Most Recent Reject: The Forest in the Hallway

The Forest in the Hallway by Gordon Smith started out promising. The beginning reminded me of The Series of Unfortunate Events. Beatriz, the protagonist, is alarmed to find her parents missing one day. She goes to live with her uncle in his apartment building. Her uncle tells her to not go to the building's nineteenth floor, so like a lion cub we are all fond of, she disobeys her uncle and goes to the nineteenth floor where she finds a hallway that gradually turns into a forest.

In the forest she meets the Grim Reaper, who announces "Please don't be alarmed by my appearance. It's a costume. I've learned that people expect a certain dramatic touch...but yes I am Death. The Grim Reaper. Your Eternal Reward. Whatever. (15)" It was an interesting take on the personification of death, but I kind of liked the symbolism. By this point in the book I was expecting her parents to actually have passed on and in Alice-in-Wonderland fashion she was going to come to terms with the idea and be able to move on with her life.

Unfortunately I set my hopes to high. Turns out she runs into a fairy (named Rose), with rainbow dragon fly wings and two fairy kids. The kids found a magic book and use it to conjure animals. This wasn't what I was expecting and I wanted to see if it was worth finishing, so I skipped to the end. Turns out her parents were magically turned into children and once they turned back into adults they all went home. I'm glad I didn't take the time to read the whole thing.

But I Still Love Technology...

Always and Forever!

So tonight Matt and I played Wii MarioKart (through the internet) with my little sister seventy-five miles away. It was so much fun! I also talked to my sister on the phone for a bit while we were playing. Technology is incredible.

Recipe of the Week: Ron's Chunky Guacamole

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/avocadoes_in_guacamole.jpg

This recipe is from my father-in-law Ronald. He makes it every Superbowl Sunday. It is quite delicious. I believe he got it from Cooks Illustrated: Home.

To minimize the risk discoloration, prepare the minced ingredients first so they are ready to mix with the avocados as soon as they are cut.

3 medium avocados, ripe, (preferably Hass)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 medium clove garlic, minced

1 small jalapeño chile, minced (1 to 1/2 teaspoons)

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

2 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions

1. Halve one avocado, remove pit, and scoop flesh into medium bowl. Mash flesh lightly with onion, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, cumin (if using) with tines of a fork until just combined.

2. Halve and pit remaining two avocados, and prepare. Gently scoop out avocado into bowl with mashed avocado mixture.

3. Sprinkle lime juice over diced avocado and mix entire contents of bowl lightly with fork until combined but still chunky. Adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary, and serve. (Can be covered with plastic wrap, pressed directly onto surface of mixture, and refrigerate up to one day. Return guacamole to room temperature, removing plastic wrap at the last moment, before serving.)

Most Recent Read: The Life of Glass

I enjoyed reading The Life of Glass by Jillian Cantor. It was predictable but, I still liked it. According to the book, glass takes a million years to deteriorate, but it can shatter easily, like the dual nature of humanity. On one hand we are tough and resilient, but also fragile.

One of my favorite songs is "Ali in the Jungle". The song is about overcoming seemingly insurmountable problems, like Muhammad Ali in the "Rumble in the Jungle" and Mandela Nelson in jail. It is incredible what individuals are capable of, such as Joe Simpson, Helen Keller, and Ludwig Van Beethoven.

People can accomplish incredible things, but they are still very breakable. Illness caused by microscopic organisms can eventually become fatal. It only takes pounds of pressure to break a bone or pull a muscle. I found some rather interesting, but disturbing facts, "It takes approximately 8lbs of force to snap the collarbone. Breaking the elbow joint takes between 5-8lbs of force. Putting direct force against the joint in the knee can be devastating, Breaking this joint takes approximately 15lbs of pressure" (http://socyberty.com/military/how-much-force-does-it-take-to-break/).

Most Recent Reject: The Subtle Knife

I went to the library and checked out The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I had read the book The Golden Compass and then saw the movie. I thought it was a pretty good book. A little weird, but interesting.

I started reading The Subtle Knife and after about a chapter and a half I stopped reading. I had heard that the series was about killing God and overthrowing heaven, but that concept wasn't really in the first book and I wondered if people were just reading too far into it. They weren't.

Wow, Pullman is anti-Christian, well anti-God for that matter. I'm so glad I didn't waste my time actually reading them.

I'm so glad I have the gospel. It would be so sad to live in a world where I didn't believe in the salvation of Christ, or the infinite mercy of our Father in Heaven. It's ironic that in the books Pullman suggests that because of God we are not free, when in fact it is God who respects our free agency and has given us the opportunity to repent when we do make mistakes. We are liberated because of Christ.

My advice, don't read them. People like Pullman can write what they want and even get published, but that doesn't mean it isn't puerile drivel. The Narnia books are infinitely better. I would go as far to say the Twilight series is better, which is saying something.

Recipe of the Week: Pam's Caramel Syrup

This syrup goes really well on waffles, pancakes, and french toast. Although, if you want to smother ice cream in it, I'm not going to stop you. I've been considering making homemade peanut-butter cups but with carmel instead of peanut-butter and a Toffee and Almond Symphony bar instead of just regular chocolate. That's for later though, here is the carmel recipe:

Butter 1 Lb (4 Squares) May use margarine

Lt Karo (Corn) Syrup 1/2 Cup

Buttermilk 2 Cups

Sugar 4 Cups

Bring all the ingredients to a boil and then continue to boil for three minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and then add 4 tsps of baking soda and 6 Tbls vanilla. Stir down and skim off foam. It is helpful to save empty maple syrup bottles to put the carmel syrup in after you are done making it.

Most Recent Read: The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan was incredible. It was best book he has written, which is saying something because his other books are amazing. Furthermore, (dare I say) I think Riordan's books are better than the Harry Potters.