Better Late Than Never: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay

So, yes. I'm a little behind the times. By the time I read the Hunger Games trilogy last month, I was pretty sure that every person in this country who had any inclination to read said trilogy had already done so. That being said, it was actually a wonderful time to read the books: they were all already out, so I got to devour all 1200 pages of Hunger Games/Catching Fire/Mockingjay goodness in only four days, and I got to see the movie a mere three days after finishing the series. That week was a Hunger Games whirlwind for me, and all my coworkers teased me as I would exclaim things like 'It's just like the reaping!' or 'Arrie, you have the same personality as Haymitch!' (Sidenote: They loved all of this. We took 'Which Hunger Games Character Are You?' quizzes together, and we all went to see the Hunger Games movie at midnight, despite having to work the next day)

So, if you didn't catch this already, I really enjoyed the series. Before reading it, it was one of those super popular books that I felt really unconnected to, as if I was on the outside of a phenomenon and just couldn't get into it. One of my very good friends from college, Maggie, actually wrote her whole thesis about the Hunger Games and the fan community that surrounded the novels. Despite the fact that Maggie and I love a lot of the same books (Portrait of a Lady! Harry Potter! Northanger Abbey!), even her love of the series didn't get me to read them (to be fair, she never asked me to). So what did? Two words: book club. My book club has the power to make me start any book, regardless of how petulantly I have been refusing to read it (although it cannot make me like or finish a book - the bratty woman in this book made me stop after 15 pages). So, when my book club picked all three Hunger Games books as the March selection, I swallowed any misplaced refusal I'd had over reading these uber-popular books.*

And... I'm really glad I did. I read these books directly after finishing Wuthering Heights, and it was quite refreshing. Wuthering Heights was enjoyable, but it took some slogging through at times, and I just flew through the whole Hunger Games trilogy. It felt so good after the slow march of Emily Bronte to read a book that was so easy to read, so exciting, and so plot driven. Although the writing was uneven at times (especially in the first book), and the characters weren't the best developed ones in the world, I still found the narrative really compelling (for most YA novels I generally judge them and enjoy them based on the plot rather than writing or character development). For the four days I was reading the books, I found myself wanting to do nothing but find out what happens to Katniss & Co, to the extent that I would sneak in pages at work because it is too hard to focus on menial tasks when the fate of Panem is at stake!

The Hunger Games series has been so throughly analyzed all over the place that I'm not sure there's much for me to say. Besides, you've probably already read them and have your opinions anyway. I guess I'll say that I liked the first book the best, followed by the second, and liked the third book least. I didn't find the ending of the series to be inappropriate or not fitting to the rest of the series, but I did have very conflicted feelings about it. So much so that I had to call Maggie after finishing and sort through my feelings about it.** In simplest terms, here is my opinion: the ending fits, and Suzanne Collins obviously achieved what she was looking to achieve, but I didn't enjoy reading the last book as much as the first two. To me there are two axes upon which you can judge a piece of literature: how well the author executed what they set out to do, and how much you enjoyed the thing that they produced. In the case of these books, I think Collins did a great job of doing what she set out to do (and ultimately I can't really imagine the books ending a different way). As for my enjoyment of it... It's still kind of up in the air. I liked Mockingjay and its ending intellectually, but in terms of my actual enjoyment of it as a book... It's still hard for me to pin down how I feel. But maybe that's a big part of what makes this series so compelling? That it's not so simple of a situation that you can sort out your feelings about it? Any thoughts?

* To read a bit about Maggie's thoughts on reading a book after it's been popular for a long time, and my thoughts (pre-reading Hunger Games) about why I hadn't yet read The Hunger Games, see Maggie's post here (my thoughts are in the comments section).

** To read Maggie's thoughts about talking to me after I read the series, and some expansion on my thoughts about Hunger Games and enjoying vs. appreciating literature (as well some thoughts on the next book I'll be posting about), see Maggie's other post here (again, my thoughts are in the comments section).

More Changes...

So, it's no secret that I'm still getting a hold on attempting to be consistent in my posting schedule here. It's not that I'm not doing things - I actually have multiple things to post about lined up (something like around 10 or so recipes, 4 books, and 4 crafting projects, and a handful of exersize hours) - it's just been hard to get on a schedule and keep myself accountable for getting it all written down. But ultimately, I committed to this project and I want to see it through to the end. So, here is the plan to make this all a little more manageable and organized, including a change to one of my goals:

1. First, I want to get on a specific posting schedule, and hopefully writing it down here will help me stay consistent with posting (although I can't necessarily promise that it will be 100% consistent). I'd like to post at least three times a week in order to encourage me to be more of top of getting things done, and to get new content on here regularly. Here is what I'm hoping it will look like (with the help of iCal's consistent harassment):

• Sunday: Exersize update & any state-of-the-union type discussions
• Wednesday: Theme post (book, recipe, or craft)
• Friday: Theme post (book, recipe, or craft)

2. I need to revamp my the way I track exersize, and my exersize goal (again, I know). I've been really inconsistent about tracking exersize, and I think there are two main reasons for that.

