This Week I Liked...

Here's another weekly roundup!

I looked at Instagram, thinking if it had fun ideas and inspirations I might sign up.  Lots of the crafting blogs I follow have Instagram accounts.  They often say sometimes they post more regularly there because they can just take a few pictures, put them up without comment, and voila! content and updates.   It was started as an IOS phone photo sharing app, that's the intended audience.  I personally prefer to use a camera for pictures when I can, that I'd like to save.  So I think Instagram isn't for me at this time.

Pinterest!  Another site that comes up often when I'm searching for recipes, how-to-do-it information, and gardening ideas is Pinterest.  I thought because Facebook made me kill off my DOA account that Pinterest access was gone as well.  Ha, no, DOA lives!  I just never did anything with it.  Therefore, I'm willing to spend time finding things in my categories of interest, and use those things here in the future. Whoo hoo!

Onward.


Crafting

From the Cypress Textiles Blog, 8 Crochet Joining Methods for Square Motifs.  Believe it or not, I am approaching the point of joining on several projects, and these join methods can make a blanket look just that bit more beautiful.

The ever clever Polka Dot Chair has a timely post, More Than 25 Halloween Sewing Projects for those of you who can sew, or those who would like to get started with one of these projects.   I love the...

Witches Silhouette Pillow

...and the Black Cat Embroidered face pillow

From the Itsy Bits and Pieces blog, a post called Thrift The Look, where she and several other bloggers look at an inspiration photo from Country Living Magazine, then try to recreate it from thrift store finds that match the look and feel of the original.   Quite a fun idea.  Itsy Bitsy (can we call her that?) is very clever and has some artistic and crafting talents that make her effort pretty great.  She tells how she did it all.  This might inspire you to try to recreate something you see in a magazine.

The Original

Itsy's Re-creation

Cooking

My mom made wonderful Chicken and Dumplings, but very rarely.  I've tried recipes over the years, and the dumplings and I never meshed.  They were balls of weird dough, or the dough dispersed into a liquidy mess once dropped in with the chicken.  Very sad.   Two Peas and Their Pod have a tasty looking recipe I may try.

I've come to like Chicken Caesar salad while dining out (though last night I had one that was gross and bore no resemblance to any other I've had).   This recipe from The English Kitchen looks really nice.    https://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/09/grilled-chicken-caesar-salad.html

She also posted a Maple Cake  that reminded me of a cake with a Brown Sugar Penuche frosting I used to make, but this seems richer and yet more delicate.  https://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/09/maple-cake.html

I'm still craving chocolate cake, and may try this one next.  Another nice 8x8 pan recipe.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/king-arthur-flours-original-cake-pan-cake-recipe

Mystery

The wonderful Mystery blog The Rap Sheet has a list this week called Taking in the Sites.  It's his yearly list of the best mystery and crime blogs out there.   I have some of them on my blog list, and will be adding more to the Books and Authors section of my blogroll.



CrimeReads has many great reading lists.  This week I noted https://crimereads.com/mystery-in-the-age-of-empire/   

I always mean to read David Liss, and I love Lyndsay Faye.    I like other works by Robert McCammon.   Was unable to read The Alienist past the first few pages.     Anne Perry's The Cater Street Hangman is excellent.    I'll be most interested to look at some of the others.


 Beauty and Humor

Gardeners Two Women and a Hoe know their stuff.   I look like this with or without mascara.

https://www.facebook.com/TWOwomenANDaHOE/photos/a.254163565069/10156606813480070/?type=3&theater

This Week I Liked...

From the whirl of Social Media, here are a few things I marked as "liked" this week.



Patterns

https://justahappyhooker.blogspot.com/2018/09/blanket-joy.html    From 50 Shades of Four Ply, a vibrantly colored afghan.  I really liked the combination of small squares and large.

From the Patchwork Heart, a nice color combination.

Food


https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/hersheys-and-reeses-whipped-cream-toppings-are-here/?trkid=soc-toh-facebook

Agh, I meant to put these on the grocery list and look for them.  I'm not sure about the Peanut Butter one, but the chocolate, nice!

When I have a Chef, I'll ask for these by Smitten Kitchen in the mornings.

Television

From IO9,  before season one has even aired,  Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is getting a season two.

September's First Line Cryptogram Answer

The answer to last week's cryptogram is:

In case that's hard to read:

 

AWVFV DL QR VQX RI AWDQUL DQ AWV WVYFA.

THERE IS NO END OF THINGS IN THE HEART.

This is the first line of Lost Light by Michael Connelly

 

 

Milking the Story

I haven't read any of the Bone comics, but Scholastic has a Bone Comic Maker with fun characters and backgrounds for you to tell your own Bone Tale.  They also have Amulet and Smile.

Two Sentence Crochet Horror Story

 Double, double, single, treble, missed a stitch!

