Mbwun_Lily

What's up in January, you ask? Well, I got a message from the system here today, saying that I've been missed, as it's been a long time since I've been here. So, I thought about it, and decided to come here and explain myself. You see, I was introduced to this message board by a former member who went by the name fireball here. fireball was a very good friend of mine, and when I found out that he'd been banned from this board, I really didn't feel like I should participate here anymore, as a sign of support for him - it just didn't feel right. I use the past tense 'was', as fireball died of a massive stroke on Boxing Day of 2008. For those of you who may remember him, a lot of the reason fireball was the way he was, was that he was was battling his way back from the damage caused by a stroke that should have killed him years previous, but miraculously didn't. Every post was a struggle for him to compose. I still really miss him, and I think about him every day. And I'd be the first to admit that my joy for reading has been greatly diminished by his passing. It was a passion we shared, and it's still difficult for me, as the memories of that passion, and the association of it with him, are still very painful at this point. Anyhow, I doubt that I'm likely to be back here much, if at all. I don't imagine many of you would remember me anyway. Plus, since I haven't been reading much in the past four years, I probably wouldn't be able to contribute much here.

Yeah, but how many of you have a "Thank You" from the author for the recipe (actually, two recipes) that you posted on his message board, and he actually copied out and tried - and really, really, really, liked them? Jack Whyte posted this on his message board:

Way too many. I mean it - I've lost count there's so many. I swear, if I sat on my duff, and read 24/7 for a year or more, I probably wouldn't get through them all. Is there such a thing as Bookaholics Anonymous?

I get a lot of my books from thrift stores, and used book stores. And when I buy my books new, I try to look for heavily discounted books off the publisher's overstock shelves. I do buy them for full price if I figure it probably won't show up in any of the afore-mentioned venues and I really want to read it. Plus, sometimes I really want to read it NOW. And I have special ordered books that I really want, if the book stores around here haven't chosen to stock them.

I would estimate it in the mid-hundreds range, although at the moment most of them are packed away in boxes after a move.

My top three: The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett Standard of Honor - Jack Whyte The Religion - Tim Willocks

Heck yes, fairly regularly - I'm suffering from a period of what I refer to as "The Reading Doldrums" right now. I got halfway through a complex book (The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow) that I was really enjoying when it hit - the bookmark is still stuck there in the middle of the book. When my "Reading Mojo" is totally back, I'll resume reading it. I'm trying to get myself out of it by reading a mindless piece of pap that's turning out to be an enjoyable but extremely easy read. FYI - it's called Soapsuds, and it's co-written by actress Finola Hughes, and Digby Diehl.

Thanks to Nici, Michelle, and Heather for adding me to their MySpace Friends! You guys are the best!!!

For a truly risque Christmas read, try searching out a copy of Santa Steps Out by Robert Devereaux. It's an out of print book, so you'll have to try finding it used. And on the opposite end of the scale, a good Christmas book to get for your children is Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed. I think it has an appeal for both children and adults - and the artwork is fantastic!

I recently opened up a MySpace account, and have added a direct link back to this forum on my profile page: http://www.myspace.com/cadasta I'd be tickled pink to be added as a Friend by anyone here.

You could also try The Moonstone, and/or The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Or maybe something by J. Sheridan LeFanu.

This recipe makes a nice addition to any meal: Pepper Salad 1 - 14oz can green beans (drained) 1 - 12oz can kernel corn (drained) 1/2 cup chopped green pepper 1/2 cup chopped red pepper 1/2 cup each of any other colour bell pepper you would like 1 cup sliced celery 1/2 cup sliced green onion Dressing: 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup salad oil 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper Mix together and pour over vegetables. Refrigerate. notes: If you double the vegetables, you don't need to double the dressing. The recipe lends itself to quite a bit of "customization". The first time I ever had this, my sister had added a can of white beans (drained and rinsed) to it. I would think that garbanzo beans (chick peas) would make a nice addition, as well. You could also substitute the can of kernel corn with a can or two of those mini corncobs.

Forum member fireball recommended this place to me.

