My October Adventures

October is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the change of seasons period, but summer to fall is my favorite with comfortable days and chilly nights, beautiful foliage and delicious fall fruits & vegetables. Like Pumpkin! And apples. Halloween was a wash around here, though, because of the hurricane. Trick-or-treating was rescheduled twice already and now postponed until further notice. I'm thinking until October 31, 2013 would be fine at this point.

Felled trees like this one on power lines,
houses and cars on almost every street.

I've already blogged about Hurricane Sandy here and here, so I'm not going to go too much into it again. It's an adventure that's more like a nightmare and is still ongoing. Power is still out for a lot of people and the last of our schools just got power restored this morning but a few hours later a transformer blew, knocking out power to a school and neighborhood that had previously been completely unaffected by the storm. I thought tomorrow was going to be the day of return, but now I'm not so sure. Students haven't been in school since October 26! It's been crazy to say the least.

Let's move on to happier subjects, starting with books!

Most of my book choices for October were well suited for the R.I.P. VII reading event I joined--dark fantasy, paranormal, crime fiction and thriller type stories. Even the two In Death books I read were apropos in their crimes for this time of year--one was a controversial murder of a priest inside a Church in Spanish Harlem and the other was a human sacrifice type murder. Spooky stuff.

In books: 

Total books read: 7 

Romance............... 1 

Fantasy.................  1 

Crime fiction ......... 2 

Young Adult ......... 3

1. Cold Fire by Kate Elliot
2. Demon From the Dark by Kresley Cole
3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
4. Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb
5. Ritual in Death by J.D. Robb
6. Prince of the Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
7. Tales of Death and Dementia by Edgar Allen Poe,
Illustrated by Gris Grimly

My favorite this month was Demon From the Dark by Kresley Cole followed by Cold Fire by Kate Elliot.

In fitness:
I've been working out regularly as usual, but I have to admit since the Gran Fondo in September, I feel a little adrift without an event ahead of me. At first it was nice not to always be thinking about my next training ride, but that lasted all of a week or so. Now I miss those long 40, 50, 60, 70 mile rides that took hours on a Saturday morning to do. We're still cycling on the weekend, but since the days are so much shorter now and family calendar's so busy during the school year, we don't have as much time to ride.

Here they come..
I ride like a girl. Try to keep up. 

That's one of my favorite of my photos that I took last month for my Project 365. I went on a ride with the guys and had to wait for them at the top of the hill. I have to admit that felt really good.

Photography: 

I'm hanging in there with the Project 365 I started on Instagram on Jan. 1--haven't missed a day in a long time now! Of course, I probably just jinxed myself saying that. I followed the photo-a-day prompts from Fat Mum Slim over the summer and am thinking of doing it again for December. Anyone else want to do a photo-a-day project just for December? Maybe I'll share the prompts here on my blog once they're announced to encourage you to join. It's fun.

In the garden: 

I yanked it all up right before the hurricane. I picked all lingering green tomatoes that just weren't ripening and was too impatient to wait for them to ripen on the counter so I was considering making fried green tomatoes with them. My family grimaced at that idea, but thankfully Joy came to the rescue and hooked me up with this fabulous Indian recipe Green Tomato Sabji. It was so delicious that I'm counting on making it with green tomatoes next year! I already miss having fresh basil right outside my door and already we have only ONE jar of homemade pesto to get us through the winter. Bummer.

And that wraps up my October adventures. Wishing you all a wonderful November.

What kind of adventures did YOU have in October?

Anna Karenina Read-Along: Part One

Note: If you've already read Anna Karenina, please feel free to join in this Read-Along discussion. However, please refrain from discussing anything past Part One of the novel at this point.

I am reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy! I took the plunge into this 838 page Russian classic and now that I've gotten my feet wet, there's no turning back. I'm completely submerged in this epic saga. I had no idea this was such a fascinating and dramatic ... historical chick lit novel! Come along and read it with me--it's pretty exciting so far.

