Stop the ride - I want off

The past couple weeks have been hectic. Our sewer line broke, so we had to be super careful with our water usage until we got it fixed (done, thank goodness!). One grandpa has a mysterious illness on top of his advanced Alzheimer's. The other has colon cancer. Our Stake President from CA got in a car accident, in which his wife died and he punctured a lung, did some serious injury to his back, and other problems, I'm sure. My best friend from high school's older sister died of an aneurysm. The kids mashed the little fins on the AC, so it's barely working - and it's 100 degrees outside all this week. My husband's stepdad is in the hospital from a stroke. My sister lost her baby. All I can wonder is, what's next?

A friend reminded me of a "thanks journal." I think I'll have to make a post later today of just our blessings. Since, somewhere in all this, there are many.

The Quilter's Apprentice

The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A quick, easy read. Amazingly clean. Sometimes I think she struggles with describing the quilts, although being a quilter myself, I know many of the blocks by name and can visualize them without a description. She does a wonderful job weaving the stories into the plot. I think she could have done more description, as well and development of the relationship between Sarah and Sylvia. It seemed a little too scripted - it happened too easily. I am curious to see what she does in the next book, although I have a feeling that she could have combined the two into 1 (this book was only 266 pages). Oh, and I wished that she had told the story behind the "contrary wife." I think it's so funny that I'll have to make one myself someday!


View all my reviews.

Love Walked in

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I loved the premise. Sadly, the author is foul-mouthed, loves to focus on sex (even if she doesn't describe it explicitly) and with that she pushes her belief that sex is something to be played around with - to experiment until you "find the right person." And still, I fell in love with the characters. And I loved how she switched back and forth from Cornelia's point of view to Clare, winding the stories together. Wonderfully written.


View all my reviews.

The Bread Baker's Apprentice

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
An enjoyable read. I have not had a chance to try the recipes - that will have to come later. But I am very interested in playing around with retarding the dough and seeing the effects it makes in the flavor and texture. I have not read a whole lot on artisan bread, and this was helpful in learning the science as well as some the techniques. I now understand what the "windowpane" test is. It does have only 2 recipes for whole grain breads (whole wheat, and whole sourdough rye), which was a disappointment, but know I have a lot of new ideas of how to play around with the bread recipes I see.


View all my reviews.