mstrust #6- The Holiday Spectacular

1. American Authors

1. The Thin Man- 4.5 stars
2. Diary of a Mad Diva- 3 stars
3. Cotton Comes to Harlem- 4 stars
4. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day- 3 stars
5. The Day of the Locust- 4.5 stars
6. Mark Twain in Hawaii- 3.5 stars
7. The Yellow Wallpaper- 4 stars
8. Devil In A Blue Dress- 4 stars
9. The Lost Weekend- 3 stars
10. The Descendants- 4.5 stars

***COMPLETED***

2. Travel, Food, Music, Art, T.V., Plays

1. Twinkie, Deconstructed- 3 stars
2. Punk Rock Blitzkrieg- 5 stars
3. One-Dish Vegetarian Meals- 4 stars
4. Bill Bryson's African Diary- 4 stars
5. Niagara Falls- 4 stars
6. Toast- 4.5 stars
7. The Maple Syrup Book- 4.5 stars
8. Pufnstuf & Other Stuff- 4.5 stars
9. Oliver Reed: Movie Top 10- 3 stars
10. The Merry Wives of Windsor- 3.5 stars

***Completed***

3. Books I Need To Read

1. Unabrow- 4 stars
2. A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain- 4.5 stars
3. The Mushroom Hunters- 4.5 stars
4. Psmith, Journalist- 4 stars
5. Silver Screen Fiend- 4 stars
6. The Skeleton Crew-4.5 stars
7. Locke & Key 4- 4 stars
8. So You've Been Publicly Shamed- 4.5 stars
9. It Ended Badly- 4 stars
10. Spending the Holidays with People I Want To Punch In The Throat- 3 stars

***Completed***

4. History & Bios

1. Barren Grounds- 3.5 stars
2. Life of Richard Savage- 4.5 stars
3. Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth- 3 stars
4. The Lost Painting- 4 stars
5. The Getaway Guide to Agatha Christie's England- 4 stars
6. Piracy, Turtles & Flying Foxes- 3.5 stars
7. The King's Speech- 3 stars
9. What Is Punk?- 4 stars
10. Poisoned Heart- 4 stars

***Completed***

5. Mystery & Noir

1. The Man in the Brown Suit- 4 stars
2. The Torn Branch- 3.5 stars
3. Woman in the Dark- 3 stars
4. Tears of the Giraffe-- 4 stars
5. Looking For Chet Baker- 4 stars
6. The 39 Steps- 3.5 stars
7. Hide & Seek- 3.5 stars
8. The Tuesday Club Murders- 4 stars
9. The World's Most Popular Classics- Sherlock Holmes- 4.5 stars
10. Witness For The Prosecution & Other Stories- 4 stars

***COMPLETED***

6. Flavor of the Month

January-Charles Dickens-1. A Tale of Two Cities- 4 stars, The Mystery of Edwin Drood- 3.5 stars
February-Margaret Atwood- The Penelopiad- 4 stars Oryx and Crake-4 stars
March-Evelyn Waugh-Brideshead Revisited- 4.5 stars
April-Christopher Brookmyre- Quite Ugly One Morning-3.5 stars A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil- 4.5 stars
May-F. Scott Fitzgerald- This Side of Paradise- 4.5 stars
June- Kate Atkinson- Behind the Scenes at the Museum- 5 stars
July-Jim Thompson- Recoil- 4 stars
August-Edna O'Brien- The Lonely Girl-4 stars
September-Jo Nesbo
October-Neil Gaiman- Smoke & Mirrors- 4 stars
November-Dorothy Sayers- Clouds of Witness- 3.5 stars
December-China Mieville- The City & The City

7. World Authors

1. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency- 4 stars
2. The Housekeeper and the Professor- 3.5 stars
3. The Following Story- 3.5 stars
4. Tiger at the Gates- 3 stars
5. A Sickness in the Family- 4 stars
6. The Little Nugget- 3.5 stars
7. The Stranger- 4 stars
8. Half A Life- 4.2 stars
9. The Devil, The Banshee and Me- 4 stars
10. The Prince- 3 stars

***COMPLETED***

8. Non-Fiction

1. The Angry Island- 4.5
2. Stacked- 3 stars
3. Sorry! The English and Their Manners- 3.5 stars
4. How To Eat Out- 3 stars
5. Bats in Question- 4.5 stars
6. Among the Gently Mad- 4.5 stars
7. Rebel Rebel: Anti-Style- 4 stars
8. At Home With Books- 5 stars
9. Everything is Going to Be Great- 2 stars
10. Infested- 3.5 stars

***COMPLETED***

9. Autumn/Halloween

1. The Horror Of It All- 4.5 stars
2. Pumpkins by MetroBooks- 4 stars
3. Great Ghost Stories- 3.5 stars
4. Locke & Key- 4 stars
5. Backyard Giants- 3 stars
6. The Letter, the Witch and the Ring- 3.5 stars
7. The Great Ghost Rescue- 4 stars
8. Ray Villafane's Pumpkins-4.5 stars
9. The Devil in the White City- 3.5 stars
10. The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens- 3 stars
11. Jane Slayre- 4 stars
12. Smoke and Mirrors- 4 stars
13. A Grim Almanac of Cambridgeshire- 4 stars
14. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary- 4 stars
15. The Curse of the Blue Figurine- 4 stars

***COMPLETED***

10. Everything Else

1. Dogs in Cars- 3 stars
2. Novel Living- 3 stars
3. Are You Dissing Me?- 3 stars
4. Kafka's Soup- 3.5 stars
5. The Little Free Library Book- 4.5 stars
6. The Double Dealer- 3.5 stars
7. Steal Her Style- 4.5 stars
8. Interior Desecrations- 4.5 stars
9. Locke & Key: Clockworks- 4 stars
10. Novel Interiors- 3.5 stars

***COMPLETED***

Hi and Welcome!

I've added my Autumn books to my previous threads, so I'm up to #97.

Happy new thread! I got an update on my parents' Halloween: they have lots of leftovers, and they are hoping to visit in the next couple of weeks, so I suggested they bring some leftovers up for me ;)

Can't believe it's November 1 already!

Good to see you! And yea for getting lots of candy!

YAY! for new thread and I love the red theme for your category "models"!

>14 lkernagh: Thanks so much, and glad you could come! Help yourself to a cocktail.

Ooohhh.... lovely! Don't mind if I do. ;-)

Got one of those for me? Happy new holiday thread! I'm loving all the red.

>17 Storeetllr: Welcome, and help yourself!



Now I feel like complaining about myself- I'm like the stores pushing Christmas when Halloween is barely over. Let's just say that I'll put up pics of food with the least provocation.

O.k., anyone want to talk about TWD? That was a great episode giving us Morgan's backstory about how he came to be so Zen. And John Carroll Lynch was just on last week's episode of "American Horror Story" playing serial killer John Wayne Gacy. He's everywhere!

98. What is Punk by Eric Morse. Illustrations by Anny Yi. History & Bios. This is an LT Early Reviewer win, but it's a completely finished book. The claymation illustrations are wonderful, depicting legendary punk bands and clubs. Think "Davey and Goliath" with leather jackets and guitars. The poem that guides the action isn't so great. It explains the various bands and gives some history of the movement, but the author is a clunky poet. But there's a two page picture of the Ramones! Fun and quirky. 4 stars

I love how all ladies are ready for Christmas in their red clothes! Personally, I'm a bit of a Scrooge, but my husband more than makes up for that. I just know he's going to be begging me to let him put the tree up now that it's November.

Can't talk about The Walking Dead yet as I haven't watched it! So I will be back ...

>20 DeltaQueen50: Ha! Why do you call yourself a Scrooge?
Looking for glamorous photos of the ladies in red became quite a job but I also found many really beautiful photos that I'd never seen before, like the above ones of Marilyn and Ann-Margret. And that of Elizabeth Taylor shows her looking more serene than I'd ever seen her. That's how you know she hadn't met Richard Burton yet. ; )
Do come back when you've watched TWD.

Happy holiday-thread! Those drinks look amazing!

>22 -Eva-: Don't they look good? It's called "Christmas in Mexico".

3 oz gold tequila
12 oz cranberry juice
3 splashes grenadine
2 splashes sweet & sour mix

>23 mstrust:
Ooh, I'm going to have to try that!

99. It Ended Badly: 13 of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright. Books I Need To Read. Thirteen chapters, each for a couple who should have never met. Eleanor and Henry II, Henry VIII and both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, Lord Byron and Caroline Lamb, Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher, these relationships caused anger, hatred and scandal, yet make for funny, fascinating reading. The most entertaining case has to be that of 18th Century businessman Timothy Dexter, who began telling people his wife was a ghost because he didn't want to be married to her anymore.
This is another LT win!4 stars

SPOILERS
The Walking Dead

At first I was a little upset as I wanted to know about Glenn, but once I settled down about that I did enjoy this episode. It helps to explain a lot about a complicated character, but I think Morgan's decision at the end of the show was wrong as that guy he's keeping in the basement doesn't seem to have any humanity left in him.

>24 -Eva-: I want to try it too, because I like cranberry juice. I looked at several listings of the recipe and none called for cream, but that's what it looks like in the pic. Probably added to make it prettier, but it for sure would make it richer, so that's okay.

***Spoilers***
>26 DeltaQueen50: I agree with everything you said. I want to see Glen running back to Maggie.
I think Morgan has relied too heavily on his own experience. His ability to become civilized again was due to the fact that he was a civilized person before, so Eastman was recalling Morgan's natural personality. When he thinks about himself saying he would kill Eastman, he's projecting himself on the wolfman, who may have been a murderer even before the world turned.
But it was nice to see Aikido again and its philosophy. I was involved with it from the ages of 9-12 and held a blue belt.

For my British peeps:


Last night was our November meeting of Sherlockians. We discussed Doyle's The Yellow Face, a story that was unusual in that there was no murder, but a mystery about marital fidelity instead.
We met at the restaurant, it was raining and a bit chilly. I had a fancy version of a ploughman's lunch, with a scoop of goat cheese, a wedge each of Camembert and muenster, a bowl of oily olives, another of nuts, some prosciutto, ham and salami and a thick wedge of country bread. Even my own bottle of honey.
And then Mike and I went to the store and bought about 8 pounds of apples.

Forgot to explain why I am a Scrooge when last I visited. It takes most of December before I get into the Christmas spirit mostly I just see the work involved with buying presents, planning meals, cooking and decorating. I get there eventually but I do grumble a little along the way!

You're right, it is a lot of work. But I like doing it, unless it's something that has been put off until it's too late. Like the year we drove for 6 hours to my parent's house on Christmas Eve, and my Dad immediately pulled me aside and said he hadn't gotten anything for Mom yet, which put Mike and I at the mall in all that mess.
But I love baking cookies and make about 8 varieties every year so we can give tins out to Mike's friends and business connections. And they keep track of the calendar, asking Mike when the cookies are coming to make sure they aren't left out.
About the only pain is having to drive to another state every year, and Mom has a teeny house.

