Pickle Soup

You read that right.  Pickle Soup.  When I first saw the recipe, my thought was not "oh yum"!  

It was "What the heck?  What are pickles doing in a soup?"  I honestly didn't think that it had much potential.  But, my co-workers had other thoughts.  We had a Stone Soup kind of day.  We each brought in an ingredient from the recipe, tossed it into the crockpot and set it on high. By lunchtime, we had a very delicious aroma filling our workspace.  We were nibbling on the soup throughout the afternoon, and it kept getting better as the afternoon went on!

If you are looking for a most delicious and very unusual soup for the last of these chilly spring days, give this one a try! 

I am not affiliated with The Kitchn Blog in any way whatsoever, but this is recipe that they wrote, along with all of the instructions and history of this Polish Staple.  This was the recipe that we used.

Polish Pickle Soup - https://www.thekitchn.com/polish-pickle-soup-recipe-23628556

This picture should be definitive proof that 
I am NOT an influencer of any kind!
Just a ladle full of a very tasty soup!

Opening Day

 Today is Opening Day of the 2026 Baseball season!

I love going to baseball games.  Not just for the game - but for the spectacle.  The mustard/ketchup/relish races.  The food, the people watching... everything is just so much fun!

Here in Baltimore, the Orioles are our home team.

Our favorite song is "Country Boy" by John Denver.  It was performed twice on the roof of the Orioles Dugout.  Once in the 1983 World Series and again in 1997 at Camden Yards, shortly before his death.

Today, in honor of the Orioles Opening Day, I present to you the Oriole Bird, dancing along to the sweet, sweet strains of John Denver.

Welcome SPRING!

In like a Lion, out like a Lamb?

There is an old weather proverb that proclaims if March comes in "like a lion", it will go out "like a lamb."

Way back when I was teaching, we used to track lion and lamb days during the month of March.  Warm, sunny days were considered to be lamb days.  Windy, cold, stormy days were considered to be lion days.  Every day, we would talk about the weather and track the forecast.  March has always been a very changeable month for weather as the seasons change.  The daily swings in temperature can give you whiplash.

Back in the day, we would create a bar graph, and compare whether we had more lion or lamb days, how many more, how many less, make our predictions for the next day... I always enjoyed those graphs.  I have no idea about the kids, but it was a highlight I looked forward to every spring.

It has been many years since I last taught in a classroom, but this March has made me think deeply about those days and the charts.  While I have not gone so far as to create a lion/lamb bar graph, I have been keeping a running tally on a post-it on my desk. So far, in Central Maryland, we have had more Lion Days.  Days that start out sunny and end with accumulating snow on the ground.  Brisk Days with high winds, rain... so much rain.  Tornadoes. It's been a very weatherful spring here!

Looking out at the 10 day forecast, it looks like we should end with a Lamb Day.  What about you?  What kind of spring have you had so far?  I know parts of the country have been consumed by wildfire, and other parts are underwater. I'm fortunate in that we seem to be in between the extremes.

My Ex-Husband's Ex-husband

 My Ex-Husband's Ex-Husband, written by Rachel Cohn and Melissa DeLa Cruz.

When two powerhouse authors get together to write a romantic comedy of epic proportions, you know the product is going to be excellent!

In this lively Romantic Comedy, we visit Audrey and Ian.  They were best friends in college - up until they both fell in love with the same man, Beau.  Beau met Audrey and Ian while they were doing a semester abroad in Vienna. The love triangle thickens when first Audrey, and then Ian, marry Beau.  And then divorce him. It has been 20 years since the friends have last seen each other.  The oldest of Beau and Audrey's children is getting married in Vienna and the entire family is showing up.  There's just one problem - nobody can find Beau.

In order to save the wedding, Audrey and Ian join forces to find Beau. As they scour the countryside for their wandering ex-husband, they find themselves rediscovering their friendship and rehashing old wrongs.  

Every chapter of this book was delightful.  Dynamic authors on their own, by each giving voice to a single character they really flesh out the characters and bring them to life.  I believe that this gave the book more depth, as we were able to more fully explore the main characters.

And what characters they are!  Ian and Audrey, reliving the absolute best and worst of their study abroad in Vienna.  I could feel the joy of their friendship as well as the stress that they had lived through their shared relationship (and it's subsequent failure) with Beau.  I could be friends with Audrey.  She seems like my kind of woman.  Ian is a character that I would absolutely love to meet and spend time with.

If you are looking for a lighthearted read, this is the book for you!