Five rows back, frog, frog, all progress gone.

 

Not Everyone Can Be Superman, These Were Worthy Of The Suit

My favorite superhero has always been Superman, based on reading the comics in my teens.   He's a special, idealistic, noble character.  He simply hasn't any flaws.

Henry Cavill has been the most recent Superman.  A terrible, dark, awful Superman.  He is apparently out of the role.    https://www.gamespot.com/articles/henry-cavill-will-not-play-superman-again-for-dc-r/1100-6461711/



The Best of Superman



George Reeves

Christopher Reeves

Dean Cain

Tom Welling

The 1918 Fannie Farmer Cookbook from Bartleby

Since Cooking Season has begun, you'll want to Bookmark the 1918 Boston Cooking School Cookbook, otherwise known as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook from Bartleby.com.

The entire book with 1,849 recipes is available, just select your menu items.

Here's a nice tomato soup to get you started.

Tomato Soup with Stock

1 quart Brown Soup Stock	1/3 cup flour
1 can tomatoes	Onion	1/4 cup each cut in dice
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns	Carrot
1 small bay leaf	Celery
3 cloves	Raw ham
3 sprigs thyme	Salt
4 tablespoons butter	Pepper

Cook onion, carrot, celery, and ham in butter five minutes, add flour, peppercorns, bay leaf, cloves, and thyme, and cook three minutes; then add tomatoes, cover, and cook slowly one hour. When cooked in oven it requires less watching. Rub through a strainer, add hot stock, and season with salt and pepper.

A Two Sentence Horror Story

From an old meme:

Dreaming, dreaming, softly weaving in a cocoon of infinite silky fibers, safe, safe.

Awakened, forsaken, spun into the web of a dire many legged beast, pincers moving.

September's First Line Cryptogram

I found a whole page of unused Cryptogram clues!  What to do?  Look for the Answer Tuesday September 18.

AWVFV DL QR VQX RI AWDQUL DQ AWV WVYFA.

The Tuna Tune

Happy Monday!   Here's  a new cartoon for you, created with the Cartoon Playground at Funny Times.

Dedicated to my beloved cat.

Penguin & Fish: Kitties "Your Name Here" Hand Embroidery Kit

Why do I periodically haunt the Embroidery Kit section at Joann's?  Because they have the best kits, that I might make someday.   Someday has come for this adorable kit, which comes with a really nicely made wooden hoop, ribbon and thread, iron on or traceable patterns, and instructions even I can follow.

I have to note that most Embroidery Kits give little to no instruction.  They tell you the colors used, and provide a chart with colors and stitches illustrated.   They don't tell you where to start in the picture.   They don't talk about moving row to row.  They could do better.

I have this one and a Beagle, which I'd love to customize to look more like my own beagle, but I don't think I'm capable of that.   The kits are $19.99, given what's included, I think that's fine.

My first ever attempt to iron on a pattern.  Note to self:  Iron heat setting 6.

The letters I'll need to trace into the center with my cat's name.

Here's how it should look when complete.

Here's the thread in a nice tidy little pack, not the often-seen-in-kits tangle of colors.

A tad blurry picture of the instructions.  You get the idea of how nicely they're done though.

Answer to DOA's 9 1 18 Movie Quote Rebus

By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged!

                            Doctor Lazarus, Galaxy Quest

The Winner in the contest between our own Librarian DOA and upstart Merlyn Perilous to see which Rebus got more views  is:

 Librariandoa  12 views of the clue, 5 of the answer

Merlyn  10 views of the clue, 9 of the answer.

My spouse informs me Rebuses are too hard, and he prefers Cryptograms.  He also informs me my quote is incorrect, and he went to the screenplay to get the correct spelling of Warvan.  My apologies!  I'll stick with books.

Chocolate Craving Cake From I Am Baker

This week's new recipe for me is one I've had printed out for a couple of years, I think.  No need to rush in!  It keeps popping up on I Am Baker's Facebook page and I "like" it every time.

I made it this morning.  It doesn't look like the original picture, but it is wonderfully, intensely chocolatey.   The 8 x 8 pan size means I may be able to eat it all by myself.  I did have a tester lined up, who could help eat it, but they were unable to make it.  We shall see what next week brings!

https://iambaker.net/chocolate-craving-cake/


I used 2 % milk rather than whole.  I don't mind getting buttermilk for a recipe, because you can always use buttermilk in pancakes or something, but whole milk....nah.    This is one of the few recipes for chocolate cake you'll find these days that doesn't ask for coffee.   Coffee is for sipping with your cake, not going in the mixing bowl.

Her directions have you taking the cake out of the pan, no doubt using the parchment paper from the instructions to lift it to a cooling rack.  Then of course you need to get it on a plate for frosting purposes and eating purposes.  I think I'll leave it in the pan next time.