It's a holiday:

There seems to be two days of the year listed as this holiday. That's okay with me.

We went back to the fair a few days ago and saw that my cake still had the wrong name on it. So I called, again, and spoke to another person who hadn't heard anything about the problem and looked me up on the computer, which showed me with just one ribbon for the cookies. So, yea, they were going to send me just one ribbon and send the other to the contestant whose name has been on my cake through the entire fair. I'm suppose to get a call from them today telling me it's been rectified.

Ugh. I hope you get it all sorted with your prize-winning cake.

How's your finger feeling?

I hope so too, because I've been entering for seven years now and love doing it, but my trust is gone. The deal is that I make the cake and they give me a ribbon, ha!

My finger is on the mend, I think. I wrapped it tight and did yard work for an hour yesterday. No problems today, so that's good. Thanks for asking.

>29 DeltaQueen50: & >30 mstrust:
The preparation is what gets me in the Christmas mood as well - I do love it even if it is hard work, unless, like @mstrust said, I'm short on time and then it's no fun at all!

>31 mstrust:
I do hope they manage to figure it out!

The deal is that I make the cake and they give me a ribbon, ha!

Exactly! Sheesh.... such a hassle you have had to go through. I hope they finally have this ribbon debacle fixed.

>34 -Eva-: I've just started to wonder about what cookies I'll make this year. I collect so many recipes throughout the year that it's always a job to go through and decide. Chocolate Crinkles make the cut most years because everyone loves them.
As expected, no phone call from the fair yesterday. And it closes today, so it's out of my hands. I tried to guide them along the right path...

>35 lkernagh: I'll know when I open that envelope in two or three weeks.
For the first several years I entered, it was smooth and professional. They started having big problems last year, as we attended a week into the fair and were searching the cases for my entries. The woman in charge that year saw me looking and came up saying, "If you can't find yours, it may not be on display. We haven't had a chance to put everything in the cases yet." A week into the fair. And when my ribbons arrived in the mail, I had to clean frosting off them. Yuck.
I don't know what I'll do if this year's supervisor is listed next year. I don't know what's going on with them.

Now I want to look at baked goods to calm down.


Zeeennnnn........

Oh, and maybe we'll finally find out what happened to Glen tonight on TWD.

I sure hope they don't drag the Glen problem out too much longer!

Your thread makes me want to get started on some baking! There is a big Italian-origins population in this area so the delicious pizzelle are widely available around here.

I hope you get your fair share of fair ribbons. But what annoys most is that you didn't get the glory of having your name exhibited as a winner. Boos to the woman in charge.

>37 DeltaQueen50: Yes, we need answers. It's cruel to both Glen and us to drag it out this long. Although I really enjoyed last week's episode and wish Eastman could have survived to spread Aikido throughout the Apocalypse.
I'm also hooked on the British crime drama "George Gently", which I feel like mentioning because I've just watched a Season 7 episode. It's set in the 60's and its wonderful.



>38 VivienneR: Lucky you to have ready access to fresh pizzelle. I've never attempted to make it, but it's like a mini crunchy waffle.
And I agree, boos to the woman in charge. I wouldn't let her run a garage sale.

I found a use for some Halloween candy. I chopped up a handful of the small, individually wrapped Reese's peanut butter cups and threw it into the batter I normally use to make chocolate chip cookies, but leaving out the vanilla and cutting the sugar by maybe 2 tbs. I whipped the butter a little longer than usual and the peanut butter filling melted through the cookie, making it almost a swirl of butter cookie/peanut butter cookie, with bits of chocolate. It came out being a very fluffy, delicate texture. I think I got about 5 cookies throughout the day and Mike ate the other nineteen, in one day. He loved the texture.

>39 mstrust: - What a great idea for left over Reese's peanut butter cups! Of course, we never have leftovers of that particular candy in our house as the original Reese peanut butter cups are a personal favorite of mine. I consume them too quick for them to make it into any baking. Of course, I could just buy more but I still think it would be a problem. ;-0

Apple spice muffins are on the agenda this afternoon, as is another loaf of bread.

Happy Sunday!

>36 mstrust:
I've tried to mix up the choices, but around Christmas is when all the California Swedes tend to get together and they all want the Swedish classics. So, I usually make all the classics and then add one new one - perhaps I'll try Chocolate Crinkles this year since I've never tried those.

On the subject of cookies, my book club has everyone bring something to eat, so there is always too much food. I made cookies last time, since it's no problem to pack them up and feed them to the kids later. And I discovered that Europeans have never eaten peanut butter cookies. They were a hit, although I was told that I should call them peanut cookies instead, as peanut butter is seen as a mystifying food eaten by poor people.

Tonight we meet again and I'm planning to make chocolate chip cookies and maple shortbread.

>40 lkernagh: Apple spice muffins sound great!
I think you could chop up just about any chocolate candy and throw it in with buttery batter, just as long as you cut the sugar down. I just happened to have a lot of those little Reese's and I don't know why, as Mike loves them and they usually go quickly. But there's a reason why there weren't any Hershey bars left over for cookies. ; )

>41 -Eva-: Let me know what you'll make, as I believe the only Swedish cookies I know are the saffron buns, which I had when I was in Dala-Floda. I'd be interested to know about others.



>42 RidgewayGirl: Oooh, maple shortbread! Let me know what everybody brings to your meeting, that sounds like fun. And is it an English speaking book group, or are you fluent in German?
I'll be making some kind of cookie to take to my Sherlock group. I thought about bringing the maple apple cake but I think that would be pushing it to bring my own cake to a restaurant.

Spoilers
And, TWD still left us hanging- two weeks of wondering about Glenn! I'm going to say that they wouldn't string his death out this long, so he has to be alive.

It nearly slipped past me that today is one of my glamour girls birthday. Hedy Lamarr was born today in 1914. In the late 30's- early 40's, she ruled the box office and was consistently voted the most beautiful woman. But if you like using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, you have her to thank, as she helped invent the technology for them.

I saw that there is just three episodes of The Walking Dead left in the season and I have a feeling that they may just wait until the season-ender to let us know about Glenn. The previews for next week look to be following Daryl, Shasha and Abraham. I also have a strong feeling that Glenn is still alive.

Also I didn't know that about Hedy Lamarr, so not just a great beauty but a brain as well!

I didn't know the season was ending that quickly! Jeez, remember when a season was 26 episodes?
I'm hoping that when the producer said that Glenn would return in a different version, or something like that, that he didn't mean Glenn was a walker or that Maggie would have his baby. Though I'm kinda glad that Maggie's pregnant so they can show another version of babies being born. Alexandria has a sorta doctor and infirmary.

Yes, Lamarr was very smart and eager to help her new country in WWII. Her invention was initially created to provide more accuracy to bombers. It worked in a similar way to the rolls of punched-out tin used in old player pianos.

>42 RidgewayGirl: And I discovered that Europeans have never eaten peanut butter cookies. They were a hit, although I was told that I should call them peanut cookies instead, as peanut butter is seen as a mystifying food eaten by poor people.

I have never heard about only poor people eating peanut butter. Maybe it's a Bavarian thing. :D I love peanut butter! Should try to bake peanut butter cookies soon...

>36 mstrust: I got inspired, too, and baked a chocolate cake for my table tennis match (my team and the opponents) on Saturday. More baking coming up next weekend!

Re: The Walking Dead, it's 3 episodes until the mid-season finale not end of the series. As usual, it's taking a couple of months off and will return in February. There's 16 episodes scheduled for this season so still a way to go yet. Oh! For followers of Talking Dead it's airing an hour later for the next 3 weeks to allow for the showing of a new series called Into the Badlands.

>47 Chrischi_HH: Hi Chrischi! You have lucky teammates!
I see that, like RidgewayGirl, you're in Germany, but I've never heard of the city you're listing. Is it north, south, east or west? And I'd love to know about any traditional Christmas baking that is done there.

>48 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks for the info! Sometimes the shows are doing seasons that are so short that it's over within a month, so I'm very happy to hear of 16 epsiodes. I totally forgot that they did a season break last year too.
The aforementioned "George Gently" had a season that consisted of just two episodes.

We've rented a cabin in the woods for a few days next week and I'm really excited to go. We've been surrounded by people for years who go up 3-4 hours North to places called Show Low, Strawberry or Pinetop. We're going to a place called Pinetop Lakeside, so yes, the cabin is right along a lake. That will probably be frozen as nighttime temps are suppose to be around 30 degrees. The thought of it makes me happy. And so does the hope of seeing colorful trees, hiking and maybe mushroom hunting. I don't know if they grow mushrooms, but I'll be running all around looking.

Enjoy that part of AZ. I have fond memories of a cabin we went to every year in the White Mountains.

Ok, so you know Pinetop because it's in the White Mountains. We used to go to Flagstaff a lot when we lived in Prescott Valley, and we once vacationed on the Hopi reservation, but we haven't been north in years, and never to this area. Forging new territory!

Hey, I got married in Prescott. It's a beautiful area.

It is. Did you get married at the courthouse? I worked in an art gallery on Whiskey Row.

No, at the Prescott Resort. I had a really limited time (my husband had just gotten an offer from a German company and I could only go if we were married. We were engaged, but perfectly ready to remain that way for some time). They were the one place that had great food and a wedding planner who came with holding the wedding there. And there was a gazebo set up overlooking the valley.

Prescott Resort must have made for a very pretty wedding!

Here's my 100th! That's sort of a completion for me, as I consider anything over 100 to be icing on the cake, though I'm not done with my categories yet.


100. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers. Flavor of the Month. Lord Peter Wimsey's older brother has just been arrested for murdering his sister's fiancee, whose body was found in the family ancestral home. Lord Peter shows up to find that his brother isn't cooperating with the police and his sister's version of the night doesn't hold up under scrutiny. With little help from his family, Lord Peter, manservant Bunter and police friend Parker have to piece together the dead man's past and childish Lady Mary's movements on the night he died.
This is my second Lord Peter book, the first being Lord Peter Views the Body a few years ago. It's interesting and often funny, and the clues and red herrings abound. I know there was a time when the upper class English thought it hip to drop their "g"s to sound like hillbillies, I guess, but Lord Peter can barely get a complete word out, and it's kind of annoying to read a sentences filled with apostrophes. But a good mystery that went on slightly too long. 3.5 stars

>43 mstrust:
I usually make Hallonkyssar, Havreflarn (these may or may not get their edges dipped in chocolate, depending on how much time I have), Drömmar, and Finska pinnar. We always have ginger snaps as well, but I buy Nyåkers pepparkakor at Cost Plus World Market - they're fantastic! It's a little wonky because some of the ingredients aren't readily available in the US, but my mum usually mails over whatever I can't find. Note that I haven't tried the linked recipes - I just tried to find something that looked similar to my Swedish recipes so you'd get an idea how they come together.

