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Dec. 26th, 2007
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So, I made spaghetti for my Christmas dinner (and, as usual, several post-Christmas dinners). I couldn't find the sauce recipe I've used in the past, so I went with one from The Joy of Cooking, with some circumstantial modifications. It was fairly tasty, but a bit too greasy; I think the meat I used wasn't lean enough. (How greasy was it? Let's just say that I didn't let the dogs lick the plate.) A night in the refrigerator helped. I was able to scrape off a good bit of the grease before reheating a portion, and it was much better today.
Verdict: better than the paella, not as good as the pad thai, the quiche Lorraine, or the orange-almond chicken.
Verdict: better than the paella, not as good as the pad thai, the quiche Lorraine, or the orange-almond chicken.
Pruning the List
Dec. 26th, 2007 05:23 pmMy to-get list of books having grown to over a hundred, I decided to begin seriously working on it today, so I paid a visit to Amazon. I went through the first ten books on the list; those that were available, I ordered, and those that were not I transferred to a different list. (I also ordered a few things from the authors-to-get list.) The order consists of:
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong. This is a classic of Chinese literature; since I read and enjoyed The Journey to the West a while back, I thought I'd add to my collection. This is a modern two-volume translation. I've been told the 1925 translation is superior, but it's out of print.
Dzur, Steven Brust. The latest of the Vlad Taltos books, and the only one I don't yet have.
The Silver Pigs, Lindsey Davis. I've read two of the Falco historical/mysteries before - Three Hands in the Fountain and The Accusers - but out of order; this is the first in the series.
The Wolf Hunt, Gillian Bradshaw. Another historical, this one medieval. I read and enjoyed her Island of Ghosts, even if I take issue with her on the stirrup question, so she gets another shot.
The Liberal Tradition in America, Louis Hartz. I'm not sure whether he means "liberal" in the classical sense, the modern USAn sense, or both; Hartz begins with the initial colonization, so the former has to be at least part of it. Should be interesting.
The Nation as a Local Metaphor, Alon Confino. This is an examination of the nation-building process in Imperial Germany, focusing on or at least beginning in Württemberg. (As it happens, I spent the first two years of my life in Ulm, which is in Baden-Württemberg....)
The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America, Kevin Phillips. Phillips is an odd duck; he was one of the architects of the Southern Strategy, but lately has been railing against the modern Republican party. I've got several of his books on modern politics; here, he turns his hand to history.
They're scheduled to ship on the 28th. I'll probably also pay a bricks-and-mortar visit to Borders after New Year's. Good times, good times.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong. This is a classic of Chinese literature; since I read and enjoyed The Journey to the West a while back, I thought I'd add to my collection. This is a modern two-volume translation. I've been told the 1925 translation is superior, but it's out of print.
Dzur, Steven Brust. The latest of the Vlad Taltos books, and the only one I don't yet have.
The Silver Pigs, Lindsey Davis. I've read two of the Falco historical/mysteries before - Three Hands in the Fountain and The Accusers - but out of order; this is the first in the series.
The Wolf Hunt, Gillian Bradshaw. Another historical, this one medieval. I read and enjoyed her Island of Ghosts, even if I take issue with her on the stirrup question, so she gets another shot.
The Liberal Tradition in America, Louis Hartz. I'm not sure whether he means "liberal" in the classical sense, the modern USAn sense, or both; Hartz begins with the initial colonization, so the former has to be at least part of it. Should be interesting.
The Nation as a Local Metaphor, Alon Confino. This is an examination of the nation-building process in Imperial Germany, focusing on or at least beginning in Württemberg. (As it happens, I spent the first two years of my life in Ulm, which is in Baden-Württemberg....)
The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America, Kevin Phillips. Phillips is an odd duck; he was one of the architects of the Southern Strategy, but lately has been railing against the modern Republican party. I've got several of his books on modern politics; here, he turns his hand to history.
They're scheduled to ship on the 28th. I'll probably also pay a bricks-and-mortar visit to Borders after New Year's. Good times, good times.