A tribute to Barbara . . . I miss you already

Thursday was an extremely sad day. One of my best friends, Barbara, passed away from cancer. The only consolation is she did not suffer too long. We are all going to miss her immensely. Barbara was one of those people others just naturally gravitated to. She was one of the most generous, kind, warmhearted, welcoming and fun loving people I have ever met. When we moved to FL 10 years ago, we met her and her husband. They lived just a few houses up the street. When ever any one new moved in, Barbara had a neighborhood party to introduce them to the neighbors. She made every occasion special and a lot of fun. I am sure you all have neighborhood get togethers and everyone seems to have their own "specialty". Well, Barbara's was a cheesy potato dish that everyone loved so much, we dubbed it "Barbara's Party Potatoes". I know everytime I make this recipe, I will remember all of the fun and laughter we had together over this ten year span. I just wanted to share her recipe with you.

G
Barbara's Party Potatoes


1 pkg. of Ore-Ida frozen southern hash brown potatoes (thawed)
1 minced onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c. melted butter
2 c. crushed corn flakes

Defrost hash browns. Put in greased 9 x 13 pan. Mix in onion. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Mix together soup, sour cream and 1/2 c. of the butter together and spoon over potatoes and cheese. Sprinkle the corn flakes on the top and then drizzle the remaining melted butter over the top.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until heated through. If you have ever had the hashbrown casserole at Cracker Barrel restaurant, this is similar to that. Now, don't even think of adding up the calories - these are party potatoes, although sometimes I make up a pan of them and freeze them in 6 indivudual packages. To re -heat, I sprinkle a little milk on them, cover, and put in the microwave for a minute or just until hot. They are great to have on hand in the freezer.
So, my dear friend, Godspeed on your journey, we will always remember you with much love!

Review: Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung

In her debut memoir, Unpolished Gem, Alice Pung narrates the story of her family's settling in Australia. They arrive from Cambodia with nothing except the expectation of a new baby in a month's time. When the child is born, her father names her Alice because he thought Australia to be a wonderland. This is really the story of Alice, her mother, her grandmother and their assimilation into a culture so very different from their own.

Alice's mother and grandmother are still clinging to a lot of their Chinese heritage whereas Alice's only frame of reference is Australia. She recounts how difficult it is for her mother to acclimatize herself to the new country; learning English, conducting her jewelry business and just everyday life. Her grandmother seems to adapt more easily. Alice becomes the go- between to her mother and grandmother and this creates some tension at times. Alice feels like she is Chinese at home and Australian outside. Alice says the life of a Chinese woman is constantly, sighing, lying and dying and that she wants no part of it.Growing up amid two different cultures is not always easy.

Throughout the story, Alice was very attached to her grandmother and her story telling. Unfortunately, when her grandmother passed away, Alice lost her sense of youthful security and knowing exactly who she was while growing up and trying to find her proper place in the world. Alice felt that her grandmother had affirmed Alice's existence. During adolescence, Alice experienced a severe depression and extreme angst dealing with the realities of becoming a young woman. Her self esteem suffered as did her hopes for the future. How her parents thought she should conduct herself and their hopes for her were not quite the same as what Alice thought. This is normally the case between parents and children but when there are different cultural ideals, it is harder to deal with.

This is where the story began to lose some of my interest. The writing seemed more rambling to me. In the beginning, there were a lot of humorous accounts of everday life and some wonderful flashback moments of life before emigration; how her parents met, their engagement and how they, along with Alice's grandmother and aunt had walked through several countries before they finally emigrated to Australia. The differences between the cultures was extremely interesting and the characterizations were very well done. It was very easy to imagine Alice's mother and grandmother. The last quarter of the book was not quite so engaging. I think I would have liked to have seen more of the back story but it is essentially a book about blending into a new culture. Maybe Ms. Pung should consider a pre-quel because that would be an interesting story. Overall, it is still a good book, just not a great one. If you enjoy memoirs and cultural differences, you might like this one. 3***

Eggs and Watermelons, oh my!

I received these images in an e mail and thought they were so incredible I wanted to share them. Unfortunately, there was no source listed so I am hoping they are public domain images. These beautiful and intricate eggs were cut with a laser. I can't even imagine the talent it takes to do this type of art work on something as fragile as an egg shell. Enjoy!

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday , a weekly meme, is kindly hosted by Bermuda Onion.

