Book Review: Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee

 Finished August 4, 2020

Book 11 of 20

Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'm leaving this one unfinished, about halfway through. A boring repetitive story told from the perspective of an 11 year old that the author tried to make sound smart and precocious, but it fell extremely flat. The story meanders between the girl's imaginative stories (which are not interesting or add meaning to the story), current events (also not interesting), and her own more recent memories (which surprisingly are more interesting). Peeking ahead it seems the book may become more interesting, I just can't get there.

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Summary (from the hardcover edition): Clara first spies him through the crack in the stained-glass window of her church, lighting a string of handmade lanterns in the Adirondack woods. A lone old man, Georg Kominsky moves stealthily among the shadow world of his hanging, glittering creations.

In Alison McGhee's stunning novel Shadow Baby, eleven-year-old Clara is struggling to find the truth about her missing father and grandfather and her twin sister, dead at birth, but her mother steadfastly refuses to talk about these people who are lost to her daughter. When Clara begins interviewing Georg Kominsky for a school biography assignment, she finds that he is equally reticent about his own concealed history. Precocious and imaginative, the girl invents version upon version of Mr. Kominsky's past, just as she invents lives for the people missing from her own shadowy past.

The journey of discovery that these two oddly matched people embark upon is at the heart of this beautiful story about friendship and communion, about discovering what matters most in life, and about the search to find the missing pieces of ourselves. McGhee's prose glistens with shrewd truth and wild imaginings, creating a fine novel that will reverberate in the hearts and minds of readers long after the book is finished.

Recipe of the Week: Batata Harra

 I was looking for something different to do with potatoes, and this recipe satisfied my need for flavor. The only thing I will do different is cut my potatoes smaller.

Batata Harra

6 medium-sized potatoes (original recipe said peeled, but I didn't)

1 cup water

3 TBSP olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp coriander seeds (1 tsp ground)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp ground turmeric

1 lime, juiced

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (I used 1 tbsp dried)

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I used 1 tbsp dried)

1 cup fresh dill, chopped (I used 1/2 tbsp dried)

Salt & Pepper

Quarter and boil potatoes. I used my instant pot, placing my potatoes in the pot, covering with 1 cup water, sprinkled with a good bit of salt (1tsp or a bit more), and using the rice setting to cook.

Cool potatoes. This would be a good time to cut into smaller bite sized potatoes.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and coriander seeds. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in lime juice and turmeric. Toss in the potatoes and stir gently to coat potatoes. Add 1/2 of the cilantro, parsley and dill. Cook for 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and top with more red pepper flakes, and the remainder of the cilantro, parsley and dill.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

This was delicious served with hamburgers. I would also enjoy this with a nice egg, toast and bacon breakfast.

Book Edition: July Review and August Goals

I had an overwhelming urge to recap my book reading for the last four years, and then sanity prevailed. You're welcome. I'm just going to jump right in where I'm at. We can fill in blanks later.

July Review

I'm still continuing my way through The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida Tarbell. This was supposed to be a read-along with my friend Katie, but she dropped off the face of the earth, and being mildly intrigued, I'm still continuing the Seven Pages a Day Plan... kind of. I have a goal to read 7 pages at least 15 days of the month. I may never finish this book. For July I read 10 of 15 days.

Other Reading Goal was to complete 2 books during the month. I finished 3 books:

Business Boutique by Christy Wright

On Folly Beach by Karen White

The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane (ebook)

I also started Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen, for a book club that my friend Lindsey started. I had bought this book a few weeks before Lindsey announced her book club, after Christy Wright had the author on her podcast. I think this is a sign I needed to do this.

August Goals

15 days reading The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida Tarbell

Finish 3 books.

Participate in Book Club.

I plan to post the single reviews for the books I read in July during the month of August. I'm struggling a bit to get back into blogger mode, hang with me. We'll get there.

Recipe of the Week: Pickled Onions

It was the last BIG THING we did before the world shut down. We met a group of friends at a small beer festival (the day after my birthday, bonus points for not having a birthday ruined by The Rona), enjoyed many many tasty brews, and then wandered off to a brewery to enjoy more brews and much needed food. You could maybe tell me that the street tacos I had that night weren't that great - maybe they weren't because looking back, the only thing I remember are the pickled onions. 

We fell in love that night and hadn't seen each other in months. Why? Because I was scared they would be hard to make. Or take too long. Or I would somehow screw it up, 'cuz I could do that.

Quarantine has made me a little less fearless. And then I looked up how to make pickled onions and felt absolutely ridunkulous. These are easy. And tasty. On everything. You need to make them.

I did double the garlic from the original recipe. Next time I'm going to find a wee small hot pepper to add for a bit more spice. I sterilize my jars and lids in the Instant Pot (1 cup water, steam setting, 5 minutes), and use the screw on plastic lids. I've had a bit better luck with keeping things fresh with these type lids. These are a bit salty when fresh, but mellow over a few days.

