Today, we're a food blog - Tortilla Soup Recipe

I know, I know, this is the opposite of a food blog. There will not be any pictures of beautifully separated ingredients in sweet little bowls.


I just needed a book break, and I love this soup. And it's soup season!


And it's my blog, I do what I want.


Hat tip to friend/guest poster Jen who shared this recipe with me eons ago.


Known to others as "Wesley's Tortilla Soup" known to me as "No really, this whole thing comes from cans, tortilla soup"


I'm not kidding. Everything comes from a can. If you have a fresh tomatoes use those instead, if you want no salt/low sodium or that kind of thing feel free to use it!


Here's what you need:

- Chicken (I usually make 2 or 3 breasts in the Foreman and then cut them up and throw them in. Or slice and dice up a rotisserie from the store or whatever)

- 1 can of chicken broth

-2 cans of cream of chicken soup

(If you want a more brothy/less creamy soup switch it to 2 broth, 1 COC)

- 1 can of diced tomatoes

-1/2 an envelope of taco seasoning

-1 can of black beans (these need to be drained! Or else your soup will be purple and look like something you should have made for a Halloween party)

-1/2 bag of frozen corn (I have to use a full bag because whenever I use 1/2 Josh complains there's not enough corn. Eye roll)

-Shredded cheese (for topping)

-Sour cream (for topping)

-Tortilla chips (for topping)


Throw everything that is not a topping into a pot (did you rinse your beans?!), put it on medium/medium high, walk past it occasionally and stir it while you're munching on chips that you're supposed to be putting on top of the soup when it's done. When everything looks warm and bubbly, ladle it out, top it with dairy joy and whatever chips you haven't eaten during cooking, and get at it.




via GIPHY

This is Not a Post About Books - March. "Let's all go to the drive in"

(PS I've been to a drive in several times and I love it)

So when you meet someone new, and youre trying to figure out what kind of a person they are, the same topics always come up:

What do you do?
What kind of books do you like?
Are you a (insert team name) here?
Are you from here originally?
What kind of movies do you like?

I know when I meet someone new I ask just about all of these. If all they read is Judy Piccoult (or the dreaded "I don't really read") I start thinking, well you're not going to be my new best friend. 

But since this is a "not book" post we're going to talk about movies. I sometimes judge people by their taste in books and movies, and if other people judge me by those same things I'm sure they will think I'm a psycho killer nut job.

Wesley's favorite movies (judge as needed):

Inglorious Basterds
I remember when this movie came out and my husband wanted to see it, and I was scared to because I heard it was incredibly bloody. We finally went and saw it. This is one of many "I told you so" moments in our marriage. 

I love this movie. I love to quote this movie, generally in situations that are not at all applicable.I even dressed up as the Bear Jew for Halloween a few years ago. I thought it was awesome, but my friends were confused since no one else had seen the movie. Because they suck. Sorry friends.(Just kidding friends, love you.)

This is also where my obsession with Christoph Waltz began. The man is a great villain.Also, the soundtrack is amazing.

Best quote:" Actually, Werner, we're all tickled to hear you say that. Frankly, watchin' Donny beat Nazis to death is is the closest we ever get to goin' to the movies." Though the one I quote the most often "Yeah we got a word for that kind of odd in English. It's called SUSPICIOUS".

Constantine
I know this is based on graphic novels, but I don't know anything about any of that. Honestly I'm not sure why I like this movie, since demons and the like freak me out. But it's an awesome movie. Darkly funny but still a little scary. 

Rachel Weisz is one of my favorites, and she plays double duty on this one. I just pretend that Shia Lebouf doesn't exist (in this movie and in real life in general).

Best quote: "Fire? I was born of this!" (I like to pull this one out around Fourth of July and camping trips)


Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
I love a good action/popcorn/megablockbuster sometimes.And this movie is basically my all time favorite. Everything is so wonderfully clear cut. 

Nazis=evil, Indy=awesome,having sex with a beautiful Austrian fraulein and then finding out that your dad got there before you = hilarity and gross. 

If I see that this is on TV I will stop whatever I'm doing, sit down in front of the TV, and not move until it's done. Light it up Indy, Light it up! (clap, clap)

Best quote: "My boy, we are pilgrims in an unholy land". (Usually quoted by me while heading into Illinois).

Sorry, not sorry. Your tolls are ridiculous.

The Village
I hear all of you rolling your eyes about an M Night choice. My sister Q and I went and saw this movie and were terrified. Like, borderline hysterically scared.

Risking a pants-pooping, we went back to see it the next day with our Mom, who was curious what had scared us so bad. After the movie ended and she realized that there was actually nothing from the movie to be scared of she had us committed to an insane asylum. Not really, but she thought we were nuts. To this day we refuse to use the red sleeping bag when we go camping.

Also there's a great cast: Joaquin, William Hurt, Brendan Gleeson, Adrian Brody...

Best quote: "Do your very best not to scream."
(Q and I did our very best.Screamed anyway)

So there's the little break in our book talk. So everyone tell me what your favorite movies are!

This Post is Not About Books - February ( I know, I'm one day early) and February preview

Today we're going to talk about other blogs that I read and that might interest you! Follow them, subscribe by email or follow their social media if they tickle your fancy.

