Book Reviews: THE FUTURIST and THE HUSBAND

Book reviews

I have 4 books to read, 2 of which I finished over the weekend: THE FUTURIST by James P Othmer and THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz. I will tackle the other two POPPY SHAKESPEARE by Clare Allan and ALENTEJO BLUE by Monica Ali this weekend, both due at the library on July 26.

THE HUSBAND ****
As much as I like Dean Koontz novels, I will only give this book 4 stars. I did not like that it reads too much like a movie, specially the super rich Hollywood type gangster and the final confrontation with the abductor, they both seem contrived. He could also have eliminated the somewhat slapstick comedy part where there is an old guy in the SUV Mitch was trying to steal; It would have been better if Mitch had grabbed the screaming geriatric from his seat, plopped him on the road, and drove on to rescue his wife. I love the book though for the suspense, surprises at every turn, and of course the creepy serial killer. I also like that this is a very quick read, less than half a day. Will still look forward to reading his new novels. Highly recommended.

THE FUTURIST ****
Very entertaining, laugh out loud funny, with weird characters (example: Giant Nordic nymphomaniac) but at the same time dealing with serious current issues. Some situations are cliches but that's alright, it still earns 4 stars in my opinion. Highly recommended.

Eggs In Red Sauce

It's only been 5 days since I promised to cook meatless meals and I'm already running out of ideas even after consulting my Filipino vegetarian cookbook BEST RECIPES for the Home published in 1970 in Manila by The Seventh Day Adventist. This is my mother's who gave it to me (after much cajoling). I don't want to serve seitan/tofu /beans all the time, that would be boring. Hay naku, meatless ulam takes sooo much effort and imagination. I'm like this pinoy teen I saw on TV learning/practicing inline skates at Greenhills, after several spills he cried "ayoko na!!" with an agonized expression on his face. Ooh, Spanish baked eggs with asparagus sounds good but will need at least half of an El Rey chorizo (which btw I learned from a pinoy blog is now made in Nebraska!) for that Filpino/Spanish flavor. Oh gee, now I have to go out and buy fresh asparagus. I don't wanna , I haven't ironed my hair, I can't be seen outside with frizzy, unruly hair even in the grocery!! Besides, I hate driving on a Friday afternoon when all the bad drivers are out in full force. Maybe I'll use canned but it's only good for soups and chicken asparagus sandwich. No, I'll make it next week. I'll think of something else, maybe boiled eggs with tomato/ketchup sauce, parang breakfast fare.

Eggs in Red Sauce

• Boil 5 eggs for 8 minutes, peel, halve, place on a dish sliced side up, set aside then saute a half sliced onion, add Jufran, Malaysian sos cili, Hunt's ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, a little water, boil 1 minute, pour over eggs. Serve with salad greens.

I also made fresh green grape juice smoothie. To finish the meal: fresh bing cherries, strawberries, Fibisco choco mallows and Perugina baci.

White Chili

Wednesday's dinner : White chili topped with reduced fat cheese and Carr's table water crackers.
Dessert: homemade Cherry Garcia ice cream

Ingredients: 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 medium size chopped vidalia onion, 2 diced hot green chilis (the long meaty ones), 1 chopped green bell pepper, 2 teaspoonss ground cumin, 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano, 8 ounces shredded seitan, and a 16-ounce can of white beans.

Yumm. I should warn you , this meal is so light (meatless, eaten with crackers instead of rice) that you might end up snacking on leftover Chef Boyardee at midnight.

We Need To Eat Healthy

I decided to eat healthier and will try to serve my family vegetarian meals 3 times a week . I used to 5 years ago but got lazy (vegetarian food requires a lot of work, you have to consider variety and taste) and did not serve vegemeals regularly. For starters last night I prepared Chinese: Ma-Po's Bean Curd AND shumai with baby bokchoy and peanut filling. For the Ma-Po I used shredded chicken flavored gluten (seitan) and cubed firm tofu, both are available at Korean supermarkets. I didn't have hot bean paste so I substituted Thai shiracha and yellow bean sauce. It came out tastier because the Thai sauce is spicier and has garlic in it. The baby bokchoy is truly baby, about 2 inches long and very tender.

Both are really good although I should have bought the supermarket wonton wrapper. I used gyoza wrappers which are thicker, the shumais came out a little bit makunat (chewy) but still so yummy. The filling is similar to the kuapao we used to have in Manila. Kuapao is a relative of siopao, rectangular or oval in shape and usually filled with green vegetableses, never meat. Hmm, maybe I will make kuapao next.