Cue obsessive sifting through the library catalogue to find any and all books on beading. This is the first batch:

The Illustrated Bead Bible: Terms, Tips & Techniques

By Therese Flores Geary

This is pretty much exactly what is sounds like. It’s not really the kind of book that you read cover to cover, but more a reference about beads and beading. I actually found it quite useful since I’m more of a I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it-but-I-know-what-I-like kind of beader. Online sellers often assume their buyers know all the terminology so it is a handy reference.

The Bead Bible covers beads, finishes, shapes, techniques, materials, findings (the metal bits that keep jewelry together ), and so on. There are an average (I’m guessing since I didn’t actually count) of about two colour pictures per page. Not one per definition, but more than I was expecting. Quite a few useful features are at the back: A Q & A for basics as well as an illustrated chart of bead shapes (helpful for people like me who need pictures instead of verbal descriptions for shapes), gemstone cuts, beading stitches and reference charts for gemstone hardness.

Creative Bead Jewelry: Weaving, Looming, Stringing, Wiring, Making Beads

By Carol Taylor

I took Creative Bead Jewelry out of the library because after a while you want to do more than just string beads on a single string/wire (not that those necklaces can’t be gorgeous). I have to admit that I flipped through it for the pictures more than I actually read it, but I did get a lot of ideas for new designs (which was my entire reason for looking at the book in the first place).

Although I haven’t tried any yet, there are a lot of practice projects in this book. Some come with diagrams, but others have entirely written steps so you have to be able to visualize from that (I’m pretty bad at doing that–I need the diagrams). It looks like it is designed for beginners since it includes diagrams for some of the weaving stitches and other techniques that are used in the projects.

Getting Started Stringing Beads (Getting Started series)

By Jean Campbell

I took this book out for the same reason as the book above (to get some ideas for stringing beads other than the obvious). It has some useful charts at the beginning, like bead sizes and shapes as well as definitions for tools, stringing materials, and various findings. There’s also a section on the basics of stringing (like finishing off the ends and attaching findings properly).

This book also has a bunch of projects in it. They are simpler than the ones in Creative Bead Jewelry in that they are mostly single string designs (not all, mind you). Despite the simplicity of the designs, the book really shows how much variety and interest you can get with a single string. That alone made it worth looking through the book for me, because you don’t always want to get into fancy stringing techniques.

And since I just received some colour-changing glass coffee bean beads in the mail, I’ll be wandering off to figure out what to do with those now:

I have read all of Gabaldon’s Outlander series, so I put The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel on hold at the library. It came in a couple days ago and to be honest? Meh.

Although I love the universe that Gabaldon has created, her books are a bit uneven in their story telling skill. For instance, her last book (An Echo in the Bone) is one I own only because it is part of the series and I might want to reread the series one day–but on its own, I wouldn’t pick it up to read again. It uses the frame story device and that’s a difficult device to use well (by ‘well’ I mean in such a way that both stories are integral to the book and you can’t imagine removing one and not irreparably ruining the story).  There’s another one in the series that uses a frame story and I only read the chapters that take part in the past when I reread it. Gabaldon doesn’t really manage to integrate frame stories well (my main issue with An Echo in the Bone).

Enough about the book series and onto the graphic novel.

I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, but I don’t think that contributed to my apathy about this book. Particularly since I love the Mouse Guard books–I own two and reviewed the first one.

The artwork is lovely although not as intricate as I like. For graphic novels, I like art work where I can find things on subsequent readings that I didn’t notice the first time around and that’s not really the case with The Exile. I think part of the ‘meh’ feeling is that I don’t form images of characters in my head when I read and almost completely ignore character’s physical descriptions (unless it is relevant to plot) so having the characters visualized for me is a bit disconcerting.

The problem, for me, was more with story. As in: there isn’t enough of it.

This is supposed to be a prequel/retelling of Outlander from Jamie’s point of view, but it’s really more from Murtaugh’s point of view. Aside from an unresolved (and not particularly interesting because it is quite undeveloped) subplot about a couple other travellers (Gellie and her mysterious lover), there’s not much new or interesting here. It doesn’t really stand on its own because if you haven’t read Outlander you can’t really fill in the blanks, and it doesn’t really add much to the Outlander series if you have read the books.