• One, what do I say during a post about exersize? I've had a hard time figuring out how to make them exciting, so I'm going to take some tips from some of my favorite bloggers and try to jazz up my exersize posts, which will be taking place weekly from now on.
• Two, I've been struggling with the scope and parameters of my exersize goal. On an good week, I will go to the gym 3 or 4 times (not that this always happens). I average about an hour per visit to the gym, so on a good week I will do 3 or 4 hours of exersize. And I feel really good about that. In terms of balancing my life with fun things, work things, and staying healthy, going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week seems really reasonable. But, if you'll remember, my goal on here is to exersize an hour for each day, which just isn't really working for my current life right now. I do other active things aside from going to the gym (going on hikes or mini-hikes with Ramona and Jared, walking around the neighborhood, playing with Ramona out in the backyard), but I feel guilty counting any of these activities, as I intended the exersize goal to be counting capital-E Exersize, not just general activity. So, in an effort to be fair to myself, and make sure that this goal is one that feels attainable to me (to encourage me to stay on track, be accountable, and not feel ashamed about not meeting my goals), I'm going to change the exersize goal to reflect what I feel good about doing on a weekly basis. If I feel positively about going to the gym 3 or 4 times per week, I'll average that out to 3.5 times per week, meaning that I'd be exersizing 1 hour for every 2 days. So, my new managable but still encouraging exersize goal: 185 hours for the year, not counting general activity. I think this new goal with really specific parameters will be more helpful for me, and allow for less confusion when I try to decided if a two hour walk on Owen's Beach counts as exersize or not (in the new regime, it doesn't!).

Sorry for all the rambling (if anyone even got this far down aside from my mother) - this post was mostly for me. As for a current exersize update, in the last few weeks (however long since I last updated), I've done approximately 15 hours of exersizing doing a variety of things I don't really remember. So, this will be my last really unspecific exersize post. Hooray for new specificity and goals!

Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I was so hungry the night I made this soup that I simply could not stop to take a picture of it. The next day, I pulled out the leftovers to take a picture and it looked way too close to vomit to post on here, so here is a fancier, professional photo of the recipe I was so excited to eat.

This was actually a pretty fun soup to make - I loved using ingredients like lemongrass and coconut milk, which I don't often use. I made it on a cold, damp day (aren't they all, though?) and it was warm and comforting and just spicy enough to be a little more challenging on your palate than a plain old soup.

I would definitely recommend the recipe to anyone who likes spice and coconut and thai flavors. It could be a pretty easy and quick weeknight meal, I would just recommend cooking and shredding the chicken beforehand.

Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (from Cooking Light)


2 teaspoons canola oil

• (1 cup sliced mushrooms - I didn't use mushrooms because they're disgusting, but you're free to)
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (3-inch) stalk lemongrass, halved lengthwise
• 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
• 3 cups chicken stock or fat free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/4 cups light coconut milk
• 4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 8 ounces)
• 1/2 cup green onion strips
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 
  
• Heat a Dutch oven (I used a large pot) over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and the next 4 ingredients (through lemongrass); cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chile paste; cook 1 minute. Add Chicken Stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard lemongrass. Top with onions, cilantro, and juice.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

After a winter of reading lighter novels and memoirs, my literature major alarm went off, and a little guilty part of my conscience started screeching "Read a classic! Read something with substance!" So, I pulled a book off my shelf that I've been meaning to get to for some time, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and dove in. This is not to say that Wuthering Heights is the greatest capital-L Literature ever (not that I really care about these sorts of things too much), but it's a classic and something I felt compelled to read at least once in my life. So, I did. And now I feel sated.

Now, I think when most people think of Wuthering Heights they picture this: Heathcliffe looking crazy and dirty standing on the moors yelling "Kathy!" and Kathy standing on the moors looking mostly clean and proper yelling "Heathcliffe!"And maybe most people will also think of how Kathy and Heathcliffe are connected in their very soul and that is why their love is such a big deal blah blah blah. And this is definitely half of the story. The other half of the story is that KATHY AND HEATHCLIFFE ARE AWFUL AND EVIL AND TOTALLY F-ED UP AND NO ONE SHOULD WANT TO HAVE LOVE LIKE THEM. I mean REALLY.

Heathcliffe, right before running off with his future wife, HANGS HER KITTEN using his handkerchief. Kathy spends the majority of the novel being mean and holier-than-thou to everyone in her whole life, treating people as if they are dirt and only exist to please her. And they torture each other! Even after one of them has died! It's just awful! I kept thinking throughout the whole thing - how did this novel come to be a part of our cultural conversation when it comes to love? This is not love, this is self-centered torture.

