Reviewing......Books, Chicks and Try it Tuesday Dinner

I finished Little Girl Lost this morning.  I must be on a roll.  This is the second book in a row in which I could not find any characters that I liked.  The first being Gone Girl which you will see reviewed at the link attached to Little Girl Lost.  But at least Gone Girl kept me on the edge of my seat and made me want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.  Not so with Little Girl Lost.  I was so disappointed for so many reasons.

• The protagonist is a female officer working in crimes involving children which was my life career.
• The protagonist is caring for a parent suffering with Alzheimers, which is what I am doing currently.
• It was a mystery, which is one of my favorite genres for reading material.
• It had a strong female lead character.  I hate nothing more than whiny, petulant woman placed into starring roles of books.
• It is first in a new series and I like reading continuing sagas of books.

So why didn't I enjoy it?

• I did not find any of the characters in the least bit likeable.
• The book was full of victims, there was not one victory in the entire book
• There was not one moment of happiness in the entire book
• There was no happy ending and no ending that would make you ever want to come back to see what happens next in the life of the protagonist.

That is not to say that it was a bad book.  It was well written, it flowed nicely and while it did not call me to come back to it or to not put it down it still held my attention while I was reading it.  Maybe I was just expecting too much....Kind of like when you see all the hype for a new movie and can't wait to see it only to be disappointed that it didn't live up to your expectations.

I will be linking up with List it Tuesday.  Join us there for more Listing fun.

In other news...It has been 1 week since my chicks arrived.  I thought I would update you on how much they have grown.

Chicks at 1 week of age.

I have moved them into a much larger pool.  They now have two feeders that are filled twice a day and a 3 gallon waterer that is filled each morning.  The first week, I had to clean the shavings twice. I will probably need to move that up to every other day this week and every day the following week when (hopefully) they will be ready to be moved into their coop....unless we are still having below freezing temperatures in May!!!!  We lost one meat chicken the first night.  I found it trampled to death in the morning.  We lost one laying hen who came to us sick but who did not seem to affect the other chicks.  That should be the end of those that we lose, normally if they make it through the first week they will be fine.  The next time we need to worry about losing any meat chickens is as they start growing.  You have to limit the amount of food they have access to as they will eat themselves right into a heart attack.

And finally, I want to share my Try it Tuesday Dinner with you.  I adapted my recipe from this one found on The Clever Carrot.

I wanted to use legs and thighs from chicken tonight as I am serving Chicken Marsala on Friday for Frank's birthday celebration and had to defrost 4 of my chickens to have enough breast meat.  I had printed out this recipe a while back so this was a perfect opportunity for me to try it.

Dinner is served.

I LOVED this dish.

It is a Rustic Chicken Stew.

I had visions of sitting at a sidewalk cafe, sopping up the delicious juice with crusty bread.

Frank did not care for it as much as I.  He thought it was just okay...but then he doesn't like artichokes or olives...both of which this dish demands for it's juicy, tangy goodness.

Mediterranean Baked Chicken

adapted from Dinner Tonight:The Clever Carrot

Marinade: 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

               3 T marinade from Artichoke Hearts

               2 T. Olive Oil

               Leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh Oregano

               4 chicken legs, skin removed

               4 chicken thighs, skin removed

Place all ingredients into a large sealable bag. Marinade in the refrigerator for 1-3 hrs.

1 lg. Red Onion, thinly sliced

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 (14 oz) Jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts

1 (14 oz) can white northern beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 c. Kalamata olives, pitted

1 small tub marinated Bocconcini (small Mozzarella Balls)

2 T. olive oil, divided

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. white wine or chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400*.  Toss onions and tomatoes with olive oil in a roasting pan.  Place in oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and tomatoes start to pop.

While veggies are roasting, brown chicken pieces in remaining olive oil over med high heat in a large fry pan. 

Remove roasting pan from oven.  Add browned chicken, artichoke hearts, beans and olives. Drain excess grease from frying pan, return to heat and add wine or chicken broth.  Deglaze pan, scraping up all the tasty brown bits stuck to the pan, pour over chicken and vegetables in roaster. Toss ingredients and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

Remove chicken from oven and toss with the Bocconcini, allowing it to melt slightly.  Move to serving dish and drizzle with remaining artichoke juice and additional olive oil if desired.

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