Christmas Meeting 2015!

We met at Carol's house for our December meeting.

Beautiful decorations walking into Carol's house, as usual!

Somebody had a special birthday that we had to celebrate!

The normal discussion about the book - Of Human Bondage.   Many did not finish the book....and those who did were split on "didn't like it" to "liked it".    We'll call it done and not worry about that book anymore!

I will compliment Carol's confection of sweet popcorn - here is the recipe ....  Very yummy!

White Chocolate Popcorn
1 (3.3 oz.) bag butter flavored microwave popcorn, popped
1 cup salted mixed nutes
1 cup dried cranberries
1 (12 oz) package white chocolate morsels
ground cinnamon

Place popcorn in a large bowl, discarding unpopped kernels.  Stir in nuts and cranberries.

Melt white chocolate morsels accordig to the package direction and stir until smooth.  pur over popcorn mixture, stirring until evenly coated.

Spread mixture in 15x10 inch jelly roll pan.  Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon to taste.  Let sand 15 minutes or until chocolate hardens.  Break into pieces, serve immediately or store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Again, yummy!

And then there was the "Dirty Santa"....we retired to the den for the event.

Quite a bit of opening gifts and "stealing" gifts.

And Brody took the cue to come visit....

A nice gathering!  Thanks, Carol!

Next month's book is Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

The meeting will be January  26th at Donna's house.  

There are a few new books added to the "What we're reading" link at the right.

October Meeting

Chilly fall night for our book club meeting.  The lovely ladies were all trying to avoid being in the photograph....

We had a lively discussion about our book this month - Fresh Water from Old Wells by NC author Cindy McMahon.


Discussion centered on how vividly (or foggily) we recall our childhoods, how our viewpoints (as children) might not be very knowledgeable, and the extreme importance of communicating with our parents while they are young and able to help us understand our family history. 

Be sure to check out the "Other Interesting Books" link on the right.

As usual, we will skip the November meeting because it falls when most folks are traveling for Thanksgiving.

The Christmas meeting will be at Carol's house and we'll do our normal "Dirty Santa"!!!  So, bring a wrapped gift to share (limit to around $15 +/-) and join the fun.

We looked at the calendar and hope that December 15th will work for Carol.


Next month's book will be:

Of Human Bondage - by  W. Somerset Maugham

It was on a "100  Novels You Must Read Before You Die" list.    Plus, it's available from Amazon for $0.00!!!   http://www.amazon.com/Of-Human-Bondage-Signet-Classics/dp/0451530179





Several ladies asked about the 2 desserts tonight....so I'll include the very easy recipes.   Ginger cookies and Apple Cobbler with Tollhouse Pumpkin Spice Morsels - nice fall deserts!

Iced Ginger Cookies  (recipe given to me by Sharon's friend Jeannine in Greenville, NC)

• 2 cups self rising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ³⁄₄ cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar, plus
• several tablespoons sugar, for spinkling
• 1 large egg, at room temperature  (leave this out for a vegan cookie with no real difference)
• ¹⁄ ₂ cup light unsulphured molasses

• Icing

• ¹⁄₂ cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening  (I used Butter!!)
• Bake at 350 degrees

 Mix all cookie ingredients and drop on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for just 6-7 minutes.  Really, go on and take them out.  Don't overcook these!
Sprinkle with   sugar immediately upon removal from oven.  Allow to cool, apply icing (or forego icing since they are very sweet!)  These freeze well.


Apple Crisp with Tollhouse Pumpkin Spice Morsels  (I checked again....can't be vegan since the morsels have milkfat...)


Toss the following in a bowl and put in a 9x9 baking dish

5 cups apples (I used Fuji, cored but did not peel)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sprinkle bag of Tollhouse Pumpkin Spice Morsels over the apples


Mix:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal (I used Old-Fashioned)
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter  

Spoon this mixture evenly over the apples.  No need to be too careful, this will spread and bubble while cooking.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Would be really good with vanilla ice cream  !!!!   :-)

October Meeting

October meeting will be at Karen's house.  This is a substitute for the cancelled Asheville trip.

August Meeting

Great meeting at Vilma's house in the woods!

She put out a yummy spread - even served some whole figs and nuts as sort-of a "biblical" touch!

Lively discussion about the book.  Most enjoyed "The Red Tent".  Even a little religious discussion about our memories of Jacob,  Joseph and the 12 Tribes of Israel  from Sunday School!  (Here they are: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin)

Also went around the table for a good "what I've been reading lately" session.

Next month's book is a debut novel by Asheville author Cindy McMahon Fresh Water from Old Wells. Vilma had an extra copy of the book and drew names to determine a winner - lucky Carol won the book!