Interestingly, according to the author’s note, Gabaldon started out writing scripts for comic books. Actually, that’s the most interesting thing I got from the book. I don’t dislike the book; it just fails to spark any real interest. Unless you absolutely must have everything to do with Jamie and Claire, I’d check this out of the library instead of buying it.

The recipes came from The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health and The Moosewood Cookbook (1992 edition–I’ll address the one-star reviews for the 2000 version on Amazon further down).

Mashed Cauliflower

Cauliflower is still on sale, so when I came across this recipe I figured why not. It’s out of The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health: More Than 200 New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes for Delicious and Nutrient-Rich Dishes, which is also where I got the recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash, as well as Quinoa and Roasted Sweet Potato, and Tunisian Chickpea Stew. Oh yes, the forgettable Baked Fruit was from this cookbook too. Also, Maple-Glazed Root Vegetables.

Aaaaanyway.

This cauliflower recipe is supposed to have fewer carbs than mashed potatoes. It certainly doesn’t taste like mashed potatoes, but it’s easy enough to make (overcook cauliflower and mash with sauteed onions, more or less) and tasty enough to repeat.

Roasted Butternut Squash

I had to find something to do with butternut squash left over from the soup I made (I know if I stick it in the fridge I will inevitably forget about it until it goes bad). This recipe is actually part of a larger recipe for making a roasted vegetable salad, I think. This is quick and easy and the squash comes out firm rather than mushy (I hate mushy squash).

Basically, chop up a butternut squash into 1″ chunks, add a few teaspoons of olive oil and a 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme. Mix it up, put it in a pan in a single layer and cook at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

This recipe is my default for butternut squash. Easy and tasty enough to remake. Also, it’s likely to go with whatever else we have kicking around for dinner.

Quinoa and Roasted Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes were on sale and just about anything you make with them turns out yummy. Usually I just stick them whole in the oven for about 40 minutes at 400F and then let them cool a bit before peeling off the skin (leftovers are good on pizza). I’ve done that a lot lately though, so I was looking for something else to do with them.

I found this recipe kind of bland (although, now that I haul out my cookbook, I see that I marked it as ‘good’ when I made it). It wasn’t bad, but it certainly didn’t attain the requisite “Yum, I have to make this again!” level of enjoyment. Cooking is enough work that if I’m going to bother to follow a recipe, the results better routinely hit “Yum–must make again.” I don’t need a cookbook to achieve “Meh, it’ll do.” I can accomplish that by ad-libbing on my own, thankyouverymuch.

Part of the disappointment is that the sweet potato is steamed on the stovetop rather than roasted. Roasting brings out the sweetness of sweet potato in a way that steaming doesn’t, so that was a letdown. And the leftover spinach rotting in the fridge because I hate cooking with spinach is mocking me, daily. Eh, your mileage may vary.

Maple-Glazed Root Vegetables

I have to admit: I screwed up preparing this recipe so I can’t really honestly review it as it was supposed to be baked. I love roasted root vegetables in the winter, but usually recipes call for an oil/herb mix that you coat the veggies in and then bake. This recipe has that oil/herb mix BUT it also has a glaze that you add later in the cooking. I may or may not have added everything at once.

*cough* Oops *cough*

I wasn’t trying to modify the recipe. I was just having trouble holding the cookbook open and was going more by the ingredient list than the instructions. I have made this before, but I didn’t take any notes and I don’t remember if I screwed it up the last time too (I am nothing if not a creature of bad habits).

Obviously, it wasn’t memorable the first time I made it, so I suppose that says something.

Tunisian Chickpea Stew

I’m somewhat on the fence about this recipe. It’s not bad, but I’m not sure it’s thrilling enough to offset the amount of work it is (most of which is hacking up the squash, but with chronic pain issues in the my arms, shoulders, and upper back, that’s a consideration).

