Over the next few weeks I’ll post highlights of the books I’ve read as part of this goal and since then, and I’ll also post some new recipes I’ve been developing. Now that I’m not spending every waking moment (and then some) scrambling to read books on pace, I’ll have time to write more reviews of what I am reading and cooking up in the kitchen.

I am really looking forward to getting back to the blogging. In the meantime, I hope you’ve got some lovely spring weather to enjoy! Cheerio!

I know we’re already a little ways into 2013, but having an extra calendar or getting around to buying your first calendar for the new year, is always a good idea. Better yet, it’s on sale now: $10. You know you want it!

1/16 -17: Freckles (by Gene Stratton-Porter) This and A Girl of the Limberlost remind me of my childhood and Indiana. I grew up playing outside in our vegetable garden and in Holcombe Gardens on Butler University’s campus, and although my childhood was in a very different era than the setting of these books, I never fail to appreciate the attention paid to the natural characteristics of the land and animal life in that part of the country. These books are a celebration of progress and self-improvement through dedication to the land/nature which is a concept I respect and strive to achieve,  but progress and preservation of nature are and historically have been considered incongruous concepts. I recommend it for young adults and adult readers who are interested in early twentieth century regional fiction, or any mid-level or better reader interested in nature.

1/18: After Milk and Song (by Erin Mullikin) This is another South Carolina Poetry Initiative chapbook winner, but it happens to be authored by one of my classmates at Clemson. It appears to be currently unavailable, but if you get the chance to read a copy of it, Mullikin’s poems delve deeply into the loss of a parent and reflection on how pieces of them and the lessons they taught you live on. They are beautifully done, and I highly recommend watching out for more works to come by her.

1/19: Mothers & Shadows (by Marta Traba) This novel was recommended to me by a dear friend who, I believe, studied it in one of her college classes. I’m sure she has more intelligent things to say on the topic than I do, but I did enjoy the story. I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between this and the (post)colonial/Caribbean/”ethnic” literature I’ve encountered and studied in the past. It isn’t a happy read, but I think it explores a lot of interesting aspects of human nature, human sexuality, and how those two things influence and play into (a country’s) history. It’s definitely more of an academic read, but I do recommend it if any of those topics interest you.

1/20: I made an exception to my rule of “books” each day because I am a dedicated reader of the magazine Bon Appetit (the website, app, and the recipe archive are also incredible, but I stubbornly support print media). I read each issue cover to cover (including all of the food and drink-related ads) the day that it arrives in the mail. So this was February 2013′s issue.

1/21: Mayakovsky’s Revolver: Poems (by Matthew Dickman) What can I say, I really love Matthew Dickman’s work. Also, after meeting him at the Clemson Literary Festival several years back (when I was still a undergrad student director), I must say he is a really nice guy! Mayakovsky’s Revolver, his second book, takes a turn for the dark and emotional topic of his brother’s suicide. I think he handles the topic with great tenderness and tactful sentimentality, but it left me more thankful for my siblings with all the complications of those relationships than sad at the (eventual) loss of them. Although I would recommend his first book, All-American Poem, over this one, I still recommend both.

1/22: The Remains of the Day (by Kazou Ishiguro) I recommend reading all of Ishiguro’s novels. I really respect him as an author, and the wide range of topics he tackles. I am somewhat enamored with literature about the social reorganization of class in England following WWI, and The Remains of the Day falls into this category.

1/23: Steal Like an Artist (by Austin Kleon) I picked up this book on a whim because it reminded me so much of one of my poetry workshop professors in college who encouraged us to carry around notebooks and jot down observations about the people around us and overheard conversations so that we could revisit these scenes for inspiration and details when we sat down to write. This recommends similar practices, but the concepts are pretty straight forward. The only difficult part is establishing the habits required to do this. I’d say this is a borrow-from-the-library kind of book if you read it at all.

1/24: Ghost World (by Daniel Clowes) I first read this novel as part of my Survey of the American Novel course, which explored the evolution of novels which shaped the American novel and then were written by Americans. The class was really great, but when we got to Ghost World, my first experience with a graphic novel mind you, I was pretty disenchanted with what the American novel has become. I really like exploring the differences between and merging of story-telling mediums, but I found this graphic novel to be particularly trying to read. I really feel like nothing happens at all, and the characters are all pretty nasty. I had hoped that re-reading it would help me to appreciate something more about it, but that was not the case. It is blessedly short, but I still wouldn’t encourage any one to read it, especially if they aren’t familiar with the genre of graphic novels.

