Penny Watson's Blog, page 66

You're Reading What?

You're reading.....

....a novel? How embarrassing. Don't tell anyone. Scandalous, I tell you.

....popular fiction? Really. That's rather lowbrow don't you think?

.....romance? Bodice rippers? Ha! What a bunch of crap!

.....an erotic story? Oh my God! That's pornographic. Certainly not "real" fiction.

....BDSM/menage/slash stories? That's unnatural. Perverse. No worthwhile publisher would consider that.

....an e-book? How cheesy. Those aren't real books.

....something published by a small, independent publisher? If it's not out of New York, it doesn't count.

....a self-published book? Any loser can do that. It has no value.


Pondering the prevalence of pompous comments on the internet and over the course of history,
Penelope

Operation: Popovers!

Thanks to recently reading the book Operation: Spank Me, I am now using this expression constantly. Operation: Clean the garage! Operation: Cook dinner! Operation: Walk the dog! 


........help....me......must.....stop.......


Anyhow, for today's "Operation" my daughter and I are gearing up for Operation: Popovers. The one brief, shining, sunny moment during our vacation to Acadia was at the Jordan Pond. After a quick nature walk, we enjoyed the delicious popovers at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant. Of course, I quickly ordered a popover pan from Amazon, and today we are going to attempt to bake these delicious treats. Hopefully they won't sink like the Titanic.


I'm trying this very simple recipe from Allrecipes.com.....


Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
DirectionsPreheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease and flour six 6-ounce custard cups.
In a medium bowl beat eggs slightly, Beat in flour, milk and salt until just smooth; being careful not to overbeat. Fill custard cups 1/2 full.
Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for 20 minutes more. Immediately remove from cups and serve piping hot.



Commence.....Operation: Popovers!


ETA: Operation: Popovers was a big success! Here is our basket of goodies....

Nom, nom, nom.

Ciao!
Penny

How Do We Feel About "Make-Over" Romance Novels?

I read a few books over vacation, and one of them was Too Perfect by Julie Ortolon. A formerly chubby slightly agoraphobic woman gets "stranded" on a tropical island and becomes a housekeeper for a reclusive man who refuses to be seen. Just to win a bet with her friends. Sure, that sounds....totally plausible. Anyhoo, the "recluse" is actually a big, jaded Hollywood star who is gorgeous and sexy. Since we can't have a frumpy, chubby girl get the hottie guy, said girl undergoes a transformation....transformation.....transformation....(imagine "Slim" from A Bug's Life is saying this part, which should be easy if you have kids and watched that movie 10 million times).

Needless to say, Chubby Girl gets a make-over by Hollywood Dude aka French Dude With A Fake Goatee aka The Recluse. Gone are the big, baggy clothes, replaced with bright colorful shirts with parrot motifs, chunky jewelry, and hair loosely piled on her head instead of pulled back in a tight bun. Because nothing says New And Improved Sexy Girl like a parrot motif.

(Yeah, I'm being sort of sarcastic here but as soon as I read "parrot motif" I got thrown out of the story.)

So, as I'm reading this, I'm thinking.....(A) Make-over books are sort of irritating, and (B) If I was getting a make-over and someone made me wear a shirt with effin parrots on it, I would be seriously pissed off, and (C) Why can't the chubby girl get the hottie guy?

There is something inherently romantic about a mousy little thing transformed into Cinderella for a night. But there is also something distressing about it, too. Can't a mousy little thing be beautiful, appealing, sexy, loved? Do we really need clunky jewelry or mascara for men to find us attractive? Who the hell finds parrots sexy? (Maybe a zookeeper or something?) The point is, I think the "make-over" theme in romance novels is pretty juvenile....it seems like the kind of thing a teenager would like. Teens, who spend millions of dollars on hair products and make-up and accessories and shoes with sparkles on them. I am hoping that adults have realized there are more important things than soft, wispy tendrils of hair falling seductively around one's face. And I would surely, surely hope that a hero would realize it, too. Even if the heroine is slightly chubby, or wears drab clothes, hopefully he could see past that and find her kind, generous, funny, sweet and lovely personality a big win. Because otherwise, he's looking pretty shallow.

The hero in this book is actually pretty cool. He does recognize that the heroine is genuine and wonderful, even without the bird-inspired apparel. As far as contemporary romance novels go, this is a cute book, although the make-over details were definitely overdone. (Grade: B+)

How do you feel about "make-over" books? Love them? Hate them? Do they make you feel inadequate about your own style, which may be sadly lacking in parrot shirts?

