The Round House

by Louise Erdrich

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis: One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

My Thoughts:This story starts off with a brutal rape and assault of a mother, tearing a family apart. The main character is the son of the mother, Joe, and the reader sees through his eyes how the assault affects his mother, his father, himself, and the community. He relies on various family members and friends to help him find peace with what was done to his family.

The complexity of the plot astounded me. First, there were so many characters, which normally confuses me. However, Erdrich developed each character within the first few sentences of their introduction that I knew who they were. Partially based on stereotypes with their own little quirks to make them understood and unique, each character had a definite presence in the novel. There was the ex-marine who decided to become a priest and the aunt who was an ex-stripper from a bad home. There was also the Uncle who relied on alcohol and hit his ex-stripper that was not his actual wife. There was the father who was a judge and always looking to the legal aspect of the situation with his quirky fountain pen. Each character had enough "stereotype" that I could understand them, but they had their own little quirks about them that made them unique. 

There was the group of good boys with a hooligan side that were my favorites. Watching Joe and his relationship with Cappy blossom was my favorite part of the novel. They act like such good adolescent boys who are trying to cope with learning to be an adult. I respected that their friendship was so strong and that they watched over each other until the very end of the debacle. It restored peace of mind that even though there were bad things going on in Joe's world, he also had some very special.

I also loved the complexity of the plot. This novel was tying in both so many educational aspects of reservation life for Americans who know very little about being a Native American. This stretches from social aspects, such as the drinking and the way they spoke (no th's!), to the low economic status they have. Joe expresses how excited he was to have a grocery store on his reservation. Erdrich also discusses Native American law and has a note in the back with more details. It was educational as well as entertainment.

To top it off, there is even mystery involved as Joe and his father attempt to learn what the entire situation of the mother's assault was. Was it a random attack? Someone they knew? As the the novel read on, there were so many branches of the plot that once I thought I had something figured out, another detail entered and I had to start over again.

Overall, I loved reading this. I recommend it to all adult readers and I will be looking forward to reading more by Louise Erdrich!

Mamma Zu

Mamma Zu
Style: Italian
Website: This place is lucky to be featured on Yelp!, let alone have it's own site. Read on and you'll understand what I mean.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Pros: The food, low key, the food, romantic lighting (meaning hardly any lights), the food, casual atmosphere, the food, when you are waiting for a table you can drink wine, and the food. 

Cons: They only take cash and American Express, everyone else likes them so they are hard to get a table at, chalkboard menu gives character but few details

I go to Mamma Zu's every year for my birthday dinner. Why? Because it is sooo good, but such a hassle. It is one of my most favorite restaurants, but sometimes the hassle makes me wish it wasn't. It's just that the food is so good. Who knew that some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten would be from a dumpy place in Richmond, VA? 

I will start from the beginning. Mamma Zu's is open for dinner at 5:30. We were going to have a reservation which they will take for parties of six or more. However, someone got sick and had to cancel. Therefore, instead of showing up at 5:30, we arrived at 5:10 and waiting IN the LINE that had already formed to get in. It was about 28 degrees and there were snow flurries. We love this place so much that we huddled together and froze to death before we could go in. But one of the best moments of the evening was when they began cooking five minutes before opening and a big whiff of garlic hit us in the face. That's when you know it's going to be a great meal.

Five of us crammed into a booth really created for about 3.5 people. One of us is very overweight, another is over 6 feet and 4 inches tall. Another had to sit at a chair at the end of the booth next to a coat stand with people waiting for a table right behind him. Looking around the restaurant is not an impressive view. It is sort of a dump, but after awhile there are so many people packed into the joint that you don't even notice.

Once we sat down we realized a bad thing... we couldn't see the menu. The menu is a chalk board. My husband had the brilliant idea to take a picture of it and bring it back to the table (see the picture above). When they run out of something, they go over a wipe it clean away. That is a second reason why it's good to get there early.

