94/365 - Zesty Oven Fries

The toaster oven is convenient for things like our oven-baked fries. (Yummy.) It's especially nice in the summer. No need to heat up the whole oven for baking small things (and we can even take it outside to avoid heating up the house).

70/365 - Angel Food Cake

From a box, but still delicious.  We ate it with sliced strawberries.

62/365 - Rolls

Donald baked some rolls.  (He is the bread-maker of the house.  I occasionally bake sweets, but so far, the only bread I've made has been of the banana or sweet potato biscuit variety.)  It was our first time using the new kitchen machine for dough.  Worked great!

51/365 - Cooking

I don't even have to do it every day (leftovers, pre-cooked & frozen for later use, etc.), and I still manage to complain about it. 

52 Weeks of Happy (8/52)

I'm beginning to reconsider this whole (self-imposed) "writing assignment"... But since I'm already here, and because "better late than never" still holds true (I guess)...


Four Things That Made Me Happy This Last Week:


1.  A family get-together on Saturday.
It had been a while (Christmas) since I'd seen many of them, and in the meantime there had been a new addition to the family (Matthew).  I'm using the get-together as my excuse for why I didn't get around to writing this on Saturday, by the way.


2.  Getting to see another year (i.e. turning a year older).
Well, at least I'm trying to look at it positively.  Once we're past our late teens/early twenties, most of us decide that we'd just as soon not continue aging.  But since getting older is better than the alternative (as they say (g))... On the plus side, I was spoiled with gifts.  ;o)  (Thank you again, those of you reading!)


3.  Kicking the ants out of our yard.
I know, it's a weird one for this list... but the truth is, I'm having a hard time remembering specific things from last week... Unless you want to hear about gifts-- crochet books, wax melts, etc.  (g) 

Last week, I put out the second round of ant poison.  (Yes, "kicking them out of the yard" is a euphemism for... heartlessly poisoning them.  Sorry, but you just can't reason with ants.)  The first time around didn't entirely knock them all out, so a few new beds had popped up around the lawn.  I hope that this next effort keeps them at bay for a bit longer. 


4.  Yummy pizza.  
Donald brought home a birthday pizza from Vitoli's.  (I've mentioned them on one of these lists before.  Also: A "birthday pizza" is just like a regular pizza, only it arrives on your birthday so that you don't have to bother about supper.  Highly recommended! ;o))  It was absolutely delicious, as always.  Now I need to get outside, this week, and work off some of the extra calories!  Both the yard and my waistline would benefit. 

52 Weeks of Happy (7/52)

Four Things That Made Me Happy This Week:


1.  Reading.
I'm going at a snail's pace through my current book, since I generally only read while exercising, these days, and, um, I haven't been as consistent about that as I ought, but Tish is growing on me.  The book Donald and I are reading, Feet of Clay, has been amusing, too.  There's nothing like slipping into another world for half an hour or so-- especially when it's a well-ordered world with the kind of author you can trust to supply a satisfying conclusion with all the threads of the story tied into a nice, neat bow.  Yes, please, and thank you kindly!


2.  A new crochet project in new colors.
This one will be a variety of different 12" blocks.  There's no chance to get bored when you crochet each pattern only once!  It keeps you on your toes.  (I know; I mention crochet a lot in these "what made me happy" entries-- but it's one of the things that most consistently make me happy, lately...)


3.  Homemade sugar cookies. 
I don't make them very often-- once or twice a year, maybe-- and that's probably definitely a good thing, because they never last long.  I end up eating (much) more than my share of them.  So while it made me happy to have a batch of them to enjoy, this week, I'm also happy that-- as of this afternoon-- they're gone.  No more guilty craving for one more cookie.  ;o)


4.  Favorite TV shows.
(For instance, Community, which finally returned with new episodes a week or so ago.)   It sounds kind of shallow, somehow, which is silly.  Why is feeling happy about a TV show so different from feeling happy about books?  Turning on the TV and relaxing on the couch (with a crochet project in hand) at the end of the day is a real treat.  Nothin' wrong with a little escapism... (Or a whole heapin' lot of it, as the case may be, what with books and TV and so on and so forth.)


