YEP ITS A BOOK REPORT

"DESTINY'S STAR" third in the Palins trilogy by Elizabeth Vaughan.

Yay! Vaughan takes us back to the land of Warprize but only after somewhat impatiently wading through the first two books; Dagger-star (Red Gloves and Josiah) and White Star (Evie and Blackhart). Now sometimes publishers get to have their way in naming books or a series of books, same word being "star". Hah! for that. I would love to know how pissed off Jude Devereax was over her "Velvet" series.

Ok back to the books. The main characters in each of these books are strong women and impossible men whose relationship would best be described as yeah IMPOSSIBLE. The third book deals with a strong woman warrior and the slave she purchased for a copper. He had been beaten, starved, has had his tongue cut out but she saw something in him. He turned out to be a damaged story teller and he held wild uncontrollable magic. Together they must travel to the Heart of the Plains to battle with the warrior priests of all the tribes of the plains. This is a battle of cultures as well. The City Dwellers versus the Plains people who are very, very dangerous. They have elaborate ceremonies only during which personal questions may be asked that might otherwise get them killed.

I am also pleased that Vaughan will be writing about Kier and the Xy Princess' son who has his own adventure with an impossible women coming in 2011 "War Cry" Yes!!

Oh and I would have named the first book "Redgloves" and the second book, "Lady in White". The third book should have been named simply "Destiny".

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT.....

During the drive home, Phil and I were discussing (politely of course I just liked the picture) the Power Ball lottery. I told him I had purchased a ticket for 20 games and would play a single number.

He said he preferred Quick Pick. Then I wondered out loud what the odds were between a Quick Pick number and my series of 20 plays with one number.

He said that my method would yield more multiple winners for the prize.

Hmmmm. Really.. I did not know that.

So today I Googled "Odds" and was given my choice of a site that tutors in probability. I asked the basic question; where the odds of winning greater with either method or purchase?

So, I got a very polite answer from the tutorial site and they wanted to tell me all about math and science and help me with my homework. I excused myself and searched again.

Next choice was a probability calculator. Calculating the odds involves having a calculator, a ticket and knowing how many tickets will sell, then you divide all of the numbers you have picked by...some damn thing.

So the argument is this, can anyone out there convince me to use a different method to select lottery numbers? Waiving all arguments against purchasing a lottery ticket in the first place.

I purchase 20 tickets using one quick pick number and then I just check the numbers on line every once in a while. So far I have hit a couple 3 and 4 dollar power balls. Not retirement worthy but something to justify firing up the computer.

PS: Phil, the Naval History book weights 7.5 lbs. Husband thinks it is heavier than a gallon of milk.

HUSBAND WENT SHOPPING

Husband went shopping yesterday and as he walked into the house he exclaimed,

" I hope I didn't waste my fifty cents!"

He had purchased a ten pound bag of potatoes for fifty cents. The produce manager explained that they were sprouting.

"Put 'em in the fridge I will do something with them, thanks!"

I boiled 5 lbs of potatoes after scrubbing and observed that while they were not exactly sprouting they were going a little soft. I very carefully boiled them for 15 minutes so they wouldn't turn into mush.

I hard boiled four eggs and selected eight potatoes. I let everything oool and then peeled and chopped.




I did not have any onions, but did have some mini dill pickles, I chopped up eight of them. I had an almost empty jar of Mayo, squired in some mustard, sprinkled in salt, pepper, celery seed, red pepper flakes and some garlic. Shook the jar very hard and poured into bowl.




Put lid on ancient but still useful Tupperware bowl and shake vigorously to mix.



See? Worked just fine and saved washing a spoon.



Husband just reported that if I had not told him that there were no onions in there he would not have known.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the remaining boiled potatoes, perhaps some country fries, need onions and red and green Bell peppers for that or maybe a fritatta. OOh I have eggs, and lots of cheese and.....

SOUR DOUGH ON SATURDAY

Gale made sour dough pancakes while I was visiting and I determined to make some myself after we went out for breakfast at the Blue Ribbon Cafe that boasts sour dough hot cakes. Sorry, Blue Ribbon, you folks should just stop advertising because your sour doughs AIN'T SOUR.

I fired up the sourdough it has been almost a month. I neglected to use WARM milk in the mix however I let it set out all night and it got good and bubbly.

The picture below is an example of a PERFECT sour dough pancake just before flipping it over.

Oil the pan very lightly with some veggie oil soaked into a paper towel, swipe the towel in the pan. I have never used teflon pans but they would work well until they becomed abused and scratched up.

