Anne of Green Gables

My book club went really well! I was expecting 2 or 3 girls to show up... but I was pleasantly surprised with 11! Book club was kinda short comparatively (only 2 hours), but it was fun.

The food... well, it was interesting. Remember how excited I was about finding the Anne of Green Gables Cookbook? I won't be recommending it to anyone for new recipes... It's only good for being cute!
The gingersnaps were a definite YUCK! They left a really gross aftertaste, and just weren't very flavorful. The raspberry cordial was really thick - it was like drinking watered down raspberry jam. It was good, just thick. And the plum pudding was good too, but the caramel sauce was thin and not very "caramel-ly."
I think the girls appreciated the effort though. No one really comes to eat anyway - and I didn't have hardly anything left over (which was my goal - I hate having lots of leftovers from things like that.).
Anyway...

Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery, has to be one of my most favorite books. It was pure, simple and just plain funny. I had a smile on my face after reading it, and I giggled through most of it. I wish I would have found this book earlier in my life!

I did a little research on the author and the book. I found most of my information from this website: Anne 2008

These were my favorite things we talked about:

Would you rather be divinely beautiful, dazzlingly clever or angelically good? We couldn't decide which one we wanted to be.. just like Matthew and Anne!

Anne symbolizes : a modern woman competing alongside boys for scholarships and working hard to ear her way to college; hope, optimism and the power of faith. She is determined to succeed despite all the obstacles! And finally, Anne represents the universality of the quest for all things we wish for in life - friendship, love, acceptance and a home.

Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908 - this year marks the 100th anniversary of it being published. Today, over 50 millions copies are in print in over 35 languages. There are 7 more books in the series, written by Montgomery.

Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside

There is also a prequel, Before Green Gables, written by Budge Wilson and published in 2008.

I have checked all of these books out from the library, and so will be happily continuing my adventures with Anne for a while!

About the Author:

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in 1874 on Prince Edward Island. Her mother died when she was only 21 months old. Her maternal grandparents took over her care, and her father moved to western Canada.

Maud (as she was called) found companionship in nature, books, her imagination and writing. At the age of 9 she started writing poetry and keeping a journal. Her first poem was published in a newspaper when she was 16. She went to school in Cavendish, and then attended Prince of Wales College where she studied for a teacher's license. She completed the two-year course in one year and graduated with honors.

In 1899, she was earning $96.88 for her writings (poems, short stories and serials). By 1903 her earnings had increased to $500.

Montgomery wrote her first novel, Anne of Green Gables, in 1905 and sent it in to several publishers who all sent her rejections! In 1907 she tried again, and finally it was accepted and became an immediate best-seller, selling over 19,000 copies in the first 5 months.

Montgomery married Reverend Ewan Macdonald in 1911. They had secretly been engaged for 5 years! After their marriage, they moved to Ontario. Along with being a mother, Montgomery assisted her husband in his pastoral duties, ran their home, and continued to write best-selling novels, as well as writing short stories and poems. She was faithful in recording entries in her journals.

Montgomery died in 1942, and returned to Prince Edward Island to be buried in the Cavendish cemetary - close to the site of her old home.

Thank You Card Exchange

I went to this month's card exchange this morning. It was so fun! There were so many cute cards... and so I've decided that I will only pick a couple of cards each month to post on my blog.

Thanks again to Christi for the idea on my card...

I love this card! It is just pieces of ribbon sewn around into a heart... how clever!

Anne of Green Gables

Tomorrow night is book club - hosted by me! I'm a little nervous, but hopefully it will go well. I chose the book Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. My friend, Megan actually suggested the book to me. I had never read it before (or seen the movie!). Apparently it is quite a popular book for young girls... I guess I never was in the "in" crowd though!

Hosting book club basically means that I have to lead the discussion and serve treats afterwards. So I've been doing some research. And I discovered that Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908 - that's right! It's the 100th year! How lucky of me to choose this book at this time!

I thought it would be fun for the treats to see if I could find some recipes for some of the food talked about in the book. And can you believe it? There is an Anne of Green Gables Cookbook. It was written by home economist and food stylist, Kate McDonald. Kate is also L.M.M's granddaughter!
It has quite a few recipes in it, and is an adorable cookbook. It is meant for younger cooks, or maybe even very inexperienced cooks so everything is pretty basic. It has quotes from the Anne books which really helped me decide what to make!

See if you can guess which things I'm going to make from these quotes:

"You'll put down the old brown tea set. But you can open the little yellow crock of cherry preserves. It' time it was being used anyhow - I believe it's beginning to work. And you can cut some fruit-cake and have some of the cookies and snaps." ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, XVI

Of course, I'm making the Maritime Gingersnaps.
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"But it isn't good manners to tell your company what you are going to give them to eat, so I won't tell you what she said we could have to drink. Only that it begins with an r and a c and it's a bright red color. I love bright red drinks, don't you? They taste twice as good as any other color." ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, XVI

And, naturally this is Diana Barry's Favourite Raspberry Cordial (you'll be relieved to know that there will be no mix-ups with it!).
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"Everything went right until I saw Marilla coming with the plum pudding in one hand the the pitcher of pudding sauce, warmed up, in the other. Diana, that was a terrible moment. I remembered everything and I just stood up in my place and shrieked out, 'Marilla, you mustn't use that pudding sauce. There was a mouse drowned in it. I forgot to tell you before.' Oh, Diana, I shall never forget that awful moment if I live to be a hundred." ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, XVI

And what kind of book club would it be without Marilla's Plum Pudding with Caramel Pudding Sauce (without the mouse of course!)?
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Just reading these quotes gives me the giggles. I loved the book, and I am so excited for tomorrow!

Personalized Pottery

A few weekends ago I went to an Art Show with my mom. Most of it was the usual - stuff I would buy, but it's not in the budget; stuff I would buy, but I'm too cheap; and stuff I wouldn't buy for anyone on this planet, and of course, the usual unusual people.

At one of the booths, was some really unique pottery. My mom absolutely loves pottery, and has managed to collect quite a bit - so, of course, I'm always on the lookout for a gift for her. I also enjoy pottery, but have never really collected any.

The reason this pottery so unique was that it was personalized! The artists had several plates on display with different names and dates and occasions - births, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, retirements - it was very unique! These are just a few of the pieces...

If you are interested in looking at more, check out their website: Personalized Pottery