2/18/17

Gathering Graces 2/17/2017

*Since reading the book American Wife, I have been interested in learning more about George W. and Laura Bush.  So I put some books on hold at the library.  They arrived this last week, and, since my sister Christy is now one of the librarians, I was able to have her take my old books in to return, and she delivered my new books to me while we were over at Mom’s having dinner last night.  The two books I got are Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady by Ron Kessler, and Ambling Into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush by Frank Bruni.  These are two books Curtis Sittenfeld used in her research when she wrote the fictional novel American Wife.  I think reading these books will add to our book group discussion about American Wife in a couple of weeks.
*In keeping with the George W. Bush theme, I also borrowed the movie W from the library.  This is an Oliver Stone movie made in 2008 that chronicles the life and presidency of George W. Bush.  It was very interesting, especially the parts leading up to the invasion of Iraq and the aftermath of that decision. 
*Last Monday I was in a discussion about what we used as stress relievers in our lives.  Household chores was on the top of many of our lists.  I wasn’t stressed by any means yesterday, but I did enjoy taking some time to empty and fill the dishwasher, wash some dishes by hand, and clean up the kitchen.  I have a big project I want to work on in the kitchen this weekend and I need a clean kitchen to do this project.
*Last time as I was searching for ways to cook London Broil in the crockpot, I noticed you could cook this particular cut of meat in the crockpot, and use it for French Dip sandwiches.  So that is what I did today.  After seasoning the frozen London Broil with Montreal Steak Seasoning (my favorite go-to seasoning), I cut up an onion and put it on the bottom of the crock pot.  I put the meat on top of the onions, then added two cups of beef bullion and a bay leaf, and let the crock pot do its’ magic.  And it did.  By 4:30 p.m., the meat was nice and tender, and I cut it up, strained the juice and got as much fat off the juice as I could, and headed over to Mom’s house.  I toasted some sourdough bread, buttered it, and added the meat and some sharp cheddar cheese.  I put the juice in small bowls so we could dip the sandwiches in the juice.  I threw together a bagged Italian chopped salad that was in Mom’s fridge, and we had a wonderful meal. 




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