My cake may be extra chocolately because I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, which I use for everything now.

I should have used my frosting spatula instead of a butter knife to spread the frosting, of which there is a generous amount.  Without further ado, my Chocolate Craving Cake.

A little cake disaster-y looking, but really good.

The Doctor Is IN!

Speculate no more, the new season of Doctor Who with all it's changes and wonders begins OCTOBER 7!!!   It's almost here!

The show is leaving Saturday nights for Sundays this time around.  

While you're waiting, the BBC Doctor Who page has lots of puzzles and games to occupy you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4nH4gHgpmRXh8w8vqLsq1jS/fun-and-games

Syfy Wire's Everything We Know About Doctor Who So Far

I personally am always sad to see an old Doctor go, but I've liked each new incarnation.  From what I've seen of  Jodi Whittaker, I'm sure I'll love her Doctor as well.

Syfy Wire posted one of those appealing articles last week touting "Everything We Know So Far", with the exception being, no one knows the premier date beyond a vague  "Fall 2018".  We're there!  Bring on the Doctor.  Perhaps they like beginnings and endings on Christmas.  Does that count as Fall?

My thoughts on what they talk about

Hate her shirt.  Can't stand stripes.

Excited to see a new Tardis Interior!

New Sonic Screwdrivers are fun.

Three companions might be too many.  While I always love the Doctors, I'm not always fond of the Companions.  Perhaps if there are three there are higher chances of a likeable one?

New writers and directors may liven things up.  I can't imagine they don't know Who they're writing and creating for, so they'll be lively but careful is my hope.

Daleks are a no show?  I may have mentioned I don't care for them, so it's all good!

From The Archives: It's What's Up Front That Counts

I like to look at my "Popular Posts" list at the bottom of the blog side bar to see if any recent posts are being read.  Often, things from way back will crop up the list instead.  All it really takes, I think, since I don't post much, is one view of an oldie.

A post from 2010 called It's What's Up Front That Counts includes a picture from an  old cigarette commercial with a pixie-ish woman holding up a Winston, fingers measuring a cigarette's front end, while her eyes slide back to a man in the background.

That's not the best part of the post!   I think I did a great job of talking about all the things a Librarian could encounter in a day at the Reference Desk.   Ha ha!  They hadn't actually taken the Desk itself away yet!

As happens, it got me thinking about all of the really excellent Reference Librarians I've worked with and for over the years.   I have been so lucky to work with some of the finest, most Service oriented Librarians in the business.   Thanks, guys!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Netflix)

I loved this movie.  I have not read the book, but enjoyed the story and characters so much I'm going to get the book.  This was hugely popular with Reading Groups when it came out, and I can see why.

It's a mystery, a historical tale, a romance, and is filled with a love of books and reading that may not have been captured anywhere as well in ages.

It's the story of a young woman writer named Juliet Ashton in 1946.  As London is being rebuilt after the Second World War she is assigned an article by her publisher to write about Reading.

She's not too keen on it until she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams.  He's a pig farmer from the island of Guernsey who has her personal copy of Lamb's Essays of Elia which had her name and address inside it.  He attends a book group called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society which was begun during the Nazi Occupation of Guernsey during the war, and which has continued.  He'd like recommendations for more books by author Charles Lamb, and London bookstores which might carry them.

She loves the story of this book group helping it's members through such terrible times and feels it will be just what she needs for her article on Reading.

Feeling like she knows the Society and it's members from Dawes letter, she hastily packs and sets out for Guernsey, letting Dawes know she's on the way and that she'd like to do an article on his group.

Her reception is so funny.  There's nowhere in town to stay so she ends up in the home of a grim matron.

The Society members are shocked by her presence, and the meeting starts out very awkwardly.  The group meets at Amelia Maugery's house, and Amelia is particularly frosty in her reception.  She immediately tells Juliet she must lead the discussion.  Then coldy advises that the leader stands for her presentation.  By the end of the evening everyone is comfortably seated and is having a lively discussion of the evenings book.

Lily James is luminous as Juliet.   Juliet is a very modern girl, who knows what she wants, and is completely lively and in the moment.   She handles the reception by the members with aplomb.  When she finds there is much more to the story of the Society and it's wartime origins, she stays on the island, researching, and becoming friends with most of the members.  To her surprise, she eventually feels very much like they are family as well as friends.

Penelope Wilton, an alumni from Downton Abbey as is James, is so wonderful here.  She's this seemingly hard, tough woman who has borne too much, seen too much.

Michiel Huisman plays a remarkably sensitive man for his profession, so well read and a fine letter writer to boot.

I love the book discussions.

Love the interwoven mystery of Elizabeth.

Love that the children are included in the readings and discussions.

Most films don't capture the love of reading as this one does.

Loved at the end while the credits ran that you could hear a rather heated discussion of another book.

Read on, Peelers.