A few late season blossoms:
Archive for October, 2014
Almost Wordless Wednesday
Posted in Gardening, Home, Kentucky, Nature, Photography, tagged Cosmos, Flowers, Gardening, Zinnia on October 29, 2014| 1 Comment »
Book Beginnings
Posted in Books, tagged Book Beginnings, Books, Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest, Rose City Reader on October 23, 2014| 2 Comments »
Please join me today over at Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings. Feel free to join in with all of us book loving bloggers by sharing the first lines of a book you have read and your opinion about it. My book today is “Moon Over Manifest” by Clare Vanderpool:
“Santa Fe Railway
Southeast Kansas
May 27, 1936
The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I knew only from stories. The one just outside of town with big blue letters: MANIFEST: A TOWN WITH A RICH PAST AND A BRIGHT FUTURE.”
This is one of my happy accidents that I found on our library’s eBook page and I was drawn in by the description. I think it is actually a young adult book, but that doesn’t matter because it includes rich storytelling that pulls you in.
It tells the story of Abilene Tucker who is sent by her father to live with a friend of his while he searches for work. In meeting the people of Manifest, Abilene is able to draw out their stories and mend a long of broken hearts along the way.
Book Beginnings
Posted in Books, tagged Book Beginnings, Books, Divergent, Rose City Reader, Veronica Roth on October 9, 2014| 2 Comments »
As y’all well know, I am not a huge fan of Young Adult fiction. I guess I had enough teenage angst while I was actually a teenager, but there are a few series that have drawn me in. The Hunger Games trilogy and Harry Potter series are amazing reads and would stand up against any other fiction books out there.
I had heard a lot about the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and decided to give it a try. Here are the first lines from the first book, “Divergent”:
“There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.”
Thus begins the story of Beatrice “Tris” Prior who is at the age to be tested and pick a “faction” to which she will belong the rest of her life. Things don’t go quite the way she expects when she learns she is a “Divergent” during her test.
What does that mean exactly? Well, you will have to read the book to find out and I hope you do.
Please join me at Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings.
Tomato Herb Roast
Posted in Cooking on October 4, 2014| 3 Comments »
A lot of the new recipes I try come from other bloggers, but this is from the Better Homes & Garden website. My Nanny has subscribed to BHG for as long as I can remember and they always have tasty recipes to try. Their version is made in a Dutch oven, but I made mine in a slow cooker and it was delicious. It is a perfect Sunday supper idea.
Beef chuck roast, 2 to 3 pounds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
Season the roast with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil and then brown the roast on both sides in the hot oil.
Once the meat is brown, set it aside on a plate to make the sauce. Add the onion and garlic to the leftover oil and cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, beef broth and Italian seasoning. Bring this to a boil for about 3 minutes.
Spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray and pour about a cup of the sauce into the crock. Place the roast in the crock and cover with the rest of the sauce. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the roast is cooked through.
Picture Perfect Cooking 