A lazy weekend, recipe and a book project

I haven't had more than a 3-day weekend to relax since January, so this Thanksgiving has been a wonderful break and I have mostly done ABSOLUTELY nothing. It's been glorious. I'm starting grad school in January (assuming the school finishes getting their ducks in a row and does not lose any more of my information), and I know that means that my weekends to dedicate my time primarily to books, movies and video games are extremely numbered.

So this weekend, my biggest adventure has really been continuing a project I started a few months ago--re-reading the Wheel of Time books. I started these books when I was in middle school or early high school at the recommendation of a clerk at Barnes and Noble. Although they definitely mark me as a nerd, they tell a (very long) story that I continually get wrapped up in whenever I see a new book out or pick up one of the old ones. One of the last two books came out this November, and after trying to remember about 12,000 pages worth of material the last time a book came out, I decided to try to re-read the entire series.

It's going to take a long time. The books (all 13 of them) are each around 800-1000 pages, with a pretty intricate plot. But, if you have any inclinations towards being a fantasy fiction nerd like I am, it is entirely worth it. The characterization is fantastic, and the plot (while very involved and complicated) keeps you turning the pages. All in all, this series is a whole world and compelling story that will probably be occupying my spare time for the next few months. As inspiration, I have the newest book sitting on a bookshelf in the kitchen so that I can walk by it every day and remind myself that there's all new material in the story that I have yet to find out.

On an entirely different note, I did try a recipe experiment that I was extremely unsure of but that I liked a lot more than I expected. The ingredients in this recipe for Cuban bowls sounded strange together and I wasn't sure that I would enjoy them, but since I have yet to make a recipe from I'm Losing It that I don't like, I thought it was worth a try. I used both avacados and fried bananas, made my own Cuban-style black beans and am glad that I tried it! It's a great easy vegetarian recipe--it took me awhile since I made my own beans, but if you used canned beans it would definitely be a quick and easy option.

This post ended up being a bit of a hodge-podge of ideas, but I guess that's been my long weekend! Now the countdown to Christmas begins!