I skipped booklogging in August. (There will probably be less skipping of entire months now that I have more free time.) Here’s the list, though, with scattered comments. As always, do please feel free to comment or ask questions.

( fiction )

( non-fiction )

( rereads )

Tags: booklog

Liam's first day of school
Originally uploaded by gwyneira


This is after we got home, since the pictures I took in the kitchen this morning didn't turn out terribly well. He said he had a good time at school; he's actually smiling in the picture, though he looks though he's grimacing. (Lately he can't figure out how to smile naturally for a picture.)

Oh, and here's a bonus picture which G. took of me playing pool a couple of weeks ago. Interesting to note which areas of the picture are actually in sharp focus, hm?

Tags: liam, pictures

Yargh, I thought I'd posted this weeks ago, but apparently not.

( Carla Kelly, Beau Crusoe )

( Charles Dickens, Bleak House )

( Laurel Winter, Growing Wings )

( Jessica Day George, Dragon Flight )

( Sherwood Smith, A Stranger to Command )

( Von Hardesty and Gene Eisman, Epic Rivalry )

( also read )

Tags: booklog

I am uninspired by this week's share. Help!

We got:
- one head butter lettuce
- one small bunch Swiss chard
- one small bunch kale
- one small bunch red spring onions
- one small head orange cauliflower
- three tomatoes: they're green and hard as rocks, so I can't tell if they're heirlooms (I assume so) or just not ripe
- two pale yellow peppers, which I think are hot but might be smallish bell peppers
- some radishes
- 13 ounces (I just weighed them) of what I think must be fava beans, which I've never cooked with before (ETA: having split one pod open to find small, mostly red beans inside, now I think they must be runner beans of some sort)

The lettuce is for salads, and I'll probably use the other greens and the spring onions for stir-frying, as usual. The radishes are for eating out of hand, and so might the cauliflower be (if G. likes it raw, which I can't remember for sure).

I guess I'll have to taste the peppers to see what they are. If they're hot, maybe fajitas? And I guess if I do that, I could just make salsa out of the tomatoes.

The fava beans really mystify me. Risotto, maybe?

Also, it annoys me that we're supposed to be able to pick up starting at noon, yet when I got there at 1pm, they were still setting up and didn't have all the signs up yet as to what produce there is this week and how much of each we should take. If I hadn't already been annoyed, I'd probably have asked for more information on the peppers, tomatoes, and beans.

Tags: cooking, csa

I read about 150 pages of Anthony Levi's biography of Louis XIV this week, before deciding that it's too poorly written and organized and insufficiently open-minded to continue on with. (For example, he's completely convinced that Mazarin was Louis' father and bases more of his analysis than I'd like on that speculation.)

Can anyone recommend a good biography? I have Nancy Mitford's The Sun King and will probably reread it, but something more, um, scholarly and in-depth would be nice. Also, primary source recommendations would be appreciated. I've a Penguin selection of Mme de Sevigne's letters and will acquire at least a selection of Saint-Simon's memoirs.

And on a more general topic, is there a historical period you're fascinated with at the moment? If so, do tell. Mine right now are Renaissance Italy, Louis XIV's France, and Regency England. I rather wish I could concentrate on one thing at a time, but my mind seems to want to flit between these times and places instead.

(Thanks to angevin2, from whom I just ganked this timely icon!)

Tags: books, history

The weather has been disappointingly sedate here, actually. We entirely missed the thunderstorm a couple of nights ago, and there's been barely any rain today yet. I continue to hope for more rain, at least.

Liam left with my parents yesterday for the airport, to fly up to Alaska to visit my aunt and uncle. This means I have all week free to do whatever I want. So of course, I am posting a silly poll, in celebration of free time!

Poll #1244139 Any way the wind blows
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who wants to live forever?

Just one year of love is better than a lifetime alone.

Choose:

Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?

Got a favorite Queen song?

Tags: polls

There's a slightly better balance between leafy greens and other things this week, thank goodness. The cucumber and the bell pepper are just for eating, and it shouldn't be hard to plan the other things. I could have got zucchini, but I imagine G.'s co-workers are getting a little tired of zucchini-themed baked goods. (Besides, I want to make them cookies next week, maybe something kind of complicated, since I'll have extra time for baking.)

