Miss Benson’s Beetle, a Mini Review

 

I write a lot of book reviews. Largely, as you are no doubt aware, I review cookbooks, but I do review books for NetGalley occasionally, most of which are fiction. Although having taken a class in literary criticism back in my college days, I find writing book reviews to be difficult. When someone asks me what a book is about — this one, Miss Benson’s Beetle, for example — I tend to say things that aren’t particularly helpful for a potential reader. Case in point, when someone asked me what this book was about I responded by saying that it was about discovery, adventure, friendship, loss, and personal satisfaction. What does that tell you about the story? Not much. But these are all of the feelings that I had while reading this excellent book.

 

This is the first time I’ve ever read a book by Rachel Joyce, and it won’t be the last. In fact, it isn’t the last because I’m now reading the book she wrote before this one, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, also good, but I wander from my point.

 

  This book is about a post-World War II school teacher, who eventually reaches a breaking point, goes a tiny bit crazy, and finds herself hunting for beetles in New Caledonia with an assistant, who is the polar opposite of herself. How she gets there is half the fun. What happens to the two of them while they are there is so much about personal discovery, acceptance of those who are different from us, and ultimately love.

  I highly recommend this book. I think it would be wonderful for book groups because there is so much to discuss here. If any of you have read it, let me know what you think. If you do read it, I want to hear from you as well.

 If you haven’t read it, you absolutely must! You can find a copy here.

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Slow Cooker Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

Do you like soup in the summer? I do. It probably seems like a strange choice for a hot day, but I always find it to be very satisfying, particularly when it comes to replacing a heavier entrée. What I don’t like to do, in the dog days of summer, is to heat up the kitchen in the making of it. Here is a crockpot version of that ubiquitous favorite, broccoli cheese soup, that is (after a bit of chopping) super simple, and very delicious.

Artisanal Ceramic Soup Bowl

Slow Cooker Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

 1 head broccoli, broken into florets  

2 medium russet potatoes, diced

½ c. diced Melissa’s shallot

1 t. Melissa’s minced garlic

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

¼ t. dry mustard

Few gratings fresh nutmeg  

1 32.-oz. container chicken stock

¼ c. cornstarch  

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese  

1 c. heavy whipping cream

 In a slow cooker combine broccoli, potatoes, broccoli, shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In a bowl, whisk together the chicken broth and cornstarch, and pour over the vegetables.

 Cover and cook on “high” for 3-4 hours until the potatoes are tender.

 Stir in shredded cheese and heavy cream. Cover and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted.

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Copycat Crumbl Birthday Cake Cookies

 

I have never had a Crumbl cookie. It’s not for lack of opportunity, because I have one of their stores just a few miles from my house, there’s just something about buying a cookie when I can easily make them (and eat as many as I want) that keeps me from trying what I’ve heard are some of the best cookies ever. When I came across this copycat recipe, I knew I had to give it a try. I’m glad that I did. Not only are these cookies really delicious, but they’re easy to make. They are also huge, so be warned. I think when I make these again, and I will, I’m going to make them a lot smaller. I know they won’t be authentic, but who is to know other than me? I’m also going to swap out the multicolored sprinkles for chocolate sprinkles. Doesn’t that sound good?

If you have tried their cookies and love them, this recipe is for you. If you have not tried their cookies, make these anyway, because the cookies are darned good. I think they are fine even without the frosting, so I’ll leave it up to you as to whether you want to make it or not.  It does take these cookies over the top. That they are birthday cake cookies is particularly appropriate as today is my number one son's birthday. Happy Birthday, Christopher! These are for you.

Copycat Crumbl Birthday Cake Cookies

Adapted from copycat.com

 1 c. unsalted butter

1 c. sugar

2 large eggs

½ t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract

1½ t. cake batter flavoring

2 t. baking powder

3 c. flour

¼ c. rainbow sprinkles

 FROSTING

4 T. unsalted butter, softened

3¼ c. powdered sugar

2 T. milk

1 t. cake batter flavoring

1-2 T. rainbow sprinkles

 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat; set aside.

 In the work bowl of a stand mixer cream, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

 Add salt, vanilla extract, cake batter flavoring, baking powder, and flour to the butter mixture, mixing until the flour is well incorporated. Add rainbow sprinkles, and mix to combine.

 Portion the cookie dough into 13 dough balls using an ice cream scoop. Place on prepared baking sheets. Press each dough ball gently with a glass to flatten to just under ¼” thickness.

 Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, for a slightly under baked texture, add a minute or two if you want them firmer.

 Cool on baking sheet fort 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

 Frosting

 Combine all the frosting ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and blend until smooth using an electric mixer.

 Place the frosting in a piping bag with a medium tip. Pipe the frosting onto cookies in a pinwheel pattern, starting from the center and working outward, and immediately top with sprinkles

.Allow the frosting to set for 30 minutes before serving.

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When life gives you lemons...Set a Table!

 

I have decided to challenge myself this summer to create a new table setting every other week or so using one component from the previous table setting. You can find my last table setting here. This week I took the colorful Sicilian salad plates from that setting and incorporated them into this lemon-themed setting. Nice, eh? I wasn't so sure how it would work, what with the lemon tablecloth and all, but I really do love it!

The tablecloth I found on Amazon here. I have been eager to use it ever since its purchase in November. It makes the entire room feel sunny and fresh.

On top of the tablecloth, I put leaf placemats that I got a number of years ago from Pier 1. On top of them are Italian Chargers (white with dark green edges) that I inherited from my mother. The yellow Waechtersbach dinner plates provide a nice pop of color. The napkins are from Pottery Barn.

