Northanger Abbey Viewing Party

We met on a Friday night in August to watch Northanger Abbey together.  According to Book Club tradition, we also shared some good food.  On the menu for the evening was margherita pizza, yummy root beer, chocolate zucchini brownies, and ice cream in waffle cones.  Yum!  Enjoy the pictures and recipe: 

Yum!

Margherita Pizza 

Margherita Pizza

1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese

10-12 fresh sprigs basil (or fresh, dried basil from grocery store)

3-5 roma tomatoes or 2-3 large tomatoes

1-2 cloves garlic

olive oil

sea salt

pizza dough

Using whatever pizza crust you like, prepare it according to directions.  I like to use a *thin-crust recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  I've also used prepared, frozen dough from The Fresh Market and fresh dough from Trader Joe's, but I like the homemade recipe best.  A fairly thin crust works well. 

Pre-bake the pizza crust until it no longer sticks to the pan and is fairly firm (about 12 minutes).

Meanwhile, slice several roma tomatoes (or whatever fresh tomatoes you have on hand).  You want to have enough slices of tomato to pretty well cover your pizza.  I usually slice the tomatoes in half, and then gently squeeze the juice into a bowl.  Lay the slices in the bowl with the juice, and mince 1-2 cloves of garlic to add to the tomatoes.  Drizzle a little olive oil over tomatoes and also add a few dashes of sea salt.  Mix the tomatoes, juice, oil, and salt together.  Tear approximately 10-12 fresh leaves of basil into pieces to add to the tomatoes.  Mix it all together to incorporate flavors.  Let it sit until you have baked the crust.

Also slice or cube a fresh ball of mozzarella cheese.

Take the crust out of the oven and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.  Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the top of the crust.  Then, place the slices of tomato and basil over the crust.  Drizzle on some of the tomato juice.  Evenly distribute the tomatoes and basil over the entire crust.  Do not place the mozzarella it on the crust yet.  Place the pizza in the oven, and bake for approximately 5-8 minutes.

Pull the pizza out of the oven and add the mozzarella cheese.  Evenly distribute it over the crust, and then place the pizza back into the oven for 3-5 minutes, or just until the cheese is melted.  Let the pizza stand for a few minutes to firm up, and then cut and enjoy!

*In my hard copy of the BHG cookbook, it has a variation from the online directions.  After you knead the dough, divide it in half.  Cover; let rest for 10 minutes, and then roll each dough portion into a 13-inch circle.  Grease two 12-inch pizza pans or baking sheets.  Transfer dough to pans.  Build up edges slightly.  Do not let rise.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 12 minutes or until brown.  Once toppings are added, bake for 10-15 minutes more.  You can adjust the baking time however you like, but it is necessary to pre-bake any crust that you use for margherita pizza.  Otherwise, it stays too soggy and the toppings will dry out before the dough ever gets crispy.

Our poor, neglected blog!

We have met for book club twice since anyone has posted, but life happens, and so our blog has been sitting.  I finally got around to uploading pictures from my camera to my computer, and so I found these forgotten photos from July 29th.

Oh, for the days of summer again!  I remember when we met on this day that Katie and I were already feeling the pressures of getting ready for a new school year, and Kayla was in the midst of the last 1/3 of the summer at Camp.  Karla was just working at the library like normal.  But, it was still summer, and I remember as Kayla, Katie and I enjoyed dinner that night that I felt like summer was already over, and boy, was I mourning that feeling!

Well, here we are, almost 3 months later, and yes, life has been busy.  Yes, summer is definitely over now, but I am ever so thankful for my book club friends and for the joy that we can share when we get together.  Whether we are discussing Jane Austen novels, watching one of the movies based on the books, or just getting together to share a meal like we did this week (When none of us had kept up on our reading of Persuasion we decided to just have dinner together without the book discussion!), we love getting together and have kept it a priority over the past year.

The books

I do not remember where this book came from or what the story behind it was, so someone else will have to enlighten me!

A relaxing Sunday afternoon discussion at Thirty-Thirty Coffee

Quotable

I don't know about the rest of you, but this relatively short book in comparison to the others is FULL of thought provoking quotes.

Here's just a glimpse of a few of the greatest:

"...no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman's love is declared..." (Narrator)

"The mere habit of learning to love is the thing; and a teachableness of disposition in a young lady is a great blessing." (Henry to Catherine)

"I hate the idea of one great fortune looking out for another; and to marry for money I think the wickedest thing in existence." (Catherine to Thorpe - I think)




But my favorite quote in the book as a whole is this (and maybe in describes book club in some small way):

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love." (Narrator)


(I think Jane Austen's opinions on love and money, ect was spoken through many of her "heroines," Catherine being one of them.)

Looking forward to our impending discussion.

Kayla

First Thoughts on Northanger Abbey

Hello, Readers!  

This summer we are embarking on our 5th novel, and it quite possibly may be one of the least-anticipated ones.  Poor Northanger Abbey.  So far it has not gotten the respect (I believe) it deserves in our Book Club, but I hope we will all enjoy it more than our last book.  


I'm only about four chapters along so far, though this is (amazingly) one of the three Austen novels that I had read prior to Book Club.  So, just remember, 

"If Betsy's read it, so can you!"  

I found some good discussion questions on this site, but the following thoughts in particular stood out to me as good ones to think about in these early stages:

"Northanger Abbey is a book about reading. Much of the plot has to do with the folly of confusing one's own life with the stuff of fictional adventure. But the book also contains a famous Austen defense of novels and novelists, particularly those read and written by women."

(source)

Happy Reading! 

