Book 20 - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley

I'm only okay with mysteries in general. This one was a little out there. It wasn't until the last 100 pages or so that I really got into it. There were some great moments of suspense throughout the book that kept me wanting more, but I wasn't excited to finish it until the last 100 pages.

I feel like mysteries need to be plausible. I felt like this one wasn't. I mean, the main plot line was, but I feel like the main character was not.  I understand why people enjoy this book. It was a delightful little tale, it was well written. I just had a hard enough time with the main character that I won't be reading the other books in the series unless I'm compelled to by another book club.

Book 19 - The Help

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

I read this book for book club and I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I picked the book up. I loved it. I loved the rich characters. (Though I thought that the character that the author related to the most personally, was one of the weaker sections. Ironic? Over compensating with the other characters?) It made me think a lot about what life was like on my family's own farm back when they had share croppers and help living on their property.  I am highly interested in the movie made of this story that is coming to theaters soon. It is a great insight into history told in a colorful and interesting manner. I think this one is a good beach read or commuter read for this summer if you would rather read something with some meat than a romance novel but that is still a fairly quick read. (I read it in 3 days.)

Book 18- Pat the Bunny

Pat the Bunny - Dorothy Kunhardt

Toddler LOVES this book. She carries it around the house with her. She will sit on our knees and flip through the pages. She always asks us to read it for her. It is a classic baby book. I wish it were made out of the more standard board book material. The heavy cardstock is easily mushed when she eats the corners. Otherwise we love it. It is really cute watching her smell the flowers and looking in the mirror and everything. Super fun, super cute, but that doesn't mean we don't get bored out of reading it time and time again!

Book 17 - The Ten Best Things About My Dad

The Ten Best Things About My Dad - Christine Loomis

I had to give props to this book because I read it at least 20 times a day. This is our little girl's favorite book for us to read to her. (Her favorite book to read herself is coming up in the next post.)  There are simple illustrations but that we can discuss with her. All of her favorite activities and animals are in the pictures. It is a great size for her little toddler hands. (The size of the book is her favorite size.) Anyway, she loves it. We call the book Daddy-ganda, but that is okay. We love Dad so we have no issue talking about how great dad is all the time.

Firework

Where I live, to see the big firework show in town and not be seated on an overpass, you generally have to go through a security check point. Security to go watch explosions that aren't even in your state? Irony anyone? What kind of world are we living in?

(We did love our firework experience. I might have thought twice about out choice in parking if I would have realized that we were going to walk back to the car and not use the metro, but live and learn.)

My Favorite Brunch Item

So, a little Lex history. For some time I have been dreaming of making this brunch item. I have worked off and on with a simulation program that brings in people from different aspects of government and NGOs to gain a different perspective of what happens the post war reconstruction environment. Anyway, it is a 3 day program that includes a breakfast and a lunch included with it. Whatever caterer they use for breakfast is my culinary dream come true. They make this one savory little treat thing that I dream of often. As a result, I had to try my hand at this simple recipe. Here was my go at it, it is simple enough that you can modify it to your tastes. These are just items I had in my home when the craving hit after the little one woke me up 2 hours early this morning. (She went back to sleep, but I couldn't. Bah!) I love how it turned out, but I am now tempted to try them again with a different type of cheese and/or different spices.

What you need:
muffin tin
crescent rolls (I used the prepackaged variety, but feel free to make your own.)
deli ham - shredded
cheddar cheese - chopped
rosemary
savory

How to assemble:
1. unroll the crescent rolls
2. spread the deli ham over dough
3. put 4 or 5 pieces of the chopped cheese on top of the ham
4. sprinkle with rosemary and savory
5. gather up the 3 corners of the dough and place the ball into the muffin tin
6. bake at 375 for 10 min.

Seriously easy. Seriously delicious.