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Miraculous Macaroni & Cheese, Aviva Goldfarb

October 1, 2010 by

It’s not the weekend quite yet, but I was inspired to take my mind off some very sad news about my grandfather (vovô in Portuguese).  If you’ve seen my Facebook updates, you know he had a stroke recently and lost 2/3 of his brain and was paralyzed on the right side, and since then, it has been touch and go.  Unfortunately, there’s not enough the doctors can do, and it is just a matter of time before he passes.

So, I took out my copy of SOS! The Six O’clock Scramble to the Rescue by Aviva Goldfarb to find something to make for dinner that was easy and mindless.  Typical me, I had to spruce it up and change it around.  I didn’t have any shredded cheddar, but I had some sliced cheddar, I didn’t have any mustard powder, and I didn’t want sausage.  Instead, I used pepper and some diced canned tomatoes, along with the salt, nutmeg, sliced cheddar.  First, you melt margarine in the casserole dish before adding the macaroni and ensuring it is covered with the butter.  Once that’s done you add the other ingredients, plus milk and bake at 350 for an hour.

Again, I put my own twist on it by adding about a teaspoon of flour to thicken the sauce and reduced the amount of milk since I also had the juice from the tomatoes.  You bake it in the oven without a cover.   This is the finished product with some browned bread crumbs on top.

Thanks for stopping by and when I feel like reading again, I will have some reviews for you.  Please bear with me.

If you missed my earlier review of this cookbook or my interview with Aviva Goldfarb, please check them out.

***

Since writing this my grandfather has passed away.  I’ll probably be offline for a while.  If I miss anything important, please email me.  Thanks to everyone for their support, prayers, and condolences.

Filed Under: announcements, recipes Tagged With: ,

Baltimore Book Festival 2010

September 29, 2010 by

Normally, I attend the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., but this year, I was asked to join a panel of Book Bloggers at the Baltimore Book Festival.  Instead of exhausting myself even more this Sept. after an extended visit from my parents and brother, I decided to stick to one event this year.

I’m not the most talkative person and I often shy away from public speaking if I can help it, but this sounded like a good opportunity, and I got to hang out with some of my favorite bloggers in person — Swapna, Julie, Candice, Heather, Nicole, and Allie.  The other bonus for me was being able to talk about blogs and how they can be used to provide greater coverage for poets and poetry; something I hope I accomplished.

I want to thank Heather for setting up the great panel and for the detailed instructions and preparation that she did.  Wonderful job.  Also, I want to thank the Baltimore Book Festival personnel for being so kind and helpful when I couldn’t find the reception room for panelists!  The room was gorgeous in an older Baltimore home turned publisher’s office, and the food was delicious.  They even offered Mimosas, but I had to decline or I would have giggled my way through the panel.

Prior to the book festival, I tagged along with Anna, her family, and my hubby as we checked out the Walters Art Museum.  I left my hubby in charge of photos this time around.  I’d like to have more time to check out the museum, but the rare manuscript and book room was fantastic.   I’ll provide you with a slide show for both the museum and blogger panel.

I was nervous as expected, but once I met everyone on the panel — or should I say met Celeste and David whom I did not know before — I was more at ease.  The panel talked about the basics of book blogging, author/publisher relationships with bloggers, and much more.   Heather did a great job keeping us on track, but the questions from the audience were few. I’m also not sure how helpful I was about cybersecurity for the woman working with Montgomery County Public Schools and other student-teaching programs.  I think I would have liked more questions, so if you have any, feel free to ask them here.

Here are some synopses from other sources:  Reading Local, Baltimore Sun (I’m even quoted in this one and my name is spelled correctly), Read Street,  and I’m sure there are others I may have missed (please send links and I will add them).

And here’s the slide show you’ve been waiting for, I’m sure:

Filed Under: Events Tagged With:

A lot of winners…

September 28, 2010 by

Out of more than 23 entrants, Random.org selected 2 winners for Mr. Darcy’s Voyage by Kara Louise:

1.  Janel of Janel’s Jumble who said, “I am drooling over that hammock chair! And the porch too. Either one of those things would be a great place to write. Both of them together must be heaven. Thanks for sharing, Kara.”