Set pan at a bit above medium until a water droplet sizzles, pour in batter and let cook for two to two and a half minutes. Allow bubbles to form AND POP around the edges before flipping.

Flip over and finish cooking 30 seconds to one full minute.

If the pancake browns too much for your taste, turn down the heat a bit.




Yummy!

PS: I make a full "Small" batch and have four left over pancakes, which are going to work with me. I am having sour dough pancakes for lunch and it will drive the other associates nuts. I am evil.

ENCHILADA.......PIE yeah, that's the ticket!

I had to do something with that two pounds of sliced top sirloin and I did not feel like making Tamale Pie...so....found some ingredients in my kitchen:

2 pounds half inch dice top sirloin
1/2 very large onion, chopped
1 can jumbo olives,quartered
1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 jar smoked red peppers chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
salt, pepper
half bag sliced Tillamook cheddar cheese.
12 corn tortillas torn into bite sized pieces.



Saute chopped onions in vegetable oil until some browning occurs.
Add meat, stir, cook until a little pink shows in the exposed bits.
Add chopped red peppers.
Stir in enchilada sauce.
Stir in olives.
Stir in cheese.
Stir in tortilla pieces.





Pour into two casseroles and bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes.



The recipe (the one on the enchilada can) did not call for any of the ingredients other than the tortilla's, however there is something about the combination of cumin and cinnamon that I have always liked.

Tastes pretty good. Will taste even better tomorrow.

I also fired up the sour dough starter, will have a couple pancakes tomorrow.
I'll try to take a picture showing the thickness and bubble texture.

Get some rest, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow.

FINGER STEAKS

Um...are these made out of real fingers?

While in Idaho during Cherry Festival, town was impossible to drive through so we all ran away to The Triangle for dinner, one evening. I decided to have the Finger Steaks and they were delicious...even if the coating had a tendency to fall off.

I got home and decided to google a recipe for finger steaks and found one from The Torch home of the finger steak.

Recipe called for ingredients I did not have
(Of course)
Due to a sadly lacking spice cupboard I ignored the recipe
(Of course)
and used instead marjoram, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper
And I also did not have Worcestershire sauce so I substituted Soy Sauce
(..well they are both dark and salty)
Mix 1 and 1/2 cups milk with spices and 1 and 1/2 cups flour.
Mix well,into a thick batter and cool in fridge for 2 hours
(Nope I used it right away)
Cut up 3 lbs of top sirloin into fingers size bits.
Dredge in batter, cook in small batches
in 375 degree hot oil. Allow oil to come back up
to temperature between batches.
I am afraid that I didn't let the oil get hot enough, so
the batter slid right off the first batch.
The second batch fared much better.
The batter fell off quite nicely.
(Of course)

I also cooked a cauliflower bloom.
Steam one whole cauliflower for ten minutes.
Top with a mixture of bread crumbs, butter and shredded parm.
Bake in 350 oven until cheese either melts or gets brown.

Serve with finger steaks and 98 Chenin Blanc

or Grapefruit Tangerine juice. Delish!

I forgot to mention the dipping sauce, it is
supposed to be a mixture of catsup and horseradish.
I used Ranch dressing with a tablespoon of horseradish.
Tasty!

Husband manfully ate a sample and said with a
perfectly straight face that it was delicious.

Unfortunately I have about 2 lbs of uncooked
finger steaks left. So later on this week I
plan to make a very luxurious tamale pie...with OLIVES!!!

BOOKS REPORTS...did she just say Books report?

Uncle Paul gave me a whole box of 76 Zane Gray books, this adds to a great section on Westerns. Now I need to go back and obtain all of the Tony Hillerman books.



Jody had pulled out a lot of books for me by the time I dropped Phil off in Elkton. About 56 books, a lot of self help and management and a great big old toe breaker of a book that probably weighs ten pounds on Naval History. I am weak on histories of any kind and pitiful on self help.




Gale tossed in several books and Richard and Cathy gave me a mystery box sealed with duct tape. When I got home and opened it there were 51 books and the best was a complete set of 13 Terry Goodkind books. Wizards and adventures and stuff.

Also found a lovely selection of Romance that were not currently in the collection.
I now have almost 2000 books. I need about 8000 more unless I get brave and take a lot of trade for credit when I open a store. No immediate plans to open a book store, I am obviously going about this ass backward but I am thinking of a name; Coquille Books or Bookity Boo. Also need a business plan, that encompasses such things as expenses, taxes, rent, insurance, office type stuff. Book shelves, need more book shelves. I have already decided that the lovely collection of reader digest will make a lovely....book rail. I crack me up.

THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!!!