Monday, January 30, 2012

Turkey, Rabbit and Wild Boar OH MY!!


I have never read a book like this before Georgia Pellegrini took my on a wild adventure with a 270-caliber rifle and a 20-guage shotgun. Who would have thought that I would be turning pages on a girl and her adventure on the hunts!  Each chapter introduced a new hunt, from Texas to England, and new recipes, from Javelina Chili to Jugged Hare.

Ms. Pellegrini described each hunt in full detail of landscape, chase, hunt and menu. And not to mention the cocktails, I want to try “Slogasms, sloe gin mixed with champagne” Sometime I got the feeling that it was more of a whisky hunt with a shot of game. I admire her courage and skills during her time in Wyoming. You have to read about that hunter! Let’s just say I was like OMG could be serial killer.

Although, I can’t really see myself venturing onto any ranch soon I do commend Ms. Pellegrini for an awesome detailed account on the hunt to table. I recommend this book to a true chef that identifies with their meals. A chef that triumphs in the creation of their meals from farm to kitchen to table.

Pick it up – read it if you try a recipe LET ME KNOW. I love how she ended the book :: “Whatever the journey, wherever you find it, may it be a wild one.”

WATCH ::  




READ ::


Book Description (From Amazon)
What happens when a classically-trained New York chef and fearless omnivore heads out of the city and into the wild to track down the ingredients for her meals? After abandoning Wall Street to embrace her lifelong love of cooking, Georgia Pellegrini comes face to face with her first kill. From honoring that first turkey to realizing that the only way we truly know where our meat comes from is if we hunt it ourselves, Pellegrini embarks on a wild ride into the real world of local, organic, and sustainable food.

Teaming up with veteran hunters, she trav­els over field and stream in search of the main course—from quail to venison and wild boar, from elk to javelina and squirrel. Pellegrini’s road trip careens from the back of an ATV chasing wild hogs along the banks of the Mississippi to a dove hunt with beer and barbeque, to the birthplace of the Delta Blues. Along the way, she meets an array of unexpected characters—from the Commish, a venerated lifelong hunter, to the lawyer-by day, duck-hunting-Bayou-philosopher at dawn—who offer surprising lessons about food and life. Pellegrini also discovers the dangerous underbelly of hunting when an outing turns illegal—and dangerous.

More than a food-laden hunting narrative, Girl Hunteralso teaches you how to be a self-sufficient eater. Each chapter offers recipes for finger-licking dishes like:
  • wild turkey and oyster stew
  • stuffed quail
  • pheasant tagine
  • venison sausage
  • fundamental stocks, brines, sauces, and rubs
  • suggestions for interchanging proteins within each recipe
Each dish, like each story, is an adventure from begin­ning to end.

An inspiring, illuminating, and often funny jour­ney into unexplored territories of haute cuisineGirl Hunter captures the joy of rolling up your sleeves and getting to the heart of where the food you eat comes from.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

How do you spell M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I?



You remember that relationship when you were younger; you and your friend next door were friends for life, two peas in a pod and then one day something changed, no more tea parties or hot wheel derbies, the outside world entered in to your circle.

Well, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel (P.S.) By Tom Franklin takes us on a boys journey through a young man’s life and the consequences of social situations between races and social classes. This is a brilliant story between two men, a town and a murderer. The best part was the secret at the end.

When you open the book the pages just keep turning. I love that in a writer… take me on the journey until my eyes can’t stay open.

Go ahead I won’t spoil it! You have to read about it.
Much love,

Jennifer





READ:: 

Title:  Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel (P.S.)
Author:  Tom Franklin
Genre: Fiction
Theme: Mystery, Fiction,  Southern
ISBN-13: 978-0060594671
 
Product Description (from Amazon)

In the 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals in a small town in rural Mississippi. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry was the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, black single mother. But then Larry took a girl to a drive-in movie and she was never seen or heard from again. He never confessed . . . and was never charged.

More than twenty years have passed. Larry lives a solitary, shunned existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has become the town constable. And now another girl has disappeared, forcing two men who once called each other "friend" to confront a past they've buried for decades.


WATCH:: 


Monday, January 23, 2012

February Titles


This month we have some amazing selections to keep the pages turning. McMahon takes on a journey in the woods of Vermont, Snyder captures us in the tales of a murder, while Hillendbrand reminds of our countries history and Allen takes to a southern town for some magic. Check out the selection below. I hope to hear your reviews. Let me know what you think. 

Much Love,

 Jennifer






by Jennifer McMahon
:: On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Poison Study (Study #1)
by Maria V. Snyder
:: Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of killing Reyad. He deserved to die--but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman's noose.

