All the Little Liars by Charlaine HarrisMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I found that the voice of Aurora Teagarden was much more the voice of Charlaine Harris a 60-something than that of a 30-something librarian. For example, what 37 year old woman in 2016 uses the word trousers to describe pants. C'mon! This book takes place just a few weeks after the last one, which is disjointing. (esp. since the previous book was set in the early 2000s) So just a few weeks ago Aurora finds her SIL dead and now it is Christmas, she is pregnant, married and not only is her step brother missing but there are other kids missing AND dead teenagers. It seems like a bit much, and yet there is plenty of time for the author to give paragraphs of space to the discussion of Aurora preparing the most bland food ever eaten.
Lastly during the book Aurora does three stupid things and hides 2 crucial details from police that prolong the mystery and are so reckless it's hard to fathom. I almost through the book across the room a couple of times due to the lack of critical thinking by Aurora and her husband.
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A common thread in all Charlaine Harris books is uneccessary discussion of what food the protagonist is preparing. If the food sounded good, that would be forgiving, but her main characters are bad cooks. Just the most boring food. It's depressing. If I was her editor, I'd put big red slashes through all food talk!
To combat bad food writing I thought I would share a couple fun Halloween themed recipes:
- 1 Tbsp. 1 tsp. Avocado Oil or olive oil, divided
- 2 Tbsp. Onion Onion Seasoning
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 (15 oz.) cans 100% pure pumpkin
- 13-14 oz. can coconut milk
- ½ cup roasted and salted shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
- Sour cream (optional)
directions
Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add Onion Onion™ Seasoning; sautè 30 seconds.
Stir in broth; bring to a simmer. Add pumpkin and 1 Tbsp. Rustic Herb Seasoning; simmer 5 minutes. Stir in coconut milk; continue simmering 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine pumpkin seeds and remaining 1 tsp. oil in small bowl. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. Rustic Herb Seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Toss to coat.
Ladle soup into bowls or shot or cordial glasses. Sprinkle with herbed pumpkin seeds.
Tips:
- To decorate the glasses, add sour cream to a resealable plastic bag. Cut off a bag corner. Pipe slightly wavy ring around the inside of each glass. Using a wooden skewer, push the sour cream down to make elongated lines. Pour soup into glasses.
- Serve soup in Jack Be Little or other small pumpkins. To prepare pumpkins, cut top ½ inch off each pumpkin; scrape out seeds. Place on a baking sheet with rim. Add ½ cup water to baking sheet; cover pumpkins with foil. Bake 20 minutes or until soft enough to scoop out pumpkin flesh. Remove from oven and cool; gently scoop out flesh, leaving a ¼-inch shell.
