I heart Vlad Taltos

click Here for my review of Iorich, the latest novel from Steven Brust.

And can I just say THANK YOU for putting a chart of the families of the empire in the front! That would have come in handy 5 or 6 novels ago.

When did autumn get here???

I've been terrible with timely posts this fall, I know. Been busy, been travelling, been playing Fable 2. I'm over it.

The summer of one bowl big salads has morphed into the autumn of one pot hearty stews. We've already had one chili and a pasta/tomato/peas/salami thing. I'd give you the recipe, but the chili is a family secret, and the other I don't know what all I put in there. Incidentally, I read that cayenne is good for staving off colds, so I made sure it was a super hot chili. My throat was burning off, and it's a good thing!

Newsflash! I did finally finish Stephenson's Quicksilver! it was both one of the best and one of the worst books I've read recently. If that makes no sense, scroll down for further discussion of what I was going through while I was reading it.

On a better note, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose is both eminently readable and subtly satirecle, two of my favorite things. Even funnier, I just watched the “Monk” episode of Terry Jones's Medieval Lives, and while watching it I could say “those people are in my book!” it was delicious nerdy fun that even Yomiko Readman would be proud of.

Been reading buckets of Steven Brust lately, just can't get enough. Bought Orca (part of the Vlad Taltos series) and The Phoenix Guards (sorta kinda a prequel series to the Vlad books), and zipped through Orca in about 2 days. Vlad Taltos is becoming one of my favorite fictional characters. Smart, sarcastic, scrawny and a smart-ass, sometimes he beats people up, sometimes he pays people to beat other people up, and sometimes he gets the shit kicked out of him. When I first met Vlad many volumes ago, he was young, brash, and an assassin for hire, mostly working for the corrupt Jhereg, a royal house in the Draegeran Empire. Always the misfit, he's too human to ever truly fit in in the Empire, and too Draegeran to ever fit in back in the east, where the humans live. These days, he's semi retired, semi forcefully. Having done something horribly wrong (if someone knows what book this occurs in, and what happens, please tell me the book!), he is now on the run form the Jhereg, who would love to give him an unrevivafiable death sandwich. Hiding out in the east, and venturing back into the Empire when duty calls and to sneak a visit with his ex-wife and son, Vlad spends his days as part muckraker, part witch for hire, and part punching bag. Having a telepathic familiar and being on a first name basis with the Empress doesn't hurt either.

These books are filled with action, sarcasm, wit, sarcasm, intruigue, action, and a little more sarcasm, and a surprising amount of romanticism. Not romance, with kissy stuff, but romanticism. Think of it what you will.

Some fans have voiced some angst about Brust never giving a real physical description of the Draegerans, other than that they are tall and live a really, really, really long time. Humans call them Elves, in a derogatory fashion. But not having a physical description of them? It's never bothered me. To me, the Draegerans are just tall humans who seem not to age. They seem to accept Vlad and his family pretty readily, allowing humans to live in the vicinity, and even meet with the body politic. So not knowing everything there is to know about the Draegerans? Not a problem, not one bit.

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.

mostly keeping my promise

OK, so i've mostly been keeping my promise to myself to spend the summer reading things i KNOW will make me happy, because i've read them before, and enjoyed them before.

on the happy side of that equation is Steven Brust's The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars, which nearly has me in tears by the end. and after finishing this novel, i tearfully say to my aspiring writer other half "keep writing baby! i'll support us!" (it's easier to say these days, as I finally have a decent paying job). really, Steven Brust is a master writer, and it doesn't seem like anyone knows who he is! i flipped through some reviews of The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars on Amazon, seems like people either loved it or hated it. I think that people who didn't like it had already made up their minds about what they were looking for before they even started reading it. it's not that kind of book.

additional weight is given to the happy side of the entertaining book equation, because today i picked up my very own, paper back copy of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. and you know what? it's just as fun, snarky, and irreverant as it was the first time through. Makes me want to move to rural Minnesota (or wherever Lynch lives), to see what kind of pranks he plays on people. i get the impression that the phrase said most often in the company of Mr. Lynch is "grow up already!" coming from someone who earlier today was playing muppets with oven mits in Bed Bath and Beyond (and getting laughed at by the store manager), my response is "don't you dare, ever grow up, Mr. Lynch. and if you need some inspiration to quite your day job and write full time, just read some Steven Brust!".

now, for the not so happy end of my equation. i couldn't help myself. the book said "Steampunk". and it had the coolest steely blue pipy picture on the cover. i couldn't help myself, really, it's not my fault. seriously! scroll down and look at the picture! you know you can resist that kind of gothy, steampunky awesomeness! i bought the Steampunk anthology, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (and you know how much i love Jeff Vandermeer!). i'm about halfway through, and i gotta say, i'm pretty lukewarm on most of the entries. why is it that genre anthologies always suck so hard?

not too much food news. my husband made the most incredible pizza i've ever had. i think the trick was we cooked up some turkey sausage, and then fried onions in the sausage grease. omg, heaven! most of the rest of my cooking recently has involved tossing a bunch of stuff in a skillet, and hoping for the best. maybe with all these good books, will come some good cooking.

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!!

Thrown together tuna salad

where is that line between "recipe", and "something you throw together"? making tuna salad isn't a "recipe", but it's quick, easy, and the husband can't figure out how i throw it together in less than 10 minutes.

2 cans tuna, drained
one celery stick, finely chopped
about 4 inches of cucumber, seeded and chopped
one green onion, chopped
about 2 tbsp capers
one heaping tbsp mayonaise
couple drops lemon juice
about a teaspoon white wine, if you happen to have any in the fridge
chopped hard boiled egg, if you remembered to make hard boiled eggs the night before, and managed not to eat them all. (this has happened to me. i'm an egg addict)

blend all ingredients. layer in a pita with lettuce / tomato / cucumber / whatever else you want. easy quick yummy dinner. no stove or oven required.

see? that's not really a recipe, it's just something that's been thrown together.

but netxt time i'll post a real recipe, i promise. this weekend i'm trying my Mom's famous "Forgotten Cookies". they are a merangue base, and i've never made them by myself before. this will be a practice desert for passover.

hmmm. . . books . . . can't say i've read anything monumental lately. Read Jumper, yeah, the one they made a movie of, with the kid from the new Star Wars. but it's not a new book, it was originally published in 1992. After I finished the book, i hit the IMDB page of the movie, to see how the movie differed from the book. let's just say they differ a LOT. book review will be published in a few weeks, and then i can talk about it in more detail.

i just started reading Steven Brust's The Book of Jhereg. i'm still getting my land legs when it comes to fantasy, and i don't have much experience reading stories where the main protaganist is a hired killer. maybe this qualifies as a "boy-book"? and is it "Brust", or "Broost"? anyway, i've heard good things, and at 90 pages in, i may not be crazy impressed, but i am happy. the fact that i'd rather be reading this book than watching tv says a lot. but i'm not foregoing sleep for it.