Happy Monday To All!
Penny

A Matching Quiz From Penelope

For a quick weekly summary from Penelope, please take this matching quiz. Thank you very much.


1. Jo Jo            

2. The Many Sins of Lord Cameron              

3. Cadillac Mountain      

4. Too Perfect       

5. Daughter's unfortunate discovery on lobster boat in Kennebunkport            

6. Sentence most repeated by 13 year old son during vacation week in Maine        

7. Sentence most repeated by 8 year old daughter during vacation week in Maine      

8. Favorite activities during vacation        

9. Wackiest news of the week  

10. Operation Spank Me



A. "What's for dessert?" (#7)

B. Dead fish found floating at top of tank when we returned home from vacation (#1)

C. Excellent historical romance with no real plot to speak of, but wonderful characters (#2)

D. Riding go-carts and playing mini-golf (#8)

E. Evidently, a nice mountain in Acadia; wouldn't know, since it was completely obscured by fog (#3)

F. Cute contemporary romance with extended make-over for heroine, including a shirt with a "parrot" on it (ugh!) (#4)

G. It's a bad idea to eat Doritos before getting seasickness (#5)

H. My sis got married unexpectedly, on my anniversary! Yay! (#9)

I. Embarrassingly-titled erotica I hid on my Kindle (#10)

J. "Does this place have wi fi?" (#6)



So, I'm back from vacation. I read 3 books (mini reviews to come later). Some things didn't work out so well (dead fish, seasickness, rain and fog at Acadia), and some things were wonderful (hanging out with the family).

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Penny

See You Later, Alligator!

I'm off for my Maine adventure! We are doing a coastal exploration, and stopping at Kennebunkport, Camden, Mt Desert Island, Freeport and Portland. It's been 15 years since I was in Acadia. I can't wait!

See yinz all in a week or so.

Happy Summer Days!
Penelope

Frat Boyz R Us: Shelly Laurenston's Paranormal Furballs

I think it's pretty apparent why shapeshifters and romance became a successful genre. There is something inherently sexy and domineering and elemental about a wild beast. Strip away the humanity, and what you have left is a being who thinks about eating and survival and sex and protecting his pack and loved ones. There is nothing sexier than an intense, mysterious werewolf claiming its mate (oh, how I love you Vane Kattalakis).

I love serious, intense shapeshifters (Sherrilyn Kenyon). I love funny shapeshifters (Molly Harper). I love steampunky shapeshifters (Gail Carriger). And I especially love Scottish shapeshifters tortured by vampires (Kresley Cole). But for some strange reason, I am not getting the whole Shelly Laurenston thing.

I know folks who absolutely adore this author, but I couldn't stand the first two books I read by her. Beast Behaving Badly was a bad introduction to the Pride series. I thought Blayne was a horrible heroine--irritating and hyper. There were too many confusing characters and I didn't get the humor.   Pack Challenge (Magnus Pack series) was even worse. I hated the hero, the heroine, and all of their friends. I didn't find cussing, slapping, and constant insults funny, nor did I find it sexy or romantic.

I just finished reading  The Mane Squeeze (Pride series #4) and I really enjoyed this story. (I will get back to that review in a moment.) But it finally dawned on me what is totally bizarre about these books.

In a nutshell, it's Animal House. With real animals.

All of the characters act like drunken fraternity brothers. The guys. The girls. Their parents. Their grandparents. And I'm not talking about one of those geeky fraternities where the guys wear glasses and are computer geniuses. I'm talking about John Belushi-style fraternity boys, waking up in a pile of their own vomit and drool, and wearing underwear on their head. The animals in Laurenston's books act like a bunch of immature, idiotic fraternity boys. They party. They slap each other around. They cuss and insult each other. They resort to violence in short order. And the girls are actually worse than the guys! Even the parents act like imbeciles. Honestly, I think Laurenston is giving the animal kingdom a bad rap. Real animals behave better than most of these losers.

Now, it could be funny I suppose. Some folks find these very humorous. But I keep waiting for a real grown-up to show up. They never do.

I think one of the reasons I really enjoyed The Mane Squeeze is that it has a lot more subtlety than the other two I read. The hero is a sweet beta bear, and the heroine is not as unlikable as the other heroines. The over-the-top antics are still here, but slightly toned back, and the humor was perfect. I did laugh out loud more than once.