How much I'll read during any given day depends greatly on how much time I have in a day to dedicate to reading. Sometimes I've had hours to devote to reading and have been able to read an entire 600-700 page novel in a day, and sometimes I only have the few minutes that I'm able to stay awake after retiring to bed in the evening. On average, it's nice to be able to read 60-70 pages of a novel in a given day, as I find that just reading a book in small dribs and drabs tends to lend itself to not getting much out of the read, and eventually giving up on the book entirely before finishing it.

Unless I'm looking for a specific book that has been recommended to me, the cover has everything to do with whether I pick a book up and check it out. It's only after the cover has attracted me to it that I'll even bother looking at what it's about, and what kind of comments have been made about it on the book jacket. The title of a book is pretty darned important too. If that doesn't compel me to purchase it then and there, I'll go home and check what people are saying about it on the 'net. Sometimes that clinches the purchase, and sometimes it makes me decide to give it a pass.

This recipe is my specialty. One of the neat things about it is, if you use extra lean ground beef, you wind up with a relatively low fat, and very healthy meal, that qualifies as "comfort food". Almost Cabbage Rolls Loosely mix together: 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef 1 large onion - diced 1 cup long grain rice several cloves of grated garlic (I use lots) 2 tsp pepper a dash of salt Layer 4 cups of coarsely chopped cabbage in the bottom of a large casserole dish. Layer half of the hamburger mixture on top of this. Add another 4 cup layer of chopped cabbage, then the other half of the hamburger mixture, then 4 more cups of chopped cabbage. Make sure that it is loosely layered - do not pack it down. Mix together: 1 22 oz. can tomato sauce 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 tbsp. mustard powder Pour over the top of ingredients in casserole dish and let sit for 20 minutes minimum. Bake covered in a 325 degree oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. I've found that this tastes particularly nummy when served up with freshly-baked, still warm from the oven, cranberry-orange bread - spread with real butter. The way I make it is I use a raisin bread recipe, substitute thawed orange juice concentrate for the water, and craisins for the raisins.

It depends. If a book is just a good, mindless, read, then I'll probably forget most of it within a few days of reading it. If, on the other hand, it has effected me in a profound way, those parts of the plot that effected me will probably stick with me for the rest of my life. How much a book has had an effect on me plays a very large role in just how much of the book I will remember after a time.

Oh ... I am familiar with the Uncle $crooge character from the Disney cartoons, but I can't say as I ever paid enough attention to them to notice his being a fan of Robert Service. That's rather interesting. Thanks for clueing me in!

No I'm not, Oblomov, do they have some kind of significance with the Yukon?

I think the first verse sums up the human condition perfectly: I wanted the gold, and I sought it; I scrabbled and mucked like a slave. Was it famine or scurvy, I fought it; I hurled my youth into a grave. I wanted the gold, and I got it -- Came out with a fortune last fall, -- Yet somehow life's not what I thought it, And somehow the gold isn't all. But, having worked in the Yukon for three summers in the early to mid eighties, I'd have to say that the second verse just about sums up my experience with the North: No! There's the land. (Have you seen it?) It's the cussedest land that I know, From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it To the deep, deathlike valleys below. Some say God was tired when He made it; Some say it's a fine land to shun; Maybe; but there's some as would trade it For no land on earth -- and I'm one. One of these days, I've got to go back there.

I've never been much into poetry either. But I do hold a soft spot for the works of Robert Service. Especially his poems "The Cremation of Sam McGee": http://www.geocities.com/heartland/bluffs/8336/robertservice/sam.html and "The Shooting of Dan McGrew": http://www.geocities.com/heartland/bluffs/8336/robertservice/shooting.html Here's the links page for those two where links to more of his poems can be found: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/bluffs/8336/robert_service.html

If you like novels with a food flavour then I'd recommend the mysteries written by Diane Mott Davidson featuring crime-solving caterer Goldy Schulz. There's even recipes included in the books. There's recipes in Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" too, if you haven't already read that.

My favourite book so far this year is "The Sleeper in the Sands" by Tom Holland. It's very intriguingly written, with a very Sheherazadian telling of events in ancient times taking up a vast portion of it. I also really liked a couple of Techno-Thriller style books I read that are quite lengthy. The first is "The Swarm" by Frank Schatzing, and "Decipher" by Stel Pavlou. Last year, the stand-apart winner of "Favourite Book" had to go to "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield.