Words of Radiance, Puppies.

I wrote about this ginormous book on July 1 and on July 14 I finally finished 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 possibly 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 around. 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 flavour.

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

Air Show, Books.

We live close to a small airport, they cannot handle jumbo jets or anything, but they do fly small planes to the Caribbean and business people all round the continent. This weekend (it’s Canada Day on Tuesday) they have had an air show. We don’t go as a) we don’t do crowds and b) I can’t stand for any length of time. However, the Canadian Snowbirds were present and we got some of the benefit of their performance. Couple of times they came really, really close and the noise was tremendous and it amused me that when this happened I ducked. Totally automatic reflex. Couldn’t stop myself. I wondered if it was normal or shades of 9/11. Didn’t see much of their performance of course, but certainly saw them formation flying past our windows. The planes looked really pretty glinting in the sunlight.

Been doing a lot of reading lately I started with Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwaters books which took place in old Ireland and were loosely based on Irish legends. I then discovered that one of my favourite authors Mercedes Lackey had a series about the Elemental Masters which for some reason I had missed. I have now read two of those and have another on order. Of course some of these books I have been waiting for forever and they are all coming in at once. I am now reading Elizabeth Moon’s Crown of Renewal which is the last of her Paladin’s Legacy series but there have been several offshoots from these books so there may be more. My two favourite books of Elizabeth Moon’s are stand alones, Remnant Population and The Speed of Dark. Then I had an email from the library telling me that Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance was ready for pick up. This is the second book in his Stormlight Archive series. The first book The Way of Kings was published in 2010 so been waiting a long time. Admittedly he finished the Wheel of Time series and did a wonderful job, but he has written other things in those 4 years too. I hope I can remember everything that happened in the first book.

I thought this salad which I found on Food and Wine sounded good but then realised it was using chicken instead of seafood. Obviously you can make it with seafood if you like and I probably would. Not sure if I would use rice or orzo, I have both and orzo cooks more quickly.

Paella Salad

Contributed by Quick From Scratch Soups and Salads

• SERVINGS: 4

We've based this salad very loosely on paella, the Spanish rice dish—and you can actually make it with rice if you like. Our choice, though, is orzo, the tiny rice-shaped pasta. The cooking instructions are the same whichever you choose.

1. 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1 onion, chopped
3. 1 green bell pepper, chopped
4. 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
5. 6 ounces dried chorizo or other firm spicy sausage such as pepperoni, quartered lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise
6. 1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
7. 1 teaspoon paprika
8. 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
9. 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
10. 1/2 pound orzo (about 1 cup)
11. 2 tablespoons lemon juice
12. 1 tomato, diced
13. 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large frying pan, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.
2. Increase the heat to moderately high. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Stir in the red-pepper flakes, paprika, chicken, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is almost done, about 3 minutes. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Steam the chicken for 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large glass or stainless-steel bowl to cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the orzo until done, about 12 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.
4. Add the drained orzo to the chicken mixture. Toss with the lemon juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt, the tomato, and the parsley.

Suggested Pairing

Paella's Iberian roots lead us to Spain for a red Ribera del Duero. The name, literally translated as the "slopes along the Duero River," describes an area that is now the source of some of Spain's greatest red wines. Ribera del Duero's wild-cherry, herb, and spice flavours will be superb with this salad.

Have a great day