My monthly post is a bit short this time around, but if nothing else I’ve got some great book and food recommendations. Happy reading.

Read

I’m pleased with my fiction reading in November: The Word Is Murder (a clever mystery by Anthony Horowitz who casts himself as a Watson-type character in the story), Green Dolphin Street (a historical novel taking place in Guernsey and New Zealand in the mid 19th century, published in 1944), and two middle grade novels by Gary D. Schmidt: The Labors of Hercules Beal and Pay Attention, Carter Jones (he always deals with tough topics while including literary or cultural references and humour).

Eat

We had a potluck lunch at church with the theme “Italian fare,” so we took chicken parmesan and tiramisu (recipe from the back of the ladyfingers package, but more cream subbed for the alcohol). Of course there was lots of pasta there and everything was delicious.

One night I made pork taquitos, which were tasty but fell apart, and this Mexican corn salad that I’d like to make again.

The girls helped make hedgehog cookies (some rolled in chopped pecans and others in chocolate sprinkles) to surprise Grampie and they turned out very cute.

We got to celebrate another Thanksgiving! The traditional turkey dinner hit the spot and I also enjoyed the cranberry raisin pie, which was new to me.

Shout out to quiche; I know it’s nothing new but it’s so good. I made it with leftover ham, steamed broccoli, a bit of onion, and lots of cheese.

Do

• The girls and I helped fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child with the ladies and girls at church.
• We watched a Christmas parade and the kids collected an insane amount of candy; they also got giant glowsticks that switch off and on and little packs of Kleenex!
• Between the turkey and the pies, we put on a Thanksgiving program to commemorate the end of our first term of school. It was composed of recitations (Bible, poetry, speech, Shakespeare), songs (psalm, hymn, folk song), and demonstrations (handicraft, nature notebooks). The girls had a great time creating programs to hand out and the audience seemed appreciative.
• I did some shopping this month: Usborne books for an upcoming birthday, stocking stuffers from the clearance shelf at Kinney Drugs, some CM study guides on Black Friday, and sweaters and Christmas ornaments at the St Vincent de Paul thrift store.

Meditate

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Do you have any November favourites to share?