Sunday Post: March 13, 2022

Hello, my lovelies.

As weeks go, this one has been pretty sad. The lovely roomie lost a family member after a three-month illness, which really sucked beyond the telling of it. (That he passed on the same day that her mother passed last year was just too much.)

I did not know Tim—her brother-in-law for all intents and purposes, although married to her sister-by-choice rather than -by-genetics. But I am friends on social media with her sister, and had been following along as she updated everyone about his condition.

What I wasn’t realizing was how much her sister’s story was causing me to think about seven years ago, when I was sitting in a different hospital, watching different doctors not be able to quite figure out how to fix my husband. He also passed away after a brief illness, which the doctors never were able to get ahead of. So, as I was just following along, trying to be supportive from afar, well…blam! I fell into a pretty big depression hole.

I really hate when the world makes new widows. It’s a club that I never want anyone to join, and especially not people who are in the prime of their damn lives.

But I spent the week being pretty anti-social. I read like it was oxygen, did not get enough sleep, and was all around just…not particularly interested in being me.

However, we had a friend over today, and I managed to make some very good dessert (more below) and I feel like I can see some daylight, even if I can’t quite touch it yet.

So, that dessert. Mini instant-pot cheesecakes with salted caramel sauce. Man-O-Mangoberry, were they good.

The caramel sauce recipe is one that I got from the Washington Post back at the end of the last millenium. It’s easy (if a little fussy—but all caramel sauce is fussy), with only three ingredients. We served it with some fancy sea salt on the side.

I read seven eight books this week, all of which were an exercise in self-care.

*Edited to add Lucky Leap Day, which honestly, I completely forgot I read this week…which makes some sense since I didn’t really love it. There was a full review on Sarturday, so nothing more to say here. (I don’t mean I forgot I read it, which would be nuts since I reviewed it…I just forgot I read it THIS WEEK. 😆)

Caged In Winter tells the story of Winter, a college student and waitress who is determined to make it through life independently and the chef-in-training who insists that she go out with him. I liked them together, although her behavior seemed too rigid at times, while his occasionally felt like it was bordering on obsession. I would say that their relationship wasn’t exactly…healthy. But it was a decent, as-expected story.

The other thing I read was all six books in Claire Kingsley’s Bailey Brothers series. I have feelings about this series, and those feelings are that Claire Kingsley is a good writer, but she is less skilled with these sorts of small-town family romances, where every sibling falls in love in sequential books than she is with other types of contemporary fiction. This series started out sappy-sweet, bordering on cloying…but it did get stronger with every book, and since I **really** wanted to read book six, I was kind of in for the duration.

But Lucy Score does this better, as does Karla Sorensen. Still, lovely, charming stories—just a little too ‘hearts and stars’ for my personal taste. When the main characters say “I love you/I love you, too” three times on one page, well…it kind of starts to lose all meaning.

However, they were fine, and exactly what this depressed girl needed this week. Aren’t books just grand?

OK, that’s all from the 52 Patisserie, where we are struggling with a time change.

Till next week, stay safe, read what feels good, and maybe eat some cheesecake.