TOP SECRET TWENTY ONE Book Review

My library doesn't allow anyone to put a hold on a book until they physically own it, even if it's still in processing.  As long as it shows up in their system, then you can get on the list.  The day TOP SECRET TWENTY ONE by Janet Evanovich came out, and when I finally saw it on their site that afternoon I called and got on the list.

Luckily they got three copies as I was the third in line so I got it the next day.

TOP SECRET TWENTY ONE is the latest release in the series of Stephanie Plum.  Here's the description of the book, as found on Goodreads:

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Trenton, New Jersey’s favorite used-car dealer, Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his dealerships. Now he’s out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in. Leads are quickly turning into dead ends, and all too frequently into dead bodies. Even Joe Morelli, the city’s hottest cop, is struggling to find a clue to the suspected killer’s whereabouts. These are desperate times, and they call for desperate measures. So Stephanie is going to have to do something she really doesn’t want to do: protect former hospital security guard and general pain in her behind Randy Briggs. Briggs was picking up quick cash as Poletti’s bookkeeper and knows all his boss’s dirty secrets. Now Briggs is next on Poletti’s list of people to put six feet under.

To top things off, Ranger—resident security expert and Stephanie’s greatest temptation—has been the target of an assassination plot. He’s dodged the bullet this time, but if Ranger wants to survive the next attempt on his life, he’ll have to enlist Stephanie’s help and reveal a bit more of his mysterious past.

Death threats, highly trained assassins, highly untrained assassins, and Stark Street being overrun by a pack of feral Chihuahuas are all in a day’s work for Stephanie Plum. The real challenge is dealing with her Grandma Mazur’s wild bucket list. A boob job and getting revenge on Joe Morelli’s Grandma Bella can barely hold a candle to what’s number one on the list—but that’s top secret.

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I love this entire series.  Janet Evanovich has brought all of these characters to life for me. I swear I'd recognize them walking down the street and I'd probably greet them like the old friends they are.   

I also picked up another book that came out the same day,
THAT NIGHT by Chevy Stevens.  Click on it to read my review.

Old Tool Collecting

My husband likes old, unusual tools and I always look for some whenever I go to yard sales and flea markets.  I've picked up a few so far this summer and here is the one I got for him today.  I honestly don't know if it's truly old or just old-looking because it's so worn and rusty.  The guy I bought it from said it was a pipe bender and said how much he really wanted to keep it but it took up a lot of space and he just didn't have room.  His garage was pretty small, so maybe it wasn't just a selling tactic on his part.  But, either way, it was only $5, so I felt it was a safe gamble.

Luckily the gentleman loaded it for me, I told him he'd have to if I'd buy it.  LOL.  He must have been pretty strong because I was going to unload it when I got home but that sucker is HEAVY so I left it on the tailgate instead.  It was also burning hot from being in the sun.  Looks rather odd in this picture, but it is rather odd looking so it is what it is.  I hope he likes it.  Even though he has no idea what I bought, I only told him it was on old tool of some sort, he told me that he likes it already. 

Frugal Steak Hoagies

I enjoy making leftovers into totally different dishes from what they were originally.  I also like to make a lot of one thing so that I can do just this.  Here is how I make frugal steak hoagies from left over grilled hamburger patties.

 Other than the pre-cooked patties, I also used hamburger buns, canned peppers in tomato sauce and cheddar cheese.  The peppers in sauce that I used is some that my dad cans himself, but there are a few local brands that might be pretty close.  Demus and Oliverio's are two that come to mind.  I also puree the peppers and sauce with a hand blender so nobody gets a big chuck of pepper.

 First, slice all the burgers into thin strips, around 1/8" thick and warm in a skillet with a little butter or spray oil.  Add the peppers and heat through.

 Each sandwich/hoagie will be wrapped in a sheet of foil.  On each sheet, spray with some oil, then begin assembling until you have them all done.

To assemble just lay the bottom bun on the oiled foil, add the meat and pepper mixture, top with cheese and then top bun.  Wrap foil completely sealing each hoagie and place a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven preheated to 350 degrees F, for 15-20 minutes  This will heat it through and make the bread a little crispy.  Delicious! 

