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
21 Responses
I’d probably pack a sandwich for the kids if they have activities outside the house. nothing fancy. just like what i pack for their lunch.
that korma looks so good, i’m going to make it, would be perfect with some rice.
Yes, I served it with basmati rice! It’s really good- just don’t make it too spicy : )
The last minute school / activity planning drives me crazy! Every activity seems to think it’s the only thing a kid is doing and never seems to take things like eating dinner into account. Sigh!!!!!
That sci fi mystery sounds super intriguing!
The book is actually getting better and better as it goes on. I’ll post more about it next week. And, yes- I can tell the people who are planning these things aren’t taking dinner into account. And I just found out last night that my daughter’s jazz band is playing at a festival on Sunday- WHAT. Sigh.
I know the drive to expand reading outside of the thriller/mystery zone. I think I’ve finally gotten there. I’m reading the Lucy Barton books – it only took Nicole mentioning them about a thousand times for me to get the message. They are so good.
I’ve had my eye on the vegetable korma! Sigh, yes that’s the other problem with meal prep – not knowing who’s going to be around for dinner. Honestly by this point in the school year pretzels do start making sense for dinner;-)
Hmm! I do remember Nicole talking about those books- I’ll look into them. I trust your opinion!
The Korma was good. I forgot to mention that I left out the green beans and added chick peas instead. No one in the family is crazy about green beans.
Last minute announcements drive me to DISTRACTION.
I find it so hard to make food look even halfway decent in pictures. Especially things like soups and salads. They’re so good…but kinda translate into looking like slop? I’m not sure how the foodie bloggers do it.
1 teaspoon of cayenne. Phew! I’d literally have smoke coming out of my ears.
I hope you like A Gentleman in Moscow. I read it years ago and it is one of my favourite pieces of modern fiction. That said, knowing how I’ve changed my tune on all sorts of books upon a re-read (looking at you Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice), I’m a bit wary of re-reading it. What if I hated it the second time around? But at the time at least I loved the sprawling nature of the book (it covers a lot of years). And the characters were really compelling to me.
I’ve wanted to read the book for a long time now. I’m pretty sure you must have read it more recently than your first reading of Jayne Eyre and Pride, so your opinion now probably wouldn’t be that different.
My food photos are terrible. i’m sure if I just googled “how to take good pictures of food” I could get all sorts of tips. Huh! I’m going to do that.
The vegetable korma sounds really good! Hopefully you can figure out something quick and easy to make for dinners during your busy week. I haven’t had time to go grocery shopping in a week and a half since I was out of town last weekend so my meals are getting pretty bleak haha, I’m hoping I can do a quick trip after work today to tide me over because I’m supposed to be gone again starting Tuesday through the following Tuesday for my race!
Oooh your race is coming up!!! So it’s not this weekend, but the next weekend? I want more details!
1 t. of cayenne seems like a lot! Most recipes I used call for 1/4 or 1/2. If I use more than that, I regret it as it is just a bit too spicy! Good call to scale it back!
This has been a busy stretch for me with all my work travel. This is my 4th week in a row of travel although one week was for a vacation. But still. It’s too much time at the airport. May isn’t bad for us since we only have Paul and elementary is not bad. Paul’s school does a concert for each class during the work day but we know about this from the start of the year so it’s manageable to plan around it. And I would rather sit through a 30 min kinder concert than a several hours long elementary school concert in the evening! It’s next week and Paul is very excited. He told me where to sit in the auditorium so I will have a good view of him.
I just finished a middle grade book last night that was Sci Fi called ‘A Rover Story’. Paul is so into space so I read it to see if it would be a good book for him. I am going to wait until he’s truly middle grade aged though. But I did enjoy it. It was about a rover that goes to Mars.
Yes, you’re definitely busier than I am! At least I don’t have to travel. And… AW! I hope we get details of Paul’s concert. It sounds so cute.
LOVED A Gentleman In Moscow and I think the movie is coming out soon!? I hope you like it!!
I’m starting it tonight! I’m looking forward to it.
I will have to check out that Sophie Hannah book! I am going through similar struggles with meals and activities. We don’t get LM’s dance competition schedule until the days before and I never know when we’ll be home, how early we’ll have to leave, how much food to bring vs. should I have something ready at home? LM and I both get hangry, so I really do need to be more agile at having options / making a quick plan before launching into all of this…
SIGH! That does sound tough- WHY can’t we get these schedules earlier? But at least I don’t have to deal with a hangry daughter. She just won’t eat and says she’s fine with it (but I’m not!!!)
Even though I currently have 19 books checked out of the library, I put that Robson book on hold because it sounds excellent. You have influenced me!
You’ll have to tell me what you think! I’m enjoying it more and more as I get closer to the end.
I haven’t read A Gentleman in Moscow but I want to! It’s one of my sister’s all time favorite books. So many books, so little time…
Drunk On All Your Strange New Words sounds like a really interesting read! I’ll be adding that to my list of to-reads, hehe. I’ve heard great things about A Gentleman in Moscow but haven’t read it yet. (I’ve read one of his other books, The Lincoln Highway, and picked up Rules of Cvility for $1 at a library book sale though!) Looking forward to seeing what you think about it.
P.S. Feel free to link this post to “My Month Is Booked” linkup if you’d like! Everything in the past month counts, hehe. :]
Less busy than some weeks I’ve had but that’s due to not thinking I’m going to go to running club tomorrow night as I don’t think I’m up to it after my half-marathon yesterday. I have a Labour Party Branch Meeting “party” on Wednesday which does interfere with dinner – well, a meeting then a small celebration as we got our Midlands Mayor in and our Police and Crime Commissioner. Dismal crisps and soft drinks do not a dinner make!