Risotto: Joanna style!

Hi all,

Working on getting back in the blogging game and picking up where I left off last time.

What’s awesome about risotto is that you truly can easily create quite the elegant dish while having some creative fun with pretty much anything edible sitting in your fridge or kitchen. My trial approach—with white long grain rice, heaven forbid!—is proof! (Never occurred to me to take a picture of it done. Sorry! Please don’t ask what’s up with the formatting on this particular paragraph of text. I am clueless.)

Here’s Jake again–to make up for the food pic I should have taken–he’s so much cuter than a bowl of rice, don’t you think?

Back to the post!

Here’s what I used to make ‘risotto’:

One small to medium onion, finely chopped

One small zucchini, chopped

One clove of garlic, coarsely chopped

About 3 tbsp of olive oil

One tbsp or so of butter/margarine

1-1/2 cups of long grain white rice

One quart of chicken broth

½ cup white wine (I had chardonnay in the fridge—BTW, you can adjust to taste here)

pepper to taste

a few slivers of dried rosemary

Here’s what I did (in a 12-inch, heavy-based non-stick frying pan):

Sautéed the onions and zucchini in the olive oil until tender;

Added the garlic and cooked until golden;

Added the rice and stirred to coat it.

Slowly poured in one cup of broth, stirring lovingly until the rice absorbed it; repeated this process until I used up the wine and 3 cups of broth total. (Somewhere along the way I added the margarine, a dash of pepper and crumbled in the rosemary.) According to the online recipe, I should have been almost done, about 25 minutes in after having added the rice to the veggies.

My rice, however, seemed to have alternate ideas about getting soft. Forget al dente; the grains were downright crunchy. So here’s where I let instinct take over: I added the rest of the broth (about a cup), raised the heat to high and let the liquid come to a boil. I immediately reduced the heat to low and covered the pan tightly, letting it simmer about 15-20 minutes total, and stirring once or twice. Afterward, I took the pan off the heat. Still covered, I set it aside another 10 minutes.

The result was quite delicious. I mean, every single grain of rice was ridiculously infused with flavor. Me, the non-rice girl having seconds AND thirds? Yes, I’ll have to further up the walks and exercise/dance sessions to make up for the extra calories…

Luckily, I’m a lazy kind of cook so I might not make this all that often.  Then again, texture and gusto-wise it was so good, the time, effort and resulting carpal tunnel syndrome may be worth the yumminess of this dish. Add a little meat and you’ve got a one-dish meal. For me, the veggie route is perfect for keeping it a side dish.

Leftovers:  James suggests frying them up as patties or rissoles. I reheated on a lower setting in the microwave–still good! If need be, one can add a bit more broth to smooth out the remains and serve as an even tastier side dish–that’s one less part of a meal I have to cook!

Have a great day and even greater weekend,

Joanna

Checking Back In and Catching Up

Hi all. Hope all of you are well. Sorry. Went a bit MIA these past weeks. Between feeling lousy (sinusitis and a nasty antibiotic that made me a tired insomniac—yes, in that order); some family matters to attend to and work beginning the end of winter-into-spring-paperwork rise, life just got in the way—again.

I am glad to be back, though. Ironically enough I recently read a wonderful post about procrastination by Darlene Steelman. Yep! Spent the rest of that day avoiding the laptop but finally parked my back end at the darn thing around 9 PM to draft this write up.

Isn’t Jake the sweetest thing? He’s my son’s girlfriend’s pitbull, 4-5 months old. Love him and I promise my son was playing with him in the gentlest way!

In other Joanna news, I’ve been working on getting back into a routine that includes some ramped-up exercise. It’s way too easy to go slack after not feeling well for close to a month. Recently finished Larry Brooks’ Story Engineering, too. Now there’s an awesome resource for plotters and pantsers alike. More on that in another post. A must-read book for anyone trying to find their way to story constructing nirvana.

And I finally made risotto! (Did you catch that, Dr. Stratford?) Got up the nerve last Friday evening. (Parts one and two of the post that inspired me went up last month.) Won’t tell you I followed James’ recipe but I could see his line about ‘stirring it lovingly’ throughout. (Truth is, I hunted down an alternate recipe b/c I committed risotto sacrilege and used long grain white rice. Sorry James, I didn’t have Arborio and was too lazy to go out and round some up. I found a recipe that fit the bill online, doctored it a bit and fell back on instinct to reach the finish line. It worked out, too. Well enough that I’m sharing my take on it.)

