culture as watching others cook.”
I think he’s on to something there, but I think it’s also something more. Preparing healthy food needs to be fun or hip for everyone. I know many men today are spending more time in the kitchen. That’s a good thing, but I still don’t see many at the grocery store.
Who does the meal planning for the week? I’m suggesting the whole family become involved. I know children can be included in both meal planning and preparation. A good trend is the number of schools whose curriculum includes gardening – the growing of vegetables. I’d love to see that trend extend to more home gardening by children. Even a pot of chives or other herbs would be a good start.
Perhaps those of us who participate in Weekend Cooking can help the 24% of survey participants who prepare few meals at home. Do you have a tip or two for those days when you have very little energy for cooking? Any ideas for quick meals children can help prepare? I’ve given this some thought too. You’re going to see more posts in the weeks ahead that will contain easy, healthy food ideas. I encourage my fellow Weekend Cooking participants to join in.
 Author: Rashad Harrison
Publisher: Atria Books, 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction
My Rating: B
Summary (from the publisher):
A stunning debut historical noir novel about a worker in the civil rights movement who became an informant for the FBI during the months leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Feeling unappreciated and overlooked, John Estem, a bookkeeper for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), steals ten thousand dollars from the organization.
To the bookkeeper’s dismay, the FBI has been keeping close tabs on Dr. King and his fellow activists—including Estem—for years. FBI agents tell Estem that it is his duty, as an American and as a civil rights supporter, to protect the SCLC from communist infiltration.
Playing informant empowers Estem, but he soon learns that his job is not simply to relay information on the organization. The FBI discovers evidence of King’s sexual infidelities, and set out to undermine King’s credibility as a moral leader.
This timely novel comes in light of recent revelations that government informants had infiltrated numerous black movement organizations. With historical facts at the core of Our Man in the Dark, Harrison uses real life as a great inspiration for his drama-filled art.
My Thoughts:
Our Man in the Dark is a fascinating novel, especially for a debut novel. This was a little like reading a 1930s crime novel (a la Raymond Chandler) and listening to political gossip in the 1960s. That’s part of it, but it’ also a rather complex story..
I had no sympathy for John Estem, the main character. I also had no sympathy for the other scudzy FBI people or the underworld characters or some of the people in the SCLC. But, at the same time, I was so curious to find out what John Estem would do next that I kept on reading.
One of the great things about reading this kind of historical fiction is that it feels so real. It’s based on facts and people of the time and situation. I had to remind myself that John Estem wasn’t real. It was hard when the others people in the story were.
Some readers may not like the parts of the story involving Martin Luther King. Over the years he’s become something close to a saint. The story involves a human look at the man including his foibles. This is also an unflattering look at the FBI. I confess that all of this was a bit self-satisfying. I lived during this tine period when there were rumors of all these events but nothing was ever official.
As I said above, it’s a complex story. Read it if you like this kind of story.
 About the Author:
Rashad Harrison has been a contributor to MedicineAgency.com, an online journal of political and cultural commentary, and his writing has appeared in Reed magazine. As a Jacob K. Javits Fellow, he earned a Master of Fine of Arts in Creative Writing from New York University. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book and to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of it all. To see other stops on the book tour, visit the schedule here: TLC Book Tours
 We have a winner!!
Random.org picked a winner for
The Western Lit Survival Kit
by Sandra Newman
Kathy @ Bermuda Onion
Thanks to everyone who indicated an interest in the book.
 In today’s edition of Wondrous Words Wednesday I have only one word. It’s, of course, new to me but also very interesting. The word is from Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai.
The word is durian and here is how it was used in the book:
No one has offered
to share
what I smell: sardines, dried durian,
salted eggs, toasted sesame.
 The word durian was not in my dictionary, so I checked Wikipedia. There I found the nicest explanation and several great pictures. I learned that durian is a fruit grown on beautiful trees in Asia, primarily southeast Asia. “It is oval, spiny, and contains a creamy pulp. Despite it’s fetid smell, it is highly esteemed for its flavor.”
Uses for durian seem to be for a variety of sweets: candy, cookies, ice cream, and so forth. There are also some traditions regarding this fruit. Some consider it a medicine, and others say it is bad to eat it with coffee or alcohol. Still others consider it an aphrodisiac and state certain rules for it’s use. To read more, visit Wikipedia here: durian
I’m curious – Has anyone seen a durian or had experience with it?
For more Wondrous Words Wednesday, visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion.
 Author: Agatha Christie
Publisher: Dodd, Mead, & Co, 1938
Genre: Mystery
My Rating: A-
Summary:
A lovely cruise down the Nile River is the perfect trip for honeymooners unless the wife’s former best friend, who is also the husband’s ex-fiance, is also on board, determined to spoil the fun. The honeymoon is definitely over when the wife, also one of the richest women in England, is murdered.
In addition to those three, there are about 15 other passengers on board. Each one has something of interest to offer to the story. Fortunately, two of the passengers are well known for the detective work: Colonel Race and Hercule Poirot. Together they begin a thorough and orderly investigation of all the facts. As they proceed they are thrown a few surprises and additional challenges.
My Thoughts:
This is now my 29th book in my goal of reading all of Agatha Christie’s 87 novels. I’m reading them in order, as she wrote them. Within the last four or five books I’ve begun to see the value of reading them this way. By now the author is confident in her writing abilities and in the public’s acceptance of her books. It shows.
As I read this one, my overwhelming thought was that Agatha Christie must have had so much fun writing this book. The fun just came through loud and clear. In the beginning she took her time setting up all the characters and laying out the plot. The murder doesn’t occur until almost the mid-point of the book.
Here are some of the other things I really liked about Death On the Nile:
- Each one of the characters on board the ship were interesting. I always the feeling that each one was possibly more than what they appeared on the surface. That added to the mystery.
- Ms. Christie did an excellent job of describing the people on board. She seemed to take more care with the details.
- Hercule Poirot was much more lighthearted in this story. He actually made little jokes about himself. I was glad the other “official” along on this trip was Colonel Race. I always imagine him as the classically handsome man-of-the-world who always knows the right thing to do. He’s a great partner for Poirot.
- I liked the romances allowed among a few of the characters.
I only have a couple of disappointments in the book, and they are small disappointments. For one thing, I thought she waited too long to stage the murder. I knew who was going to be killed and I kept expecting it to happen at the start of each chapter. Did Ms. Christie want the reader to be happy when she was finally murdered? Again, this is a minor complaint, and probably due to my impatience.
Something I would have liked in the book was a drawing of the ship. It would have helped a lot in understanding the movements of all the passengers. Plus, I had to keep reminding myself the definitions of stern, aft, port, and so forth.
All in all a fun, interesting, and compelling mystery. The final outcome and “who-dun-it” could only have come from the pen of Agatha Christie.
For more Agatha Christie, check out the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge at Mysteries In Paradise.
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What You’ll Find On My Blog: *Book Reviews  Click the button to go to my 2012 Book List
2012 CHALLENGES:
- Library books: 3/30
- Agatha Christie: 29/87
- American Battle of Prizes: 0/3
- British Battle of Prizes: 0/3
- European Challengwe: 0/5
- Foodies Read 2: 1/20
- What’s In A Name 5: 0/6
- Classics: 0/6
- Persephone: 0/3
- Virago: 0/3
Total books read: 6
2012 Book Challenge I’m Hosting  Click the button to sign up
You can also find me here  Click the button
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