Review: The Jewish Princess Cookbook by Georgie Tarn and Tracey Fine

This book was a review book received from LibraryThing and McBooks Press. I have no idea why I requested this book, other than that I have a slight obsession with cookbooks. I own probably two and a half shelves full of them, but I cook from them very rarely. I'm hoping to get back to cooking from them now that we have a little more money coming in, so hopefully, I'll get to try some of the recipes in The Jewish Princess Cookbook soon. Now, I should preface this review by saying that I am not Jewish, and I certainly do not consider myself a princess, so it feels a little disingenuous that I should be reviewing this particular cookbook. The women who wrote it ARE Jewish and, apparently, are also princesses. I'm not really sure what makes a Jewish princess, other than, it appears, a certain traditional take on homemaking (the woman does it), and a yen for designer goods (cited in this cookbook are Gucci, Prada, Dior, D&G...and this is not an exclusive list). The authors state, however, that "every woman has a little bit of a JP [Jewish Princess] in her - or if she doesn't, she certainly should" (pg. 13).

Although the text in the book seems a little fluffy for my taste, the food sounds DELICIOUS. Since I am not Jewish, I do not keep kosher, but this book would be great for those folks who do and need new ideas for the Sabbath dinner, for entertaining, or for every day. My good friend from law school is a non-Jew marrying into a Jewish family, so it might be good for someone in her situation, too, who is just learning kosher laws and wants to impress the in-laws with a dietarily-proper Jewish meal. The book is divided into eight sections: Appetizers, Salads, Soups, Meat, Fish, Desserts, Cakes, and the Ultimate Dinner. Some of the appetizers are things that I would love to try, like Pink Grapefruit with Brown Sugar, Watermelon and Feta Cheese, and Sesame Chicken Balls. I'd also love to make the Ultimate Dinner's Chicken Soup, as well as many of the desserts (Chocolate Refrigerator Cake?!).

While the constant references in the text to Jewish Princesses, shoes, handbags, and getting one's hair done grated on my nerves after a bit, someone a little more girly than I might appreciate it more. The book is what I might call a "chick lit cookbook." But the recipes sound great.

Overall, I'd give the book three out of five Whatevers. I hope I get a chance to use some of these recipes soon!

Review: Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry

Well, I've finally reached the end, and what a sweet ride it's been! I've really loved all of the novels in Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove tetralogy. I read them in publication order, which made Comanche Moon, second in chronological order, number four. This novel took me longer to finish than any of the others, but not because it wasn't as good. It was truly as awesome as the other three. But, for some reason, I couldn't get into the mood to read for most of the last couple of months. When I DID sit down to read it, the book captured my attention, and, as with the others, I couldn't put it down.

***Mild spoilers ahead!!!***

Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call are back, with further adventures as Texas Rangers holding down the frontier on the cusp of the Civil War. This book also introduces Captain Inish Scull and his lust-crazed wife, Inez, who were two of my favorite characters. We get to see some of the as yet missing part of Call's life - his relationship with the whore Maggie and the birth of their son, Newt. Making a reappearance in this book are the Indians Kicking Wolf and Buffalo Hump, as well as Buffalo Hump's son, Blue Duck, who later becomes one of the most ruthless outlaws in Texas. The action oscillates between the Native Americans, dealing with the end of their era as free peoples, with the encroachment of the white settlers, the extinction of the buffalo, and the movement of the Indians onto reservations, following the Civil War. It follows Scull, who is captured by the Black Vaquero in Mexico...can he escape? How? It traces Call and McCrae's years as Rangers, each man rising to the rank of captain.

Once again, McMurtry's characters carry the story. I've loved the character of Gus McCrae since I first came across him in Lonesome Dove, and he is the same old Gus in this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to visit with him again, although I was dreading the end of the novel, because there were no more. However, there's nothing to prevent me from going back and reading these again whenever I feel like it! I give this installment four out of five Whatevers, since it didn't hold my attention like the others. But it's absolutely worth the read, especially if you've read any of the other books!

Holy Cow

Well, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida has finally decided to accept their responsibilities and pay for Ricky's MS treatment. That was the best news we've had in six months. However, that doesn't mean they aren't still trying to find ways to sink our battleship. They do not want to pay for his Tysabri, which is the drug the doctor wants him on. He tried another MS drug, Avonex, and it wasn't having the desired effect. Originally, the doctor tried to put him on the Tysabri right away, but the insurance company wouldn't pay for it, since he hadn't tried other drug therapies first. Well, now he HAS, and they STILL don't want to pay for it, so I see yet another struggle coming in the near future, albeit not as big of a struggle as it was to get that little "pre-existing" code erased from his file.

