Fast

"Finding the book was like kissing a lightning bolt."

                                   – Innocent Mage, Karen Miller

I'm fasting from reading untill Saturday. I've simply been consumed with it these past weeks (well, my whole life really), and I think I need to set some boundaries. Everything in moderation. I thought, to cement in my mind how much time I've spent reading since I've come home, I'd try to make a list of all the books I've read since May fifteenth.

• Saltation ( a Liaden universe book, and a really cool word besides) 
• Variable Star (which I technically was finishing. Finally)
• Harlequin's Moon
• The Deeds of Paksenarrion (Which all the "adults" in the house have now read, proving we all have reading issues. ~ 1000 pages)
• Murder at the Vicarage
• Unpleasantness at the Belladonna Club (Dorothy Sayers, because I couldn't let her feel left out)
• Podkayne of Mars (Read from Kentucky to St. Louis, my dad had it on his iPad. 224 "Pages") 
• A P.G. Wodehouse omnibus (of which I mostly contained myself to the Whimsey stories)
• Evil Under the Sun
• The Murder of Roger Ackryod (This one was way evil)
• A Murder in Three Acts
• The Pinhole Egg  (Reread. I love Diana Wynne Jones)
• To say Nothing of the Dog (Full of literary allusions, especially to 1930's detective fiction. It was fun to compare its concept of history to, say, Dr. Who's)
• The Dragon Variation (omnibus of three books set in the Liaden universe, 958 pages)
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Read out-loud to number Six)
• Xenopath ( The second in a series, but Theo had me skip the first book. 403 Pages)
• Thomas Zahn's Thrawn trilogy (Also reread. A Star Wars series)
• The King Maker, King Breaker series ( two books, 1000 pages)

I've tried to put these in chronological order but, eh. My memory is a twisted skein. No continuity at all. 

Speaking of skeins, I'm working on my fist pair of knitted stockings. Their Toe-up, but not going very well I'm afraid. Problems with the appropriate number of heel stitches. Since I won't be reading today, maybe I'll get some frogging time in. 

Hey, got any ideas for what I should read next? 

Fun Fu-Food

Obviously, in case you weren't aware, we are home. Yes, we made it through Texas, down to New Mexico, and then back across to Maryland. There was almost no internet connection in New Mexico, and the three day trip back home was way draining, but never fear, I now have both a connection and energy. Naturally, since everything else is in my favor, the pictures aren't on my computer yet; although, my dad, who was with us only in spirit, has all of them on his. When we finagle a way to get one thousand pictures to transfer painlessly, I'll up date the travel blog.

Until then I thought I'd share a little culinary advice: Let loose!

One of my lifetime friends came over yesterday and we invented our own green curry (mostly thanks to my brother, who went out to the store and got us coconut milk, basil, tofu, and a curry kit). Inspired  by this no-recipe approach ( inspired again, that is, both of my parents cook this way too, now that I think about it), I used one of the extra tofu packets to make fried tofu. And then I made a dipping sauce out of honey, lime, and rice wine vinegar. Then I photographed it like I was mad. And ate it ALL.

The coolest thing about this event was the contraption I stumbled upon for frying: a wire mesh strainer, placed inside the pot. The strainer had a loop on it, so when the tofu was done the strainer could be quickly drawn out of the oil, the tofu dumped out, and the strainer replaced, ready for the next batch. usually I spend half my time fishing bits of broken food matter out of the oil so it wont burn, but not today. It was the easiest bit of frying I've ever performed, and I'm looking forward to using this method on other foods.

Quick, what cool concoction can you create?