Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Where'd the Week Go? Weekly Link Round-Up



This week may've gone by in a blur, but I had a blast-- even if there was another doctor's appointment thrown in! The doctor's appointment was to have my eyes checked, an important thing for any voracious reader to do, and although my eyes are beginning to show signs of age, they're healthy and I happily escaped the necessity of buying three new pairs of glasses. Am I weird... let's rephrase that... am I weirder than I think I am-- because I love the new tests they can perform on your eyes that show detailed pictures of them. The optic nerve, the blood vessels, the cornea, the pupil, etc. Fascinating stuff to me!

Monday I motored on over to the Poisoned Pen to meet one of my favorite authors, Tarquin Hall, creator of the Vish Puri private investigator novels set in India. There were two librarians present who have been eating their way through all the different food mentioned in Hall's books, and a lady from India who gave me recommendations to local Indian restaurants, so I've decided to do the same thing. I needed the recommendations because-- let's face it-- I'm from the cornfields of the Midwest. We don't do Indian food there, so I need help!  I know that Denis loves Indian cuisine, so we had a meal from Flavors of India last night. Denis the Expert said he loved the food and that we'd be doing this on a monthly basis. Me? I loved it, too, although the combination of spices did have a life of their own afterwards....  You'll be reading more about Tarquin Hall at the Poisoned Pen within the next two days.

Wednesday night Denis got to come along as I met another favorite writer, Martin Walker, creator of the Bruno Chief of Police mystery series. We had a fabulous time, and the pâté de foie gras on French baguette and glasses of sauternes wine weren't bad either. Gee... this week was a cornucopia of culinary delights as well as a feast of books!  You'll also be reading more about Martin Walker this weekend, too.

I won't tell you about the three-inch long palo verde beetle that scared the puddin' outta me in the pool tonight because, hey-- this is the link round-up, isn't it?  Ooooh, linksssss... come out, come out, wherever you are!


Bookish News & Other Interesting Stuff

I  ♥  Lists

Book Candy

New to My Google Reader

That's all for this week. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!

14 comments:

  1. Oooh, we love Indian food! And, yes, it does take some getting used to. My hubby had a boss that was Indian many years ago and that was our introduction. There are several good restaurants here in our area and we go from time to time. We'll have to remember this one when we come back to Phoenix.

    Can't wait to read about your visits to the PP this week. :-)

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    1. Kay, the restaurant I mentioned is one that's very close to where Denis and I live. The Indian lady at the PP raved about a place called Jewel of the Crown that's right in the area of the Scottsdale Civic Center, I believe. (It has a website.)

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  2. Cathy - Oh, lucky you, to have met Tarquin Hall! I really love his Vish Puri series too :-). I'll bet you had a great time. Thanks too for these (as always!) interesting links.

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    1. have you seen the opening page for his Vish Puri website? I love it, even though I think it may be a representation of a lull in traffic there in Delhi. ;-)

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  3. Your comment about the Indian food spices having a life of their own afterwards cracked me up, but on the other hand I understand very well. I'd like to try Thai food but can't get Dave to venture that far afield. I imagine your week just flew by.

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    1. Our friend in Durham took us to a Thai restaurant when we were visiting the UK for the first time. I loved the food.

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  4. I'm a Chinese girl rather than an Indian, but my husband loves it. I think my problem is that I dislike most of the spices that are central to Indian cooking such as cardiman and cummin, so I was never going to do very well with it. I'm ok with milder currys such as Rogan Josh though. LOL for the spices having a life of their own afterwards though. You are so right!

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    1. What is absolutely strange to me is the fact that I'm loving spicier food than I ever had before. I'm blaming it on the surgery I had in 2010. Evidently the parts removed were the ones that didn't like spicy food!

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    1. I do, too, Lark. I hate seeing vacant buildings, and to have them repurposed into *libraries*? Bliss!

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  6. You crack me up!! We went out to eat Indian food last night. We went to Chutney's at McClintock and Baseline. The lady who was telling us the restaurants was a friend of the owners. It is really nothing on ambiance but the food was good. Just a bit on the spicy side. AND you were right, the spices stuck with me for a long time! I sure woke up with a very bad case of 'morning mouth' with all that curry!

    It was great visiting with you on Monday. I am loving Vish Puri. I feel like he is my Indian version of Hercule Poirot.

    The haboob was wild on this side of town tonight. Hope you were safe in the pool.

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    1. So far the haboob is missing us over here. Every time I went out to get in the pool, there was lightning, and since I don't need a home perm, I turned around and went back in the house. :-( Oh well, there weren't any stars to commune with anyway!

      I am so glad you're enjoying Vish Puri. He's a treasure!

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  7. I love your weekly links! Thank you!!

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    1. You're welcome, June. I'm glad you enjoy them!

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