( this week's bag )

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a sustainability fair in Port Gamble. Among the brochures we picked up (mostly aimed at alternative energy sources for the house we'll be building next year, we hope), I got one for a local outfit that does organic produce deliveries. I checked out their web site, and lo and behold, they have a fruit-only option (since we don't need more veggies while the CSA is still going), which I signed up for and started last week.

( this week's bin )

And I've a loaf of whole wheat sourdough just out of the oven. Tomorrow, I think I'll make Rose Levy Beranbaum's banana feather loaf (a yeasted banana bread) and save it for making French toast this weekend.

Tags: cooking, csa

I got my fourth LibraryThing Early Reviewers book, a neat-looking biography of Emily Post. I do hope I like it, as I wasn't thrilled about the first and second books (Rosalind Laker's The Venetian Mask and a rather uninteresting book about the American/Soviet space race) and haven't gotten around to reading the third yet (Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife).

I signed up for Puget Sound Energy's Green Power Program a week or two ago. Today we got some literature about it in the mail, including a card to send in to get free organic chocolate. I am all about free chocolate.

I love how many fewer unwanted catalogs I'm getting after signing up at Catalog Choice last year. Thanks, cheesepuppet!

Yay, ballet tickets! But only the Nutcracker ones, which worries me a little. The postmark is only yesterday, though, so I guess the Swan Lake tickets should still be on the way.

Whoops, I almost did forget to pull further into the garage to allow for the bike rack. Good thing I'd sent Liam down to collect the garbage can before closing the garage door.

Tags: minutiae

G. and I took advantage of Liam's last day of farm camp and went out to play tennis this morning. We've never played (together) before, but we figured that it was worth a try, given how much fun we've been having with the tennis part of Wii Sports.

We pretty much sucked, but we had a lot of fun. G. didn't outstrip me as much as I feared he would; he's stronger and more in shape than I am, but our level of control is about the same. He does hit it hard to areas where I can't easily reach it more often than I do that to him, but it wasn't a big deal.

We were a little horrified at how much litter there was around the courts. We went around picking up when we were done and picked up probably eight or ten of those metal pull-off lids from cans of tennis balls, plus a couple of plastic lids and one can. Really, can't people clean up after themselves?

Then we picked up Liam, went home, and played catch in the yard for a while, until I got a throbbing headache and had to stop.

And now I think I will go out and sit restfully in the swing and read E. M. Delafield for a while, until it's time to make dinner.

Tags: fitness, personal

Gerber baby
Originally uploaded by gwyneira

Actually, it's Liam, at about six months old. My uncle took this (and several other very cute pictures). I just found a print of it while cleaning the office and had to scan and upload it.

Tags: liam

This week's bag:

- small bunch kale
- small bunch Swiss chard
- bag of mustard greens
- large head bok choy
- small red lettuce
- bunch green onions
- zucchini (I could have taken two, but I only took one)
- dozen eggs

I'm getting a little tired of leafy greens, I must admit. Some broccoli or something would make a nice change, and I already miss the peas.

- tonight: stir-fry chicken, mustard greens, and some green onions, probably with sesame sauce
- Friday: grill sausages (those Aidells roasted garlic and Gruyere ones we just got); make salad with red lettuce
- Sunday: risotto with kale, chard, more sausages, leftover fontina
- Monday: zucchini lemon muffins (and probably blueberry muffins also) for G. to take to work
- Tuesday or Wednesday: another stir-fry, with bok choy and the rest of the green onions; maybe peanut beef this time?

That takes care of everything except the eggs, which I seem to be able to use up fairly easily. Maybe I'll make that warm spinach salad with eggs, bacon, and croutons next week. Oh, that's a good idea, since I'll have the end of today's sourdough loaf to use up.

Current book: Jessica Day George, Dragon Flight; Von Hardesty and Gene Eisman, Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race

Tags: cooking, csa

I just finished making this for dinner; we'll eat it when G. gets home in a few minutes. It was really easy and tastes great, so I thought I'd post the recipe, which I modified from one in the Cook's Illustrated Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles.

( couscous salad )

This takes maybe, I d'know, 15 minutes from start to finish, and you can easily vary the ingredients and experiment with different combinations. I think it made about 3 good-sized servings (though I don't know exactly until I dish it out).

Tags: cooking, recipes

( Steven Brust, Jhegaala )

( Aaron Elkins, Uneasy Relations )

( Barbara Hambly, Die Upon a Kiss, Wet Grave )

( Deborah Crombie, Where Memories Lie )

( also read )

Tags: booklog