Monday, November 30, 2015

It's Monday! What are you reading? (Nov.30)


It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

My week:
Week was actually pretty good, reading wise, at least at the end of the week.   Guess I was too busy this week to get myself to read a book.  So here is what I read and am going to be reading this week:

Current reads:
• An Irish Country Christmas
• While We're Far Apart
• Circling the Sun

What I read last week:
• And to All a Good Night
• The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse
• Winter Street
• Butternut Lake: The Night Before Christmas

Coming up this week:
Probably more Christmas-type books and the new Richard Paul Evans book that I have signed out.

Hope you all have a great week of reading.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Sunday Salon /Sunday Post - Christmas Spirit Sign-up #csreadathon and Thankfully Reading Weekend

I realize that its been a few weeks since I have posted a Salon post and at least a couple since I posted anything at all. I've been busy reading books and watching videos and hence my blogging has suffered.

I know that 2015 is coming to a rapid end and I have made a few decisions, especially in regards to my reading challenges.  I am thinking that I am going to back down on the number of reading challenges that I participate during 2016, at least at the start.

I am also signing up for Michelle @ True Book Addict's Christmas Reading Challenge and Christmas Spirit Readathon.



For the reading challenge, I am going go for the Mistletoe level, in which I am hoping to read 2-4 Christmas books and I am also going to do Fa La La La Film challenge as well.  I hope that you can join as well.  And to kick things off, Michelle is hosting a read-a-thon for the first week.  I hope to read at least one or two books during this time.




And to add to that Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves is hosting the Thankfully Reading weekend.  I hope to spend a bit of time reading during the weekend.  


I will get back to my reading and hopefully I can start to catch-up the book reviews that have been piling up this coming week.

Hope you have a great rest of the day and a great week of reading.



Saturday, November 7, 2015

Weekend Cooking - Vegetarian Lasagna

From Beth Fish Reads: Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

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I normally don't like cooking.  The less time I have to spend cooking, the happier I am.  But there are a few items that I do enjoy making and prefer the taste of them to premade stuff.  This is one of them.

Ingredients:
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
1 box of oven ready lasagna noodles
1 container Ricotta (about 500 g)
2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
1 pkg Yves Italian Veggie Ground Round
1 large can of diced tomatoes

Supplies:
Large bowl for mixing sauce
Non-stick frying pan
9"x 13" glass baking pan
Mixing spoons
A fork
A drinking glass
Aluminum foil
Measuring cup

Instructions for preparation:
Open jar of spaghetti sauce and can of diced tomatoes.  Add  1 cup water.  Stir well.

Open package of veggie ground round.  Crumble it into the frying pan.  Fry the ground over medium heat until it is browning.  Keep crumbling it with your spatula to make the pieces small.  After 5-10 minutes, take it off the stove and add it to the sauce bowl.  Stir well.

Set out everything on your counter: sauce in bowl, ricotta in its container, grated mozzarella cheese, open box of noodles, pan, spoons, fork, glass.   Half fill the drinking glass with warm water.

Put 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of the pan (about 1 and 1/4 cups).  Cover with 3 noodles.  Drop half of the ricotta in spoonfuls on top of the noodles.  Dip your fork into the water glass.  Use the wet fork to spread the ricotta.  When the fork gets dry, dip it again.  The cheese won't be perfect, but it should be evenly distributed. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the Mozzarella cheese.  Top with 1/3 of the sauce (about 1.25 cups).

Top with 3 lasagna noodles.  Spread with remaining ricotta.  Use wet fork to spread it evenly.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese.  Top with 3 lasagna noodles (no sauce in this layer).

Pour remaining sauce on top.  Cover with mozzarella.

Wipe the rim with a clean, dry paper towel to remove any sauce or cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.

To refrigerate or freeze:
Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate/freeze.  Take out of freezer about 8 hours before you want to bake it OR take out of fridge 1 hour before you want to bake it.

Baking instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Put in foil-covered lasagna.  After 30 minutes, remove foil.  Insert oven probe (you can find these at most places that sell kitchen gadgets) that has been preset for 160F.  Return to oven.  When probe beeps, check to see if cheese on top is buble and brownish.  If not, turn on broiler. Keep watching.  When it's the way you want it, turn off broiler.  Remove lasagna.  Let sit on rack for 10 minutes so that the noodles will absorb excess liquid.  This helps the lasagna hold together.

I realize that a lot of you here probably know how to make a lasagna, but if you don't, this will help you make one yourself!  Thanks to my mom for giving me the above instructions.  Hope you enjoy.


What Strange Paradise - Omar El Akkad

 Title: What Strange Paradise ( Bookshop.org ) Author: Omar El Akkad Published: 2022 (first published 2021) Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Li...