I am, however, running longer than I should so I’ll share the recipe later this week. (Besides, this lets me sneak in an extra blog post, as I am nearing the 300 mark!)

Catch y’all later!

Have a great day,

Joanna

Craziest Coincidence?

Hope all is well with everyone. Has anyone taken on James Stratford’s risotto yet? I’m hoping to do so sometime soon.

Every now and again a JFF (Just For Fun) is in order. Not sure if anything remotely similar to this will happen again in this lifetime, to me and my hunny anyway.

Over the weekend I went to a shopping town in PA. In a small shop I overheard a woman talk about having recently run into her nurse practitioner at the airport in North Carolina. Not the kind of thing that happens every day (unless you commute regularly with the same people via air) but not totally off the map unusual, right?

Brought to mind an incident that took place on my honeymoon. Hubby and I flew to Mexico and checked into our hotel. Being a rather considerate smoker, my hunny did all his puffing on the balcony attached to our room, hanging his arm over the rail and tapping the ash onto the ground. He happened to look down and realized his ashes were falling on someone’s feet on the balcony below. (I’ll assume he started using the ashtray immediately after that. )

We settled in and went poolside first. There hubby ran into our neighbor’s brother, a guy hubby knew since his twenties or even before that. And go figure, the guy was staying at the same hotel.

The men start chatting. Hubby offers his friend a cigarette. That led to hubby telling him about tapping the ashes onto the feet below our balcony.

Yep! You know it. That same guy belonged to the feet on the balcony below.

Now is THAT a coinkidink or what?

Your turn!

Joanna

Risotto and the Hero’s Journey–Part 2 (Recipe!)

Welcome back and to Friday, friends, and get your aprons on! We’re connecting the hero’s journey  with a risotto recipe my current guest, Aussie author James Stratford, has taken many years to perfect. (Read the intro post here.) Haven’t attempted making risotto before but this one DEFINITELY sounds like a ‘must try.’ 

About the Author: James Stratford is an educator and author of numerous publications on the hero and international strategy. His blog, Beyond the Call, shares reflections on his own approach to  learning and personal development that are often inspired by the great hero ancient and modern stories. James is also a keen cyclist and traveler and a lover of great food – preferably all together. He lives with his wife and son in Melbourne, Australia. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

An appropriate photo choice–yea? Or so say the Aussies I know!

It’s all yours, James!

Today I’d like to share one of my favourite family meals with you.

Risotto, like pasta, is wonderful dish as it is so versatile. You can adjust the flavors and consistency for any time of year and it can be made with as few or as many ingredients as you happen to have in the pantry. In this post, I’ll share with you my take on the classic mushroom risotto which is a favorite with my family.

Risotto is basically rice cooked in such a way that it absorbs all the flavors you bring to it, which typically include butter and/or olive oil, onion, wine or beer, vegetables and or meat or fish of your liking.

There are two tricks to getting it right: good ingredients and care. The second of these is what puts off many cooks, and one of the reasons I rarely order this in a restaurant as there are no shortcuts. Timing is essential, from the regular, almost constant stirring to the serving. Once it is cooked and the rice is just al dente, slightly resistant to the tooth, it has to be served and eaten immediately or it will quickly become a heavy if yummy stodge. Saying this, leftovers are great fried up as patties or rissoles. But that’s another story.

For two generous serves you will need:

-   a deep saucepan with a heavy base, iron or non-stick.

- 1 cup arborio rice (Carnaroli, Maratelli and Vialone Nano are also good)

-   1 stock cube (I use Massel) or preferably a good fresh stock, either chicken or vegetable.

-   A generous handful of fresh thinly sliced field mushrooms, swiss brown etc. Porcini are traditional and if you have them in the dried form let them soak for a couple of hours or until they become nice and soft

-   1 brown (a.k.a. yellow) onion, finely diced into very small pieces.

-   75-100g good quality butter (that’s roughly 6-7 tablespoons, or 3-3.5 ounces)

-   1 tbs Extra Virgin olive oil

-   2 cups of beer or white wine

-   Salt and pepper to taste.

-   A handful of freshly grated parmagiano-reggiano) finely grated.

Start by melting half your butter and a little oil to sauté the onion. Once the onion is translucent add your mushrooms and cook on a medium heat until they are evenly done, say 4-5 minutes. If you’re using stock cubes, crumble one in now with a generous splash of beer.

