Faith of the Fallen

Faith of the Fallen (The Sword of Truth, Book Six)
By Terry Goodkind
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Goodreads Review:

Fantasy series fans may argue over the relative merits of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, but in a world of middle books that go nowhere and endless waits between episodes, Goodkind is certainly still serving up some of the best fantasy on today's menu.
The Seeker of Truth and his Mother Confessor sweetie are both looking a little worse for the wear after their chime-hunt in Soul of the Fire. To top that off, Lord Rahl finds himself a reluctant prophet with the vision that their cause, the fight for freedom against the Imperial Order, is essentially sunk. (Chalk that up to part of the Wizard's First Rule: people really are stupid.) The two lovers soon find themselves separated, Richard off to the Old World thanks to treacherous Sister of the Dark Nicci, and Kahlan left behind, forced to betray Richard and his prophecy by raising an army to fend off the approaching armies of Emperor Jagang.

Whether it's fair or not, Goodkind will likely get beaten up a bit for visiting the trough once too often, à la Jordan. But fear not: Faith of the Fallen does progress at a good clip, and its conclusion--while by no means a final payout--should satisfy. --Paul Hughes

My Thoughts:

I had read the first five books of this series back to back last summer. I really did not think I was going to read them any more. However, I had this one left on my shelf and I had made this decision to "get rid of it." Faith of the Fallen was a break in the monotonous politics of the Sisters of the Light/Dark. Although they were still present, this story line centered on taking your own life into control.

It was also an interesting read considering it is right before a major political election. There was so much abstract theory on how a government should control people and how people create a government. 

Here is a pretty straight forward example taken from p. 541:

"My wife isn't getting enough to eat. The workers group assesses most of my wages, since I am able to produce, and gives it to those who don't work. Because I can work, I've become a slave to those who can't, or who don't wish to. Their methods encourage people to find an excuse to let others take care of them."


Welfare in the county where I live much? ...

Anadama Cornbread

From the amazing Christmas gift of last year, Brad and I have wanted to use a recipe to make an Anadama Cornbread. Now, you may ask, what is so special about this cornbread? Isn't it it just a bunch cornmeal, milk, sugar, and egg baked in a skillet? Not this special and delectable treat. Anadama is not a southern version cornbread. There is actually more flour than cornmeal. It's a 5:1 ratio! 

The finished Anadama Cornbread just out of the oven!

It is so different because it originates in New England. It is more of a Thanksgiving harvest bread as opposed to something tasty dipped in chili. It has a reasonable amount of molasses in the dough and no sugar. It is really good when it is served with pumpkin butter. I think that this fall we are going to make our own versions and add in a few awesome things... like pumpkin pie spice!

I love the color of this bread!

The trickiest part about making this bread, is that it does not want to rise well. We had to coax it. We turned the heat on to 80 degrees (which is difficult to handle when it is summer) and placed the bowl over the vent. We leave it in a bowl to rise for 2 hours. Then, we knocked it back, shaped it, and let it rise for ANOTHER TWO HOURS. What a pain.

At the beginning of the first two hour rising process

.... and after two hours, that's all we got!

The good news is that it was worth the four hours of rising and the ten minutes of constant kneading. If you ever had a chance for some, get a nice warm slice, spread with pumpkin butter and drink a hot cup of coffee.

A well-deserved dessert!

No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn

I spent a good amount of my formative years on Long Island, NY. After high school, I went upstate to SUNY Geneseo for my B.A. There, I met my long time friend Ramsay. So just over decade later, it seems fit to go visit for a few days... especially because she is getting married!

Can you see the Brooklyn Bridge?

Bridesmaid? Yes, I am. 

Knowing what to wear to a swanky bar in Brooklyn with excellent beer on tap (you can see their website here at reBar? Definitely, no.

Bride knowing what type of bridesmaid dress to pick out? Ummm....

So, you can see our situation and guess that we spent time trying on bridesmaid dresses. A lot of dresses. When I say a lot, I mean about twenty at one place in under an hour. 

... and eating four slices of cremini mushroom and fennel sausage pizza the night before didn't help. 

Was the pizza worth it? Definitely, yes. 

