Yay, new book reviews have been posted on SFRevu! and even better, these were actually good books! if you'll forgive the lack of grammar check. . .
Duke Elric volume 4, by Michael Moorcock. This is the new printing, with spiffy new artwork, a handful of essay/short stories at the end, and as usual in the universe of Michael Moorcock, highly satisfying. i can't say enough good things about his Elric.
Prophets, book 1, by S. Andrew Swann. I thought it had a rough start, but the book gets much better as it goes along. it would have helped if i'd read the handful of Swann books that take place before this one. but still, it was a good time.
hmmm. . . more updates later, i promise.
Showing posts with label Michael Moorcock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Moorcock. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Seriously, does any part of this animal not taste good?
don't tell my kosher-ish parents, but I have yet to discover any part of a pig that doesn't taste good. Picked up a fantabulous cookbook at the equally fantabulous Kazoo Books last week, called All the recipes Pasta of Italian Cuisine. The front cover notes that this is the "English Edition", with a pretty little British flag. English? yeah. everything is in metric with abbreviations i've never heard of, the entire seafood chapter is a little scary, and there are recipes that call for wild boar. yeah, this book was never supposed to be available in the US! we found something (many things, actually) that looked tasty and do-able, and went to our local fancy pants gourmet meat/cheese/wine shop. converstion went something like this:
us: do you have, um, something called Parma Ham?
shop: yes, it's called Prosciutto. Would you like some?
us: Yes!
shop: don't you want to know how much it costs per pound?
us: No!
I can honestly say I have never seen meat sliced so thin. it was truly a work of art. then we ate it. it tasted even better than it looked. again, is there any part of a piggy that doesn't taste good?
adapted from All the recipes Pasta of Italian Cuisine:
Fettuccini Alla Papalina
1 lb fettuccini
1/4 lb prosciutto, sliced thin, then sliced again crosswise.
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
1/2 large onion, chopped
olive oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
start pasta water boiling on the stove. in a heavy skillet, saute the onion in some olive oil over medium heat. Stir the peas into the onions with some salt & pepper. Don't go nuts with the salt, as the Prosciutto is pretty salty. lower the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, and lay the sliced Prosciutto over the peas and onions, but DON'T stir the ham in!! just let the meat sit there, and watch the fat slowly melt as you cook your fettuccini. in a small bowl, beat eggs, and stir Parmesan Cheese. When Fettuccini is tender but still slightly firm (that's called al dente), drain and put into large serving bowl. Pour the eggs over, and quickly stir. When well blended, stir in the meat and onions mixture.
This is unbelievably good. it's not kosher, it's not Passover friendly. And it is the most incredible home cooked pasta meal I have ever made.
Other than that, made a batch of Olive Chicken the other day, which came out as deliciously yummy as usual, and pot of Mushroom Barley soup, which somehow was not at all improved by the addition of shitake mushrooms. This weekend promises my husband's award winning chili, cornbread, and nefarious culinary plotting for thanksgiving.
Books, books, books galore! had WAY too much fun shopping at the infamous Kazoo Books, and came home with the following:
The Anubis Gates by Tim Power- one of my favorite steampunk/horror/adventure books EVER
Gloriana, by Michael Moorcock - Very much a satire of Queen Elizabeth. Humorously erotic, erotically humorous. I'm highly entertained, as usual.
Brokedown Palace, by Steven Brust - appears to be in the world of Vlad Taltos, but without Vlad. Brust has never led me astray before. No, it's not the Claire Daines Brokedown Palace, or at least I don't think so.
Received my ARC of The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim Hines. Looks cute, looks like lots of grrl power.
us: do you have, um, something called Parma Ham?
shop: yes, it's called Prosciutto. Would you like some?
us: Yes!
shop: don't you want to know how much it costs per pound?
us: No!