Re liquid amounts, I can’t be that specific. The idea is to add liquid gradually, like a ladle or two at a time.This is my cheat method and it works because I know how much flavoring I need. Normally you just add the stock in a ladle at a time. A good malty beer, German, Belgian or Australian, will be lovely. White wine is typical for this, but I found that beer works beautifully, especially with earthy mushrooms. You can even use a stout like Guinness. Into this you pour in the rice and turn it through. You want to make sure it mixes thoroughly though and absorbs most of the moisture in the pot. After a minute or so the grains will begin to change color and will lose their chalky white color. This is good.

Some of the goodies you’ll need.

Sauteing your veggies in butter and a little olive oil

From here on you want to add your liquid gradually. You don’t want to add in too much in case the liquid cooks before it has been absorbed. A couple of ladles at a time is fine. If you’ve used my cheat method you’ll just be adding hot water now. The important thing now is to just stand by it and stir it lovingly every couple of minutes so it doesn’t stick too much. (Pour yourself and your lovely partner a beer or a nice dry white wine and turn on some classical guitar to add to the ambiance; John William’s Seville Concert goes especially well with this, or maybe the Three Tenors for old times sake.)

After around 10 minutes, taste a single grain and a little of the liquid just to get an indication of how well cooked the rice is and whether you need to add more seasoning. At this point you might want to add another splash of beer, just half a cup or so. I taste regularly, every couple of minutes from this point, to avoid overcooking it. As you’re using stock you won’t need to add salt until it’s served.

Once the rice is just al dente, turn through another little bit of butter, say 50g, and a small handful of grated parmagiano. Serve immediately with more cheese, some freshly chopped parsley and cracked pepper. This is lovely as a winter dish by itself or as an entree.

Ah,the fruits of one’s labor, ready to be savored!

Variations: You can also add thing like peas, prawns (similar to shrimp), or chicken from last night’s roast. Experiment. It’s also nice to sprinkle some diced bacon or pancetta at very end with some some toasted pine nuts.

Another favorite variation is to use a tomato puree instead of the mushrooms and white wine. This is nicer when it’s quite soupy. You still have to watch the rice, just that you want to have more liquid at the end and add white wine close to serving to add a lovely acidity.

Sounds like the perfect dish to make on one of those lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoons when I’m in the mood to try something new. For my family to eat it though, I’d have to skip the mushrooms. (Hubby thinks he’s allergic–tells me they make his ears grow.) 

Special thanks to Dr. James for spending the week with us! If you please, take a moment to visit his very inspiring blog. Take a moment and say, “Hi.”  (What quicker way to make it to the land Down Under?) And won’t you please take a moment to SHARE before you leave?

Have a wonderful weekend all. NFL Conference Championship games this weekend and Aussie Open Tennis will keep this girl occupied. See you all next week! Take care and thanks for stopping in

Joanna 

Risotto and the Hero’s Journey–Part 1

Happy Wednesday, all! I might have posted Monday had I not been so distraught over the Packers’ undoing by Colin Kaep–I mean, the 49ers (;D)–just kidding. Hey, I pulled for Packers but the better team won. Call me a front-runner (some man I’d never met before did in Wendy’s last week, AFTER he told me and my younger son to go incinerate our Giants’ jacket and hoodie–any wonder the man sat down alone to eat?), but I’ll watch the next 49ers game–awesome is as awesome does.

Let’s move on. Hope all is well and no one has the dreaded flu circulating the Boston area. Brings to mind author and online friend Carrie Rubin’s excellent debut novel, The Seneca Scourge. Crazy parallels going on with that story, which Carrie released earlier this year. If you’re interested, read my thoughts on it here. (But don’t forget to come back!)

What I adore about the internet is the connections one gets to make all over the globe. Should I ever make it to my Aussie cousins and the Australian Open Tennis Championships–Rafa Nadal pulled out so I figured I’d skip the trip this year –I’ll make sure to look up today’s guest! I’ve been inspired by his posts: he challenges the hero in each of us to answer the calls life puts out there and be our very strongest. 