I need to stop now, I'm salivating like Pavlov's dogs! :)

>46 mstrust: I'm sorry, I should have said "season-break" not "season-end" as I did know Walking Dead will come back in the new year to finish out the season. Thanks to Dave for keeping it all straight!

>49 mstrust: Lübeck is in the north, about 50 km north-east of Hamburg. Very close to the Baltic Sea. :) Hm, traditional Christmas baking, let me think. There is a lot which is known all over the country, like Stollen, Lebkuchen, traditional Mürbeteig cookies, Zimtsterne, Vanillekipferl or Engelsaugen, but some from the northern region are Heidesand or Pfeffernüsse. (I haven't tried these recipes, but they should give you an idea of what these cookies are.) Here in Lübeck Stollen must be made with marzipan, as Lübeck has always been famous for its marzipan.

Congrats on the no. 100!

>49 mstrust: - Sounds like you have a wonderful getaway planned!

>56 -Eva-: Some of those cookies are familiar but the Drommar and fingers were new to me. I've never heard of baker's ammonia before. Do you use it, and is the bad smell one of regular ammonia? I buy the World Market ginger snaps too, and they are wonderful! And they freeze great, so I can eat Christmas cookies in July.

>57 DeltaQueen50: Oh, it's no problem! It shows that they're taking too many breaks and people can't keep track.

>58 Chrischi_HH: O.k., I've been to Hamburg so that gives me a good idea. Thank you for all the recipes! Mmmm, apple stollen... and a cookie called "angel eyes" is pretty sweet!

>59 lkernagh: I hope so! Mike is looking at me nervously as I tell him all the things I have planned to do. He's hoping to walk around for ten minutes then be allowed to sleep 12 hours. Not gonna happen!

>60 mstrust:
My mum usually sends me the baker's ammonia and the bitter almonds, since I've not been able to find either of those those here (other than really expensively online). The baker's ammonia does smell a bit, but not as much as the regular stuff! Nowadays it's lab-made, but in Sweden its name is "hjorthornsalt," which roughly translates to "deer horn salt," since it used to be made from heating the antlers and hooves of reindeer. Yum! :) It makes for a fantastic texture and is relatively common in Swedish cookies and biscuits.

That's really interesting info! I didn't know antlers had ever been used in cooking, but it sounds like it would be an ingredient that would produce a gelatin-like result. This is why finding out about food from around the world is so cool!
Thanks, Eva!

Found some pics on the web:



Drommer cookies look very light and delicate.

That ingredient definitely falls into the category of "Who Was the First to Come Up With That?"

101. Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone by Vera Ramone King. History and Bios. Written by the woman who spent twelve years married to the Ramones bassist, main songwriter, and something like fifteen years total with him. She has lots of insider info about Dee Dee, the man who is often credited with creating punk rock, but also lots of info about the band and touring around the world. This isn't a revenge book, as she gives ample instances of Ramone's kindnesses and affection towards her, even publishing his love notes. And she says that he wrote a song every day, which I believe because his output for the Ramones and others was incredible.
But, as any Ramones fan knows, he was famous for his prolific songwriting, erratic behavior and out-of-control drug abuse, which she says led him to beat her on several occasions and hold a gun or knife on her and force her to drive him to a drug dealer. Vera knows the reader is wondering why on earth she stayed with someone like that, and she reiterates throughout about how much they loved each other, but it doesn't take long before it's clear that she was one of those women who wanted to live the rock and roll lifestyle with a famous husband, even if that meant putting up with his abuse and selfishness.

Her writing isn't great, as she has real trouble conveying emotions to the page. She glosses over important details, and has an extraordinary penchant for exclamation marks, which she puts at the end of sentences that don't need them. And she often tries to detach herself from the drug abuse, saying that she was ordered to buy the drugs or that she just had a tiny bit, which comes off as untrue, given who she was married to, but overall, this is an interesting book for the fan of the Ramones or rock bios, and it comes with lots and lots of private photos. 4 stars
And that's my History & Bios category completed!





Oh boy! *rubs hands together like a maniac* Now I get to post a Ramones song. This is one of Dee Dee's many, many great and famous songs, called "Glad To See You Go". That's him jumping all around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a-Ml5zpQHI

>62 mstrust:
You'd think it'd be gelatinous, but it makes for a dry/crumbly/airy/melt-in-your-mouth texture. I can't even come up with one word to describe it.

>63 mamzel:
Probably someone related to the person who came up with lutefish... "How about we dry this piece of fish, then steep it in lye, and then boil it." Mmm, sounds delicious....

I've heard more than once that what Scandinavian and Scottish cuisines have it common is that both seem to have been created on a dare. Haha!

>63 mamzel: Agreed. When something seems that unlikely or takes that much work to make it edible, it makes me picture somebody who was so hungry they had no choice but to make it work. And that's how we got wheat bread.

>65 -Eva-: It does look like a very light and airy cookie. And it looks delicious.
I hadn't hear that about the cuisines, ha! Whoever said that had never had a stack of warm, homemade Swedish pancakes with lingonberry preserves.

>65 -Eva-: I was having a conversation with my TA about dishes like this (we looked up haggis and menudo recipes) and he said that I could probably bring the plethora of pot lucks we've been having to a screeching halt if I brought haggis.

>67 mamzel: Either that, or the potlucks would go underground so "the haggis lady" doesn't know about them. ; )

With all this international cookie discussion, I found a motherload of recipes here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/845/desserts/cookies/international-cookies/

>68 mstrust: - I have bookmarked the site for future reference. Thanks for posting the link! ;-)

The loss of another favorite of my youth. I know no one else here will know who he was, so this obituary is just for me. I'm glad I got to meet him once.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/arts/music/phil-taylor-motorhead-dies-at-61.ht...

Hey, they performed on The Young Ones!

Yes they did, and I believe theirs was the most popular of all the show's musical performances. Philthy was the drummer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOAz4nPNvLI

And this is a great piece from last night's Stephen Colbert about the network's confusion over art and porn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkJS0IzZREk

102. The Stranger by Albert Camus. World Authors. A young man in Algiers drifts from his mother's funeral, back to his apartment house where he acquires a girlfriend with little effort, listens to a neighbor plotting to get even with his mistress and does nothing to stop it, then commits murder with ease. He describes the relaxing day at the beach that turns deadly in a voice that makes neither sound more important than the other, and doesn't bother defending his actions to the officials who attempt to figure out his motive to kill a stranger, often telling the reader that he would have made an effort to be understood, but "it didn't really matter". 4 stars

We got to the cabin early yesterday afternoon. it's a split level log cabin that sits right next to the lake, so the kitchen and living room are all windows and so is one of the bedrooms. It was 44 degrees when we got here and it has both rained and snowed since we got here, so we had a fire last night. Only bad side is no doggie door so we're constantly suiting up to take the dogs out just in case. Our lab is loving the weather, but little Coral does not. She's wearing her new sweater but hates being outside. It's 29 degrees right now!

>73 mstrust: That quotation is so meaningful today!

Exactly.

We're back home, a day early. Because it turns out that Coral doesn't like vacations, and let us know by ripping up Mike's grooming bag, eating his toothbrush and doing all her business in the carpeted bedroom. She didn't want to go outside, she didn't want us to go outside and she didn't want us to sleep either. And she barked at the dogs in the cabin 200 feet away. Greta was mellow indoors and happy as can be to be outside in the cold air. She actually trotted and smiled, which is a sight.
The weather was exactly what I'd wanted, with nighttime around 13 degrees on Monday. I got to wear a winter coat, gloves and a scarf. We had a fire at night and hot chocolate, and I fished in the lake right outside our door when I warmed to 40 degrees. There was a huge heron-ish bird that hung out on our side, and ducks too. But Coral was so bad that we couldn't sleep because every sound she made had us jumping to see what she was doing now. It was the opposite of relaxing.
Anyway, the above pic is from the internet, but it's the cabin we stayed in with a little more snow than we had. I'll post some of my own pics later.



103. Spending the Holidays with People I Want To Punch In The Throat by Jen Mann. Books I Need To Read. This is a Advanced Uncorrected Proof I won here on LT. Mann has a blog (I'd never heard of) but this is a collection of essays about the holidays spent with family. It turns out that almost all her writing is about her children and being a mom, and rather than the 20's snarkiness I'd expected from the title, the stories are more amusing than funny. I thought the most interesting was the one about how she and her husband came up with the idea of celebrating Chinese New Year as their thing to draw attention for their realty business. It was such a success that the party grew to unmanageable proportions and they found their own house getting trashed in the process. 3 stars
And that's my Books I Need To Read category completed! Now I just need a few more books to finish out Flavor of the Month and World Authors.

>77 mstrust: Sorry Jennifer, but that made me laugh. Pets either love vacations or hate them. Now we know which side Coral is on. And what an idyllic place!

Yea, I might have been laughing if it had happened to someone else!
But Mike works seven days a week and needed a little break, as we haven't had a vacation in years, so it sucked. But I'd love to go back, minus Coral. It's very pretty and everything, restaurants, shops, the local radio station, are in log cabins. We ate at what turned out to be a Long Wong's, disguised in a log cabin.

This is a short story I read on Kindle:

The Death of Death by K.N. Parker. Twelve year-old Tabitha is visited by a being dressed in black who tells her she will die in two days. As Tabitha has been seriously ill, this doesn't shock her, but she's curious about the guide in black. She asks for a name, who the guide was in life, what caused its death and why it, specifically, was picked to guide Tabitha to the other world, questions the guide had never thought about before.
This was an entertaining, somewhat Gaiman-esque tale. I'm glad I came across it. 4 stars

And since I have no category to put it in, and it's a short story, I'm making an overflow section.

OVERFLOW
For the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

1. The Death of Death- 4 stars
2. A Scandal in Bohemia
3. The Musgrave Ritual
4. The Yellow Face
5. Do Unto Animals- 4 stars

Oh dear, it sounds like Coral is a homebody, and perhaps prefers the warmer weather. I guess she's now (ahem) in the doghouse!

Seriously, that cottage looks like a perfect getaway to me!

>80 mstrust: overflow *snort*

>81 DeltaQueen50: I thought Mike would hold a grudge for a while, but the next morning he was playing with her. I think that after having older dogs for a several years, we had both forgotten how obnoxious a very young dog can be.
The place is called "Lake of the Woods Resort", and it was surprising how quiet it was even though you turn in to it right from the highway.

>82 mamzel: Of course I was referring to her hair. ; ) It was pretty surprising to look at pics of her from the 70's, and see that by today's skinny-girl-with-implants standard, she looks perfectly normal. And she's still performing and still a star.

Well The Great British Baking Show ended last night, and I was happy to see Frances win and receive her grand award of a cake plate. She was so happy. It turns out that this is the show's season 4, so it's from two years ago, as the British season 6 wrapped a few months ago.
And I'd never seen a contestant use depression as a tool to manipulate judges as Ruby did.


