Reading: I am still working on that pile of books, and I have now picked up The Handmaid's Tale to re-read. This, of course, is the book that I am flying through. It has probably been 8 years since I first read Handmaid's Tale. It freaked me out then and is doing so again on this reading. It is just so real and so many things, especially lately, seem to be similar to events in the book.

This weekend was so beautiful that I spent the whole weekend outside, planting, weeding, mulching, ripping up grass and putting in flowers. I love this time of year! My lilac bush, only a year old, is covered in buds and I noticed this morning that it is starting to bloom! Maybe I will change this blog to Reading and Eating and Gardening.

Eating: Summertime is a whole different eating experience than winter is. Last night, we grilled steaks and potatoes. We are still working out way through the quarter of beef that we got a while back and have about 5 packs of steaks left. We marinated the big T-bones overnight so they were extra juicy, tender and tasty. This is the marinade I use for many things: 1/4 C. soy sauce, 1/4 oil, 2 cloves of garlic pressed, fresh ground black pepper, 2 T. ketchup, 1T vinegar. The potatoes I peel and slice with my Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer from Pampered Chef. Using a piece of foil for each serving of potatoes, I spray the foil with oil from the Kitchen Spritzer (also Pampered Chef). Salt, pepper, fresh pressed garlic, whatever seasonings I find (I have a salt-free dried herb mixture I bought at the Farmer's Market that is excellent for potatoes), a little onion, chopped carrot (if desired. This is the great part about these potatoes--everyone gets his own packet so they can be made to taste.). Seal up the foil and put on the grill a little after the steaks. They cook in the same time the steaks take and taste delicious.

Another great easy summertime "recipe" is pasta salad. In the time it takes to boil noodles, you can have a hearty summer meal! I used rotini pasta, chopped carrots, cubed ham from the deli, real bacon bits, shredded cheddar (I keep big bags of cheese in the freezer to use as needed. Handy and no worries of green cheese). Drain and cool the pasta under cold running water. Mix all together and add dressing. I used Ranch but I would think any kind would be good. I sprinkled sliced almonds on top (Dole now has seasoned sliced almonds--look for them in the produce dept. at your grocery store!). Yummy! We ate this as a meal.

Reading: I finished Life of Pi earlier this week. I liked it a lot and am glad we read it for bookclub. I think there will be some interesting discussion. I laughed and laughed, I was grossed out, I was awed at how he was surviving on this lifeboat with the 450 pound Bengal tiger, I was inspired by his perseverance and continued faith.

One particular funny moment had more to do with my memory skills than with the actual book. The reader is introduced early on in the book to the tiger, Richard Parker. Then the book goes on and we learn about how he became a Hindu with Christian and Islamic beliefs, and in general more about his life. Then, he is on the boat, crossing the ocean to get to Canada, when it sinks (I am not giving anything away--this you can learn from the blurb on the book). He is in the lifeboat and encouraging Richard Parker, who is in the water swimming, to get in the lifeboat too. Cheering Richard Parker on, throwing the lifebuoy to him, etc. and all of a sudden he realizes what he is doing and tries to whack Richard Parker on the head with an oar and then, when Richard Parker finally climbs aboard, Pi jumps off into the water. The reason this was so funny to me is that I forgot who Richard Parker was and mistakenly though him to be a classmate of Pi's, which made it very confusing when he started trying to hit him and yelling at him to stay away.

And yes, the tiger is ALWAYS referred to by his whole name, Richard Parker

Eating: This has not been a very exciting eating week. Nothing new.