Strangely, I loved Blayne in this story. She is still hyper and weird, but also charming and sweetly loyal to her friend. Too bad those qualities didn't dominate her own book. However, I still found the number of characters overwhelming, the complicated family structures confusing, and the politics of all the different packs difficult to understand. On the plus side, I love that Laurenston has Asian characters and black characters and hybrid characters, and deals with the bigotry and intolerance they experience.

I'm glad I finally read a Laurenston book I liked, but I think I'm done with her series. I can only take Animal House in small doses, and I like my shapeshifters a bit more dignified and sexy. (Playing with one's toes is cute and goofy, but not so high up on the sexy meter.) I'm sure the Shelly Laurenston fans are going to let me have it. Bring it on. I can take it. I already got slammed by a JD Robb fanatic at Bertucci's and I lived to tell the tale.

Struggling with a strange urge to do a beer bong,
Penelope

Second Chances

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance."



Guess who uttered these words of wisdom? Gandhi? The Dalai Lama?

Nope, it was Harrison Ford.
Really.


Today, August 3, 2011 is the one year anniversary of my heart attack. The day I got a second chance.


I would like to thank my son who held my hand while I waited for the ambulance to arrive.
I would like to thank the Needham Massachusetts fire department and police department, who saved my life.
I would like to thank everyone at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who took care of me and fixed up my faulty heart.
I would like to thank my friends and family and colleagues and neighbors who went way beyond the call of duty to help me and my family, whose generosity and love were the key to my healing and recuperation.
I would like to thank my husband Carl who is my true soulmate and best friend.
I would like to thank my children who are the joy of every day.
I would like to thank my dachshund Lucy who gives unconditional love to our family.
I would like to thank all of my on-line friends for your support and kindness this past year.


Embracing second chances,
Penelope

(Photo taken by my very talented son.)

Got Corn?

Here is a great recipe to take advantage of the delicious fresh corn available at farm stands right now. It's Cheddar Corn Chowder, a healthy recipe from Martha Stewart. I made it this weekend for my guests and they loved it!


Cheddar Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
1 med finely chopped yellow onion
1 finely chopped celery stalk
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/4 t. ground cumin
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into cubes (Martha removes the peels, but I don't!)
2 c. chicken broth (low sodium, low fat)
1 c. nonfat or 1% milk
3 c. fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears of corn)
salt and pepper to taste
2 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, grated


Heat oil in a pot over medium heat, add onion and cook for about 4 minutes. Then add celery and cook for 4 more minutes. Add coriander, cumin and cayenne. Raise heat to med-high and add wine. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (just a couple of minutes). Then add potatoes, chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add corn and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Put 2 cups of slightly cooled soup into a Cuisinart and puree. Return puree to the pot and stir into the soup. Warm up the soup again, season with salt and pepper. When serving, top the soup with a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese.

Tip from Penelope: Before cutting the corn kernels off the cob, cut the ends so they're perfectly flat. This makes it much easier to chop the kernels off the cob.

Enjoy!

Happy Day,
Penelope

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!
Monday morning quickie updates.....
I read Sheila Connolly's mystery Let's Play Dead . It is a very subdued style of mystery, about a museum director in Philadelphia. Not a lot of action, no real romance to speak of, and lots of mundane details about daily operations at a museum. Even though it was pretty dry reading, I still liked it. The mystery itself is the star of the show, and Connolly does a good job with the plotline. Also, the cover is simply adorable! Grade: B
I finally got to read Hannah Howell's latest addition to the Wherlocke series, If He's Dangerous . What a great story! I am totally digging the paranormally-enhanced Wherlocke family. They are bad-ass, mysterious and oh so sexy. Schwing! I am now in love with the name Angus. It's hot! I thought this book was the perfect package....great romance, terrific characters, engaging storyline. Grade: A
Thanks to People magazine for this inspiring photo of Hugh.
Happy Monday,Penelope

Living In The Moment

I am lucky to live close to a wonderful organic garden and farm stand, called Land's Sake in Weston, Massachusetts. At different times of the growing season, they have pick your own raspberries, peas, etc. They also have pick your own flowers, which is a huge treat for my daughter. Yesterday I took Natty and one of her pals to pick flowers.

It was a glorious day and an excellent reminder to live in the moment.

Happy to be alive!
Penelope