2.  Melissa of Mommy Wants to Read, who said, “I would love to have a nice big comfy recliner with a huge fluffy blanket, a super fast laptop and a table next to me stack high with snacks and drinks. Yeah that is my dream writing space. “

BBAW 2010 winners for the Forgotten Treasures post and their respective wins are as follows:

Jeanne of Necromancy Never Pays won A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.  She said, “I find villanelles hardest to write; the rhymes are so obsessive!  My favorite is Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art.”

MMW who won The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes.  She said, “Sestinas are my favorite to read but def seem the hardest to write to me.  Good luck to poets who make it seem so EASY and beautiful!!” Guatami of

BBAW 2010 winners for the Unexpected Treasures post and their respective wins are as follows:

Gautami of Everything Distils Into Reading won A Dangerous Affair by Caro Peacock.  She said, “There are so many good bloggers, who have influenced my reading. I really can’t name a handful…”

Dovile won Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen.  She said, “I’ve discovered Reading Teen blog this year, and Lauren Kate’s books with it!”

Jill of Rhapsody in Books won The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie.  She said, “I would have to say that I have read the most books because of the blogs of Sandy of You Gotta Read This!  and Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot.  When they *both* rave about a book, then I know  for sure I’ll be knocked out by it too, and that was certainly the case with Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.  But in truth, WAY over half of my reading selections now come from the recommendations of fellow bloggers.  I just keep a notepad and pen in front of the computer!”

BBAW 2010 winners for the my start of BBAW post and their respective wins are as follows:

Mette J (Mysteriousrose) won the $10 Better World Books gift certificate.  She said, “What a great site I love writing poems, heres what I got from the site:

The sun disappears
And a flock of birds
Crosses the pink sky”

Grace of Books Like Breathing won the $10 Amazon.com gift certificate.  She said, “I’m terrible at poetry but here’s my try at it:

Nothings speedier than a cheetah,
In a rush it’d surely beat ya’,
As hard as you’d try
To make your feet fly
By the end of the race it’d eat Velveeta!”

Congrats to all the winners.

Filed Under: winners

Mailbox Monday #98

September 27, 2010 by

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon at the right to check out the tour) has gone on tour since Marcia at The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Kathy of Bermudaonion Weblog.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received:

1.  Kaliedoscope: An Asian Journey of Colors by Sweta Srivastava Vikram for review from the poet.

2.  Crazy Love by Pamela Uschuk for the Green Books Campaign.

3.  Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel from the Baltimore Book Festival.

What did you receive in your mailbox?

Filed Under: mailbox monday

64th Virtual Poetry Circle

September 25, 2010 by

Welcome to the 64th Virtual Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Let’s check out the contemporary poet David Antin:

6th Separation Meditation

it appears whole
it has been
thought of
as good
not reasoned out
he uses
he is bound
to a state
he has recognized
even if the description is a delusion
it is worth while to speak of logic
frequently
it depends on knowledge
to translate it
suggests conflict
which is
implied
in the word
demonstration
it would seem
the more formal
the meaning seems to be
the more
from the center of your being
that feeling
that nothing
either for me or my friend
the conjecture
this meaning
or material
is applied at the end
as the element
of commanding value
in contrast with joy
which is not of its essence
it is sometimes
supreme
something specially concerned
in conduct
interest
the true interest
the interest of true self
is mad
in this state
he is confronted by the rich
if you take a low view of politics
you will degrade yourself
see how things are going in the capital!
the senator
discovers
the soul’s moral equipment
is imperfect
the point seems to be
this indignity
the educated man
is untrained
to complete the sense
protest
the managers
the schools
taking cognizance of things
see
the community
its limitations
its hard circumstances
the insolence of the rich
all acts are appropriate
to the circumstances

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions. Let’s have a great discussion…pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I’ve you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles. It’s never too late to join the discussion.

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel

September 24, 2010 by

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel is a narrative mostly written in emails and letters, shifting from a budding friendship between young girls and blossoming into adulthood.  Beyond the emails and letters, the novel also includes recipes, which mesh well with the story as each of the girls deals with lost loves and problems with family, including Lovelorn Lasagna.