Flatware is vintage Noritake Primastone. The salad bowls in the crescent shape I have had for probably about 40 years. I can’t remember where I got them, but I loved the fact that they took up less room on a table, and at that time I had a very small table.

The chalices I’ve had for a long time, and my mother and I used to pass those back-and-forth. The green water glasses are Villeroy and Boch; the bold blue stemware can be found here.

  

New this year is the darling lemon salt and peppershakers. I love these!

The pitcher in the center of the table is from a local shop, the faux tulips from Amazon.

  

Be sure to keep coming back to see what I do with the next table, and which element from this table that I choose to use.

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  This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Product of the Month: DELOMO Pet Hair Remover

My guess is that most of you have forgotten that I adopted a cat during the pandemic. He had been abused, and nobody wanted him, so I, in my cat owning ignorance, took him home one day with no clue as to what to do. Here we are, nearly 3 years later, Stanley turned four at the beginning of July, and I don’t know what I would do without him. He’s still skittish, he still won’t let me pick him up, but he is a champion snuggler. He also has a lot of hair.

 

No one told me that I was going to end up with tumbleweeds of cat hair in my house. Not just tumbleweeds, but cat hair wafting through the air. It was shocking to me. I had only previously owned dogs, toy poodles to be exact, who didn’t shed. This just blew my mind. I seriously considered buying stock in one of those companies that make lint rollers because I was buying so many of them. That is until I found this. So, my product of the month is the DELOMO Pet Hair Remover.  The beauty of this, aside from the fact that it works and works well, is you don’t have to throw it away after one usage. You just pop open the back, clean out the hair, and you’re good to go for the next day, or within hours.

Before I decided on this one, I read all of the reviews, and some people had complained that when they were holding it, they accidentally popped open the lid to the cat hair storage section. I have been using this daily for months, and that has never happened to me, and I have man hands, so I can’t imagine what the other people are doing wrong.

This is not inexpensive compared to the lint rollers, but when I stop to consider all that I have spent on them, I think it has Moe than paid for itself.

Recommended by me and Stanley. Give it a try and you will rest easy.

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Utah’s Pink Cookies

 

Am I the only one who hasn’t heard about Utah Cookies? Trust me when I tell you that these were totally foreign to me. Apparently these giant sugar cookies with pale pink frosting (mine didn’t turn out quite so pale) are a big thing in Utah. I just thought they looked darned good, so wanted to give them a try. I was not disappointed. The [apparent] original recipe is below. I found that the amount of frosting was WAY too much for the baker’s dozen cookies the recipe yields, so I cut it in half.

 Utah’s Pink Cookies

As seen on Taste of Home

 ½ c. unsalted butter, softened

¼ c. vegetable oil

½ c. granulated sugar

½ c. powdered sugar

1 egg

½ t. vanilla extract

½ t. almond extract

2 c. flour

½ t. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

For the frosting:

½ c. unsalted butter, softened

6-½ c. powdered sugar

2-½ T. milk

1 t. almond extract

Pink gel food coloring

 Preheat the oven to 350°F.

 In the work bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar and oil. Cream until well combined and smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

 In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a soft dough forms.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form large balls of dough, (about 3 T. each). Roll them into smooth balls and place 4-6 on the prepared baking sheet so they have plenty of room. Use the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar to press down each ball of dough, keeping them about ½” thick. Chill the baking sheet for 10 minutes before putting the cookies in the oven. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes (do not over bake!), remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

 In a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter. Mix in two cups of powdered sugar and the milk. Gradually mix in the remaining powdered sugar until the frosting begins to form. Turn the speed up on the mixer to whip the frosting until smooth. Mix in one to two drops of pink food coloring to achieve desired light pink color. Use a flat spatula to generously frost each cookie. Store in fridge.

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Once Upon a Wall

 

So… I did a thing. Or, more accurately, I had a thing done.

If you stare at a blank wall long enough, eventually a light will turn on. This wall has bugged me ever since I moved into this house. I tried a variety of things here from making a gallery wall, to trying to place furniture, to just leaving it empty, and I hated all three. I decided that what I really wanted was some kind of storage space, and started looking on Pinterest at various ways to build in storage under a staircase. While I liked the idea of storage, I liked the idea of a wet bar so much better. I have a full-size refrigerator and freezer in the belly of the beast (the unfinished area), and, of course there’s a sink in the bathroom.  But there’s something highly unappealing about using a sink in the bathroom for purposes other than for what it’s intended.Having spent the early part of the summer moving furniture around down here, getting rid of a too large, too complicated television, and replacing it with a simple to use Roku TV, and finally coming face-to-face with a piece of antique furniture that once belonged to the late Mr. O-P (and that had filled the room with bad juju), happily dragging it to the curb, I found that I had created a wonderful space. The only thing lacking was a place for snacks, cocktails, and a cup of coffee.Joe Rogers of Advanced Carpentry & Remodeling who did my lanai, that later became my conservatory, built in my stained glass window, added skylights, wainscoting, redid my kitchen, and pretty much everything else that has taken place in this house, did this. The bar sink, faucet, and fridge I ordered from Amazon, and couldn’t have been more pleased. Drawer pulls are from Wayfair.com. Cabinet door knobs that will match the drawer pulls that I’m STILL waiting on were ordered from myknobs.com  (proceed with caution here). At the moment I’m trying to figure out exactly how to decorate it to make it both attractive and functional.What do you think?

 Photos by Joe Rogers.

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This post has been shared on Metamorphosis Monday.