Month: May 2008

I don’t like to keep a lot of books around, so I use LibraryThing to record which books I have read, not which books I actually own copies of.

I’ve mentioned my LibraryThing usage in a previous post and since I’m planning a little change, I thought I’d mention it again. I finally surpassed the 200 books that LibraryThing allows in a free account and so have purchased a lifetime membership. This new status allows me unlimited book entries and I have decided to add the back catalog of books that I have read in order to make a more complete online collection. (There will be titles in the sidebar that aren’t ‘recently read’ during this process.)

I have kept a record of my reading habits for many years now, so when I have finished adding everything from my old book database, my LibraryThing account will contain every book that I have read back to the fall of 2002, along with some titles that I had remembered reading before that time.

Annie Jo on LibraryThing (soon to be a more complete record of my book consumption)

After the sweet potato pie disaster (or success if you like ham-tasting pie), I needed some cooking success to boost morale. It has been pointed out to me that veggie burgers are easy to make. Many times this has been pointed out to me. So I finally decided to dive in with a recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, my Mark Bittman book.

The burgers turned out to be wonderful and I can see how easy it will be to create delicious variations.

Happy burger and dog eating to everyone today.

I had never made a sweet potato pie before, but decided to give it a whirl.

Delicious flaky crust, check.

Smooth custardy filling, check.

Robust ham flavor, ch-

Wait . . . what?!?

That’s right, my sweet potato pie tastes exactly like ham. While I might be able to make a fortune with a new offering in the fake meats market, this wasn’t the taste sensation I was going for. I tried Googling this phenomenon but was unable to find anyone who’d ended up in the same boat as me. I’ll have to review my recipe, but I don’t remember cured meat being listed among the ingredients. Do you see any bits of ham in there?

So now I’ve got half a ham pie leftover. No amount of whipped cream can cover up that piggy essence.

The second season of the television version of This American Life has started up and I managed to get my grubby paws on episode one.

It was amazing.

If you haven’t seen the show, check it out.  Season one is available for download on iTunes and Amazon.

I do not subscribe to Showtime.  You  may remember I am also in love with the Dexter program that the network airs. If I even subscribed to any cable at all I might consider expanding to the premium Showtime, though probably not.  For now I will keep my eyes peeled for season two on iTunes.  I would happily part with my cash for those episodes.  The whole television thing seems a bit busted these days.

This coming Thursday also brings the return of So You Think You Can Dance.  I eagerly anticipate the first day of tryouts.