Proud as a Peacock

It's finished! And I am a terrible photographer...but you get the idea. Someday this one will probably be a wall hanging with a coordinating blue fabric edge. For now it will sit in my slowly growing pile of completed projects that need finishing.

Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

From the back of the book (for those few, who like me, had been oblivious to this book until recently): "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." So the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter remembered the chilling events that led her down the turning drive past the beeches, white and naked, to the isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast. With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at the immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca, dead but never forgotten…her suite of rooms never touched, her clothes ready to be worn, her servant – the sinister Mrs. Danvers – still loyal. And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter began her search for the real fate of Rebecca…for the secrets of Manderley.

Before reading numerous glowing reviews on a variety of blogs, I had never heard of this book. Shocking! In discussing it with a co-worker who just happened to be reading it too, she compared it to a soap opera in the form of a classic novel. I finally started reading my bookmooched copy during Memorial Day weekend. I loved it as much as all the reviewers said they did!

I believe what captured me from early on was the development of the narrator. (How observant I am to just have realized we never learn her first name.) The reader really gets to know her, as we are privy to her innermost thoughts. And, despite being published in 1938, the inner world of our narrator illustrates enduring themes of the human tradition – love, insecurity, maturing from adolescence to adulthood, and self-perception. In addition, the narrator’s internal processing of certain events mirrored mine in an uncanny way. The first time I noticed this was as the narrator was preparing to leave Monte Carlo (early in the book):

"Packing up. The nagging worry of departure….I am aware of sadness, of a sense of loss. Here, I say, we have lived, we have been happy. This has been ours, however brief the time. Though two nights only have been spent beneath a roof, yet we leave something of ourselves behind. Nothing material, not a hair-pin on a dressing-table, not an empty bottle of aspirin tablets, not a handkerchief beneath a pillow, but something indefinable, a moment of our lives, a thought, a mood."

And I always thought I had a uniquely sentimental view of good-byes.

I look forward to reading more of Daphne du Maurier’s work in the future.

Time Flies When Your Cookin'

Ok, so if I were doing that much cooking over the past month, I would have enough meals in the freezer to last the summer. May was a busy month with a drive out to Pennsylvania and a wedding to attend in northern Minnesota. So, blogging took a backseat.

I actually did make two very successful new-to-me recipes during the last couple weeks that we also a big hit with Hermie's Dad. Someday I will actually remember to take pictures of these things.

Easy Baked Fish Fillets
Adapted from www.myrecipes.com

1.5 lbs grouper or other white fish fillets
Cooking spray
1 tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice (I used lime, but will do lemon next time.)
1 tbsp light mayo
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
½ cup panko crumbs
1.5 tbsp butter, melted
parmesan herb sprinkles

Preheat oven to 425.

Place fish in an 11x7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine lime/lemon juice, mayo, garlic powder, and pepper in a small bowl, and spread over fish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and paremsan herb mix; drizzle with butter. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.



Three Berry Chicken Salad with Thyme, Tarragon and Toasted Pinenuts
Adapted from The Skinny Gourmet

2 - 12.5 oz cans of chicken breast
¼ cup toasted pinenuts
1 package Welch’s dried fruit blend (cherries, blueberries, cranberries, golden raisins)
½ cup light mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp dried tarragon
¾ tsp cumin
¾ tsp dried oregano
½ cup celery, finely chopped
1/8 cup sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
1 granny smith apple, finely chopped

Put chicken in a bowl. Add celery and onion.

Toast pinenuts in a sauté pan over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Toast until they are deep golden brown and fragrant. Add to chicken.

In a second bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except apples. (Using a second bowl helps ensure that the seasonings are thoroughly combined before adding to the chicken mixture.)

Add Apples to the mayo mixture, stirring to coat thoroughly.

Combine chicken mixture and the mayo mixture, stirring to mix well.

I will note that I somewhat defiled Erin's chicken salad recipe with the use of canned chicken. I'm sure her version has a much more sophisticated taste using roasted chicken, but I will definitely make my lazy cook's version again.