Lucky me

Within the space of two days, I won two different giveaways - lucky me!

The first item I won was a copy of the book Louise's War by Sarah R. Shaber:


I have been a fan of Ms. Shaber's Simon Shaw mysteries for several years. Simon is a history professor at a college in Raleigh, North Carolina, and aside from being excellent mysteries, reading the books lets me visit I place I adore. So when I saw on Facebook that Ms. Shaber started writing a new series and was giving away four copies of the book, I entered. And I won!

Louise's War features Louise Pearlie, a young woman working at the OSS in Washington, DC during World War II. It was an engaging read with interesting characters, espionage, a solid plot, some unanswered questions and a few laugh-at-loud parts. I will enjoy seeing Louise develop in future books, since Louise's War was announced as the first book in a new series, but I hope Ms. Shaber doesn't completely abandon Simon Shaw.

The other prize came to me by way of a contest at Very Culinary, a food blog that I recently started reading, but the prize was actually from Prima Pasta, which makes 100% natural pastas and sauces. Since the pastas are refrigerated, they were sent to me in a cooler box via FedEx overnight. Here is what that cooler box contained:


Last night for dinner, I prepared the Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli in a simple broth and cream sauce, and it was out of this world delicious. The ravioli were flavorful and not at all doughy, and the cream sauce was the perfect delivery method for the herb and cheese seasoning packet that was included. The only bad news is that Prima Pasta is only available near us at Sam's Club and only seasonally, and at Costco. The nearest Costco is in Kingston, Ontario, so I just might have to put aside my aversion to all things Sam Walton-related and set food in a Sam's Club (shudder) - the pasta is that good.

A few days in the Adirondacks

Last Sunday we drove up to the Adirondacks for a few days of rest and relaxation. For reasons that I do not care to explain, that vacation will certainly not go down in our family history as a great one, but it was good to have a change of scenery.

We were based in Inlet, on Fourth Lake. Aidan was thrilled to spend a day at the Enchanted Forest Water Safari in Old Forge despite arrival temperatures in the mid-50s. Yes, the mid-50s. It did warm up to the mid-60s and the sun was shining but make no mistake, it was chilly at times.

We did a little hiking, and a little fishing at Long Lake:



We visited the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, which all three of us enjoyed tremendously. It is a fabulous facility and it was good to learn more about an area we adore. Aidan tried out the oversize chairs, both alone and with James:



Meals, for the most part, were average with two exceptions. We had a delicious dinner at the Seventh Lake House Restaurant, and we had the most amazing wings EVER at Matt's Draft House at Screamen Eagle - they were called Peanut Butter Panic. Yes, peanut butter! They were spicy and out of this world delicious.