What are some ways you like to use leftover hamburgers?

Gardening, and How "Not Dead" It Is

The way I rate my gardening projects is by how "not dead" they are.  I cannot keep a plant alive if it is in the house, and I've not had a lot of luck with trees, but I can usually do pretty well with a garden.  I think it helps that once the plant or seed is in the ground I pretty much leave it alone. 

Unfortunately, where I put the garden this year is nothing but very poor soil.  I'd planned on adding a truckload of really good soil and compost to it, but didn't seem to get it done this year.  I'm hoping to be able to do it this fall so in the spring it's ready to go with just a little tilling.

I was also rather late getting things planted and the first round of tomatoes I started from seed inside never survived transplanting into bigger containers, so I started more seeds around the time other people were putting the plants into their gardens. 

Here are some pics of a few of the things in my gardens from the last couple of days, almost the end of June.

These are the two types of beans I'm growing.  In the front are bush beans called Greasy Grits and the ones in the back are pole beans called Dragon's Tongue.  Both can be eaten when green and can also be left on the plant to dry.  I plan on trying them both ways.

 This little corner gets little sun and a lot of water runoff from the porch roof when it rains.  I'm actually surprised anything grows  in it.  I have sunflowers along the walls and mixed dwarf cockscomb in the middle.  Oddly I planted the cockscomb all over the whole area but it's only growing in that little section in the middle.

I don't know if you can see, but it's a couple of tiny baby carrots.  I'd planted them in the garden forever ago, it seems, and had given up on them ever coming up, but a couple of them are giving it a go.

The stems on this have a purplish tint to them, that's because they are Purple Peacock Broccoli.  I don't have a lot of them coming up either, but at this point, I'm pretty happy with any that make the attempt.

This is some of my Strawberry Popcorn and it's around knee high and if I remember my little sayings then it's about right on schedule.  "Corn should be knee high by the fourth of July."  Oh, look over the weeds, too, I really need to get them pulled before they get out of hand, it's just been too darn hot!

THAT NIGHT Book Review

I was able to pick up THAT NIGHT by Chevy Stevens at the library the day after it came out.  I was so excited to know that my name was at the top of the hold list that immediately after hanging up I actually cheered "Woohoo!!!  I'm first on the hold list for two books!"  My husband gave me a strange look and said "I've never been that excited over books."  Well, in my opinion, he's missing out!  The other book will be another post.

The story is about Toni and her boyfriend that are convicted of murdering her sister.  The thing is, they didn't do it, but because they'd been partiers and into a little trouble as teens the cops didn't really look too hard in any other direction.  Each chapter goes from current time, when they first get out of prison then back to when they were teens and leading up to the murder.  It's not at all confusing and is very well written and keeps you gripped from the first page. 

It's really opened my eyes into the world of prisons and parolees, and how hard it would be to prove yourself to be a good person when everyone around has given up on you. 

I really recommend this book as well as all three of her other ones.  I've been a fan from the moment her first book was published and eagerly anticipate the publication of each new one.

Chevy dedicated this book to the people that work with shelter animals.  The main character helps train service dogs while in prison and also volunteers her time at a shelter while on parole.  Chevy also seems to be a big animal lover and shares the antics of her dog, Oona, on her Facebook page.  The pictures above are from a "hint" on her page about how much she enjoys seeing our pets with her books.  So, I ran around the house and woke up all my napping babies and snapped their pictures.  I really appreciate that she takes the time to share herself with her readers and asks us to share ours with her.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Book Review

The movie for this book came out recently and saw several people commenting on Facebook on how great it was.  I mentioned that I would love to read the book and had it on hold at the library whenever it becomes available again.  My niece brought her copy over for me to borrow and I just finished it this morning.

If you don't already know, basically it's about some kids that have or had cancer and how they continue to live theirs lives despite it.  Or maybe, in spite of it.  Of course there is much more to it then that.  It is told from the view of Hazel and she because a real person to the reader almost immediately.  She talks about her parents and how she fears her sickness and probable death will effect them horribly.  She has a few friends, both cancer stricken and not, and you get to meet them, as well.

