Stone Arabia and Whiskey Sliders

I read Dana Spiotta's Stone Arabia right after The American Heiress, and it was a tough transition.  I can be schizophrenic with my reading preferences - I want something dark and challenging one day and something frothy and light the next.  Stone Arabia was a challenge after the easy breezy American Heiress and I must say I almost threw in the towel, even though the book is short - around 250 pages.  The book is about a middle aged brother and sister - Denise and Nik.  Neither is successful or happy in their lives.  They used to be LA rocker kids in the late 70s and early 80s- Nik in a band and Denise a sunset strip teenage groupie.  Those were their glory days and they are long gone.  There is not much of a story so to speak but more of an introverted look at Denise and Nik and their lives now, in their late forties, and when they were kids.  I guess what I think the book is really about is how much it sucks to get older.

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The American Heiress and Creme Brulee

Daisy Goodwin's American Heiress is the perfect frothy little read to help you get over the end of the third season of Downton Abbey.   Pick it up next Sunday when you feel an emptiness around 9PM without the Crawleys, manor houses, upstairs-downstairs dramas and dinners in tuxedos.  The novel is about a beautiful rich American heiress - cheekily named Cora Cash - at the turn of the century, who finds herself marrying above her non-noble American routes and becoming a British Duchess.  At first Cora naively falls in love with both her husband, the Duke and the glamorous world he comes from, but soon she realizes, as of course she must, that neither her husband nor the world he comes with are so shiny and wonderful.  The novel is filled with delicious melodrama and is great escapist fiction for when you don't want to think too much, but want to be transported to a world seemingly more glamorous and interesting than your own.

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Almond Milk Cinnamon Hot Cocoa

Ugh, I know I have pretty much abandoned Bookcooker in 2013, and I apologize.  January just ran away from me - work, skiing on the weekends, perhaps a little lack of inspiration.  And then, I was out of town, and out of the country for a trial for work.  The trial went on longer than expected, in fact, after three weeks it still isn't finished (hopefully we will put it to bed this week!)  I thought that when left alone in a strange, cold, snowy Canadian town I would have plenty of time to focus on blogging at night, but alas, the trial was pretty much all consuming mentally.  So I hope with this post I will start to put things back on track, and promise in March to be up and running on a more regular basis.  What we have here is a warm and toasty hot cocoa made with almond milk.  A feature in the January Martha Stewart Living on almond milk inspired me and now I am fairly obsessed with this ingredient, in addition to using it oatmeal and cereal, I also made a yummy, healthier creamed spinach.  While almond milk is rich, it doesn't leave you with that heavy, bloated feeling that real dairy sometimes does.  This is especially true for this hot cocoa, which was wonderful and rich but did not deliver a knock out punch that left me lethargic on the couch!  It is still very snowy and cold in New England, so this drink could be that special treat that gets you through the final dregs of winter.  Enjoy.

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