Best Reads of 2009

Sometimes at our meetings we talk about books. Of course, most of the titles are lost to memory before we get out the door. Here is a list of links to a number of 'best of' sites. If you find a good book, post the title so the rest of us can read it. :)
Best Books '09
Amazon Top 100 Editors Picks
Atlantic Books of the Year
Barnes and Noble Editors' Picks
Boston Globe — Best Fiction
Boston Globe — Best Nonfiction
Chicago Tribune — Favorite Fiction
Chicago Tribune — Favorite Nonfiction
Kansas City Star
L.A. Times — Fiction Favorites
L.A. Times — Mystery Favorites
L.A. Times — Nonfiction Favorites
L.A. Times — Science Fiction Favorites
New Yorker Reviewers' Favorites
NPR
NYT Book Review — 100 Notable
O, The Oprah Magazine — Ten Terrific Reads
PW Best Books — Adult
Salon — Best Fiction
Salon — Best Nonfiction
San Francisco Chronicle — Fiction
San Francisco Chronicle — Nonfiction

The geese are getting fat

Do you have your $3 gift?  Not $10, not $5, but a re-gift is ok!  That was the decision at the last WWE.     For those of you who missed the birthday celebration at Ellen's, you also missed a surprise visit by Carol Newell and Becky Rooker.  It was great to see both of them.  Mary Anne will be hosting the December WWE on the 18th.  Hope to see everyone there!
Mary

Holiday meeting

We will meet in December at Mary Ann's house. (It's a tradition) and exchange $3 gifts. Be creative my friends.

November meeting

uhoooo, I ate too much. It was mostly salad but there was that incredible chocolate cake to finish the meal off. Gayle and Ellen celebrated birthdays and the rest of us celebrated each other. Carol N. returned for the week-end and twinkled with the news of a boyfriend with whom she has been going out for an entire year.

We must demonstrate

Sarah Palin is coming to Hastings for a book signing. Why is she coming here, the only blue spot in the entire red state.

Eggs for sale

copied from Carol's email

ladies---i will be getting 10-12 dozen egg /week--mostly large ones @
$2.50/dozen--starting this thursday--if you are interested in eggs i
should have some each week on a first come first serve basis--they are
delicious eggs--i am branching out from day care to egg brokering!!!
carol

interesting video

we are too old to see this video as anything but art. however, if you are offended by adult nudity, do not click on the start button below!

Natural Gravity from LEGS on Vimeo.

Read and Ride

So, if you're a Woman Who Eats with grandchildren in town, you may want to take advantage of the library's Ride and Read adventure.
On November 7 at 11:10, Charlotte G. will tell stories to bus riders as the bus makes its way out to the mall from the library. The bus takes about 40 minutes to make it back to the Main Street stop, a block south of the library before it goes to the OU campus and then finally back to the library. You may get off the bus at either stop.
Each little rider will get a book to keep.
The event will be repeated on the first Saturday of every month.

The October Meeting

Carol's house was packed!  The food was delicious and the company wonderful as always.  November's WWE will be at Ellen's house as she hosts a birthday party for herself and Gayle.  Both birthdays are significant but not the same.  Hope everyone can be there on 11/20 and help celebrate!

October at Carol's house

Wow! Lotsa ladies in the little house. Salads and soups, chocolate and wine. Once again we ate well.
I should probably take pictures.
Our next meeting is at Ellen's on November 20.

crazy for a cookie

geez, I wanted a cookie.
All the store-bought ones seem insipid and overly sweet. Even the recipes I make regularly didn't tempt me: too sweet, too much chocolate, too hard/time consuming to make. Then I remembered biscotti. Here's the recipe from Phoebe's Bed and Breakfast through Pat to me and now to you.

Spray an airbake cookie sheet with Pam or a similar product.

1 1/4 cup wheat flour (I used unbleached)
1 cup flour made from oatmeal (blend it in a blender or use a food processor)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup raisins (I mixed some golden raisins in.)

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Whisk the eggs and vanilla together, then mix into the dry ingredients.
Add the raisins.
Mix it well.

Spoon half the batter onto a well-floured surface. It will be sticky. Roll it into a snake a little shorter than the length of the cookie sheet. Carefully move the log to the cookie sheet. Roll the second half into another log and transfer it to the cookie sheet too. Leave plenty of room between the two logs. They will spread out as they bake.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

After 30 minutes, remove the logs from the oven. Leave the oven door open. Transfer the logs to a cutting board. Let them cool for a few minutes while you reset the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Slice the log with a sharp serrated knife into diagonals about an inch wide.

Return the slices to the cookie sheet, standing them on end. Return the cookie sheet to the oven and bake at 300 degrees for another 20 minutes.

Let the biscotti cool, then store in a sealed container.

It is a little like eating dog biscuits as the biscotti are hard and crunchy but I find them very satisfying.

A recipe for October

Do you have lots of little misshapen ripe tomatoes that need to be used before they rot? Here's a pretty good recipe that I found at Big Oven. The link is http://www.bigoven.com/recipe164667

I modified it a little.

Tomatoes (enough to make about 3 cups, chopped)
2 stalks of celery, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups chicken stock (or bouillon)
1/2 a medium onion, minced
1 cup milk
4 or 5 leaves fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces of Velveeta or any cheese that will melt nicely.

Combine the tomatoes and celery in a food processor and chop it until it is really juicy.
Pour olive oil into a large saucepan. Heat and saute the onions until golden
Pour the tomato mixture into the pan. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes.
Just before you are ready to eat, add the milk. Season with the basil, salt and pepper and cook over very low heat for another five minutes.
Add the cheese. Continue cooking, stirring constantly until the cheese melts and blends into the soup.
Serve at once.

If you like a spicy tomato soup, add a couple of tablespoons of salsa when you pour the tomatos into the pot.

October 2009 Meeting

Carol has volunteered to be the hostess this month. The day is Friday, October 23rd. Mary sent an email out and may have responded that they will be pursuing other entertainment that evening. Not me! I'm going to eat and drink champagne.