#21 Teaser Tuesdays~ The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Before sharing today's teaser, I would like to tell you about a meme I have started, Lucky Library Picks which happens every alternate Friday. Do check out the details here and see if you are interested in participating. It is very simple. Do check out Lucky Library Picks #1 and #2. Thanks.

 "She opened her eyes to narrow slits. She saw the face of a complete stranger and memorized every detail."
Page: 75

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!

Lucky Library Picks #2

This week, for the Lucky Library Picks, I have these two books to share:

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

This is the third and the last book of the famous crime thriller trilogy by the Swedish author, Stieg Larsson. You can find the review of the first book and the second book here and here.

The second book is Home by Manju Kapoor.

I have been meaning to read something by this author for a long time now and when I spotted this book in the library, I was very happy. Home by Manju Kapoor is a tale of three generations, and the acts of compromise and secrecy that lie at the heart of every family.

Check out what this meme is about here. Next Lucky Library Picks post will be on 16th Dec 2011

 

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers!

Pear & Cardamom Smoothie~ For Blog Hop Wednesdays~ From Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes

Priya's Blog needs no introduction. Most of us in this blogging world must have come across her blog. It is one of the most frequently updated, versatile and has hundreds of recipes. It is a marathon task to pick up one recipe to try from there because if you spend even  half an hour on that blog you will end up bookmarking so many of her recipes. She has a space with the most wide variety of recipes and I am glad to have been assigned her blog for this edition of Blog Hop. But the problem was how to choose one.

However, I did manage to choose one- Corn and Chickpeas Seekh Kebabs after long hours of shuffling through  her recipes. But, give it to my poor planning, I didn't even realize it is Wednesday today and to make things worse I was missing some vital ingredients to make these kebabs. I am not an instant blogger. I take my time to ponder and compose a post. So, trying these kebabs are put on hold for a day, but, I am going to make them for sure.

Then started another sessions of zeroing on another recipe and this time I wanted a quick recipe with the ingredients I had at hand. What can be quicker than a salad or a smoothie. So, I decided on this Cardamom and Pear Smoothie.

Ingredients:
2 pears peeled and chopped.
1/2 cup low fat Yogurt
1 cardamom pod crushed finely
Sugar to taste

Process:
Add every thing in a blender and give a quick whiz. Adjust the sweetness to your taste. Pour into a glass and serve immediately!

The smoothie was satisfying and the cardamom added a wonderful flavor and warmth to it.  I enjoyed my glass of smoothie.

Check out what other Blog Hoppers are up with.

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Today I took the herculean task of updating all the posts in the separate pages tabs of my blog. It was then I realized that I had not posted the review of this book here. I had posted it on the bookreview blog and had some how missed posting here. This is the first book I read this year and it was simply soul stirring! So, if you had missed this post, here it is again.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by the Irish Novelist, John Boyne is a very moving and heart rendering story of a nine year old boy 'Bruno'. The story is set in 1942 during the period of World War II.

Bruno lives in Berlin with his parents and sister, Gretel. His father is a high ranking officer in Army. One day, Bruno returns home only to find that things were being packed as they were moving to some other place. Bruno feels devastated by this news and shows his displeasure to his parents to no avail. He fears the thought of leaving his three best friends for life and a lovely 5 storeyed house in Berlin for some unknown countryside.

Bruno hates the place from the time he arrives there. He hates the place as he has no friend to play with and the new house is not as grand as his house in Berlin. He does not get along with his sister too well as she always tries to show off that she is older than him. Bruno has a very inquisitive and curious nature. After some time of his arrival, he notices people far away surrounded by a high wire fence from his bedroom window. The strange thing he finds is that all of them are wearing the same types of stripped clothes. He ventures asking her sister who asks him to stay away from them. His father forbids him seeing at their direction telling that they are not even real people.

Miserable with his loneliness and curiosity, he decides to explore the place he sees everyday from his window at the back of the house. One day, when no one is around he sets out for his expedition and walk though the trees till he gets to the high fence which he could see from his bedroom's window. He spots a boy on the other side of the fence and is glad that at last he will have a new friend here. He strikes up a conversation with the boy whose name is Shmuel to find that they are in Poland now! Also, he finds out that they are of the same age and share the same birth date. Bruno visits him daily and sometimes he would smuggle some left over food from his house for him. Gradually, their friendship grew. Although, the boys were of the same age, they were from a very different background, different upbringing and at the moment in very different situations.

What happens to them and their friendship is the thing to read in the novel. I am sure you will be moved by it.

Despite all that the story seems like a fable. Whats makes the story fable like is the fact that even at the time of World War II, a curious son of a high ranking officer be so ignorant and unaware of the things happening around. How can he not know the appalling torture and atrocities inflicted to people (Jews) by his country men.

The story leads him from ignorance to revelation only to be subsumed by it.

To quote from the novel:

" And then the room went very dark and somehow, despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found himself that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go."

Palak Paneer ~ Indian Cottage Cheese Cubes In Spinach Gravy

Do you love spinach? 

I don't!

There are only a few preparations of paneer I like and Palak Paneer is one of them, more so as it has paneer in it. Well, most paneer lovers can relate to me here. My DH is big on paneer and can eat it in any form. I make this curry often to incorporate spinach in our food. Spinach is loaded with nutrition, you might know it well if you are a Popeye fan, gulping down a spinach drink does wonders to it strength. 

This recipe has been sitting in my drafts for a long time and I realized it when I made this curry yesterday. With out much ado, here it is:

Ingredients:

200gm spinach leaves
200 gm paneer, cut in cubes and soaked in warm water.(I mostly use store bought paneer. Soaking them in warm water soften them)
1 tomato
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 clove of garlic pounded
1 tsp grated ginger.
 a small piece of cinnamon
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 green chili slit or chopped.
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp sugar, optional (I like to add it to ward off the bitter taste of spinach!)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp heaped coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
2-3 tbsp cream.

Process:
1. In a large bowl add the washed spinach leaves and the tomato. Make a cross slit on the tomato. Pour bubbling hot water over it and cover it for 3-5 minutes.
2. Peel the skin off tomato and drain the water, keeping aside 1 cup of water.
3. Churn the spinach and tomato into a smooth puree.
4. Heat a pan and add oil. add the cumin seeds. Once they sputter, add the garlic, ginger, green chili, cinnamon , bay leaf and cloves. After a minute add the prepared spinach and tomato gravy. Add the salt and cook it on a medium flame for 2-3 minutes.Add the reserved water to give the gravy your desired consistency. Add all the dry spices except garam masala and sugar and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
5. Add the paneer cubes and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add garam masala and stir gently. Finally add the cream and stir gently. Turn off the heat.
6. Serve hot with roti, naan or parathas.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!