The novel begins after Valerie and Lilly have endured a 26-year silence in their friendship.  After an attempt to regain their lost companionship, the narrative shifts to letters written as children and the start of their recipe club.  Recipes are garnered from their parents, family, and friends and often coincide with events in the girls’ lives.  Many of the letters are ripe with adolescent angst and childlike retorts as they quarrel over ideals and perspectives.

“It was so awful.  I was standing in a crowd of other girls I know, and the boys came up to inspect us like we were fruit to be picked.  I only got asked to slow-dance once, by a kid who looks like Ichabod Crane with zits.  We stepped on each other’s feet so hard that I was actually relieved to sit by myself for the rest of the night.”  (page 136 of hardcover)

Valerie is a straight-laced student and highly moral girl who doesn’t understand her friend Lilly as she begins to emulate her free-spirited, actress mother more and more and rebel further against her straight-laced father.  Val spends a great deal of time wondering whether her friendship with Lilly is solid and kowtowing to her friend’s desires and opinions.  In many ways these letters get a bit trying, but eventually Val evolves into a stronger woman.  Lilly’s letters are very self-centered, which also can be exhausting, but eventually Lilly is reformed.

Overall, The Recipe Club is an interesting collection of letters, emails, and recipes that illustrate the frustrations women find in relationships with one another.  The time passes quickly with these women, but in the end, the women reach a satisfying place in their relationship.

This is my 47th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa

September 23, 2010 by

Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa is broken into two distinct narratives; one for Manuel Rebelo and one for his son, Antonio.  The first portion follows Manuel from his boyhood into his adulthood as he struggles with the expectations of his mother for greatness on the island of Sao Miguel, Acores, and his dream of seeing the wider world and eventually settling in Canada.  Unlike his brothers and sisters, Manuel’s light hair and blue eyes reminded his mother of her husband, who was lost at sea.  Effectively, he becomes her substitute companion and weighs him down with her expectations until he finally breaks free to live his dreams.  Unfortunately, he finds that his dreams are not so easily realized.

“Manuel used his forearms to part the stalks of corn.  His blood coursed through him.  He forged ahead, swiping at the brittle stems, nursing the anger that had pressed on him ever since he had arrived back home and Silvia had said no.”  (page 97)

De Sa uses a fast-paced narrative intertwined with folklore, tradition, and imagery to paint a picture of Manuel’s life, his homeland, and his new home in a way that they become almost surreal.  Is this man truly living his life here or is this his dream/nightmare made real.  Once Antonio takes over the narrative, the nightmare grows more surreal as family members become more like caricatures rather than people.

At times the narrative is disjointed and jostles readers from one point in time to another, making them wonder what happened in the intervening years.  However, the story does not lose its edge.  It demonstrates that love, even between father and son, mother and son, and even siblings is not always smooth and without obstacles.  Can forgiveness and love triumph over the wrongs each feels the other has done and will their dreams become reality?

“‘My husband used to say that men are all barnacles.  A barnacle starts out lie swimming freely in the ocean.  But, when it matures, it must settle down and choose a home.  My dear husband used to say that it chooses to live with other barnacles of the same kind so that they can mate.'”  (page 108)

Barnacle Love relies heavily on ocean imagery and the surreal-ness of its characters to illustrate the hurt that comes with family, but also the great love that stirs beneath its bristling core.  Anthony De Sa has created a memorable journey of Portuguese-Canadian immigrants that will leave readers wanting more and spending additional time trying to figure out the characters’ motivations.

This is my 46th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: Algonquin, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

I’m a bit AWOL this week

September 22, 2010 by

I’m sure you’ve all been wondering where I’ve been the last few days.  In short, my parents are in town and we’ve been very busy, so all is quiet here on the blog at least for the time being.

I will have a review for you if not tomorrow, maybe the end of the week.  Please bear with me.  I’ll also have festival reports for you as the National Book Festival and Baltimore Book Festivals are this coming weekend.