Here's the three flavored wedding cake that won it for her:

It's another glamour girl's birthday. Ingrid Pitt was a major star in the U.K. in the early 70's, appearing in lots of Hammer vampire movies, and also in the original The Wicker Man. Polish-born, her accent easily passed as Romanian or something else exotic, and she was a good actress.

>84 mstrust: My mum has been watching the baking show as well. Now she wants to bake all the things!

Oh, I'm watching them all- TGBBS, the Food Network Holiday Baking Competitions, there was even one that featured five Grandmas competing for $10,000 by cooking Thanksgiving dishes. And the judges actually eliminated Grandmas with each round, which was a bit harsh.
Anyway, on TGBBS, I thought for sure that Frances had blown her chances when, in the last episode, they had to make something I'd never heard of, picnic loaf? Something like that. It had to be savory rather than sweet, so they were putting in veggies and pork, but Frances put in a layer of trout. And it didn't get the repulsed reaction from the judges I expected.
So I'm testing out recipes that I'll be making for Christmas. I have a log of Honey Almond Refrigerator Cookies chilling right now.

It's been so long since I posted a GBP and I've missed them.



I don't know if those are beds or chaise lounges, but imagine waking up every morning and seeing your library above you.

I've added the Sherlock Holmes stories we've read so far to my Overflow section. Our next meeting is in just over a week and we'll discuss The Gloria Scott.

>88 mstrust: What a gorgeous room!

>89 DeltaQueen50: Isn't it? It looks like Nick and Nora Charles should walk in.


104. Half A Life by V.S. Naipaul. World Authors. Young Willie Chandran asks his father to explain why he has been given the middle name of Somerset, as Willie is being teased about it at school . The father tells the boy of the tiny acts of rebelliousness that led to meeting a famous English author, but also to the unwanted and unsuitable marriage between his parents. Learning of his father's feelings towards his beloved mother, Willie begins to hate his father and carries that hatred into adulthood, with his focus in life being to escape from his family and India's caste system. His father's connections lead to an Oxford scholarship and autonomy for the first time, with Willie making choices about his future and dealing with social relationships he really doesn't understand. 4.2 stars

O.k., I've just watched last night's TWD.

***Spoilers***

Yep, he's alive! But unfortunately he's stuck with bitchy Enid for back-up. What rotten luck that he survives a walker attack and dehydration only to be stuck with her.
Carol seems like she's about to straighten Morgan out. And it looks to me like the actress playing Tara might be pregnant. The loose shirt and jacket, and when she stands up there's a wooden board blocking her stomach. I may be wrong.

>91 mstrust: I was so happy to see Glenn that I'm not even upset to see the town walls cave in! I wish he wasn't with Enid either, but perhaps they will hooks up with Daryl and the rest and lure the walkers away from town. Of course, not before a few extras and lesser cast get mauled.

Yes, the redshirts must die!
And just when did that creaky old wooden tower right next to the all important wall show up? It looked like it had been plucked from an old mining town rather than being next to a planned community.
And Maggie has been talking about Glenn but has anyone even remembered that Daryl, Sasha, Abraham and Nicholas are still missing? (Not that anyone cares about Nicholas.)

>84 mstrust: I loved the "confetti" made from thinly sliced and dried vegetables.

Nice review of Naipaul's book.

>84 mstrust:
Oh, I just love that show. I have emailed PBS and asked that they buy the older seasons as well (and I added the word "please" more than a few times!), but I doubt they'll do it - at least I hope they buy all the future ones! So nice to have a reality competition show where people don't stab each other in the back!

>94 VivienneR: Thanks!
And Frances did come up with some great designs. That confetti and the flowers carved from pineapple were great ideas.

>95 -Eva-: I hope they listen to you!
It is surprising to see competitors who aren't trying to destroy each other. We've gotten so used to that horrible "I'm the best, I'm going to win at any cost" attitude of reality t.v. here. Even worse, to me, is seeing adults crying because things didn't go their way. It makes me want to retch. How are actual kids suppose to grow up when they see adults on t.v. crying because they're disappointed? That's why I disliked Ruby so much; she seemed to have her act down perfectly, like she's gone through life letting people know she's too emotionally fragile to criticize.

It's Evolution Day, celebrated to mark the publication of The Origin of Species.

105. The Devil, The Banshee and Me by L.M. Falcone. World Authors. Will Trenom and his parents live in a B&B across the road from a cemetery. In the cemetery is a house with a new tenant, a woman who live there alone. There is also a new guest in the B&B, a weird young man who says he's a magician, but secretly tells Will he's actually the Devil's nephew. That he's a trickster who can do amazing and scary things makes Will try to stay far from him until a wailing Banshee begins showing up every night outside the cemetery gates and Will discovers that the woman who lives inside isn't alone.

Set in a small Canadian town and filled with demons and a banshee, this would definitely scare some children and builds effective tension for anyone as three people battle the supernatural. 4 stars

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving, Jennifer.

>98 DeltaQueen50: Thanks so much, Judy! And I know you're in Canada, so I'll wish you a great Thursday, and say "Let the eating season begin!"
I have the turkey in the oven and I'm making sweet potato souffle and deviled eggs. We have mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, rolls, pumpkin and pecan pie. Now I need to decide on which green vegetable to put on the table so it can be ignored.

I have a great weakness for green bean casserole. I'm the only one who loves it, although it is tolerated in the spirit of the season by the other members of my family. I'm looking forward to celebrating next year!

Happy Thanksgiving Jennifer. With all those delicious dishes on the table, a green vegetable won't be missed. If you have to have green, I'd opt for a parsley garnish.

Our token green vegetables are peas and Brussels sprouts. I will eat the former, but not the latter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

>100 RidgewayGirl: You know, I never even heard of green bean casserole until I was an adult and had Thanksgiving with friends one year. I'm afraid I've never made it past the appearance, so I can't say if I like the taste. My family's green veg was English pea salad, which Mike won't touch. Mom always makes pecan tassies too.
You message is my 100th, and I feel like you deserve something for that. Slice of pie?


>101 VivienneR: Thanks! As we were eating I realized that I'd forgotten all about a healthy vegetable, ha! I don't think I could have squeezed another dish on the table anyway.
A slice of cake for you:


>102 rabbitprincess: Thank you! I agree- I'll happily eat peas but Brussels sprouts belong somewhere far from me. Like in the garbage.
A beautiful chocolate and roasted banana tart for you:


And as I said as I was stuffing my face this afternoon, now it's cookie season!

Yay! I got my favourite cake! Thanks Jennifer.

Yummmm! And yummy cookies too!

>104 VivienneR: That's my favorite too. Nothing beats double chocolate with thick frosting. Mmmm...

>105 rabbitprincess: But that dark chocolate tart might be a close second. Doesn't it look gooey?
And the dark chocolate cookie with the indentation that makes it look like a giant delicious pill peaks my interest the most, but they all look quite edible.

I've spent the morning very nicely, first watching "Beau Brummell: A Charming Man". It had Hugh Bonneville as Prince George and was a very interesting movie of just over an hour long. Netflix! Then I spent a couple of hours putting up Christmas decorations. I'm not done, but I'm having a break because it wears me out.
I think I'll go to Youtube and see if there were any good Black Friday fights!

It's Jon Stewart's birthday!

Dang! Visiting your thread is dangerous to my (almost nonexistent) waistline! All those cookies, pies, cakes (cake is my favorite dessert; even just the word is enough to make me smile) and other yummy looking concoctions! Quick story: I went to a tea house (English as opposed to Asian) a couple weeks ago for a NaNoWriMo write-in. I ordered tea, then saw Battenberg Cake on the menu. I'd read about people eating (or avoiding eating) that in many British mysteries over the years but had never tried it before, so I ordered a piece. Oh! It was so good! Because it was full of marzipan, which is only a half step below dark chocolate on my favorite candy in the world list. So marzipan and cake, two of my favorite things in one. The only thing lacking to win the most fabulous dessert in the universe award was the dark chocolate.

The cabin by the lake looks wonderful, snow and cold and all. So sorry your time there had to be cut short by your naughty puppy's antics. Although I do understand her dislike of being outside in the cold and snow, I don't understand why she didn't even like being inside.

So, when NaNo November is over, I'll be coming back to check out more closely some of your book reviews which, on a quick glance, look interesting.

>108 Storeetllr: It's only going to get worse as we near Christmas! Oh, the smorgasbord of treats I will post in December!

I've only read of the famous Battenberg too, and I'm so glad you liked it! It sounds perfect for tea and an Agatha Christie. Or to nibble on as you write ( and I'm looking forward to seeing you write 'The End'!)
Unfortunately, I've never met a marzipan I liked. I like almonds but marzipan has such a strong perfumey scent that I can't enjoy. I can't take the smell of brown butter either, which a lot of people love.


Battenberg Cake. Cake flavors may vary, but always wrapped in marzipan..

Coral is her own boss. She may say that she's going along with the plan of not tearing our things up, but when no one's looking she does exactly what she wants. On Thanksgiving I went down to find some mail torn up. It was junk mail, but still, she got on the counter to get it. Yet I made them pumpkin doggie cookies today because I was already making chocolate crinkles.
But we've pretty much decided that we can't have a tree this year because there is no way she wouldn't take it down and chew every ornament.

BTW- has anyone seen the 2016 75 Book Challenge? I've seen the 2016 category challenge but can't find the 75. Am I just missing it?

106. Do Unto Animals by Tracey Stewart. Overflow. The subtitle is "A Friendly Guide to How Animals Live, and How We Can Make Their Lives Better". This is primarily focused on the rescue dog and cat in the beginning, then expands to include the ways in which humans force birds, reptiles, rabbits and farm animals to bend to our will. Stewart is an animal activist but you won't find any finger-shaking here, just the facts about how animals are often living against their nature for our convenience and what can be done about it. There are also many true tales of animal rescue that have happy endings. 4 stars



OVERFLOW
For the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

1. The Death of Death- 4 stars
2. A Scandal in Bohemia
3. The Musgrave Ritual
4. The Yellow Face
5. Do Unto Animals- 4 stars
6. The Gloria Scott
7. Festivus: The Holiday For The Rest Of Us- 3 stars
8. Browsings- 4 stars
9. The Explainer- 3 stars
10. I Lock My Door Upon Myself- 4 stars
11. The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van- 4.5 stars
12. Diary of a Wimpy Kid- 3.5 stars
13. To America With Love- 4.5 stars

Even more than chocolate cake you offered me in post 103, I adore Battenberg cake, rarely seen in these parts. And I love marzipan. I was a marzipan-deprived kid because my mother didn't like the stuff. Never tasted it until I went to work in a cake bakery in my youth. Happy memories.

I'm going to look for the Tracey Stewart book for my daughter-in-law's Christmas gift. Sounds perfect for her.

