The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have never read anything by Michael Connelly before but my brother sent me a few books that he'd read and recommended that I give him a try. I chose "The Lincoln Lawyer" and was immediately hooked. It was very good. Not a lot of gore but enough detail to keep the bad characters bad and the suspense pulling at you. The Lincoln Lawyer has the good cops and bad cops (literally) and a main man who you can't help but like despite his personal charachter flaws. I was not able to figure out the answer to the nagging question that was key in the story and was really was surprised in the last 10 pages or so by the swift turn of events.


Connelly has an obvious knack for spinning a tale that is believable while keeping you turning the pages with curiosity about the answer that is just around the corner - then the next corner - then the next...

I look forward to the next book I read by Michael Connelly.

View all my reviews

What Rhymes with Thyme?

Ummm..... Delicious? Or maybe Lemon.

My husband and I recently put in a bunch of herb plants in the back yard. I never want to use them because they take so long to grow and you usually have to use so much. I don't want to hack my whole plant away, so I will wait for the right time to harvest them. 

Well that time came today! I figured since we have them, why not use them! It was a thyme sort of day. First I made iced tea with fresh Lemon Thyme and a splash of fresh lemon juice. Here is the recipe:

Lemon Thyme Iced Tea

2 large ice tea bags
3 sprigs lemon thyme
lemon slices
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Put tea bags, water, and lemon thyme sprigs into a pitcher. Set outside to in the sun to steep. Remove tea bags and dissolve the sugar. Add a touch of fresh lemon juice and maybe a slice or two to make it pretty. Refrigerate until cool.

I think this would be really good if you crush open the thyme leaves before you put them in.


Then, since I had this here lemon, I made Lemon Thyme Bars. Umm, Holy Moley. Fantastic. At first I thought it was too much thyme, but I followed the recipe and it ended up being great. What I found interesting is that without the sugary glaze on top, the shortbreaddy stuff on the bottom had a very interesting flavor. Not one I am sure I liked. However, pop that glaze on and it mellowed out the interesingness of it and the flavors blended into a heavenly delight. Thank you food network. Thank you.

 Here is the recipe for the bars.

Lemon Thyme Bars

Bars:

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8 by 8-inch glass baking dish.

For the bars:

In a small bowl combine flour, thyme and salt. Set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together 1 stick of butter and powdered sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Using damp fingers, press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes until golden. Cool for 30 minutes.

For the glaze:

In a medium bowl, whisk the lemon juice and powdered sugar together until smooth. Spoon the glaze over the cooled crust. Allow the glaze to harden, at room temperature, for at least 1 hour.

Using a metal spatula, remove the crust from the pan. Cut into 1 1/2-inch square bars and arrange on a serving platter or store airtight in a plastic container at room temperature.


That's all for Thyme day.

Make, Eat, Enjoy!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Under normal circumstances I would have never chosen a book with this title but, as luck would have it, circumstances were not normal and I picked it up and gave it a second look. I figured that the price was sure right and all of the profits going for a great cause so ... why not.

I was very pleasantly surprised. I'd told a friend just after I started reading it that it was a hoot. But the story got much deeper. Although it is written with a big dose of humor and I did find myself chuckling I also cried and groaned as I read a very moving tale, all written as letters to, or from, Juliet by friends and perfect strangers.

A succesful author, in a bit of a slump, gets some extarordinary inspiration from a chance correspondence with Dawsey, who was requesting information on a book that had once belonged to Juliet and had her name and address inscribed in it. The letters begin to unfold the story of a community on Guernsey, an Island in the English Channel, during the German Occupation of WWII.

The Guernsey Literary an Potato Peel Pie Society is chalk full of quirky charachters (Islanders are always quirky - that's why they don't live on the main land in the first place) that are 100% believable. A fun read with enough depth to make you want to "think on it" for a day before starting something else!

View all my reviews

It has been way too long -- Time flies by - sometimes in a gentle breeze, sometimes in mighty gusts. The clock ticks and chimes each hour, the sun rises and sets, the months blend one into the next without much fanfare. Then there is an event, an occurance that marks your life calendar forever. It may be something big or small in the scope of human existence but the remarkable shift it causes in your life, in your thinking, your heart, deep in your soul will not be forgotten. How much can a heart hold? How vast are it's boarders? I am glad that I can't answer that and thankful for all of the experiences that I have been blessed with. I hope that you feel blessed - because you are!