I’ve had much better stews from my vegetarian slow cooker cookbook … which I’ll not link to just yet because the Amazon reviews remind me of why I cook so rarely from that book.

Baked Fruit

This is another recipe I wasn’t thrilled with. Basically it’s sliced apples in maple syrup and lemon juice baked in the oven. It’s okay, but I can’t see making it again unless we use it as a hot topping for vanilla ice cream or lemon sorbet.

Hmm, now that I look back on it, so far this cookbook isn’t particularly great as far as keeper recipes go. I was not expecting that.

The other cookbook I cooked from was The Moosewood Cookbook. I have the 1992 edition, which was the first revision of the 1977 book. Apparently there is a 2000 version that sucks (based on the one-star reviews). Keep that in mind if you decide to buy this one. The 1992 revision is lower fat than the 1977 original–I have no idea what they did to the latest version.

Marinated Chickpeas

We usually have the same salad every night, made by the other half (that’s the extent of his “cooking”). It’s your basic tomato, lettuce, celery deal. It’s nice to have, but gets a bit bland sometime so if we have extra chickpeas hanging around we toss them on top. But even that is a bit bland.

The chickpeas in this recipe are marinated with fresh ginger, raw garlic, raw onions, and oil (there’s probably salt and pepper in there too). I really like these on salad. Actually, I really like these as a snack as well. This is definitely a recipe I’ll make again: quick, easy, tasty, and versatile (dump them on rice, salad, whatever floats your boat).

Cream of Asparagus Soup

This is actually the first recipe in the book. I’m generally not a fan of cream soups. The canned ones are vile–the less said about them the better. I took a chance though since asparagus was on sale and the recipe said low-fat milk was fine for the recipe.

The soup was actually pretty good. Cooking the asparagus was a bit finicky, but I think that’s more asparagus-related than recipe-related. It’s a bit too finicky to make regularly, but definitely a good cream of asparagus soup recipe.

In case anyone is wondering, I’ve tried a lot of recipes in this cookbook and have been happy with most of them. But I have an older version than what bookstores are selling.

If you’ve cooked these recipes or from these cookbooks, what did you think? And if anyone has the 2000 version of the Moosewood Cookbook, I’d be interested in your experiences with it. Apparently it’s different enough that they call it The New Moosewood Cookbook (whereas mine is simply a revised edition of the 1977 version).

This week I had to find a use for a cheap bag of onions, cheap cauliflower, and a dessert that was under 200 calories. The recipes I ended up trying were Roasted Caramelized Balsamic Onions, Cauliflower Steak, Pineapple Sorbet, and Lemon Sorbet. Whew! I don’t normally manage this many new recipes in a week.

I was going to try to take pictures, but I didn’t manage it this week. Maybe next week. It would be nice to have pictures in my recipe binder to remind me of what a dish looks like.

Roasted Caramelized Balsamic Onions

Bags of onions were on sale for $1 so I bought first and figured out what to do with them later. I came across a recipe for roasting onions with butter, balsamic vinegar, and thyme in Moosewood Restaurant New Classics (p. 125). Why not!

I lined the pan with parchment paper (this significantly cuts down on whining from the other half who does the dishes) before putting the onions in and covering them with the butter/vinegar/thyme mixture. The recipe called for two large onions, but I only had medium and small so I put in four of those instead.

They turned out pretty tasty and got a “You can make this anytime” from the other half.

It looks like the recipe is over on Food.com, if you’re curious.

Cauliflower Steak

This is a recipe that my Mom got from Vij’s at Home: Relax, Honey: The Warmth and Ease of Indian Cooking cookbook (you can also find the same Cauliflower steak recipe over on Straight.com). I very rarely buy cauliflower because I’m not very fond of it steamed and I really don’t have any recipes for it (well, I’m sure I have recipes, somewhere in my collection of cookbooks, but I haven’t come across any that feature cauliflower yet).

Since this recipe was passed on from my Mom who had already made it, I didn’t make any changes other than cutting the salt in half (which is a default in our family since we’re not used to a lot of salt). Basically, this is a tomato masala sauce that you cook “pie-shaped” pieces of cauliflower in for about 15 minutes.