I can honestly say I have never seen meat sliced so thin. it was truly a work of art. then we ate it. it tasted even better than it looked. again, is there any part of a piggy that doesn't taste good?
adapted from All the recipes Pasta of Italian Cuisine:
Fettuccini Alla Papalina
1 lb fettuccini
1/4 lb prosciutto, sliced thin, then sliced again crosswise.
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
1/2 large onion, chopped
olive oil
2 eggs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
start pasta water boiling on the stove. in a heavy skillet, saute the onion in some olive oil over medium heat. Stir the peas into the onions with some salt & pepper. Don't go nuts with the salt, as the Prosciutto is pretty salty. lower the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, and lay the sliced Prosciutto over the peas and onions, but DON'T stir the ham in!! just let the meat sit there, and watch the fat slowly melt as you cook your fettuccini. in a small bowl, beat eggs, and stir Parmesan Cheese. When Fettuccini is tender but still slightly firm (that's called al dente), drain and put into large serving bowl. Pour the eggs over, and quickly stir. When well blended, stir in the meat and onions mixture.
This is unbelievably good. it's not kosher, it's not Passover friendly. And it is the most incredible home cooked pasta meal I have ever made.
Other than that, made a batch of Olive Chicken the other day, which came out as deliciously yummy as usual, and pot of Mushroom Barley soup, which somehow was not at all improved by the addition of shitake mushrooms. This weekend promises my husband's award winning chili, cornbread, and nefarious culinary plotting for thanksgiving.
Books, books, books galore! had WAY too much fun shopping at the infamous Kazoo Books, and came home with the following:
The Anubis Gates by Tim Power- one of my favorite steampunk/horror/adventure books EVER
Gloriana, by Michael Moorcock - Very much a satire of Queen Elizabeth. Humorously erotic, erotically humorous. I'm highly entertained, as usual.
Brokedown Palace, by Steven Brust - appears to be in the world of Vlad Taltos, but without Vlad. Brust has never led me astray before. No, it's not the Claire Daines Brokedown Palace, or at least I don't think so.
Received my ARC of The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim Hines. Looks cute, looks like lots of grrl power.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Books to be read, and Matzoh Ball Soup
Stuff has been a little crazy lately. crazy like working 13 hour days, and getting up the next day to do it all over again with a smile on my face. what can i say? I'm a slave for free food.
not a lot of reading got done. but i made two batches of Maztah Ball Soup, and learned some stuff in the process - parsley = good, thinking your Maztah balls are done before their time = bad.
My Matzah Ball Soup (adapted from Mom's recipe)
make the soup:
olive oil or schmaltz (what's schmatlz?)
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
half an onion, diced
one clove of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
6-10 cups water
salt & pepper
saute the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in some olive oil/schmatlz in a large soup pot. mix in some salt & pepper. when the veggies have softed up a bit, pour in the broth & water, and slowly bring to a boil.
while soup is heating up, make the matzoh balls:
2 tbsp schmaltz or vegetable shortening
2 eggs
a heavy half cup matzoh meal
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp soup stock or a mixture of stock & seltzer to equal the same amount
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
mix schmatlz/shortening together with eggs in a bowl. and matzah meal, soup stock/seltzer, salt & parsley, and blend well. you should have a mixture that holds together. if not, add more matzoh meal or liquid as needed.
have a small bowl of cool water handy, and wet your hands. roll the matzoh mixture by the tablespoon between your palms to make small balls, and drop into boiling soup. Partly cover and boil for a minimum of 20 minutes (i called them done after 15 once, it wasn't pretty. they were in fact, kind of nasty). matzah balls will roughly double in size while they are cooking, and much of your broth will be absorbed.
book news is a bit lame right now.
i'm desperately trying (again!) to get through Hal Duncan's (debut?) novel Vellum. It's relatively fun, in a Kevin Smith Dogma meets that Keanu Reeves Constantine movie. You know, angels versus demons, trying to recruit the angels and demons who thought the war was stupid and fled to earth in an attempt to hide from the powers on high. It's a good book. It takes a LOT of mental concentration to follow some of what's going on, and i'm ending up reading it in 5 minute increments, which is probably an insult to the book. I really want to enjoy this book, but i really, really should be reading it when i can actually give it the attention it deserves. Maybe in the fall or winter?