There is some gallows humor but it's totally realistic.  You know that people with a terminal illness are thinking these things but nobody else would ever dare say them out loud, but they can.

This author did brilliant work in making each of these characters come to life in the pages.  I worried over every unusual ache and pain they felt, and cried with the parents as there concern was evident, and laughed with their jokes about death and dying.

I can't wait to see the movie, but I do worry it won't be anywhere near as wonderful as the book.  However, I'll still take a box of tissues with me just in case it's even remotely close.

Yummy Baked Elephant Ears

My husband's favorite sweet treat as a kid was one called Elephant Ears that he would get at the Home Industry Bakery in downtown Clarksburg, WV.  It was a little unusual in that it looked like a very large, flat cookie, but had the consistency of a type of bread dough.  I've tried to recreate them over the years using a variety of recipes but they were never exactly right.  I finally took bits of pieces of several recipes and came up with this unique version and it tastes exactly like the ones he would get at the bakery.  He claims the ones he got when he was a kid was HUGE and that the ones I made just seem so small in comparison.  I reminded him that what he might be remembering is the same size I made but in my tinier hands so it looked bigger.  He thought about it and agreed that might be the case.  The next time I make them I will try to make them bigger just to see if it will satisfy that idea of them, too.

YUMMY BAKED ELEPHANT EARS

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 pkg./1/4 oz.)
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1/3 cup fat-free milk (I used dry milk reconstituted)
1 egg yolk

FILLING
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup sgar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

CINNAMON-SUGAR
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1.  In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and salt; cut in butter until crumbly.  Stir milk and egg yolk into yeast mixture.  Add to flour mixture, stir to form a soft dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours.

2.  Preheat oven to 375.  Punch dough down.  Turn onto a light floured surface; cover and let rest 10 minutes.

3.  Roll dough into an 18x10-inch rectangle.  Spread with melted butter.  Mix sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over butter evenly, spread out with hands if needed.  Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side, wet end slightly with water to seal to roll.  Cut crosswise into 24 slices.  The easiest way to do this is to cut in half first, then cut each of those in half again, then cut those in half again, and finally cut those into thirds. 

4.  In a small bowl, mix cinnamon-sugar ingredients.  Draw a 4 inch circle onto a sheet of parchment paper and turn over onto the counter.  Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. mixture in the circle on the parchment paper, top with a slice of dough, cut side down.  Sprinkle with an additional 1/2 tsp. cinnamon-sugar.  Roll dough to a 4-inch circle.

5.  Place 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined baking sheets.  Repeat with remaining slices.  Bake 7-9 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire racks.

Starting From Seeds

I prefer to do all my gardening starting with seeds that I start myself rather than plants from a store or greenhouse.  I started seeds in the house this past March and while they all came up, the majority of them did not thrive.  The only ones that made a successful transplant were many of the peppers, and that was it.  I decided to give the tomatoes one more go and dumped all the seeds I had left from all four varieties I'm doing this year into the lid of a Tupperware cake carrier.  I marked between the different ones with plastic slats I recycled from a broken mini-blind, and also labeled more of them for each variety.  I've transplanted two types to the garden already but it's rained ever since and I haven't been able to plant the other two types, hopefully soon, though.

Even though I was able to transplant several peppers I decided to do the same thing with the rest of those seeds, too.  For this container I covered a cardboard box that I'd received in the mail with a kitchen garbage bag and secured it with clear packing tape.  I separated the varieties and labeled them using more of the mini-blind slats trimmed to fit.

I have one container of peppers that survived the initial transplant but were really small, so I was waiting for them to grow a little more before putting them in their permanent place in the garden.  I think they are ready to go, so whenever it finally stops raining.

I have a pear tree that I started from a seed out of a pear I was eating, and I've never grown a tree from a seed so I'm not exactly sure what to do with it, but I know I need to splint it already.

All the seeds, except for the pear, came from Baker Creek Seeds and I don't think I'll ever buy seeds from anywhere else, I've always been very pleased with everything ever purchased from them, both in quality and quantity.  For example, one variety of tomato I was only guaranteed 15 seeds, but I stopped counted seeds after getting to 90!  I don't get anything for praising them, I just really like their products.