1/25: The Forgotten Garden (by Kate Morton) This novel was surprisingly interesting. There is mystery, history, and family. I think of it as something that could easily be classified as a good “beach read,” but I’d recommend it for leisurely reading any time of the year. Do be warned, however, that the female characters steal the scenes and the male characters are severely 2-dimensional so my recommendation here is primarily aimed at women.

1/26: Scrumptious Pies & Tarts (by Linda Collister) This is a cookbook I’ve had for a long time and rely on for go-to tart recipes, but I found myself re-reading the entire book when I pulled it down to look up a mango tarts recipe for a friend. If you are interested in baking, this is a great way to master pie and tart crusts. They are not the easiest of recipes, but once you master the basics here, you can handle anything pie and tart-related!

1/27: The Last Unicorn (by Peter S. Beagle) This is a really quaint and beautiful book. I recommend reading Patrick Rothfuss’ review of this novel, because his suggestion along was enough to convince me to buy the novel. I love the heroism, the value and delicacy of life, and the resolution of the story. It really is a great novel, and one that I think can be read repeatedly with more learned each time. I definitely recommend checking it out.

1/28: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (by Stephen Greenblatt) Non-fiction really isn’t my preferred reading material, but I am making a concerted effort to branch out. I thought The Swerve, with its Pulitzer Prize, would be a good possibility. I won’t go so far as to say that I was wrong, but it was definitely too dry to read while sleep-deprived. It was slow going, but informative and interesting enough. I’m on the fence about recommending it, so I guess I’ll say this: check it out is you’re into historical essay non-fiction.

1/29: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (by Charles Yu) This is one of the more interesting and highly-meta novels that I’ve read in a long time. It is written with a tone of complete sincerity, formatted (at the level of chapters anyway) as appendices to a larger (not included) document on surviving in said universe. There are a few charts, and the narrator treats time travel and other science fictional topics as real, scientific topics. It is quirky and amusing, but also tells a really touching story about a family trying to survive (or more specifically, live safely perhaps?) in the science fictional universe. I recommend it for any science and technology-minded and/or geeky and/or nerdy readers.

1/30: The Book of Three (by Lloyd Alexander) This is the first in the Pyridian Chronicles series, which was recommended to me by a dear friend. It definitely falls into the category of young adult fiction, and reads like a very simplified version of Tolkein’s Middle Earth and cast of characters. This is a quick read, but really fun.

1/31: The Black Cauldron (by Lloyd Alexander) This is the second novel in the Pyridian Chronicles series, and it is more unique in it’s story line than the first but remains rather simplistic but clearly influenced by Tolkein.

Stay tuned for February’s list in about a month!

1/1: Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey (by GB Tran) This is not my typical speed when it comes to books, but as far as graphic novels go, it was great! The art was really expressive, the use of blank space thought-provoking and tasteful, and the storyline itself is informative. It explores diaspora and cultural identity within America, the reasons for relocation, and challenges the idealistic opinion of America as a “melting pot” or “salad bowl” of multiculturalism. In short, I think it’s a good read.

1/2: Bellwether (by Connie Willis) I love Connie Willis for her time-traveling historian novels, so it was with great confidence that I picked up this novel. I must say that it fell far short of the time-traveling historians, but I did not previously know about “bellweathers,” and it is truly an interesting and very real concept. Furthermore, she did offer a valuable social-critique that could be loosely (and as a pun) summarized in the term sheeple. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a simple but still interesting read.

1/3: White Dragon (by Anne McCaffrey) I don’t think there is much that hasn’t already been said about McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. I was raised on these novels, so I enjoy them as much for sentimentality as for the genre-shaping world and story arc. Please note, this is the third book in the original trilogy, but the whole series has great world building and easy-to-love characters.

1/4: The Jolly Postman (by Janet and Allen Ahlberg) This is, hands down, one of my favorite children’s books. I used this when working with Elementary school students to teach the format of letters as much as for reading. The incorporation of allusions to commonly-known fairy tale characters, actual page-envelopes with removable letters, and a rhyming frame story make this book is entertaining for all ages.

1/5: The School of Essential Ingredients (by Erica Bauermeister) I loved this one so much that I did a full review of it as soon as I finished reading it, which can be found here.

