Read in 2016

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

TOP TEN TUESDAY: First Lines




The topic this week is First Lines. I've gone through and found the first lines of some books I've loved, and also where the first line so clearly identifies the book, I smile as soon as I read the first line. Do you recognize the lines as well? I've hidden the answer after the quote - highlight the area to see if you are correct.
Top Ten Thursday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl - check out her site for links to today's topic, and to see the future topics.


Monday 27 January 129 lbs. (total fat groove), boyfriends 1 (hurrah!), shags 3 (hurrah!), calories 2,100, calories used up by shags 600, so total calories 1,500 (exemplary). Bridget Jones' Diary

If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling's whole life would have been entirely different. The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery


Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling


Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery


Maniac Magee was not born in a dump. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli


Dave, I just finished the first chapter of a new novel - a real crime novel with a dead body and all- and I thought of you. Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz

Major Pettigrew was still upset about the phone call from his brother's wife and so he answered the doorbell without thinking. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand


He knew at once it was a human bone, when he took it from the baby who was sitting on the floor chewing it. The Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason


How angry am I? You don't want to know. Nobody wants to know about that. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud


At half past six on the twenty-first of June 1922, when Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov was escorted through the gates of the Kremlin onto Red Square, it was glorious and cool. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles


The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died. The Milkman by Anna Burns


The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Patterson

Sunday, May 17, 2020

WEEKEND COOKING: Oatmeal Waffles


Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader is back to blogging, and has taken over the hosting of Weekend Cooking. I thought I had participated many times over the years, but a perusal of my blog shows me I only did once. In honour of Marg's return (it is so nice to see an 'old' face in my feed reader) that I am going to try to post a little more regularly, and Weekend Cooking is a great start for me.

A few Christmases ago I bought the family a waffle maker for a house present. It has taken me a while to get the hang of making them so they don't squeeze out the side and make a huge mess to clean up but I have. I also have found the recipe that I make over and over again, so much so that I don't even look for other recipes anymore. If they don't all get eaten (rarely)  I just pop them in the toaster the next day. My favourite way to eat these waffles is with some cut up fruit (strawberries or bananas), and a little bit of syrup. If I'm serving for company, I might get some Cool Whip.

As I think about some of my favourite recipes, it turns out I really, really like oatmeal, so don't be surprised to see more oatmeal recipes here.


Oatmeal Waffles (from kyleecooks)

makes 4 or 5, depending on your waffle maker)
Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups milk
4 Tbs butter melted
1 Tbs dark brown sugar
Instructions

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, oatmeal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, butter and brown sugar.
Add wet to dry, and mix until just combined. The mixture will be thick!
Pour batter into a lightly greased waffle iron and cook until desired colour is reached.