I was debating for a long time on whether or not to start collecting Fiesta dinnerware. I've loved that stuff for years, but it's expensive. I finally decided that life's too short, and if I didn't do it now, I never would. Caught a sale on it (almost half price!), and took the plunge. So I now have four place settings, in Tangerine, Peacock, Lemongrass, and Sunflower. The Sunflower place setting was an unexpected bonus from Chris during a trip to Kohl's. I also have one Gusto bowl (the big ones for chili/soup) in Sunflower. So I guess the next move will be getting Gusto bowls in Peacock, Lemongrass, and Tangerine, too.
I've also been griping about our knives for ages. They were given to me free, by a friend who basically just wanted them out of her kitchen, I think, *laugh*. Five years later, they're junk. They weren't top of the line by any means to begin with. Anyway - so we went knife shopping this weekend. Keep in mind that I'm not a professional chef (nor do I play one on TV), so I don't need a $600 knife set. I think we've got it narrowed down to either the Fiesta block set (the actual knives are made by Cambridge), or a set of Chicago Cutlery, also in a block. I tried finding reviews - can't find a bad review for the Cambridge/Fiesta knives, but that's the ONLY knife set that Cambridge makes, which sets off alarm bells for me. Reviews for Chicago Cutlery are all OVER the place. My mother-in-law says she has a set of Chicago Cutlery that she bought 30 years ago. I noted she did not say she still USES them, though. Chris says he remembers when they got those. I like the shape of the Chicago Cutlery better than the Fiesta, and it has the steak knives with it, which the Fiesta set does not. They're about the same price. As much as I like things to match, I'm thinking maybe with knives that's not such a great criteria... *grin*. Professional chefs say do NOT use a block, that they're a magnet for germs because you can't clean the slots - and while that makes sense, I figure if that was going to kill me, heaven knows I'd already be dead from the horribleness that probably lurks in the slots of the block we have.
In the book arena - got and finished Jim Butchers's Ghost Story, 13th in the Dresden series. Superb as always, if a bit darker than I normally like. At least two places where I burst into startled (and delighted) laughter though, so I gave it 5 stars, and am, as always, eagerly awaiting the next installment. After Dresden I read "The Help" by Katherine Stockett. Most bestsellers I steer away from, because they hardly ever, I find, live up to the hype. Well, this one did. Excellent read, had a hard time putting it down, and when I did have to put it down, I found myself still thinking about it while doing other things. Still probably won't see the movie, though. Movies from books = "meh".
The big kerfuffle on MR today is this: http://www.news-leader.com/article/20110726/NEWS04/107260366/1002/SPORTS/?odyssey=nav|head about a Missouri school board that pulled Slaughterhouse Five and another book. The big problem seems to be the quote from Mr. Scroggins that the books "go against the Bible". All I have to say about it is: I read anything and everything I got my hands on, and my parents never censored my reading, nor did the public librarian in the small (conservative) town I grew up in. I seem to have turned out all right, though maybe not by Mr. Scroggins standards.
Wow, this is getting long, but bear with me - one more thing. I have to give a shout out to my MR buddy Christa Watkins. She posted this on You Tube (and I conned an mp3 out of her). It's amazing! The song has been stuck in my head all week. Her blog is at http://hollystreetnoise.com/wordpress/ and you can get to both songs and videos through there but here's a direct YouTube link to the first one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP-YHsB20PU&feature=player_embedded. Enjoy!!
