Banana Bread with Kisses

My bananas were ready to make some banana bread, and I was in the mood to make it a little differently.  This time I took my basic banana bread recipe and added some Hershey Kisses that I had on hand.  After it cooked I got it out of the oven and after it had cooled enough to eat my family devoured it so quickly I did not get a picture of the inside with the melted kisses.  But believe me, it was good!  

Book Review: I've Got Your Number

After the last few books I read I was really excited to get back to some easy chick lit awesomeness. And in my opinion, no one does chick lit awesomeness better than Sophie Kinsella. Her latest book I've Got Your Number doesn't disappoint.

Our story begins with Poppy, well it's all about Poppy really, and she loses her engagement ring, and then almost immediately her phone is stolen.  But as luck would have it she soon finds a phone that has been abandoned, left in the trash in perfectly working condition.  Poppy only needs it until she finds her engagement ring since she has now given everyone the number to the phone.  But the phone belongs to Sam, and he has agreed to let Poppy use the phone as long as she forwards every text and email that comes to him on the phone.  But before forwarding everything Poppy has began reading all his messages that were coming in and she decided to help in along the way by answering a few on his behalf.

The book is funny.  And it sucks you in completely.  I read it in less than a day.  Not surprising for me usually, but I was thinking that because of the last series that I had read that I wasn't enjoying reading as much as I used to.  I was wrong.  I love to read.  I love to get sucked into a story that makes me laugh, lets me figure things out and keeps me completely entertained.  Sophie Kinsella delivers all these things and more.  I can't wait to read more of her books as she releases them.  She is truly talented at telling a put together entertaining hilarious story.  I recommend to anyone who enjoys laughing.

Book Review: White

White by Ted Dekker is the final book in the Circle trilogy.  I reviewed the previous two books.  You can read my review of Red by clicking here and my review of Black by clicking here.

So, what can I say?  I pretty much had to force myself to finish this book.  It got long winded and I really started losing interest from the word "go."  I really had high hopes for this book because I enjoyed the first two.  I just think that with every step and choice that was made by Thomas Hunter that the story stopped making sense.  The premise of the books was very interesting, but I really feel that the story was really lost in the last book.  I understand the Christian undertones and that much of the story was about Christ's love for us.  I get it, I really do, but I think in the effort that Dekker made to get this point he lost the passion of his main character.  I felt that the decisions that were made were not true to the man that he had developed throughout the first two books.

Here's the biggest problem I have right now.  As I was looking up info about this trilogy I have discovered that there are two separate series of books that go along with this story and a supposed to add to it and make it all understandable and then as well as a final book written years after this trilogy was completed, Green.  Between the the others series and this final book (that's not a conclusion, but just an extra to the series now) it would be another eight books to read.  I just don't think that I have it in me to push myself through eight more after having to force myself to get through this one.  Maybe I'll come back to it in a couple of years, but my interest is gone.  Even if they were extraordinary books I don't think I would like them because I am burnt out.  I guess we'll just have to see.

Book Review: Red

This morning I finished reading Red by Ted Dekker.  This is the second installment of The Circle Series.  I reviewed the first book Black about a month ago and you can read that here. 

 

Red starts us of again following the life of Thomas Hunter, only now in his alternate reality 15 years have passed, though not even a full night has passed in his current reality.  The colored forest is gone and he and his people are now secluded in the forests where if they do not bathe daily in the lake their bodies and minds will be taken over by a disease.  They are at war with the Horde of the desert.  The Horde are those who have let the disease in and have turned away from the forest people and instead dwell in the heat of the desert.

In the other reality the virus is still threatening to kill off the entire population of the earth.  They are searching for an antivirus and time is beginning to run out.  There are less than three weeks before the virus takes full effect, and now the world is depending on Thomas.

It did take me a couple of weeks to get through this book.  It was mainly because of my own personal busyness and not because the book was uninteresting.  A whole new set of characters are emerging and complicating things.  The realities are more connected than anyone had realized before.  The pages kept turning and I devoured the story.  As it progresses I am getting more excited to see what the next installment has in store.  I am heading to the library today to pick it up!  Hooray!

Book Review: Black

Black by Ted Dekker is the first novel in the Circle Trilogy.

In this story we follow Thomas Hunter.  Thomas is one day walking home from work in Denver and is suddenly being chased and shot at.  In the midst of all this he is grazed by a bullet and is knocked unconscious.  When he wakes up he is no longer in Denver.  He is somewhere completely different.  Thomas has stumbled into a different reality.  A reality that can effect what happens in the other reality.  When he sleeps in one, he is awake in the other and vice versa.  Both realities need help and Thomas is the one who can provide it.  In one there is the threat of airborne virus that could take out the entire world in a matter of three weeks, and in the other is the spread of evil.  In the alternate reality good and evil are more prevalent and visual.

I really enjoyed this book.  It can be quite a page turner.  It's a mix of suspense, sci-fi and fantasy and has a Christian touch to the subject matter.  There is also a little love in the mix too.

Now I soon get to start on the next book, Red, as soon as the library lets me know that it is available!

What's for Dinner?- Pork Chops, Couscous and Broccoli

So tonight for dinner I made pork chops, broccoli and Parmesan couscous.  I would have to say that this dinner was a hit.

The pork chop was pan seared and only seasoned with Season All at Michael's request.  The couscous came from a box, but was good anyway and the kids gobbled it up.  The broccoli was the best broccoli that I've ever had.  The kids actually ate it and Michael enjoyed it.  I personally don't like broccoli that much but I received in my Bountiful Basket this week and I didn't want it to go to waste.  I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It's not very hard to make but does take a little effort, but it's worth it.  It is delicious.

All in all, dinner tonight was good, and now I know how I will cook my broccoli if I receive it again instead of letting it go bad in the fridge before throwing it away like I have in the past.

Song of Songs

Oh, Solomon, how in your youth you were full of hope, desire and love.  It’s too bad that when you were an old man you thought it all was so meaningless...

Way back when, when Solomon was a young man, before all his marriages and girlfriends.  Back before all his decisions were made for political reasons, Solomon wrote Song of Songs.  This is said to be the greatest of all the 1005 songs that he wrote over his life.  This song is a conversation between him and the woman that he desires.

The song supports monogamy and being with only one person though we know that this is not how Solomon lived his own life.  

I guess you may have to be in romantic mood to read and enjoy Song of Songs, but as I read through verse 7:10 stuck out to me, it says:
“I belong to my lover and his desire is for me.”

It’s more than just being to desired by the way you look, but belonging to someone who desires your whole being.  It’s beautiful.  When you marry someone, you belong to them and you are not your own.  To be desired after you are already theirs is a great joy to have.