There are numerous translations of Anna Karenina available to readers, including a few free versions that you can download to your e-reading device from amazon, barnes and noble and ibookstore, although I do not know how reliable those translations are. I chose to read the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. This translation was awarded the PEN/Book-Of-The-Month Club Translation Prize.

As well as being well recognized as an exceptional translated version of Tolstoy's original work, it has a few bonus features that I think are definitely noteworthy. For one, this version contains a list of the principal characters, including the numerous variations on every one's names, which is proving to be most helpful as Tolstoy uses them all at any given time. I admit I flip back to the character list quite frequently as I'm reading. This translation also includes a Notes section in the back of the book, upwards of 40-50 footnotes or explanations for various references throughout each chapter. Some of these notes are more helpful than others. More often than not, I feel as if I need notes for the notes, but I'm not worrying about understanding every little reference to outside literature or politics at this point. Someone more knowledgeable or passionate about history and the arts would likely benefit the most from these explanations. For the rest of us, not "getting" all of these details does not really detract from enjoying this piece of literature.

If your version of Anna Karenina does not have a character list or notes, there is a list of the primary characters and a summary for each of the eight parts of the novel on wikipedia. I suggest you read with absolute caution, however, because you may easily read major plot spoilers if you read the plot summaries! I accidentally read one last night on a book club page and am very disappointed to have read what I did. So please, be careful reading about the book around the internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina

Now let's discuss Part One of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

CAUTION: Since this is a Read-Along discussion post, you can expect spoilers from the designated section of the text. Read at your own risk!

Many book discussions of Anna Karenina begin with the very first line of the novel, so let's do the same.

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

1. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

2. The story opens with the Oblonsky household in complete disarray as Dolly has discovered her husband, Prince Stepan "Stiva" Oblonsky had been having an affair with their young French governess. What are your first impressions of Stiva and Dolly? What do you think of the couple's quick reconciliation? Do you think Stiva got off the hook too easily?

3. Meanwhile, Oblonsky's childhood friend, the shy and awkward Konstantin Levin, "Kostya," arrives in Moscow from his country estate to propose to Dolly's youngest sister, Princess Katerina,"Kitty." What is your first impression of Levin and his friendship with Oblonsky?

4. Princess Katerina is being courted by both Levin and Count Vronsky. What do you think of Kitty's decisions regarding these two men?

5. What is your first impression of the title character, Anna Karenina? There is a strong magnetism between Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky from the first moment they meet. What is your first impression of these two characters?

6. What is your overall impression of the novel so far?

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If you are reading Anna Karenina along with me or even if you've read the book already, I encourage you to share your responses to any or all of the discussion questions on your own blog or in the comments below. Feel free to discuss anything else about Part One that interests you.

Here are my responses to the discussion questions:

1. "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I disagree! How is happiness all the same for everyone, yet unhappiness so different? I think Tolstoy's statement is a huge generalization about both families and happiness. In my opinion, the only way "all happy families are alike" is in that they all have some degrees of unhappiness layered in there, too! Just as no one individual is perfect, neither are relationships, including the relationships among family members.

Of course, many families are happy, functional families full of love, companionship and support for one another, but everyone experiences varying degrees of bumps along the road of life--including our relationships with family members. That doesn't mean we want to abandon, betray or otherwise hurt our family members, but there are bound to be disagreements and hurdles along the way. However, how we deal with problems or instances of unhappiness in our families--with respect, patience and compromise, for example, is key to all of our overall happiness, I think. I'm curious to see how Tolstoy's characters deal with their familial problems and unhappiness. I imagine there will be varying degrees of success and disaster among the relationships.

2. I definitely think Dolly forgave Stiva all too quickly and easily for his affair. I don't trust Stiva when it comes to his promise of marriage to Dolly. He seems to believe he is entitled to mistresses and is way too non-chalant about his actions. I acknowledge that it was very common, if not expected, for married men to have mistresses, but it doesn't mean I have to accept it. Clearly not all of the wives found it acceptable either!

