Baby, baking, books and blogs

I have not posted a book review in what seems to be forever! I have been reading, but have also been busy with a 10 week old baby, baking and discovering new blogs. I wanted to let you know about some of the blogs that I have discovered since I now have more time to peruse the Internet:

http://www.foodblogga.blogspot.com/
This is a great foodie blog with unique and interesting recipes. I recently made the fennel risotto and it was out of this world! In fact I made it twice in one week!


http://creativeorganizing.typepad.com/creative_organizing
A website/blog with great tips on how to get organized! I consider myself fairly organized, but it seems that everything always gets messy again as soon as I clean it up. But as my husband says it all goes back to the 2nd law of thermodynamics which states: "all systems tend toward disorder and randomness." Ahh such is life!




http://familystylefood.com/
This is another food blog that has fun recipes. The woman who writes the blog has won a number of food contests. Recently I have made her chocolate chai snickerdoodles (I brought them to our iServe meeting last night and they were a huge hit)! I am also planning on making her chickpea and sun dried tomato hummus. I love hummus and I finally bought tahini!


http://www.pickypalate.blogspot.com/
The recipes here are easy and yummy (although rather fattening....oh well it's not swim suit season yet). I have made her snickerdoodles and am planning on trying out her mac and cheese recipe tonight! Thank you to Sarah for mentioning this blog!


http://www.theperfectpantry.com
This is a fun blog that shows what a food writer is currently working on for her cookbooks. She writes about the origin of spices, unique cuisine and food history. Every Sunday she has a fun feature which shows unique pantries from around the country.

http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/
I am not from Texas nor have I ever been to Texas, however, I love country music, ribs, barbecue sauce and the Southern drawl. Ya'll this is a fun blog of a woman who lives in NYC, but who is a true blue Texan!!


http://thefuturelibrarian.blogspot.com/
This is a book blog created by Steph, my college roomie! She is studying to be a librarian and she is one of my best friends. She also has a fun and fresh way of writing and making you smile and laugh!!

Now I will share with you what I have been reading. It is a rather odd assortment of books but here goes:


The Silent Partner by Dina McGreevey-This was a rather blah read. Dina McGreevey's husband Jim was the former governor of New Jersey. He announced suddenly, near the end of his term, that he was gay. Dina writes about how this affected her life. Jim wrote his own book and Dina wrote this book to "set the record straight" (no pun intended).

Escape by Carolyn Jessop-This is written by a woman who formally lived in a polygamist fundamentalist cult in Colorado City, Arizona. I couldn't believe this book was real the entire time I was reading it. It was quite shocking and disturbing...especially since people today are still living this kind of life!

It Takes a Village by Hilary Rodham Clinton-Okay I know what you're thinking... no I will not vote for Hilary in 2008, but I did enjoy this book that she wrote back in 1996. It is a good read about how our country needs to take a more proactive role in caring for the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs of our children. I agree that it takes a plethora of people to care for our children's well being (family, friends, priests, community members, etc.).

Eric Rex and the Monsters of Otherness-This is Kaza Kingsley's book 2 of the Eric Rex series. I just started it and I am really enjoying it! Kaza emailed me to let me know that she just finished book 3 and that should be out by the fall! You go Kaza!

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation by Lynne Truss is a book I am halfway through reading. It does seem that in the age of the Internet many of us have forgotten how to write and use proper punctuation(I apologize in advance for any punctuation errors this post contains). Sadly, children are not learning how to use proper English punctuation. This is a fun read that discusses how we can all help to promote and proclaim proper punctuation!!



I have also been loving being a mom to Jacob. He's the love of my life and I can't wait to see him grow up and become a little man!!

My tribute to love

I know that my blog is usually devoted to the discussion of books, but I am going to diverge from this topic for the time being.....(what you are reading I submitted as an entry for the February write-away contest at http://scribbit.blogspot.com/)

A Mother's Love
Love is a word that is often thrown around in a variety of contexts. Love is discussed in movies, books, diaries, on television and within the confines of a romantic relationship. Since becoming a mother, however, I have discovered a love that is unconditional, uncompromising, unpredictable and admittingly frustrating at times. A love a mother has for her child is unique and completely unexpected. It is a love that has no boundaries, limitations or expectations. We cannot expect a newborn baby to say "I love you" back to us in the usual terms. However, it is in the simple touch, a sudden smile and in a baby's vulnerability, that daily we come to discover how much we are loved.

At times a mother's love for her child can be fraught with insecurities, frustrations and feelings of helplessness. Daily, we ask ourselves if we are doing everything right, we seek validation and encouragement. However, love is constantly present when we're breastfeeding and satiating our little one's hunger, when we're rocking our baby to sleep and when we're down on the floor singing and playing with our baby, the list is virtually endless.

There are no boundaries or limitations to the love a mother has for her newborn. The love comes from a desire to provide the best possible life for our child. We never want our child to suffer pain, go hungry, be rejected or see the harsh and dreadful realities that all too often comprise the human experience. But part of love is the ability to let go. As a parent we have to let our children fall so that they can learn to walk, let them cry so that they learn to self-soothe and be left alone to think and feel on their own. To love is not to ensnare but to set free.

As my baby boy continues to grow both intellectually, physically and emotionally I cannot wait for the love I have for him to continually change. Love is not stagnant but constantly redefining itself like the ebb and flow of the tide. Someday he will leave home and he may become the father of his own baby whom he will love. Our love will change as he becomes more independent and self-sufficient. Someday I will probably rely on him for the things I now do for him. However, the bottom line is that I am proud to be a mother and I love my baby boy

Dedicated to Jacob-the baby boy that I love to love