All Hail the Bloody Mary!

I was blessed a while ago to receive a copy of Bloody Marys from author Judy Bennett, and have just had the time to write about it!

Bloody Marys: Sanguine Solutions for a Slew of Situations includes over 40 Bloody Mary recipes, but Bennett offers more than that... she also provides vintage photographs, trivia, insight, and myths, and tons of humor.

And the insight is not limited to mixology.  For example, Bennett writes, "Despite what the police and your dad tell you, a person is never more vulnerable than when sitting in the pumpty-up chair of a new hairdresser."  SO TRUE.

And next to the Bloody Mary recipe "I've Decided to Go Back to College" (that includes some tasty ingredients like hot sauce and a pepperoncini garnish) there is career advice.  "Try to remember what you wanted to be when you grew up, and see if that career path has the same appeal now."

If you notice, I'm not sharing any complete recipes here. BECAUSE YOU SHOULD BUY THIS BOOK!  Yes, my goal is to try every one of the 45 Bloody Mary recipes.  But just sitting and reading the book (sans cocktail) was equally entertaining.  All there's left to do is raise a glass to the Bloody Mary Manager, Judy Bennett!

Sweepea's Book Review: Unbroken

Being a huge fan of anything about WWII, I was intrigued to read the novel "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption."  The book, written by Laura Hillenbrand, outlines the true story of Louis Zamperini and his extraordinary life from Olympic runner to POW to international hero.

To say this man's life is interesting is an understatement.  He basically should have died about 5 different times.  His suffering is remarkable, because he survived through it all.

As a boy, he was out of control, wreaking havoc throughout his neighborhood. As a teenager, his brother encouraged him to run, and in doing so, Lou discovered that focusing on his running diverted his energy from bad to good. When World War 2 hit, he joined the Army Air Forces.  It was here that his already amazing life took a dramatic turn in to adventure, danger, and survival.