About the Author: James Stratford is an educator and author of numerous publications on the hero and international strategy. His blog, Beyond the Call, shares reflections on his own approach to  learning and personal development that are often inspired by the great hero ancient and modern stories. James is also a keen cyclist and traveler and a lover of great food – preferably all together. He lives with his wife and son in Melbourne, Australia. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Note: James has been terribly patient waiting for  me to finally get this post up–thanks, James. The floor is yours:

You’re probably wondering what risotto, the classic Italian rice dish, has to do with heroes. I can assure you, absolutely nothing.

Well almost nothing.

I realized the other day that it was almost twenty years ago exactly when I cooked risotto for the first time and when I first saw Joseph Campbell interviewed on the Power of Myth, thus starting my long relationship with the hero of myth and epic. I ended up devoting the next twenty years to researching one of the great ancient hero myths, Homer’s Iliad, which features the hero Achilles.

The hero myths stuck with me not merely because they’re wonderful stories, but because I’ve always found they resonate with whatever phase of life I’m in. I wrote about this in my book, Discover the Hero Within (published in Spanish as Descubre a tu heroe interior by Aguilar Fontanar–read an excerpt here). I’ve also found that the epic, and the hero’s journey generally, has held vital lessons which have inspired me and reminded me of the most resourceful strategies for living in the world and getting through some of the toughest times.

Eating and hospitality centered around the sharing of food have a subtle but important place in the journey of the hero. In the Iliad, meals take on a range of significance. When Achilles receives the embassy who have come to secure his return to battle, before any discussion takes place he instructs Patroklos to prepare food for his guests as an expression of xenia, or ‘guest-friendship’.

On the other hand, after the death of Patroklos, Achilles denies himself all food and is nourished by the gods who infuse him with nectar ambrosia. In the final and, many would say, the finest, book of the Iliad, Achilles graciously offers food and lodging to the old king, Priam, who has come to ransom the body of his son, Hektor, killed by Achilles in battle (in savage revenge for the death of Patroklos).

The sharing of food stands so simply and effectively as a ritual that embodies the natural order of the living. It is also symbolic of Achilles’ return to this world, not in a literal sense, but metaphorically as an agent of order rather than as a bringer of the chaos and death that characterize his grief-fueled return to battle. If you’re familiar with the Iliad, food has a similar significance in the closing stages of Book 1. When the Greeks appease the wrath of Apollo by returning Chryseis to her father, the troops bring closure to the episode by having a great feast and singing to the god. Order restored.

This is only a taste. If you read the Odyssey, eating plays an even more important role, and we see it used both properly by the venerable heroes of the Trojans and abused by the band of suitors who effectively hold Odysseus’ family under siege, and the infamous cyclops who turns Odysseus’ men into a meal.

But I don’t want to leave you on that grim image.

Rather I want to urge you to contemplate the significance of food on your journey:

the great meals you’ve shared; the satisfaction of eating simple foods after hard days in the bush, hiking or skiing or doing hard physical labour; great meals in foreign cities.

Then there are the real feasts, meals that we share to mark the most important days in our lives – marriage, birthdays, graduation.

Which ones stand out most and why?

I suspect that when you reflect on this you might find that while beautiful food is often central, what it’s really about are things like the nourishment of the spirit and the honouring of our relationships with one another. It’s no wonder food has such an important place in all the old cultures. It’s not much of an exaggeration to suggest that the sharing of food is really the axle around which our cultures function, all starting at the family meal.

We’ll stop here for today. Friday, James will share the his own special risotto recipe. Definitely a weekend undertaking, given the time and dedication James discusses for this particular dish’s preparation. In the meantime, we’d love for you to take a moment and talk about how food figures into your life and relationships, be it cooking, eating, socializing, celebrating–it’s your call. Go for it. And if you please, do take a moment to SHARE via one of the buttons below.

Thanks so much and see you Friday

Joanna

Post #290–How Did That Happen?

And for the heck of it, how about we take some just-for-fun time to share (at least) one of the dumbest things we’ve done!

Hi all. Was having some FB fun with one of my cousins. We were talking about Little Christmas (a.k.a., Three Kings Day, Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas, etc). She mentioned la befana (she’s sort of the equivalent of Mrs. Claus, I guess) who comes in the night with her broken shoes and leaves a little gift.

I always get my family a single, small “Little Christmas” gift. Of course, I couldn’t find my younger son’s—even his Christmas gifts eluded me until about 8 AM Christmas morn—so I sent hubby to a neighborhood store as soon as he got out of church.