This past week I read The Death of a Witch by M.C. Beaton, the latest in her Hamish McBeth series set in Scotland. Tuesday Teaser is also from this book. Two words are native to that area that I have never heard before.

Bothy: (noun)

A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, northern England and Wales. They are particularly common in the Scottish Highlands. A bothy was also a semi-legal drinking den in the Isle of Lewis. These, such as Bothan Eoropaidh, were used until recent years as gathering points for local men, and were often situated in an old hut or caravan. (definition taken from Wikipedia)

Teuchter :

Someone from the HIGHLANDS of Scotland. NOT always from the East coast as everyone likes to think. Usually come from rural areas of the highlands, where Gaelic is spoken in parts. Often mocked for their 'heeland' accents and lack of knowledge about city living. Most think we live in an area with no technology, but they too have broadband, mobile phones and TV. Basically the Scottish equivalent of an American hick. ( definition taken from Urban Dictionary)

What new words did you come across this week in your reading?

Tuesday Teasers & It's Tuesday . . Where are you?

It's Tuesday, where are you is hosted by raidergirl13. I am in the wilds of Scotland in a little town called Lochdubh with Hamish McBeth, local policeman. He is tracking down the perpetrator that murdered the local "witch" , supplier of potions for enhancement of sexual prowess.

Tuesday Teaser is hosted by Should be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share 2 "teaser"sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser.
4. Please avoid spoilers!

This week's teaser is taken from Death of a Witch by M.C. Beaton

"You see women on the telly just panting for a wee bit o' nookie, and the magazines telling them how to get the man in their lives excited. Och, well, the hard fact is we don't do sex in Lochdubh. "

Pop on over to Should be reading for links to more teasers. Enjoy!

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is kindly hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page . It's lots of fun to see what books are making it into readers' mailboxes. I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours. :)

This past week three books made their journey to Florida and landed in my mailbox. I received:

• Living the Vida Lola by Misa Ramirez~ Thanks to Free Book Friday blog contest
  
• The Local News by Miriam Gershow ~ Thanks to Shelf Awareness
  
• My Splendid Concubine won in a contest by Dar at Peeking Between the Pages ~ Thanks again, Dar!



• What books made the journey to your mailbox?
  

Your Blog is Fabulous Award

Bingo at Bookin with Bingo was so sweet in bestowing this award to me. Thank you Bingo for all your kind words! I am passing this on to 5 other newbies and /or recently new to me blogs.

• Janel at Janel's Jumble


• Margot at Joyfully Retired
  
• Molly at My Cozy Book Nook


• Lesa at Lesa's Book Critiques


• Lisa at Books and Cooks

If you haven't visited these wonderful blogs, please stop by and say hello!

How do YOU feel about organ donations? Are you a Berniece or an Alex?

After reading Irreplaceable (see review here) by Stephen Lovely and seeing how this subject affected the different family members, I wondered how others feel about donating organs. Are you an organ donor? Is someone in your family? Are you uncomfortable like Alex was with the idea of taking pieces of your loved one and giving them away? Or are you like Berniece, Isabel's mother, and take comfort in knowing that part of your family is still "out there"?

Personally, I am an organ donor. If parts of me can help someone else after I am gone, then that is a good thing. As far as members of my own family, they have to make up their own minds and go with their feelings and I will support their decision. My sister passed away when she was 45 years old due to a faulty heart valve. She donated her corneas. I think I could relate to Berniece because I too, take some comfort in knowing her donation is helping someone else see the world she cannot be here to see. I like to think a little bit of my beloved sister is still on this earth.

Let me hear your thoughts!

