Do you like to read?

I have loved to read for as long as I can remember. When I was around 6 or 7 I recall carrying around my Texas Instruments Speak & Spell everywhere I went. So I guess I have always been a nerd and a little tech-y. I digress. Point is, you can always find a few books on my nightstand waiting to be read. How about you? If you want to see more about the books I like check out my lists @ goodreads.com Here are the last 2 books read from nightstand:

The Final Detail by Harlan Coben


This is by far my favorite book in the Myron Bolitar series. There were so many good things about this book I'm not sure which ones I would like to point out :-) For one thing, I couldn't figure out whodunit to save my life, yet it held my interest throughout. Second, who hasn't had some really bad, dramatic, crappy, (insert your own adjective here) event(s) in life that made us just want to escape to some tropical island? So, you have to see how it plays out. You could learn a life lesson or two by reading this book.



61 Hours by Lee Child


This is my first Lee Child book and I LOVED it! It kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting more! This is #14 in the Jack Reacher series so I have a lot of catching up to do. For more information about Lee Child and Jack Reacher visit http://leechild.com

This was an audio CD that was loaned to me. It was read by Dick Hill and man what a voice! He made the story come alive like my imagination couldn't have. Little did I know that Dick Hill is an award winning narrator. You can learn more about him @ http://www.dickhill.com

HAPPY READING!

Nothing is ever as easy as I think it will be...

...and blogging is no exception, especially when my OCD kicks into overdrive. I have two posts partially completed. One is a tutorial and the other is on some recent books I have read and really like. I just can't seem to get my pictures right for the tutorial so I have been studying up on HTML coding to see if I can make things look right. Big D would probably say that I am just being picky. I would say he is probably right but at this particular moment it just isn't something I can let go. Does anyone really care??? Probably not, but still, I must do what I must do, right? Right! AS long as the power is on and the computer and internet are working here, I promise I will have at least one post up this weekend.

 That is all.
Amanda

How To Train Your Dragonfire Chicken

Have you ever had Dragonfire Chicken from T.G.I.Friday's? I have a clone recipe by Todd Wilbur that I got for $.99 on his website. If you've never tried any of his recipes you are definitely missing out.

 I can't tell you how accurate a clone it is because it has been so long since I have actually had the real thing. However, the recipe was fairly easy and pretty tasty. As usual I had to re-learn a couple of lessons in the kitchen:

     1) When a recipe calls for lime juice, by all means spend the extra buck or two for fresh limes. The pineapple pico de gallo had a very strong plastic taste because I used the reconstituted lime juice in the lime shaped plastic bottle. NOT an acceptable substitution. You would be much better off buying limes when they are on sale and juicing them before they go bad. You can measure the juice in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to a freezer bag once frozen solid. Voilá you now have pre-measured lime juice on hand when you need it.

     2) As bad as the lime juice flop was, it was nothing compared to the pungent red onion! In the future I think I will just use sweet yellow onion. The kung pow sauce was dynamite and I will definitely be using that portion of the recipe for other dishes.

     3) Most people already know this, but if you're anything like me you could always use a little reminding to ALWAYS read the recipe in its entirety (that includes ingredients and directions) before attempting it.  In fact, go ahead and read it through twice, you probably missed a thing or two the first time. :)

I would love to be able to post the recipe here, but I'm sure that Todd Wilbur would hunt me down and beat me up for copyright infringement. Okay, not really since I only have one follower but I am anticipating a HUGE following that will launch me into stardom so I have to learn to watch my p's and q's. ;)

Happy New Year!

I am getting my year started off right by tackling #1 on my list of New Year's Resolutions: starting a blog. Over the past several months, I have come across so many talented and creative people with the neatest blogs. Collectively, they have inspired me to start a blog of my own. I'm not sure where it will take me, but I am ready for something new. I have a plethora of projects I'm just dying to tackle. Undoubtedly, some will be a complete flop (I may be organized, but I am not always dexterous - thus the title "Misadventures..."). I hope that something in my blog will encourage someone out there to try a craft project for her home. More to come soon!