Nothing against a good party, unless you seriously want to watch the game. My husband played football in high school and has been a fan ever since. Football in our house is serious business. We have religiously followed the various teams during the season. Tomorrow’s game will determine which team is the best. We don’t mind being social before and after the game. Just don’t talk about anything except football while the game is being played. (Gossip about the players is permitted.)

Serious football fans at our house are serious about their football food too. I usually prepare a crock-pot full of something that can take care of itself, like chili. Tomorrow’s food will be a combination of the tried and true and a fairly new favorite (Crab Dip). In case you are still looking for an idea for tomorrow, let me tell you what I’m planning.

For half-time:

• Chili with crackers and/or Fritos (An extremely delicious recipe given to me by fellow blogger Alex @ the Children’s War. Alex has the recipe on her Weekend Cooking post today as well. It’s here.)

Snacks during the game:

• French onion dip (from the store) with carrot and celery sticks, radishes, cucumbers
• Crab dip with cucumbers
• Margot’s Shrimp Dip spread on crackers

Most of the others coming over tomorrow will also bring more food, so we’ll not go hungry. I usually set out a bowl of fruit, a bowl of Peanut M & Ms as well and popcorn.

I’ve already featured most of these dishes in the past, so you can click on the title if you’re interested in a recipe. There’s one more favorite snack food that I should mention. I hadn’t planned to make it tomorrow, but I’ll bet lots of other folks will be. It’s my Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels. I gave this recipe on a post last February and it’s become the number one post on my blog. Imagine that!! They are pretty good. Maybe I need to re-think this.  ‎

No matter which team you’re cheering for tomorrow, I hope you have fun and that your food is delicious. If you watch with serious football nuts, try not to talk about anything but football during the game.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, a weekly feature at Beth Fish Reads. Click the button below and it will take you there.

I have three books I’m reading as part of on-line read-a-longs. Each one is rich and enjoyable in a different way. Today I want to tell you about one of them. I promise to write  about the others soon.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Heminway. Last year when I saw the movie Midnight In Paris, I vowed I would go back and read some Ernest Hemingway. It’s been a few decades since I read one of his books. When I saw that Staci (Life In the Thumb) was reading this book in a read-a-long, I decided to seize the moment. I quickly bought the book and joined the read-a-long at UnPutDownables. The read-a-long only lasts till the end of February, so if you want to join in, you’ll need to act quickly. (UnPutDownables also sponsors other read-a-longs during the year.)

This week, read-a-long participants read the first eight chapters in this memoir of Hemingway’s years in Paris. During this time he was trying to give up writing for newspapers and attempting to spend his working time on stories. He appears, at least in these first eight chapters, to be ambitious and eager, and somewhat awed with Paris and the people he meets there.

My favorite parts so far are when he talks about how he wrtites. For instance, he is disciplined enough that he will not stop for the day until he has his story completed or at least he knows where it’s going so he can start right up the next day.

Also enjoyable is Hemingway’s descriptions of people and where he walks about in Paris. There is a whole chapter on Gertrude Stein that felt almost like he was reporting on an event. I can already see that this book is going to lead me to reading others, at least something written by this interesting woman.

I’ll be posting for the next three Fridays about my progress through this book.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2007

Genre: Mystery

My Rating: B+

Summary (from the author’s website):

Isabel Spellman, the uncompromising—okay, obstinate—twenty-eight year-old San Francisco private eye in Lisa Lutz’s riotous debut novel, THE SPELLMAN FILES has her share of problems. And those problems all happen to be named Spellman.Her parents, Albert and Olivia, co-owners of Spellman Investigations, think nothing of placing their daughter under 24-hour surveillance simply to find out if she has a new boyfriend.

David, her perfect older brother, who escaped the family business by becoming a lawyer, is hypercritical of just about everything Isabel says, wears, or does. Fourteen-year-old sister Rae lives on sugared snacks, considers recreation surveillance her favorite hobby, and believes that life is one endless opportunity for intra-familial blackmail. And good-natured Uncle Ray, a former cop and health food nut, now embraces gambling and drinking; and when he’s not in battle with his niece Rae over the whereabouts of his favorite shirt, must be rescued from “lost weekends.”

My Thoughts:

The reason I wanted to read this book was because I had a chance to meet the author at a panel discussion at the  Santa Rosa Book Fair last Fall. She was so charming and funny and a little sarcastic that she had the audience chuckling a lot.

I had a hunch the author’s personality would come through in her stories. It certainly did. In my opinion she was the main character, Izzy. I could imagine the expressions on her face and the sparkle in her eyes. On top of that, Izzy tells the story in the fiirst person, so it’s even easier to see Lisa Lutz as Izzy Spellman.

The Spellman Files is the first book in the author’s series. It was an excellent introduction to the family of investigators. I enjoyed meeting everyone and learning about Izzy’s background. It was also fun tagging along with Izzy as she followed people and conducted her investigations. There was no big mystery throughout the book. I’m assuming that will come in the next few books. If you’re looking for a fun series set all around San Francisco, check out the Spellman Files.

1.  fulsome: M. Blondin, however, was positively fulsome in his attentions.

Fulsome is an adjective meaning complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree.

2. empressement: M. Blondin conducted the client to it with every appearance of empressement.

Empressement means animated eagerness or friendliness.

3.  noisome:  The young man was now smoking a somewhat noisome pipe.

Noisome means having an extremely offensive smell. It also means disagreeable, unpleasant, harmful, and noxious.

4.  dahabiyeh:  ”After all, with you, Madame, money is no object. Why did you not engage in your own private dahabiyeh?” (said Poirot)

I could not find the word dahabiyeh in the dictionary, but I did find dahabeah. I believe the second word’s definition is the one that fits the story/context. It means a passenger boat used on the Nile.

Thank you Ms. Christie for teaching me these new 1930s words. And, thanks to Kathy at Bermuda Onion for sponsoring our weekly tribute to new words.

Diane 

I’m reading The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. I’m not too far into it, but so far I’m enjoying it.

I duck into the parking garage, hoping to escape. But my boots echo on the slick cement, broadcasting my location to anyone listening. And I know they are listening. I make a mental note to myself not to wear these shoes again if there is a chance I’ll get involved in a pursuit.

I start to run up the spiral driveway of the garage, knowing they’ll never match my pace. The sound of my strained breath now makes the the echo of my footsteps. Behind me, I hear nothing.

I stop in my tracks to listen more closely. One car door, then another shuts and an engine turns over. I try to predict their next move as I scan the lot for Daniel’s car.

Then I spot it–a midnight blue BMW–eclipsed on either side by two enormous SUVs. I rush to the newly waxed four-door sedan and put the key in the lock.

 What do you think? Would you keep reading?

“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

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.

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.