Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica Read with me! January's selection is Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica. A husband’s disappearance links two couples in this twisty thriller. Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found. Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered. "Rich with detail and a mounting, almost suffocating sense of dread, Just the Nicest Couple is a dark and twisted exploration of loyalty, family, and how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love." —Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here HAPPY READING!

Happy 2025 from As Noted By Me. This year, I suggest we resolve, restore and renew. Pick one or all of them. re·solve /rəˈzôlv/ verb settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter). re·store / rəˈstôr/ verb bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate. re·new /rəˈno͞o/ verb resume (an activity) after an interruption. As I type, my overfed and exhausted body is telling me that today would be a good day to get back to my pre-holiday routine. I am needing some " good for me" food today (preferably leafy-green) and a long walk. I'm not the best with change. Really, who is? This time of year brings new versions of yourself to your proverbial table. I'm 46 and for the last 30 years of my life it's been the GYM goer...the one who is a new year, new me kind of person. Listen (until recently ) I've lived my life as the "I'm going to print off this really cute workout plan and start on Monday" or maybe a program that is WAY TOO AMBITIOUS (and I knew it). It just doesn't work for me to have a day, Jan 1st or a random Monday in May, to resolve to be better. A more realistic way for me is resolving to move my body and ideally five days a week. I used to reward myself with food for sticking to my goals for the week, for those who know me well are literally saying "of course she did". I'm trying this new way of self-talk where I remind myself life happened this week and I will do better next week. The spiral of negative talk and siren song from the treadmill downstairs is mentally heavier than any amount of weight I'd like to lose. It squeezes me tighter than my favorite jeans that might just never see the light of day (and that is ok). I am doing my best to be healthier and live longer. The road to that goal doesn't need to be as bumpy as my self-deprecating inner voice used to make it for me. Again, less turbulence...more smooth sailing. See a theme here? This most recent time change has rocked my world, the late Thanksgiving on the calendar made the normal holiday rush and craze rise to a fever pitch, and my new inability to sleep has thrown me into a spin cycle of wonder and, quite frankly, it pisses me off. I yearn for the steady, normal, familiar, smooth sailing, no turbulence kind of day to day. We all know that's not the way things roll. I loved when my kids would settle into a routine, whether it be back to school, on summer break, a nasty sleep regression ending when they were littles, or finally getting over and ear infection and sleeping again. Then BOOM...a curveball when I was just getting adjusted to the speed of life. This season's curveball is empty nest. My mom heart is full as my college kids bust through the door, home for break, bringing with them mountains of laundry, staying up way too late, sleeping in and my empty nester kitchen is stocked full again. If you're at all like me, you've got a written "to do" list (or a few) and a continually running "to do" list (or a few) in your head. It's like that grocery list, often left behind, on the counter. Rather than making a list of unattainable resolutions or a To-Do list for 2025, I've decided to make a "Not" To-Do for 2025 and set goals for things that I want to resolve, restore or renew in my day to day. Some of these will take A LOT of resolve on my end and some will be a renewal and restoration of a familiar routine. Yet, all are attainable and not overly ambitious - just as they should be. Happy New Year...no need for a new you. I like you (and me) just fine! Cheers- XOXO Jos My "Not" To Do List Resolve - Restore - Renew

Chicken Wild Rice by As Noted By Me Oddly enough, we had a high of 53° today here in Northwest Iowa. Normally I'd say we are, without a doubt, in the heart of soup season. Today feels more like we could grill a steak. This fall I started a new series called Soup's on Saturdays . You loved it and I'm so thankful for your feedback and messages that you enjoyed one (or many) of my weekly soups. I thought it would be nice to have a one stop post for easy reference to find the 12 soups from this first season of my series. I will start working on 12 new soups for next fall for you to enjoy! There's nothing I love more than being in my kitchen creating new recipes. I'm thankful to all of my taste testing friends that often get a quart of soup on their doorstep to enjoy, as I create, test, and perfect each new soup. Here are my 12 Soup's on Saturdays for 2024 Chicken Tortilla Soup Sausage and Gnocchi Soup Slow Cooker Hamburger and Vegetable Soup Chicken Wild Rice Soup Broccoli Cauliflower Cheese Soup Autumn Squash Lasagna Soup Clam Chowder Roasted Tomato Basil Soup Turkey Thai Soup French Onion Soup Lobster Bisque

Soup season is here and we're celebrating the 12 Saturdays in Autumn with a soup each Saturday. Come to my blog each Saturday in Autumn and I'll share a favorite soup recipe to help make your soup season extra warm and cozy.  Lobster Bisque by As Noted By Me As Noted By Me :: Soup's on Saturday Week Twelve: Lobster Bisque My lobster bisque is thick, creamy and full of flavor. If you have time to make your own lobster stock, it’s even better! It tastes like you're at the best steakhouse but is surprisingly easy to make at home.

