The Hills is Lonely and The Joy Plan

 

What I Read Last Week:

The Joy Plan: How I Took 30 Days to Stop Worrying, Quit Complaining, and Find Ridiculous Happiness by Kaia Roman (Happiness)

The Hills is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith (Classics Club)

What I'm Reading Now:

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants 

by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Naturalist Book Club)

Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton Hill (Nonfiction)

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (Book Club)

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (Book Club Read)

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

Dynamic Duos

Weekend Cooking: Life is What You Bake It

I joined my weekly Christian Meditation group for the first time in a long time last week to celebrate the birthday of joyous Father Mike (second from left). 

We participated in the four-day Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend. Fun!

Good Thing #1

Lectio Divina.

We are learning about it 

in my Christian Meditation group.

Good Thing #2

Last week we saw 11 butterflies.

This week we saw 50.

Spring might be arriving.

Good Thing #3

Plants are starting to sprout

in our cold frame.

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

Life is What You Bake It

Life is What You Bake It: Recipes, Stories & Inspiration to Bake Your Way to the Top is the journey of Vallery Lomas, the first Black woman to win The Great American Baking Show. She shares her adventure of going from being a lawyer, working in a field she did not enjoy, to finding her life's passion as a baker. She also shares stories of the lives of her family and their influences on her baking. 

Vallery and I have a lot in common, and I think that's one of the things I enjoyed so much about her book. Like me, Vallery had one grandmother from the country and one from the city, and her baking reflects these two diverse cultural influences. Like me, Vallery is driven to add that little extra something to each bake to surprise and amaze her audience. Like me, Vallery loves France and delights in trying her own takes on French baking.

So, now, the important question...What recipes are calling out to me? Here are the recipes I plan to try first...

Accordian Biscuits...

I am always in search of the best biscuit recipe, and this one, with its layers, looks promising.

Cornmeal Pancakes...

I'm intrigued with the idea of using cornmeal in pancakes.

French Toast...

Olive Oil-Chunk Chocolate Cookies...

Another bucket list dream of mine is to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Picnic Peach Cobbler...

I've never made a cobbler. Maybe I've been waiting for this recipe with orange zest and brandy.

Lemon Surprise Tart...

What's the surprise? Candied ginger!

Old-School Dinner Rolls...

I pride myself on my amazing dinner roll recipe. But could this one be even better?

Hot Skillet Cornbread...

I've got a sure-fire cornbread recipe, too, but this one, with creamed corn? Got to try it!

There are a dozen more recipes---One-Bowl Blueberry Buckle, Cake Truffles, Lemon-Honey Madelines---that I also want to try. 

Update: I did try the Hot Skillet Cornbread with creamed corn in it. What did I think? It stayed moist for several days, and it had a delicious taste.

I also made the Olive-Oil Chunk Chocolate Cookies. My brother-in-law said they were one of the best chocolate chip cookies he has ever eaten. 

I will make more from this cookbook.

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Dynamic Duos

Here they are...the most fabulous pairs you can find in books...

Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems

The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

George and Martha by James Marshall

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Thank you to Elley @ Elley the Book Otter for this prompt.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.     

Around the World in 80 Books; Life is What You Bake It; and Love is in the Air

 

What I Read Last Week:

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis 

Life is What You Bake It: A Baking Book by Vallery Lomas

An Atlas of Extinct Countries by Defoe Gideon

What I'm Reading Now:

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants 

by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Naturalist Book Club)

Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Everyday by Clemency Burton Hill (Nonfiction)

The Joy Plan: How I Took 30 Days to Stop Worrying, Quit Complaining, and Find Ridiculous Happiness by Kaia Roman (Happiness)

The Hills is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith (Classics Club)

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (Book Club)

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien (Book Club Read)

I focused on reading picture books for my Around the World in 80 Books perpetual challenge last week. I read books set in Mexico, Paraguay, Micronesia, Nigeria, Iceland, Morocco, Antarctica, and more. It's nice to know that so many great books set in places all over the world are available in my public library.

Last week I posted here at Readerbuzz:

Books Too Good to Review Properly

Wondrous Words: Self-Care: Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish

What Your Unread Books Say About You

 

We've been alternating between Gilmore Girls, Seaside Hotel, and Escape to the Chateau lately.

Any recommendations for me?

Good Thing #1

We have been monitoring butterflies along a trail at a county park near us for almost a year, 

and last week we added a second trail, this one at the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.

Both trails are about a mile long.

Want to guess which trail had the most butterflies? 

(Answer below)

Good Thing #2

When we first saw this butterfly from afar, we couldn't figure out what kind of butterfly it was.

Then I managed to get a photo...and...oh, it looks like love is in the air.

Good Thing #3

We started work on our raised beds for our spring garden.

We started our seeds in the hotbox.

Answer: Yes, the wildlife refuge had more:

County Park: 11

Wildlife Refuge: 68

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.