Music Monday Christmas Edition: Baby Tate, Celtic Woman, The Whispers, Ahmari Lia, Nat King Cole

 Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: With our break from blogging and the end of the year approaching, it's time for the Christmas edition of Music Monday! Today, we're sharing more festive music.

My pick this week is another song from Baby Tate's XMAS. It's called Last Xmas. Honestly, it's one of my favorites from this particular album. 

My second pick is Ave Maria by Celtic Woman. Recently, I caught one of  the more recent Celtic Woman specials when it came on TV.  I used to really enjoy the ones that came on during the holiday season. So I was a feeling little nostalgic for some of their older music. This is one of my favorite versions of Ave Maria.

Adri: Here's some more Ahmari Lia, All I Ever Wanted (This Christmas). I'm also listening to Nat King Cole's King Of Christmas.

Andrea: I'm listening to Kiss Me It's Christmas by Leona Lewis featuring Neo and Happy Holidays to You by The Whispers.

  

Have an amazing, safe, and Merry Christmas!

What are you listening to this holiday season?

Break Notice

Well, it’s that time of year again. With the New Year right around the corner, it’s time for us to take our annual break from blogging. Any posts that appear after this one were scheduled at a prior date. We’ll still be around on social media (like twitter, goodreads, and Instagram), as well as to answer comments on the blog. Until then, we hope everyone has a great holiday season, and we’ll see you in the New Year. Happy reading!

Favorite Recipe: Homemade Soft Pretzels

 

It’s been a long time since I last talked about what I’ve been cooking or baking on the blog. However, I had to dust off the Favorite Recipe post graphic for this. I finally tried making homemade soft pretzels again, and I found a recipe that’s super simple and tastes great.

The recipe: Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels from Sally’s Baking Addiction

The first time I ever tried to make homemade soft pretzels, it didn’t turn out so great. It was years ago, and I was trying a different recipe that I don’t even remember now. The dough didn’t come out right, it was tough to shape, and something was off with the flavor and texture after the baking soda bath + baking.

Fast forward to the end of October 2021, and I had a craving for soft pretzels and wanted to try my hand at making them again. So I did some searching, and I came across the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I gave it a try, and it was easy to make. Before writing up my experience making them, I did two batches on separate days. The first try, I didn’t get the process pictures. So of course I had to make them again!

It’s incredibly simple to make these—few ingredients, short resting time, clear measurements. The dough was simple to mix up and easily shaped. Nothing stuck when I moved on to the boiling, and they baked in 12 minutes once in the oven. They not only smelled like pretzels, but they tasted like them with the texture I was looking for.

I followed the recipe exactly, except for the type of salt I sprinkled on top before baking. I used table salt instead, because I didn’t have fine sea salt on hand. They still tasted great anyway. But you can definitely go with the coarse kind, since it’s standard for soft pretzels.

Overall, this is a great recipe, and I know I will make these again in the near future. Have you made homemade soft pretzels before?

[**Note: photos include (1) the dough after it rested for 10 minutes, (2) the shaped pretzels in the baking soda bath, (3) the pretzels after they were boiled and dusted with salt, and (4) the baked pretzels.**]

Music Monday (183): Baby Tate, Pentatonix, TLC, Boyz II Men & Brian McKnight, Ahmari Lia

 Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: I had no idea Baby Tate had a holiday album. I know her music best by her features with other artists like Bree Runway and Tkay Maidza. I've been listening to a lot more of her music lately, which is how I ended up finding XMAS. One of my favorite songs is Light Up The Tree featuring NoGum Hundo.

 

Adri: This week I'm listening to some more Christmas music, this time from a small artist. My picks are Last Christmas But it Hit's Different and Christmas is Here by Ahmari Lia.

Andrea: This week I'm listening to The Prayer by Pentatonix, Sleigh Ride by TLC & Let It Snow by Boyz II Men featuring Brian McKnight. 

Have an amazing week!

What songs are on your go-to holiday playlist?

**Note: Adri is starting her break from blogging early, so Andrea and I will be around to answer comments**

Review: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

Title: Entangled Life
Series: n/a
Author: Merlin Sheldrake
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Nonfiction; Science
Publisher/Publication Date: Random House Trade; May 12, 2020

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave. In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake's vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the "Wood Wide Web," to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life's processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms--and our relationships with them--are changing our understanding of how life works.

Toward the end of October, I needed to cleanse my palate before I dived into more fiction. So I picked up one of my recent purchases: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. It’s been on my TBR since last year, and I was excited to finally read it. I can officially say that I enjoyed this book. It was an excellent read that had a lot to say on the subject of fungi.

“Fungi are everywhere, but they are easy to miss.”—pg.3

I am not a big fungi enthusiast. I like Portobello mushrooms, and that’s about as far as it ever went. So Fungi aren’t a subject I’ve read too much about in the past. I was instantly intrigue by the idea of Entangled Life, especially after I read Peter Wohlleben’s The Heartbeat of Trees and was looking for something similarly nature science related. That book was a closer look at trees and forests. On the other hand, Entangled Life looked farther down the trunk of a tree, at the ecosystems right beneath our feet. What was revealed was an incredibly complex and interesting narrative that focused on what was taking place above and below ground. The book delved into how it was all connected, what fungi had to do with the development of the environment (based off what some studies had to say about it), and what role they could ultimately play in the future.

Entangled Life is one of the most fascinating books I’ve read this year. I’m glad to have a copy of this book on my shelf, because I know I’ll ultimately return to it again and (probably) again.