Soup season is here and we're celebrating the 12 Saturdays in Autumn with a soup each Saturday. Come to my blog each Saturday in Autumn and I'll share a favorite soup recipe to help make your soup season extra warm and cozy.  As Noted By Me :: Soup's on Saturday Week Eleven: French Onion Soup This traditional French Onion Soup is simple to prepare and has warm baguettes topped with melted Gruyére cheese.

Wine Champagne & Sparkling Wine -The History of Champagne & Sparkling Wine- Serve at °43- 46° To clarify, all champagne is sparkling wine , but not all sparkling wine is champagne. Do you know why? The easy and short answer is that sparkling wine can only be called champagne if it comes from the Champagne region in northern France, just outside of Paris. For all products produced even 10 feet outside of the champagne region, it legally must be called “sparkling wine” however in other areas of the world, there are other names and we'll discuss those below. Champagne Made in the ‘Champagne’ region approximately 1 hour from Paris.  Champagne is made of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes. Legally, it can only be made using these three grapes and must be aged for a minimum of 18 months. Some iconic names associated best-selling champagne include Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, Nicolas Feuillatte, Bollinger, Tattinger, Laurent-Perrier and many more.    Sweetness Level of Champagne The majority of champagne or sparkling wines are quite dry in nature and the "sweetest" champagnes are dry or demi-sec. This is confusing, right? The majority of bubbles served in the U.S. tend to be Brut and have a nice finish of fruit without being sweet.  Prosecco is much lighter and sweeter than traditional French sparkling wines or champagnes. So Many Glasses - How do you select the best one? When pouring champagne, choose a tall, bulbous flute glass with a narrow top, shaped like a tulip. It allows your champagne to best showcase all its aromas and fine bubbles. A coupe glass is a great option for a sweeter, sparkling wine, a tulip glass is best for prosecco or rosé. Bottom line, you can drink WHAT makes you happy IN what makes you happy. Cheers! Sparkling Wine Three Traits of a Good Sparkling Wine Fresh : Bright and alive in your mouth, fruity but not necessarily sweet. Precise : On the tongue, the wine should feel dreamy as the bubbles roll around your mouth. Precision is more about the acid, which is mandatory for good sparkling wines. This will give it a crisp mouth feel. Sparkling : Small bubbles are a sign of high-quality wine. Types of Sparkling Wine Cava:  Cava undergoes the same production process as Champagne, but with different grapes.  Hailing from the Penedès region of northeast Catalonia, well known brands include Freixenet Sparkling Cordon Negro Brut Cava, Anna de Codorniu, Segura Viudas and Juve y Camps.  The varietals utilized can include Macabeo, Xarel-lo, Parellada, Chardonnay, Subirat Parent, red Garnacha, Trepat, Monastrell and Pinot Noir. Prosecco:  The wines from the Veneto region of Italy are called Prosecco. These wines have larger bubbles and are produced in large tanks using a method called the Charmat.  The best-known brand is La Marca Prosecco, and other brands include Mionetto, Ruffino, Caposaldo and Massotina. Sekt:  The sparkling wines of Austria and Germany are called Sekt. The wines are made using the tank method with fermentation in stainless steel. The grapes may range from Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Elbling, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. Sekt brands are not very well known in the U.S., but here are a few options to consider Hild Elbling, Schlossgut Diel, Dr. Loosen “Dr. L” Riesling Sekt, and Peter Lauer. Crémant:  France is known for its "Champagne" in which the fermentation occurs inside each bottle. Crémant is a style of sparkling wine produced in France, but outside of Champagne using the “method champenoise” second fermentation, which gives the bubbles a softer, creamier taste in contrast toChampagne.  Depending upon it's region of production, the grape used will vary greatly. It may be chardonnay, pinot noir, chenin blanc, Sémillon, Sauvignon, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Aligoté or Cab Franc grapes . Notable brands in the U.S. include Gerard Bertrand, JCB, Lucien Albrecht, Gratien Meyer and Louis Bouillet. I'm excited for you to try a fun, bubbly champagne and sparkling wine this month. Both are two different price points but scream CELEBRATE! Cheers! This is an incredibly well done explanation of Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine, published by WineCountry.com - Check it out! Sweet Spot Champagne & Sparkling Wine- Chandon California Brut Sparkling Wine: $20.99 This California Sparkling wine offers the balance and elegance that has become Chandon's familiar style. The wine delivers complex apple and pear characteristics accented by citrus spice over notes of almond and caramel in the bouquet. This is a great one to keep on hand. There's always something to celebrate. Special Day Champagne & Sparkling Wine- Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut Champagne - $53.99 Coming from the Champagne region in France my favorite old reliable is this Veuve Clicquot Champagne. The aromas of beautiful ripe fruit and light cream are always consistent and familiar. It has a medium body and isn't overly acidic, not to mention the iconic orange label is an indicator of the greatness you're about to enjoy. Cheers! Food Pairing If a lovely glass of your favorite champagne or sparkling wine was searching for the perfect mate, here is what should be on that list. Meats: fried chicken, steak, duck Seafood: oysters, crab cakes, light fish Veggies/Fruits: mushrooms, bruschetta, figs Spices/Herbs: cinnamon, ginger, star anise Cheeses : brie, camembert, baby swiss Sauces: light cream, champagne butter sauce, Dessert: chocolate covered strawberries, tart rhubarb, dark chocolate Serve my Clam Chowder with your favorite champagne or sparkling wine on Christmas Eve. It is the perfect marriage of cream, butter and seafood. Cocktail Try this classic White Russian -with a twist. It has a festive kiss of peppermint and is easy to prepare. Mocktail Try this classic White Russian -with a twist- without the alcohol. It has a festive kiss of peppermint and is easy to prepare. Please drink responsibly. Don't drink and drive. This information is for people over the age of 21. Pregnant women should not drink alcohol. -As Noted by Me-

