Books or Kindle?

I try not to fall for all of the cool electronic toys that are on the market. I like the days where I forget my cell phone at home and contrary to belief, I do not always answer my phone. I like the convenience of always being plugged in, but sometimes I do like to unplug and not have access to the internet.

I've always been a reader. I love books. I hope that someday I live in a house with a room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, covered in books, like my grandparents' house. I even have some of my grandfather's books from those shelves, just waiting for the perfect place to live. Somehow, I don't think that the temporary IKEA bookshelf that they currently sit on in the basement will cut it.

One of the benefits of having about 45 minutes to an hour commute twice a day is that I get to do a lot of reading. One of the downsides is that, depending on the book, it might take up a lot of space in my bag and be a lot of extra weight to carry. This is where the technology question above comes in to play. The Amazon Kindle.

Apparently, the Kindle can hold up to 1,500 books, so your library is at your fingertips at all times. It's lightweight. The screen is not backlit so it's like reading a book and not a computer screen, but what I can't wrap my head around yet is settling into before I fall asleep with a Kindle instead of with a book. That just seems off to me. Plus, I get a lot of books from the library (I LOVE the library, the smell of the books, the atmosphere, I just love libraries), so they're free now, why should I start paying to download books?

I don't know, I do buy some books but I don't know that I buy enough to make the Kindle worth it just yet. It seems like it would be the perfect device for me, but I think I'll stick to books for now.

Even in the boot...

I am still cooking up a storm! The first few days were a hard adjustment, but I'm finally used to the boot and am confident that my foot will be as good as new in a little under 5 weeks.

One of the new cookbooks I found under the Christmas tree is Molto Mario by Mario Batali. I have never before cooked one of his recipes, but I am going to be working my way through this book because if this first recipe was a preview, we are in for some delicious food!

Tonight I made Cotolette alla Zingara. Translated from Italian, zingara means gypsy. I don't know why this dish of Pork Chops with Peppers and Capers is named after gypsies, but I'm gonna go with it.

The most exciting part of this recipe for me was that I had to brine the pork chops overnight. Jeromy has made several brines for our turkeys over the past few years, but I have never once made a brine myself. I was so excited about the brine that I pulled it out of the refrigerator and said, "Jeromy, look! My first brine!" I hope I am as proud of myself when showing off our firstborn child ;-)

The ingredients for the recipe:

Dinner on the stove:

The finished product:

I added garlicky broccolini from this month's issue of Food and Wine and some whole wheat couscous. This is definitely a larger meal that what I normally cook during the week, but it was sooooo worth it.

My final note, tonight, I'm really disappointed in Massachusetts.

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend has been action-packed, and it's only Sunday morning!

We started out yesterday, bright and early in the cold, cold air with our friends Ben Flaccus and Casey Moore. They are both incredibly talented photographers and were generous enough to take some engagement photos of us. Here's one from our session:

Even though we were all freezing, it was a lot of fun. We're looking forward to another session with Ben and Casey--thank you both so much!!

Last night our friends Ashley and Dan came over for dinner. We always love spending time with them and last night was no exception. We thought we'd try another recipe out of Everyday Italian--this is our fourth recipe out of the book, so we're well on our way to cooking through her book! We made the roasted pork loin with fig sauce:

The pork came out perfectly, but the sauce, while tasty, was not thick enough. After following the recipe, I added fig spread to it to thicken it up and it still wasn't quite what we wanted it to be. For the first time, we are a little disappointed in Giada. But I'm sure she'll redeem herself this week.

I'd like you to meet my new best friend, my walking boot. I started wearing it yesteday afternoon and will be wearing it for the next six weeks. I'm trying to stay positive and know that this is what will heal my foot, but at the same time, it is really frustrating! It makes standing in the kitchen and cooking difficult. My wonderful fiance brought one of our breakfast bar stools into the kitchen so I could cook without standing on my feet--he is too good to me :-)

And finally, we have set a date for our wedding! The countdown is on!

Lisa :-)

Happy 2010!

The end of 2009 was full of action on Stover Drive! Jeromy and I flew up to Massachusetts to spend Christmas with my family and while we were there he surprised me on Christmas Eve and proposed! My response was, "are you being serious right now?" which I'll admit is slightly odd, but I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say! I started crying and was just so happy. Jeromy had asked my dad the day before when they went skiing and it was all just perfect.
:-)

Taking a picture in pretty much the exact spot that Jeromy proposed, only I was in my pajamas at the time.



Here's my ring (I LOVE IT!!! Almost as much as I love my fiance):















We've now entered the world of wedding planning. It's comforting to know that many other people have gone through this process before us so we have lots of friends and family to consult if we have questions. We're really looking forward to this next year and to the start of our married life. I can't wait to get married but I also hope we take time to enjoy being engaged. I hope your holidays were filled with joy, laughter, family, friends and lots of fun. Here's to 2010!

Lisa :-)