I would like to see both Dolly and Stiva make changes in their own behavior in order to improve the physical and emotional intimacy in their marriage, but I don't think anything is going to change. Dolly won't take any initiative to do so--partly because she doesn't know what or how to do that, and Stiva won't either simply because he doesn't think he has to! The only thing he did wrong was get caught!

3. I really like Levin so far. I feel a little sorry for him because he doesn't quite belong among the aristocracy of his friends in Moscow. He's a bit socially awkward, but he's intelligent and not ashamed of his ideals. I admire him for wanting to live life the way he wants--on his estate in the country wanting a home and family.

As far as the friendship between Levin and Stiva goes, I think their friendship is so long lasting merely because they were close family friends since childhood. If they didn't have that solid past of having grown up together, I don't think they'd be friends as adults since they seem too different. Stiva is more shallow and self-absorbed, a man who strives to keep up with the aristocrats of Moscow society, while Levin seeks the happiness that a wife and family can bring his life in the country and his ideals are his own, not whatever is simply the popular consensus at the moment.

4. Oh, Kitty. I like her! Like Levin, she seems the most genuine of characters so far. As it is, she is very young and therefore she relies on the guidance of her mother regarding important decisions about her social life--such as who to marry. She is more likely to make decisions based on what is expected of her rather than what her heart tells her. I think she would be very compatible with Levin and I was disappointed for both of them when she refused his marriage proposal, but I could see why everyone would think Vronsky would be a better match for her. It doesn't seem these characters necessarily marry for love, which I suppose was very common in this time period. When Kitty was cast aside by Vronsky for Anna Karenina, a married woman no less, I felt even more pity for Kitty. I hope she finds happiness in the future.

5. My first impression of Anna Karenina is that she is beautiful and alluring to just about everyone she meets--men and women. She comes across as complex and enigmatic, but I also find her rather sad and think maybe she is lonely or depressed. Her marriage lacks emotional intimacy and obviously the attraction she feels for Vronsky and he for her spells nothing but trouble for everyone. I don't trust him at all. Everything he has done so far is for purely selfish reasons.

6. I really enjoyed reading Part One and cannot wait to read more. I have to admit I didn't realize how juicy this story is! A lot of drama among family, friends and lovers. Who knew?

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It's not too late to join the Read-Along that Fay from Blog A Book, Etc. and I are hosting on our respective blogs and with an Anna Karenina Read-Along Group on goodreads. I assure you that Part One is a quick 100+ pages that you can read in just a day or two and hopefully you'll be as hooked as I am. We will be reading Part Two this week and discussing it next weekend. We'd love to have you join us!

Cookbook: Indian Regional Classics by Julie Sahini

This is one of the cookbooks I chose from which to cook for the Cookbook Challenge hosted by Cynni at She Likes Bento. The Cookbook Challenge is designed to get participants cooking from cookbooks we've had on our shelves for a long time but have never cooked from them. Indian Regional Classics by Julie Sahini [1998] is one such cookbook for me. Unfortunately, once again, I am presenting you with a positive review for cookbook that is no longer available to purchase new from the publisher. Indian Regional Classics is only available from used book sellers or maybe you can borrow it for free at your local library. :)

I happen to own several Indian cookbooks as Indian food is one of my most favorite cuisines. I also own Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahini [1980] which is a phenomenal resource for authentic Indian cooking. Honestly, Ms. Sahini taught me how to cook Indian food right in my own kitchen with that cookbook--dishes that impress even my Indian friends. I highly recommend it. Would you believe I found it at the curb in front of a neighbor's house on recycling day? Best find ever.

Back to the cookbook in discussion! Indian Regional Classics: Fast, Fresh and Healthy Home Cooking by Julie Sahini is a great starter cookbook for anyone looking to dabble in Indian cooking. This cookbook doesn't contain quite the plethora of recipes as Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahini

but there are plenty of recipes for the adventurous home cook looking to learn a few authentic Indian recipes. Indian Regional Classics also pays careful attention to keeping the recipes healthier in this cookbook--always a plus. As the title implies, the author presents a variety of recipes showcasing specialties and styles of cooking from different regions of this vast and diverse country.