The Trusty Timer

My timer is so useful, it really helps me to keep on track with whatever task I'm doing.

Grilling:  I use my timer to grill hamburgers.  I set it for 7 minutes for the first side, flip, and 7 minutes on the other side, then remove them from the grill.  If I don't use the time I wind up with hockey pucks instead of juicy burgers.  And the 7 minutes seems to fly as I'm always surprised when it goes off, thinking that it can't possibly have been that long already. 

Cleaning and Organizing Missions:  I get easily distracted when I'm trying to get something clean and/or organized.  A timer is very useful to keep me on task.  I set the timer for 15 minutes and stay focused on whatever I'm wanting to get done.  It can be tidying a certain room, tackling overflowing laundry, washing dishes, cleaning windows.  The key is to not kill yourself trying to get everything done before the timer goes off but to focus on the task at hand for the full amount of time.  Some things can be completed in just one mission and other times you are only making a dent, but at least it's progress.  If I'm able I will do 3 missions in a row and take a break for 15 minutes.  I have a lot of difficulty keeping focused and this really does work for me.  Let me know if it works for you, too.

My daughter is wanting to change her room from a little girls room to a teen girls room, and her mission today was to sort through her stuffed animals, again using a timer for just 15 minutes helped her to feel accomplished rather than defeated by thinking how daunting the task was going to be.  Her bedroom's transformation will be it's own post as we work more on it.

My Favorite Flowers

My daughter brought me a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers today and I just love them.   I'll be honest, I actually prefer an assortment of hand picked wild flowers over any store bought, overpriced bouquet any day. 

I'm reminded of when I was a kid and would pick bunches of violets for my grandma that would grow wild on the hillside between her house and my grandpa's electric shop.  I would pick all I could carry and present them to her and she always acted like she was just given the greatest gift ever.  I'd go back down and pick more and more and more and she would always find some container to put them in after she'd run out of vases.  Bowls, tea cups, anything.  I know now how special she must have felt to get them, and I've always known how special she made me feel by accepting them all so graciously.  I'm reminded of her every time I see a little patch of violets, and I can't help but smile.

Joan Burrows, 1922-1996, the best grandma there ever was.  If I could be 1/10th as amazing as she was then I'd still be wonderful. 

Super Frugal Pole Bean Trellis

This is my first time growing pole beans and I was a little concerned on how I could give them something to climb without having to buy something made specifically for that purpose.  I remembered seeing a tip on how to do it a good while ago, but I can't remember where now.  It said to use some sort of string (or twine, or yarn) and tie one end to a rock and put the rock beside the plants as they are emerging and tie the other end onto something higher.  It so happened that I decided to plant them in a very neglected flower bed that my husband had built years ago in front of our porch, so that gave me the banisters above the bed to use for the string.  Instead of tying the string to a banister I wrapped the string around two of them and tied a rock to both ends.  I did that all along the bed and I can't wait to see if it works! 

The beans in the back are Dragon's Tongue and the ones in the front of the bed are bush beans and they are Greasy Grits.  All the seeds I'm using this year are from Baker Creek Seeds, and I've had excellent luck with them for the last several years that I've used them.  I don't get paid to say that, either, they are just that good.

This Blog's New Direction

When I originally started this blog, I was only planning to use it to record recipes I come up with for use in an ebook eventually, and I'll still do that, as well.  However, as I'm decluttering and organizing things around here I started going through a mountain of papers and came across several with lists of books and websites that I want to explore, and projects I want to tackle, and thought this would be a good place to keep track of them.  So I will continue to have recipes, but I will also be including book reviews, website reviews, frugal and free activities, gardening hints and tips, pet care, and homeschooling.  I have no choice but to operate on a very tight budget, so everything I list will be as cheap as possible or even free, if I'm lucky. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey and if there are any ideas or tips you are looking for, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can come up with.

I found this image on Pinterest, but couldn't find out who designed it.  If you know, please let me know so I can give proper credit.