Going off of that for a moment, can we please acknowledge how weird it is that Stephanie Meyers supposedly structured the second book in the Twilight series around showing how her hero and heroine are connected like Kathy and Heathcliffe were to each other? As is that is a good thing? Dear Stephanie Meyers, can you read? And if so, why would you ever reference this novel that is so clearly not about good love in trying to promote the worth and value of Bella and Edward's relationship? Were you trying to make your readers contemplate the self destructive and negative aspects of their relationship? I think not, given that I cannot imagine you trying to speak to your readers on a deeper level given that you struggle so much on just the surface level of your narrative. But maybe the love trainwreck that is Wuthering Heights actually fits the love trainwreck that is Twilight more than you could have predicted? ... Okay, rant over.

All that being said, I actually quite enjoyed reading Wuthering Heights. Although the main characters are awful, it's an interesting and compelling narrative that spans 30+ years, using a frame tale that consists primarily of a nurse retelling Heathcliffe's story to a new tenant of his, long after Kathy dies and things have gotten screwed up with the following generation. The framing gets a little silly and exhausting at times, as there are times when the present day gets mentioned with no purpose aside from just reminding the reader that they're getting told a story, but I enjoyed the nurse's voice and was glad she was my main point of contact with the story, as she is maybe the only likable character in the whole novel.

I'm not sure I'll ever go back to Wuthering Heights, but I'm glad that I read it, and I feel much more in the know surrounding many cultural references that stem from novel. It was an interesting deconstruction of the traditional love story, and I'd recommend if you're into the classics, and up for a slow march through 30+ years of dysfunction and revenge.

Simple Frozen Chocolate Banana "Ice Cream"

A short, simple recipe post:

I found this idea via Pinterest. Take one frozen banana, blend with 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder — then eat! This simple dessert or snack is a great alternative to ice cream for a sweet tooth like me. I would recommend adding a few ice cubes to the mixture in order to cut some of the stickyness that comes from the major textural component being bananas which soften up during the blending process even though they're frozen. Takes just a couple minutes, and is healthy and tasty!

The Most Amazing Ron Weasley-Inspired Meat Pie

This is the most fatty and the most amazing meat pie ever. I mean really. It has ground beef, sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, and bacon (and technically ham although I took it out in my version because ham is gross). Yes, this is real life. Spoon Fork Bacon is a really wonderful food blog that I've started following since finding this meat pie on Pinterest and pretty much falling in love. You should probably take a look, as they post really tasty and beautiful looking recipes.

Probably the best thing about making this pie (aside from eating it, because let me tell you - that was downright wonderful) was that the morning I was prepping to make it, I called my mom and told her about it. She then proceeded to say "I want to make a meat pie too!" and had me send her the recipe so we could make the same savory pie at the same time two states away. So, in far Northern California, my mom made a full size "Ron Weasley's Everything But The Kitchen Sink Pie," for her and my dad to enjoy, and I made six mini pies in Washington state for me and the boyfriend. We all enjoyed the pies immensely, and if they weren't so fatty, I would make them all the time.

If you're a meat enthusiast, I would definitely take a stab at this recipe, found here. It was hearty and warm and comforting, like the best possible winter recipe. I'm sure even Ron Weasley would be sated by a couple of these little pies.

[Also, a note on the pictures: I took them on my iPhone, and then it proceeded to die after I dropped it on the floor, making it so I could turn it on but not actually transfer anything to my computer. So, these pictures are actually photos of the screen of my old iPhone showing the image. This type of picture will continue for the next few recipe posts.]


In other news, I was sick for about two weeks straight and have thus been a sedentary bump on a log. But before that, I did some good exercising, adding a couple hours of hiking and a few hours of gym time.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Parmesan and Roasted Garlic Couscous

Okay, so I said I'd be back and then I wasn't. But now I am again! And here comes the backlog of recipes....

I made these two recipes back in January, one very good and one really mediocre. The first one is a Stuffed Chicken Creast with Crosciutto and Goat Cheese from an old Reader's Digest cookbook that my mother gave me around the time I graduated college, and it was totally delicious. It was simple and easy, yet seemed really classy and impressive as a dish. Also, if you love goat cheese and prosciutto (and really, who doesn't?), you'll love this. I'd definitely giving this recipe a try, I've included it below.

The second recipe I made that evening was Parmesan Couscous with Roasted Garlic, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Caramelized Onions. This recipe was almost like the opposite of the first. It was not particularly simple, as you had to roast garlic, toast pine nuts, and caramelize onions all for a side dish that was quite underwhelming. The title made it sound so promising, but I was ultimately let down and thought it lacked a lot of flavor, especially given that it so many ingredients. It was fine, but I bet there are better ways to prepare a couscous side dish. If you're still interested, the recipe was found here.

Baked Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese 

(from Reader's Digest's Kitchen Secrets)

4 Skinned and boned chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 ounces fresh creamy goat cheese

2 ounces prosciutto or ham, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees  F. Pound chicken between sheets of plastic wrap until 1/4-inch thick. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, blend cheese and prosciutto and spread 3 tablespoons on each breast. Starting at a short end, roll up and secure with toothpicks.

Arrange chicken rolls, seam side down, in a buttered 8" x 8" x 2" ovenproof glass baking dish and bake, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through — 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove toothpicks and slice diagonally at 1/2-inch intervals. Pour pan juices over chicken and serve immediately.