Jennifer, the 2016 75er's thread probably won't be set up until just around or just after Christmas. It's such a busy place that setting it up early turned into a nightmare one year with everybody cross-posting. So Dr. Neutron now waits until the last possible moment.

>109 mstrust:
"I can't take the smell of brown butter either
But, but... That's the smell of angels...!

>110 mstrust: Okay, snorting with laughter at the picture accompanying the "stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else" list.

>111 VivienneR: I never got fish as a kid for the same reason, that Mom hated it and wouldn't cook it for me. She actually complains when I tell her I had seafood at a restaurant.
Do Unto Animals is perfect for the animal lover and it's full of sweet drawings of animals Stewart has known.

>112 DeltaQueen50: Oh, thanks for the info! I was checking and checking, thinking it must be hidden somewhere and I was missing it.

>113 -Eva-: I know, so many people love that scent but it makes me open the windows. Many years ago I had a roommate who would cook jasmine rice and add this Vietnamese seasoning blend at the end of the cooking time. I don't know what was in it but the smell would fill the house and drive me into the yard.

>114 Storeetllr: Hello Dolly!


I made Chocolate Crinkles yesterday and here's the recipe I use, except I use 3 eggs instead.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9861/chocolate-crinkles-ii/

And I read the Sherlock Holmes story The Gloria Scott in preparation for this week's club meeting. Unusual as Sherlock counts it as his first case when actually there is no case. No one hired him!

Mmmmmm! Chocolate crinkles! My BF's mom has a recipe for those and I always hoover them up whenever she makes them :)

>116 rabbitprincess: It's hard not to eat a handful. The texture is so perfect and they're fudgey. I was watching a Food Network cookie challenge the other day, where they compete for $10,000. One of the contestants made Chocolate Crinkles, gave it a different name, and the judges talked like it was something new. Isn't it a really common recipe?

I made a recipe yesterday called "Easy Sugar Cookies". They're made in a pan so you cute them into bars or squares, and the sugar can be sprinkled on before baking. I went ahead and frosted them with a meringue icing that hardens, but they taste good and they were much easier than the traditional rolling method.

TWD- The mid-season finale was last night, and of course it left lots of loose ends. We haven't seen Daryl, Abraham and Sasha in a couple of episodes, Glenn and Enid are still outside the walls (what's left of them now) and Maggie was barely in the episode what with being stuck on a platform. But don't we all hate Sam now? And I'll make a prediction: Gabriel's days are numbered. He suddenly changed about everything, how he feels about Rick's group and killing walkers. He's becoming a better person, told Rick he wouldn't run, and now Sam's stupid mouth is going to make Gabriel sacrifice himself to save the kid.
What'd you think?


107. The Prince by Machiavelli. World Authors. Written by the nobleman over 400 years ago, this is his collection of essays, really advice, on how to obtain and maintain power. Whether discussing battle methods or gaining the respect of conquered people, he proves that he's highly intelligent, learns from history, is observant and always two steps ahead of his opponent.
This would be the book to study if one were plotting to attack. I found the discussions of singular people, such as the story of Messer Remirro de Orco, who was sacrificed horribly in order to make King Louis look like a good guy, to be the most interesting. But I feel like Machiavelli's great wisdom was wasted on me as I don't have immediate plans for an invasion. 3 stars

And that's my World Authors category completed! Just two more books and I'll have actually finished my challenge.

And it's wonderful Mark Twain's birthday! Whitewash a fence today!

I thought it was a classic Walking Dead cliff-hanger. Everyone in danger, but also a way out for everyone as well. Glenn has spotted Maggie in peril so I am sure he will do something to save her. I suggest sacrificing Enid, but Glenn is nicer than me so he probably won't do that. If anyone messes up Rick's group escape it will be Gabriel and Sam. I am mad at Morgan for knocking Carol out, I think that group may need her skills before too long. Overall, a pretty good mid-season cliff-hanger.

>118 DeltaQueen50: If it comes down to Carol or Morgan, much as I like him, I vote for Carol. Morgan body-slammed her onto concrete! So he's willing to break her in half to protect a psycho murderer. Which doesn't make any sense Aikido-wise, because that training is all self-defense, completely about stopping yourself from being attacked so that you can run away, which is why it's the gentle martial art.
And I agree about sacrificing Enid. Glenn should toss her off a roof to draw the walkers from Maggie. Wow, the show was pretty hard on the kids with this episode, what with the viewers hating Sam, Ron and Enid. And Carl protecting Ron even though Rick know something was wrong. Little Judith was good though!
And I watched "Talking Dead", so saw the little teaser after the credits of Daryl, Abraham and Sasha meeting the bikers.

Chocolate crinkles are among my favorite cookies.

And I am solidly in Camp Marzipan. The hardest thing for me to stay away from is marzipan covered with dark chocolate. (And unfortunately these kinds of things are forbidden to me now.)

>120 mamzel: And I wish that Mozart cookie and candy company made something that didn't have marzipan so I could try their chocolate. I love chocolate crinkles, but I won't be joining you and Storeetllr in your marzipan appreciation society. : D

I was just at my Hallmark store and saw this for sale:

>122 mstrust: Aw MAN I wish I were doing Secret Santa at the office this year... one of my coworkers would LOVE that.

I wish we were putting up a tree, cause hanging Daryl up would be so great. And it turns out that there are quite a few The Walking Dead Christmas ornaments out there.

108. Festivus: The Holiday For The Rest Of Us by Allen Salkin. Overflow. From its ancient beginnings to the modern day with its prominence from that Seinfeld episode, this looks at the holiday of anti-celebration. An undecorated aluminum pole, the Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength are the main components, although the book also includes the variations from Festivus gatherings across North America and recipes too (Junior Mint and Snapple glazed ham).
There are some laughs and a foreword by Jerry Stiller, but the author makes the history of Festivus too plausible, which removes some of the fun. But oh, how I wish I had some Ben & Jerry's Festivus ice cream. 3 stars

>125 mstrust: Ben & Jerry's came out one year with Schweddy Balls ice cream, from the SNL skit. Never sold in my state, however. I was so sad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPpcfH_HHH8

That's one that got past me too, as I had no idea it ever existed:



I don't know if the name killed it or that it had both rum balls and malt balls, which is sort of a strange combo.

Yeah. I like malt balls okay, but they can leave those out and just add extra rum balls, as far as I'm concerned.

Happy Festivus!

>121 mstrust: I guess Marilyn is in the anti-marzipan group!

>128 Storeetllr: Yep, rum balled-filled ice cream sounds like it would sell well, at least at the holidays. With an extra squeeze packet of rum on the side so you can DIY.
Happy Festivus to you! And on the 23rd we can spend the day telling people what we think of them. Yea!

>129 VivienneR: Little known fact: as a Method actor, Marilyn drew on her own experiences to portray emotions realistically. For this scene she had a P.A. standing just out of the shot, shaking a big slab of marzipan at her.



Yesterday I made the very old-fashioned Cherry Bon Bon Cookie, which I'd never made before but I'd had the recipe for years. They're an easy dough made with powdered sugar, wrapped around a candied (or maraschino) cherry, baked, then iced. I used some champagne extract in both my dough and the icing and top with gold, red and green sanding sugars. The recipe only made 16 cookies, so I'll make more and add some cherry extract to the dough to try that. Anyway, a really good, tender cookie with a surprise inside. I took some, along with some Chocolate Crinkles to my Sherlock group last night. We discussed The Gloria Scott, some of the members were mean to the waitress, who didn't deserve it, and now I wonder if they will even allow us back.

I love all the food photos and discussion in your thread! I fit into the pro-marzipan group; it's one of my favourite desserts. However, I temporarily stopped eating it for a couple of years after watching a very scary movie called "Mother Love" starring a super-creepy Diana Rigg. Poisoned marzipan plays a part in the story.

Thanks, Paulina!
I've never heard of that movie but if Diana Rigg is in it it must be good. Poisoned marzipan sounds like such an English murder.



And today happens to be National Cookie Day! Eat up!

109. Browsings by Michael Dirda. Overflow. A collection of essays written for The American Scholar, most concerning reading and book collecting. Dirda owns a vast personal library and won a Pulitzer for his criticism and review for The Washington Post. Many of the essays here discuss forgotten authors of both books and short stories, independent bookstores, hunting for old books in used book stores and the serendipity of finding treasures he didn't know he needed. A couple of essays deal with other subjects, such as the depression of his mother being in an assisted living home, or his seething anger at the National Parks Service for shutting down roads and ruining his visit.

It took me a few essays to get into Dirda's groove. He's not the most engaging writer at first, seeming to be an introvert's introvert and his humor is so gentle it's barely there , then he loses his shyness and begins to often note the many awards and honors he's received. But he always comes back to talking about great, overlooked writers, so I ended up with a whole sheet of writers, books and stories to look up. I trust his judgement because he likes Stephen Vincent Benet. That's what I like, a reader of old books who likes to pass on his discoveries. 4 stars

I wonder if Dirda's a member of LT. If not, sounds like maybe he would fit right in!

Yes he would. I would be surprised if he doesn't know about LT, given all the literary groups he's involved in, so maybe he's with us.

>132 mstrust: In my next life I want to be reborn as the Cookie Monster!

>136 DeltaQueen50: He does seem like a happy guy, so maybe that's the key to a happy life. Can I be a monster with a broader niche, say "The Chocolate Inhaler"? "Maple Grendel"?

It's very late in the day, but I couldn't ignore Walt Disney's birthday.

A lovely remembrance of Walt Disney.

Yesterday was my husband's birthday and all his treats mean we have enough chocolate, cookies and cake to do until next year!

>138 VivienneR: I hope he had a good birthday, and all that chocolate sounds like he did.


We went to Glendale Glitters Friday night, which is the yearly Christmas festival in the town square. They have bouncy houses and giant slides and that thing where they put rubbers bands around you and turn you into a human slingshot. The antique shops that surround the square stay open and all the trees are covered in a light display, which makes it very pretty. So, of course we got my traditional container of soba noodles. We also shared a chocolate cupcake, a homemade Ding Dong and a thick chocolate chip cookie that looked like a rock but was very tender. We brought home a S'more on a stick and coconut covered marshmallows. And another cookie. I should have climbed in a bouncy house and worked some calories off.
And yesterday I saw "The Polar Express". Now I'll have to watch it every year.


This is awful. After 11 years of being one of the funniest shows on t.v., The Soup has been cancelled. Probably so they can just go ahead and rename the channel "All Kardashian, All the time." The Soup is so great, so snarky and it's a show we always watch together. I think they have just two more weeks, with the last show being an hour long finale. At least stupid "E" let them have that.

A short clip from this past week's episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjGQ5k1DahA

I had to make another batch of cherry bon-bons yesterday, then we went out to buy 10 cookie tins, lunch, and a stop to buy books and CDs. For ourselves. I came away with:
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Thirteen Reasons Why
England's Dreaming
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Franny and Zooey, because my copy was so old and brittle it would have fallen apart if I'd read it.