If you haven’t checked out these festivals and you are in the area, you should drop by even for a few hours.  You’ll not only get to meet great authors but some great readers as well.  I should be at one or both of these events.  Maybe my clan will run into you.

Filed Under: announcements

Mailbox Monday #97

September 20, 2010 by

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon at the right to check out the tour) has gone on tour since Marcia at The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Kathy of Bermudaonion Weblog.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received:

1.  Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge by J. Marie Croft for review.

What did you receive in your mailbox?

Filed Under: mailbox monday

Winners. . .

September 19, 2010 by

The long overdue announcement of winners for Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji (Click the book cover for Amazon.com’s synopsis or the title for my review) is here.  In no particular order, the winners are:

J.T. Oldfield of Bibliofreak, who said, “I’d love to read this because I’ve read two books about Tehran this summer (Honeymoon in Tehran and Embroideries) and I guess I’m on a roll!”

Margie, who said, “I have heard many good things about this book.  I enjoy books which give you a glimpse of another culture.”

Sandra Muniz, who said, “I would like to read this books because I haven’t read anything like this before and I want to. I read some reviews and it seems an interesting read =D”

The winners of C. Allyn Pierson’s Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister (click the cover for Amazon’s synopsis or click the title for my review) are:

Grace from Books Like Breathing, who said, “I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was a freshman in high school. It was a revelation. I quickly declared it my favorite book and, as soon as I was finished the first time, I read it again. Then I saw the Colin Firth version of P&P and it was all over. I was ruined for other books for a long time.”

Wanda who said, “I loved Pride & Prejudice from the first page onward. It was different from anything I’ve read before.”

Congrats to all the winners.  There are more giveaways in the right sidebar in honor of BBAW, so enter today!

Filed Under: winners

63rd Virtual Poetry Circle

September 18, 2010 by

Welcome to the 63rd Virtual Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

For our return to the classics, we’re going to visit the Greeks.  Let’s check out an excerpt from the epic poem The Iliad by Homer, book 1, lines 1-14:

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurl’d to Pluto’s gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!

Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour
Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power
Latona’s son a dire contagion spread,
And heap’d the camp with mountains of the dead;
The king of men his reverent priest defied,
And for the king’s offence the people died.

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions. Let’s have a great discussion…pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I’ve you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles. It’s never too late to join the discussion.

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

BBAW 2010: Future Treasures

September 17, 2010 by

Today is about future goals and treasures.  I’m going to take a new twist on this topic as well.  Since my love of poetry is well known and I know that many of you are reluctant poetry readers, but generous people.  I’m going to put out a call for donations to my favorite poetry organization, The American Academy of Poets.

This organization not only has a free database of information about classic to contemporary poets, but it allows users to read and listen to poems online.  From Apps that bring poetry to your smartphone to local and national events for poets and poetry, the organization’s goal is to not only spread the word about the genre, but also support poets through competition for first book prizes and other awards.

Supporting American poets is one goal, but I’ve always thought one of their overarching goals is to widen the audience for poetry by capturing them online and in person.  I’d like to call on you to donate to this great organization to preserve the future poetry treasure that are yet to be written.

All you have to do to enter this global giveaway is donate — no sum is too small — to the academy, which runs programs for the public and poets, including support for National Poetry Month events across the United States.

  • Go to Poets.org and use the drop-down “Donate” menu to select Donate Now.
  • Fill out the required fields
  • A new screen will give you donation choices from $25-$1,000, but there is also an “Other” selection where you can input any amount.
  • You can designate any program you like from the drop-down menu.
  • After inputting your payment information, please paste the following in the comments section “Savvy Verse & Wit Poetry Donation Drive.”

Once you’ve done that, please come back and leave your confirmation number or email it to me at savvyverseandwit at gmail dot com with “Savvy Verse & Wit Poetry Donation Drive” in the subject.

I’ll pick a random winner for the following books:

1.  Wishing Trees by John Shors

2.  Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

Deadline for this GLOBAL giveaway is Sept. 30, 2010 — Deadline extension to Oct. 30, 2010, at 11:59PM EST

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Filed Under: BBAW, Events, giveaway