I found it a bit oily (it calls for 1/2 cup of oil but I would halve that next time) but other than that it was nice and spicy. The other half declared it the best cauliflower he has ever had, so the recipe is definitely a keeper with less salt and less oil.

One thing that I didn’t realize until I figured out the calories per serving, is that cauliflower is very high in Vitamin C (each serving, or 1/6th of a cauliflower head, is 120% of the daily Vitamin C requirement). Huh. Who knew?

Pineapple Sorbet

We’ve been eating ice cream lately since it has been on sale, but milk products do unpleasant things to my stomach so I had the brilliant idea of making sorbet (commercial sorbet around here invariably has milk products in it so buying it is out). Since pineapples were on sale, I looked for a pineapple sorbet recipe. Conveniently enough, the instruction booklet for my KitchenAid stand mixer ice cream attachment actually has one.

Pineapple Sorbet Recipe

• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 1/2 cups chopped pineapple
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp lime or lemon juice

1. Mix water, sugar, corn syrup and salt together in a bowl until all the sugar is dissolved.
2. Finely chop 1/2 cup of pineapple and set aside.
3. Puree five cups of pineapple and lime juice in a food processor.
4. Mix sugar mixture and pureed pineapple.
5. Freeze in ice cream maker.
6. Add chopped pineapple in last few minutes of mixing or mix in after.

Tasty. Easy to make. It calls for 1/2 cup of chopped pineapple (the rest is pureed) but I found I don’t like frozen chunks of fruit in my sorbet so I think I’ll just puree it all next time. Uses about one pineapple. Apparently the same recipe can be made with peaches so I’ll have to try that this summer if we get some good ones.

Lemon Sorbet

I found this recipe online at Cuisinart after I made the pineapple sorbet and the other half was looking a titch forlorn since he hates pineapple.

Tasty, but a little tart (I may have added too much lemon juice; I did lose count). The other half didn’t like the first spoonful (too tart), but it grew on him after a few mouthfuls and he’s now happily making his way through the container.

See you next week.

This is my cookbook bookcase (doesn’t everyone have a cookbook bookcase?):

Most of these are vegetarian or pescatarian, including an almost complete collection of Moosewood cookbooks (95% of the recipes I’ve tried from Moosewood cookbooks have been worthwhile which is a pretty good track record for a cookbook). I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to blog about this. Right now I’m thinking a weekly post of what I tried, how it turned out and which cookbook the recipe came from.

And if anyone else wants to join in, that would be nice too.

Thoughts?

Despite the cheesy name, I decided to check it out since it is now a free download (it was originally published by a major publisher over 30 years ago).

If you’re doing exactly what you want for a living and have no regrets or unfulfilled dreams, then this book is NOT for you. If you have dreams, but don’t know how to make them come true, this book IS for you. If you don’t know what your dreams are, this book IS for you.

Unlike most books of this type, this book is based on the premise that we are flawed individuals and that we don’t need to turn into perfect superbeings in order to live the life that we want (good thing too, because that’s never going to happen with me). This book is for the procrastinator, the person who starts a diet on Monday and has fallen off the wagon by Wednesday (if he or she even lasts that long).

The first part of the book is focused on discovering what your dreams are. The premise is that we are told too soon as children to be practical–stop dreaming, stop being silly, stop thinking grand thoughts. Even if we are allowed to keep dreaming, most of us are not taught how to explore our interests. That’s part two of the book: how to get from dream to reality.

Everyone should check out this book and since it’s free there’s no excuse not to.

One-line review

Movies are used to illustrate various business lessons, which makes the lessons easier to learn for those of us whose eyes glaze over when faced with learning business concepts.

What drew me to the book

I work for myself online–much of it related to writing, editing, and web sites. The business side of things is something that I learn as I go (business was conspicuously missing from my college curriculum). Since textbooks and business books generally put me to sleep, I was interested in The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies because it sounded like a more entertaining way to learn.