got an advanced reading copy of the new Steven Brust - Jhaegaala. I can't tell you how excited i am about this. Still trying to finalize a review of his The Book of Jhereg. You know those snarky noirish detective movies? Mix that with a really good detective caper, and take out all the cheesy garbage, and toss in some telepathy, some teleporting with nasty physical side effects. . . and you'd have something like The Book of Jhereg. except the book is way better than that. if you like fantasy of any shape or flavor, get yourself some Brust.
speaking of fantasy, i couldn't drive past the comic shop this afternoon without spending money i didn't have on Elric: the Making of a Sorcerer, the graphic novel by Michael Moorcock and Walter Simonson. What was even cooler was the guy who owns the comic shop told me to come back and tell him what i thought of it. more than that, i talked Fullmetal Alchemist with the other clerk. that place is so geek-cool!!
not a lot of reading got done. but i made two batches of Maztah Ball Soup, and learned some stuff in the process - parsley = good, thinking your Maztah balls are done before their time = bad.
My Matzah Ball Soup (adapted from Mom's recipe)
make the soup:
olive oil or schmaltz (what's schmatlz?)
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
half an onion, diced
one clove of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
6-10 cups water
salt & pepper
saute the carrots, celery, onion and garlic in some olive oil/schmatlz in a large soup pot. mix in some salt & pepper. when the veggies have softed up a bit, pour in the broth & water, and slowly bring to a boil.
while soup is heating up, make the matzoh balls:
2 tbsp schmaltz or vegetable shortening
2 eggs
a heavy half cup matzoh meal
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp soup stock or a mixture of stock & seltzer to equal the same amount
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
mix schmatlz/shortening together with eggs in a bowl. and matzah meal, soup stock/seltzer, salt & parsley, and blend well. you should have a mixture that holds together. if not, add more matzoh meal or liquid as needed.
have a small bowl of cool water handy, and wet your hands. roll the matzoh mixture by the tablespoon between your palms to make small balls, and drop into boiling soup. Partly cover and boil for a minimum of 20 minutes (i called them done after 15 once, it wasn't pretty. they were in fact, kind of nasty). matzah balls will roughly double in size while they are cooking, and much of your broth will be absorbed.
book news is a bit lame right now.
i'm desperately trying (again!) to get through Hal Duncan's (debut?) novel Vellum. It's relatively fun, in a Kevin Smith Dogma meets that Keanu Reeves Constantine movie. You know, angels versus demons, trying to recruit the angels and demons who thought the war was stupid and fled to earth in an attempt to hide from the powers on high. It's a good book. It takes a LOT of mental concentration to follow some of what's going on, and i'm ending up reading it in 5 minute increments, which is probably an insult to the book. I really want to enjoy this book, but i really, really should be reading it when i can actually give it the attention it deserves. Maybe in the fall or winter?
got an advanced reading copy of the new Steven Brust - Jhaegaala. I can't tell you how excited i am about this. Still trying to finalize a review of his The Book of Jhereg. You know those snarky noirish detective movies? Mix that with a really good detective caper, and take out all the cheesy garbage, and toss in some telepathy, some teleporting with nasty physical side effects. . . and you'd have something like The Book of Jhereg. except the book is way better than that. if you like fantasy of any shape or flavor, get yourself some Brust.
speaking of fantasy, i couldn't drive past the comic shop this afternoon without spending money i didn't have on Elric: the Making of a Sorcerer, the graphic novel by Michael Moorcock and Walter Simonson. What was even cooler was the guy who owns the comic shop told me to come back and tell him what i thought of it. more than that, i talked Fullmetal Alchemist with the other clerk. that place is so geek-cool!!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
anti hero
i've been sick lately (hubby and i have been passing the same cold back and forth. ain't that nice of us?), so not much cooking has been happening. and thanks to cough syrup with side effects, not much reading has been going on either.
