Monday, January 11, 2010

Fried chicken

Over the last year, we've gone down to Springfield to Kicks several times. They used to have an all you eat buffet with some really tasty fried chicken. Fortunately, for my weight loss, they have done away with the buffet and went to a pizza place with a salad bar. We went down over the weekend and my mom and the kids had pizza and cheese sticks and I had salad bar. But going down there really made me want fried chicken. So I got on Hungry Girl and found her Faux Fried Chicken recipe because all of her stuff is sensible points (and she includes point values on the recipes) and I made this tonight for dinner.

I don't use garlic salt so I subbed garlic powder and salt and it could have used a little more salt but really? Super good and only 4 points per serving (6oz raw chicken). I will be making this again.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

My books for 2009

Some of these have reviews, towards the end, I gave up on that. Anyway, 127 at best count because I'm sure there was at least a few that didn't make the list because they were kind of forgettable.

Tippy Toe Murder Leslie Meier Jan

Too Many Crooks Tamara Myers Jan Good book. Quick read. Interested to read more

Mom, Apple Pie and Murder Nancy Pickens Jan Boring. Several short stories. A few were good and made me want to look up the author but most I just couldn't wait to finish

Star spangled Murder Leslie Meier Jan

High Heels and Homocide Kasey Michaels Jan This started off slow but wound up nicely and I'm looking forward to more

Crime Seen Victoria Laurie Jan Best VL book yet. Abby and Dutch weren't fighting the whole book and it was less creepy

Blue Blood Susan McBride Jan Took longer that I would have liked to read but it was decent. Read out of order but other than her relationship, I couldn't tell.

Just Plain Pickled Tamar Myers Jan Took a little to get into but it is quite funny once it starts

3 willows Ann Brashares Jan Continuation of the Sisterhood

Drop Dead Blond Nancy Martin Jan Anthalogy Well done books from good authors

Nothing to Fear but Ferrets Linda Johnston Jan Kendra Ballantyne mystery

Fine Feathered Death Linda Johnston Feb Much easier to get through than ferrets

Meow for Murder Linda Jonhston Feb More development of the story awfully predictable

Mail order murder Leslie Meyer Feb First book, many contradictions to future character development

A crazy little thing called death Nancy Martin Feb Not the best Blackbird book, a little crazy premise

Bubbles a Blaze Sarah Strohmeyer Feb Bubbles is quite fun.

Bubbles All the Way Sarah Strohmeyer Feb Good until the end, then it just got strange

Nursery Crimes Ayelet Waldman Feb Meh, decent story, bad characters

Murder of a Smart Cookie Denise Swanson Feb Totally out of order. Need to read the rest of the series to get a better handle
on where things stand

Murder of a real Bad Boy Denise Swanson Feb Follows right after Cookie. Starting to make some sense

Death Perception Victoria Laurie Mar Good whodunit but a little predictable

Don of the Dead Casey Daniels March Slow to start but a solid base to an interesting series

The Chick and the Dead Casey Daniels March Further charcter development, she seems to be getting in to her role as
Gifted

Are you there Vodka Chelsea Handler March Way Funnier than expected. LOLed in many parts

Plum spooky Janet Evanovich March JE. Laughed so hard at parts, I woke up Lizzie. Super quick read

Nip, Tuck Dead Lori Avocato Mar Took some getting into but then was fairly fast. Main character was a little annoying and
the story was Predictable!

White Witch,Black Curse Kim Harrison Mar Resolved the mystery at the end of the last book. 500 pages, so took a little while
to read

On What Grounds Cleo Coyle Mar Quick read, finally first in a series. Interested in further developments

Killer Cocktail Sheryl Anderson Mar Second in a series. Seems to really need the other book to make sense. Main characters whines about guy too much

Muder with Peacocks Donna Andrews Mar Read fast and I was happy with the ending. Of course, I knew about the guy but it
was kind of obvious

Contents Under Pressure Edna Buchanan Mar Good book, good characters, fast read

Ice Maiden Edna Buchanan Apr Read out of order, already tired of her killing of characters

Miami, It's Murder Edna Buchanan Apr A little slower read, still good

Suitable for Framing Edna Buchanan Apr Good

Act of Betrayal Edna Buchanan Apr

Margin of Error Edna Buchanan Apr Suprising ending

Garden of Evil Edna Buchanan Apr Read fast, a change of pace because we knew the bad guy early on

You Only Die Twice Edna Buchanan Apr Sadly, predictable, especially given how well Margin of Error ended

Cold Case Squad Edna Buchanan Apr Not Britt and not nearly as good

Shadows Edna Buchanan Apr

Love Kills Edna Buchanan Apr Britt is back, sharing space with Cold Case. Not as good as the books that are strictly from her POV. Left open ended

Tombs of Endearment Casey Daniels Apr A little predictable.

