Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Tricky Twenty Two Review on this Tuesday and a new Salad Recipe

Are you a Janet Evanovich fan?  I am.  Yes, I know all the arguments about her Stephanie Plum novels.  They are all the same.  How long can you write about Stephanie trying to choose between Morelli and Ranger?  The characters never seem to grow or expand.

True all true....and I still eagerly anticipate each new book in the series.  Why?  Because they are fun!!!  They make me laugh out loud and laughter is always a good thing.  I have become friends with all of the characters and when I compare them to my real life friends, I find that the story lines are not that far off.  We don't change much.  We don't grow much.  Our days are pretty much the same...going to the same jobs, hanging out with the same people, making the same mistakes over and over again, eating the same foods.....so for those of you that claim the Plum series is not realistic....I beg to differ and ask you to take a look at your own life to see just how realistic they are.

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For those of you who are Stephanie Plum fans, you will enjoy this book like all the others.  You will laugh and not have to think too much.  Isn't that why we read anyway....to escape and not have to tax our minds?  

I made two new recipes for dinner last night.  Both were easy peasy so they didn't take much brain power either.  This is good because my word for this year is BREATHE.  So I am learning to relax, not really, but I am pretending to learn to relax LOL.

I have made the same mac and cheese recipe since I was 12 years old and cooking in my Mom's kitchen.  It is a dry mac and cheese and one of Frank's favorite dishes.

I really had no reason to change up my mac and cheese except that I saw a recipe for a crockpot version and it looked so good I decided to give it a try.  Since Tingting and Little Miss Melody were joining us and they love "baby cabbages" as they are called by Tingting, I decided to make a warm Brussels sprouts salad.

The new Mac and Cheese recipe was an epic failure.  I ate my serving, Ting ate a couple of bites. Frank took one bite, looked at me and said "you make the best macaroni and cheese in the world, why would you do this?" Melody promptly spit her bite out.


Melody when offered her second bite of Mac and Cheese.

Fortunately, the warm Brussels sprouts salad was a success.  Frank, Ting and Melody enjoyed their salad with ham sandwiches.  The mac and cheese got taken out to the hens.


I had some Brussels Sprouts in the refrigerator so I shredded them up and sauteed them in butter with sage and cranberries.  They were delicious!!  



Warm Brussels Sprout Salad

1-2 c. shredded Brussels Sprouts
2 T. butter
1/2 t. rubbed sage
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. dried cranberries

Melt the butter over med high heat in a large skillet.  Add the Brussels Sprouts, sage, salt and pepper and toss until wilted and tender, 2 or 3 minutes.  Add the cranberries, toss to coat everything evenly and serve.  Print Recipe
   

8 comments:

  1. I can't imagine any macaroni and cheese to be inedible!! What was the problem with it? The salad, however, does sound wonderful! Love the picture of Melody!!

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    1. Well the recipe called for mayonnaise and sour cream to be added along with 4 other types of cheeses. It was very rich and Frank thought it tasted sour. Melody, as you can see, hated it and she is like Mikie....she eats anything LOL

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    2. Yum it sounds really good to me!!

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    3. Yes, I am sure it is just a matter of taste. The blog I took it from was very pleased with how it turned out.

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  2. I have loved all of the Stephanie Plum novels, but I think there is a mistake in this book. Since you are an avid fan maybe you can confirm. On page 89 Lulu asks about Hal like she barely knows him. I thought they dated some in the earlier novels. Am I wrong? This really bugged me and I tried searching for the mistake with no luck. Like your blog btw.

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  3. You are right that Hal and Lula were an item. I missed the reference to which you are referring completely. I will have to go back and see if I can find it. Thanks for stopping by and the kind words about my blog.

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  4. The writing did seem somewhat different than the other books though, almost like Evanovich had a co-writer or a different editor. Great book though. I never want this series to end.

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