Reading and Eating
This week I finished the Sophie Hannah Hercule Poirot mystery, and it was everything I wanted it to be! I love her books written in the style of Agatha Christie. Of course, I would know they weren’t really Christies- no one can write a whodunit like the queen herself. But I enjoyed this one. Then I moved on to something different: I saw it in this article, “Mysteries about Translators.” I would have read it based on the title alone, but here’s the description: “This book is so strange! In the distant scifi future, the bumbling interpreter to an erudite alien attaché must solve a locked-room mystery or find her employment jeopardized. The act of translating the alien tongue makes her feel a bit tipsy, but that’s just the start of her problems in this wildly creative scifi/mystery mashup.” I’m really enjoying it. The distant scifi future is a little disturbing, as the weather is alarmingly hot, there’s reference to the “tropical dead zones” and sea walls have been built to keep Manhattan from being flooded. But it’s also funny and interesting. I’ll finish it soon, and next up is this: I know what you’re thinking! “Jenny, how will you make it through this book? It’s not a mystery!” I’ve been reading nothing but mysteries for a while now, and I figured it was time for a break. Eating… oof. I did make a dinner on Sunday! It was the Vegetable Korma from Nora Cooks (where else?) This was good- my daughter even liked it, and it made plenty for two dinners. One note- the recipe calls for a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. This is either a misprint or Nora is out of her mind. I put in 1/4 teaspoon and it was just at the edge of my spice tolerance. Here’s a picture of my post-run oatmeal on Sunday. Steel cut oats with a scoop of protein powder, cacao nibs and toasted coconut and pecans. SO good! Now that we’ve finished the leftover Korma, dinners this week look pretty bleak. It turns out that three of the remaining nights, we have something that directly interferes with dinnertime. You might be wondering why I don’t plan better in advance. WELL… We have an online calendar of all the band events, and things are noted well ahead of time. The problem is, we rarely get times in advance. For example, it will say “Jazz Band, Mizner Park Concert” on Tuesday the 30th. Then there is a “band blast” email sent out weekly with all the details, but we usually get that on SUNDAY NIGHT. So that’s when I discover that the students have to be there at 5:30, concert starts at 6 and oh by the way, there’s also an after school rehearsal for another group that goes until 4:30. Wait- when are we going to eat? When is my daughter going to eat? The good news is, she’s not concerned with these things and would just eat a bag of pretzels for dinner. The bad news is, I don’t want her to eat a bag or pretzels for dinner. So… a little more planning on my part would be helpful, but I also wish we got more information in advance. Well… we won’t starve. Is this a busy week for you? – I think this week is our busiest of the season. Are you reading anything good? Top photo by Joyce Hankins on Unsplash