BONUS.  Not getting hit by a meteorite.
Can something that didn't happen count? (g)  Sure, why not?  I'm thankful and very happy that the world is still turning in its usual way, with no cataclysmic calamities to complain of.  Seriously, though, these "little things" have a wonderful way of making you stop and take stock of your life.  There are major problems in the world, but it could be so much worse. 


Hm.  I think at least certain elements of these "52 Weeks" entries are beginning to sound like a broken record.  (Crafts, food, weather, gardening, books.)  I guess the same small things make me happy on a regular basis... Or maybe I'm just not good at remembering the other things.  I'll keep up with 52 Weeks, though.  It can't hurt, and we're only seven weeks into the project.

43/365 - Sugar Cookies

Since I never got around to making these cookies around Christmastime, I made them now.  :o) 

It's a good thing I don't make them often, because I can't resist them.  They'll be gone soon...

52 Weeks of Happy (6/52)

Four Things That Made Me Happy This Week: 

1.  Getting "stuff" done in the yard.
There's still tons more to do, but we're making some progress.  We've dealt with the drainage for the sink in the garage.  We did a little more leveling of the soil around the garage-- which also involved hauling it around in the wheelbarrow and filling in holes and dips around the property.  I pulled out a couple of shrubs that didn't survive a transplant last year-- and then replaced one of them.  We made a few plans for what needs to happen next.  ...And more.  I need to keep the momentum going into next week, if possible.


2.  Waking to the sound of rain on the roof.
Not a heavy, stormy, please-don't-blow-the-roof-off rain.  No thunder that requires getting out of bed to unplug things.  And at an early enough hour that you don't have to get up and go about the day, yet, but can wake just enough to enjoy that cozy sound, snuggle deeper under the covers, and drift back to sleep.


3.  Flowers opening up.
As much as I complain about summer, no-one's complete immune to those first signs of summer.  Flowers and new green leaves popping up around the garden are things to enjoy.  (I only wish the weeds and wasps wouldn't be coming back, too.)


4.  Homemade chicken soup.
I could probably make it even better, next time, but it was still pretty good, I thought, and certainly healthier and more frugal than the store-bought, canned kind. 

23/365 - Hard-Boiled

Sometimes you just want a hard-boiled egg.  (Unless you're Donald.  Then you just want to give the resident hard-boiled-egg-eater a "how can you eat that?" look.)

And no, I'm not going to eat them all at once, in case you were wondering.  (g)  I was just using up some "you're no spring chicken-- er, egg-- yourself" eggs.  We don't use lots of eggs in our house, except for those times when we do, and this half a carton was getting a little old.  So if you think about it, I'm really doing a service by eating these eggs before they go bad.  

Thank You, Mr. Internet

Donald and I were talking only yesterday about how much modern technology has changed the world, even in just the past ten or twenty years.  It's amazing-- and it creeps up on you while you're not watching.

(You know, the fact that Penny's "computer book" is now a very real thing-- only it's not nearly so bulky as hers was.  Or the way we take for granted the ability to research any subject at any time on the Internet... and from almost any place, if you have a smart phone, tablet, etc.  As silly as it sounds, it truly is the Information Superhighway.  Then there's the ease of finding and ordering products online.)

You think you've got a grasp on things.  You think you're aware of just how mind-boggling it all is.

And then you stumble upon Not Quite What the Doctor Ordered, a blog devoted entirely to Dr. Pepper copycats...

And your mind is blown all over again!  ;o)

Mr. Pig!  Dr. Good Guy!  Dr. Whatever!  Mr. Sipp!  Dr. Aahh!

I tried to find a similar blog for Mountain Dew copies, but failed.  This and this were the closest things I could find.  (And there seems to be a Wiki page on the subject.  Of course.  I should have known.)

How Can You Have Any Pudding...?

Ah, the eternal question:  How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat? 

Ok, that has hardly anything to do with the topic du jour, except that it refers to pudding/sweets.  And it just popped into my head.  (That's what happens when you're exposed to Pink Floyd from infancy. (g)) 

The story:

A Florida lawmaker is pushing a bill that would ban the use of food stamps to purchase snacks and sweets, such as cookies and cakes.