My thoughts on the book

The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies does a good job of pulling business lessons from a wide range of movies (1941-2009). A different lesson, given as the chapter title, is taken from each movie (though some chapters use more than one movie). I have not seen all of the movies, but I have heard of many of the ones that I haven’t seen and I still got the point of the lesson from movies that I haven’t heard of at all.

The wide range of movies is nice because it helps reach a wide range of people rather than a particular generation. There are plenty of movies from different genres as well.

This is the kind of book that, as an employee, you wish your manager had. Or as a student, you wish your instructor had. It’s an easy read, but it’s also a valuable reference for instructors, managers, and speakers because it provides a handy resource of stories that help convey particular business lessons in a way that people will actually understand.

The movie theme is carried out very well in this book from the terminology used for the sections (called “Takes”) to the renaming of the preface and conclusion to “Establishing Shot” and “Final Shot.” The theme is continued in the design elements throughout the book (not just the cover). Each chapter title page has a director’s chair with the name of whichever co-author wrote that particular chapter. A little box that looks like a ratings box is also included, but instead of a rating it includes the business themes for the movie being discussed. I appreciated the attention to detail in keeping the theme front and centre for the reader without overdoing it.

Find this book online

The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies: Amazon US | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Lindsay takes a chance by breaking the covenant with the reader that Dexter is a “good monster”; the result doesn’t really work and leaves me wondering if I should continue reading the series.

What drew me to the book

Once I start reading a series, I continue until it no longer holds my interest. I started the Dexter series simply because I was intrigued by the fact that Jeff Lindsay (the author) had managed to write a serial killer who was the good guy, a serial killer who only kills other serial killers. It seemed an interesting way to get the reader to side with a serial killer as a protagonist and I wanted to see how the premise was executed.

My thoughts on the book

In this book, Dexter finds himself on his honeymoon in Paris watching bizarre performance art that amuses his Dark Passenger (that would be his serial killer side). He and new wife Rita then return to Miami where a serial killer with an artistic bent makes himself known to Dexter, drawing Dexter into some very un-Dexter-like situations.

I always have difficulty getting into the Dexter books. It’s been the same for each one, but I’ve kept with them because, as I said above, I’m intrigued by the premise. I have the same difficulty getting into the DVDs of the TV series so I think the problem lies in with the use of Dexter’s point of view, which is (or claims to be) detached from the rest of society. It keeps the reader at a distance and it’s not something that works well for me.

Up until now I’ve been relatively happy with the books, but Dexter by Design deviates from the premise that attracted me to the series in the first place and the plot just doesn’t hang together for me.

The performance art in Paris at the beginning of the book is very graphic, bizarre, and attention-getting so I expected it to be tied into the plot at some point, but the connection never appeared which I found annoying. Without the tie-in to the rest of the book, the beginning seems gratuitous and a throwaway scene just to get the readers attention, which seems like lazy writing to me.

The other thing that bothered me about this book is the abandonment of Dexter as a good guy who only kills bad guys. Gone is the meticulous, careful killer who chooses his targets carefully. This Dexter makes mistakes, kills the wrong people, and is saved only by the most convenient of circumstances in the end. It could be argued that having Dexter deviate from his meticulous ways is a sign of growth in the character, but it simply didn’t feel like that as I was reading the book. It felt like an attempt to keep the series interesting that failed by changing the wrong things.

I’ll read the next book, Dexter is Delicious, to see if the series gets back on track but if it doesn’t then I’m done with these books.

About the book author

Jeff Lindsay is the creator of the character Dexter Morgan and the writer of the Dexter series books. He doesn’t appear to have an official presence on the web other than his publisher (too bad, it would be interesting to read a blog of his experiences).

There are three other books in the Dexter series and a new one, Dexter Is Delicious, out in September:

Find this book online

Dexter by Design: Amazon US | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

One-line review

An indispensable book on editing for the layperson that applies to more than just business editing–the cover does not do the content justice.

What drew me to the book

Jim Taylor, the author of Quick Fixes for Business Writing, was giving a workshop on his eight step editing process through the Editors Association of Canada (EAC). I wasn’t inclined to go until other editors (some with 30 years of experience) raved about previous workshops by Jim Taylor. I reconsidered, but ultimately couldn’t make it but there was mention of a book based on the workshop so I tracked that down at my local library.