The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper Read with me! December's selection is The Other Mother by Rachel M Harper. Jenry Castillo is a musical prodigy, raised by a single mother in Miami. He arrives at Brown University on a scholarship—but also to learn more about his late father, Jasper Patterson, a famous ballet dancer who died tragically when Jenry was two. On his search, he meets his estranged grandfather, Winston Patterson, a legendary professor of African American history and a fixture at the Ivy League school, who explodes his world with one question: Why is Jenry so focused on Jasper, when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was romantically involved with Jenry’s mother? Juliet is the parent he should be looking for—his other mother. The Other Mother is a daring, ambitious novel that celebrates the complexities of love and resilience—masterfully exploring the intersections of race, class, and sexuality; the role of biology in defining who belongs to whom; and the complicated truth of what it means to be a family. HAPPY READING!   Book Review Questions for November Trespasses The book is set in the time of sectarian violence over control of Northern Ireland that came to be known as the Troubles. How does the conflict manifest itself, and how do the various characters situate themselves in relationship to it? How do Cushla, her mother, and her brother contrast in their attitudes toward it? Cushla lives with her mother, a widow with a drinking problem. As the story progresses, we see how differently mother and daughter view the world. What are the most striking divergences in their perspectives? How do they shift over the course of the novel? Over the course of the novel, Cushla becomes more and more deeply involved with the family of one of her students after his father is savagely beaten. What did you think of her attempts to help Davy’s family? What social and class tensions enter into this relationship as well, and how do they affect it? In the scene where Cushla is reading Cosmopolitan magazine just before she and Michael have sex in his car, what might Kennedy be showing us about differing attitudes to sex and women in the 1970s? In its final section, the book skips ahead to the year 2015, when Cushla and Davy encounter each other again. What has changed for them, and about them? How does Cushla seem to look back at the events of their shared past? What does the ending leave indefinite?

Soup season is here and we're celebrating the 12 Saturdays in Autumn with a soup each Saturday. Come to my blog each Saturday in Autumn and I'll share a favorite soup recipe to help make your soup season extra warm and cozy.  As Noted By Me :: Soup's on Saturday Week Ten: Turkey Thai Soup Leftover turkey is used in this soup that is packed full of flavor - in a creamy coconut broth with just the right amount of spice.

Thanksgiving leftovers might be the best part of the long weekend. If you're one of the lucky ones and get to tote home (or stash in your refrigerator) a big haul of leftovers to enjoy, give this savory new spin on the waffle a try. My family loves when the stuffing gets that yummy, crispy edge. Load it up with all your favorites like potatoes and cranberry sauce and cover it with all the gravy you desire. I promise, no one will judge you! Enjoy!