Meanwhile, cuz had already started the ‘befana’ stuff last night, and it became a running joke all day. She specifically wanted to know if I’d ‘run out in the night’ to get younger son another gift.

Got me thinking about another time I went out in the night—it was actually 5:30 AM on a day when my boys were very small and hubby left for his day job at 6. (It was like religion to him. He actually didn’t start until 7. We all have our ways, right?)

Well, I was very low on gas the night before—the gasoline icon was on. Figured I’d run out before he left in the morning.

Which I did.

In pajamas.

While my boys slept and hubby chomped at the bit figuring I’d be late.

(Which I’ve often been and continue to be.)

And never considering we were in a deep freeze and the car needed time to warm up.

For which I didn’t really have enough gas.

What did I do, you ask?

What any normal mother of small children out at 5:30 AM does in the dead of winter in a near gasless car with iced-over windows:

Chip through the ice until the space is big enough to see through; then repeatedly rub that tiny ‘window’ clear with her hand while praying there are no other cars on the road and giving eternal thanks the gas station is just a few blocks away.

So…

What it’s-funny-now escapade(s) have you lived to tell about? Don’t be shy: step up to the comment box! (Or scroll down, which may be more effective. ) And maybe, while you’re at it, you’ll take a moment to click a SHARE button too.

And finally–Go Packers this weekend!

Have a great day,

Joanna

Pizzaiola! A.k.a. ‘Pizza Meat’ at my house!

Happy first Friday of the new year, everyone! May God bless all of us with peace and health as the days of 2013 unfold!

This is up there with the awesome rosemary-wine chicken recipe at my website. Beyond easy but elegant and flavor-loaded to the point people will think you were cooking all day. (My favorite kind of recipe!) Just a note: this was the ONLY meat my older son would eat when he actually started touching meat at about 12 years old. There is hope for those fussy guys, folks!

To serve four you’ll need:

1-1/2 lb of top sirloin steak—if possible, have a butcher cut it as thin as humanly possible then pound it even thinner at home.

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (or use your own)

3-4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

Fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

salt/pepper/oregano to taste

oil (I sauté the meat in canola then use extra-virgin (EVOO) for the garlic—more detail below)

In your largest fry-pan (I’m a fan of non-stick), heat some oil—just enough to cover the surface of the pan when you swirl it around over medium-high heat. Quickly brown the meat on both sides for up to a minute each. Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem done it will cook through later. Work in batches as needed, placing the browned pieces in a shallow bowl. Reserve the juices in between batches.

After you’ve browned the meat, wipe out the pan and add a few tablespoons of EVOO (or more, depending on your taste). The pan is hot, so you’ll be working faster and using a lower flame/heat setting (medium, I’d say). Heat the oil a little then stir in the garlic; sauté until golden. (Don’t let it burn!) Stir in the tomato sauce, oregano, salt and pepper and allow the sauce to heat a bit, even bubble a little. Add the reserved juices and stir. One piece at a time, add the meat to the sauce, turning to coat on both sides and tucking one piece under another as needed. Add parsley and some extra EVOO here too, if you like; cover, reduce heat to low and heat through. (Don’t overcook or the meat may get tough.)

Keep warm in pan or transfer to a serving plate and done! Sometimes, I just put the pan on a trivet and serve from there. Make sure you’ve got crusty Italian or Portuguese bread to sop up the awesome beefy sauce you get from this one. Pair with a green salad and/or pasta and dinner is ready. BTW, leftovers—assuming you’ll have any—are even more amazing b/c the flavors have had time to come together better, and any extra sauce can be used over pasta or even stirred up with browned ground beef.

Enjoy and happy weekend!

Joanna

More Than a Weekend Read–The Distant Hours

Happy first Friday of 2013, friends. Special thanks to Carrie Rubin for all the love that came this way after she linked blogs with me earlier this week, and to all those who’ve come by since! So nice to have company!

Warning: this post runs a bit longer than normal but I hope you stick it out. Couldn’t figure out the best way to break it down.

Moving on:

I’m a reader. Surprise, right? Maybe not as dedicated or ardent as some, but I love a good story.  And I’ve read many books.

I recently posted my take on author Carrie Rubin’s debut, The Seneca Scourge. Before that, I’m pretty sure the last books I talked about were Karen Kingsbury’s One Tuesday Morning and its sequel, Beyond Tuesday Morning. The former changed me, in a way. Resonates with me still.