They always give you bread and there is olive oil on the table for dipping. I like to add salt and red pepper flakes to my oil for a little pizzaz. I recommend getting the broccoli rab with garlic, lemon, and pine nuts for a starter. It gives a whole new meaning to green vegetables.

The portion sizes for the dishes vary. Sometimes you get a monstrous meal, and other times it is just normal eating size. In addition to the food, I always order a cheap table wine for charisma. This time we got the house Merlot which is served in small plain glasses. It reminds me of my childhood when the Italian adults would drink their wine from jelly jars!

My cousin had the squid ink pasta. My husband has had it on a prior visit. It is interesting how my cousin had it in a bowl this time, while my husband had it on a plate once. It is slightly spicy and we love it.

My grandmother ordered the mussels. You can order either a spicy red sauce or a garlic butter sauce. She got the latter. We thought it was just going to come with the mussels. Oh how we were wrong. It was a giant platter with linguine that you could barely see because it was topped with so many mussels you could barely see it. It was very tasty to also dip the bread into the broth that the linguine was sitting in.

One of my staple favorites is the pork chops. This time my husband ordered them. It comes with two very large pork chops over and inch thick. They have a core of black peppercorn pesto in the middle and are served with white beans. The beans are soaking in a rosemary garlic broth which makes them the most delectable bean I have ever eaten. Usually I eat one of the pork chops and take one home. It is enough for two meals.

I tried for something new this time. Once I tried something that was not pork chops and instead I got the lamb meatballs. They were tasty, but I only received three small meatballs. This time I got the Veal Marsala instead of the pork chops. The veal was pounded thin and roasted in a lovely sweet wine gravy. It came with a side of pasta. I only wish that it had mushrooms with the veal.

We finished with a cannoli and tiramisu. Of course they were a delicious way to end the evening  on an amazing note. 

Restaurant Style Artisan Bread

Those of you who follow recipes on Pinterest have most likely run into that recipe that you can make this fabulous artisan bread with just five ingredients. They always say that it is so easy that anyone could do it and that you don't have to knead it. They describe this bread as being hard and crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. 

Let's just say I was so skeptical that this bread was all that because it sounds like an cheesy infomercial. I was always expecting the Sham-WOW! guy to come up on the website in a glittery pop up. Therefore, I really wanted to prove it wrong and say to myself that these people didn't know what they were talking about.

They did know what they were talking about because this bread was everything that they said it was. Who knew that things on the internet could actually be true?

The link to the bread that I made is located here at Frugal Living. Our bread came out crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. It was easy to make because I did not have to knead it. It tasted awesome.

One thing I was skeptical about was that it might not come out of the dutch oven because it wasn't greased. However, you place the dough in a scalding hot pot which sears the dough, thus making it crunchy too.

I suggest that if you like to make bread, or even if you have never made it and just want to, you should try it. This was awesome. 

The House at Riverton

 By Kate Morton
My Rating: 4/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

Summer 1924

On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again.

Winter 1999

Grace Bradley, ninety-eight, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken and old memories - long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind - begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge, something history has forgotten but Grace never could.

Set as the war-shattered Edwardian summer surrenders to the decadent twenties, The House at Riverton is a thrilling mystery and a compelling love story.

My Thoughts: This is one book that I almost quite reading one hundred pages into it, and I am so happy that I sat through the beginning. It took me a long time to understand what was going on. The plot begins with a household maid, working at a young age for a wealthy English family. The plot continues from her perspective, but jumping in from the past to the present. At fist I had a difficult time jumping back and fourth out of time and then plunging back into it. However, once I became used to the awkward transitions, it was definitely worth the read.

This story has so many twists and turns. Every time I thought I had a prediction that was right, the story turned and I saw my prediction go down the drain. What kept me reading was that I wanted to know what happened to the characters. Each of the three children in the wealthy family had an interesting character and a place in the family. Hannah when from bossy and manipulative little sister to married woman not being in charge of her household. Sweet little Emmeline goes from an innocent child to a roaring 20's flapper. And when World War I hits, the entire family's role shifts due to the change in global politics. Watching those roles and characters shift and morph into new roles with new interests was addicting. The story was an epic tale of love, loss, and growth.

