Recipe Thursday - Beef and Lentils

As the weather turns chillier I find that I want comfort foods.  That generally means one dish cooking.  This crook pot meal is almost one dish.  You do need to brown the beef before putting it on to simmer.  It first attracted me because of it's unusual ingredients, now I keep coming back to it because my family likes it.

Beef and Lentils

28 oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
19 oz can of lentils, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
3 tbsp barbecue sauce
2 1/2 tbsp sweet or regular chili sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

2 tsp cooking oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour
finely chopped fresh parsely optional

Combine first 10 ingredients in 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker. 

Heat the cooking oil in large frying pan on medium.  Add ground beef.  Scrabmle-fry for 5 to 10 minutes until no longer pink.  Drain.

Sprinkle flour over beef.  Heat and stir on medium for 1 minute.  Slowly add broth , stirring constantly and scraping any brown bits from bottom of pan.  Add to tomato mixture.  Stir well. Cover. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.  Remove and discard bay leaf.

Add parsley.  Stir well.  Serves 6.  Eat as is or serve over rice.

This recipe is from Company's Coming: Slow Cooker Dinners.

"Weekend Cooking" is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.  You are invited to join in the fun by visiting and reading the various food related posts.  You can also enter a link to your recent food related post.  Be sure to visit this week and learn about Beth's Halloween post about the giant fruit bats.

BookLounge.ca | Books | Siberian Education by Nicolai Lilin, Translated by Jonathan Hunt

While visiting at BookLounge.ca today I came across this recently released non-fiction book, Siberian Education by Nicolai Lilin. It deals with life in Siberia as well as the roll of tattoos in their culture. I don't have a copy of this book at present, but will be adding it to my wish list.

BookLounge.ca Books Siberian Education by Nicolai Lilin, Translated by Jonathan Hunt

HIghland Hellcat by Mary Wine

I was having one of those drab days and I didn't really know what to do to lift my mood.  Then I spotted a copy of Highland Hellcat .  I thought to myself that a man in a kilt and a little romance might be just the remedy I needed.

"Come, my beauty, we shall see if we can impress anyone tonight with our skill."

What a leading first line.  Author Mary Wine had my attention.  I was envisioning a darkly handsome highlander whispering those words to a bevy of buxom barmaids.  Not to be, these were the very words of Brina Chattan, soon to be nun, the third daughter of Robert Chattan, Laird of Chattan Castle. As I continued to read I became intrigued by this young woman who had grown up knowing that she was to become a nun and was destined to become the mother superior.  Yes, Brina is a strong willed, and very capable young woman, but what's she doing in a romance.  I kept reading and very quickly the plot started to unveil some unseemly events involving one of her elder sisters. 

From this point on I couldn't read fast enough.  I had an inkling of an impending change in Brina's future, but couldn't guess how it was going to come about.  Then I met Connor Lindsey, Laird of Clan Lindsay, and promised Brina's sister Deirdre in marriage.  I felt a sympathy for Connor from the moment he was introduced.  I was firmly on his side and knew that he would do what ever was required to avenge his honour and that of his clan.  

 Brina and Connor were both characters with strong personalities that would lead to clashes and adventure, perfect for what I needed from this book.  I wasn't disappointed.   There were several unexpected twists and turns in the plot that kept this book from being predictable.  At those points I couldn't figure out how Ms. Wine was going to get the story back on track, but she would add another twist and bound off in yet another direction.  Turned out that this book was the perfect foil to my mood.  If you're like me an you enjoy a good romance involving men in kilts, then Highland Hellcat is a wonderful choice.

Visit Mary Wine's website.

Thank-you to Sourcebook Inc for my review copy.

Needlework Tuesday - Afghan update

I practically shrieked the other day when I realized how much I still have to stitch on this afghan before Christmas.  eeks.  It now stands at 22 inches and needs to get to 60 before finishing off.  Oh my.  I made a concentrated effort to stitch every morning while watching a TV program recorded the previous evening and I made good progress.  Now to keep it up for six more weeks.  I added one new colour, a medium tan, just because I saw the yarn on sale and decided it would work.

I do have to take a slight break from knitting and help my niece with her Halloween costume.  She had great fun making the accessory pieces on Sunday, but there is a bit that needs machine stitching.  Next week I'll have pictures to share, until then, it's under wraps.

Unbound: A True Story of War, Love, and Survival by Dean King

Step by step, one day at a time, the Red Army marched west and north  4000 miles across the breadth of China.  It was October 1934 and the Communist Red Army pulled up stakes in Jingxi province to flee the advancing Nationalist forces.

Prior to reading this book I knew almost nothing about the early twentieth century history of China.  Mr. King includes a section on the rise of the Communist party and details on the role of women in Chinese society of that time.  Women were treated as slaves, farm labour and when of age to marry as a source of male offspring.  They were also subject to the debilitating practice of foot binding.  In 1928 at the Sixth Chinese Communist Party Congress  the potential of women within society was 'embraced' by the party.  They realized that women were a vast untapped resource. That they were capable of being educated and carrying out the same roles as men.   