I wrote this, however, on the heels of having finished Aussie author Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours, the first and only of hers I’ve read so far. (Disclaimer: I share these thoughts because I choose to, not because I was paid to do so in any way. As with so many others, this book found me. My friend thought I’d enjoy it.) 

My friend was oh-so-right.

Honestly, I’ve never felt so humbled by the scope and magnitude of a wordsmith’s work, doubt I’ll ever equal this one’s ability to develop and then tell a story of such quality. Maybe I haven’t read enough, but I’ve never before experienced a tale so intricately and profoundly layered. Every thread, every detail accounted for before expertly woven and seamlessly sewn together; a multitude of puzzle pieces gathered into a final story portrait of near perfection.

I say ‘near’ for these reasons:

The story starts slowly. We meet Edie Burchill, whose mother, Meredith, receives a letter that should have been delivered fifty years earlier. Her enigmatic ways and decision not to share details of the letter pique Edie’s curiosity. Driven by a force she can’t explain, Edie finds herself literally stepping into her mother’s past, meeting face-to-face the spinster sisters who took in thirteen year-old Meredith as an evacuee from London during WWII.  Edie also winds up learning a whole lot more about the book that inspired her as a child, its author, his family and the story events that led to the creation of a renowned and revered best seller. (FYI, Ms. Morton starts you off at a leisurely pace, but she picks up momentum steadily and takes you full-throttle into a climax laden with twists that surprised me with their brilliance and not a loose thread left hanging.)

The protagonist’s viewpoint (and main story mood) waxed a bit boggy, at times slowing the pace when I liked the way the story was gaining speed. This, however, tied into the framing of the account; important to the protagonist unraveling the mystery, but a little frustrating when jump-cutting between Edie’s contemporary present (set in London, England) and the WWII background against which the mystery played out (set in London and a fictional castle along the English countryside). At times, the jump-cuts in time made it a bit difficult to pick up where I’d left off at that part of the story. The breaks, however, resulted in a place to take a well-needed breather, and to digest all that had transpired in that section.

Perhaps one or two story details felt a hair contrived—and possibly the ending to some degree, but the author used each in a way that revealed character and/or motivation, or to bring full circle key elements used throughout the story. Abundant use of detail also had me looking back on many occasions; to be sure I hadn’t missed anything, or that I fully understood how every minute facet related to any particular part of the story at any given point.

Having shared all that, let me tell you what I liked!

The author’s voice worked effortlessly into tangible descriptions of abstract concepts to develop each character, regardless of the point of view (POV).  A simple action: a haircut, knitted and crafted to deliver deep insight to character—brilliant! (p. 257-258). Some examples:

“Other people, Daddy’s pompous friends…, just seemed to take up more air than they should.” (p. 303)

“Her skin felt tighter than usual.” (p. 310)

“She was less of a girl, taller, stretched, anxiously filling her extra inches.” (p. 411)

Ms. Morton’s fresh use of metaphor resulted in vivid mind pictures and associations as I read:

“Juniper was rather catlike, after all: the wide-apart set eyes with their fixed gaze, the lightness of foot, the resistance to attention she hadn’t sought.” (p. 123)

“…the autumn of discarded papers on the floor.” (p. 122)

The author’s way of showing tangled, honest emotion(s):

“Mum and Dad were snobs. I felt embarrassed for them and embarrassed for me, and then, confusingly, angry with Rita for saying it and ashamed of myself for encouraging her to do so.” (p. 192)

And back to Kate Morton’s voice, probably the strongest—yet equally gentle—I’ve read in a long time. I’m thinking her view of the world is unexpectedly embedded in each of the characters she brings to life.

“John Keats said that nothing became real until it is experienced.” (p. 295)

“He would be a different person by then, inexorably altered, …as damaged as the city around him…. He would know that while John Keats was correct, that experience was indeed truth, there were some things it was well not to know firsthand.” (p. 303)

“Happiness in life is not a given. It must be seized.” (p. 352)

 I could go on.

I won’t.

Guess what I’m saying is this: if you want an awesome read and are willing to go the circa 600-page marathon, The Distant Hours may be just your cup of tea. Make sure to grab a scone or two before you cuddle up.

Have a great weekend,

Joanna

Got All Dressed Up…

to wish all of you a happy, healthy, peaceful and blessing-filled 2013! Here’s to the best for all. My prayers and heart go out to all those whose hearts are heavy tonight. May you feel God’s peace and comfort!