The cookbook begins with a discussion on Indian spices and herbs as well as the Indian way of eating. Then the recipes are presented by type--appetizers and soups; breads and savory pastries; rice and grains; tandoori grilling; fish and shellfish; chicken and poultry; meat; vegetables, legumes, eggs and cheese; yogurt salads, chutneys and condiments and finally desserts and beverages. There is also an Indian pantry checklist and a glossary of ingredients. Obviously from those recipe categories, you can see this is not a vegetarian cookbook. There are, of course, numerous recipes that could be prepared with vegetables, beans and grains that would be well suited for a complete vegetarian meal, but many, if not most, of the recipes in this cookbook call for animal products, including dairy.

I made two recipes from this cookbook tonight--Zaffron Pulao [Saffron Pilaf] and Malai Jheenga [Moghul Shrimp in Cream Sauce]. I also oven roasted a few potatoes, carrots and a small head of cauliflower, toasted some store-bought frozen naan in a skillet and made a delicious new-to-me dish of Hirvya Tamatyachi Bhaaji [Green Tomato Sabji] from Aarti's Corner using the green tomatoes from my garden that have been stubborn to ripen on the counter. This recipe was recommended to me on twitter by Joy [Joy's Book Blog] after I posted a photo of way too many green tomatoes I picked from my garden last weekend when I was preparing the yard for the hurricane. So glad I made this dish. It was excellent! Thanks, Joy!

Homemade Indian food for dinner. Yum!

The Saffron Pilaf was delicious--seasoned with onion, cloves, raisins and of course, saffron, it was a special addition to our meal, especially since I usually prepare basic white basmati or jasmine rice in the rice cooker. In fact, all of the rice dishes in this cookbook sound wonderful. I plan on making more in the future.

The Moghul Shrimp in Cream Sauce was mildly fragrant and also quite delicious. My husband thought it lacked a distinct flavor and was rather plain, but my eldest daughter and I liked it. I'm not in a great rush to make it again, but am not adverse to the idea either.

I'll definitely be cooking more recipes from this cookbook now that I've sampled these recipes.

You can visit Julie Sahini at her website http://juliesahni.com/ .

The Cookbook Challenge runs through the end of November, so if you'd like to join in, visit Cynni's sign up post HERE. Hope to see you cooking from a much neglected cookbook on your shelves soon!

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Weekend Cooking, a weekly blog event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share--a food related book review (fiction or nonfiction), cookbook review, movie review, a recipe, random thoughts, gadgets, food quotations, photographs, etc. Please visit Beth's blog for more information and join the fun! 

Note: your post does not have to be posted on the weekend, but do visit Beth's blog over the weekend to link up your post. 

R.I.P. VII The End.

I'm very pleased to report that I met all the challenges I imposed on myself through Carl's R.eaders I.mbibing on P.eril VII or R.I.P. VII reading event. Here's an overview of what I signed up to do and what I accomplished. I'm so proud of myself. ha!

Peril the First - Read four or more books that fulfill the categories of R.eaders I.mbibing on P.eril such as mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, supernatural, etc.

1. Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
3. Prince of the Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafrón
4. Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia illustrated by Gris Grimly

I "double dipped" by listing The Graveyard Book as one of my reads for the Peril the First when it was also the read along book, but in my defense, I also read a few other dark books that may or may not satisfy the R.I.P. categories:

5. Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep
6. Cold Fire by Kate Elliot
7. Demon From the Dark by Kresley Cole

Peril of the Short Story - Read some short stories that fit the above R.I.P. categories

1. "Ritual in Death" by J.D. Robb in the Suite 606 anthology.