I did read the 2nd Elric book, my Michael Moorcock. enjoyed it muchly, but not as much as the first one. everything was new, and weird, and magical to me in the first book, so there weren't too many surprises here. that said, i can't tell you how much i appreciate a "hero" whose attitude is "i've got nothing better to do, and what's the worst that could happen, death?" sometimes a suicidal hero is better than a hero who is too dumb to be afraid. alright, i've read the Elric saga up to and including the short story "Stormbringer". what's next in that universe?
speaking of heroes who are too dumb to be afraid, i read Heinlien's Glory Road. very fun, very silly. the timing is right for this to be another authors reaction/satire of Tolkien's epic hero-ing and quest-ing around. Oscar, recently medically discharged from Vietnam, is trying to figure out what to do with his lifer - preferabbly something having to do with nude beaches. nearly forced to answer a newspaper ad looking for a "Hero", he meets Star, a beautiful, multi-universe traveller, who takes him on the quest of a lifetime, if they survive. adventure, injury, and bad guys follow, and in the end, Oscar gets the girl, and learns she's royalty, to boot. it is truly an adorable story. Mr. Heinlien is my favorite sexist (yet not. . .) man in the world.
I did read the 2nd Elric book, my Michael Moorcock. enjoyed it muchly, but not as much as the first one. everything was new, and weird, and magical to me in the first book, so there weren't too many surprises here. that said, i can't tell you how much i appreciate a "hero" whose attitude is "i've got nothing better to do, and what's the worst that could happen, death?" sometimes a suicidal hero is better than a hero who is too dumb to be afraid. alright, i've read the Elric saga up to and including the short story "Stormbringer". what's next in that universe?
speaking of heroes who are too dumb to be afraid, i read Heinlien's Glory Road. very fun, very silly. the timing is right for this to be another authors reaction/satire of Tolkien's epic hero-ing and quest-ing around. Oscar, recently medically discharged from Vietnam, is trying to figure out what to do with his lifer - preferabbly something having to do with nude beaches. nearly forced to answer a newspaper ad looking for a "Hero", he meets Star, a beautiful, multi-universe traveller, who takes him on the quest of a lifetime, if they survive. adventure, injury, and bad guys follow, and in the end, Oscar gets the girl, and learns she's royalty, to boot. it is truly an adorable story. Mr. Heinlien is my favorite sexist (yet not. . .) man in the world.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
a miss, two hits, and another miss
I thought i loved Charles Stross. Then i read his Halting State. Accerando and Glasshouse were two of the best scifi books i've ever read. Charlie, what happened? The concept of Halting State is just short of brilliant, but the execution just didn't work for me.
I thought i loved Jeff Vandermeer (who i do still, dearly adore), then i started reading Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga. the grace of his prose, the poetic romantisicm of Elric's exquisite pain. Not sure if i've ever run into this depth of intelligence in fiction before. i don't mean smart like tons of 50 cent words, i mean smart like the perfect elegance of a golden mean. and yes, smart can still have plenty of plot holes. it happens. i finished this book a few days ago, and keep staring at it. . . i'm going to read it again cover to cover before it goes back to te library, aren't i? and my review was so. . surface.
Mr Vandermeer, you'll have to deal with being my new second most loved, rather than first. m'kay? (and no, i still haven't taken City of Saints and Madmen back to the library, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet)
After much nagging from a friend, i picked up Catch 22. i'm laughing, i'm crying, i'm avoiding watching the news even more. this really is better than Slaughterhouse Five (not V's best by a long shot, but his most famous, and a very accessible anti-war novel). these days, i could probably be arrested for reading the Catch.
i decided to try cous cous. trying to experiment with grains other than wheat (holy crap, have you seen the bread prices??), and i remembered having a cous cous salad thing a number of years ago and liking it. so in an effort to make my cooking adventure a little easier, i bought one of those prepackaged cous cous dinner things in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. Note to self: cous cous is good, but don't ever ever, EVER buy those prepackaged cous cous things in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. those things taste of nothing but salt, so just march your butt back to the bulk section and buy a 1/2 pound of straight cous cous. you'll be much happier.