Markus Zusak and The Book Thief

I met Markus Zusak last week!  FINALLY!

The Book Thief was published 20 years ago - in 2006.  (How has it been 20 years?)  To this day, it remains one of the best books ever written.  Are you familiar with the book?  Set in Nazi Germany, the book is narrated by Death. A young girl named Liesel steals books and then shares them with others, risking her life to share the words that the Nazi's don't want others to see.  The book is haunting.  I highly recommend reading it if you haven't yet had the opportunity.

As part of his talk, Markus Zusak shared that his parents had grown up in Europe during World War 2.  Many of the atrocities that he mentions in the story were first hand accounts of things that his parents had seen when they were growing up.

I'm going to segue back in time for a minute:  Let's back up to 2007. I was a younger librarian and I had been sent to my first ever conference for the American Library Association. (ALA).  The Book Thief had just won the Printz Award and Markus Zusak was signing copies of his book!

I had a copy that I really wanted to get signed.  I tried standing in line, but his people chased me out of line, telling me that "Mr. Zusak was not signing any more autographs."  

Fine. 

I was in the presence of literary greatness. I could make this work for me. I worked my way around until I could get a decent picture of him signing books.  I then heard a voice over my shoulder.  "Look at all these people fawning over Zusak when they have true greatness standing right here."

I turned to look, and standing less than a foot away from me was Garrison Keillor.

"Oh My God!  You're Garrison ----"

He shook his head and interrupted me "Don't even" and walked away.  To this day, 19 years later, that encounter still tickles me when I think of it.  Just the absolute whimsy of that encounter!  

Last week, Markus Zusak came to my local public library.  He spoke to a group of over 200 fans.  He was funny, introspective, and gave excellent writing advice.  

He has written many books since then.  He has won many awards.  But he is humble.  He listens and talks with his fan.  He is a genuine nice guy.

You know what?  I got to meet him!  I shared the story from 19 years ago, and we all had a good laugh.

I got his picture.  (Several pictures, actually.)

He even signed my book for me.

FINALLY.

19 years later, I finally got my book autographed by Markus Zusak. It's the same book that I took with me 19 years ago, hoping to get his signature.  

My laptop has died

 The incredible blue screen of death has happened.  Not even the Geek Squad has been able to revive it.  I will do my best to update as I can - but until I get a new laptop, it's going to be hit or miss and depend upon what I can do on my phone.... It's not easy to edit posts on a cell phone screen!

Chief of War - TV Series

 One thing we kept hearing over and over again while we were in Hawaii was that we had to watch Chief of War with Jason Momoa. 

(Full Disclosure - it stars Jason Momoa so I was planning on watching it anyway.)

On the flight back to the Mainland, Chief of War (which streams on Apple TV) was one of the in-flight choices for entertainment!  

If you are not familiar with the series, Chief of War is about the unification of the Hawaiian Islands from an indigenous point of view. The War Chief is determined to fend off colonization of the Islands by uniting the divided and warring islands.  The series was created by Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett.  

The visual scenery is stunning.  The acting is phenomenal.  The story line is well thought out, and I enjoyed watching how the story grew.  I love how the Chief of War grew out from the legend and into the world.  What was more stunning to me - the beginning of the series is entirely spoken in Hawaiian.  This forces the viewer to pay attention to the dialogue and the script, as the English words are dubbed in when the actors speak Hawaiian.

Did I enjoy the series?  YES!!  It was extremely well acted, with a solid storyline based upon historical fact.  Everyone I spoke with in the islands spoke again and again about the lengths that the producers went through to ensure Cultural Authenticity.  Historical accuracy is tantamount to the entire series, which builds upon its authenticity.

I read in an interview with Jason Momoa that he worked with a language coach who taught him not only the words, but also the cadence and the accents.  While Jason is Hawaiian, he did not grow up speaking Hawaiian.  For the filming of Chief of War, the entire cast learned Hawaiian, and they worked together on reading scenes in Hawaiian so that they could learn each other's lines and how to react to the lines.  Jason has said that learning the Hawaiian language was more difficult than learning Dothraki for Game of Thrones.

What a wonderful celebration of the history and culture of the people of Hawaii.  If you have Apple TV and are looking for a new series to stream, this is an excellent choice. 

image released by Apple TV for Chief of War.
source: the link below/

Read more about Jason Momoa's Hawaiian Langugage Journey (also the source of the picture above):  https://apnews.com/article/jason-momoa-chief-of-war-hawaiian-language-e5a49c8fb8d9d5fb809e354f85bab4ba