A reading and cooking type of month

I’m a very bad blogger. It’s been more than a month since my last post. C’est la vie!

I’ve been meaning to write though because I’ve been reading so many good books lately and I also tried two great new recipes.

I’ve been reading up a storm.

1.  Let’s Pretend This Never Happened — My wonderful friend Ashley sent this to me and it is hilarious.

2. The Game of Thrones series (I’m now on book 4) — I’m usually one of those crusty people who says a given book is so much better than the movie/TV show. On this one, I’m liking the show a bit more. Maybe it’s because I saw the show first, so nothing in the books is really a big surprise.

3.  Brain On Fire — This one was really a great non-fiction read. A NY writer suffers from a rare inflammation of the brain and essentially loses a month of her life.

4. Heat — My friend Sandi lent me this after hearing that I’d never read it. A New Yorker editor gives up his day job to become Mario Batali’s “kitchen slave.” I just finished this last night. Basically, it makes you want to cook and cook and cook some more and then go to Italy and  eat.

And still on my bed side table

1. TransAtlantic — I loved Colum McCann’s “Let the Great World Spin,” so I’m excited to read his new book as well.

2. Gang leader for a day — Also a book lent by Sandi.

 

And on the cooking side, I made this last night for dinner.

It’s a white chicken chili from Eat, Live, Run. 

It’s so tasty and a perfect recipe for fall. (Even though, it was 89 in Tallahassee yesterday.) I just love soup and this is a nice new addition to my favorites. It also somewhat erased the memory of a crockpot fail from last week. My slow cooker Moroccan lentil soup just did not work out. The recipe called for 8-10 hours on low and everything turned to mush.  On the upside, the house smelled delicious while it was cooking.

 

I also tried making scallops for the first time.

I had actually never eaten scallops before, just consumed them. So, I figured it was time to learn. I didn’t do too much to them, just cooked them in a lot of butter with some pepper. I also roasted some squash in the oven and made this kale-chickpea-feta salad .