New Chapters

Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain
Anyone who read Bourdain's first book, Kitchen Confidential, and is looking for a sequel needs to look elsewhere. Anthony Bourdain has come a long way from the bitter, cynical, darkly humorous, coke-addicted chef in the first book. Now he's a bitter, cynical, darkly humorous food writer/tv star. The main difference between the two books is that Medium Raw, much like The Guinea Pig Diaries, seems to be as much a compilation of separate essays as one coherent book. That said, the essays are still entertaining. The main exception occurs when Bourdain hovers too long on personalities in the food business without sufficiently making the reader care. For the most part, though, he hits his mark. He's witty and often (for me at least) laugh out loud funny. For someone who enjoys Top Chef and felt horrified by Fast Food Nation, this is a great choice. (Note: when tagging this post, I realized I have a LOT of food related tags. I guess I shouldn't be surprised!)

Borrowed from the library

Halloween Hoopla

Despite what stores would have you think, it's not Christmas yet...it's almost Halloween! Here are some of my suggestions for a good time.

Watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" on Thursday, October 28 at 8pm/7pm Central. This is my second favorite Charlie Brown special (if you don't know my favorite already, click here).

If you're looking for some Halloween reading, I recommend checking out Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The Dude and I checked out the audiobook for a recent road trip and we both really enjoyed it. I never thought I'd be discussing Jane Austen's romantic triangles in the same conversation as learning about the differences between single bladed and double bladed swords but there's a first time for everything!

Last but not least there's the easiest, oldest, and best way to celebrate Halloween: buy too much candy and enjoy the "leftovers" when all the trick or treaters are gone! (or sooner, if you can't take the temptation)

Who's got fun Halloween plans this year?

Quakers: The First Wal-mart

As many of you know, I am a Quaker. I'm proud of the long tradition of justice and peace from my community. But what I didn't know was that Quakers were also early entrepreneurs and businessmen. This great BBC article explains how Quakers had a near monopoly on sweets and chocolates in Britain. It was fascinating to see a completely different side of things!

BBC News - How did Quakers conquer the British Sweet Shop