Republican State Sen. Ronda Storms, of Valrico, says her goal is to stop a small percentage of recipients who misuse food stamps.

Her bill would also require food stamp recipients to take state-run classes on healthy eating and how making your own baked goods is cheaper than store-made sweets.

The bill is moving through state committees in Tallahassee.

Critics say the government shouldn't be telling people what to eat.

Democratic Rep. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed, of Pompano Beach, also says the educational provision is demeaning to minorities and the poor by implying they aren't smart enough to make their own choices.

At first glance, at least, I don't see a problem with putting restrictions on what food stamps can buy.

In response to those who argue that "the government shouldn't be telling people what to eat," I laugh.  First, some elements of the government would love to be able to tell all of us what we can and cannot eat, and that would be wrong-- but they still want to do it (and we are told that we are ridiculous or just plain wrong for worrying about the slippery slope).  However, when it comes to food stamp purchases, it seems completely reasonable that there be limits on what is and is not allowed.  If you don't like being restricted in your purchases, find a way to earn more money and get off food stamps. 

And as for Clarke-Reed's statement that "the educational provision is demeaning to minorities and the poor by implying they aren't smart enough to make their own choices"... some might ask if she isn't being demeaning to minorities by implying that they make up the majority of those on food stamps-- and the ones buying unhealthy sweets instead of fruit or the more affordable ingredients for baking their own sweets at home. 

Besides, it's not a matter of intelligence.  It seems more a matter of laziness.  (Yes, I said it.  Er, wrote it.)  Let's face it:  People don't buy sweets instead of baking them because they aren't smart enough to bake-- or to figure out that it's cheaper to bake sweets themselves.  People buy pre-made sweets (and other convenience foods) because they're easy.

It feels like the law-abiding, tax-paying citizen's choices are being limited on several fronts-- or at least there's a feeling that our choices are increasingly threatened by those who salivate over the thought of controlling how parents choose to educate their children, what we eat, how we handle our health care, what we drive-- even something as silly and simple as what light bulbs we can use.  And yet we're supposed to get upset when someone suggests tightened control in one of the few areas that could benefit from it.

Sorry if it sounds callous, but if you're on food stamps, there ought to be some limits on what you can and can't buy with them.  Ever hear the old saying "beggars can't be choosers"?

...The idea of requiring classes on healthy eating and how to bake, on the other hand... I'm not so crazy about that.  I imagine only a tiny percentage of people would benefit from such classes-- and it's just one more program we'd have to fund.  And aren't you supposed to learn about that sort of thing in school?  Good grief!  Why even bother with schooling at all, if we're not learning something as simple as basic nutrition?  Seriously, how can you be alive in the U.S., with our current obsession with health and food and not pick up a few pointers on healthy eating?  Anyone with a TV has access to tons of information.  All those cooking shows!  All those health-focused snippets in the morning news shows!  There's really no excuse.  The answer is that by far the majority know good and well what to eat for health; they simply don't want to do it, because it's not easy and/or it doesn't taste as good.  It requires a sacrifice of some sort-- either of time, or of quantity of food, or of comfort/pleasure-- and we don't like to sacrifice of ourselves on a daily basis.  (I speak from experience.)

Generic

I'm amused every time I hear a story in the news about how more people are choosing to buy generic-- or "store brand"-- products to save money in leaner times.

The way the reporters talk about store brands, you'd think they'd just discovered something new:

• "They often cost significantly less than their brand-name counterparts!"
• "They look almost exactly the same!"
• "They actually taste ok!"

I've been buying generic since before it was "cool"... or slightly more common than it supposedly is now.  (I am such a trend-setter.)  I can't take the credit, though.  That goes to my store-brand-shopping mother.  I was raised on generic brand-- and I have to say, sometimes the generic tastes even better than the brand name.  Now, that's not to say that I never buy brand names, but most of the time, I'm more than happy with the cheaper store brands.  Whether one brand is better than another is often just a matter of what you're used to.

(I haven't been paying close attention... I wonder if these reporters have blown the lid off the fact that there are also generic brands of other products-- toiletries, for instance.  When will I see the exposé on shampoo or paper napkins?  I'm on the edge of my seat!)