I have to note today's birthday of Padriac Colum because he wrote a poem that I read so often as a very small child called "She Moved Through The Fair". It was in a book of poems my mom gave me, it's haunting, and I never heard of him anywhere else until today on LT.

http://allpoetry.com/She-moved-through-the-Fair

110. The Explainer by Slate Magazine. Overflow. A book of answers to questions that most of us rarely think to ask, such as "What happens to recalled meat?", "Is it legal to lie to Congress?", "Do you own the movie rights to your life?" or "Does Homeowner's Insurance cover murder?"
This was published in 2004 so I'm sure some info is outdated now, but still an interesting read. 3 stars

>141 mstrust: I know this as the title of an English folk song, and I'm pretty sure I've got a recording of this with the Kings' Singers. Off to check...

>143 MissWatson: If it was recorded by folk singers, that would explain why I'd never heard it. It's been years, but I did once try to track down info about Colum because it seemed strange that he was in a book with Keats and other very famous poets, yet I'd never heard of him. I actually always assumed he was Italian. ; )



I've made a batch of Butterfinger cookies and today I'm making raspberry chocolate chip bars, which are a favorite of Mike's and he requested them for the tins. I still have three people to buy gifts for, and Christmas cards. We have our little bit of outdoor decorations up, even though our weather has turned disappointingly warm over the last few days, with the temps nearing 80.

Here's one of Elvis' best Christmas songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FVvAMSTeHs

I've decided to abandon my December Flavor of the Month read of China Meiville's The City & The City. Fifty pages in and I'm struggling to understand just how many cities there are, where the lead characters are and all those things that give the reader a sense of place. Maybe it's just not the right time for me, but I feel like I'm on a boat that keeps shifting.

Raspberry and chocolate! That's a marriage made in heaven.

>145 VivienneR: They're so good and baking them makes the whole house smell of raspberry!

Those Bars look very yummy! You are so organized! I have done some shopping but still have a lot to do and since I am doing a Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning brunch, I better get to some menu planning!

Back to back Christmas meals will be a big job! Hopefully you'll get some help with the cooking, but more importantly, the clean up.

The bars turned out well and they're packed away in the deep freeze, which is filled to the very top. I think my next ones will be a recipe from Nigella Lawson for ginger syrup cookies. I've never used any recipe from her but I have this big bottle of ginger syrup so I want to use it and this looks simple.

In Coral news, just in this week she has stolen and eaten a loaf of bread, a dozen French rolls, my sunglasses, some packages from the trash and my right exercise shoe is missing. Ugh.

Here's Frank and Dean singing "Marshmallow World".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lPw9hkk3II

111. I Lock My Door Upon Myself by Joyce Carol Oates. Overflow. Set in the turn of the last century, young Calla Honeystone's care falls on relatives. She's a strange child who grows more weird and uncivilized in her teens, and the relatives decide she'd better be married off before the whole town realizes she's crazy. Her much older husband gets little attention from Calla, who also proves to be a disinterested mother who forgets her children exist. But when Calla meets Tyrell, a Black water dowser, she is suddenly in love and dreaming of escaping with him. 4 stars

The ginger syrup cookies (Nigella Lawson) were garbage. There was too much butter to flour so that the balls flattened and turned dark brown all along the edges while the center was still a bit raw. There was also no ginger flavor at all, just butter flavor, which is no surprise since the baking sheet had butter running all over. What a mess. I think it's one of those recipes that wasn't tested before the put it up, which happens more often than you'd think.
So I made chocolate bark that night. I used both semi-sweet and white chocolate in a swirl and topped it all with chopped up Italian tiramisu candy that has crunchy bits inside.

Here's a Christmas song by Ralph Sinatra, audio only, called "Christmas When You're Dead":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gofUp3NJ4I

It's National Day of the Poinsettia.

112. The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett. Overflow. Two novellas together, both darkly humorous, though one is fiction and the other true.
In the first story, a middle-class, middle-aged couple come home one night to find that everything in their flat is missing- furniture, major appliances, clothes, even the bathroom cabinet and the soap. At first they both find it upsetting, but then they have different outlooks, with the husband looking forward to buying updated stereo equipment and the wife finding a sense of calm in being without possessions.
The second story, The Lady in the Van, is the true story of how Bennett, in trying to be kind to a local homeless woman, found himself stuck with her living in a van in his driveway for 15 years. Miss Shepard was an eccentric with a mightier will than Bennett, so that not only did she not leave, she got him to do her shopping and provide her with an electrical hook-up. Their story together is funny and sometimes sad. I first heard of this from listening to it's performance on BBC with Maggie Smith as the Lady. I'm looking forward to seeing her in the movie version too. 4.5 stars

113. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Overflow. The story of Greg Heffley entering middle school and trying desperately to re-invent himself. If you're familiar with the movies based on this book series, you know how funny Greg's selfishness can be.
A good read for when you're in the mood for something not so deep. 3.5 stars

Over the last few days I've made maple cream cheese candies and pumpkin spice cookies. I think I'm done baking now. But coconut cake looks really good.

Yummmm! I love coconut. My BF does not. So when he was asked by his family to make no-bake cookies that contain cocoa, oats, and coconut (his family calls them "jumbles"), I had to perform quality control ;)

How is your weather? We are depressingly un-Christmassy.

I also like coconut while Mike only wants it in an Almond Joy candy bar. Your cookies sound good. I haven't heard of that combination in no-bakes.
I make that standard no-bakes with cocoa, oats and peanut butter (and won a blue ribbon at the fair this year for them), but I'd never even heard of those until Mike started insisting that I make them. They're one of his favorites. I experimented with a batch once by leaving out the peanut butter and used cinnamon chips instead and I really liked those. Mine look just like these:



After having a very warm week with temps nearly at 80, it dipped yesterday and we've had rain today. I was wearing gloves while walking the dogs last night and it's great! It's just hard to feel right when it's December and you can still wear shorts.

"White Christmas" may be his most famous, but here's my favorite Christmas song from Bing. Strange that I post it today, as I woke up to actual frost in our yard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEvGKUXW0iI

Frost in Phoenix?

I'm trying to picture you wearing shorts and gloves :)

>157 RidgewayGirl: Yup! It was 37 degrees, so a pretty special day.
Four or five years ago we were driving through the city of Surprise, about four cities over. It was two days after Christmas and as we got to an intersection it began to snow.

>158 VivienneR: Mike actually went to work in shorts this morning, even though our temp is suppose to only reach 53 today. That's his Michigan attitude that "this isn't cold".

Hey, the first year we lived in Scottsdale (we moved from Canada), we swam in the unheated pool all winter long. And by the time my parents moved away, twenty years later, my dad would only go in in August.

>156 mstrust: Classic! My favourite of his is O Come All Ye Faithful / Adeste Fideles, because he sings the first verse in Latin :)

>160 RidgewayGirl: Our heating bills are very very low. But we make up for it by running the AC for 5 months.

>161 rabbitprincess: I've always liked his voice, singing and speaking. So smooth and almost Southern, yet he was from Spokane.
Here's your song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o-JFAxK1NU

Elvis at Graceland. Yep, it's real.
Bette Davis

Jayne Mansfield

I guess Elvis is about to sing Blue Christmas. Bette Davis looks like a modern day model. But who is the brunette at the bottom left?

Elizabeth Taylor! Sorry, I just thought she was so recognizable that I didn't put her name up. She did a photo shoot with all kinds of poses around that white Christmas tree that just gets lost in the golden background, but they're really gorgeous pics. And I love that steel safe of a television.
The others are Bob Hope & Lucille Ball and Jayne Mansfield.

>165 mstrust: I asked my husband because he knows all those glamorous ladies and he was shocked that I didn't recognize Elizabeth Taylor right away. Now I'm shocked too.

>167 VivienneR: Maybe it's because we don't often see her in that shoulder length hairstyle. She's usually pictured with very short hair or the long 60's style of the Burton period.
Spending a year looking through pics of very famous women is surprising, in that I didn't expect I'd find many that everyone hadn't seen a million times. Yet, even with Taylor and Monroe, there are lots and lots of pictures, both posed and personal, that I'd never seen before. Many beautiful pictures, like Taylor's Christmas photos, that haven't been plastered on posters, handbags and wine bottles.

And there's still time to celebrate National Maple Syrup Day! A little dab behind the ears?

Here on the west coast a green Christmas is the norm and we don't get much snow but today I looked out the window and big, fluffy flakes were coming down thick and fast. It continued to snow for a couple of hours but the flakes barely stuck and now that it's stopped it's melting away. Now that's what I call a perfect snowfall!

We had a nice snowfall too. We were out and about yesterday and it was like driving through a Christmas card. Sun, snow and dry roads. That's my idea of perfect.

>169 DeltaQueen50: I agree, that sounds perfect! Just enough to make it exciting but not enough to stop you from going anywhere.

>170 VivienneR: Sounds like a good day. We had our third day in a row with frost in the yard! Winter is special, though when we lived North and it snowed, I was terrified of having to drive in it.

My cookies are out the door. Or most of them anyway. Two tins yesterday, six have gone today, one for tomorrow and then a final one to take to Vegas. I made:
honey almond
chocolate crinkles
frosted sugar bars
cherry bon bons
Butterfinger
raspberry chocolate bars
chocolate swirl bark
cream cheese candy
and pumpkin spice cookies.



Another favorite Christmas song, this one from Blink-182:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy9_JjLnmZI

114. To America With Love by A.A. Gill. Overflow. A collection of essays about Gill's high regard for America, its people and achievements. Gill is a famous London columnist with a huge audience, and it's an unusual and refreshing change to have a Brit not only say he likes Americans, but has traveled across America and knows the history, not just the current politics. This isn't fawning, he states what he sees as cultural flaws or quirks while pointing out the good. My favorite essays were "Stupid", in which he delivers a scathing rebuttal to both Brits and Europeans who regard Americans as uncultured and uneducated, and "Sparks", about the battle for electrical supremacy in America that Thomas Edison won by killing hundreds of animals, which led to the invention of the electric chair. 4.5 stars

I started out this year with A.A. Gill and figured it would be right to end it with him. This is my last for 2015. I came one book short of completing my goal, getting tripped up by my September Flavor of the Month choice, Jo Nesbo. I just flat-out forgot about him in September, thought I'd pick it up in December, and then found that I didn't want to read about grisly murders at Christmas. But I read 114 books this year and I'm cool with that.

