(photo from the Family Kitchen)

This recipe seems so simple upon first glance, but it’s a little bit crazy.  Though I appreciate the intent may have been to use whole boxes, bags & cans of ingredients so you don’t have anything left to shove back into your pantry (I love that!) BUT you will get more soup than you know what to do with so unless you are feeding a family of 10 it might get wasted at the end.  It was delicious the first time, hot off the stove and I love a recipe not afraid of adding spinach.  But leftovers aren’t soup.  They are soggy pasta at best.  (The orzo absorbs all of the liquid).  Fine, maybe, for a lunch at the office, maybe once, but that’s it.  I would need to find a way to make about 1/3 of this recipe if I were to make it again.  If you are feeding a crowd on a cold winter day, then go check out the recipe over at The Family Kitchen.

This is one of my favorite books and I’ve read it many times.  It’s not very long and if you’ve never had the opportunity to read it, I would highly recommend it.

Jean-Dominique Bauby, the author of this memoir, was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, when at the age of 43 years old he suffered a stroke that resulted in locked-in syndrome.  He was able to find a way to communicate and very tediously gave us this beautiful (and often sad) set of stories.  He died just two days after the French publication of this book.

My favorite passage:

I receive remarkable letters.  They are opened for me, unfolded, and spread out before my eyes in a daily ritual that gives the arrival of the mail the character of a hushed and holy ceremony.  I carefully read each letter myself.  Some of them are serious in tone, discussing the meaning of life, invoking the supremacy of the soul, the mystery of every existence.  And by a curious reversal, the people who focus most closely on those fundamental questions tend to be people I had known only superficially.  Their small talk had masked hidden depths.  Had I been blind and deaf, or does it take the harsh light of disaster to show a person’s true nature?

If you are ever looking for a different Christmas movie, this little known film is pretty funny.

This little angel is 14 years old today.  Believe it.  Or convince me to believe it because I don’t.  There’s no way I can be this old.

Video by Zack Conkle on Vimeo.

Sharkboy is all grown up!  I enjoy a good on-the-run thriller from time to time, and this one was entertaining enough.  Thank you Netflix Instant.

These are delicious!  I find them at Whole Foods and I get one of every flavor.  Perfect to pair with a salad for lunch.  Thank you to the Happy Herbivore for the introduction.

Very interesting memoir.  I’m always humbled by others’ challenges that seem so far removed from my own life.  It’s never a bad thing to gain a little more perspective.

From the Book Description on Amazon.com:

A memoir of grit and transformation for anyone who has been told something was impossible and then went on to do it anyway.  Tiffanie DiDonato was born with dwarfism. Her limbs were so short that she was not able to reach her own ears. She was also born with a serious case of optimism. She decided to undergo a series of painful bone-lengthening surgeries that gave her an unprecedented 14 inches of height—and the independence she never thought she’d have.  After her surgeries, Tiffanie was able to learn to drive, to live in the dorms during college, and to lead a normal life. She even made time to volunteer, writing to troops stationed abroad, and one of those Marine pen pals ultimately became her husband.  Dwarf is a moving and, at times, funny testament to the power of sheer determination, and has been compared to Andrew solomon’s Far From the Tree.

This movie didn’t receive the greatest ratings, but I thought it was really good.  I originally thought it was more of a horror movie, but it’s actually more action/suspense.  There were a few gaps I would have like to have seen filled in, but overall I think it’s an entertaining way to kill a couple of hours.

How did this movie even get made?  With this cast I didn’t think I could go wrong, but it was truly awful.  A sweet, little African-American girl providing a continuous racial commentary is not funny.  Love the actors, hate the movie.