Random Thoughts

•  After letting the floors go for a while, I spent a good amount of time vacuuming today.  (It took forever, so let this be a lesson to me not to wait so long, next time.) I'm still in awe of how well our (no longer so) new vacuum cleaner works, compared with the old one. 

•  I love the Trixie-dog, but if you have a problem with long white dog hairs getting on everything (making it nearly impossible to get out the door without at least one hair lurking somewhere on your clothes, even if you're very careful), the Eskie probably isn't the breed for you.  Neither she nor her hair have a doggy smell, but you will get unscented dog hair on your clothes, if you come into our house for any length of time.  No amount of vacuuming will ever eliminate all that fur.  It's just a fact of life with American Eskimo Dogs.  (You have been warned.)

•  Thanks to gifts and my own purchases, I have enough hand lotion to last an average woman a few years, figuring for moderate use.  And yet I keep noticing that my hands look dry, thinking to myself, "I ought to put on some lotion"-- and then getting distracted by something else and promptly forgetting all about it.  Apparently I need to wear a bottle on a cord around my neck.  It may be the only way I'll ever remember to use it...

•  I saw someone blog about how she's thinking of doing Project 365 again in 2011, with an emphasis on macro photography this time-- and I thought, "Hey, that sounds like a fun idea!"  That's right.  I am tempted to do Project 365 again.  This is probably a bad idea.

•  The last time I made Santa Fe Stew, I made it vegetarian (by omitting the chicken).  I did this because I was feeling lazy and didn't want to bother with the chicken-- and because I didn't think it would affect the stew much, since I typically use less meat than the recipe calls for, anyway.  (I did add a couple bouillon cubes, though, to supply a little chicken flavor... and I also used quite a bit more beans than the recipe calls for, so there'd be plenty to freeze for later.  However, I always use more beans than are called for...)  It turned out fine.  This remains one of my favorite dishes.  Donald likes it better over rice (which I also like but don't absolutely require), and I like to eat mine with some tortilla chips on the side. 

•  The clothes dryer is buzzing.  I could pretend not to hear it, but I don't think Molly will take care of it on her own...

•  As predicted, Molly was just lying in her dog bed in the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the buzzer.  She's better at pretending not to hear than I am. 

•  Movies we've watched recently include the following:  Splice, Vampires Suck, Devil, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (with Rifftrax commentary), and others that fail to come to mind.  (Oh, such as The Legend of the Guardians, which Donald wanted to see because of the quality of the cgi.)

•  TV shows we've been watching together:  Community (just finished Season 1, though we've already seen some of Season 2 as it aired), Monk (we're on Season 3), various sitcoms (Big Bang Theory, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, The Middle, Modern Family, etc.)... and probably some other things I'm forgetting. (We were watching The Walking Dead, too, but of course the first season of that is over now.)

•  Those are all the random thoughts I'll bother you with for now.  But you never know when there may be more.  (That'll give you something to look forward to.)  ;o)
 

Merry Busy Christmas-Time

Everyone knows this is a busy time of year, but who am I to break the custom?  ;o)

It's so busy this time of year!

I think I completed the last of my Christmas shopping yesterday, but I've only wrapped one little thing so far... And I still have some serious work to do in the next several days, if I'm going to finish a few hand-made gifts I'd like to have done in time for Christmas.  No matter how much I tell myself that I will start gift-shopping and -making early this year, I never seem to manage it.  Time always ends up being scarce in December... and I don't exchange gifts with that many people! 

I've recently come across a couple of people online who make at least one gift item per month, through the year. For handmade gifts (that you're fairly sure the recipient will still need by the end of the year or won't be able to buy in the meantime... or can use multiples of...), that seems like a very sound plan.  Maybe-- just maybe-- I'll try to adopt that course of action, myself.  I really enjoy making at least some of my gifts myself (even if it's just a little something extra), but falling short of time diminishes the pleasure.  (Of course, if I know myself as well as I think I do, even if everything were done and wrapped in July, I'd still find something to work on and worry over at the last minute.  Some of us just can't seem to help ourselves.)