1/6: Joseph Anton: A Memoir (by Salman Rushdie) I must admit that memoirs are not my favored genre, and I won’t even get into the “should memoirs be classified as fiction or non-fiction” debate, but I really enjoyed this book…to a point. I have studied Rushdie’s novels in classes, and I have sought them out independently; it would be safe to say that I am a fan of his work. In that regard, it was really fascinating to read the opening chapters of this memoir and hear what he had to say about/in defense of his work, his identity, and the impact the fatwa had on his life and his writing. It was a chore to finish it though: his impatience with the British government and world at large  came through in his writing towards the end which I don’t think is fair to fault him for, but at the same time, I didn’t really want to read the sustained frustration for hundreds of pages. Overall, it was a good and informative read. It made me laugh and it made me despair over the world’s politics and humanity in turns.

1/7: A New Turn in the South (by Hugh Acheson) This is a cookbook that I bought in hopeful preparation for moving north. Southern cuisine is still somewhat of an astonishing mystery to me since I do not particularly seek out fried food, sea food, or know much about their region-specific vegetables. Most okra I’ve had has been slimy, and being dairy-free, most homemade fried foods are off-limits to me. That aside, I’m hopeful that Acheson’s cookbook will help me explore this cuisine and learn to appreciate it more. If nothing else, it is very interesting and I look forward to trying the recipes (and maybe even going to one of his restaurants!) soon.

1/8: Lettered Bones (by Susan Finch Stevens) I am a big fan of poetry and book/literary festivals. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to hear Stevens do a reading at the South Carolina Book Festival and I enjoyed it so much that I picked up a copy of her chapbook, Lettered Bones. The poems are smart and delightful. I highly recommend picking up a copy and supporting the SC Poetry Initiative and a really talented poet.

1/9: Blackout (by Connie Willis) Time-traveling historians! Absolutely amazing, and I cannot get enough. See a full review here.

1/10: All Clear (by Connie Willis) This is the sequal to Blackout, and it is equally amazing. Again, see the full review here.

1/11: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (by William Joyce) This book was the inspiration for this Youtube video version of the story. Both the book and the video are amazing! I really love the art and the concept of the story. I highly recommend this book (and the video) to anyone who loves books.

1/12: Earthling (by Steve Healey) This is a book of poems by an author who attended the Clemson Literary Festival in 2012. I enjoyed his reading, and skimmed the book of poems before purchasing it and expected to like it well enough, and to be fair, I did just that. You have to like poetry to enjoy this book though; I wouldn’t classify his work as leisure-reading poetry.

1/13: Under Wildwood (by Colin Meloy) The Wildwood Chronicles, which began with Wildwood, has continued with a strong second book. I really believe (and hope!) that these books will become the newest generation’s Narnia equivalent. They contain all the charm and morality of coming-of-age stories, with the magic of talking animals and the beautiful, optimistic outlook of  children. I have been truly impressed by the skill of Meloy’s story crafting, and Carson Ellis’s illustrations are perfectly matched to the tone of the story. I highly recommend these for adults who loved the Narnia series, and allyoung-adult readers.

1/14: The End of the West (by Michael Dickman) Without wanting to diminish my appreciation and respect for Michael Dickman as a poet, I must say I picked up his book of poems because I was such a huge fan of his brother, Matthew Dickman. These are two seriously talented brothers. The End of the West is smart and emotive. I think a review in The Believer summed it up very well: “Elizabeth Bishop said that the three qualities she admired most in poetry were accuracy, spontaneity, and mystery. Michael Dickman’s first full-length collection of poems demonstrates each brilliantly.”

1/15: Glaciers (by Alexis M. Smith) This is a novel that I found utterly charming. The main character is so relatable, and the story offering such a brief window that it reads much like the vintage postcards she collects. A quote on the back of a postcard she finds read “You are all I see when I open or close a book” and has stuck in my mind. I think it is a beautiful idea that books could be so filled with a(n assumed) lover, and makes me wonder whether that is because of her picture being tucked inside and used as a bookmark, or perhaps it is something more abstract and related to the innumerable and unknown possibilities offered by a book and paralleled in their relationship. Regardless, I highly recommend the book and fully expect you to read it front to back in a single sitting! It is that good (and short).

Without wanting to give too much away, I must say that the book as a whole is delightful, but it is the opening chapter that moved this book into my top 10 favorites list. This chapter tells the story of a mother who has buried herself in books to hide from grief and who “enjoys every part of a book…[but] collected exquisite phrases and complicated rhythms, descriptions that undulated across a page like cake batter pouring in to a pan, [and] read aloud to put the words in the air.” I do not think this is the normal way of reading, but sometimes I truly do read this way. I am often bursting to share turns of phrase or searching through books that I read years ago trying to find a single paragraph that moved me so profoundly that I return to it time and again. The title character of this chapter, Lillian, is a young girl who learns to cook through trial and error, gains confidence from observation, and learns to cook based on instinct and to the needs of the person (or people) she is feeding, her mother. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I am able to cook in the same way that Lillian learns to, I think most home cooks try very hard to make good food that people enjoy eating and that is certainly true of me.