Vilma is a friend-of-a-friend with the author and may be able to arrange visit or Skype call with the author.


Big News - since so many of us will be out of town for a September meeting - we've decided to take a girl's  trip to Asheville for an October meeting instead!!!    Details to follow!

July Meeting

We had a very good book club meeting with nine people present! Met on the back porch...humid, but with fans on, it was nice! Robin brought a wine called Vineyard Salute...Fly Girl White. Had a picture of a '40's woman pilot on the label. Which got us thinking....the person who recommends the new book will look for a bottle of wine that pairs with the new book to bring to the next meeting when we discuss that book.
Had a great discussion about the the book. Everyone liked it. Everyone was sorry there wasn't a pilot present to join the discussion!!😉
Next month's book is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Two members have read it, but want to read it again. They liked it very much. It is about four women from the Old Testament and their relationship. It is not a religious book, but more about the relationship and interaction of these women 4000 years ago.
We ended up discussing politics and current events. That was also interesting!
Next month's meeting will be at Vilma's house.

June Meeting

A few of us gathered at Robin's last night and had a good discussion on "The Smoke Jumper."  We decided that it was lacking in some aspects but was, generally, a good book, however, a bit long.  Claire will be our next host, July 28.  The book chosen for our next read is " The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion" by Fannie Flagg.  It should be a fun read.  If you can remember "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café," that is the same author.

May Meeting

The meeting was at Carol's with Robin providing snacks.  Last minute change, but it apparently worked out fine!   This month's book was At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen. 

What a good looking group!!

We will be meeting June 23  at Robin's house.  Claire will take the July meeting.

Next read:  The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans (author of  "The Horse Whisperer")

April Meeting

Luan hosted this month's meeting at UnWined....

What a great group shot!   And a great group!!   :-)

Next meeting at Claire's house! 

March Meeting

Finally some more spring-like weather for our meeting at Lindy's house!

We had a good discussion about Taking Flight  - generally well received but everyone thought the writing was a bit juvenile and would have benefited from some better editing.

Lots of other discussions during the evening - Luan told us about the fantastic "monthly dinner" that the Fair Game Distillery is hosting.  It's by reservation only - starts with a fortified wine-tasting, then proceeds to a NY trained chef-prepared meal with in-season, local food.  Luan said it was a blast.

There were a couple of comments that the movie The Birdman was awful!  Apparently, the movie gets good reviews - but the ladies didn't like it at all!!

Lindy chose the book for the April meeting -  Stealing Buddha's Dinner - by Bich Minh Nguyen

Luan will be hosting the meeting and it will be at will be at  UnWined.  Luan has asked them to open especially for our group.   Look for the address on the right.  See their website here -  UnWined

AND - don't for get to click on the "Interesting Books" link for reading ideas!

February Meeting

The February meeting was supposed to be at Robin's house....but snow got in the way!  Because Carol's driveway was more clear, the meeting was moved to Carol's house  on Friday evening.

Only 5 ladies were able to attend, but the discussion was good, both about the book and other things!

Quotes from a couple of notes:

They appreciated what Chris shared with the reader, giving us a good eye-view of how that war was and is being fought.  Yes, he was full of himself but he was willing to give of himself.

All present seemed to agree that his autobiography sheds light on what the soldiers endured in Iraq and for that reason alone we got a lot out of the book. We felt he was doing his job the best he could given the circumstances. His point wasn't to be a good writer but explain to the world his dedication to his men and country.  That being said we wondered why his words weren't more polished because he obviously had help in putting his life story together. His dedication astounded us all by his willingness to be away from his family for so long.

Our next book is Taking Flight by Michaela DePrince with Elaine DePrince. 

 

Lindy has agreed to host for March.   

Movie Night

For those who couldn't attend - you missed a fun evening! 

Bob and Carol had the popcorn ready - and we all got cozy in their wonderful theater.

The movie followed the book pretty well to start with.    But, we were all a little disappointed with their handling of Rose of Sharon,  they didn't really show Noah ( Uncle John's son)/Ruthie or Winfield much, and they left out the "boxcar" scene completely!    Good overall - they only have 2 hours to put in a movie, after all!

Thanks Bob & Carol and Robin for getting the DVD for us!

January Meeting

Great meeting at Donna's house!! 

Unanimous love of this month's book - Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck!

A little social and munching before setting down to the business at hand....

Great discussion about the classic book. We all learned a lot about the depression and human nature from the book.  

***************We will probably get together in the next few weeks at Carol's home theatre  to watch the vintage version of the Grapes of Wrath - stay tuned for more info ****************************

Much discussion about  next month's book - American Sniper - since a few have seen the movie already.  Should be a great discussion at Robin's house!