Review: Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely

In Stephen Lovely's debut novel, he delves into the hearts and minds of his characters in the aftermath of the tragic death of a young botanist, Isabel. In the prologue, we meet Isabel riding her bicycle in a race to arrive home before a threatening storm breaks. The author does a wonderful job of building up the sense of urgency on Isabel's part. A truck cresting the hill does not see Isabel in time and the inevitable happens. The story goes back and forth in time and gives the reader deeper insight as to the circumstances before and after the accident.It also details in a very well written and detailed manner of the ripple effects to all directly involved and extending to their families.
Alex, the grieving widower is having not only a hard time with the fact that he lost his wife so tragically, but the fact that she was an organ donor, never having been comfortable with the idea of pieces of his wife being parceled out to others. Isabel's mother, on the other hand, takes comfort in the fact that somewhere out there, Isabel's heart is still beating. This is really at the heart of the matter. Alex seems to resent the fact that he has suffered so much for someone else's gain. Add in the heart recipient and all the angst associated with being in need of an organ donation, the upset to normal family life and marriage, you have the recipe for a story of intense feelings. One more ingredient to stir the plot is the addition of the truck driver, who in order to assuage his guilt, begins to think the recipient should be grateful to him for the accident that took one life has now saved hers. Even though the donor program is supposed to be confidential, somehow the people involved learn of each other's existence and that is when the multitude of problems begin.
I found this a really interesting novel seeing the perspective of the characters from both sides of the accident. It was almost hard for me to fathom why some of them felt the way they did, especially the involvement of the truck driver. Lovely managed to explore these feelings from all angles and they were revealed via flashback mode in a plot that was truly intriguing. Not only did I want to find out what happened to Alex but also the family members of the recipient. There were several spots that were a little wordy, especially describing the heart donor process, but other than that, the book totally held my attention and was extremely well written. I would recommended reading this novel for book clubs as I think there are numerous avenues of discussion that could be taken. I really liked the book and rate it 4****

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermuda Onion with words new (to us).

From Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely, my vocabulary words are:

charango: n. a 10 stringed mandolin of Andean regions with a sound box traditionally made from the shell of an armadillo or tortoise, now made of wood.

limbic : adj. pertaining to or of the nature of a limbus or border, marginal.

mediastinum: ,n the partition separating the right and left thoracic cavities, formed of the 2 inner pleural walls, and , in humans, comprising all the viscera of the thorax except the lungs.

Teaser Tuesday

I am in Hong Kong in 1941 waiting for the Japanese to throw us out of the apartment and confiscate everything. Time to grab what we can and just GO!

Tuesday Teaser is hosted by Should be reading and asks you to:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share 2 "teaser"sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser.
4. Please avoid spoilers!

Ji Shen glanced longingly at Mrs. Finch's Victrola. "I Guess it will have to stay."

"I should have burned it along with everything else, just like Mrs. Finch!"

Taken from The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyma

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page . Last Week was somewhat sparse, I only received two books. Maybe that is a good thing, I can do a little catching up with some ARCs and some library books.

Monday: Waggit Again by Peter Howe, a children's book for review from Harper Collins

Thursday: The Italian Lover for review from Hachette Books

Happy reading, all !

Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The present time is 1986 in Seattle when we are first introduced to Henry Lee, a recently widowed Chinese American. While he witnesses a press conference at the old Panama Hotel, the simple sight of a koi umbrella discovered in the basement by the new hotel owner, takes him back mentally and emotionally more than 40 years to the 1940’s. Told from his perspective as a man in his mid fifties and flashing back to when he was a boy of twelve, not only is this a coming of age story but it is also a story of the pangs and heartbreak of first love and the enduring essence of friendship. Easily combining a young love story with a war story, Ford weaves a magical tale.

Young Henry Lee was caught between two worlds, his American side and his Chinese side. At home from the age of 12 he was told to only "speak your American" and not the Cantonese that his parents spoke. His father, a proud Chinese Nationalist, wanted his son to become Americanized so he sent him to an all white prep school. Unfortunately, Henry found himself ostracized and taunted due to his Chinese heritage. It didn’t help that his father made him wear an “I am Chinese” button, thinking it would protect his son from the burgeoning anti Japanese feeling after the attack on Pearl Harbor. When a young Japanese girl, Keiko Okabe, began work in the school cafeteria with Henry, he found acceptance for who he was and it is this friendship that was at the heart of the story and what a wonderfully bittersweet story it became.

Right after President Roosevelt signed the executive order for all Japanese to be rounded up and placed in internment camps, a lot of families hurriedly placed belongings in the basement of the old hotel for storage. Keiko and her family were forced to leave their home taking only what they could carry. Henry was heartbroken as he and Keiko had become very attached to each other despite the anti Japanese sentiments belonging to Henry’s father and many others in the community of Chinatown.

Ford moves the story along seamlessly between the years bringing in the age old theme of father-son conflict. Henry and his father had a hard time communicating as has Henry and his son Marty. Another element of the story is Henry’s lifelong compassionate and caring friendship with Sheldon, a member of the Seattle jazz scene. The search for a treasured memory from the jazz era is a key component to help Henry open up communications with his son Marty.

