Throwback Thursday - Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Publisher - Harper Collins
Publish Date - 1974
Genre - Children's Book
Age Range - 8-12 years
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

I mentioned one of my Aunts in my last Throwback Thursday post, and I’m going to lead with her again. Her name was Kathleen but we called her “Aunt Kack” or “Aunt Kackallack”. She was an elementary school teacher and so much fun – we loved when she came to visit. Unfortunately, we lost her way too young but I still think of her often, especially when I’m reading.

She had this tradition to always give each of us books for our Birthday or Christmas. As much as I loved reading as a child, this tradition really was something that I didn’t truly appreciate until I was older. I love it so much, that I’ve continued on her tradition with my own nieces. I make sure that I get them at least one book for their Birthday and Christmas. My hope is that it helps develop a strong love of reading for them that it did for me.

One of my favorite books to read when I was younger was Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Even John loved this book growing up too (which is saying a lot because he hates reading). So, this past Christmas we gave a copy of it to our niece. The poems are kind of silly and full of nonsensical language so I think some of it was lost on her right now. Hopefully though, she’ll come to love the fun poems as much as we did growing up!

Where the Sidewalk Ends isn’t just a collection of great children’s poems but the illustrations that accompany them are fantastic. They are full of imagination and perfectly bring to life the fanciful poems. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with Llamas, Crocodiles, monsters and silly little kids who don’t listen to their parents.

Here’s my favorite poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends:

It’s Dark In Here

I am writing these poems

From inside a lion,

And it’s rather dark in here.

So please excuse the handwriting

Which may not be too clear.

But this afternoon by the lion’s cage

I’m afraid I got too near.

And I’m writing these lines

From inside a lion,

And it’s rather dark in here.

Wine and Candy - Halloween Adult Style

Admittedly, Halloween is not my favorite holiday of the year. I've never really gotten into the whole costume thing (it take A LOT of effort, y'all) and unfortunately, lately more and more of the trick or treaters are rude and don't even dress up. I do enjoy walking the neighborhood with friends who have little ones. We usually have a wagon full of adult libations and we can totally sneak candy all night long. It's a good time.

Recently, I saw this article online about pairing Halloween candy favorites with wine. Say what!? I can't believe I had never seen this before. I immediately thought that this was an amazing idea and I absolutely needed to try this. 

Luckily, I also have really awesome friends who say “that sounds fun” rather than “you’re crazy” when I ask them to help me out with this crazy idea. It was a blast munching on the yummy candy and testing all the different wines alongside them. And of course, we finished ALL the candy and ALL the wine.

Here’s the pairings I put together for this Halloween festivity. While all of the pairings were good, the hands down favorite from the group were the Skittles with the Moscato. It was amazing!

Let me know what wines you pair with your Halloween candy this year!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – Taylor Tawny Port $11.99

This is by far my favorite candy for just about any holiday. The crazy thing is though, I’ve never tried to pair a wine with them before. I’ll admit it – this pairing was difficult to figure out. I pretty much scratched reds off right away. They are too heavy to hold up to the rich flavors of a peanut butter cup. I tried Riesling which wasn’t terrible but not amazing either. Then it hit me – dessert wines. This Taylor Tawny Port was JUST what the peanut butter cup called for. It’s a medium-bodied port wine with a nutty aroma and rich flavors of caramel. It is potent though so sip carefully!

Smarties – White Hall Vineyards Viognier - $19.99

I took a hint from the article mentioned above and knew exactly where I wanted to go with this pairing. Virginia is well known for their Viognier so there are a ton of good ones to choose from. The Viognier from White Hall Vineyards is one of my favorites and a perfect pairing with Smarties. It has notes of peach and cantaloupe with an interesting hint of blood orange on the nose. It’s a medium-bodied wine with a delicious orange finish that I love.

Candy Corn – Smoking Loon Steelbird Unoaked Chardonnay - $9.99

OK, let’s be honest here – candy corn is delicious (in a weird, artificial sugary sort of way) but it tastes horrible when you eat it alongside anything else. I was munching on some of this the other night and happened to have a glass of Petit Syrah in my hand as well. This is a TERRIBLE idea – please don’t try this at home. It almost ruined this perfectly lovely wine for me forever. So, what in the world WOULD taste good with candy corn? Turns out that the Viognier mentioned above is a pretty good choice but I wanted to change it up. Since the Viognier worked well, I decided to go for a Chardonnay. I knew I wanted an unoaked Chardonnay because I didn’t think the oakiness would pair well with the odd candy corn flavors. This Chardonnay from Smoking Loon was perfect. It’s a clean, crisp wine with hints of pineapple and melon and is just sweet enough to compliment the sweetness of the candy corn.

