(In case you missed it on Saturday)
New month (new year!), new banner!
This one was created by Christine, who’s done a bunch of them for me lately. Thanks, Christine – it’s time Miz Poo had her very own banner that she doesn’t have to share with anyone else!
Happy New Year!!!
(Thanks, Robin, for the photoshopping!!!)
I Twittered about my black-eyed peas (which we didn’t have for dinner on New Year’s Day like you’re supposed to, because we ended up at the mall earlier in the day, and bought some mall pizza which was REALLY freakin’ good) on Saturday, and got a couple of requests for the recipe. So here ’tis:
Robyn’s Super-Tasty Black-Eyed Peas
1 lb (or thereabouts) of dried black-eyed peas
1 Ham hock
1 onion, chopped
garlic (unless you’re anti-garlic)
Soak the black-eyed peas in a pot of water overnight. Some people rinse the peas the next day and put them in a fresh pot of water before cooking because it makes them less gas-inducing (or so I’ve heard). I don’t do that, because I don’t think they taste as good when you do.
Making sure the peas are well covered with water, bring to a boil, toss in a chopped onion, as much garlic as you’d like (or leave it out), and your ham hock. I like to add a jar of our own chicken stock to the pot, though in the past I’ve added a bouillon (is that spelled right?) cube or two.
Now, obviously I had my own ham hock from one of our own pigs, and it wasn’t smoked. I’m not super crazy about that smoked meat taste, but I’m not so sure if you can buy an unsmoked ham hock at the grocery store. If you can, I recommend it. If not, I’m sure the smoked ham hock will be just fine.
Once the water’s at a boil, turn it down to a simmer, and simmer it for at least two hours. Check periodically to make sure there’s enough water in the pot that the beans don’t burn.
After a couple of hours, take the ham hock out of the pot, scrape the fat off and toss it, then pull the meat off the hock, shred it, and put it back in the pot. Simmer for another half hour or so.
Eat. We like to add a little BBQ sauce to ours. It’s especially tasty when served with corn bread, too.
We got about six servings, with some left over for the chickens.
(This recipe is also posted over at the recipe site, if you’re ever looking for it in the future.)
I finally finally FINALLY finished Under the Dome, and I’ve gotta say, I liked it quite a bit. My intention was to next start a printed book so Fred could read Under the Dome on the Kindle, but he’s reading Duma Key right now, so it’ll be a while before he’s ready to move on to another Stephen King novel.
During one of my daily Kindle store stalkings, I downloaded what I thought was an Amy Bloom novel, Between Here and Here, for 99 cents. I read it Saturday night, and was dismayed to find that it was actually just once piece from the book, Where the God of Love Hangs Out. Which doesn’t come out ’til the 12th. I really enjoyed what I read, and I’m not thrilled about having to wait. I want it NOW, damnit!
But I have to wait, so I’ve started What the Dog Saw. I’ve never read anything by Malcolm Gladwell before (though Blink and The Tipping Point are on my wish list), and I’m enjoying it.
So, tell me – what have you read recently that you highly recommend?
(And for god’s sake – I only read 109 books in 2009! Remember the year when I read 195? Maybe it should be my new year’s resolution to read more in 2010!)
Our New Year’s Eve was very exciting – Fred watched Firestarter, and I snuggled up in bed with many kittens and read. We were sound asleep by 9:30.
We know how to live it up, yo.
It is FUCKING COLD ’round these here parts lately, and it’s not supposed to get any warmer any damn time soon. I keep telling myself that if I can make it through January, Spring will practically be within reach.
Fred complained yesterday because we’ve had several days below freezing, and I haven’t made a fire. Like I’ve said before, I would happily make a fire if I were certain that one of the fluff-brained Cookies wouldn’t throw themselves into it!
Okay, guys – just to prepare you, Gus and Mike are going to their new home tomorrow. I’m still not going to talk about it yet because I don’t want to jinx it into not happening, but I wanted to make sure y’all know about it in advance so you’re not caught by surprise!
Spanky does not approve of kittens.
Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: I really haven’t had any desire to eat squirrel (yes, I’ve eaten it, but it’s been many years. Tastes like chicken, right?).
2007: Awww, it’s been three years since we first met Joe Bob! (He was Moon Man back then, though.)
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: Links.
2001: What sad, sad lives y’all must have led, to never experience the delight of whoopie pies.
2000: I’m feeling like total crap.
I have been all about the free Kindle books lately. One that I really am enjoying is called “Suite Scarlett”–I can’t remember the author, but it is a book about a teenage girl who lives in a hotel run by her family and it’s really funny and good.