To top off my thorough enjoyment of the story, the novel is filled with good ideas for cooking and the most wonderful non-recipes, such as “Take ingredients on the prep table, chop as need be. Butterfly turkey and flavor inside and out, as you like. Make a package. Send it,” which are the instructions given in the cooking class for stuffed turkey breast with rosemary, cranberries, and pancetta. This idea and function of recipes is so simple and well-aligned with my experiences in the kitchen that I was completely charmed by this novel beginning to end.

Even if you aren’t very interested in food, I think there is beauty and peace to be found within this novel; though of course, those who love the preparation and consumption of food will appreciate this story more fully.  Enjoy!

If you’ve ever grown zucchini or squash in a backyard garden, you are all too aware that you’ll reach a certain point in the summer where you begin running out of ideas of what to do with all of it. Unfortunately, it’s still spring so that wonderful problem isn’t quite upon us yet, but I thought that with the weather quickly warming, now is a good time to start prepping for the summer squash bonanza.

I might add, that I absolutely love zucchini; when forced to choose a favorite vegetable, zucchini is often my answer even though broccoli, peppers, and peas are pretty much tied with it for first. That aside however, I am always looking for delicious, hearty, non-dairy vegetarian dishes (that’s a mouthful!) that are easy to prepare because if it isn’t fairly easy to make, it won’t get made very often. Zucchini boats are something I associate with my mother, and she always filled them with a delicious cheesy, onion-y filling that was divine. (This filling also happened to be the sauce  for my parent’s baked macaroni and cheese; onion+butter+flour+milk+cheese+noddles = comfort food heaven.)  Both the macaroni and zucchini boats were certainly delicious dish, but I cannot eat them anymore due to my lactose issues. Furthermore, my boyfriend thought the macaroni sauce-filled zucchinis were rather boring texturally since it was all rather “mushy” as he put it. To fix both of these problems I came up with a new recipe that combined the best of both worlds: keep the zucchini boats and sauce, but come up with a new filling that had a different source of protein and flavor.

The recipe below makes about 4 main-course servings. To adjust, make about 1 whole zucchini per adult or 1/2 for children, and only increase the beans and onion slightly to accommodate more servings.

1 onion, diced
4 zucchini, washed
1 12 or 15 oz can black beans
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c cheese (optional)
marinara sauce to cover (approximately 2 cups)

To prepare:

1.Preheat the oven to 450° F. NOTE: 350° F also works, but will extend the cooking time by about 10-15 minutes.

2. Fill a pot large enough to loosely and flatly fit all of the zucchini, about halfway with water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, wash the zucchini.

2. Dice the onion. Add the onion and olive oil to the sauté pan. Sauté until the onion has softened.

3. Rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander and add to the onions. Drizzle with more olive oil if needed. Sauté until warm.

3. Add the zucchini to the boiling water, reduce to medium heat, and cook for 15-20 minutes. When the zucchini bruises when you try to remove it from the water, it’s done. Remove the zucchini and place on a cutting board.

4. Cut both ends off and halve each zucchini. Then using a spoon, scoop out the seedy membrane. Be careful not to burn yourself because it needs to be done while they are still hot, and also be careful not to break the skin.

5. Dice up the seedy membrane you removed from the zucchini and add it to the beans and onion filling. That way nothing goes to waste and you get even more of that zucchini goodness!

5. Spray a small glass pan with PAM and lay the boats in so that they fit snuggly enough not to tip over, but not tightly.

6. Fill the boats with the beans and onion mixture. Then cover with cheese if desired.

7. Put in the preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes.

8. Pull out of the oven, add the marinara sauce so that is covers all of the boats, and place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling around the sides.

That’s all there is to it! It’s about 45 minutes start to finish, but 20 minutes of it is just waiting for it to bake. This dish is a really balanced meal in and of itself and would be a nice change for vegetarians and vegans who are all to often served soggy eggplant paremsan and greasy stuffed portobello mushrooms; however, it’s also a great way to incorporate more veggies and non-meat proteins in to your diet. I served the zucchini boats with a baked potato dish, but it’s hearty enough that not much else is needed. I know I’ll be making this recipe again soon because it was a big hit! In the future I may try adding some minced garlic and freshly cracked pepper to the filling, but even without that it was full of flavor and really satisfying.