Unbroken: A World War II Book of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand
:: On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
:: In her latest enchanting novel, New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen invites you to a quirky little Southern town with more magic than a full Carolina moon. Here two very different women discover how to find their place in the world—no matter how out of place they feel.

 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Black and White with a dash of Scarlet

My Favorite line from the description is “utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements.” I was not prepared for this magical enchantment that THE NIGHT CIRCUS brought to me with each turn of the page. The “contest” started without a true understanding of what the meaning of the contest was to each player. The reader is taken on a magical journey introduced to new characters with special talents. And each new tent at the circus made me a believer of the true circus experience. If the Le Cirque des Rêves was in town I would wear my scarlet scarf and be one with the Rêves.

Who doesn’t love a love story that tries to keep the lovers apart only to find that secret way to stay together! I was taken away by the thrill of the circus tents and the imagination of each setting. I truly believe it was an “enchanting” story. Yup! I am sticking with the “enchanting” I just hope one day this becomes a movie… I want to ride Le Cirque des Rêves train Not a Hogwarts Express but one with more magic.

About Erin M. I implore you to visit her blog. Her site has the dreamiest quote: “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. - Oscar Wilde.

Much Love,

 Jennifer






READ ::


Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Fiction
Theme: Magic, Love, metaphysical, women’s fiction
ISBN-13: 978-0385534635

WATCH ::

Video Preview :: 
fall in love with the music :)

Author Interviews with Erin Morgenstern :: 



Product Description (From Amazon)

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Definitely not a tear jerker

This funny chic, Mindy Kaling, writer/actress on The Office, has you really thinking about how funny life’s experiences - romance, friendship and working in the great place of Hollywood can lead to a great book. These twists in experiences can be a tear jerker in the HILARIOUS kind of way. Mindy takes us on a personal journey into her discovery of comedy, friendship and that perfect job.


Title: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? 
Author: MINDY KALING
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Theme: Humor, Entertainer, Biographies & Memoirs
ISBN-13: 978-0307886262


I want to laugh!
I swear at times I was like OMG that is hilarious! The reminder of those OLD family photos’ you hope nobody would post; she proudly inserts into her stories bringing the reader up front and personal to her experiences. Or remember that time in school when you wish you could have erased from everyone’s memory; she reminds us of a memory we can all recall making us wonder how we made it this far. Then she brings her current obsessions and habits to light make us all seem a little closer in this small world. Don’t we all memorize our credit card numbers, to get that quick sale on Gilt.com

I have to say not at all as raunchy as our hysterical Miss Chelsea H. and not as descriptive as miss Tina F. (Sorry, Tina I couldn’t even finish the book – love the shows and comedy but the book – next one :)

This book was a quick read as Mindy clearly states “if you are reading this book longer than two days something is up". I recommend this book for that quick read in between a long drawn out historical fiction or a train ride on the LIRR from Montauk to Penn, or stop at her old stomping grounds in Brooklyn.

Book Description (from Amazon)

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles

Cutting for StoneUnforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles--and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined
Author: Abraham Verghese
Genre: Literature & Fiction,
Theme: Medical, Domestic Life, Family Saga
ISBN-13: 978-0375714368

When I started this book I said to myself, hmmm am I going to like this? Most books are familiar surroundings, situations and customs I find familiar. This book brought me to another place, rich in culture, traditions, scenery, not just the unfamiliar African community but the medical community. Never have I felt like I was right in an operating room or feel the pressure of the doctor trying to turn a baby to the correct position to move down the birth canal. The description of scenes brought me right to the center of room. I almost wanted to wash my hands J to make sure no one was contaminated.

The story of these two brothers, Marion and Shiva take you on a young boy’s journey from childhood to manhood. The struggles, the loss, the joy, the education and self-education, determination and the dancing fever made it a page turner. And it is not only the girls that have heart ache, the excitement of young love and disappointment lead to many different paths in this story.

As I read this book I came across a passage that made me sit back and say YES! As a parent this is a perfect reminder to all, see if you agree as a father explained to his children “… the key to happiness is to own your own slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own your talents you have and own the ones you don’t….Not only our actions, but also our omissions become our destiny.”

What I found in this book was LOVE & FAMILY no matter what happens a FAMILY will always be together in one way or another, whether apart for days or years.

I share this book with my friend, Mary W. I hope she has time with her two little ones. If you pick up a copy join me in a SHARE A BOOK. Pass that book to a friend.

Much love,  










Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Books on the nightstand

I got them sitting and waiting for the pages to turned.


Arrived right before the end of the year. And to be honest  I started and finished a book already (IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME?) I will update a new post on each book selected for January 2012.

I ended the year 2011 with an amazing story Cutting for Stone. (review in separate post) Looking forward to reading with you.
Much Love,











Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...