As the communist members moved through out the country side, many women saw the opportunity to lead the lives that they have envisioned for themselves and they immediately enlisted.  A core group of thirty of these women fled with 86 000 men of the Red Army.  They played key rolls in organizing the medical core (carrying stretchers, caring for the wounded), obtaining supplies, recruiting, etc.  At least several of these women had bound feet and spent many agonizing months letting their feet out with the hope they would heal and they would be better able to keep up with their comrades.

I was fascinated by this book.  At first I found it difficult to follow as there were so many place names and people name that were unfamiliar to me that it was hard to keep it all straight in my mind.  After a while it did get easier as I recognized the individuals and worked out the pronunciations.  They story it's self is very clearly written and easy to follow.  The hardships that all the marchers endured was not so easy.  I shivered as I read the passages where the scantily clothed soldiers climbed over sky-high mountains.  When they huddled together under tattered blankets during driving rain and hail storms.  I cringed when the women clawed through manure to pick out the undigested grains so they would have something to eat.

There is so much fact packed into this book that it took me quite a while to read, about three weeks in fact.  I don't begrudge a minute of that time.  I learned a lot about courage and fortitude.  Many of the women could have elected to stay behind at any time.  Many were even offered that choice.  It appears to me that it was a better choice to stay with the army and it's hardships than it was to return to their homes where many of them were treated worse than slaves.

I highly recommend this book for any with an interest in history or in women's liberation.  While it is a long and fact filled book, it is well worth the effort.

Dean King's website.  Be sure to watch the video trailer of the book.

Thank-you to Hachette Book Group for my review copy.

To learn more about foot binding read Foot Binding by Jeanine Holman.

Notable reviews:
The Black Sheep Dances

Weekend Cooking: How to Feed 1800 hungry Runners

"Weekend Cooking" is hosted by Beth Fish Reads.  Join other foodies for their food related posts.  You are invited to add a link to your current recipe, cookbook, restaurant, movie or other related review.


As I have mentioned previously, my neighbour hosts a number of running races throughout the year. RunWaterloo.com . Last Sunday was a biggie, "The Oktoberfest" with over 1800 runners.  Participants could chose either a 5k or 10k route.  Note that the families of the runners are also welcome to join in the post run snacks, meaning that we are feeding much more than 2000 people.

At the end of the race they are offered 'refreshments': fresh fruit, bagels, hot dogs, sausage, pizza and soup.  The pizza is courtesy of Little Caesar's Pizza and the mullugtwany soup was donated by Classic Indian Cuisine, both of Waterloo, Ontario.

The following photos were taken minutes before the runners finished and came inside to eat.

 A double food line starts at this point.  Note that we have tableclothes even though they are plastic.  The floor is covered in plywood as there is still ice in the arena.

 The bananas are cut into three pieces before serving.

 Bagels are under plastic to keep them fresh.  We had to slice seven huge boxes of them.

 You can see the many dozens cases of pizza boxes under the tables in this and the preceeding photo.

 At least 2400 hotdog rolls.

 Freshly bbq'd hotdogs (1500?) and 800 sausages.

 500 litres of soup.

Orange gatorade, 1000's of cups.

It was an exhausting couple of hours, but lots of fun.  I did mange two bowls of soup and took home my cinnamon raisin bagel.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luces is the most interesting eleven year old that I have met in quite some time.  Not only is she fascinated by poisons, so even uses them on her unsuspecting sisters.   Love that special lipstick she makes for her eldest sister. 

Now Flavia is not the only intriguing person in her household.  Her mother Harriet is missing and presumed dead for many years.  Dogger, Arthur Wellesley Dogger, is currently the gardener, but has performed a number of roles in the manner over the years.  He continues to suffer flashbacks to the war.  I also find Mrs. Mullet the cook unusual.  She puts up with all the oddities of the family and never comments.  I hope to see more of her in a future book.  Finally, there is her father.  He has quite the wide and varied background which is very slowly and deliberately revealed to us, but only in the slimmest of details.

I thorough loved this book.  Were I a young teen I would have re-read it a half dozen times by now.  The characters are so real that I immediately wanted to love or hate them or totally ignore them as irrelevant to me.  The setting is so well described that I could imagine myself pedalling down the lane alongside of Flavia.

I highly recommend this novel to all, regardless of age, who enjoy a good mystery.  I am looking forward to The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, the next adventure in this series.

For further information about Flavia and Mr. Bradley, visit Flavia's site and join her fan club.

Thanks to RandomHouse Canada for the cover photo and Bio of Alan Bradley.

After reading Petty Witter's review at Pen and Paper, I requested this book from my library.

Also reviewed at:Dorte at DJ's krimiblog
 Martha at Hey, I want to read That

The Flavia de Luce stories:

1  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
2 The  Weed that Strings the Hangman`s Bag
3  A Red Herring Without Mustard
4  I am Half-Sick of Shadows
5  Speaking fron among the Bones
5.5 The Curious case of the Copper Corpse 
6  The Dead in their Vaulted Arches
7 The Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust



This is my 4th book for the 4th Canadian Book Challenge hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.  There is still time to join.  Read 13 books by Canadian authors and blog about the book.