Bibliophile Survey

1) What author do you own the most books by?
James Patterson

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I don't do multiples

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
not really

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Agent Pendergast

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
Where the Red Fern Grows -- Wilson Rawls

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass -- Lewis Carroll
-
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
He's Just not that into you -- Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Angels & Demons -- Dan Brown

9) If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
Still Life With Crows -- Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
?

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Scavenger -- David Morrell

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Goodnight Nobody -- Jennifer Weiner

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
i dont remember dreams

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
House of Leaves -- Mark Z. Danielewski

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
Ive only Seen Romeo Juliet

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
French

18) Roth or Updike?
Neither

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Neither

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Milton

21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
CS Lewis

23) What is your favorite novel?
Till We Have Faces

24) Play?
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

25) Poem?
Paradise Lost - Milton

26) Essay?
Unearthing Herstory -- Annette Kolodony

27) Short story?
1408 -- Stephen King

28) Work of nonfiction?
Bird By Bird Some Instructions On Writing and Life -- Anne Lamott

29) Who is your favorite writer?
Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Nora Roberts


31) What is your desert island book?
Nightmares and Dreamscapes -- Stephen King


32) Who is your favorite critic or scholar?
N/A

33) Who is your favorite philosopher?
N/A

34) Who is your favorite public intellectual?
N/A

35) And... what are you reading right now?
The Eight - Katherine Neville

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Inspiration : Kraft Kitchens


2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1 package frozen chopped spinach
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 can (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano
3 oz block of cream cheese cubed
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup cheddar Cheese
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

• Heat oven to 375 degrees
• cook pasta as directed adding thawed spinach at last min.
• Cook and stir chicken in lightly oiled skillet with basil, add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.
• heat to a boil and add cream cheese
• drain pasta/spinach mixture and return to pan. Stir in 1/2 the combined cheeses
• spoon in to casserole dish and stir
• top with remaining cheese
• bake 20 min sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until melted

Spinach & Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken

4 cups lightly packed baby spinach
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, pounded out thin
2 tbsp cream cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Mrs Dash original

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
in a sauce pan cook spinach, garlic, oregano, in olive oil until wilted
Place Chicken in gallon sized Ziploc bag and pound until thin (1/2 to 1/4)
Take Spinach and mix in cream cheese
Spoon 1/2 the mixture down the center of each breast
Roll up and secure with toothpicks.
Sprinkle with Mrs Dash
Place in shallow baking dish
Bake about 40 mins or until chicken is cooked through.



I found this recipe on this blog, and it was good. I discovered that i do not care for Mrs. Dash. So next time i will use different seasonings, and probably rub the seasonings on both sides of the chicken breast before stuffing.

a confession

i have writers block. There I said it. That's why i started this blog in the first place I looked at it as a series of short assignments to motivate me, but no luck, no words, no nothing. Well a lot of cooking a lot more than I am used to or DH for that matter who i think may be enjoying my writers block. I've had it for a year. 365 days that by work has sat unfinished in a folder on my laptop, untouched, unopened, uninspired. There may be no real help for me at all. Any tips for a writer with no words?

[photo credit: Mayr]

Toddler Chicken Strips

I found this on Here.

thinly sliced strips of chicken breasts
yogurt plain
crushed cheerios

roll strips in yogurt then coat with cheerios

bake on lightly greased baking sheet at 400 degrees for 20 mins.

i served with applesauce and bbq dipping sauce (DD didn't care for dipping)

Cheddar Bacon Potato Soup

4 potatoes peeled, washed and cubed.
32 oz Chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
1 heaping tsp parsley
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
cubed cheddar cheese
1 package bacon

• Cook bacon, (i baked this for 20 min. until crispy) cut into small pieces and set aside.
• In a crockpot place cut up potatoes conbine stock, seasonings and butter.
• cook on low for 6 hours
• 30 min before serving add evap milk and cook for 1/2 hr.
• Ladle into blender or food processor, pulse, (its better chunky)
• mix in 1 package cubed cheddar cheese
• serve

this made quite a bit so i froze half and took some for lunch the next day!