October 19 Meeting at Carol's

Everyone appeared to have a good time during our Halloween festivities.  The costumes were great and I love that you all entered into the holiday fun.  I hope the decorations weren't too scary or over the top.  The food was uncomplicated (pizza, veggies, cheese and crackers, chips and salsa and fruit) and way too many desserts like usual.  The book was not so successful.  I think most of us agreed the story lines were very good, but way too short.  The author jumped around from character to character and never delved far enough into the different lives.  I felt we were left hanging from a cliff too many times.  My disclaimer is I had not read the book previously and went on a recommendation from a friend.  I want next October so you can start thinking of your next costume.

Carol

September 28 - October 2 at Pat's

Our Sept. meeting was held at the beach.  We had 4 days of beautiful weather, beautiful ocean, fun if not too productive shopping, good company, and plenty of delicious food, from still warm choc. chip cookies to homemade scrapple.  Our book discussion was spirited and covered many topics including organ transplant, loyalty, and monetary impact on healthcare.  The cure for anything is salt water- sweat, tears and the sea.

Pat

August 17 Meeting at Sharon's

Responses to The Midwife of Hope River were very positive. We talked about the depression era environment in which Patience lived and worked and how tough it would be to live under those conditions. Several felt that for them the isolation would be the hardest to endure. We felt we learned a lot about midwifery and different approaches used in delivering babies that best fit the individual mother’s needs and comfort level. Some of us have relatives who had their children by midwives and we discussed how the practice is becoming popular again. We were also impressed that the author shared a practice as a nurse-midwife with her ob-gyn husband in Morgantown, WV, until 2003 when the drastic increase in liability insurance forced them to give up deliveries. 

We missed having Drika and Pat join in the discussion with us. Kathy set up a group photo for us to send with a card to Ellen who is recovering from emergency surgery. 
Sharon

Get well soon, Ellen!

 

July 20 Meeting at Pam's

The book for this month was “Woman #17” by Edam Lepucki.  It was about relationships between mothers, daughters and friends.  I think we all agreed the author didn’t really show why the relationship didn’t work.  Lady hires Ester, nickname 5 without really knowing her or checking her qualifications.  I really don’t think most people would do that.  5 has an affair with Lady’s son.  It was hard getting into the characters.  5 and Lady are a bad combination and drink way too much.  I just couldn’t relate to them.  I fixed spaghetti with Italian sausages, hamburger and bacon, tossed salad and fresh baked bread.  Maybe because of all the drinking in the book not much wine was consumed.  We did have a great evening just talking.  It’s a great group of ladies and we always manage to have fun no matter what we’re reading.  
Pam

June 15 Meeting at Kathy's

As I prepared my Jambalaya for an army, the number of people attending kept dropping. But alas, we had a good group show up for a busy night of eating, book discussion and entertainment at the Concert in the Park. We ate our meal relatively early, immediately followed by desserts – cannoli dip with NJ cannoli chips, watermelon, lemonade pie and Carol brought us back some treats from the beach. OK yes, we are all stuffed by yet another simple meal. We were then surprised by a call from England, Edna Skyped in to say hello and give us an update on operation "baby watch".

On to the book - "Just wait until you have children of your own" by Erma Bombeck . I thought the book a bit dated and fun but then it was “our” Erma Bombeck we were reading. I think everyone enjoyed the book, it was an easy summer read and hit home for most of us. She has such a quirky way of relating life’s little traumas and how it is so tough being a teenager. We’ve been there and we lived through our kid’s teen years too. We are concerned with today youth with their heads in their phones to the point of not talking directly with anyone. So strange. I read an old quote which everyone is familiar with that reads : ‘The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.’ Attributed to Socrates (469–399 B.C.) but not confirmed. It shows how each generation thinks that last generation in the worst. Now on to the park for some wonderful music by “Showcase”!

We missed you guys – Grace, Dricka, Pat and Pam. (Edna I didn’t skip you, you were with us)

• Pam’s book for July 20 is tentatively “Woman No.17” by Edan Lepucki (She’s currently checking with the library to see if they can get copies)
• Sharon's meeting in August will NOT be Thursday Aug 17 as she has a prior engagement.  Keep you posted when the new date is set.

Great seeing everyone,
Kathy G


Lemonade Icebox Pie

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. + chilling
Servings : 8

Ingredients:
• I small can (6 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed just a bit
• 2 cups softened vanilla ice cream
• 1 8 oz tub whipped topping, thawed
• 1 graham cracker crust

PREPARATION:
Beat lemonade concentrate in large bowl on low speed with electric mixer for about 30 seconds.  Add ice cream 1 cup at a time, beating until well blended. Stir in whipped topping until smooth.
Spoon into crust, swirling with a spatula to make a pretty top. Freeze 4 hours or over night.  Let stand at room temperature for a few minutes, until pie can be sliced with knife.  Enjoy by your pool on a hot summers day!

May 18 Meeting at Louisa's

 We began the evening with fresh pineapple, apple slices, cheese and of course Sharon brought some wine for us. Dinner was Italian chicken on rotini noodles, Caesar salad, and rolls.

      The book discussion about My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry began. I really liked the book. It was full of fairy tales and adventure.

      Almost 8 year old Elsa was sent on an adventure by her Granny. In this adventure she got to know her neighbors and learn of their connections to her Granny.

      The ladies said the book was ok and probably wouldn’t have read it on their own.

     Elizabeth served dessert of cannolis from Royalicious. Dricka brought cranberry muffins. Rosemary brought eclairs. Edna brought Salt Water Taffy. As always we had lots of good desserts.

      Edna was given a gift card from us to take to Angel for the baby.

      We missed you Alice, Carol, and Grace.

Louisa