After dresses, we walked around Brooklyn and had a few beers at different places. It was a great time because I got to sample some local beers that I would not have the experience to do so. For example... when did Greenport get a brewery?

My not-so-spicy Greenport Wit Beer

We also spent some time at Cedar Grove beach in Staten Island. I had actually never really been to Staten Island before. After an adventure drive and a conversation about whether Transformers or Voltron would win, I came to the conclusion that it is a lot like Nassau county. It's strip mall heaven! However, the beach was actually better than my North Shore LI beach because there was sand. Growing up, our beaches were all rocks and we had to wear flip flops or water shoes in the water. That stunk.

Cedar Grove Beach in Staten Island... and Ramsay's legs

After the beach, we had a BBQ. We went to Ramsay's friend's house and had a party in the narrow alley between houses. They decorated it with table cloths and overhead lights. It was a great setting.  I had never met this couple before, but man they could cook. We had homemade guacamole and margaritas to begin with. Followed by a main meal of grilled chicken drizzled with buffalo and bleu cheese sauces... as well as racks of special dry rub ribs! There was also a killer dill potato salad made the Yankee way of NO MUSTARD, just as it should be. We finished it up with custard, rocky road, and lemon PIES. I was in foodie heaven. 

Our after-party alley way

All in all, will I be back to Brooklyn? For sure!

Fatso's Diner

Fatso's Diner

Category: Diner 

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Website: http://www.fatsosdinerloveland.com/

Likes: Cheesy 50's Decor (complete with records on the wall AND THE CEILING), awesome waiter whose family was from Upstate NY, LARGE coffee cups (so you don't need refills every three minutes), and creamer bowls already on the table

Dislikes: ummm... only that their food wasn't magically healthy to ingest

Cars lined the half wall!

On our trip to Colorado, we went to Fatso's Diner in Loveland, CO. Normally I don't write about restaurants outside of my fifty mile Virginia radius, but this was so worth it.

Their menu wasn't huge, but the portions were! It was a cheap place to eat with a heaping of awesome goodness on a plate. They had fairly large coffee cups so they didn't have to be refilled every few seconds.  And, there was a drive-in in the back!

 I ordered the Chicken and Waffles. They were the best chicken and waffles that I have had so far. It was a huge Belgian Waffle topped with powdered sugar and served on a separate plate from the greasy, crispy, tender fried chicken. 

They originally came with white gravy. Being from up north... I don't really do that kind of thing. The waiter teased me and said that I was desecrating the waffle when I asked for honey mustard and syrup instead. It was nice to have someone with character balanced with polite demeanor. 

Best Chicken and Waffles I've Ever Had

 Brad ordered the corned beef hash with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and rye toast. There were larger pieces of tender corned beef that were sliced very thin and large pieces of bell pepper. The whole dish blended very well... until Brad buttered rye toast with butter AND jelly. Butter on rye is awesome. Jelly on rye... I am going to take a cue from the friendly waiter and say that that is desecration of rye toast.

Brad's Corned Beef Hash

 Billy had an omelet with the white gravy. He said he liked it... but there was no way I was going to go near it with the white mush.

Billy's Omlette

Overall, when going to a restaurant that has good food, service, prices, and ambiance, I am always willing to return.. except with they are a few states away. Perhaps on the next Colorado visit.

The Rocky Mountain Gentry Show

Rocky Mountains!

Before last week, I had been to Kansas and California, but nothing in between. I had said this so many times in the past few years that I think people around me wanted to shoot me. Now, I don't have to say it any more because Brad and I went to Colorado! 

We visited the Gentry's, who used to live near us. We set them up a few years ago and eventually they got married and moved away. Although we were sad they did not stay, it is nice that we have a new place to visit. On this particular visit, they took us to all the places we wanted to go:  Mountains and Beer!

Mountains!

This mountain portion of my trip really hits the theme of my blog. The mountains make me so happy on the inside, that it shows on the outside. The views in the Rockies are amazing. It makes me realize that my little troubles of day to day life are so insignificant. I can stare out into the wilderness with few people around me, and I don't feel alone. There is the wind, the trees, the grass, deer, birds, and even bugs. The whole world seems still to the naked eye. But when looking into it, I realize that if I remove myself from every day life, it is busy being alive!