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Very good. She writes YA and I enjoy reading her stuff as does my 16 year old niece. She is also a hoot on twitter. @maureenjohnson
Consider it downloaded! 🙂
I’ve been reading her blog – Maureen Johnson is hilarious! Thanks for the suggestion!
Um, does Mike and Gus’ new home have 2 big white dogs, a bunch of cats and a shitload of chickens? Just askin’……
Heh – NO, they’re not staying here (unfortunately!).
Can’t blame me for trying. I hope we will get updates on them.
I read one book this past year that I didn’t want to end … The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. I’ll admit it was somewhat overwritten and a bit predictable but I so loved the characters and story that I wanted to know how the rest of their lives went.
Thanks, Lori, I’ll check it out!
I enjoyed Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. I read it in one sitting on a (l-o-n-g) flight…not sure if I would have liked it as well reading it in bits and pieces. Maybe. Not sure if it’s on Kindle or not!
Thanks, Martha, I’m going to go check it out!
OK. Have you read The Thirteenth Tale yet? I know you have it, but have you read it??? You must! Also, I’ve read 3 of Malcolm Gladwell’s books and they’re great. Last night I finished a new one called Angels of Destruction by Keith Donahue and I’ll probably put it on my favorites list.
Yes, I did finally read The Thirteenth Tale! And I gave it five stars, too. 🙂
I’m going to go check out Angels of Destruction right now!
No books to recommend-I’m still only 128 pages into The Dark Tower-I read very slowly lately. I can remember when I finished my five library books in less than the two weeks allowed-sometimes one week. Not anymore! I was single then. I am so glad those two sweet boys will be permenant brudders. That’s the way to really know two males will get along I guess. I am envious but very happy for their new owners (fingers crossed/blessing myself-no jinx!).
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (this one is a slow build, but worth it).
what have you read recently that you highly recommend?
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel. Tudor England politics, made non boring.
Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffeneger (sp?). Second novel from the author of “Time Traveler’s Wife”. A great book, with a ghost story.
A Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier. Creepy but beautiful. I read it, then instantly read it a second time. The first time I was so engrossed in it that I sat at a diner off the NJ turnpike for 2 1/2 hours because I didn’t want to put it down.
Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood. A sequel to ‘Oryx and Crake’, and so so SO good. But, you will enjoy it more for reading O&C first.
The Children’s Book, AS Byatt. A great book, about three families of children in the turmoil of the closing of the 1900’s.
A bunch more.. I don’t really know how many books I read per year. Some, I re read once a year – Middlemarch, the Brontes, Austen…
Her Fearful Symmetry sounds great-a good ghost story is hard to find. A Brief History Of Death sounds very intruging too. These two will go to the top of my Want to Read List.
There are two that I read that I recommend highly: “The Gargoyle” by Andrew Davidson and “The Swarm” by Frank Schatzing. Both were riviting.
Bella-I want to read “The Gargoyle” but I am kind of a wimp reading anything with lots of violence or gruesome stuff. Does it have much of that?
Robyn-I just finished a book called “The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club” and it was one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a long time. By English author Gil McNeil, I stayed up all night to finish it. I loved the characters-in fact it reminded me of “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society”-and not just because the titles are so similar! I picked it up at my local Walmart.
I love to hear about what everyone is reading!
Maureen: I had a love/hate experience with The Gargoyle, but I didn’t find anything to be terribly gruesome. (Except in terms of prose in a few places.) Some uncomfortable scenes of burn-victim recovery and self-loathing, but nothing that seemed really gory to me.
I am in a re-read phase – can’t find anything new and interesting so I’m re-reading all my old favorites. Off the top of my head, a few I’ve really enjoyed (though who knows if anyone else would like them):
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn – First Contact (alien Greys) in a small village in Germany circa 1350 (I skip over all the “modern day” scenes because they annoy me)
The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber – a Victorian era prostitute and feminist finds a way out of the streets… maybe.
The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay – (very) loosely based on European and Spanish history circa ?1400-1600s, but set in an entirely different universe so the author has more play and doesn’t have to follow history. Beautifully written, poignant, but full of Kay’s signature style (heavy foreshadowing, impossibly noble characters, whiplash plot twists) so might not be a great introduction to his work. A Song for Arbonne ((very) loosely based on the Court of Love under Eleanor of Aquitaine, et al) might be a better starting point. Same alterverse, same signature style, easier read though.
Medicus by Ruth Downie – a Roman physician is assigned to backwater Britain to help tame the natives, treat the troops, and solve a few murders.
The Stolen Village, nonfiction by Des Ekin – “A Thrilling Account of the 17th-century Raid on Ireland by the Barbary Pirates.” Much more interesting and compelling than I expected.