Also, the concept of filling a food with other foods, especially when you can call one a boat, is a great way to get kids to eat vegetable dishes…or at least, it worked for all the kids I know! Stuffed peppers are another good alternative, but I’ll save that for another day.

I hope you enjoy!

I don’t often come across books that I cannot appreciate for one reason or another, but this one takes the cake. I will say this: the novel is well written and quite emotional. However, in the same breath I feel obliged to say that being well written and emotional but offering nothing but sadness is a bad combination. There is no salvation for the young girl fleeing Nigerian civil war, the British family that the finds falls apart because of knowing her, and the end is violent in an ambiguous way that leaves the reader unsatisfied and in need of hugs and comfort food.

Cleave certainly has a way with words, and I still become sad thinking about the opening chapters of the novel in which a man commits suicide, leaving his wife and child to deal with Little Bee’s arrival and his death at the same time. The image of a toddler, dressed in a batman outfit, climbing in to his father’s grave, pleading with his mother to let his daddy out of the coffin is something that I found especially heart-wrenching. It reminds me of my niece, barely three years old, drawing a picture of a (self-described) “friendly monster” to put in to my uncle’s coffin in order to keep away the monsters and make sure he doesn’t get scared by the dark. Explaining death to a child is one of the most difficult parts of dealing with the loss of a loved one, and the fact that Cleave captured some of that difficulty impresses me.

To be honest, for all that his poignant and intelligent prose impresses me,I just cannot recommend the novel. I firmly believe that books should be written to teach, explain, discuss, explore, and/or inspire. While this book touches upon displacement/refugees from and violence in Nigeria, it does so in such a way that all only the very slightest ripples  of this  reverberate in the story and that bothers me immensely. If I read a book about international refugee laws, refugees, and/or families disintegrating under the burden of witnessing the violence creating the refugees, I want there to be a point, or a rally to action, but it must be something more than an ambiguous ending dominated by death and unknown victim(s).

If you are interested in these topics, this may be the book for you. However, I would not, under any circumstances, give it as a gift. Nor would I classify this as a “Beach Read” as so many bookstores seem to have done; especially if you do read the book, you’ll understand the why I find  this particular classification horrifically ironic.

The narrative is not necessarily chronological is it arcs from the first date all the way to the breaking point(s) of the relationship, and yet, David Levithan skillfully captured a wide spectrum of emotions without actually concluding the relationship, and without ever actually providing closure of any sort. It is so brief, and yet I could spend many hours pouring over the pages with the Oxford English Dictionary pulled up trying to research the root, history, past use, and current complexity of meanings with each word. Piecing together the many ways in which the word is rightfully assigned to each moment. In addition to that, however, what I found most compelling about this carefully crafted narrative is that it reads, in many ways, like a poem, yet it also reads like a conversation you might have over drinks with a friend who just needs to get some stuff off his chest about his relationship.

A prime example of poetry/casual narrative is the building of  a moment splintered across several words: ‘lerry,’ ‘persevere,’ ‘quixotic,’ ‘serrated,’ ‘traverse.’  As I saw the word “leery” end with the line Finally, I said, “It’s over.” I thought the relationship actually did end, but then I continued reading and found the moment continuing under the label of different words. Under “persevere” that moment expanded: Finally, I said, “It’s over. You started to cry, and I quickly said, “No — I mean this part is over. We have to get to the next part.” Again it expands with “quixotic:” ‘Finally, I said, “It’s over.” You started to cry, and I quickly said, “No – I mean this part is over. We have to get to the next part.” And you said, “I’m not sure we can.”  And with “serrated:” And you said, “I’m not sure we can.” Then the moment concludes on the word “traverse” which leaves the moment rather ambiguous and that ambiguity is further emphasized by ending on a question: You started to cry, and I quickly said, “No — I mean this part is over. We have to get to the next part.” And you said “I’m not sure we can.” Without even having to think about it, I replied, “Of course we can.” “How can you be so sure?” you asked. And I said, “I’m sure. Isn’t that enough?” I really appreciate the way the words assigned to each portion of this moment relay so much emotion and, in some ways, clarity to what is being described; the words—leery, persevere, quixotic, serrated, traverse— capture the moment of wariness as you try to trudge through the difficult emotions of a fight, the willingness to keep trying to make it work, the simultaneous idealism and pessimism  conveyed within a moment of reflection on the relationship, the edge with which the reflection can be received when voiced, and finally that ambiguous question tied up with the many paths that  could be taken to reach a conclusion to an argument (or relationship).