Ford does an admirable job with his heartbreaking look at racial and cultural discrimination in a time of war, while conversely incorporating characters with giving hearts and compassionate natures. Ford writes with a simple clarity and his wonderful descriptions puts readers right into the location. It’s so easy to get into the heads of all the characters, I could feel the fear and sense of helplessness from them and almost hear Henry’s heart beat as he says goodbye to Keiko at the camp. So emotionally charged, it will pull at your heartstrings from beginning to end. I’m sure this short review does not do this book justice, but suffice it to say, I loved almost every character and the book as a whole.The characters I didn't like was solely because they were simply unlikeable in nature. Jamie Ford is a very talented author of whom I am sure we have not heard the last. If you only read one debut novel this year, it should definitely be this one.

A sincere thank you to Mr. Ford and his publicists Diana Franco and Lisa Barnes from Random house for an advance copy of this absolutely delightful book.

Author info here

For another opinon see Caite's review

also check out
Booklady's blog

Booking Mama

Random Wonder

A Silly Valentine Story

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Hello"

"Hi, it's Paul, what are you doing tonight?"

"Not much, why, what's up?"

"My brother is home for the weekend and Dad says I can't use the car to see Christine unless my brother can go, so I have to get him a date!"

"Yeah, sure, why not."

"Thanks, see you around 7. Bye"

Fast forward to drive-in movie. Yes, this was when there were drive-ins!
Intermission time and I am in the front seat with my blind date Tony, when we hear from the back seat:

"You know, Paul, tomorrow is Valentine's day. I hope you didn't forget."

"Don't worry, I would never forget. I got you something special but I'm not giving it to you until tomorrow. You'll just have to wait."

Front seat, scintillating conversation continues as my date, Tony, says,
"oh, yeah, it is Valentine's day, I'll be going back to the base , so, um, well, here's . . . . . . . .

a nickel."

"Gee, uh, thanks."

Another fast forward to next Valentine's eve. I got an anniversary card from my fiance with, you guessed it, a nickel in it. That was 43 years ago and every year I get an anniversary card the day before Valentine's day with a nickel for every year. Silly story, yeah, but it still warms my heart!

Happy Valentine's day, everyone!

Review: Waggit Again by Peter Howe

Waggitt the dog was abandoned in Central Park when he was a pup, adopted and then abandoned again to a working farm. Waggit decides he has had enough of this type of hurt so he escapes the farm trying to find his way back to the park and reunite with his team. He is found by Felicia who, amazingly enough, can speak "dog". Waggit shares his story with her and together,they set out to find his old home.

Their journey is not easy with quite a few scary adventures on the road. Eventually, they find their way closer to the park and even pick up a new friend along the way. The three of them take an exciting ride on a train and then catch a ride in a big truck with one of Felicia's old friends. With a little bit of luck and a lot of hope, they eventually find their way to the park. Although Waggit's group of dog friends are still there, there are a lot of other changes. There are some frightening moments between two teams of dogs but Waggit and his friends stick together learning a lot about bravery, teamwork and friendship. With some surprising discoveries ,Waggit learns a lot of valuable new lessons about himself and the way of the world.

This book is geared to children aged ten and up, fifth grade reading level . Howe does a great job keeping up the suspense as to what happens to Waggit and friends. Even though the book has 300 pages, it is an easy read with age appropriate vocabulary. Each chapter is headed up with some finely detailed ink drawings of dogs. A really nice book with some wonderful messages that should appeal to parents. The story should highly appeal to children, keeping their interest throughout the entire book. After all, what child does not love a dog?

Publishing date is April 28th. No cover art is available at this time. Thank you to the generosity of Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this fine book.

Snooty,Beauty,Hootie, Tootie and George!

Donna at Write by Faith

tagged me for a picture meme. The rules are simple.

Go to your fifth photo file and pick the fifth picture and explain it.Tag 5 others .

