#73 - Try 5 new non-chain restaurants. (4/5)

After my tap recital in May, Dad took us out to eat at Rock Bass Grill. It is really nice and has a country club feel to it. The seafood was awesome as were their various renderings of potatoes (all the fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes were awesome). Dad ordered a bottle of Riesling to go along with our food which was awesome because Rieslings are one of my favourite kinds of wine. Everyone else in the family had been there before except for me, so I had lots of advice on what to get. I had swordfish, but I also tried everyone else's food, so it was like a seafood buffet!

#72 - Try 12 new recipes (and actually use the recipe). (9/12)

I made Strawberry Freezer Jam using the recipe from inside the box of Certo (which is a liquid pectin). I followed it really closely because I was afraid of messing something up with the set. I haven't eaten any yet, but it is sitting in my freezer ready to try after I finish up the last jam I made. Making spreads is fun.

The Midwife's Apprentice

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman won the Newbery Medal in 1996 Newbery Medal. I picked it up when I was at the library a few days ago. It was a quick read (after all, it is at about a 6 grade reading level and short), but as Cushman tends to do, she transports you to medieval England with great characters and quaint dialogue.

At one point, I was trying to read all of the Newbery Medal winners, and I think I'll resurrect that goal.

Wicked

I finished reading Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire this weekend. As much as I was originally annoyed by the writing style and overuse of bizarre and strange words (aside from the made-up words of the Land of Oz), it grew on me and by the end I was not noticing it so much. I think this might also have been because most of the big words were used during the chapters were the characters were attending school. Perhaps the author thought he was giving those chapters a more collegiate feel by using all those big words that caused me to go scrambling for a dictionary (or more likely, Google).

I really liked the way the book was written around the story and characters created by L. Frank Baum. Reading Wicked was almost like reading fanfiction in this way. My only knowledge of this world was from the movie and the stage show, so I plan on adding the novel to my to-read list. I have also seen some of the more bizarre movies based on his later novels, but I am not sure how much they really influenced my reading of this book.

SeinLanguage

SeinLanguage, by Jerry Seinfeld was an extremely quick read. It only took me 3 nights to finish it off. It is basically a collection of sketches, some of which were used in episodes of Seinfeld. I really enjoyed it and laughter before bedtime was definitely a nice change after All the President's Men! I'm going to be passing on my copy to my grandma who loves Seinfeld and likes reading. I think she'll get a kick out of it.

All the President's Men

I FINALLY FINISHED All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward. I think the thing that most kept me from getting really sucked into this book was all the names and people that there were to keep straight. I don't know if I really followed exactly because of that (although, it was helpful when I recognized a name or two), but I definitely got the gist of it. There were definitely parts where things got very intense, and other's where it dragged. I think this is due to the nature of it being a true story and all. Not every part of life can be exciting! I did find that it ended rather abruptly. I'm looking forward to watching the movie again now that I've finished the book.