1. American Authors

1. The Thin Man- 4.5 stars
2. Diary of a Mad Diva- 3 stars
3. Cotton Comes to Harlem- 4 stars
4. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day- 3 stars
5. The Day of the Locust- 4.5 stars
6. Mark Twain in Hawaii- 3.5 stars
7. The Yellow Wallpaper- 4 stars
8. Devil In A Blue Dress- 4 stars
9. The Lost Weekend- 3 stars
10. The Descendants- 4.5 stars

***COMPLETED***

2. Travel, Food, Music, Art, T.V., Plays

1. Twinkie, Deconstructed- 3 stars
2. Punk Rock Blitzkrieg- 5 stars
3. One-Dish Vegetarian Meals- 4 stars
4. Bill Bryson's African Diary- 4 stars
5. Niagara Falls- 4 stars
6. Toast- 4.5 stars
7. The Maple Syrup Book- 4.5 stars
8. Pufnstuf & Other Stuff- 4.5 stars
9. Oliver Reed: Movie Top 10- 3 stars
10. The Merry Wives of Windsor- 3.5 stars

***Completed***

3. Books I Need To Read

1. Unabrow- 4 stars
2. A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain- 4.5 stars
3. The Mushroom Hunters- 4.5 stars
4. Psmith, Journalist- 4 stars
5. Silver Screen Fiend- 4 stars
6. The Skeleton Crew-4.5 stars
7. Locke & Key 4- 4 stars
8. So You've Been Publicly Shamed- 4.5 stars
9. It Ended Badly- 4 stars
10. Spending the Holidays with People I Want To Punch In The Throat- 3 stars

***Completed***

4. History & Bios

1. Barren Grounds- 3.5 stars
2. Life of Richard Savage- 4.5 stars
3. Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth- 3 stars
4. The Lost Painting- 4 stars
5. The Getaway Guide to Agatha Christie's England- 4 stars
6. Piracy, Turtles & Flying Foxes- 3.5 stars
7. The King's Speech- 3 stars
9. What Is Punk?- 4 stars
10. Poisoned Heart- 4 stars

***Completed***

5. Mystery & Noir

1. The Man in the Brown Suit- 4 stars
2. The Torn Branch- 3.5 stars
3. Woman in the Dark- 3 stars
4. Tears of the Giraffe-- 4 stars
5. Looking For Chet Baker- 4 stars
6. The 39 Steps- 3.5 stars
7. Hide & Seek- 3.5 stars
8. The Tuesday Club Murders- 4 stars
9. The World's Most Popular Classics- Sherlock Holmes- 4.5 stars
10. Witness For The Prosecution & Other Stories- 4 stars

***COMPLETED***

6. Flavor of the Month

January-Charles Dickens-1. A Tale of Two Cities- 4 stars, The Mystery of Edwin Drood- 3.5 stars
February-Margaret Atwood- The Penelopiad- 4 stars Oryx and Crake-4 stars
March-Evelyn Waugh-Brideshead Revisited- 4.5 stars
April-Christopher Brookmyre- Quite Ugly One Morning-3.5 stars A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil- 4.5 stars
May-F. Scott Fitzgerald- This Side of Paradise- 4.5 stars
June- Kate Atkinson- Behind the Scenes at the Museum- 5 stars
July-Jim Thompson- Recoil- 4 stars
August-Edna O'Brien- The Lonely Girl-4 stars
September-Jo Nesbo
October-Neil Gaiman- Smoke & Mirrors- 4 stars
November-Dorothy Sayers- Clouds of Witness- 3.5 stars
December-China Mieville- The City & The City

7. World Authors

1. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency- 4 stars
2. The Housekeeper and the Professor- 3.5 stars
3. The Following Story- 3.5 stars
4. Tiger at the Gates- 3 stars
5. A Sickness in the Family- 4 stars
6. The Little Nugget- 3.5 stars
7. The Stranger- 4 stars
8. Half A Life- 4.2 stars
9. The Devil, The Banshee and Me- 4 stars
10. The Prince- 3 stars

***COMPLETED***

8. Non-Fiction

1. The Angry Island- 4.5
2. Stacked- 3 stars
3. Sorry! The English and Their Manners- 3.5 stars
4. How To Eat Out- 3 stars
5. Bats in Question- 4.5 stars
6. Among the Gently Mad- 4.5 stars
7. Rebel Rebel: Anti-Style- 4 stars
8. At Home With Books- 5 stars
9. Everything is Going to Be Great- 2 stars
10. Infested- 3.5 stars

***COMPLETED***

9. Autumn/Halloween

1. The Horror Of It All- 4.5 stars
2. Pumpkins by MetroBooks- 4 stars
3. Great Ghost Stories- 3.5 stars
4. Locke & Key- 4 stars
5. Backyard Giants- 3 stars
6. The Letter, the Witch and the Ring- 3.5 stars
7. The Great Ghost Rescue- 4 stars
8. Ray Villafane's Pumpkins-4.5 stars
9. The Devil in the White City- 3.5 stars
10. The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens- 3 stars
11. Jane Slayre- 4 stars
12. Smoke and Mirrors- 4 stars
13. A Grim Almanac of Cambridgeshire- 4 stars
14. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary- 4 stars
15. The Curse of the Blue Figurine- 4 stars

***COMPLETED***

10. Everything Else

1. Dogs in Cars- 3 stars
2. Novel Living- 3 stars
3. Are You Dissing Me?- 3 stars
4. Kafka's Soup- 3.5 stars
5. The Little Free Library Book- 4.5 stars
6. The Double Dealer- 3.5 stars
7. Steal Her Style- 4.5 stars
8. Interior Desecrations- 4.5 stars
9. Locke & Key: Clockworks- 4 stars
10. Novel Interiors- 3.5 stars

***COMPLETED***

OVERFLOW
For the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

1. The Death of Death- 4 stars
2. A Scandal in Bohemia
3. The Musgrave Ritual
4. The Yellow Face
5. Do Unto Animals- 4 stars
6. The Gloria Scott
7. Festivus: The Holiday For The Rest Of Us- 3 stars
8. Browsings- 4 stars
9. The Explainer- 3 stars
10. I Lock My Door Upon Myself- 4 stars
11. The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van- 4.5 stars
12. Diary of a Wimpy Kid- 3.5 stars
13. To America With Love- 4.5 stars

Looks like you had a great reading year! :) Hope you have a very happy holiday and a wonderful reading year in 2016.

I did, princess, and thank you! And I wish you a happy holiday too!
Even though I'm done posting reviews for the year, I'll still be here. I have to be, as I'm hosting a big party for the rest of the year. Help yourself to anything you like.

Congratulations on a wonderful reading year! Have a safe and happy holiday season and see you next year!

Thanks! Have a great holiday too!

Congratulations on finishing your challenge. I've enjoyed a second look at your list and added a few to my wishlist.

I'll have some of that Yule Log please!

114 books is a lot! I had to laugh today when I was listening to a podcast about books and the host was going on and on about how she had read almost forty books and how extraordinary she was. Now forty books is fantastic, but hardly note-worthy. She just sounded so very pleased with herself.

>189 VivienneR: Thanks, and I hope you enjoy your BBs!
Certainly have some yule log, and take a book too. That one you've been hoping to find for the last five years? I've got it. You just have to find it and it's yours.



>190 RidgewayGirl: 114 is a lot. I read 126 last year, but I don't strive to hit a certain number because book lengths are all over the map. Maybe I read thicker stuff this year?
She must have been pleased to brag about it, and I'm sure she received a lot of "you call that newsworthy?" feedback. But she has read a lot more than the average person, so she can be happy with that. Face it, we here at LT are the wonderful extremes.

Pass a tray!

You're right, and I feel curmudgeonly for not lauding her, but she does host a podcast about books. Although anyone here would see the danger of talking about them more than reading them!

>192 RidgewayGirl: Awww, don't feel bad, just pat her on the head and say, "That's a good start." Maybe she's a beginning bibliophile and has the podcast in order to meet others. If I had a podcast about books I'd be constantly prodding my listeners for recommendations.
Drink?

Congratulations on finishing your Challenge, it's been a great year and I am glad you are sticking around so we can party the year out!

>194 DeltaQueen50: Thanks! And I hope you came to dance!

Congratulations on finishing your challenge, it has been fun to follow you! The drink looks tempting. Some kind of grog?

Congratulations on finishing your challenge!

>196 MissWatson: Thank you, and I'm glad you had fun here. I really don't know what kind of drink it is, but knowing the bartender, it has rum in it. The lime slice is to prevent scurvy.

>197 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks! Be sure to help yourself to the buffet.

Well. We went shopping for maybe two and a half hours, and as soon as we came home a truck pulled up with Coral inside. She had broken a couple of wooden slats of the fence and made a run, but a family on the next block caught her and took her to their vet to see if she's chipped. Luckily she is and they were nice people who wanted to bring her home. I'm going to guess, from her level of separation anxiety and the fact that she stays near us even when she's off lease and running in the yard, that she was coming out to search for us.
We took them over a card and a bottle of Cognac. And now we know some people on that street. She is officially the most expensive dog Ive ever owned. : D

We did do some Christmas shopping for others, but then there was a Half Price Books. I got my calendars for 2016, the complete first season of "Extras" plus:
Queens of Noise: The Real Story of The Runaways
Bad Boy by Jim Thompson
Chew On This
Gulliver's Travels, Barnes & Noble edition
Jeeves in the Offing
The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America
Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America

Let's start the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amnRSB-RBVw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFGC_YgeQ5w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYNermvyWO4

And Gene Autry singing about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ara3-hDH6I

Congratulations on your challenge completion. I've enjoyed the pictures of goodies even if I can't enjoy eating them. Keep up the baking, too!

Thanks, and I've enjoyed having you here!
If sweets aren't your thing *moment of sadness* then try some salad and healthy stuff. I can whip up just about anything you like.

Thanks so much! I try to find ways to enjoy vegetables as much as I used to enjoy the surgary treats. At our annual office staff spread for the faculty I cut up vegetables and made two dips (with lo fat sour cream or yogurt) and was pleased to see the teachers wipe them out.

When they look pretty and bright, everyone wants to eat the fruits and veg. What's really great is when you have a vegetarian recipe that's so good even the meat-with-every-meal people don't miss it.

And I see you like Harry Potter, so I'm giving you a first edition.

And I want to post my new thread in the 75ers Challenge. If you've enjoyed the food and cocktails (and books) here, you'll like what I've done. :
https://www.librarything.com/topic/208640

Come see me!

Happy Festivus

An appropriate Festivus pole.


Airing of the Grievances


and finally, the Feats of Strength

Killed the festive mood, didn't it?

We'll be leaving tomorrow. I've studded oranges for Mom, written my list of things to take and my MIL will be at the house to feed the dogs. We have a special order of Le Mar's doughnuts that we'll pick up on the way out of town. I need to pack and fill a couple of tins of cookies. And keep my fingers crossed for three days that Coral can control her anxiety (We had the back fence welded back together yesterday. Because she burst through it).

But the party is just getting started here!