Long Horn Sheep at Pike's Peak

I really did enjoy our trip to Pike's Peak. The ride up was an amazing experience. With friends, it was even better. We made jokes. We had spectacular views. We couldn't laugh too hard because we would run out of oxygen. Seriously. I decided to climb around on the rocks (eek!) and had to pause because I ran out of air. Even just walking fast on flat ground was tricky for this gal that lives in an area that is technically below sea level. All I need to say, is that Zebulon Pike, you were one courageous man.

Breweries!

There are so many microbreweries in Colorado, which means so many wonderful challenges for the palette! Brad and I had our first date at a brew pub, and we have always appreciated a craft beer. We drink to taste and appreciate, as opposed to get drunk. We were lucky that we had the chance to sample brews that we can not get out here on the east coast while we were in Colorado. Although, we were having quite a lot of heated fun after finishing three breweries in one day!

Fort Collins Brewery

We had two flights at Fort Collins Brewery: One was the regular drafts and the other was the seasonal drafts. Of all the drafts, their rauchbiers and schwartzbiers were my favorite. For those of you who are not beer people, these are beer that taste like smoked meat. Their Z lager and their Kidd Lager were fabulous for me!  See  Fort Collins Brewery Website for more info!

Mostly finished flights at Fort Collins Brewery!

Big Beaver Brewing Company

This was a "hoot." It was quaint and semi-raunchy with beer that was tasty. We took my gnome and got some pictures. The staff was pleasant and they gave us free raunchy stickers! Check out the Big Beaver Brewing Website for more!

New Belgium Brewing Company

This is the larger microbrewery that we had the chance to visit. I have had their Fat Tire over here in the east and it was always enjoyed. Here I tried a black IPA and their 1554. But the best of all was their Cocoa Mole Ale. It tasted like cinnamon! You could even smell the cinnamon in the beer. It was a wonderful beer. To read more about it, check out the New Belgium Website to read about it, get pairings, and more!

Grampy liked the New Belgium trailer

Grampy liked the food truck outside, too!

Kyung Sung Restaurant Review

Kyung Sung 
Category: Korean
Rating: 3/5
Website: Information on Yelp 

Likes: very nice attitude of Asian waitress, small samples of Korean foods, tasty bulgolgi, neat, hot, clay pot, fried eggs on top!

Dislikes: Asian waitress with a very nice attitude was the only waitress, the only waitress also took away my sauce before I was done, "spicy" food was not very spicy

This is the first official documentation of the Fleenor-Thomas Ethnic Food Club. This is really a fancy way to label two couples who like to eat food from other cultures and enjoy each other's company. Seriously, Brad and I really have the best conversations with Brent and Whitney while eating the best food.The gang began with meeting each other for a bowl of Vietnam pho and then we went to get Indian food. In the future, we have Ethiopian, Moroccan, and more Indian on the list!

This evening we went to Kyung Sung restaurant in Williamsburg. I had never had Korean food before, so it was a new experience for me. It used to be a sushi restaurant next to a Vietnamese restaurant; now they are a Korean and an Asian Fusion place. Collectively, we ordered four different dishes and a Korean beer! There was only one waitress, so the service was slow. However, our company was awesome so I didn't really mind.

1. We ordered an appetizer of steamed dumplings. The serving was a generous ten dumplings with a very tasty smoky sauce. 

 2. This is a picture of the beef bulgolgi and the Korean small plates. I had to look this up: each Korean meal comes with side dishes and are called banchan.  We had kimchi, bean sprouts, and mystery pickled produce. 

The bulgolgi was my favorite dish of night... and I didn't order it. An ultimatum for next time.

 3. Brad ordered the spicy pork bulgolgi. It too was tasty, but not that spicy. By her reaction, the lone waitress favored  this dish.

4. I spent about five minutes staring at the name of my dish, and now I still can't remember it. All I remember is that it was number 34! My dish was spicy pork and a fried egg on top of a bed of white rice, lettuce, and asian vegetables that I need to learn. It was served in a very hot clay pot. I broke the egg and mixed it around with the contents of the bowl, and it cooked after two minutes! So cool.