Pickled Onions

Makes 2 pint jars

Keeps for 3-4 weeks refrigerated

1 really big red onion

4 cloves garlic

6 TBSP white sugar

3 TBSP salt

1 tsp peppercorns

2 cups white vinegar

Thinly slice the red onion. Peel the garlic cloves, the best way I found to do this is to smash the garlic clove with the side of a wide knife blade. This will break open the garlic clove so that it slides right out of the peel. Bonus points because the smashing also helps infuse the garlic into the pickling better.

You can do this in a large glass bowl, but I've found it easier to just pack the pint jars equally with onion and garlic cloves. It's one less dish to deal with and one less chance of screwing it up because I could still do that.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, salt, peppercorns, and vinegar, stirring without heat until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Place a lid on the pot, turn on the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, turn off the heat and allow the brine to sit for a minute. Remove pan lid and pour brine over onions and garlic in jars, making sure the onions in the jar are completely covered by the brine. Allow the jar contents to cool to room temperature before screwing on the lid.  Label lid with contents and date and store in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

These are a divine addition to burgers, tacos, salads, and sandwiches.

And yes, thank you for asking, it is indeed the 3rd anniversary of The.Best.Day.Ever.

It's Been a Minute...

It has been 4 years, almost to the freaking day, since I last posted. Let's catch up!
My life looked something like this.

July 2016 through December 2016: Blah blah blah

January 2017: Boyfriend and I had "The Talk", I was ready to get married (FINALLY!)

February 2017: Boyfriend and I started house shopping, put an offer in on a house, and listed both of our houses for sale. Scary exciting stuff!



March 2017: Boyfriend officially upgraded his status to Husband To Be. Wedding planning commences.
Husband To Be and I both sold our houses.

May 2017: aka The Month of Madness. The sale of my house fell through.
I was in a car accident and totaled my car.
We moved into the new house with two mortgages.
Still not freaking out.

June 2017: Less than a week after moving into the new house... I left for China for two weeks.
The day after I returned home, my mom told me that my grandma has terminal cancer.

July 2017: Husband To Be upgraded to Husband. Freaked out a little and was 15 minutes late to my own damn wedding.

August 2017 through October 2017: Hubby and I won a 5 day trip to Jamaica!
Commencing mental breakdown while trying to figure out how to be a wife, step-mom, and grieving as my grandma dies.
She left us on Oct 31st.

November 2017 through July 2018: The Black Hole of Nothing. I was in a black hole of grief and depression. I was not a good wife, a good mother, or even a good human.
Somehow Husband stuck through it (actually he says it wasn't that bad) and we celebrated our first anniversary.
Oh, yeah, somewhere in here I made the bad decision to do Contract For Deed on my house.
We took a honeymoon to Jamaica.

August 2018 through July 2019: My cousin Jen lost her battle with cancer.
Husband adopted The Diva!
The situation with the Contract For Deed escalated and I finally said I was done. Officially listed the house for sale again. Moral of the story: don't do Contract For Deed. Ever. Bad Idea. Zero stars, not recommended.
Celebrated two years married.

August 2019 through July 2020: My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and had a double mastectomy and radiation.
Finally sold my house!
Bought a new-to-me car (that proceeded to break down only days after the warranty expired.)
The Spawn graduated high school early.
A whole bunch of other stuff happened and I had a mental breakdown.
Mom had to have a couple more surgeries for skin that wasn't healing and infections.
The world went into quarantine/stay-at-home/social distancing/online learning mode thanks to The Rona (Covid-19 virus) pandemic.
And here we are... days away from celebrating Year 3 of Marriage aka The Best Day Ever.

What a freaking ride!

So... what have you been doing?

Slowing Down

My summer has been flying at me at NASCAR speeds, when I'm really wanting a geriatric Sunday drive. I'm struggling to believe that July is almost gone. I'm not ready for August. I'm not.


So here's a list of things that I'm behind on:

• Reading
• House Projects
• Soap Porn
• Daily Audio Bible
• A Few Bills

On the plus side, I have accomplished the following:

• Working on the Yoga flow challenge. I don't have it down perfect (Upside down splits? Falling to bridge? Yikes!) but I have figured out a few modifications until I work up the courage/strength/flexibility to follow through.
• Hired a cleaning lady. She comes every other Wednesday to do my surfaces (counters, tables, floors, dusting) and bathrooms. She is awesome. If I can slow the rest of my life down, I should be able to use my "free" time to de-junk my house, organize my awesome, and maybe get a few of the things on the previous list done.
• Falling madly, completely, and happily in love. I let my anxiety and depression get to me, and at just about the point where everything was going to fall apart, I woke the frick up, got myself on some meds, and started dealing with stuff. It's been hard to let some of my past go, to accept that a love is no longer returned, and to fully embrace my life for the crazy, beautiful disaster that it is. And I fell in love with me again, and I fell in love with him too.
• I started a bullet journal. I'm still working out the kinks, figuring out what I need and what I don't, the realities of my time. It's also keeping me focused. Sometimes. I am a work in progress.

It's all left turns here, but I'm not coming last!
(see what I did there? NASCAR reference... it's ok, I'll wait for you to catch up...)

How Full Is Your Bucket

How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A generic read. Less than a month later I barely remember the premise, much less how to change my life.

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