I've kept up with taking a photo every day of December so far, but I'm not as good about posting one everyday... and some of them are pretty lackluster (see above re: busyness of the season, etc.)... Still, something's better than nothing.  (I don't think I'll try to do this again next year, though... It's just too busy a time of the year to bother much with photo challenges.)

We haven't sent out any cards yet... I just put up our stockings yesterday (and finally put away the boxes we use to store our Christmas decorations)... and we've yet to do any Christmas baking.

BUT-- We have at least a few treats planned.  I will make (and eat far too many of) the iced/glazed roll-out sugar cookies I like the best.  (I love those things; as a result, it's best if I don't make them more than a few times a year.)  Donald is going to make Lucia kattar (lussekattar?) one of these days, too.  (They're saffron buns-- a yummy, slightly sweet, traditional Swedish bread eaten on Lucia Day... which technically has already passed, since it's celebrated on December 13th.  That's ok; we always have our Lucia buns well past Lucia Day.)  Donald's also going to make some sort of rice pudding dish-- another Swedish Christmas tradition.  (And one that he enjoys alone, in this house.  Rice pudding holds little appeal for me... Kind of like glögg, which also failed to impress.  Sorry, Swedes!  I still like your lussekattar a lot... And your "house cheese" is extremely yummy... Also your boiled and fried potatoes with dill, your meatballs, and that gravy you serve with the meatballs and potatoes... Your pizza is very good... as is your candy.  And I've even learned to eat crispbread, on occasion.)

There may be one or two other goodies up our sleeves, too.  We'll see...

The song got it right-- the weather outside is frightful.  Chilly, wet, and raw.  But fortunately, we've no place to go today, so we can stay cozy, dry, and warm-- take it easy-- maybe play a board game this afternoon-- and generally just enjoy the comforts of home.  (And possibly I'll spend some time working on my little Top Secret Projects.)

Hey, I even think my case of the sneezy sniffles (which showed up yesterday afternoon) aren't as bad as they were and could be fading away altogether!  (So maybe I won't come down with a cold right in time for Christmas... Maybe.)

I hope you're enjoying a pleasant Decembery Saturday as well!

Seeking a Position as Graphic Designer... ;o)

Sometimes I take the lazy way out when it comes to cooking.   ("Who, you? There must be some sort of a mistake," you all say.  In unison.  In complete and utter disbelief.)   For instance, I'll use a can of pre-made chili together with another can (or two) of beans, add a few spices (according to personal taste), serve it (heated, no less!) with rice, and call it a meal.  I could make it from scratch, of course, but sometimes a shortcut is preferable.

So (now that I've explained what I'm doing with canned chili in the first place), I noticed something a little odd about one of these cans, the other night.  It was decorated with two little figures.  "Chili Masters", I believe they are meant to be.  They're holding bowls of chili with blue ribbons attached, so you know they can cook.  However, I'm not sure I'd dare to sample their stew.  There's something a little... off about them...

Here we have the creepy Chili Dude:

And then there's the even more sinister (if that's possible) Chili Dudette (or at least I assume it's a dudette, because that is clearly a lacy/frilly, scalloped neckline...):

Ok, where do you go to get hired to make the art for labels for canned chili?

"Recipe for Tomato Catsup"

A few months ago, Donald was looking at an old (published in 1821) book we have-- Practical Observations on Cold and Warm Bathing; and Descriptive Notices of Watering Places in Britain by James Millar, M.D. (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and Lecturer on Natural History and Chemistry).  He found this recipe written in pencil on one of the flyleaves.

Here's a transcript, to the best of my ability to decipher the handwriting:

Recipe for Tomato Catsup

from the American Gardener of 1826. --

Take a quantity of ripe Tomatoes (say 2 gallons)
cut them in small pieces, put them in a clean
earthen pot or jar, about half a pound of salt, a table
spoonful of alspice, the same quantity of pepper
and a quarter an ounce of mace; tie the jar
up close, put it in an oven after the Bread has
been taken out, and let it stand all night, and
reheat it three times when you make bread;
Then strain it and bottle it up.  This is much better
than Mushroom Catsup for all culinary purposes.