Peril on the Screen - Watch something scary or eerie on film.
I watched not one, not two, but THREE scary movies! Not bad for someone who doesn't like scary movies, eh?

1. Red Lights [2012]
2. Prometheus [2012]
3. Carrie [2002]

Peril of the Group Read

I participated in the group read of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book [2008].

Adorable book written by one heck of a story teller. You can read my review HERE.

I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised I managed to pull this off! Looking forward to participating in R.I.P. VIII next year and already have one book on my list... A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness which I ran out of time to read this time. Now that I spent most of the last month reading all spooktacular books, it's time for this girl to stick her nose in a romance novel. ;)

Happy Halloween!

Hey everyone! I hope you had a really safe, happy and fun Halloween today!

I made this Halloween banner tonight using a really fun, easy and FREE photo editing website called PicMonkey.com using a photo I took four Halloween's ago when we hosted a Halloween party for the high school volleyball team. That post is one of my most popular hits on my blog. I think because of the pumpkin carved like a volleyball. :)

Hurricane Sandy pretty much put a damper on Halloween this year in our area. Schools are closed for the rest of the week because of power losses everywhere and the dangerous conditions with fallen trees and power lines all over the place. Trick-or-treating has been rescheduled for Monday, November 5th. Kind of anti-climactic, but hopefully the kids will get into it.

In the meantime, since we're among the fortunate to still have power, we've opened our home to friends who need a warm place to visit, a hot meal, outlets to charge their cell phones, ice for their freezers, a washer and dryer and most of all the cheerful company of friends.

Hope you're having a spooktacular week! xo

After the Hurricane

Hi everyone! Thank you to those of you who checked in with me to see that we were okay as Hurricane Sandy barreled through our area. It's so nice to know you were thinking of us!

Snuggling as we watched
Stephen King's CARRIE
during the storm!

Thankfully, we made it through the storm safe and sound. We amazingly never lost power, although the electricity flickered a lot last night. The winds were incredibly fierce--it was VERY scary!

We braided hair before our
hurricane sleepover in
the family room

We erred on the side of caution and all slept in the first floor family room together where we'd be safest in the house from falling trees, heaven forbid. I admit it was also kind of nice having a family bonding night, which doesn't happen often with two teenagers!

Please keep others who haven't fared as well as us in your thoughts. There's extensive damage to property due to downed trees and power lines and the damage from the tidal storm surges along the NJ coastline and the NYC Metro area is just devastating. So many people have a long road to recovery ahead of them.

We had a candlelight dinner tonight
even though we are fortunate to have power.

Hope you and your loved ones are safe as well. xo

In Death Series Reading Challenge: October 2012

Interested in joining the Challenge? Anyone is welcome to join in at any time of the year at wherever in the series you currently are. See the sign up post HERE and join the fun!

Did you read any In Death series books this month?

It's been several months since I read an In Death book so I'm particularly happy that I finally managed one this month. I had a couple of false starts with Salvation in Death, having started it in August, but once I read passed the first 50 pages, I became more invested in the story and I was able to stick with it. I'm so glad I did--I feel a renewed interest in the series again! Let's see if I can catch up to Nora over the next couple of months. I think I might be gaining on her!

CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS: Link up any In Death posts you made this month here. If you made a post on your blog, whether it be a review or commentary, please grab the link to your post and leave it in the comment section below so we can find each other's latest In Death posts easily. You can also just use the link to your goodreads or other virtual bookshelf as well.

BOOK REVIEW: 

Salvation In Death by J.D. Robb
Book #27

I thought this story had a slow start, but maybe that's just me. There's not a lot of action in this one, but there's definitely a lot of details to work out in order to get to the bottom of this crime. Eve is called to St. Cristobal's Catholic Church in Spanish Harlem when the well-loved Father Miguel Flores collapses and dies in the middle of conducting a funeral mass for one of the community's most prominent families and business owners. It's quickly deduced that Father Flores was poisoned, but why would a priest be the target of murder? The victim has very few possessions, but upon searching his room, a religious medal is found hidden in his room with an unusual inscription on the back and to complicate things more, the autopsy reveals that Father Flores had a gang tattoo removed from his arm a few years ago. Eve and Peabody try learn more about this priest and his past in hopes that it would help them identify his killer, but all it does is complicate things even more.

