To Kill A Mockingbird

Book Review

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

I know I have read this book before. It's a classic.

But I don't remember if I had to read it as a school assignment or not. One would imagine so. Isn't every American teenager required to read this book at some point?

Well, I hope so. I remember that I loved this book.

Never mind that I couldn't remember what actually happened in this book.

I seem to remember something about the movie. That was a great movie too.

But what happened? I couldn't have told you.

And then I found out that my daughter would be reading this later this year as a school assignment.

Ah ha. That's my cue to get reading. And if I can't remember what happens, but I can remember that it is a great book?

Well... like I said, it's time to get reading.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Gluten-Free and Vegan at Great Sage

Vegan Restaurant?

Vegan? Me? Me eat vegan?

Well, I'm not opposed to it, but I am most certainly an omnivore nisi glutine (eat everything except gluten).

I don't find myself eating vegan very often. There are some meats I like very much. There are some meats I won't touch. I eat a fair bit of dairy and I like it.

I was raised on a small farm, for crying out loud.

I've always assumed that I would never become vegan.

I'm not particularly interested in trying meat substitutes. I'm perfectly fine eating real crab and real chicken. I don't want the vegan substitutes. The vegan substitutes of these hold no allure for me.

But eat vegan once in awhile?

Sure.

Especially when the vegan restaurant provides gluten-free options for many of their standard menu items, all of which are vegan and organic.

I'm all for organic.

I'm all for good food... even if sometimes it is vegan.

Great Sage

Gluten-Free Grasshopper Pielettes and Glutino Gluten-Free Chocolate Vanilla Creme Dream Cookies

Not Pies, but Pielettes

I've been meaning to make a Grasshopper pie for months. But these months have been busy, and there wasn't quite the right time for a pie.

Then fall arrived and suddenly it seemed late in the year. But, I decided, not too late.

We needed a dessert to bring to a picnic. Of course I'm going to bring something that is gluten-free. That's just what I do.

And, would you believe, there are now a few people who expect me to do this. They, too, are gluten-free.

I looked for recipes for grasshopper pie. Of course none of them were gluten-free. No problem. I know how to make the necessary adjustments.

In any case, all the grasshopper pie recipes I found in the house contained alcohol. Creme de methe and creme de cacao, to be precise.

And none of these recipes call for baking the pie.

That means the alcohol will not be cooked off.

Now, we were supposed to be bringing a dessert to a picnic with lots of children in attendance. I would never presume to serve all those children a dessert with a significant quantity of alcohol.

I needed to find an alcohol-free recipe for grasshopper pie. I had to resort to the internet.

But I didn't end up using any one particular recipe. I pieced together bits from a couple of different recipes. Therefore, I will now claim this as my own gluten-free, (almost) alcohol-free grasshopper pie recipe.

Except we didn't want to take a pie.

Serving a pie at a picnic is no picnic. It doesn't serve easily. So, I also decided that I would make mini pies or pielettes.

Gluten-Free, almost Alcohol-Free, Grasshopper Pielettes

The Shoemaker's Wife

Book Review

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani.

I first saw this title on a list at the library.

I had never read anything by this author. I had never heard of this author.

Just when I start to feel smug and start to think I know something, I get smacked back down to earth.

This author is not new. This author has been around for awhile. This author has published many things.

Where have I been???

Busy reading other things, I guess.

Well, since I am trying to crawl out of my cave, I decided I would brave a new-to-me author again.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

I had no idea of the author's style. I had no idea of the author's other works. I had no idea what was in store for me.

A blank slate again.

It's pretty exciting to be a blank slate, and then find that you can't put the book down!

The Shoemaker's Wife

Beanfields Bean and Rice Chips

Chips are Chips, Right?

Chips are usually categorized by their composition. Potato chips. Tortilla chips. Corn chips.

Something tells me that we will never see wide adoption of "bean chips." Just a gut feeling.

Yet, since going gluten-free and looking for gluten-free products, I have seen more and more bean chips available.

Now, why would this be correlated with me looking for gluten-free products?

I have no idea. There is no good reason for these two occurrences to be correlated.

Yet, I can't ever remember seeing bean chips on shelves ten years ago. Or even five years ago.

Maybe it it is just their time to come on stage?

I don't know, but when I see products that announce their gluten-free-ness, I am willing to try them.

Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips, Pico de Gallo flavor