Now Reading: The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart is a young adult/older children series that I was thankful to found through the "recommended" section of the LA Library's website, otherwise I would have never known about it.  At this point, I have read three of the books, and this review will summarize all three, but without any major spoilers.  There is a fourth spin-off book that I'll get to later.

Yes, these are kids books. Don't judge me.

The first book in the series introduces you to four children who share the common thread of high intelligence, but all show their smarts through different ways.  Sticky, the photographic memorizer; Reynie uses logic; Kate and her bucket; and Constance.. the whiny kid that no one can figure out.  The four venture off to a special academy, where naturally, the headmaster is evil and the children must conquer the world.  Ok, not exactly, but close.  It's kind of a cross between Harry Potter and Professor Layton.  Without giving anything away, there are 2 sequels, so things must have worked out good in book one, right?



Books 2 & 3 after the jump!

Food: Spinach Quiche

This was a great, quick and easy recipe for Sunday morning breakfast.  I had a slice with turkey bacon and it was great.  Nothing fancy here, and a fast clean up as well.  I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com.  You could mix other items as desired, I'm sure.  Next time, I'll probably throw some peppers in the mix.

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups shredded Muenster cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Adventures: Torrey Pines State Reserve

I live only about a mile from San Diego's Torrey Pines State Reserve, but hadn't been there to explore until today.  The area has a handful of short trails all with fantastic ocean views from varying heights atop cliff sides.  None of the trails were particularly strenuous, but they do offer moderate elevation changes; most with stairs build into the trail.  The trails are marked very clearly, and most are made of sand.  There were tons of families (and people in general) out on the trails, including runners, walkers and sight-seers.  Bikes are allowed on the paved roads, but I didn't see any.

The passing of MCA

"MCA" of Beastie Boys fame (Adam Yauch) passed away today from cancer.  Although he announced his cancer a few years ago, it's still a say day for music.

I consider myself a Beastie Boys fan, own most of their albums, and used to sport a glittery sticker on my Saturn (seriously, I was like, a totally cool high schooler).  As someone who typically doesn't like rap or hip-hop, I really enjoy the Beastie Boys.

While death of strangers does not usually  bother me, this one does.  It's sad to see someone who's music has impacted my life, been shouted drunkenly more times than I can remember, and will continue to be a staple in my iTunes.

RIP MCA. My thoughts go out to your family and friends.

Food: Prosciutto and asparagus pasta

THIS WAS SO GOOD.  And easy to make.

I found this recipe in Sunset Magazine (March 2012).  I didn't include the mushrooms, and it still turned out great.  Despite the fact the prosciutto is the most expensive meat at the deli, I'll definitely be making this one again.





Ingredients: 

• 8oz. angel hair pasta
• 1 tbsp. oil oil
• 1/2 large onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 4 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut in to strips
• 1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. chile flakes

Step 2

1.  Cook pasta according to package, drain and return to pot.
2.  While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat.  Cook onion, mushroom and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add prosciutto and asparagus and cook until aspragus is bright green for about 2 minutes.  Add cream, 1/4 cup cheesse, pepper and chile flakes.  Reduce heat and simmer.  Cook until sauce has thickened - about 4 minutes.
3.  Pour sauce and veggies over pasta and toss.  Serve with parm to top.
4. ENJOY!

Now Reading: The Nerdist Way

Remember Chris Hardwick from MTV's Singled Out?  Well, he's a famous nerd now, and wrote a book.  The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) is a self-help book by someone who has no professional training in self-helpery, so really more of a sage-advice book.

After Chris Hardwick fell off the face of the earth in the late 90's he apparently became a chubby alcoholic.  He brushes though his experiences of getting through his 20's by using nerd references, exampling games like World of Warcraft and Dungeon and Dragons. 

Mr. Hardwick aims to provide the reader (an assumed nerd) with a goal-setting plan by setting up a character, as you would in a video game, with attributes and all that goodness.  Each chapter ends with goal-setting tasks for your character (you) and giving yourself points for the achievements.  As a gamer, I can get with the idea he was going for, but as a person, I am just to lazy to get out a sheet of paper and do all this.  Plus, as unartistic as I am, a stick person character just didn't seem that appealing to me.

Even though I didn't partake in the activities he provided, I did read the book through, and enjoyed it.  As someone who suffers from social anxiety and awkwardness, I could definitely relate to a lot of his experiences and provided solutions. 

There were some items that were SUPER on the simple side, like the exercise section, I though could have been skipped.  I'll admit that I've never had issues in the weigh area or physical activity, so perhaps this section just didn't interest me.

Not a bad read for someone with no professional training on the subject.  Although, in some cases going through the experience is better than having someone who just learn about it tell you what to do.