Perhaps I’ve said too much about that one string of narrative within the book, but I assure you, there is very little revealed about the relationship itself within that sequence. Furthermore, the narrative is told in first person pronouns meaning the only two characters are “I/me” and “you” which allows the reader to impose a lot of his/her own experiences on the story which is oddly easy to relate to even if you’ve never been in that precise situation.

I truly enjoyed this foray in to defining words through experiences and the things left unsaid rather than the precise, often sterile definitions available in most dictionaries. My recent experiences have led me to question the validity of definitions that only take in to account the denotative meaning of a word without consideration of the connotative and modern usage of the word. My instinct is to choose the denotative meaning over the connotative meaning, often without question, but I have long enjoyed juxtaposing the denotative and connotative meanings of words (as they often disagree) within narratives. That enjoyment was taken to the next level as Levithan, himself, intentionally participated in the exploration of tensions between connotative and denotative meanings as he strove to condense each of these moments into a single word. The tension between these two sides of a word, are what, in my opinion, created the majority of the book’s emotion. In my opinion, it is a beautiful thing when words are given so much power to shape the way a brief moment is perceived.

I am really looking forward to revisiting this book and taking the time to go through it with several different dictionaries in hand and pull out all of the complexity entangled within this brief narrative of a relationship. I suspect I’ll come to respect this book even more as a result of that detailed study, but for now I will leave it at this: this is neither a happy nor a sad story of a relationship, but rather a middle of sorts with no ending in sight, but a threat clearly perceptible. Be capturing this middle and concluding with a word that epitomizes the highlight/brightness, it also conveys a clear sense that the apex has been reached and a decline is soon to follow. The tension between the words and the so-called definitions provided builds up to this apex and then, without letting the decline begin, the novel ends. To tell a full tale of a relationship in such a narrow swath of time within that relationship takes talent and immense creativity. I believe I may take this approach if ever I find myself at a point in a relationship that is too glum to see my way through. This book has caught my imagination, made me extra thankful for the relationship I’m in, and weighed my heart down with the unanswered questions and the quiet sadness carried by the silences.

Pick it up at a bookstore near you, or click here to buy it from Amazon. You’ll love it!

I highly recommend this delicious gem of a wine that I picked up for a scant $14.00 at a Fresh Market. I served it with an Italian beans and rice dish (Riso e Fagioli) which turned out to pair really nicely. The food was hearty and earthy, so I liked the way the sweetness of the wine contrasted, and then I cut up a Honeycrisp apple to serve for desert (non-dairy deserts are often rather depressing, but fresh fruit is always a winner in my book) and it went really well! Even my boyfriend, who isn’t usually in to sweets or fruit commented on how well the wine paired with the apple.

I will definitely be purchasing another bottle of this soon and keeping it on hand for a summer evening of entertaining as well as for an evening spent cuddled up with a blanket and a good book. I hope you can find a bottle in your area! It would be well worth your search. Cheers!

In the spirit of the day, I wanted first to praise the beauty of March 17, 2012 Google Doodle created by artist Jennifer Hom. It’s reminiscent of all of the things I love about Celtic art and knots, but not overly burned with the cliched shamrocks and glaring greens that dominate the usual celebrations. It reminds me of all the time so many of my friends and I spent choosing designs and colors for solo dresses, or even dreaming about the day when we’d get to design a solo dress.

Secondly, I found this sweet children’s book at the store the other day and I couldn’t resist buying it just for myself!  S is for Shamrock: An Ireland Alphabet is adorable and even features a dancer in some semblance of ghillies and appropriate attire dancing to a band made up of an accordion, a fiddle, a bodhrán, and a tin whistle. Sounds like my kind of St. Patrick’s Day party!

Finally, I found this adorable pair of Ghillie Earrings on Amazon and don’t know that I can live without them! I imagine feises are overrun with such things, but I’ve been out of that circuit for too long to have picked them up sooner. Either way, these would nicely pay homage to my childhood past time and look nice too! I think I’ll be giving myself a present in the near future.

I hope you have a very happy St. Patrick’s day! I’ll be drinking green sprite, eating Irish Stew, baking soda bread, blasting Gaelic Storm and raising a glass for Uncle Mike. Cheers!