Book Club - Where the Crawdads Sing

The book club in my neighborhood met last night with a record twenty four women. There was wine and the discussion was interesting, lively and thought provoking.  The book we discussed, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was one of the best books I have read in a very long time.  It is beautifully written; part love story, part murder mystery and part scientific journal.  The North Carolina marsh, where the novel takes place, becomes a character in itself; as important as air to the main character, Kya.  The writing is lyrical and it’s one of those novels that stays with you long after you finish.

I have a love, hate relationship with best sellers.  It takes me a long time to want to read a book that everyone is raving about, because many times these books take on a predictably and formula. I call it the Gone Girl effect.  This book is not like that.  I promise you that you have not read a novel similar to this.  From the characters, to the setting, to the plot, there is something unique in how it is written and how it makes you feel.

Read this book, go see the movie when it comes out in the future and lose yourself in the story of “The Marsh Girl”.

Have a wonderful weekend.

  

Italian Food and Italian Cars

One of the things we enjoy the most about living in Florida is the spur of the moment opportunity to do something fun.  You can hop in the car and head to the beach, a great restaurant and on any given weekend; your choice of a festival or two.

Saturday, we decided that we would head to St. Armand’s Circle in Sarasota for lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant.  When we approached the circle over the Ringling Bridge, we noticed that there seemed to be a lot more traffic than normal for this time of year.  I usually check to see if a festival is going on wherever we are headed, but didn’t think to this time.  When my husband saw that there was a car show happening, he was thrilled and when we discovered it was Ferraris on The Circle, he was even happier.

So, as planned, we had wonderful Italian food (Eggplant Parmesan and sangria for me) at an outside table and then happily strolled around the beautiful Italian cars, picking our favorite color (red of course) and getting serious sticker shock at the prices.  But, it’s fun to dream, right?

Happy Monday!

Witches’ Brew Cocktail

Happy Halloween!

As is my tradition, I love to make a fun Halloween or fall themed cocktail to enjoy while the trick or treaters visit.  Many of these types of cocktails use cider, which is hard to find in Florida, so this one intrigued me with both its simplicity and the readily available ingredients.  It can also be made non alcoholic for the kiddos by using sparkling water instead of wine.

In a clear glass, add 1 cup orange soda and 3/4 cup white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc).  Add 1 scoop vanilla ice cream.  The carbonation in the soda will cause the addition of the ice cream to foam like a witches’ brew.

Simple, but delicious and perfectly themed for Halloween night.