Donald thought this was interesting-- especially that it was probably jotted down back when tomato ketchup was still something of an innovation-- so he's been telling me I need to blog it.  (See?  I'm doing it! (g))

After taking the time to carefully wrangle out the words from that sometimes faint handwriting, I thought, "Hey, why don't I google 'catsup' and 'american gardener'?"  It was a brilliant idea.  Too bad I didn't think of it at the beginning of the blog entry.  I could've saved myself a little trouble.  Yes, that's right.  Look what I found at Google Books:

(You can even read the whole book, if you'd like.)

It's funny to think that this recipe has been sitting in that book for possibly 184 years, waiting for us to find it.  How many others may have seen it, along the way?  Did the person who jotted it down ever imagine that someone would painstakingly analyze the words in an attempt to read what turned out to be a recipe?  If I write a recipe for Santa Fe Stew on the blank pages of my copy of Jane Eyre, will someone find it, someday?  ;o)

So then you start to wonder about the person who wrote the recipe.  The name inked on the title page-- "Gavin Yuille 1824"-- leads you on another googling mission, and again you strike gold.  We purchased the book locally, and (lo and behold) there's information about a man by that name who bought 72 acres of land in this very county (in Daphne), back in 1845.  Apparently he was a native of Scotland who moved his family to New York City in 1829, then down through South Carolina (where he may have taught in a school), and finally, in 1834, he ended up in Mobile, where he owned and operated a bakery "at the corner of Dauphin and Jackson Streets" (a spot I can pinpoint on Google Maps).  I can trace the basic facts of his life down to when he became a U.S. citizen (April 1838) and when he died (17 September 1849, at the age of 63).  (After the bakery burned, he rebuilt it on Government Street, and those acres of land he bought in 1845 were for a large family home and a peach plantation.) 

It's pretty amazing what you can find in a few minutes of research, isn't it? 

So he probably bought the book while he was still living in Scotland, yet he thought it was worth brining over here.  (Or maybe books were so expensive and/or the cost of transporting belongings so cheap that it would've been worth bringing it under any circumstances.)

And get this-- on AbeBooks, there's a manuscript for sale-- "On offer is an original 1820 handwritten account giving details of the start of the Curling Club in Hamilton, Scotland. The title page reads "Annals of Curling" by Gavin Yuille."  I don't know how common that name might have been in Scotland at that or any other time, but "our" Gavin Yuille is said to have been born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire (in Scotland), so it's certainly possible.

Anyway-- quite an interesting little expedition from a humble recipe to the history of a person's life!

The Dangers of Shopping Online

You probably think this is going to be about identity theft or an unscrupulous business selling damaged goods, don't you?  Not so. (...Though I did once receive the wrong book in the mail.  I'd ordered a volume of the journals of L.M. Montgomery, but was instead sent a large guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America...)

Found on Amazon:
"Albanese 12 Flavor Assorted Gummi Bears". . .

See that?  They're gummi bears (in twelve flavors!). . .

One of the "product features" is that you get 27 baby rattlesnakes to a pound:

 

Be careful what you buy online.  Always make sure you read the fine print!  ;o)

The Closest Thing. . .

Here's the closest thing we'll get to seeing snow this Christmas. . . ;o) 

Ingela posted some photos of beautiful snowy landscapes around Säffle-- and yummy homemade Swedish Christmas treats, as well! 

At least we can enjoy the snow vicariously (and not even have to deal with messy roads)!

Little of This, Little of That

Saturday, we had my parents and Kimberly over for our annual "Midsommar" lunch and some games. It was lots of fun, and I couldn't believe how quickly the afternoon passed!

Here's a photo of one of the things we served-- Donald's Amercian-style (because the store didn't have ground pork that day) Swedish meatballs:


For dessert, Donald made our traditional midsommar "Swedish-style" cake (with fillings, whipped cream, and fruit):


He did a great job! :o)

- - - - - - -

After a long couple of weeks of dry, unseasonably hot weather, we're ready for some relief! The temperature is supposed to be slowly working its way down to the low 90s-- still not cool, but much better than 100 or higher.

