not much doing in 2 weeks.

it's spring, which means 1) mad planning for passover (starts tomorrow, and the cooking marathon starts today), 2) it's warm enough to finally go outside and prep my lame porch garden and 3)springtime means job is kicking my ass for the next 2 months. ahh, the joys of spring!

you'd think i'd gotten a lot of reading done in the last 2 weeks. tons of reviews up, tons of reading. . . yummy brains to eat. you'd think wrongly, because what mostly happened was me picking up a book, reading 30 pages, losing interest, then doing it again. wash, rinse, repeat. i am starving for intellectual intercourse. and lunch. i'm also hungry for lunch.

but i did finally finish Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. holy crap. read this. go buy a copy right now. and mix yourself a strong drink when you get to the end. when i got to the end, i was sitting on the sofa, and Mike was on the 'puter. i had to tell him "don't look over here, cuz i'm at the end of this book, and i'm crying. so don't look over here". Basics of the book: we pick up a radio transmission from an alien planet, the mission borrows some spiffy asteroid mining technology to get a group of humans there at near light speed. we get there, we meet the aliens, and most of them die. parts of the story are told as a flashback by the sole survivor, a Jesuit priest. and did i mention the mission was organized and paid for by the Church? if i ever meet Mrs Russell, i'm going to ask her how many nights she couldn't sleep because of the pain and shock her characters went through. She must have gone through a lot of that with them. All authors are given the opportunity to play God - to help their characters, hurt them, answer thier prayers, or not. even if you're not into scifi or fiction, read this book just for the dialogue. it's got the best damn dialogue i have ever come across. ever. We're trying to discuss this as our reading club book over at Sci Fi Haven by the way. Stop over there, otherwise i'm going to write another 20 paragraphs about this book.

also just finished Anthony William's Scales. hhmmm.... how to put this? i will be polite and tactful in my official online reviews. after those reviews have been put submitted and possibly published at my haunts, i will then post my real thoughts here. if i can't be honest on my own blog, what is the point of having one? i am under NO requirements to be polite in my own god damn backyard. but on the other hand, i don't want the give the author a heart attack.

i've got myself so psyched up, i'm actually excited for the responses. i'm sure they won't all be positive. to be continined.


mmmm...... fooooodddd..... and i've had nothing but coffee so far this morning, so i'm starving. so many yummy passover recipes, what to choose?

this is the big turkey i make when i host a seder. i think i stole it from one of Giada's thanksgiving cooking shows. she's such a babe. and this is easy.

again, so easy, you'll laugh.

you'll need:
a big turkey or chicken, or one of those stuffable turkey breasts.
1 large onion
1 lemon
2 oranges
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 thyme
1 - 2 tsp of the following, depending on your tastes, and how big the turkey is: rosemary, basil, parsley, herbs de provence, paprika. can be dried or freshly chopped/ground.
a few fresh sprigs of rosemary, a few fresh basil leaves.
3-4 cloves garlic, 2 should be minced, the other(s) cut in half.
3-4 tbsp olive oil

for the onion and lemon, cut them in half. cut one half into wedges, and the other slice thinly. cut one orange into wedges, and slice the other one. the skin should stay on the lemon and orange.

on your turkey, roll the skin back as far as possible. you don't want to tear it, but your going to be seasoning between the skin at the flesh, so just carefully roll it back.

in a bowl, blend the olive oil with the dried/chopped herbs, salt and pepper, and minced garlic. using your hands, or a brush, brush this all over the flesh of the turkey. in places where you didn't pull skin back, like legs, brush it over the skin. leave a little left in the bowl. put the sliced orange onion and lemon on the flesh, then roll the skin back, covering the herbs, citrus, and onion. any remaining herbs and oil should be brushed over the skin. the more oil thats on the skin, the browner and crunchier it will be later.

stuff the cavity with the wedges of citrus and onion, and any fresh sprigs and herb leaves you have. you'll have to use toothpicks to keep the cavity closed. cover with tinfoil, and follow your mom's turkey cooking directions, or the ones on the packaging for the turkey you bought (you did read it before you pitched it, right?).

3 or so hours later, you'll have a juicy delish main course. perfect for Passover, Thanskgiving, and probably Easter too.

alright, i'm off to find lunch and write reviews.