Soup season is here and we're celebrating the 12 Saturdays in Autumn with a soup each Saturday. Come to my blog each Saturday in Autumn and I'll share a favorite soup recipe to help make your soup season extra warm and cozy.  As Noted By Me :: Soup's on Saturday Week Eight: Clam Chowder This delicious clam chowder is cream-based and is loaded with all of the traditional chowder ingredients: onion, celery, potatoes, diced carrots, cream, and clams. Serve it in a bread bowl for the perfect dinner.

Soup season is here and we're celebrating the 12 Saturdays in Autumn with a soup each Saturday. Come to my blog each Saturday in Autumn and I'll share a favorite soup recipe to help make your soup season extra warm and cozy.  As Noted By Me :: Soup's on Saturday Week Seven: Lasagna Soup This soup tastes exactly like your favorite Italian lasagna - but in a bowl. You can add as much or as little of the "Cheese Yum" to make it exactly how you love your lasagna.

Wine Cabernet Sauvignon -The history of Cabernet Sauvignon- Serve at 60°- 65° Name a region that is producing wine, and chances are they are growing the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. The best part of this grape growing quite literally in every major wine producing country in the world, is that we can enjoy a wide range in price and character from a bottle of Cabernet. It is the big boy , the mass producer , arguably the best blending partner , and an easier to grow grape when compared to some other red’s, like the thinner skinned Pinot Noir grape.   The rise of Cabernet Sauvignon began in France (the Bordeaux region) and is often used as a blend in French wine. In Italy, you will find a Cabernet from Tuscany will be a touch sweeter, due to a higher ripening temperature than Bordeaux, and will be more fruit forward with a black cherry notes. In the United States the California winemakers are basking in the perfect temperature and soil conditions that make Cabernet the King. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley, covering half of the land under the vine. This month I'm highlighting two very different Cabernet Sauvignons at different price points. They both have the big and bold hit from the Cabernet you expect and are from California's beloved wine country. You'll find the Sweet Spot Cab a touch lighter and fruitier than my Special Day Cab that is more earthy with warm spice. Sweet Spot Cabernet Sauvignon- Valravn Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 : $17.99 I found this one at Costco and was immediately drawn to the spooky, Halloween"ish" label. I also noticed it's high 92-point rating from Wine Enthusiast so I gave it a try. I'm thankful I did. This great priced Cab is full of ripe dark fruit flavors, like blackberry and plum, with hints of cedar and tobacco. It's a fantastic match for grilled steaks and savory dishes. It drinks like a much more expensive wine.   Special Day Cabernet Sauvignon- Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles $54.97 This is the perfect wine to serve on Thanksgiving. Austin Hope's Cab has been a favorite at many special moments the last 10 years of my life. It is smooth, dark and complex without being "too much" of all those things that make a Cab just a bit "more" than other reds. I enjoy the fruit, warm spice and the very subtle touch of mocha, tea and tobacco. If you have not tried this pour, run out NOW and treat yourself on Turkey Day or on a day to celebrate an exceptionally good wine. Enjoy it with a big spoonful of my Dark Chocolate Mousse with Coffee Whip (recipe below). You're going to be so happy and that makes me happy, too! Cheers! Food Pairing If a lovely glass of your favorite Cabernet Sauvignon was searching for the perfect mate, here is what should be on that list. Meats: beef stew, ribeye, wild game Seafood: grilled tuna, strong flavored fish Veggies/Fruits: broccoli, tomatoes, black cherries Spices/Herbs: rosemary, lavender Cheeses : cheddar, gorgonzola Sauces: tomato, bleu cheese sauce, red wine reduction Dessert: bittersweet chocolate, dark chocolate truffles or mousse Try this month's wine with my desserts on Thanksgiving (it can't all be about the pumpkin pie) Dark Chocolate Mousse with Coffee Whip & Flaky Salt This is not overly sweet - but pairs perfectly with a Cabernet Basil Ice Cream The first time I tried Basil Ice Cream was on my wine club's "Cabernet" night a few years ago. Very skeptical, I offered to make the designated dessert as prompted by the wine club book. HOLY AMAZING FOOD PAIRING!!! All ten of us sat in complete awe and appreciation for the combination of this ice cream and the beautiful Cabernet we were sipping. I have made a few changes to the original recipe to make it my own (and for ease). I hope you try it and enjoy it with a glass of Cabernet. Cocktail The weather is changing and you need a Dark & Stormy. Easy, refreshing and gorgeous in a glass with the floated dark rum. Mocktail Dark & Spicy NA by Lyre's This is an amazing alternative to the Dark & Stormy with rum. Please drink responsibly. Don't drink and drive. This information is for people over the age of 21. Pregnant women should not drink alcohol. -As Noted by Me-