The murder of Father Flores ends up being a really interesting case with many layers of people and secret pasts. I enjoyed watching Eve and her team unravel the mysteries in this one, more so than I expected given I thought the first 50-100 pages were pretty slow. It's always fun watching Eve stumble through situations in which she's not comfortable, and in this case it was her knowledge of and comfort level with religion and religious figures. Likewise with Roarke! There was a second murder investigation mixed in with that of Father Flores that I wasn't very interesting and frankly didn't add anything to the story, but perhaps Robb needed to bump up her page count. Overall, another great installment to this series.

I give Salvation in Death 4 out of 5 stars on goodreads.

GRADE: B 

"Ritual in Death" by J.D. Robb
Book #27.5

This novella can be found in the Suite 606 anthology. The last short story I read was a disappointment for me, but I really enjoyed this one. Readers who skip this story don't miss anything vital to the series arc or the character development, but it was a fun one, nonetheless.

Eve and Roarke are at a formal party in a hotel ballroom when a naked, bloody and delirious man stumbles into the party with a knife in his hand. Eve disarms him and once the situation is secure, she follows the bloody trail back to Suite 606 where a woman is found murdered in what looks like a Satanic ritual sacrifice. Unfortunately the only suspect is one who is severely overdosed on a deadly mix of drugs and he can't even remember his own name. There's evidence at the scene of the crime that indicates additional suspects, but Eve and her team have to be very clever, persistent and perhaps rely on psychological instincts, so to speak, to pinpoint the killer or killers.

This police procedural rolled at a quick pace and unfolded pretty logically. I liked the way Eve had to rely a little on the undeniable psychological power she felt pouring off one particular suspect. It's good to see her put a little faith into things that can't be seen or touched.

I give Ritual in Death 4 out of 5 stars on goodreads.

GRADE: B


SERIES DISCUSSION:
One of the things I admire most about Eve is that she steadfastly stands up for the dead even when the victim is a far cry from being a model citizen or even has a crime sheet of their own. She acknowledges her role in solving the crimes and bringing in the perpetrators so that the system metes out justice. This isn't always easy on her conscience, but she's nothing if not consistent in her role as homicide detective. Part of her role as homicide detective is questioning suspects and sometimes Eve resorts to some pretty bad ass tactics to "break" her suspects into confessing. It's pretty entertaining to the reader when Eve gets her prime suspect into interrogation, but sometimes she can be excessively harsh.

What do you think of Eve's interrogation tactics? Do you ever think she goes overboard and is perhaps out of line?

Homemade Pear Butter The Lazy Girl's Way

Most of my happiest times in the kitchen are when I'm making something completely from scratch. I love experiencing the farm to table connection--knowing where my food comes from and taking a few simple, whole food ingredients and transforming them into a dish that is as impressive as it is simple with my own hands right in my own kitchen. It's incredibly satisfying to me.

One farm to table connection that I enjoy tremendously is belonging to an organic co-op from which I receive a box of organic produce every other week. I recently accumulated quite a generous supply of pears since we've been getting either Barlett or Bosc pears in every box lately and no one in my family has been eating them. I don't know why that is--we like pears! Not our favorite, but we still like them. Anyway, faced with about a dozen overripe and slightly bruised pears in my refrigerator bin, I decided to make some pear butter with them. I found the perfect recipe at a wonderful new-to-me cooking, gardening and farming blog called Farmgirl Fare. I love this site and will be sure to visit it often. I encourage you to check it out, too--especially if you like growing and eating your own fruits and vegetables.

