Rating: 5/5 Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind (New York: DAW, 2008). I have a general rule that forbids me from starting a series of books that’s not already finished. It can take years for a sequel to make it through production, and by that time I’ve read so many other books that I basically have to start over...
Rating: 5/5 Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (New York: Avon, 2011). Originally published in 1950, The Martian Chronicles is another of those classics that I have known about but never taken the time to read. This is a true piece of literary art—poetry. The core story is of the colonization of Mars. It doesn’t...
Original recipe: http://makinglifedelicious.com/2011/02/05/happy-5th-world-nutella-day-nutella-cream-pie/ The recipe was straightforward and seemed to work out really well. It wasn’t too cheese cakey, and the toasted hazelnuts of course taste great. I used a store-bought Oreo crust. I under baked it a little bit, but...
Rating: 3/5 Larry Niven, Ringworld (New York: Del Rey, 1985). Before starting the second leg of our trip, I looked up some lists of top sci-fi and fantasy books and picked a few up. Ringworld was the first I finished. It’s a story about an alien race called puppeteers and how they discovered an artifact they call the...
Rating: 5/5 William Davis, Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health (New York: Rodale, 2011). This is another book that talks about the low-carb diet, wheat in particular. Did you know that wheat impacts your blood sugar even more than table sugar? One of his main points is that...
Part of the Adventures in Baking (AiB) series. Original recipe: http://www.joyofbaking.com/StrawberrySorbet.html I’ve always assumed sorbet is pretty easy to make, but I never really tried. This recipe worked great! Purée fruit, add some lemon juice, mix with simple syrup, freeze. Couldn’t be easier! I did a batch with...
Rating: 4/5 “Condottiere” by Fantasy Flight Games Condottiere is a card game of bluffing and second guessing. It has been around since 1995, but I am just now getting around to playing it! 2–6 players (the game works best with 3+) fight to control city states in Renaissance Italy. You do this by playing cards to your...
Part of the Adventures in Baking (AiB) series. Original recipe: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolatePudding.html I love chocolate pudding! It’s an absolute favourite of mine. I really enjoy the chocolate mousse I’ve been making , but it’s really rich. Sometimes you just want that smooth chocolate texture. I finally...
Part of the Adventures in Baking (AiB) series. Original recipe: http://picky-palate.com/2011/03/17/no-bake-chewy-cookies-and-cream-bars/ I have made these four times now , and I think I’ve decided what I like best. Because there are seven kids, you have to double it, which gives you a 9×13 pan. We like them a little...
Part of the Adventures in Baking (AiB) series. Original recipe: http://ohmysugarhigh.com/chocolate-chip-waffle-cookies-recipe/ These turned out quite nicely! They firm up but still remain a little chewy. The coconut adds a great flavour, and the waffle texture is a nice change from plain (but still yummy!) chocolate...