My thoughts on the book

I have a confession to make: You know the person who judges a book by its cover? I have to admit that’s me. The cover of Quick Fixes for Business Writing has a very low-budget feel to it that would have put me off without the background that pushed me to check out the book in the first place. It’s also double-spaced (which seems an odd choice to me) and has neither a table of contents nor an index. The content, however, is great. So great that I actually ordered my own copy from the publisher (they only sell direct) for my reference library (that would be the bookcase next to my desk).

So why did I like this book?

It helped me get a handle on one of the toughest problems of editing, which is fixing a piece of writing without imposing your own style and voice onto it. This book’s subtitle is An Eight-Step Editing Process to Find and Correct Common Readability Problems and that’s what makes it valuable: It gives you a system to assess a particular writer’s most pressing editing needs as well as a system for pinpointing what types of things need changing and why. The why is important because as an edit becomes more invasive it becomes more noticeable to the writer (and many writers will question why you are rearranging or changing their words).

This book is written for the layperson, in particular the business manager who has to edit reports or other documents written by subordinates and co-workers. The eight steps move from least invasive (changes least likely to be noticed by an author) to most invasive (rewriting sentences and rearranging paragraphs). It is written in a straightforward and conversational way that guides you through what to do, how to do it and why to do it.

Although the focus of the book is editing business writing, the principles and steps can be adapted to other types of writing. If I’m faced with editing my own writing, I now pull the book off the shelf and start going through the eight steps. Having the steps prevents that paralysis phase of not knowing where to begin–especially with a long piece of writing.

About the book author

Jim Taylor can be found online at his blog.

Find this book online

Quick Fixes for Business Writing: Productive Publications US | Canada

Knowing yourself and living with your choices are major themes explored in way that has broad appeal despite the story’s focus on spirituality which would normally limit the audience.

What drew me to the book

Quite simply, this description is what drew me to the book, “An American housewife is transformed by an intriguing manuscript about the Sufi mystic poet Rumi.” Hey, this is a book blog, so of course I like the idea of being transformed by a book (I’m still looking for the one that will transform me into a happy skinny millionaire ).

If you’re not familiar with this book, the short plot synopsis is that a housewife gets a job evaluating unsolicited manuscripts send to a literary agency. In an extreme bit of good luck (seriously, if you’ve ever read from a slush pile you’ll know how unlikely this part of the book is), she is handed a manuscript submitted by a writer half way across the world that is not only good but also life changing. As she starts reading the manuscript, she realizes that the manuscript story mirrors her own and is inspired to start a correspondence with the author. She starts to believe that the author is playing the role of the mystic in her life (as Rumi does to a character in the manuscript she reads) come to set her free from a life she is realizing she really does not like.

My thoughts on the book

I really like The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi. It is very well written and will appeal to many people, especially those who feel stuck in their lives or are looking to transform themselves like the main character.

The 40 rules of the title are actually the rules of religious love. It’s a good thing that was left out of the title or I would not have considered reading it. As presented, these 40 rules are really the rules for loving yourself which is what makes the appeal of this book broad rather than narrow.

The book has two stories, one that takes place in the past and is presented as the novel that the main character in the present is evaluating for a literary agent. Normally when I read books that have two stories like this, I find that one or the other is not engaging and, in fact, one story could be removed entirely without affecting the book too much. In The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi both stories interested me and came across as two indispensable halves of a whole.

The main character is a woman who is waking up to the fact that she has been living for other people, just making do, and not really questioning what she is doing with/getting out of her life. I was surprised by the way her story turned out (in a good way, but I won’t spoil it for you). I simply could not figure out where the author was going to take this woman’s story and I’m glad that there is no cop-out happily-ever-after in this book.

About the book author

Elif Shafak has written several other books, including The Flea Palace, Bastard Of Istanbul, and The Saint of Incipient Insanities. Elif Shafak can be found online at her official site.

Find this book online

The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi: Amazon US * Amazon Canada * Amazon UK