However, the last 150 pages were what sold this book for me. This book is sort of like the stories of Legends of the Fall and Gosford Park rolled into one. Then, change all the endings and when you think you have it figured out, you dump the idea down the drain and replace it with a more shattering idea. It was fabulous!

Balkan Restaurant

The Balkan Restaurant

Style: Balkan (duh)

Website: Balkan Restaurant Website

My Rating: 3.5/5

Likes: Really tasty breads; cool desserts; neat map painting on the wall with a fat Italy; friendly service

Dislikes: Cutting thick meat with a butter knife... here in 'Merica, we use knives with these things called serrated edges; It could also be a little tricky to find

The Fleenor-Thomas Ethnic Food Club strikes again when we went to a Balkan Restaurant called.... wait for it... Balkan Restaurant. We received the idea from a LivingSocial deal and decided to try something completely new. 

Finding the location was interesting. My husband and I were lucky because our friends arrived there first and told us to look across from the CVS. It is tucked within a strip mall on busy Patterson Ave. However, once we parked in front of the Papa Johns next door (shh... don't tell my mother we parked there because she thinks people will hit our car) we were greeted by friendly faces and ethnic people actually eating there. That is always an excellent sign.

They had a painting on the wall of the Balkan area, including Italy and Greece. The menu had an interesting representation of ethnic foods. Many meals were loaded with Kalamata Olives which I associate with Mediterranean. However, we also ordered things like cabbage rolls and schnitzel, which I don't associate with Greece or Italy. 

We first ordered an appetizer to start with. We had a burek, filled with cheese. The burek was a puff pastry, similar to a popover. It was just a touch greasy to make it taste decadent, without being overkill. 

Brent ordered the stuffed cabbage rolls called Swarma. He said that they were good. I am taking his word for it. Somehow, the love of cabbage skipped in my Irish genes. I suppose that the Italian took over.

Both Brad and Whitney ordered the Hungarian Goulash. It was beef served with mashed potatoes. I personally thing it would have been better if you could more easily mix the two. I would like to eat a bite of meat with the potatoes saturated with the paprika gravy.  

I ordered the Balkan Gourmet Schnitzel. This was my favorite of all of the dishes ordered. Others at the table agreed with me. The meat was a ground beef and lamb mixture and placed on top grilled lepinja bread (the slightly greased puff pastry from the grill). On top of it was some gouda cheese and smoked meat. The juices from the meat ran into the bread which made it extremely tasty. The only thing that I do wish, was that they gave me a sharper knife to cut it with. The bottom of the grilled bread was very hard to cut with a blunt butter knife. I spent more time sawing than eating. The meal was also served with some salty shoestring potato fries and a lettuce side salad. I did not care so much for the dressing on the salad. It tasted like a mixture of mayonnaise and Italian dressing. 

We also had dessert, which did not last long enough for me to take pictures of. The first was a rolled baklava that was cut into pieces. The second was a square of baked apples in filo dough. This was a treat, because it tasted like baklava with apples and honey. 

Overall, it was a very tasty meal shared with excellent company. The service was nice and the food was affordable. Although it was a fun and satisfying experience, I am not sure that I would drive the hour it took to get there again in the near future. 

The Fault in Our Stars Review

The Fault in Our Stars
By John Green
My Rating: 2/5 Stars

Goodreads Summary: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.


My Review: This is now my fourth version of this review. Each time I write it, it becomes far to personal for me to publish on the internet. I appreciated this book, but I didn't like it. 

The writing was a masterpiece. The characters are well developed. The philosophies are intricate and well formed. It is introspective and reflective about both very deep and serious issues, as well as everyday occurrences. 