If you ever find yourself interested in making pear butter, I cannot recommend enough that you try Farmgirl Fare's method that she outlines in detail in her post Recipe: How To Make Really Easy Low Sugar Pear Butter in the Oven (with step-by-step photos). This is the best pear butter recipe EVER. It's so incredibly easy and wow does it taste amazing, too! The only caveat is that you have to have a food mill for this method. I don't have one, but borrowed my friend's. I think I'm going to ask Santa for one for myself.

Jars of Homemade Spiced Pear Butter

Here's my version of Farmgirl Fare's recipe and photos from my day spent making pear butter yesterday:

Pear Butter 
5 lbs. really ripe organic pears (I had Bartlett and Bosc) 
1/2 cup sugar 
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 
2 cinnamon sticks (or 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon) 
1 teaspoon whole cloves (or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves).

Cut the pears into chunks. Don't even peel or core the pears. Perfect for lazy girls and boys.

Run pears through the food mill over a big bowl. Okay so you can't be lazy here. It's a bit of an arm workout, but honestly not so bad.

All that remains after running 5 lbs. of pears
through the food mill. 

5 lbs ripe pears yields approximately
8 cups of pear purée

Run pear purée through the food mill again for a smoother purée, if desired. I did this right over the baking dish in which I'm going to bake the pears.

Running the pear purée through the food mill again
to ensure a smooth pear butter.

Add sugar and lemon juice to pear purée and stir well.

Pour the pear mixture into a 13x9 glass or ceramic baking dish. Add cinnamon and cloves to the pear mixture.

Cinnamon sticks and whole cloves
added to pear mixture... ready for the oven.

Bake in a 300 F oven for 3-6 hours or until the pear mixture thickens to the consistency you like, stirring once in a while. You can be lazy that whole time if you want to!

The longer you bake the pear butter, the thicker and richer the flavor. I like mine thick like softened butter. The flavor is more intense and it spreads on bread just like butter, but so much healthier for you!

Finished pear butter.

Remove pear butter from oven and you're done!

You have a few different options for storing your pear butter:
1. Transfer the pear butter into clean glass jars with lids and store in your refrigerator for several weeks.

2. Transfer some of the pear butter into a clean glass jar to store in your refrigerator for several weeks and freeze the rest! I like to freeze foods in glass jars, but I know a lot of people are not comfortable freezing glass jars because of the potential for breakage if the jar falls out of the freezer. In that case, you can also use plastic containers or those plastic zip-top bags.

3. Spoon your pear butter into 4 oz. or half pint canning jars, leaving 1/4" head space at the top and processing in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Be sure to run a knife through the pear butter when you've spooned it into the jars to get rid of any air pockets before you process them in the water bath. This is the method I chose to do so that I could gift some pear butter to friends for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

And that's it! Sounds pretty easy, right? I hope you give it a try the next time you have some overripe pears on hand. Or maybe you'll let some pears get overripe just to make this delicious, low sugar pear butter. If you do, dont' forget to read through Farmgirl Fare's entire post on How To Make Really Easy Low Sugar Pear Butter in the Oven (with step-by-step photos).

Some serving suggestions for pear butter:
+spoon onto your morning oatmeal
+spread on bread or toast
+stir into plain yogurt
+spread on a cheese, ham or turkey sandwich
+spread on a cracker topped with a bit of brie or other favorite cheese
+any other suggestions? 

Do you like fruit butter? What's your favorite kind?

Do you ever can fruit or vegetables at home?

Other posts I've written on canning and home preserving:
Home Canning Tomatoes
Grape Plum Jam (refrigerator jam)
Putting By
{Super Easy} Golden Raspberry Jam 
Jam Session  (Soft Strawberry Jam)

 
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Weekend Cooking, a weekly blog event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share--a food related book review (fiction or nonfiction), cookbook review, movie review, a recipe, random thoughts, gadgets, food quotations, photographs, etc. Please visit Beth's blog for more information and join the fun! 

Note: your post does not have to be posted on the weekend, but do visit Beth's blog over the weekend to link up your post. 

