Enlightened Chocolate

By Camilla V. Saulsbury

From the book jacket:

“Including both savory and sweet chocolate recipes, Enlightened Chocolate is filled with more than 200 luscious, inviting recipes that let you have your chocolate and eat it too, but with less ft, fewer calories, and maximum flavor. The first compendium cookbook ever that is exclusively devoted to light chocolate recipes using antioxidant-rich dark chocolate and cocoa powder …”

I admit it ... I’m a chocoholic. Will I ever give it up? Not on your life.

Getting this book was like a trip to seventh heaven. It’s chock full of recipes that will not only tantalize, they will also amaze.

I didn’t realize there were so many main dish recipes that you can use chocolate in. It allows you to get your fix while eating a healthy meal.

Amazing!

For example, there is a recipe for Beef and Beer Chili that calls for cocoa powder. The author says the cocoa and beer actually make the chili taste beefier. I’m definitely going to have to try that one!

The one disappointment for me was there just aren't as many pictures as I would like. I want to see what I’m cooking is supposed to look like. And, the pictures that are included are shown on a few pages in the front of the book.

On the plus side, Camilla adds some helpful hints for the kitchen, such as measuring certain ingredients, and an appendix of online resources to find chocolate.

This is a great book and a wonderful addition to my cookbook shelves. I’ll use it often, I’m sure.

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. I know spring is just around the corner.

2. January didn't seem like the longest month.

3. You can't help but begin to hate winter after a while.

4. Come on spring; bring it on!

5. Where have you looked for the flowers coming up?

6. A place for my lawn chair is now available.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include finishing some writing and Sunday, I want to take a little break!

Dino Vicelli, Private Eye: In a World of Evil

By Lori Weiner

From the back of the book:

“This story transports the reader to an alternate-reality version of New York City, in which talking dogs interact regularly with humans. The hero, Dino Vicelli, is a private investigator who just happens to be a sharply dressed Italian greyhound with a great fondness for cigars. He takes on what initially appears to be a routine missing person case but soon finds himself in the midst of a sinister plot that involves kidnapping, murder, and bizarre scientific experiments aimed at controlling the world.”

Gosh, what can I say about this book? Different? Unusual? Bizarre? Fun to read?

All of the above?

This was my first experience at reading one of the new generation of talking animal books. I’ve seen several, so I figured I might as well give one a try.

At first, I wasn’t sure how to react to this private eye who just happens to be a dog. He lives in this world where animals and people coexist together and no one thinks it’s strange if the bartender is a dog or the main character dons a hat and no one recognizes him?

Just crazy, good fun, I tell you!

So, anyway, Dino is hired to find a man’s wife who has disappeared and next thing you know, everyone is trying to get him off the case and he’s being accused of murder. Makes you wonder what’s really going on, huh?

Interesting read by a woman who has quite the imagination! Just a little too “out there” for me, but it was fun for a change of pace in my reading.

Happy (?) Groundhog Day

According to news reports this morning, Phil saw his shadow, ran back into his little den and now, we're in for six more weeks of winter.

Sigh! I don't get it. We've had spring weather for two weeks already and they are expecting it to continue to warm up. Our trees are budding and plants are sprouting.

I never have understood how a groundhog 3,000 miles away could predict our weather here. Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?

It's a German tradition that if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on February 2, winter will last another six weeks. They say since 1887, Phil has predicted more winter weather than not. Now, here's another dilemma. Doesn't that mean Phil has to be at least 124 years old? Shouldn't he be blind by now and unable to even see his shadow?

He must be some amazing little groundhog, to say the least. I think I'll stick with the woolly caterpillar -- ooops, my bad, that's in the fall to tell us if we're going to have a harsh winter.

I wonder if groundhogs eat caterpillars?

Monday Mail Call

Tomorrow is Ground Hog Day and I'm determined he's going to say winter is over, especially since we've had spring weather for two weeks!

These are the books I've received in my mailbox this past week.

1. Future Hope by David Gelber
2. Admit One by Emmett James
3. Dead Stuck by Richard Mounce
4. Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert
5. Lion’s Pride by Debbie Jordan
6. The Satin Sash by Red Garnier (included a fun ink pen)

I also received a copy of Kim Smith’s ebook Buried Angel in my email box!

Samson's Walls

By Jud Nirenberg

From the back of the book:

“In a Canaan where Philistines and Hebrews vie for dominance, it is important to know one's place. Samson is isolated in his, trapped by unusual rules and expectations. He was promised to his parents by an angel, destined to grow into a great man and make his people strong.”

This is a fictional account of the often misunderstood Bible story found in the book of Judges in the Old Testament. I read an unbound galley copy and the chapters were numbered by the Bible verses that correspond with them.

So, before I began reading, I went to an online Bible and copied the verses for the chapters and printed them out on one sheet of paper. With my list in hand, I read the verse before beginning each chapter.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Jud Nirenberg rewrote this story. Yes, the basic plot does follow the Bible story, but he expanded those short verses to create a novel that does, indeed, fit with both the story and the time in which it occurred.

I found myself feeling sorry for Samson the man. Here was a person who had no idea what was expected of him. He was raised to fulfill a particular role, but he didn’t know what it was. All he could do was follow what his teachers told him and they weren’t very forthcoming.

Samson feels isolated and lonely and, in a sense, is very naïve about the ways of the world, especially when it comes to love and relationships. Because of that, he is easily taken advantage of by women and is used by Delilah.

The story is very well written and the author does an excellent job of describing the scene. I enjoyed reading this tale and I give it 3 books.

A Theory of All Things

By Peggy Leon

From the book jacket:

“Tragedy tore the Bennett children apart when their mother walked out on them some twenty years ago, followed by the suicide of a brother. Now, the five grown siblings, each brilliant, troubled and a little wacky, face personal crises that will bring them back together in a new way.”

I’m not sure if everyone would agree with me on this one, but I absolutely LOVED this book!

It’s based on a totally dysfunctional family that takes their anger, hurt, jealousies and mental angst out on each other. They are better living with some distance between them. That way, they can vent through emails and voice messages.

However, circumstances bring all of them together in one place and the war begins. No one seems to agree on anything and it soon becomes a battle of emotions.

This is Peggy Leon’s second novel. The first, “Mother Country,” received rave reviews and I can see why. She’s a very good writer and has a unique way of describing what’s going on so you feel you are actually witnessing the characters and events.

By the end of the book, you’ve begun to truly relate to these people and even though they are somewhat nuts, they are also quite endearing.

They are also each artistic in different ways and a bit eccentric.

I love the father in the story. Suffering from Alzheimer’s, he has become almost innocent in his outlook on life and seems ambivalent to the arguments around him. Yet, you can tell he’s soaking it all in and during moments of lucidity, he will say something that makes you laugh, knowing he is using his condition to avoid the tangle!

I am definitely going to have to get a copy of “Mother Country” and any other books this author writes in the future.