Soups - A Final Grade for the Four I've Made

Yesterday I was efficient. I had a schedule of stores to go to and a firm timing. Of course that didn't stop me from having to go back to the grocery store two more times during the day for things I had forgotten, but that's totally on me. I just wasn't using my brain. 

The Roasted Butternut Squash soup recipe was 
made last week. It was fabulous and fantastic and 
I highly recommend it if you're looking for a 
good cold-weather soup. Grade: A.

The goal yesterday (aside from the normal items like my three loads of laundry for Wednesdays) was to make the other two main soups I had on my agenda - the Roasted Peppers and Tomato Soup, and the Creamy Avocado Soup. So, after getting home from the gym, I dove into my day. I went to the stores on my list, then settled down to make the first soup on my agenda. I had high hopes for this one - it sounded delicious. 

The "Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup" recipe 
is another winner. I liked it so much, I had a portion 
for my dinner last night. Mine was a bit more 
orange than the photo, but that's because my 
tomatoes were heirloom so a bit lighter in 
color. Grade: A. 

I prepped the veggies and put them into the oven to broil for their 25-35 minutes. I had the broiler set on "Lo" because I didn't need to set them on fire, just roast them. The large baking sheet was crammed full of four peppers, three tomatoes and one onion, there wasn't room to breathe. Next time (and there WILL be a next time) I'm going to do two baking sheets so that I can flatten the peppers a bit more and get a bit more char on them. But this recipe turned out to be excellent. VERY tasty indeed and highly recommended. 

The Roasted Carrot soup was also quite tasty. 
I might add a little honey or maple syrup to 
augment the natural sweetness of the carrots 
next time I make this one, but I will most 
certainly make it again. Grade: B.

After this one was finished (and in my newly purchased storage containers - LOL) I dove into the second recipe the avocado soup. I had my hesitations about this one because it called for cilantro, but thought, OK, I'll give it a try anyway. BIG MISTAKE. I truly HATED this soup. I think if you like cilantro it could be a good one, but for me, I disliked it so much that I actually threw the soup out. I didn't bother eating the one batch and saying "Never Again", I flushed it. So, My scorecard so far ... firm "A" grades for the Butternut Squash and the Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soups. A "B" grade for the Carrot Soup which I would absolutely make again, and a "D" grade for the Avocado Soup which I really didn't like. 

If I could think of a good alternative to the 
1/4 cup of Cilantro, I might try this one 
again, but probably not. I get something 
similar in my Ogre Juice, and don't feel like 
I need to have that warm. All together, this 
one was a miss for me, although not a 
complete fail. Still, Grade: D. 

I had time available, so I did a major clean out of the back of my closet - you know ... that area where things older seem to go to die because you hardly ever manage to open that door or move into that section. I started pulling out clothing and anything that was too large, whether I loved it or not, went into a pile for Goodwill. I ended up with FOUR full grocery bags of clothes to donate tomorrow - a total of 43 different things, mostly blouses and shirts. I'm thrilled. I have a bit more closet space now, and I tried on a few things I loved that I haven't been able to wear for years, and THEY FIT! It was a fabulous feeling. 

I haven't tried the 10-Ingridient veggie soup yet, maybe 
I'll try that one next week. I'll have to take a look 
through the ingredient list to see if I'm interested 
in it or not. I would be just as happy with another 
batch of either the Squash or the Roasted Peppers 
soup instead. 

So, I'm out of here. Photos and then off to the pool, to work, and to the day ahead. I hope your day is spectacular and happy, and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Justice League - Review of Characters - NO SPOILERS

Saturday's "Small Business Saturday" sale was disappointing - not really much more business than a standard day. A real drop over last year's numbers. I find myself wondering if sales are actually worth it, but we had a great response to our Black Friday sale, and we only do two sales a year - after Thanksgiving, and after Christmas. So, I guess I'll see how my after-Christmas sales go. 

Flash is just a kid - young, a bit brash, and intelligent, but
new to the superhero game. He was a breath of refreshing air. 

It was lovely to see "Justice League" in the cinema on Sunday morning, though. Although not as strong in levity as "Thor Ragnarok", it was very enjoyable and I loved Wonder Woman and Flash. Flash was actually a real surprise for me - I had never been that fond of the character in the actual DC Comics, but here, as portrayed in the movie, he was a character whose joy in the simple things really rang for me. 

Cyborg - this character was new to me, but I enjoyed
him a lot. There were several parts of the film where
success wouldn't have been possible without his
superpowers and abilities. 

Cyborg was an interesting addition to the League. Realistically, he was integral to the plot and the achievement of the goals of the superheros. Without Cyborg they would have been unsuccessful. But, in essence, that could have been said about each of the characters, so as a team they worked very well and each had their time in the spotlight. 

I love Wonder Woman - always have. She's played to
perfection in the movie and she rocks! 

Wonder Woman simply rocks! We loved her in her own movie earlier in the year, and she really found her footing in JL. Batman wasn't bad and wasn't good - just was. By now there have been so many playing that role, that another man wearing the cape and mask is just another one. "yawn" Alfred was fun, though, in the appearances he made. 

I've been a fan of Batman for most of my life, and
this particular actor was fine - not over the top and
not outstanding. Still, I've seen worse! 

Aquaman - I don't think he ever really got to show his talents here, although he's a great looking character with an interesting back story. I look forward to his own movie which will be released in the first quarter of 2018. He wasn't really doing anything in JL that pushed his super powers or origins, just a little bit here and there. Still, I'm intrigued by the character. 

