Reading, Eating, and Ruminating…
You know what I hate about running injuries? After a while it gets SO BORING. My calf is hurting me AGAIN, and I started to write a post yesterday all about it. First I was ranting, then I was wallowing, and then I thought about my husband’s friend who’s dying from ALS, and I deleted the whole post. Today I read SHU’s post about near-death experiences and how they can change your perspective. It reminded me of something I like to do when I’m feeling down: imagine that I suddenly end up in the hospital, incapacitated in some way, my whole life turned upside-down. Then I think of everything I would miss about my normal life, even in the absence of running. If I were suddenly out of commission I would miss getting up in the morning and feeding the cats; I would miss driving my daughter to camp; I would miss drinking my cup of Earl Grey in the morning; I would even miss going to work. Hey, my everyday life is pretty great- I don’t want to wait for some tragedy to happen so I can appreciate it in retrospect. Okay, onto the books! I finished two books this week, The Decagon House Murders and this one: The Decagon House Murders is another classic Japanese mystery, written by the same author as The Mill House Murders, Yukito Ayatsuji. If you appreciate mysteries, these are good ones! The Decagon House Murders was inspired by Agatha’s Christie’s And Then There Were None, and you will NOT guess the ending. The Claudia Gray book is the third in her “Jane Austen” series. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s son, Jonathon, is now a young adult. He and Juliet Tilney (also a young adult, daughter of Catherine Moreland of Northanger Abbey) team up to solve another mystery. If you love Jane Austen, this book couldn’t be more fun. It involves Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who- Pride and Prejudice fans will remember- is the patroness of the fawning and ridiculous Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins and Charlotte, along with their two children, feature prominently in the story. If you aren’t a fan of Jane Austen, I wouldn’t recommend this book. The mystery is passable, but the real fun is revisiting beloved characters. Gray does a good job of writing in Austen’s style and keeping the characters true to the originals. And one more thing- definitely read this series in order. The third book has spoilers to the two previous mysteries. Eating- The Return of Kamala Kookies! Okay, this is a little weird, but if you’ve been reading for a while you know my family has some strange traditions. Right around this time four years ago, my sister and I discovered the Banana Bread Cookie recipe from Cadry’s Kitchen. Neither one of us can remember why, but we started calling them “Kamala Kookies.” I think it was just random silliness- as far as I know, Kamala Harris has no affiliation with bananas, banana bread, or cookies- but the name stuck. WELL. Obviously, it’s time to bake the Kamala Kookies again! I used this maple syrup and these chocolate chips: … and used the alternate flax/water mixture in place of applesauce (I also added 1/4 teaspoon salt, which wasn’t called for in the recipe.) I even made this batch with chickpea flour, and they still came out well! To be clear, these are definitely “healthy” cookies. I wouldn’t bring them to a bake sale, but I’m enjoying them. Many more batches of Kamala Kookies to come! (Note to self- next time, add walnuts or pecans. Yum.) What are you reading now? Do you believe in “healthy” cookies? Or do you think cookies should be a delicious treat-not a time to be worrying about health?