dogmatix

Awww I still say you'll never know what you missed.

I promise it's not Saramago

Sorry Pontalba:mrgreen:

In addition to the wonderful and gruesome descriptions of 16th century medicine I am fascinated by the way the characters discuss the law as "having little to do with reason". The struggle betwen the importance of evidence vs the importance of motive. The newness of the jury system and the spectacle of trial. Very antiquated and yet striking a very contemporary cord. Section 2 is beginning to to seemlessly interdigitated into the first section and my mind is beginning to whirl with "who done it" and why? I guess section three, when I get there, will spin me in a completely different direction. Pears is clearly a gifted author. :018: I may have to read more of him in the future.

I pour over mine all the time for inspiration and new ideas. My hubby loves the results and I love the creativity it affords me in the kitchen. Good cooking, especialy with fresh ingredients is a bit of an art form...but of course you get to eat it at the end.

Two for me as well, both whites Bogle Copola's Pinot Grigio

Great I had a feeling that the ending was going to be fabulous. I've just finished the first section.

Thread's been a bit quiet are we all on the wagon? Sofia, Muggs..... anyone?

Andy you rock!!!! I use pancetta, parmaham and other cured italian meats all the time. Usually with fresh mozarella, tomtoes and fennell. Salty cured ham-------I just never put two and two together. You've opened an whole door of possibilities for me. Thanks so much. Picatta, I love picatta.......

I'm on a cokbook jag. Started collecting about a year ago. Have em' all lined up in the kitchen on the top shelf of the cabinets. I love a combination of gorgeous pictures (one for every recipe please!), fresh ingredients heavy on the veggies and grains, also some good food history. Plus I love to cook!!!!! Right now my favs are the Naked Chef Series by Jamie Oliver but I also love Kitchen of Light by Andres Viestad. I'm interested in Kylee Kwong's book Heart and Soul, but don't have it and my favorite chef is Alton Brown because he's just so nerdy and adorable. Who else is into cookbooks and what are your favorites?

What is Christmas Pudding? I hear about it all the time but I've never seen or had it. Do tell.....

:018:

Well I've just started this one and it's turning out to be a real page turner. An historical fiction with science, intrigue and of course murder; it's Ecco meets Conan Doyle (not entirely my idea there but I agree). The prose is well constructed but unlike Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, which bored many readers, the plot keeps moving quickly along and I've not found myself "measuring" the edge of the book to see how far I've got to go (come on we all do it!) The plot centers around the murder of a college official in the 1600's and although I'm not far enough in yet I believe the story is to be told from multiple character's perspectives which intriguingly and enticingly don't match up very well. I love the characers and also the raw and often bloody medieval style of medicine practiced throughout the story. The book is graphic but apropriately and not to excess and the descriptions really add to the grity ambiance of this great story. Anyone else read this? Here's a brief review from Amazon An Instance of the Fingerpost is that rarest of all possible literary beasts--a mystery powered as much by ideas as by suspects, autopsies, and smoking guns. Hefty, intricately plotted, and intellectually ambitious, Fingerpost has drawn the inevitable comparisons to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and, for once, the comparison is apt. The year is 1663, and the setting is Oxford, England, during the height of Restoration political intrigue. When Dr. Robert Grove is found dead in his Oxford room, hands clenched and face frozen in a rictus of pain, all the signs point to poison. Rashomon-like, the narrative circles around Grove's murder as four different characters give their version of events: Marco da Cola, a visiting Italian physician--or so he would like the reader to believe; Jack Prestcott, the son of a traitor who fled the country to avoid execution; Dr. John Wallis, a mathematician and cryptographer with a predilection for conspiracy theories; and Anthony Wood, a mild-mannered Oxford antiquarian whose tale proves to be the book's "instance of the fingerpost." (The quote comes from the philosopher Bacon, who, while asserting that all evidence is ultimately fallible, allows for "one instance of a fingerpost that points in one direction only, and allows of no other possibility.") Like The Name of the Rose, this is one whodunit in which the principal mystery is the nature of truth itself. Along the way, Pears displays a keen eye for period details as diverse as the early days of medicine, the convoluted politics of the English Civil War, and the newfangled fashion for wigs. Yet Pears never loses sight of his characters, who manage to be both utterly authentic denizens of the 17th century and utterly authentic human beings. As a mystery, An Instance of the Fingerpost is entertainment of the most intelligent sort; as a novel of ideas, it proves equally satisfying

My father in law just gave me 1/2 of a country ham (this is an uncooked salt cured ham) it's sliced. What the heck do I do with it? I love traditional style ham (you know like Honey Baked Ham) but I've never had a country ham before. The only application I know of are the southern style ham biscuits which are fine but I'm looking for some recipes. If you have any suggestions lay em' on me. Apparently this stuff will last about forever so I need a few ideas.

Thanks, I'll be sure to check that out.

Do you think it will still be warm when it gets there?

I'm making homemade Chicken Fetuccini Alfredo tonight!

Well since it's T-day I'm a bit late but in general for a couple of mellow crowd pleasers I recommend Diamond Chardonney and Diamond Merlot. Easy to find, not too pricey, good and agreeable to most palletes.

Sophia, havent been around to congratulate you...so Congrats!! Speaking Champange, I've never had a good one and I've never learned to enjoy it. Gimmee some suggestions guys. Reasonably priced please! My preference is always dry, not sweet and I dislike a finish that lingers too long. Cheers!

:lol: I loved Holden and I loved this book. It was so long ago that I read it, in high school like many of you, that I'm really fuzzy on he details. Anyways a great classic IMO. Glad you read it Pontalba. I love sort of "going back" and filling in the "should have reads". Earlier this year I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Farenheit 451. Still need to read The Red Badge of Courage though.....

Kell my counters are DISGUSTING with litle cat foot prints. Now don't get me wrong they get disinfected thoroughly before every meal but nevertheless, then there's the litter in the bed sheets. Yup ya gotta love em' to tolerate them. Mine have been with me for 15 years.

Don't get me wrong it did look fun just, a bit intimidating to the uninitiated. Now that I'm such a VN EXPERT:lol: I could rock on that thread!!!!

I leave mine on all day while I am at work. You can cook about anything in them. If cutting up veggies bores you to tears then just chuck in some frozen ones, some meat and some broth. You'll have soup when you get home from work!

I do think If I'd warmed up with something else VN irst I may have enjoyed Lolita more. I just felt over my head and couldn't appreciate the book. I knew it was something great but I just wasn't up to par. Would have been a great college read and I may yet read it again once my level of sophistication rises to a more appropriate level. Plus the B&R thread was too intimidating.

How completely decisive of you:friends0: BTW got to play with some more lions the other day.