Aquaman - I'm looking forward to his full-length
movie because I think there's an interesting story
here that just didn't come out in the JL movie. 

So did the JL succeed? Well, yes, because it is a movie that has an evil villain that must be defeated. I enjoyed it, the heroes were good and had flaws, and their villain was bad and wanted to destroy the world. I'm not going to tell you the ins, outs and secrets of the plot - they accomplished the goal and evil was once again destroyed. 

My favorite thing from the movie? The Lasso of Truth that Wonder Woman uses. That really rocked! So, on that note, let's start the week out right. I'm off to the pool to work off the last bit of turkey and stuffing, and then on to the shop to see what we can do for our next month. There are still a few days left in November, but I'd probably better start my holiday shopping too. Internet - here I come - LOL. 

Reading and Reviews

I always have my nose in a book. Over the past few years, it's usually an e-book, before, it was more often a paperback. From the time I learned to read, books accompanied me everywhere and getting my attention away from the story/novel was sometimes extremely difficult. I still read every chance I get - at breakfast, at work, and at dinner.

My nose is always in a book, and since I carry my e-library along with me
in my phone, a book is always at hand. 

That said, I don't often review. I write and I know how much reviews can mean to an author, but I don't review frequently. Why not? I know the authors put their blood and sweat into their book. I cared enough to actually purchase and read the book. It's not as if I don't have something to say about the book (getting me to shut up is usually harder than getting me to start talking). So why don't I review more frequently?

When I leave a book review, it means I really enjoyed the book - that
it was a higher caliber than most books I read. Occasionally I'll review
to the negative, but that's extremely rare. 

I've come to the conclusion that I leave a review if a book won't let go of my mind. If I'm still thinking about the book and the characters a day later, if they insert themselves into that time when sleep is almost there and the mind is freely walking down pathways of its own desires, then I'll take the time to review.

I'm pretty good about commenting on short stories, but actual novels, I'm
less good about leaving reviews. I should see if I can improve that and review
more often. 

However, if I close the virtual cover on the book, download the next and begin reading it, and a day later, can barely recall the plot line, characters, or defining characteristics about the prior book, then it was a nice read, but I won't bother to review. It's the books that get under my skin that I'll spend the time on. What about you? Do you write reviews for books you purchase? What makes you want to leave a review, either positive or negative? Happy Tuesday to all ...

Writing Writing Writing, and Still Not Finished

I finally got my first B2MeM story (Strings of the Heart) posted at both LOTR Community Stories and B2MeM and almost caught up on reading and reviews. I also got two drabbles posted in Tolkien Weekly - since I had two characters wanting to be showcased, I wrote a quick drabble for each of them. I didn't get any work done on my next B2MeM story, but it's well under way. So, my writing world is progressing. A lovely chat with Aearwen crowned my Wednesday day off.

I use a smaller version of there bright pumpkins as my B2MeM avatar.
It's so much fun to be participating in this once again. 

That said, I didn't get as many books scanned yesterday as I had wanted. I really had wanted to finish the hallway bookcases, but I still have two remaining. Hopefully by the end of Sunday I'll have those two finished and can start in on the next section of paperbacks. I have cataloged more than 500 paperbacks so far. It's been interesting to see what boxes are already full. DragonLance books are already filled - that's one of DH's favorite series, and I like it too. If we have more DragonLance in a different spot, I'll have to start a new box. And my "B" box is also filled to capacity. I blame that entirely on Marion Zimmer Bradley and her Darkover books (and other series besides). I adore her work and own almost everything she's ever published. I'm surprised that my M box isn't filled yet. I have a lot of McCaffrey's Pern books. But I may have most of hers in the Library bookshelves which is the last shelving unit I'm planning to scan.

Marion Zimmer Bradley is one of my favorite authors for many, many
years now. I love almost everything she's written and the worlds
she has created are wonderful, rich and diverse. 

I have been using my new washer and dryer a lot and can conclusively say, after more than 50 uses, I'm very happy with them. The one negative that had been noted in reviews held true - water doesn't evacuate from the detergent dispensing drawer completely and the drawer has to be removed and emptied after each load - but that's a minor inconvenience. I'm thrilled with how clean my clothes are, the amount of clothes I can put into a load, and the general everything about the new washer and dryer. It was a great holiday gift and I have no regrets.

I'm very happy with my washer and dryer and have been using them
a lot since we got them in January. This was a good decision. 

The other product that I had discussed getting is my Misfit Shine fitness tracker. This has positive and negative aspects, but as a fitness tracker, I'm quite pleased with it. I wish it was also a heart rate monitor, but I knew it wasn't going in, so no surprises. I purchased the Coral color and that's what I would change if/when I get another one down the road. The finish doesn't survive contact with the swimming pool's tiled wall and has a few scrapes and dings on it. But it works really well, I've been wearing it 24/7 since I got it more than two weeks ago, and it tracks my sleep as well as my varied activities. It works really well in the pool for my swimming days, and on the cycle for my machine days, two exercises that can challenge a lot of trackers that are focused on treadmills and elliptical machines. It's well designed, it does what I bought it for, and it was only $100. I declare myself satisfied right now. We'll see how long it works before I have to replace it. Fitness monitors have a history of short lifespans.

I'm very pleased with my Misfit Shine. The surface finish isn't as durable
as I had expected, but the performance is excellent. 

And on that note, it's time to get ready to get out of here and hit the gym. Have a fabulous Thursday, everyone. Write something, review something, tell someone that you love them. Make some happy waves today.