Some last minute decorating

Hoping that Coral will be all right while you're away, and wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

I'm going to be constantly wondering what she's destroying at the moment, but what can we do? We're leaving pig ears, chew bones and sweet potato sticks for them, plus a new toy. I hope she's able to take her mind off wrecking the house for a few minutes. : D
And Merry Christmas to you!

And to everyone:



I hope it's a magical day for you

Yum, pig ears!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for the HP book. That was so thoughtful! Best of the season to you!

Merry Christmas !
Congratulations on finishing your challenge!
>195 mstrust: There was dancing? I missed the dancing? I'm so bummed.
>200 mstrust: My family had one of those foil trees back in the 60s. With the color spectrum wheel that rotated and changed the color of the tree.

>215 mamzel: Enjoy, and have a great holiday!

>216 VioletBramble: Merry Christmas! And the party is still going, so go ahead and show us your Chicken Dance.

Happy Holidays, Jennifer. I'm not a 75er, but I'll be following your thread there anyway.

And I know exactly how difficult a dog with issues can be. I know I wondered many times during Emmie's first years with us whether I had made a terrible mistake. And then she ended up being our most loved (and loving) dog ever. There's something about the ones who require effort. And now that she's gone, the mud and teeth marks on that one photo album are precious.

Finally managed to work my way over here to get caught up with your thread, Jennifer.

>115 mstrust: - Chocolate crinkles... YUM!

>130 mstrust: - Cherry Bon Bon Cookies look wonderful. I have heard of champagne extract before. That sounds like something that would be fun to add to some baked goods!

We are a big fan of the movie White Christmas. We watch it every year.

>172 mstrust: - Congratulations on getting your cookies out the door! You did keep some at home for personal consumption after all that hard work, right? ;-)

Congratulations on completing your challenge!

Merry Christmas, Jennifer. Have a safe and fun holiday. Now I am off to drop my star over on your 75 thread so I can find you when the New Year starts.

>218 RidgewayGirl: I hope to see you in my new digs. The news from home so far is that everything is intact. that could change with the next phone call so i don't want to brag. But I call her my little sweet and sour, because she loves hugs and kisses and also stealing. Happy Holidays!

>219 lkernagh: Good to hear from you, and I hope you're having a great holiday!
The champagne has a bit of a crisp,dry flavor that mimics champagne. I first had it in a cupcake that was topped with a kir flavored frosting.

>220 DeltaQueen50: Merry Christmas, Judy! My 75 thread will officially start on the 1st, book-wise. But I'm already chatting away there and setting up chairs.

Merry Christmas everyone!

>199 mstrust:
Glad you got her back! I found a dog on Christmas Eve and he had a tag with a phone number, but nobody picked up the phone. Luckily, one of my friends is a PI and we got the address and drove him over and knocked on the door. A woman came out, looked at the dog, and said "oh, that looks just like my dog, Rudy." Erm, lady, it is your dog... :) Turns out the dog had escapes from the woman's husband and he hadn't called her, but was trying to find the dog by himself instead of worrying her. Well, the dog got covered in kisses and I got a bag of homebaked chocolate chip cookies! All's well that ends well.

>222 -Eva-: Reunited on Christmas! I'm glad Rudy found nice people so he could get home.

We got home this afternoon and haven't begun to pack. Our Christmas included presents, champagne, "The Christmas Story", cookies and candy, meeting my niece's boyfriend whom none of us had seen before, shopping and seeing my sister for the first time in two and a half years. Also, I got food poisoning from leftover Chinese on the last night there, so was up exploding til 2:30 am. It's great to have a Christmas packed with activities!
I rode home laying in the back seat the whole way, and I'm pretty weak, but I think tomorrow will be fine.
And Coral was very very good, only going through the office trash rather than chewing the sofa or anything else we feared.

Sounds like a great visit - outside of the food poisoning, that is.

It did put a damper on the fun. But it certainly wasn't the worst bout of food poisoning I've experienced, as nothing can top the Five Days of Salmon Regret of 2013.

This is sad but not entirely unexpected news. Lemmy is gone.



Here's where I get sentimental. I've been a fan for most of my life and can't guess how many times I've seen them live. I was a member of the official fan club for many years and while I got to meet Philthy, Phil Campbell and Wurzel in person once, I only got to talk to Lemmy once on the radio. Over the last few years we'd seen little things here and there, a dropped note or leaving the stage for longer periods, but he kept going. We ran up to Vegas for one night in August to see Motorhead at the House of Blues, so I'm glad we have that great show to remember.

Here's a few songs, all favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co9yv2NjyWs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9YRhKcLJK8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_fLID0xICU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snyjRd93HBs

I remember seeing them on "The Young Ones" when I was a kid, but never saw them live, unfortunately. Great band!

I'm sure that appearance brought them to a wider audience, and it was a great song to go with the manic action. So much fun, and Lemmy and the band worked with the guys from "The Young Ones" in other shows too.

More sad news for Motörhead. I believe he died on his birthday. He was one person I thought would go on forever.

Very sad news about Lemmy. :(

>229 VivienneR: He died four days after his birthday, which was on Christmas Eve. I always expected him to be around too, he was someone with tons of stamina and determination.

>230 rabbitprincess: It's pretty amazing how everyone knows Lemmy, even people who aren't into rock music know who he was. That's unusual, but he was a really likable person.

So now I have to tell you about my Amazon situation. I received $150 in Amazon gift cards at Christmas, and I usually get them from someone every Christmas, birthday, whatever. A couple of times a year, so I know how to use them. On Monday I placed an order for a couple of things, typed in one of the cards which would cover the whole amount, and the order processed. I checked the balance left on that card, so I know it was used. Last night I did the same with another g.c.
But then I go to my banking site and I see that there are charges from the previous night using the credit card I have on file with Amazon. The amounts were different than what I had bought, and I'd used a gift card, so I call my husband at work and tell him, thinking my account has been hacked (we've had our card jacked by a gas pump skimmer before). I call Amazon and spent an hour on the phone with three service reps, none of whom could tell me what had happened, only that those are my purchases with taxes, each itemized but still a different total. They had the g.c. number I entered in their computer but they couldn't correct the problem because the orders had been processed and sent already. The third person I talked to (demanded) was the supervisor's supervisor, and all she could do was apologize and give me an addition $50 on the card for the hassle. No one could tell me why my credit card had been used without my authorization, so I won't keep a card on file with them anymore. But my husband had already called our bank and had my credit card cancelled, so now I have to go today and get a new one issued.

What a frustrating online shopping experience, especially with a giant online retailer like Amazon! Stories like yours makes me cringe every time I read about big company mergers that lead us more and more towards monopolies controlling segments of the retail environment. Here is hoping that this issue gets resolved to your satisfaction.

Hi, Lori!
The story turns out to have a sequel. I went on the next day just to see if the rep had put that $50 on my g.c. balance. No. I also didn't receive the e-mail verification like she'd said. So I sign up to be called again and the rep I speak to has no information about any of this in her computer, so I'm three for three, because the supervisor had also said she was noting her offer in the computer so that anyone I talk to would see immediately what she was giving me and I wouldn't have to explain any of this debacle. But she didn't. The story goes on for another 20 minutes and two more reps, but to sum it up, the rep from the night before hadn't put the money on my g.c. Instead, there's an account that is invisible to customers, that I won't see until I am actually checking out and I have to trust that $50 will be taken off the total. Guess how much I trust them.

Yes, Amazon has become too strong and cut the number of choices we have. It is a monopoly.
Yet I shop with them often because they are usually the only place I can find the book, CD or movie I'm looking for. I think I'm like many LT members in that I'm searching for specific books, some that are out of print or an edition that is 30 years old. Abebooks are owned by them too, I believe.
I went to a good sized used book store about three weeks ago and left with nothing because I wasn't finding books on my list. Though I always leave Half-Price Books with a big stack.
Oh, I forgot about the beautiful collector books I bought at Barnes & Noble after Christmas!



Only $10 each and very pretty!

I hope everyone is celebrating tonight-

Ugh. I feel your pain. Amazon is fine when your problem is a routine one, but if it's at all out of the ordinary, they have no mechanism to fix it. I couldn't use amazon for two years because I had an issue with unauthorized charges by one of their amazon marketplace vendors. Every customer service person I talked to (and after a while I started the conversation with, "May I please speak to your supervisor?") agreed that this needed to be fixed and they would totes take care of it. And the next day I'd receive a stock email from their accounting department that until I paid the unauthorized charges (my bank caught it first and blocked them) my account was frozen. For two years this went on. I discovered that I am stubborn. And then one of those long calls to customer service worked. But it was a long stand-off.

So stay strong! One day you will be triumphant!

Yea for digging your heels in! Two years is a ridiculous amount of time for them to take to figure it out, but when you have a company that big, it's easy for everyone to pass the buck and say the next employee will take care of it. And since customer service is a job where they often give fake names to customers, it makes it that much harder. I'm glad you finally got it sorted out, but you really worked for it!

Instead of sending me verification of our conversation, which the supervisor she said she was doing right then, I received one of their "Are you happy with our customer service?" surveys.

I pity you for having to deal with such a gigantic mess at Amazon. I don't have enough patience to deal with something like that and end up sounding like a gibbering idiot. I handle it better on customer service surveys.

>238 VivienneR: It will all work out. With me winning.
>239 VivienneR: What a pretty picture! Happy New Year to you!

>240 Storeetllr: Yea fireworks! Happy New Year!

Are you ready?

>234 mstrust:
Oh, what a pain! I do know about the "invisible account" part because I have had them put money in mine before, but it is a shame they don't have the proper process in place to deal with a situation like yours - this is a really big company, after all.

I thought it was strange that they have an invisible account. How would a customer know there was money to spend if they can't see it? sigh. One of those things that will never make sense to me.

Oh well. I have a bottle of Perrier-Jouet in the fridge and two new Lenox champagne flutes, and that makes me happy.

I tend to forget the money is in there, so for me it becomes a bit of a "discount surprise" whenever I order anything. :) But, I agree that it is a very, very strange practice indeed.

>237 mstrust: It was less them taking two years to figure it out, as it was finally getting someone willing to follow through. With each and every call to customer service they started from scratch. Since they have a goal for how many customers they "help" the pressure is high for them to say what they need to get you off of the phone and then they have to move on to the next call without doing what they just promised they would. And it's hard to be angry at them, since they're not paid enough and TPTB value speed over results.

>244 -Eva-: It would be very easy to forget since you can't see it. They must have a reason for it, like making customers furious. ; )

>245 RidgewayGirl: I did end up feeling that the supervisor had said what she needed to to get me off the phone. And I told the first rep that I knew she'd done all she was allowed to, because of course you start off with low man on the totem and their hands are tied about fixing something like that.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Be sure to stop by my 2016 thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/208640

>246 mstrust:
Not sure aggravating your customers is a good business model. They have a matrix with gift card balances, not sure why they couldn't just add it over there. Oh well, who am I to question... Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Eva!