Raisinets – El Cortijillo Tempranillo - $6.98

I also knew exactly where I wanted to start my pairing with this candy. Again, taking a hint from the article I wanted something rich and smoky to pair with this chocolate treat. I knew my favorite wine region – Spain – would have just what I was looking for. This Tempranillo is one of my favorite finds and it did not disappoint when paired with the Raisinets. This Tempranillo is a fresh, complex wine with hints of blackberry and cherry. It’s rich and a bit sweet to start and drier on the finish, but not enough to drown out the flavor of the candy. I recommend this wine even if you aren’t eating candy!

Skittles – Middle Sister Sweet and Sassy Moscato - $9.99

With Skittles, I knew I needed to head back into the realm of sweet, fruity white wines. After some research, I decided to go with a Moscato. I don’t drink much Moscato wines so I decided to go with a relatively inexpensive brand that hasn’t disappointed me thus far – Middle Sister wines. Middle Sister has a special place in my heart since I am a middle sister! They have a Moscato that really hit the spot with this sweet candy. This one is smooth and sweet, but not too sweet as some Moscato’s tend to be. It has floral aromas and fruit flavors like pear and peach.

The Last Hero Trilogy - Books 1 & 2

The Last Hero Trilogy (Books 1 & 2) by Nathaniel Danes
Publisher - Solstice Shadows
Publish Date - 10/14/14
Genre - Science Fiction
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

My Rating:

I really don't read a whole lot of science fiction but when I was contacted by the author about reviewing this trilogy, I decided to give it a shot. The main reason I wanted to read these was because of the first thing you read when you go his website - "Mostly blind, he writes to create universes where he has no limitations.".

I knew that someone who is not able to experience the beauty of the world around him each day would create amazing universes inside his imagination. I was right. Danes manages to create a massive world within his trilogy that is full of life, excitement and deep characters.

The Last Hero starts out on Earth, much farther into the future than today and revolves around Trent Maxwell. Trent was a war hero in the last war Earth experience before a group of pacifists made contact and convinced humans to leave violence behind forever. Then an alien species attacks Earth and forces mankind back into its militaristic ways. Trent finds himself forced to leave behind his wife and young daughter to lead the mission against this new enemy. Because of the laws of space and time, Trent will not return home for over a decade, missing his daughter's entire childhood. He finds himself traveling back and forth through space on multiple missions that span an entire century, Earth time. Trent must deal with the loss of his family and what he gave up while fighting for the future of mankind.

Book 2 of the trilogy is The Last Revenge. Now that Trent has lost just about everything that was important to him in life, the only thing keeping him going is revenge for the people of Earth. Trent continues the war against the Kitright but faces challenges as other underhanded plans reveal themselves to him. The largest armies that the universe has ever seen converge on the battle field but it's difficult to determine if a victor will be decided.

The Last Hero books are full of military space action and take you on a ton of twists and turns as the plot unravels. What I really loved about these books, and what I think sets them apart from other Science Fiction novels is the emotion. Danes manages to create thoughtful, complex, emotional characters that truly pull at your heartstrings. While the battles are exciting, the struggles, sacrifices and victories that the characters go through truly keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you wanting more.

If I had one criticism, it would be that some of the battles were a bit too drawn out for my taste. I found myself skipping over some of the sentences to get through the "military" action pieces. I wish that some of the description that went into the battles would have been utilized to better describe the worlds and enemies the characters encountered.

Overall, these were fun, exciting books. Even if you aren't a science fiction fan but are looking for something different to read, you should give these a try. This weekend is the perfect time to pick these up - starting Friday, The Last Hero will only be $0.99 on Amazon! Go get them so you are ready for the third book when it comes out. I know I'll be waiting!

Pair This With: Alamos Malbec

This is a great, everyday wine to keep stocked on your shelf. It's from Argentina and I love Malbecs from this region. The Alamos Malbec has a rich, deep color with hints of stone fruit flavors. You get a lot of black raspberry and currant in the front with a long, sweet finish.