Library Loot LVIII

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

I am way overdue for a library loot post--some of these books I borrowed a couple of weeks ago already. Also, I don't know why I'm adding more books to my reading stack! I'm about to start reading Toltsoy's Anna Karenina on a schedule! I must be crazy. Please join me! I'm co-hosting an Anna Karenina Read-Along with Fay from Blog A Book, Etc.. Check it out here.

As for my library loot:

 

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Home Improvement: Undead Addition anthology, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner.

I borrowed all of the above with the R.I.P. VII reading event in mind. I've already read The Graveyard Book for the Read-Along and wrote a review. I plan to read A Monster Calls over the weekend. It, too, is a middle grade book so hopefully I can finish it in a day or two. Not that I'm rushing, but I do want to complete the R.I.P. challenges I signed up for. Which is where the Home Improvement anthology fits in with the Short Story requirement. Even if I read just a few stories, just in time for Halloween, I'll be happy.

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas
This is a re-loot because I ended up having to return it unread when I had it out a few weeks ago. I just ran out of time and there was a wait list so no renewals. I'm looking forward to it. After reading lots of dark, spooky stories this month, this one should lighten and brighten things up for me. I'll save it for after Halloween.

Of course I had to browse the new release cookbook shelves while I was there. I recall seeing a great Soup cookbook the last time I was at the library.. published by Williams-Sonoma, I think. Alas it must be out with another patron, because I couldn't find it. Instead, I brought home these two lovely cookbooks:

The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila.

The Homemade Pantry is another re-loot. I loved reading this last spring when it first came out, so when I spied it on the shelf, I figured I'd borrow it again. Sometimes going through a cookbook in a new season provides a new perspective on the recipes.

The Newlywed Cookbook by Sarah Copeland.

And then there is The Newlywed Cookbook. While I am long past the time of being considered a newlywed--19 years and counting, baby!--this cookbook is still a treasure trove of wonderful recipes for the seasoned spouse. I mean, cook. So far, I've just thumbed through it, but from what I've seen, I think I'm really going to love this one. Gorgeous photos and lots of recipes I'll want to try. I believe the aim of the book is to get husband and wife cooking in the kitchen together. Maybe I can get my husband to cook with me. But honestly? Even at this stage of the game, I'd rather be cooking things up with him in the bedroom! Wait, did I just say that out loud?

There's my latest library loot, folks.

What are YOU reading from your library [or bookshelves] right now?

Where In The World Are You Reading? Café Style

Where in the World Are You Reading? is a monthly themed meme that started over the summer by Trish [Love Laugh Insanity], Lisa [Books Lists Life] and Kelly [The Written World].  This is a book meme that encourages readers to share the places they're reading or getting their books around the world. Visit the blogs above for more details and follow the #wwread hash tag on twitter for more buzz!

This month's theme for the Where In the World Are You Reading? monthly blog meme is Cafés & Coffee Shops. My favorite kind of place right after libraries and bookstores! Especially if they're serving desserts. With ice cream. Yep, that's heaven to me right there.

Truthfully, I don't often read in cafés or coffee shops because I rarely go to those places alone where I can sit and stick my nose in a book for a while. I have a favorite local coffeehouse that I frequent, but again, not alone. I'm usually with friends taking an hour or two to step away from the blissful craziness of home and responsibilities to sit over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake for some much needed girl talk. In fact, I just met with some friends one evening earlier this month for that very thing!

I was hoping I'd see someone in the coffee shop reading so I could get a photo for this meme, and sure enough I saw not one, but two people in the coffee shop reading! One was reading on a kindle and the other was reading on her laptop. The latter may or may not have been reading a book, but she must have been reading something, right?

Reading in my local coffeehouse.

I should have snapped a photo of the counter with all the desserts in the glass case. To die for!

Do you ever sit and read in a café or coffee shop?

To see where in the world others are reading in cafes and coffee shops, visit this month's links at Trish's blog, Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity. Go check it out!