Book review- 11/22/63

So I remember as a young girl watching the start of a ABC Sunday Night movie. I thought it was a kid movie because there was a little boy playing with a boat in the gutter(?) and a clown. Yeah then it turned all freaky and scary and my parents realized I was in the room and turned it off. I later learned it was a movie called "It" and to calm my fears my mom later told me the ending was silly because the bad guy was just a "giant spider". Thanks for that one mom. 

That was my first encounter with Stephen King and I never wanted to meet him again. I will admit to having watched a Shining mini-series about 15 years ago but that was it.

Funny thing is I consider Mr. King to be a very talented writer. I have read excerpts of many of his novels for various classes throughout high school and college. Yet the idea of the evil clown and giant spider still kept me away. I know his stories, who doesn't? They have become cultural staples but I still wouldn't read him. I knew my imagination and I knew his writing the two never should meet. 

Then I found his latest book at Cost-co and it sounded intriguing. A book about time travel and going back to save JFK. I have to admit I have a weakness for time travel books and an even bigger weakness for change history time travel books. I downloaded the first few chapters onto my kindle and I was hooked. I checked it out from the library, only to have to return it a few weeks later still unread. Finally I was able to get it again and after two renewals finally had time to pick the book up and read it. I read the book in three days. 

The premise of the book is simple. There is a wormhole that leads back to 1958. At first this wormhole is used to buy cheap meat but then the finder (Al) realizes that he could change history. The interesting thing about this wormhole is every time you enter it is the same day, you "reset" history. Despite his best efforts to stop the Kennedy assassination, he develops cancer and doesn't make it to 1963. Instead he recruits a friend to do the job for him. 

Jake wants to make sure it works and tries changing an event where a family was killed. He goes back. Stops the killings and then returns to the present to see how it effected his time line. When he sees all is good he decides to give it a go and save the president. 

Now there are points where this book drags. Heads up the Kennedy Assassination doesn't even take place until around page 820 of a 900 page book. I wanted the story to move a long and hurry the pace at times but it did make this journey more believable. I was drawn into the life and found myself, like Jake, wishing to stay forever. The problems of the late 50s early 60s are not glossed over but life is presented in a very real manor. I loved this story. I was loathed to see it end. I felt the resolution was perfect and I was grateful that it had a bittersweet ending. 

Despite my love for this book I don't think I will be picking up anything else by Mr. King. He made sure of that when he slipped in the part about a killer clown...thanks, I appreciate the nightmare stalker the last few nights. I wonder if it too will be followed by a giant spider.




Note- The language in this book is well, there is a lot of it. If you don't like that stuff stay away, you will not find this book pleasant. 

Mommy brain karma

Before I got married I was always very shocked by the absent minded mothers I met. I was surprised that they couldn't remember very simple things. I mean how could you forget your child's name or the glasses sitting on top of your head?  I could (and still can) rattle off high school friends birth dates and phone numbers. My memory was nearly flawless and I was proud of that and knew that when I became a mother that I would never have problems like this.

Yeah, ever heard of something called karma?

It all started during my pregnancy. I started forgetting my student's names. Names that I had memorized and not forgotten the first week of school. I chalked it up to the fact that I was tired all the time. Little did I know that was just the start.

I have lost bottles, only to find them in the sink where they belong ten minutes later. I have misplaced credit cards, to find them sitting my wallet. Yeah mommy brain has sunk in. It has only seemed to grow worse in the past few weeks. Let me give you a few examples all from this month.

I attended my neighborhood cooking group the other night. I had an enjoyable time and when it was time to go I picked up my few dishes and said goodnight. I walked across the street to my car and loaded the dishes in the back. As I sat in the drivers seat I put the key in the ignition and turned. The car didn't start and the wheel seemed to lock. I adjusted the wheel and tried again, still no purring engine. I went on with this game for five minutes. It was then I started to notice little things. Like the fact that my breast cancer pink ribbon didn't hand from the mirror.  James' name card had disappeared from the dash board and the car seemed much cleaner than I remembered it being.  I turned around and there was clincher the back seat was empty, missing two carseats. Yes, I had gotten into the wrong car. In my defense the car was also s silver CR-V parked near feet from mine.

Later that same week I was calling a new babysitter and leaving our phone number to call back and I forgot the number. Me. I can remember every phone number I have ever had. I remember every work number I have had. I remember friends from elementary school numbers. But there my mind went blank. My message sounded something like this: "Hi, this is Natalie Bradley from the ward. We need a babysitter on Thursday. You can reach me at 801....um. um. I think I just forgot my number. Um call me on my cell at" you get the picture. I had to ask my nine year old four times that day what our home number was because I plain old didn't know.

One last moment of mommy brain karma happened two weeks ago, about a week after the first two incidents. We had been at a birthday celebration at my parents and had finally rounded up the kids and were on our way home, this was of course after twenty minutes of trying to cajole the kids out the door. We were strapped in and had left. Half way down the street I hear from the back seat, "Hey where is Eve?" Sure enough our six year old was no where to be found. She was still playing with her cousin, blissfully unaware that she was the latest victim of mommy brain.

Thanks karma. Thanks.

Recipe- Fresh strawberry cake

For his birthday James asked for a strawberry cake. So I whipped up this little baby-

I know that it looks like a five year old's birthday cake but you can make it look nice by using rounds and filling it with the puree.


It was pretty simple for a "from scratch" cake and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 24 oz  frozen  or fresh strawberries, hulled (if frozen, thawed)
• 2 tsp sugar 
• 1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature 
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup flour, sifted
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened 

Instructions

1. Slice the strawberries and toss with 2 tsps of sugar. Let them sit for a couple hours. 
2. Puree strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
3. Reserve cup puree for the cake. 
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pan.
5. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended.
6.  In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
7. Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. 
8. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary).

I used the left over puree in the whip cream frosting and it was fabulous.