Adventures in Winemaking - Part 1

All of you who read my blog know that I love wine. Something you may not know is that my husband John (who has a background in Chemistry) loves to brew beer. To me, the next obvious step would be to take his talents, and my love of wine and make our own homemade wine.

A few years ago, we made a really lucky discovery. John's parents live on a farm out in a more rural part of central Virginia. It just so happens that they have a row of beautiful GRAPE VINES on their property! Imagine my excitement over this discovery and then multiply it by a thousand and you'll have a good gauge of my reaction. Not only do they have grape vines, but they planted them over 25 years ago. Established grape vines are even better!

I was a little bit disappointed to find out that they were Concord grapes but figured it would still be a fun way to get ourselves into making some homemade wine. About 2 years ago we cleaned up the vines (or so we thought) and waited patiently. Nothing. Remember my excitement over finding the vines? Well, getting ZERO grapes resulted in the exact opposite reaction. Sheer disappointment.

So, we did a bit more research and kindly asked for my mother-in-law's help to care for the vines - she can seriously grow a rose garden in a desert. We cleaned the vines up again this past fall - doing it the right way this time around. With her help, we cared for them all throughout the growing season. We made sure we kept the bugs away as best we could and pruned when necessary. I waited all summer with bated breath to see what would happen.

And guess what?! WE GOT GRAPES!! 

Here's me in my best grape harvesting outfit.

It's hard work snipping those grapes off the vines!

Unfortunately, we got to the harvest about a week too late and we did lose a lot of our grapes to the bees. Lesson learned. Grapes wait for NO ONE.

Look at our beautiful grapes!!!

But, we did get grapes and I can't wait to share this journey with all of you as we attempt to make our very first batch of homemade wine.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - coming soon!!

Taken Away - Patricia Yager Delagrange

Taken Away by Patricia Yager Delagrange
Publisher - Ravenswood Publishing
Publish Date - 6/1/15
Genre - Contemporary Fiction
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

My Rating:

Every so often, I get the opportunity to be part of Blog Tours or Amazon Review Campaigns for up and coming authors and/or recently released titles. It's a great way for these authors to get some exposure and get word out about their book. I love being a part of these because it lets me discover books that I most likely would never have read otherwise. This book was one of those!

This book was yet another novel outside the genres and storylines I typically gravitate towards but it intrigued me enough to spend the time to read it. Well, I read it in one night. It's not terribly long so that wasn't as difficult a feat as it may sound. The writing style really flowed and the plot really did drag you in pretty quickly so it made for a quick read.

Taken Away focuses on the story of Jessee Bradford, a young veterinarian who gets a job at a practice that his father-in-law owns in California. He is married to a young, carefree artist, Serena, whom he met in college. One day he returns home to find both Serena and their baby daughter Sofia missing. An investigation ensues with the FBI but they are no where to be found. The FBI tells Jessee that Serena most likely abandoned them and wanted to disappear without a trace. 

After some months go by with no breaks in the investigation, Jessee moves back home to Iowa where he takes over his grandfather's veterinary practice. His family and the new environment provide the distraction he needs from his terrible tragedy. He eventually meets Laura and falls in love. One evening they attend an art gallery with works by a mysterious painter that reminds Jessee of Serena's paintings. This sets him off on a search to find out the truth that results in a bunch of crazy twists and turns along the way.

Since I read this book in one night, the plot obviously captured my attention. Jessee's story was so tragic and I enjoyed seeing his emotional progression as he tried to move forward with his life. It was of course, a bit of a Lifetime movie "perfect" plot but sometimes those just make good stories, right? Laura was the perfect compliment to Jessee and all of the characters who were introduced into his life added a new dynamic to the story.

Without giving anything away, I have to say that I was incredibly disappointed with the ending. The story could have ended at Chapter Forty and I would have been perfectly content. Unfortunately, there were 2 additional chapters added on that I felt were unnecessary. They added another "twist" to the plot line that wasn't needed. These last 2 chapters dropped a HUGE bomb that only lasted for a few pages. The book ended in the same place that it would have anyway and I wish they weren't there. That being said, I would still recommend reading this book. Just maybe stop after Chapter 40.


Pair This With: WYSIWYG Rose

I've really been craving Rose's lately and this one hit the spot. First, it has a cool label and name - What You See Is What You Get. This is a very floral wine with hints of strawberry. It's light and fresh and easy to drink.