At least the kitchen’s clean and the hair behaved today I’ll take it!

Be safe!

Joanna

And You Worried About THE FLU?!

Promised my great online friend and blog supporter Carrie Rubin I’d put to words my thoughts on her fast-paced and very-well written debut, The Seneca Scourge. Time (or lack of it) has gotten in the way of having done so before (but at least those powerless hours sans internet after Superstorm Sandy served me long enough to get this write-up back in motion and into the blogosphere–about flippin’ time too).

Disclaimer: I am not a formal book reviewer. I am a common reader and freely posted my thoughts on this book because I wanted to and can. I was not paid by anyone in any way for doing so.

Not quite sure how I originally happened on The Write Transition (Carrie’s website/blog) but I am so glad I did! This self-described introvert has the most offbeat sense of humor and ties that gift seamlessly into almost every article she posts. She’s been Freshly Pressed  by WordPress and very humbly offered a related post in which she shared her thoughts on how she’s been FP’d a second time—by her readers and supporters. Check it out if you can: I was very inspired!

For those of you unfamiliar with Freshly Pressed: it’s the tremendous honor of having one’s blog post showcased on the WordPress website landing page. (Try to imagine the multitude of blog posts that go up daily in the WordPress world and you’ll get how amazing it is to have one’s post among a revered ten, where one’s post is as visible as it can get!) And Carrie is one of the nicest people I know to get it.

Okay, this post was supposed to be about thoughts on The Seneca Scourge, right? Just to lend this newbie author more credibility, she is a pediatrician by trade and has also worked as a public health advocate. The rest of her bio is easily viewable at her website. (Not that it doesn’t have merit to share here, but I’m trying to get to the book already!)

    

Here’s the back cover copy:

Dr. Sydney McKnight, a young physician battling the deadliest influenza pandemic of all time, joins forces with Dr. Casper Jones, an odd new research virologist whose arrival coincides with the virus’s advent, and whose presence raises more questions than answers.

As scientists around the world search for an explanation for the virus’s high mortality rate, Sydney’s distrust of Casper grows, especially after she discovers him injecting an unidentified substance into her patient. Despite a heavy patient load, rebuttals from her boss, and an increasingly strained relationship with her boyfriend, Sydney is determined to learn the truth.

But what she finds will plunge her into danger and change her life forever…

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press
Editor: Dave Field
Cover Artist: Harris Channing

 I’ve always been fascinated by medical ‘stuff.’ (At four I wanted to be a nurse and wound up an occupational therapist.) Medical drama has caught my interest since I was a little girl, starting with MedicalCenter, back in the day. (Yes, I seriously just dated myself, lol, but what can I say? The very handsome Chad Everett starred. ) I followed ER for 13 of its 14-year run. Private Practice grabbed me last year. Stands to reason I planned on enjoying Carrie Rubin’s debut just because the story is set against a hospital background. And just for fun she threw in a little sci-fi on the side to keep the mix from being well—typical, I guess might be a good word.

Sydney, the lead character, is a bit self-consumed and finds it hard to connect with others. She notices herself becoming more and more intrigued and suspicious of Casper, enough to start taking a closer look at what he’s doing while an influenza pandemic not-so-insidiously starts claiming the lives of an entire community.

The writing is fast-paced. Descriptions are fresh and show authentic medical knowledge. The sci-fi embellishment is positively brilliant! (Loved Casper’s BB—you’ll have to read to find out exactly what that is ) Sydney’s POV is deep and highly relatable, her self-centeredness captured through sarcasm and subtle, just-dry-enough awesome humor. The author’s voice comes through naturally, mostly through dialogue (internal and external) with nary a hint of intrusion. Exchanges between Sydney and the cast of characters become increasingly poignant—yet never melodramatic—as Sydney’s character journey unfolds and progresses, taking the reader to a bit of an offbeat ending, but one that definitely works with this story.

Enjoy the read! I know I’m looking forward to whatever this author has in store for her readers next! And if you’re itching to pick up The Seneca Scourge right now, here are some links to do so:

For Nook;

For Kindle (choice of digital or print)

Direct from the publisher!

Contact Carrie via her website (just scroll down the page a bit); follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook!

Wishing everyone a wonderful, safe and happy weekend and New Year,

Joanna