The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson

Title: The Ropemaker
Author: Peter Dickinson
Pages: 375

I finished this book a few days ago and it was actually pretty good. I would rate it pretty high, but the pages were big and the print was small.

The story begins when Tilja's mother goes to sing to the cedars, magical trees in a magical forest. This has been the tradition for 20 generations-- men sing to the snows and women sing to the cedars. This protects the valley from the feared Empire. But soon the magic begins to wear off, so Tilja, her grandmother Meena, Tahl, and his blind grandfather Alnor set off to find the magician who first cast the bonds. Faheel.

They face many challenges along the way, including being kidnapped, threatened, and almost killed, but soon they find the magician so peace may be restored. If they can find the young magician who can protect the  Valley in the twenty generations to come, they might be able to return home safe.

I guess that wasn't the best review I've ever written, but it was a pretty good book. It's so complicated to explain everything! It's detailed, thoughtful, mysterious, adventurous, and dramatic. You really have to be willing to concentrate and focus on it. It's hard to follow at times.
Great book! 3.5 stars, maybe.

Happy... Wednesday. I can't believe I had to just look at my calendar for that. Sheesh!
Lexie

i'm still the same.

I've given the blog a makeover! It's now not just food, but all about fashion, family, baking, crafts-- I figured that now I'll have a wide expanse of topics to write about. So I'll be posting about everything I can think of.

Enter www.polyvore.com. Polyvore is my world of fashion, and I'm not alone with millions of other women and girls (maybe some fashion loving guys out there, too) who express their feelings through interior design, art, and fashion sets. I always looked at my sister in envy as she posted her sets onto her blog, diaryofdelaney.blogspot.com. So I guess I can do that now, too. Enough about Polyvore. I have to finish this post!

I'd love to talk more, but it's nearing dinnertime and I'm finding a recipe for baby artichokes. I'll have to blog all about that tomorrow...

In case you're wondering...

I'll probably be changing my blog background a lot over the next couple of weeks. I just can't decide what to use! So in case there's a new background every day you come (if anyone does come), don't worry.
Don't forget your healthy daily dose of food and cooking.
Bye for now!
Lexie

Summer has officially started.

For Father's day, we made my dad homemade vanilla ice cream. It all started at the grocery store when the clerk charged us $0.05 for a vanilla bean because we bought it in bulk and was so light that the scale didn't register it. What else could we do?
We distracted my dad so we could make the ice cream. He and my mom went to Costco while my sisters and I found the ice cream maker and looked through the entire internet trying to find the owner's manual. Finally, the custard was brought out of the fridge and put into the bucket. Then... we ran out of ice.
It all turned out okay because the bucket with the custard wasn't full, so we didn't need to fill the ice all the way to the top. I couldn't wait for dessert!
At first I was just making a caramel sauce with the "Basic Caramel" recipe I found in the back of a cookbook. But no, the recipe was for sculpting caramel, which it never said directly in the recipe. Now I was left with a pot of caramel that was hardened so much that you could drop a metal spoon in it and it wouldn't dent. Just a tiny "clink" could be heard.
Under the category of FAIL, perhaps? That gives me a new tag. Fail. I hope I don't have to use it often. :(
I heated the caramel on the stove and it was now a semi-liquid-ness consistency. I pulled a little piece out. Oh. It kept stretching and stretching and.... then it snapped, because it had cooled. I had a little piece of caramel hair. Brilliant! I stretched some more caramel and had a parchmented baking sheet full of caramel hair. It was then hid in the guest room bathroom, waiting for desert time.
It came after a meal of baby-backs marinated in Apple Chipotle BBQ bath from Sweetwater Spice Co. and coleslaw and curly fries and The Simpsons Movie. I won't even get started on that, don't worry.
My dad was so surprised! Well, not really. It was given away when he saw the outer bucket on the deck, filled with salt. He loved it though. The caramel threads didn't taste very caramel-y. They tasted like burnt sugar and coffee. Not sweet, but bitter.
We used Alton Brown's Serious Vanilla Ice Cream. It was rich, creamy, and delicious! I would really recommend it. Oh, wait. I just did.
Here it is! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/serious-vanilla-ice-cream-recipe/index.html
You know it's summer when the ice cream maker is running.
Happy Summer!
Lexie

Behold the Ice Cream!

I have created another flavor at benjerry.com! Fellow citizens of the internet, allow me to introduce this epic flavor: Old Fashioned Rapberry-Pecan! It all begins with Raspberry ice cream, then praline almonds are added. It's finished with a blackberry-raspberry and nougat swirl. Voila! It is done!

Craving Snoqualmie Ice Cream...

I'm sitting here at my computer, wishing I had a bowl of Snoqualmie Ice Cream. Don't ask me which flavor... I like all of them. Actually, some of the Lavender would be nice. Or Caramel Ginger Snap... or lemon or cappuccino chip or... oh, I'm just making this worse. I'll just lie down and count bowls of ice cream jumping over a fence. Like sugar plums. Sugar plum ice cream?!?!

Back in the States

I've come home-- finally-- after long layovers and early wake-ups. I'm still kind of on Cayman Time, or Island Time if you prefer. It was a great trip, but I still can't believe it's already come and gone! I had some really great Caribbean food.
On... Thursday night I think?... we went to the Tiki Beach Bar. The service was a bit slow, but the food was amazing. The atmosphere was nice, view incredible. All the seating is outdoor, but very dark. Right before we left the couple next to us had to pick up the dim electric candles and press them up to the menu and still could barely see the writing! The selections on the menu weren't very wide. There was a "Pasta and Salads" section which had four items. The "Turf" menu (meat and poultry) had four or five items and the "Surf" (seafood) had even less. However, I split one of the "Turf" menu selections. I recommend the lamb chops with mango chutney. Or the potstickers... both were good! The flavor made up for almost everything else, but it was more expensive than planned.
 On Tuesday night we went to The Wharf, a seafood restaurant and bar, which I've gone to before. The view is just spectacular: a great ocean view of the sunset and beach. I ordered the Catch of the Day. That's where you get one or two selections of the fresh fish of the day, served with roasted vegetables and prepared blackened, grilled, sautéed, or almondine. The day's fish on Tuesday was Wahoo or Red Snapper. I love Red Snapper. It's one of my favorite fishes. I got it blackened, as usual, but the seasoning was very heavily applied. It was almost inedible. I kept gagging on it because it was so spicy and rough. Gaaack! Everything else was good, though... We got to feed the tarpon after dinner. The waiter brings you a bucket of fish scraps from the kitchen and some rubber gloves or a pair of tongs. You take a scrap of fish and chuck it out-- well, toss it a yard or two into the water-- and the tarpon --these giant, heavily scaled fish-- shoot after it. The trick is to throw the piece of fish into an area where none of the tarpon are, because they'll all race after it and maybe even jump out of the water. It's so much fun!
Well, it was a good vacation. I got a little tan and met some great people. I'll never forget it... and will go in a couple more years for a refresher course.
Have Fun Cooking!
Lexie