Blog Tour - Chemo on the Rocks

Chemo on the Rocks: My Great Alaskan Misadventure by Rebecca Durkin

Publisher: Christine F. Anderson Publishing & Media

Publish Date: 9/25/14

Genre: Memoir

Buy on Amazon

Goodreads

My Rating:

About the Author

Rebecca Durkin, author of Chemo on the Rocks: My Great Alaskan Misadventure and her short story, Behind the Smile, is known for her candor and sense of humor.

Rebecca is a featured speaker/creative trainer for an annual women’s retreat in California, where she shares her experiences and provides writing ideas. She is also a volunteer for the Survivors Teaching Students: Saving Women's Lives ® program for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

Rebecca spent the majority of her life living on the edge of the shore, first on Whidbey Island, Washington and then in rainy Ketchikan, Alaska where she lived a waterlogged existence for almost thirty years.  She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys road trips with her husband, hanging with her adult children, playing with her three Bichons—Scuppers, Scuttles, and Teeny Booty—and finding the humor in everyday life.

About the Book

Chemo on the Rocks is a shoreside seat on Rebecca (Becky) Durkin’s great Alaskan misadventure. It highlights the hilarity and heartache of a young girl who finds herself marooned in Ketchikan—fondly known as "The Rock"—where she remains on her self-imposed Alaskatraz for almost thirty years.

Chemo on the Rocks is witty, inspirational, satirical, and sometimes terrifying. It is a mix of pain and laughter as Becky walks the IV gauntlet, trailing behind the unfettered back end peeking through the drab hospital gown of the man shuffling before her.  Chemo on the Rocks is a hard-fought battle in the fallopian trenches where Becky wages war on ovarian cancer—the ultimate wedding crasher—as it invites an entire medical team into her honeymoon suite.  She slays the cancer dragon and has two children in defiance of the beast, but just when it seems life has returned to normalcy, she prematurely crashes onto Mount Hysteria and wanders aimlessly through the Hormone War Zone in the Land of the Ovary Snatchers.

Everything about having chemo on the rock was made more difficult by Becky’s fears of boating and flying—the only escape from the island—which became more terrifying with each trip to Seattle for surgery or testing. Chemo on the Rocks showcases the many parallels between sea adventures and cancer adventures, such as doldrums while awaiting diagnosis, the skull and cross bones of chemo, the bitter end of a failed marriage, tying the knot of another, listing dangerously, and perhaps a return to navigable waters. 

Review

I've never read a book that tells a real-life story quite like this one. Since Chemo on the Rocks deals with the serious and tragic story of cancer, I fully expected the book to be an inspirational downer. Boy was I wrong. Becky's sense of humor and drive to fight for her own life made this story breeze by. The lighter tone really helped because it takes you through some really dark, tough times and gives you a heavy dose of reality.

I found that I had to remind myself that this was a real story, written by the person who lived it and that the people in the story were real too, not characters. I had a tough time dealing with Becky and Mike's marriage. I got upset at the way Mike handled the entire situation and was angry that he needed support from Becky when he knew she couldn't provide it. When you look at it a second time though, this is EXACTLY real life, right there in black and white. Life is not fair, people's emotions and reactions to situations are not fair and we just trudge on the best we can.

If you need a story to put some things in life into perspective, then go read this book. Everyone deals with tough things and everyone's tough things are tough to them. When you read about someone's journey and struggles through a fight as massive as the one with cancer, it makes you think. No matter how bad you think things are in your life, they could be a whole lot worse. And, even if they are the worst, the human spirit is an amazing thing that is capable of a lot more than you might imagine. Becky's story captures that essence beautifully.

Pair This With

If you've been following along with me on this blog at all, you know that my favorite wines come from the Rioja region of Spain - particularly Tempranillo and Garancha varietals. The title of this book inspired me to pair it with a yummy sangria ON THE ROCKS of course! While homemade sangria is the best, sometimes you just want something quick, easy and ready to pour. Real Sangria is my favorite go-to bottled sangria. It is a fruity Spanish sangria comprised mostly of, you guessed it, Tempranillo and Garancha grapes. It's light, slightly citrusy and delicious over ice.

