Did you get a book that you can't wait to read

for the holidays?

I received one book this year--the Bon Appetit cookbook--huge! But it did not have a recipe for the chocolate pie that I wanted to bake for Christmas dinner--so I had to surf around to find one.

I am in a book valley right now--and am looking for some inspiration.

Please share the recipe. Pretty please... :)

I have a nonfiction book I bought a day or two before Christmas and I can't wait to read it. Might start it tonight.

:hi:

only one problem-- I should have started it a LOT earlier so it would have set more.

But--knowing that, here is the recipe:

1 c sugar
1/4 c cornstartch
1/4 tsp salt
3 T butter
3 squares unsweetened chocolate (3 oz)
1 1/2 c warm water
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 baked pie shell

whipped cream

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt; set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate in saucepan over low heat--stir frequently so it doesn't burn.
Add water and sugar mixture, then carefully stir in beaten eggs. It might be a good idea to add a little of the water/sugar mixture and beat this carefully so you don't end up with chocolate scrambled eggs.
Cook, stirring often over low heat until thickened and smooth. This is where you have to use judgment--it needs to be thick! Add cinnamon and vanilla. Chill, stirring occasionally. Pour into cooled piecrust and chill till firm. Top with whipped cream.

This was very, satisfyingly chocolately!

Dave Gingery's "build a shop from scrap"

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Metalworking-Shop-Scrap/dp/0960433082/sr=8-1/qid=1167176798/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8161112-0893535?ie=UTF8&s=books

The guy built a whole shop full of machine tools almost entirely with a hand drill and several hundred pounds of scrap aluminum. I am in awe of ingenious people.

on edit: oops, I replied from the latest page - didn't realize that this was the fiction board.

From the intro, the book looks very interesting.

Fantastic book.

Looks good.

As soon as I finish "Feed" and the new Christopher Moore.

A good corollary to TOD, though, is "Real Food" by Nina Planck.

Subtitled "Ice cores, abrupt climate change and our future" by Richard B. Alley. Looks like a good one.

Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief by John Lamb Lash

Some truly new and revolutionary (to me) views. It's helping in my "big picture" construction.

http://www.amazon.com/Not-His-Image-Gnostic-Ecology/dp/193149892X/sr=1-2/qid=1167177664/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-2394683-8816916?ie=UTF8&s=books

I'm about half through it (just a first reading).

Time-saving steps are fantastic.

How does this one compare?

here's the wiki for it tho --

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

as to the other question -- just crying of lot 49 and grav rainbow (many years ago).

i am known as the family bookworm and i think there is a fear that they would give a book i have already read, in my lifetime i have read thousands

bit of a compulsive reader here

got some b&n and borders gift cards tho so bring it on w. the suggestions!

"Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Maria Pessil (?) I don't have it in front of me so I'm not sure of the spelling.

"What Is the What" by Dave Eggers

and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Johnathan Safran Foer

I wish there was a way to read them all at once because I'm having a hard time deciding where to start. But, I think I'm going to go with the Dave Eggers book.

it's been very funny so far.

By Harry Shearer. My daughter works at Half Price Books so I always get books.

Both of my children got T-Shirts. My daughter's said "Frodo failed. Bush has the ring". My son got "Where's your "W (sticker)" now? Embarrassed? You should be". They always tease me because you can tell my mood by the T-shirt I put on after work. If I wear my "This country is being run by shitheads" Look out, Mom had a bad day.


AValdoux

I read it in a day and really, really enjoyed it. I'm a huge figure skating fan.

The entire 1961 team was killed in a plane crash in Brussels on their way to the World Championships in Prague. The book was excellently written.

Edited to add a pic of Laurence Rochon Owen, 1961 U.S. and North American champion, age 16, killed in the crash:

I think I may request that book for our library.

Wasn't Laurance's mother Maribel Vinson who was a US figure skating champion in the late 1920's to mid 1930's? Wasn't she also killed in the crash?

Laurence's sister. Very sad. If you're a fan of skating, you'll really enjoy the book. :hi:

bitter much, just a little :-)

from my grand daughter in Florida( I am in Indiana)

She forgot to ASK how far I have to go to get to it though !


I bought a stack of books at Goodwill for the new year--oldies but goodies

it has a BookSense logo. If it does, you might be able to use it somewhere near you, not just at the store it came from. You can check here to see if any stores near you accept them.
http://booksense.com/

(Or, you might be able to use it online, too.)

Good luck to you. :hi: