I got my Sleepy Hollow fix!

I am an avid viewer of the TV show, Sleepy Hollow.  While eagerly (and not so patiently) waiting for the new season to start, the novel Sleepy Hollow Children of the Revolution by Keith R. A. DeCandido came up for request with Blogging For Books.  How could I resist?  I needed a Sleepy Hollow fix, so I requested it and started reading the day it got to my house.

I am a happy camper!  Basically, Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills have to locate the Congressional Cross that Ichabod was rewarded with (but never actually received) before it can be used to resurrect a nasty witch.  The plot is well written, with nice twists.  Flashbacks are clearly written and logically consistent.  It is very easy to figure out where in the first season of the show that this story fits in.  DeCandido does include historical notes at the end of the story, which is especially nice because he does specifically state where the book does fall in the first season.

The best part of the way this book is written is how DeCandido handles the main characters' perspectives.  When he is writing from Abbie's point of view, he uses very modern language.  When writing from Ichabod's perspective, the language and structure change completely to reflect a Revolutionary-era Englishman's speech.  This keeps with the flavor of the show, and adds to the idiom confusion that is so amusing in the TV show.

All in all, it is a good way to get your Sleepy Hollow fix.  I hope DeCandido writes more of these novels.  I'll be waiting....

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."  

Bahn mi on my mind

 

I have been hearing about bahn mi (pronounced "bun mee") on all my favorite cooking competition shows for quite a while now.  It has always looked fabulous and made me VERY hungry.  When the opportunity to review "The Bahn Mi Handbook" by http://www.randomhouse.com/author/105105/andrea-nguyen came up, I had to jump at the chance.

A bahn mi is a Vietnamese sandwich with some serious French influence.  It is one of the most quintessential street foods you can find in any Vietnamese city.

This book is really comprehensive.  It starts with the author's personal history with the bahn mi and how the sandwich developed in the Vietnamese culture. It then goes on to cover everything you need to make a perfect bahn mi:  bread, sauces, pickles, mayo, cold cuts and other meats, and vegetarian fillings.  Many of the meat and seafood preparations look like they would be fabulous on their own and then the leftovers used in the bahn mi.  There is even a section on alternative ways to prepare your bahn mi, including as a salad.  All the recipes are easy to understand, and look REALLY easy to make.  I even think I could manage the pate. 

After finishing, I started plotting what I was going to make first.  I think my next weekend off I'm going to making some mayo and a jar of daikon and carrot pickle and go to my local Asian market for some Maggi Seasoning Sauce.  My sandwiches will never look the same again.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."