My friend Sarah is one of the first people I told when I started to blog. She has been wonderfully supportive and Im trying to not harass her with too many questions.Her blog is so beautiful and crisp and clean you can't help but ogle at it. She offers sewing DIYs, decorating tips and projects, scenes from her Western landscape and pictures of her new puppy! She also loves to read, though she is still iffy on Ray Bradbury.(I'm working on converting her). Her blog is Neroli Blossoms.

Robert Bruce is reading his way through Time magazine's 100 best English speaking novels since 1923 ( plus "Ulysses"). Is he crazy? Maybe. Is it entertaining to watch? Yes. I read a lot but there almost exclusively books I pick for myself, I can't imagine getting through someone elses' list. A lot of these books are dense, complicated and obtuse. There are a few books that I've read and enjoyed ("Death Comes for the Archbishop" and "Watchmen") but also some I will never read ("Lolita"). Follow Robert as he makes his way through the list over at 101 Books.

If you like pictures of Corgis, The Daily Corgi is a great bet. I mean what's better than peeping on other people's dogs while you wait for your own? They also are very active in fundraising for sick puppies.

Another entertaining blog: Awesome People Reading. It's...exactly what it sounds like.Pictures of awesome people reading.

Feel free to check out these other places but don't forget about your old friend Library Educated :)

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I had a book run in yesterday as I was leaving work. Being in an elevator with someone you don't know is awkward, and one of my most uncomfortable parts of working in a multistory building. My elevator riding buddy yesterday is a rather intense (though not unfriendly or mean) attorney and I saw he was reading a book. Before I could stop myself the words "Oh, what are you reading?" go flying out of my mouth. (Here's the thing about me. I don't talk to strangers hardly ever, the only time I talk to strangers is if there are dogs or books involved.)

He flips the book closed and shows me the cover and...it's "American Psycho". Remember when I reviewed that book? Yeah. So once again words fly out of my mouth unbidden, "Oh my gosh that book scarred me for life. How are you liking it?" He laughed and me and we talked for the rest of our 15 second ride about how he thought it was a worthwhile read if you could "get past all of the perverted stuff, which is kind of a lot."

So that's why you should read books. You can talk about books filled with cocaine and murdered prostitutes with a coworker who you don't know. Hooray!

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Coming up in February: a book reviews with giveaway, a Q&A with a Pulitzer prize winner with a giveaway, books about wine, a book about a man who gets pulled into the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, bad literary boyfriends, and much much more!

This is Not a Post About Books - January . AKA Let's talk about Cuba.

This post is actually kind of about books, so liar liar pants on fire.

I'm a library clerk at a never-to-be-named law firm. And once a month the library staffs from all around the city where the never-to-be-named law firm is located get together and have a meeting. Sometimes there's vendor demonstrations, sometimes we just complain/share gossip, and sometimes there is a speaker.

We had a speaker recently and I thought that the topic was interesting and would make a fun blog post.
Jennie is the director of Pewaukee Public Library, she and 2 others (librarians, one being the director of my home base library) went to Cuba to take part in the International Book Festival earlier this year...well that was the plan at least.

The International Book Festival took place in an old military fort in Havana. Unexpectedly on display were some HUGE Russian missiles (you know, like the kind we had pointed at us not very long ago). The group thought that maybe something of the international incident type was afoot, but it turns out the Cuban government just trotted them out on display because they thought that people would enjoy seeing them.
The Book Festival wasn't enough to keep our adventurous librarians attention so they ditched the festival and got their explorer on!

Is...this going to be a problem....

A lot (read: almost everything) of things are named after Jose Marti. Jose Marti was a symbol for Cuba's independence from Spain, he was also a translator, poet, journalist, etc etc etc. His pictures were all over the place. Also lots of pictures of Che. But almost no pictures of Fidel, per his own instructions.

Jose! Again!

The illiteracy rate in Cuba is 3%. (Freaking 3%, it's amazing.) A large part of this is thanks to Fidel Castro's Literacy Campaign. The Campaign was basically this: people who could read (a lot of them young children) from the city move to a rural area for one year, stay with a local family, and teach that family how to read. To prove that they had become literate the families were asked to write a letter to Fidel. The Literacy Museum in Cuba has several hundred thousand letters of these letters from the 800,000 people who were taught to read during this campaign.(This makes my little book reading heart go all pitter-patter and warm and fuzzy).

Easy access to the internet is something I take incredibly for granted .The whole nation of Cuba was on dial-up until early 2012. Some parts of Cuba have been upgraded but Havana will be on dial-up for probably at least another 5 years. Also no one is allowed to have a private email address (like a gmail or a yahoo or what have you). Mostly the only people who have emails are state issued, and are held by state employees or educators. The internet is also heavily censored. Not a big surprise on that one.

When a lot of people picture Cuba they think of cool old cars (I think of mojitos, but I love mojitos and don't care about cars). I had assumed that the reason behind the lack of new cars had something to do with the embargo or that the cost was prohibitive. Turns out the real reason is that you are not allowed to own a car that was made post-revolution.So people really take care of their rides, because that's your only option. (Thank God this isn't a rule in the Midwest, we have too much salt damage and rust issues for a car to live that long).

Very subtle!

My sister always jokes that she wants to go to Cuba. (For her, I think, it's less about the history and the people, but more like she wants to look at their hotels and she hates when people tell her what she can and can't do). I used to make fun of her, but now I totally would go with her....in a safe, legal way that would allow me to get back into the country.

Buckets upon buckets of thanks go to Jennie for letting me use some of her hundreds and hundreds of pictures and for letting me do a little write up on her talk.