This was an extraordinary day. Hubby went out to clip the Ligustrum tree and saw a baby owl and came running in to get me. I came out and looked at him in wonder. We had never seen an owl up close in our own tree. Since we were having some friends over for lunch, we had to come in and start making some sandwich fixings. We were still gabbing about the bird and he said it was grey, I said it was brown. A little bit of dispute, so I went back out to look at him again and heard a small hoot.
Lo and behold, there was another one on the branch above. I started looking in the tree and found 3 more for a grand total of five. One of our neighbors is a real bird enthusiast so I called him to come look. We had the parents and 3 babies. One of the parents was really haughty looking so I named him Snooty and the mother Beauty. Two of the babies were practically glued to each other so I named them Hootie and 7Tootie. The last baby was on a branch by himself with the widest open eyes imaginable. He was looking all around intently and seemed to be very curious about everything, so I had to name him George. I mean, really, what else could I do?
Several other neighbors came over to see what we were all looking at in the tree. When our friends showed up for lunch, no sandwiches were made but we had a good explanation. That was the only day we saw them. We looked and looked for days and they were gone. What an experience. Unfortunately the picture of George did not come out too clearly so we only have the picture of Snooty.

I am not going to tag anyone but if you want to do the meme please feel free and please leave me or Donna a comment so we can go share your "story".

Extra! Extra! Read All About it ! Winners Announced!

The big news in penguinland today is the announcement of the winners of The Italian Lover contest. Running the numbers through Random.org, the 4 winners are:

Bingo

Bermuda Onion

Tree Thyme

Darby's Closet

and the winning caption out of 11 entries is by Janel. I will be sending you all an e mail. Please send me your address within 72 hours or I will have to pick another winner.

Congrats to all the winners and a big thanks to all the entrants.

Teaser Tuesday

Tuesday Teaser is hosted by Should Be Reading and asks you to...1. Grab your current read.2. Let the book fall open to a random page.3. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!4. Please avoid spoilers!

"You've been bringing this up more and more---which is OK , I want you to talk to me about it--but it is clear from your tone that you've assumed we've settled the question of if and moved on to when. I'm still stuck at if".

Taken from Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely

Mailbox Monday

Last week in the mail I received:

The Towering World of Jimmy Choo

by Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira De Rosen

Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung

Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Set in the early sixties in Jackson, Mississippi, The Help is an incredible debut novel told from the point of view of three different narrators: Aibileen, a single black woman in her fifties is a domestic for a young family with one child: Minny is a younger married woman with a houseful of kids, an abusive husband and a very sharp tongue that has lost her many a job. Skeeter Phelan, a white,single recent graduate from Ole Miss still residing with her parents, is the only woman in her sorority sisters' bridge club who has a dream to do something with her life. Skeeter wants to become a writer and manages to interest a publisher in a possible book about black domestics and their relationship to their white employers.

In a dichotomous society and a time of increasing racial tensions, this was a dangerous thing to do, both for Skeeter and for the maids. Racing against a seemingly impossible deadline, Skeeter, Aibileen, Minny and 10 other maids manage to secretly write the book that eventually causes a social brouhaha while changing the lives of all involved. Although they had some fears and doubts at times, these courageous women were but a small beginning catalyst in the fight for civil rights.

This book made me run the gamut of emotions; from mad to sad to glad. It made me mad to see how the white women treated the black women as if they were invisible and unfeeling. At one point in the book, Aibileen tells Skeeter that she had commented that black people attend too much church and that comment had stuck with Aibileen. Skeeter wondered what else she had said ,"never suspecting the help was listening or cared". They expected their maids to do all the housework and cooking while paying them next to nothing. It seems ludicrous that while the maids were entrusted with the most important job of virtually raising their employers' children, they were not even allowed to use their employers' bathrooms. It made me sad to see how they were treated as if they had no human feelings at all and how they were supposed to be grateful, never complain or feel any indignity at their treatment.

The book also made me glad because Skeeter, one of the kindest of the white women, managed to put one of her own sorority sisters in her place. She also came to understand they were all sisters under the skin and to get an idea of what the domestics had to put up with in their lives. Aibileen tried to give the white children she raised a sense of respect for themselves and other people at the same time that she gave them a lot of love.

Ms. Stockett does a wonderful job giving voice to all her characters bringing them, their surroundings and their feelings so vividly to life. The social tensions of the times are also very well done. I found it extremely easy to visualize every scenario in the book and deeply empathized with the characters. It's heartrending, poignant and uplifting all at the same time.

The Help is one book I found really easy to become immersed in and hard to put down. Ms. Stockett is a very talented writer and I am sure this is an auspicious beginning to her career. Be sure to read her, Too Little Too Late thoughts at the end of the book after the acknowledgements. It will give you a sense of the influences in how and why she came to write the book . Highly recommended. 5*