Yesterday, we got some rain, which helped for a while-- until the sun came back out and turned the world into a sauna.

Well, unfortunately, stifling summertime heat and humidity is part of the price we pay for our mild winters. But no-one said we have to be happy about it. ;o)

- - - - - - -

I'm continuing along through The Hidden Hand (even if it is nowhere near the level of Jane Eyre in quality). I'm not continuing especially quickly, because I've never been a speed-reader, but I'm still making process.

Here are my observations since last time:

• The mother/son relationship (between Marah and Traverse) has (mercifully) left the creepiness behind.
  
• Cap is such a brat in the scene where she insists upon going to the fair. I think we're supposed to like and root for her even during that scene, but I just don't.
  
• The description of Black Donald's long, "jet black" hair reminded me of Disney's version of Captain Hook. (g) (And yes, there is a character called "Black Donald", and if Donald were dark-haired, I might swipe that nickname for my own use. ;o) As things are, however, it just wouldn't make much sense. Sandy Donald or Strawberry Blond Donald doesn't have the same ring...)
• The bit about Clara using her own hair to embroider Traverse's names into his clothes? Gross. I know the Victorians (and maybe people from earlier periods, too) had a penchant for collecting the hair of loved ones (particularly those deceased) and working the locks into jewelry (brooches and rings, especially) and other elaborate displays, but this seems even creepier than that. . . Grossness aside, would human hair be strong and durable enough to use as embroidery floss? I guess it lasts a pretty long time on our heads, but it seems too fragile to sew with. . . (shudder)
• Direct quotation from one character: "No girl can marry before she is twenty without serious risk of life, and almost certain loss of health and beauty; that so many do so is one reason why there are such numbers of sickly and faded young wives." I guess there's some sense in it, applying it to the days when marriage usually meant immediate and oft-repeated child-bearing-- and if a girl wasn't prepared for the stresses of being a wife and mother, then yes, it might age her before her time-- but it seems a little too much of a generalization, and it felt awkwardly out of place. (And what of Marah Rocke? She was 17 or so when she had Traverse, and yet we've been told multiple times that-- though she's reached advanced years-- her mid-thirties *choke*-- she's still quite pretty and girlish.) I get the feeling that this was one of E.D.E.N. Southworth's pet notions, and this was her way of "putting it out there".
  
• The amazing coincidental connections continue to crop up, and the author is presently in the process of "killing off" a character purely for the advancement of plot. (Isn't that mean of her? But authors are ruthless in these matters.)
  
• The people in the vicinity of Hurricane Hall and TipTop must be particularly stupid that they can't see through Black Donald's ridiculous disguises. I guess this is when I'm supposed to pull out my rather worn Willing Suspension of Disbelief. I'm trying, but I've had to use it so much lately that it's getting threadbare.
• Possibly the most irritating thing about this book-- the most "Oh, this is so not Jane Eyre-quality material!" aspect of it-- is the way that Southworth sometimes goes into too much detail about things that turn out not to really matter. It's not as bad as it could be, but it's bad enough to be occasionally irksome. I do have sympathy, though. I think I tend to leave too much in, myself, when I'm telling stories-- and maybe she was being paid by the word, since this was originally serialized. So, yes, I have sympathy, but it's an irritated sympathy. (g)
  

Overall impression (so far):
The book is very silly in spots, and I have trouble telling how much of that silliness is intentional, but I guess it's at least entertaining enough that I'm continuing to read it. (I still can't figure out what the teacher was thinking when she based her recommendation on Jane Eyre, though! Well, apart from one unusual plot element that they share...)

- - - - - - -

Happy Birthday to Carrie (and Trixie, too)! :o)

A Cake Wreck of Our Own

Donald brought home a king cake, last weekend. It's not really Cake Wreck-ish, but we thought the little plastic baby looked funny, half-submerged in a sea of icing and colored sugar:


It almost looks like he's being sucked into the vortex of a whirlpool!


"Help! Help! I had so much more I wanted to do in my life! Grow a mohawk and take up carrot-back riding. . . Search for my long-lost siblings. . . Maybe make a few multicultural friends. . . And find out once and for all if plastic baby aliens really exist!"