Book Bonanza or Why I Need an e-reader device.

Having recently lugged home two giant storage boxes of books that I inherited and having nowhere to put them away, I realized that I have way too many books. I love books, and already have a rule that once I read them, I only keep them if they fall into one of these categories:

Classics: Those that my kids may have to read in the next few years, so I won't have to buy them again.

Children's Books: Even with those, I have a critical eye. After a while, I get tired of them and they only stay if they are in good shape, and they are favorites. The cheap-o books or board books that have been half-eaten by my mangy toddlers go.

Church books: Can't get rid of a church book no matter if I liked it or not. Exception: LDS Romances. Not that they count as church books. Most of them are pure drivel, as I suppose most romances are.

Books I Loved and Will Read Again: There are too many in this category already as well, and I need to purge some of them.

Cookbooks: Never met a cookbook I didn't love.

So, as you can see, that is plenty of books. So what to do about my ravenous reading habits? I can go to the library, but I am notoriously late about returning books, plus I walk past Barnes and Noble a minimum of twice each weekday, and who can resist Barnes and Noble?

That brings me around to my dilemma. What to do with an insatiable appetite for books, yet no more space on the bookshelves? One could of course buy more bookshelves, but they will just fill up too. I got thinking that an e-reader device could solve my problem. I could put all of my new book purchases on the e-reader, likely pay less than I would for an actual book, and never again have to find a once-loved book a new home where it would be loved as much as I loved it.

Now, to decide which device would suit me best? Kindle by Amazon is the one everyone knows of course. I am a big fan of Amazon, and have spent many happy hours perusing for new books, rare books, used books, etc. Apple's iPad is certainly enticing and I am still in love with my iMac and iPhone so I bet I would love an iPad too. Nook is the Barnes & Noble version of the e-reader, and since I walk past there at least 10 times a week, I am curious about that too.

I suppose if anyone is reading this blog, they may have a similar question. Which e-reader device will I love the best? Kindle, nook, or iPad? Well I already made my choice and have finished my first book, so if I ever post on this blog again, I may tell you which one I picked and why it won out.

Kouing Aman at Les Madeleines

My sister Sarah told me that she had seen a local bakery featured on Food Network for the show "The Best Thing I Ever Tasted- Salty Goodness." I drive by this bakery each day on my way to work and have always wanted to stop by. It's called Les Madeleines in Salt Lake. The bakery was featured for a pastry called Kouing Aman, so that's what I tried.

Oh My! Now this is not a pastry for people who are dieting, which I should be. It's a croissant-type dough, with sugar and butter all through, that's crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside, and every bite is both sweet, crunchy, and salty, and soft. It completely melts in your mouth. On the outside is a kind of soft sugary crunchy substance that is kind of like a caramel coating on caramel popcorn, but more subtle and super thin.

I also tried the ham and gruyere croissant, which was delish. The chocolate shortbread was my other sample, and it was not so much my favorite. I didn't suspect that it would be chocolate with orange, and it was. Since I don't like that combo to begin with, I would skip it next time.

I'm always thrilled to try something new and delightful. Usually that happens at home whenever Marty tries a new recipe. This delight is lovely because I don't have to do any dishes when the thrill is over!

Baking as Therapy

I've noticed that as my sisters and I have worked through the holidays without my mom this year, we've had a common pursuit. That is, we've all been baking! Mom was a wonderful cook, and she could make just about anything, but she excelled at baking and making treats. We've been keeping her close by making her specialties, as well as a few of our own.

It started with cookie day back in November, which was a makeup for our annual October cookie day that got spoiled by swine flu.

Since then between me and my sisters we've made a whole bunch of holiday recipes including:

Carrot Cake
English Toffee
Gingerbread Houses
Peanut Squares
Peanut Butter Cookies
Brownies
Gingersnaps
Gingerbread snowflakes
Pound cake

Both my sister Annie and I had gingerbread disasters that ended up in shattered gingerbread, and a few tears. In my case, I was grateful that the nervous breakdown over the gingerbread house happened on Christmas Eve, because I had it out of my system before Christmas Day. My gingerbread house took over 7 hours to create and ended in a shattered pile of gingerbread, Necco wafers, ribbon candy, and royal icing on the kitchen floor at the end of that. The toffee split and ended up in a pool of congealed butter. My peanut squares were too thin, and Sally's were too thick. Along the way, we've missed being able to call mom and ask her a question so we've learned by trial and error. Do the eggs really need to be room temperature? (Answer, for carrot cake no, for royal icing, yes.) How long does it take for this toffee to reach the right temperature? (Answer, 20 million years during which you must keep stirring constantly or it splits).

Happily, the carrot cake was just right, another batch of toffee worked out perfectly, Annie glued her gingerbread house back together and secured it with Triscuits. The front half of my Victorian gingerbread house hit the dirt, but the back looked okay, so we turned it around. My brother pronounced his sisters "Best Sisters Ever" for making every cookie on his Christmas cookie list. And somehow, we made it through Christmas without mom physically here, although we felt she was somehow close.

For some, cooking is a Zen pursuit, in my family, at least this holiday season, it's been more of an extreme sport where we've experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The gingerbread is in pieces, but there were a few moments, stirring away at that toffee, that not having to think of anything but that task at that moment was peaceful.