Betsy


P.S. I am really confused why Blogger insists that I want a background color behind the text.  I can't figure out how to change it back, since our blog's background is not one of the "Text Background Color" options! If anyone has any ideas, please enlighten me.  Thanks!

A Non Book Club Book Club Event

I thoroughly enjoyed my Sunday afternoon this weekend. 

What was so enjoyable, you ask?

I got to continue to celebrate my birthday by making crafts and hanging out with my dear book club buddies.  As this was not an official book club event (Jane was not invited, nor was she discussed), I was not sure that it warranted a  place on the blog, but here it is anyways.

It was a lovely afternoon- the girls brought some delicious Italian themed food (hopefully they will share the recipes here soon), we got to work on some fun sewing projects (them ruffled pillows and me upcycled aprons), we made plans for a future endeavor (more on that soon), and they brought me some super thoughtful and fun gifts.  Top that off with the great company, and it was hard to beat.

Pictures were taken on various cameras, so I have quite the montage.  The girls will have to post their photos too.  One thing that we forgot to do was take the standard timer shot of the four of us.  But, I guess that it was not an official event :)

Dinner started with us almost polishing off a pan of delicious spinach artichoke dip made by Kayla.  She accidentally put in extra sour cream- like that could be a bad thing.  It was awesome.

We eventually ate real dinner: Caesar salad made with fresh lettuce from Kayla's garden and Betsy and Karla's baked spaghetti.  I understand now why it is a family favorite.

Dessert at the end of the evening was a chunk of rich chocolate cupcake and gelato (!).  I had no idea that you could buy gelato in Peoria. This could be dangerous.

Karla wanted to bring Italian Sodas, but found IBC Cream Sodas, which were sooo good.  She stuck them in the freezer to get them really cold...and we left them in a little too long.   FYI, partially frozen soda + glass bottled = mess.  But it was a tasty mess.

As for the crafting, we were all sewing using one machine, so we had to take turns, but we all finished at least one project. 

Kayla made a fun ruffled pillow with a black and white hexagon print.  It ended up having a really cool effect that unfortunately didn't translate in the picture.

 Betsy and Karla worked together and made this off white beauty.  They also made a couple of simple pillows for Betsy's classroom and have the strips all cut out for another ruffled pillow.

And my projects (which were also worked on before and after the girls were there) were these aprons.  They are made from "upcycled" fabric.  The black and pink one used to be two different skirts and the denim and lavender one is made from two old sundresses.  I really like the black one, but the denim one, eh, let's just say the 4-H judges from my past would not be giving it a blue ribbon.  One outta two in an afternoon isn't bad.

Thanks, girls, for the lovely non book related afternoon!

S & S Viewing Party- The Quotes

I was digging through my craft supplies tonight (Um, try 3 months ago! I don't know how I managed not to publish this one. Sorry, readers.) and stumbled upon a couple of forgotten slips of paper with quotes from our viewing party that was.... so long enough ago that I have forgotten the date! Luckily, Google Calendar remembers, and it was February 11th, so since it is now March 22nd, June 25th, that was definitely awhile ago. Anyway, faithful readers, I have for you some (I am sure) long-awaited quotes that are now being revealed to you for the very first time. Enjoy!

(Editor's note: Keep in mind that we were rather out of sorts that night. Kayla had run a bunch of miles that day, and it was actually a very cold day, considering our mild winter, so she was in pain. The rest of us were just tired and out of it, so our quotes may be a little sub-par.]

Kayla- "I just think we're so great."

Betsy- "We are kind of boring tonight."

Kayla- "He's just gotten more stupider... and I know that's not a word."

Kayla- "I just don't know why we aren't married... 'cause we have great brains!"

Katie- "I think this is the negativitst... that's not a word."

Karla- "You should have putten..." (followed by silent, shaking laughter)

Katie- "I'm not putting that on the blog. Don't write it down!" (I wish I could remember what it was she said not to write down! We actually listened to her!)

Betsy- "How about you just leave me alone and let me do my crafting!"

Karla- "You put them [marbles] in the oven..."

Betsy- "I know... and they turn into diamonds."

While we were very confident of our great brains, we still managed to record the use of at least three non-words, and the rest of our conversation was just, well, lacking its usual literary zeal. It was probably a good thing that we ended up shutting off the movie before it ended and going home.

What a night!

Mansfield Park Viewing Party- The Quotations

Dear Readers, 


It's been a few weeks, so I may not remember all of the contexts in which these quotations were stated, but I'll do my best!  You may notice that many of our conversations revolve not around the Mansfield Park movie, but instead they center on craft projects.  We always bring crafts to Book Club viewing parties; well, except for Karla, who is not a crafter at heart.  She tolerates the rest of us pretty well, though. 


So, here they are!  
Enjoy! 


-Betsy

Click on the image for another Blogger's excellent recommendations for the many ways to use Mod Podge.  I am a fan. I love Mod Podge.    

"I think you'll need glitter."  ~Betsy
"I think I'll need glitter." ~Kayla
[Anyone remember what this was about??]


"Is it wrong that I associate the smell of Mod Podge with Book Club?" ~Karla

"Now, do we sign our creations?" ~Betsy [referring to something she had crafted]
"Maybe not that one..." ~Karla

"Just remember, if Betsy read it, you can read it too!" ~Betsy
[in reference to the next book, Northanger Abbey]


"I think that if you are going to sell that [a Mod-Podged Velveeta cheese box] you are going to have to cover the inside... so that it doesn't say mac 'n cheese."  ~Karla
"You are so uncouth!" ~Betsy


"Wait, what just happened [in the movie]?" ~Kayla or Katie [source unknown]
"I assume nothing." ~Karla