However, the topic was depressing which goes against the reason I read. Currently, I read for escape. This is not a book that I wanted to escape into. I put the novel down three times because I was crying. 

I also feel that it was over melodramatic. It is great material for "emo" teenagers who write poetry and are just beginning to contemplate the meaning of life. I have surpassed that stage in my life and don't plan on revisiting it any time shortly. 

Although it is an excellent book, make sure you are comfortable with the topic before you begin it. By the time I realized how depressing it was, I was already too attached the characters and I felt like I was doing sick children around the world an injustice by not finishing it (yes, completely irrational I know).

Bavarian Cranberry Apple Torte

Last year, I was reading a copy of InStyle Magazine and they were featuring a spread on holiday food that actress Maria Bello prepared for family holidays with her mother. I prepared it for the first time last year a week before Christmas. The consistency was off and a little runny, but it tasted AMAZING. Therefore, I tried again at different temperatures and it was almost perfect. So I made another one to actually serve and it was perfect.

The trick with this dessert is to know your oven. The dessert is supposed to be baked for ten minutes at 450 degrees F and then the temperature is lowered to 400 degrees F for another half an hour or so. In the first round when I did this, my oven didn't lower the temperature quick enough. The outside was almost burnt and the inside was a little runny. I found that adjusting the starting temperature to 440 degrees F and then lowering it to 400 degrees worked well. Since the temperature was lowered, I kept it in for an extra ten minutes. However, since it was in for longer, I ended up tenting it with aluminum foil for the last twenty to protect the cranberries from becoming hard like glass!

This is one of those desserts that once you try it, it is hard to make just one. I like it because it is rich and flavorful without being very dense. It is creamier than cheesecake, but has that rich explosion when it hits your palette. When it is paired with the apples and the crust, the tastes and textures meld in an autumnal decadence. It was a such a huge success, that I ended up making three of them again this year. One went for Christmas Eve dinner, one for Christmas dinner, and another one just for me and Brad.

The original recipe from Instyle can be found at this link: http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/holidaytrends/photos/0,,20538174_20542725_21077895,00.html 

Bavarian Cranberry Apple Torte

Crust Ingredients: 

•1 cup unsalted butter

•2/3 cup sugar

•1/2 tsp vanilla extract

•2 cups all-purpose flour

•1/2 cup raspberry jam

Crust Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Blend in flour to form a ball.

3. Press dough onto bottom and about 2 inches up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. I used a special Sara-created technique for this. First I lined the sides of the springform.

Then I added the bottom, making sure to use ALL of the dough and assuring that there was a great seal between the sides and bottom.

To create a finishing touch, I took a small paring knife and gently cut a smooth rim around the top edge of the crust. I let the little pieces of dough fall to the bottom. Then I reinforced thinner patches of crust with the smaller pieces. 

This is what the final crust looked like:

4. Spread with a thin layer of raspberry jam.

5. Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

Filling Ingredients: 

•16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

•1/2 cup sugar

•2 eggs

•1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling Directions:

1. Combine cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Make sure that the cream cheese is soft enough to blend, otherwise you'll end up with little extra clumps. 

2. Pour over jam-covered crust.

Topping Ingredients:

•3 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced. I found that Gala apples worked best.

•1/2 cup dried cranberries

•1/3 cup sugar

•1/2 tsp cinnamon

•1/2 cup sliced almonds

Topping Directions:

1. Toss apples and cranberries with sugar and cinnamon.

2. Spoon apples over cream cheese layer and sprinkle with almonds (I did creatively place a few apples for an artistic look). The picture below is just before the almonds were added. 

Final Steps:

1. Bake torte at 440°F for 10 minutes; with torte still in oven, lower heat to 400°F and bake for 40 additional minutes. Stop and tent with aluminum foil if needed. (original recipe called for 450 degrees). I would also put a pan in underneath it because the springform will link.

2. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to firm up filling.

3. Use a thin knife to carefully loosen torte from sides of pan and remove. Transfer to a serving plate and enjoy!