Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Words of Radiance, Puppies.

I wrote about this ginormous book on July 1 and on July 14 I finally Words of Radiancefinished reading it. It was fairly slow going, I found I needed to keep stopping, I think, in order to absorb what I had read maybe. It is an excellent book but way too big. You can get an e version from Amazon for about a quarter of the hard book price. However, one would miss out on the drawings, at least that is my assumption. I must say I now would like to read it again and I just might end up getting the e version of both The Way of Kings and the Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. As I said before, the book weighed over 3 lbs and was about 3 1/4 inches thick. Very heavy to read but I am glad I read the book the first time rather than a Kindle version first. I now discover that there are supposed to be 10 books in the series, horrors. I have a nasty feeling I may not be here to read the end. If it takes anything like as long as some other books I have read, The Wheel of Time Series or Earth’s Children for instance. I haven’t said much about the story, I am not too sure how much I have taken in anyway. The concept is excellent but there is a hell of a lot to push into my poor little brain and I am no reviewer. It did jump around a bit especially at the end when the climactic scenes are unfolding and one jumps from one protagonist to another.  Like I said, I would like to read both books again and may well do so either by borrowing from the library again or by purchasing Kindle versions.

I had kind of determined not to blog until I had finished the book and Australian Sheepdog Pupspossibly not til the end of July. My blogging may still be intermittent for the next couple of weeks. In the two weeks following this one we will not be bowling as they are doing renovations so we might do a bit of travelling Puppy bumsaround. Ve shall see. A friend has invited us over to lunch and as she is due to get a new puppy we might wait until she has it at home. She is replacing her Australian Sheepdog with another one and has been posting pictures of the puppies on Facebook, absolutely adorable. I had to include the second picture, tickled me. I think my friend will likely go for the brown and white. I loved the dark brown one but I can’t have a puppy sadly.

This sounded a good summer recipe from Food and Wine.

Avocado-and-Shrimp Salad with Red Goddess Dressing

Contributed by Jonathan Waxman

SERVINGS: 4 to 6

Chef Jonathan Waxman makes his tangy goddess dressing red instead of the classic green, using red bell peppers for color and flavouAvocado and Shrimp Red Goddessr.

  1. 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
  2. 1 shallot, minced
  3. 1 garlic clove, minced
  4. 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño
  5. 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
  6. 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  7. 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  8. 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  9. Kosher salt
  10. 1 head of lettuce, torn into large pieces
  11. 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
  12. 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
  13. 2 Hass avocados, cut into wedges
  14. 1 pound cooked shrimp
  1. In a blender, combine the roasted pepper, shallot, garlic, jalapeño, yogurt, vinegar and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Scrape the puree into a medium bowl and whisk in 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Season with salt.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the lettuce with the cilantro leaves, lime juice and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil; season with salt. Arrange the dressed lettuce, avocado wedges and shrimp on plates and drizzle with some of the dressing. Serve the remaining Red Goddess dressing on the side.
Make Ahead The dressing can be refrigerated overnight.

Have a great day
Jo

24 comments:

  1. puppiesssss! I lovee them :D

    <3

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    1. Me too and I will look forward to visiting my friend when she has her puppy.

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  2. Those puppies are soooo cute!

    Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'll have to try the red goddess dressing, as I've always liked the green goddess dressing.

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    1. Aren't they just.

      I've never tried Green Goddess dressing, don't know why.

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  3. Lookit those fuzzy little puppy butts!!!! SO CUTE!!!!

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  4. Puppies are cute.
    I like epic fantasies, but that sounds a bit too long.

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    1. I know, I want one.

      Didn't you read The Way of Kings? I am very fond of Brandon Sanderson but I must admit this was heavy going. It would have been better as two books I think.

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  5. HI Jo - the puppies look quite delightful .. but I prefer larger dogs! Still the salad looks good and delicious .. cheers Hilary

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    1. They grow to be the size of a Collie Hilary.

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  6. How adorable are those puppies? The second photo is particularly appealing. I used to blog every day Jo but I just don't have it in me anymore. It's good to take the pressure off yourself.

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    1. Me too Pinky, I couldn't resist the second pic. I will see how the blogging goes, I agree it does take the pressure off.

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  7. I love puppies! Certain books are much better in print than ebooks, especially this type of book. I like craft books in print too. Too hard to access information otherwise.

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    1. I think we all do Denise. It was an awfully big and heavy book though.

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  8. Pleased to see you dropping in, Jo. I've never been prepared to make the commitment to blog every day and after doing it for a month for the A-Z challenge I have great admiration for those who do it all the time and I can understand why you might need a break. We miss you though.
    I was interested to see there is a breed known as an Australian sheepdog so I googled it and it's apparently an American breed. In Australia our sheep dogs tend to be Border Collies. And now my need for a puppy is reignited. Poor husband is resisting mightily but I will win in the end.

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    1. I have been blogging every day since I started, but I am not sure whether I will continue or not.

      I wondered, but never googled, about the origins of the dog. The adult version of these puppies looks very much like a Collie - not sure what the differences are. I would love a puppy too but impossible in our situation living in an apartment and neither of us would really be able to walk it.

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  9. Those puppies are ADORABLE. Especially their fluffy little butts. LOL

    That recipe looks yummy! Thanks for posting. :)

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    1. Aren't they cute.

      Can't go wrong with shrimp unless you are allergic.

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  10. I am definitely on the sporadic blog schedule! Some books are harder on my brain than others.

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    1. I haven't made up my mind about that yet.

      So true, I sure found this one hard work.

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  11. I was pretty pleased with Words of Radiance, and I didn't mind its length too much. I've read plenty of shorter books that were much more difficult for me to read. I think Mr Sanderson is a pretty prolific author though, and he plans on having a new volume out every 2 years or so, 20 years is an awful long time, but the similar in length Game of Thrones books have only had 5 entries in the past 20 years.

    And I'm the king of intermittent blogging. So you'll hear no complaints from me about that.

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    1. Don't get me wrong Rusty, I am planning to read it again in the not too distant future. I enjoyed it but I did have to keep putting it down. In 20 years I shall be 95 assuming I am still here.

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  12. Hi Jo,

    We just love puppies in our house. We have a puppy who is almost fourteen years old. A beloved family member. Oh no, we are having a thunder and lightning storm as I type this. I have to look after a trembling Jack Russell.

    I would like to attempt reading a book. In the meantime, I seem to be reading blogs. It's always good to see a post from you. I'm sporadic at the best of times.

    Have a peaceful weekend, Jo.

    Gary

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    1. I had three German Shepherds (sorry Alsatians) two of who were terrified of thunder. Trying to climb on to my lap or push themselves right into my legs. Didn't realise Penny was so old.

      I couldn't live without reading.

      Peaceful w/e to you too Gary.

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