Blog Tour - The Secret Letters

The Secret Letters by Abby Bardi

Publisher: Harper Collins Australia

Publish Date: 7/1/15

Genre: Women's Fiction

Buy on Amazon

Goodreads

My Rating:

About the Author

Abby Bardi is the author of THE BOOK OF FRED and THE SECRET LETTERS. She grew up in Chicago, went to college in California, then spent a decade teaching English in Japan and England. She currently teaches at a college in Maryland and lives in historic Ellicott City with her husband and dog.

About the Book

When thirty-seven-year-old slacker-chef Julie Barlow's mother dies, her older sister Pam finds a cache of old letters from someone who appears to be their mother's former lover. The date stamped on the letters combined with a difficult relationship with her father leads Julie to conclude that the letters' author was a Native American man named J. Fallingwater who must have been her real father.

Inspired by her new identity, Julie uses her small inheritance to make her dream come true: she opens a restaurant called Falling Water that is an immediate success, and life seems to be looking up. Her sister Norma is pressuring everyone to sell their mother's house, and her brother Ricky is a loveable drunk who has yet to learn responsibility, but the family seems to be turning a corner. 

Then tragedy strikes, and Julie and her siblings have to stick together more than ever before. With all the secrets and setbacks, will Julie lose everything she has worked so hard for?

Review

I enjoyed the style of writing right off the bat with this story. The dialogue flowed very easily and the author really made you feel like you were a part of this crazy family dynamic. The letters that Julie and Pam find while cleaning out their mom's house add an interesting element to the plot line. Since the novel is called "The Secret Letters" I was really hoping for more investigation and attention on the letters. I felt like they were super important for a brief moment but then they sort of just faded away as we got more into Julie's story.

Each of the siblings dealt with their mother's death in a unique way and I loved seeing the interaction and emotions they all went through. This family and their struggles, both individually and together, was very realistic and easy to relate to. The reveal and eventual resolution of the letters happened a bit too quickly for my taste. While I definitely didn't see the twist coming at the end of this book, it was both too tidy and open ended at the same time. I wish we could have heard how Julie's story ended.

All in all, this was a fun, easy read and I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy a good family drama story. It's funny and engaging and the author's first person POV was very well done. She deals with some pretty serious themes throughout this story but the writing never brings you down too much.

Pair This With

 The Hot to Trot red blend from 14 Hands Winery is one of my favorite "go-to" wines. It has flavors of red berries and dark stone fruits with just a little bit of spice. It paired perfectly with the light- hearted yet sassy tone of this novel.


  

Winery Wednesday - Rutherford Hill

To celebrate our 5th anniversary, my husband and I were lucky enough to get the chance to travel out to Napa Valley. It was on my bucket list of places to go and believe me - it did NOT disappoint. Our trip was fairly short - only 4 days but we got to experience a ton while we were there. We never stayed in the same place two nights in a row.

Obviously, wine tasting was at the top of my list of to-do's while we were there. It is unbelievable how many wineries there are in Northern California. We spent the time beforehand and planned out our entire trip and chose which wineries we were going to visit on which day. This took some work and research but it made it SO much easier.

Today on my Winery Wednesday feature, I want to share my hands down, FAVORITE winery we visited on our trip -

Rutherford Hill Winery

Rutherford Hill Winery is located high in the hills of Napa Valley, CA. The views of the valley are absolutely breathtaking. The winery was founded in 1972 and has been making delicious wines ever since.

One of the cool features of Rutherford Hill are their wine caves. We took a tour and it was the most fun, unique wine tasting experience I've had. They actually had little stations set up throughout the caves so as we toured, we stopped periodically for wine. So fun! They can store up to 8,000 barrels of wine in their caves at one time!

Here's us at the entrance to the wine caves!

The wine caves were chilly which makes them perfect for storing wine

There were tons of alleys off the main walkway with wine barrels stacked as far as the eye could see!

We tasted a bunch of delicious wines but my favorites were their Malbec and Merlot. We brought back a bottle of the 2008 Malbec with us - soooo yummy! Merlot is the wine that Rutherford Hill is best known for and dedicates most of their production towards.

The last stop on our tasting took us to a table outside where they shared their dessert wines with us. They also gave us a bowl of these amazing chocolate covered blueberries. I brought a bag home and have been obsessed with them ever since. Luckily, I found a local store that carries them!

Whenever someone I know mentions they are headed to Napa Valley and ask for recommendations - this is where I tell them to go. If you aren't going to make it out to Napa any time soon, then find their wines online and try them out. You won't be disappointed!