The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca, travelogue sort of thing by Tahir Shah, a British travel writer. English by birth and upbringing, Shah explores his Afghani and Moroccan heritage by buying a dilapidated mansion in Casablanca and moving there with his wife and small kids.
Last one(s), I promise: The Sex Lives of Cannibals, J. Maarten Troost – Also a travelogue sort of thing. Maarten and his sort-of-wife, Sylvia, move to equatorial Kiribati for a few years of humanitarian-type work (hers) and attempted novel writing but mostly beer-drinking (his). Oddly enough, most of what he writes about cannibals, with or without their sex lives, comes in the second book, Getting Stoned with Savages, in which he and Sylvia have returned to WashDC then gone back to the Pacific – Fiji and Vanuatu, specifically – to start a family. The first book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, is more about the delightful intoxicants to be found on Kiribati. Both very good; SLoC is more humor and human interest, GSwS takes a more historical turn.
For your black-eyed peas, if you want to shake the recipe up a little bit, do the same thing except: As much water as you have in the pot for your recipe, add that much V8 juice – I use 1/2 “Hot and Spicy,” and 1/2 regular. (You’re going for a bean soup/stew consistency here.) Add some chopped/diced potatoes and carrots. Whatever other things you feel important to a soup/stew. Add chopped ham if the meat from the hamhocks isn’t enough (and I agree – why can I not have an UNsmoked hamhock, dammit!). Cook until beans are tender. Let cool, put in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat and serve the next day. (Letting it mature makes it taste even more wonderful, but be aware that your fridge may smell like an enormous fart when you open it the next day. That’ll go away quickly, don’t worry.) Add a pinch of ginger if you don’t drain and rinse the beans; that also helps cut down on gas. Before/during reheating, you can pull out some of the potatoes and carrots and mash them into a pulp, then add back into the liquid to help thicken it a little bit (if you prefer it thick).
I also make this with the “15-bean-soup” mix of beans (but I pull out the garbanzo beans because they are seriously gross). I have some simmering on the stove right now and I can hardly wait for tomorrow!
I should clarify this (because you know, the first comment’s NOT LONG ENOUGH ALREADY):
I liked The Gargoyle, it’s just that there were a few places where I wanted to slap the author upside the head and tell him to just tell the damn story, stop trying to Be An Author.
Just when I’d get ready to roll my eyes and put the book down, though, he’d throw out a phrase or a description or a thought that would reel me back in. (Also, any author who can give that much thought to a suicide plan is someone after my own heart.) The story itself, though, is so compelling that I didn’t even realize until about page 400 that
(**SLIGHT SPOILER**)
.
.
.
.
the narrator doesn’t have a name.
If you’re interested in The Gargoyle, I have an advance reading copy I’d be happy to pass along to you. Just let me know!
Best book I read last year: The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Ann, I think I would love to steal your advance reading copy, if you don’t mind!
Consider it mailed!
Any aliens in that Dome book? You know how I feel about aliens!
For gawd’s sake – read Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, if you haven’t yet, then her next one (The Sugar Queen). I’ve preordered her next one, even.
Damn, I’m so jealous of the Kindle.
I just got done doing a 10-day sit for the place that has the cat who I continue to call Spanky even though his name is TJ. TJ TJ TJ. Even after a week I was walking in the door saying, “Hi Spanky”(!!!) ARG.
Whoever is taking Gus needs to A) keep his name and 2) provide quarterly updates because he is teh cute.
I just finished Under the Dome too and my shoulders and arms still hurt. That was a heavy damn book.
I have “Wolf Hall” on my stack. It’s coming up I think, because I don’t have much out from the library.
I wish Jennifer Crusie would write another adventure of the Dempsey clan (Welcome to Temptation and Faking It). I haven’t cared for her co-authored efforts. It must dilute the snark and Dusty Springfield and dog references.
I just finished Sherman Alexie’s “Flight,” I sat down to read it and a handful of hours I was at the last page. Holy crap, I haven’t read a book cover-to-cover like that in years. It was totally awesome. Short read, but damn, that Alexie can write.
I loved What the Dog Saw, more so than his other books even. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper – funny, poignant, funny book. Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead – a little slow beginning, but so worth it. I echo the recommendations for Her Fearful Symmetry and The Children’s Book. And if you like historical mysteries, I am reading Arianna Franklin’s Mistress of the Art of Death now and really enjoying it. I have a copy of the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown if you are interested. it was good and suspenseful for that moment, but not a life changing book or anything (i bet he wishes I was doing his publicity.
I love, love my Kindle – esp for the huge, heavy books. A hint: go to the Kindle books page on Amazon regularly and they always have free books (look under the Kindle bestsellers). A lot of the first books in a mystery and even fantasy series are offered regularly as are other authors – and the classics are always free as their copyrights have expired.