I thought i loved Jeff Vandermeer (who i do still, dearly adore), then i started reading Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga. the grace of his prose, the poetic romantisicm of Elric's exquisite pain. Not sure if i've ever run into this depth of intelligence in fiction before. i don't mean smart like tons of 50 cent words, i mean smart like the perfect elegance of a golden mean. and yes, smart can still have plenty of plot holes. it happens. i finished this book a few days ago, and keep staring at it. . . i'm going to read it again cover to cover before it goes back to te library, aren't i? and my review was so. . surface.
Mr Vandermeer, you'll have to deal with being my new second most loved, rather than first. m'kay? (and no, i still haven't taken City of Saints and Madmen back to the library, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet)
After much nagging from a friend, i picked up Catch 22. i'm laughing, i'm crying, i'm avoiding watching the news even more. this really is better than Slaughterhouse Five (not V's best by a long shot, but his most famous, and a very accessible anti-war novel). these days, i could probably be arrested for reading the Catch.
i decided to try cous cous. trying to experiment with grains other than wheat (holy crap, have you seen the bread prices??), and i remembered having a cous cous salad thing a number of years ago and liking it. so in an effort to make my cooking adventure a little easier, i bought one of those prepackaged cous cous dinner things in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. Note to self: cous cous is good, but don't ever ever, EVER buy those prepackaged cous cous things in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. those things taste of nothing but salt, so just march your butt back to the bulk section and buy a 1/2 pound of straight cous cous. you'll be much happier.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
a quickie.
Got a few new reviews up:
Edward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity, by Bruce Taylor - a very bizarre, yet readable novella which might be "scifi as self-help", or it might be a nicely written story about figuring out who you are, and what the hell you think you're supposed to be doing here.
City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff Vandermeer. God, i loved this book. Vandermeer totally rocks my world.
on deck:
The Elric Saga, part One by Michael Moorcock. Why didn't someone bash me over the head with Moorcock (go ahead and read that sentence outloud out of context!) years ago? this is fricken' awesome! I'm barely 100 pages in, and i can't put this book down. Ever seen Anthony Bourdain's show, where he says something along the lines of "a meal prepared simply, with local ingredients, is often the best"? this book is kinda like that. no overdone analogies, no run on sentences, made up words, or unpronounceable character names. not to say that this is simple, it surely isn't. but oh, is it clean and sharp. and i can't put it down, and i want someone to make a beautiful, flowing anime series out of this. I'd say "i want someone to make a movie out of this!", but you know they'd totally muck it up.
Edward: Dancing on the Edge of Infinity, by Bruce Taylor - a very bizarre, yet readable novella which might be "scifi as self-help", or it might be a nicely written story about figuring out who you are, and what the hell you think you're supposed to be doing here.
City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff Vandermeer. God, i loved this book. Vandermeer totally rocks my world.
on deck:
The Elric Saga, part One by Michael Moorcock. Why didn't someone bash me over the head with Moorcock (go ahead and read that sentence outloud out of context!) years ago? this is fricken' awesome! I'm barely 100 pages in, and i can't put this book down. Ever seen Anthony Bourdain's show, where he says something along the lines of "a meal prepared simply, with local ingredients, is often the best"? this book is kinda like that. no overdone analogies, no run on sentences, made up words, or unpronounceable character names. not to say that this is simple, it surely isn't. but oh, is it clean and sharp. and i can't put it down, and i want someone to make a beautiful, flowing anime series out of this. I'd say "i want someone to make a movie out of this!", but you know they'd totally muck it up.
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