Night of the Loving Dead Casey Daniels Apr Finally some resolution

Murder Melts in your Mouth Nancy Martin Apr New Characters, same plot line. Still decent

Legally Dead Edna Buchanan Apr Did NOT like the ending. No resolution. The rest of the book was good though

Sucker Bet Erin McCarthy Apr Vegas vamps. Only read because it was in the series. Mostly boring

Murder of a Small Town Honey Denise Swanson May First Scumble river book. Gives back story to characters

Murder of a Sweet Old Lady Denise Swanson May Scumble River Fast read, nice twist

Murder of a Sleeping Beauty Denise Swanson May Fast Read, not surprising

Murder of a Snake in the Grass Denise Swanson May Fast Read, typical ending

Murder of a Barbie and Ken Denise Swanson May

Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher May Read super fast. Very funny!

Murder of a Pink Elephant Denise Swanson May

Murder of a Botoxed Blonde Denise Swanson May

Murder of a Chocolate Covered Cherry Denise Swanson May

Murder Between the Covers Elaine Viets May

Dying to Call You Elaine Viets May

Pane of death Sarah Atwell May

Just Murdered Elaine Viets June

Murder unleashed Elaine Viets June

Murder with reservations Elaine Viets June

Clubbed to death Elaine Viets June

Shakespeare's Landlord Charlaine Harris June Quick read, straight mystery instead of her usual supernatural bend.
Nice surprise ending

Shakespeare's Champion Charlaine Harris June

Dead and Gone Charlaine Harris June I liked these books when it was just vamps and weres. Faeries are a little too
much

Shakespeare's Christmas Charlaine Harris June A little different from the rest of the series, also a little too easy to
figure out

High Heels are murder Elaine Viets June Decent heroine, interesting enough to read

Carpe Demon Julie Kenner June Adventures of a Demon hunting soccer mom. Funny enough to entertain, dark enough to thrill

California Demon Julie Kenner June

Demons are forever Julie Kenner June

Deja Demon Julie Kenner June

Shakespeare's Trollop Charlaine Harris June Last one in the series. Not so great

The Givenchy Code Julie Kenner July Espionage with a fashion twist

Manolo Matrix Julie Kenner July

Prada Paradox Julie Kenner July The people in this book are so stupid. The other books were decent but this was too
obvious

Accessory to Murder Elaine Viets July

Murder with all the Trimmings Elaine Viets July

Dying in Style Elaine Viets July

Shakespeare's Counselor Charlaine Harris July

Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club Susan McBride July

Finger Licking Fifteen Janet Evanovich July

After Birth July

Killer Cuts Elaine Viets July

Royal Scandels Michael Farquhar Aug

Blood lite Aug

Foolishly Forgotten Americans Michael Farquhar Aug

Breathers Aug

Demon Envy Erin Lynn Aug

Bloodsucking Fiends Christopher Moore Aug

You Suck Christopher Moore Aug


Royal Mess Mary Janice Davidson Aug

UnDead and UnWelcome Mary Janice Davidson July

Island of the Sequined Love Nun Christopher Moore Aug

Coyote Blue Christopher Moore Aug

Speed Demon Erin Lynn Sept

Lust Lizard of Meloncoly Cove Christopher Moore Sept

Practical Guide to Demon Keeping Christopher Moore Sept

Fatally Flaky Diane Mott Davidson Sep

Wedding Day Murder Leslie Meier Sep

Christmas Cooking Murder Leslie Meier Sep

New Year's Eve Murder Leslie Meier Sep

Did they really do it Fred Rosen Sep

Teaser Jan Brogan Sept

Vampires of Venice Beach Jennifer Colt Oct

Angry Housewives eating bon bons Lorna Landvik Oct

St. Patrick's Day Murder Leslie Meier Oct

Pride and Predudice and zombies Jane Austen Oct

Butcher of Beverly Hills Jennifer Colt Oct

Mangler of Malibu Canyon Jennifer Colt Oct

Mistletoe Murder Leslie Meier Nov

Con Artist of Catalina Island Jennifer Colt Nov

Tales from the Crib Jennifer Coburn Nov

Foul Play Janet Evanovich Nov

Promises in Death JD Robb Nov

Bite Laurel Hamilton Nov

Good Ghouls Do Julie Kenner Nov

A good ghouls guide to getting even Julie Kenner Nov

Prom Nights from hell Meg Cabot Nov

Maggie needs an Alibi Kasey Michaels Nov

Skin Trade Laurell Hamilton Nov

Maggie By the Book Kasey Michael Dec

Kindred in Death JD Robb Dec

The Lost symbol Dan Brown Dec

Grave Secret Charlaine Harris Dec

Maggie without a clue Kasey Michaels Dec

A touch of Dead Charlaine Harris Dec

U is for Undertow Sue Grafton Dec