We spent yesterday making the rounds to four different doctors, between the two of us. It was a long day. We also had to spend Saturday picking out a new computer. For some reason, our two-year-old HP laptop just DIED Saturday, in the middle of me playing a game on it. We couldn't even get it to come back on. So, not knowing what else to do, we went to Geek Squad (which everyone I know is telling us we should NOT have done), and they told us the motherboard was dead and will cost $400-$500 to fix. Mind you, we just dropped $150 in January on a monitor when the screen on the damn thing died. So the computer we spend $900 on just two years ago has ended up costing us much more than that. I loved the computer while it was working, but keeping it working was just too much. So we invested in yet ANOTHER new laptop. Which disappoints me. The laptop I had in law school was an HP and it lasted me FIVE YEARS, which is ancient for any computer technology these days. Needless to say, we bought a protection plan this time. THEN we found out on Saturday that one of our friends/acquaintances is a computer guru and probably could have fixed the thing. We're actually going to give it to him to mess with, to see if he can get it running again, and, if he can, Ricky will inherit it as his own computer. The only positive to the situation is that I FINALLY took the time to get our wireless system up and running in the house we've lived in for a year. So now our Wii is updated and we can use the computer in any room of the house. It's WONDERFUL!

In reading news, I have made great progress in Comanche Moon, the fourth book (in publication order) in the Lonesome Dove series. It is just as wonderful as the other three, although there isn't as much edge-of-your-seat action as in the other books. I may finish it this week and get a review up. Next up is another review cookbook...

Joining My First Challenge

Well, I've decided to inch into the challenge waters and enter my very first-ever timed (i.e., non-perpetual) reading challenge! I'm a terribly slow reader (life seems to always get in the way), and I'm very anal-retentive about my reading, but I'm going to try to just fit my next few reads into some of these categories. We'll see how I do.

5 Point Challenges


Read a chick lit book

Read a name with a proper name in the title

Read a historical fiction book

Read a book with a one word title

Read a book made into a movie

10 Point Challenges


Read a book with a Civil War theme (any country)

Read a Biblical fiction book

Read a hardcover book

Read a book about a king or queen

Read a book set in France

15 Point Challenges

Read a book by an author you’ve never read before

Read a biography or autobiography

Read a book with a number in the title

Read any book and then post a review

Read any book but read it outside

20 Point Challenges


Read a book in a series AND the one after it

Read a book that was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Read a book considered Christian fiction

Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100

Read a book by an author born in July, August, September or October

The Best American Mystery Stories 2009, ed. Otto Penzler and Jeffrey Deaver

Again, another winner from the Best American series! This book of 2009's best mystery short stories was great. I started it over a month ago, but just finished it over the weekend, while I was away on vacation. And not because it hasn't been engrossing, but because I haven't had the time to commit to reading like I have in the past. Each of the stories was very good, in its own way. My favorites included Chuck Hogan's "Two Thousand Volts," N.J. Ayres' "Rust," Rob Kantner's "Down Home Blues," and Kristine Kathryn Rusch's alternate history "G-Men." I'd like to do some research to see if Kantner's private eye, Ben Perkins, appears anywhere else. I took quite a liking to him while reading that story.

I'd give it five out of five Whatevers, as usual. Perfect for the mystery buff or those who like short stories. Or those who like both. Once again, I renew my plea to please, please, PLEASE pick up a volume of this series (mysteries, short stories, or otherwise) and read one or two of the stories therein. Even if you don't think short stories are your thing, you might find yourself changing your mind.

Edited to add: My copy was a Christmas gift, not a review copy!

Whirling Dervish

I've been so busy lately! I started teaching part-time at the local university, so I've been spending a lot of time working on class-related things, in addition to the trial I had last week for my full-time job (which I WON!). Friday night was a going-away party for a colleague, yesterday was a Memorial Day BBQ at a friend's house, and today was cleaning, since I'm hosting Girls' Night at our house on Friday night. Needless to say, reading has been taking a bit of a backseat. And, honestly, I'm not much into it right now. Guess it's a slump.

BTW, someday I want to actually go to Istanbul to see the Whirling Dervishes in person. They are SO beautiful! If you've never seen them, go to YouTube and type in "whirling dervish." You'll find some great video of them!

One Year

Today is our one-year wedding anniversary. I cannot believe we've been married for a year. It's gone SO QUICKLY! Between moving, transferring positions at work, finding out the house we're renting is in foreclosure, my car getting flooded, and Ricky's illness, we haven't had a dull moment in our first year of marriage. I can't believe we have survived, but here we are. And, hopefully, things will only get better from here. I'm not terribly mushy, even with Ricky, so I'll just say that I'm happy with him and leave it there.