The Sunday Salon: Manatees!

Hello, friends. After a chilly, grey week in southwest Florida, the sun is finally shining... and a little sunshine makes a BIG difference! We saw photos of snowy panhandle beaches, but thankfully none of the white stuff fell here in southwest Florida. Yesterday morning was our coldest at 44 degrees, but the windchill made it feel like 29. Brr!! My orchids have been inside most of the month.

There is one advantage to the cold weather though. It's a great time to visit Manatee Park in Fort Myers. Thanks to a warm water discharge into the park canal from the Florida Power and Light plant across the street, manatees congregate in the park when water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico dip below 68 degrees. We visited on Friday and saw hundreds of them! It was a beautiful sight, but very difficult to photograph. (Each one of the blobs in the photo above is a manatee.) It's especially fun to see their snouts or tails break the surface. Plus they make the cutest little snorting sounds! 

Recent reading//

I've Tried Being Nice: Essays

by Ann Leary, narrated by the author

I want to read more essay collections this year and, having enjoyed two of Leary's novels, this seemed like a great place to start. In this collection, Leary writes about various aspects of her life including marriage to actor Dennis Leary, raising kids, her writing career, being a "people pleaser," assorted hobbies, adventures of living in an old house, and her struggles with alcoholism. All were compelling, but I especially loved an essay about the dogs who have shared her life over the years. I appreciated Leary's openness and honesty throughout the collection. This was a read/listen combination for me. Essays or memoirs read by the author are always a treat, but I can recommend this book in either format.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Current reading//

How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

I'm almost done with this sequel to Count the Ways and enjoying it very much. I should finish later today... unless I get too caught up in the football games.

Up next//

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

This nonfiction classic about the First World War has been on my TBR list for years and will be a February buddy read with Tina. At nearly 700 pages, this chunkster could take a while...

In the kitchen//

I don't know about you but the chicken in my homemade stir-fry never tastes quite like the chicken in a good Chinese restaurant. Their chicken stays moist and the sauce seems to cling to each piece, but my chicken is often a little dry and the sauce runs right off of it. Last week I learned about a process call velveting... a Chinese cooking technique that involves marinating and pre-cooking chicken before adding it to another dish like the stir-fry.

I read about it in a NYTimes recipe, Butter-Soy Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry. For the velveting, chicken slices are coated with a combination of corn starch, baking soda, sugar, salt & pepper, and soy sauce, then tossed with vegetable oil and egg white. Marinade for 30 minutes to 2 hours, then boil for 90 seconds and drain in a colander. At that point, you continue with your stir-fry recipe. 

This particular recipe is behind a pay wall and nothing special - too much butter and too bland  - but I will continue to experiment with the technique. The chicken itself was really good. Have you heard of velveting?  I can't wait to try it again with a more flavorful stir-fry!

The week ahead//

Weatherwise, it looks like we're in for a good one - much more like the Florida winter weather I love! I have a couple of appointments, but am looking forward to a midweek book club author talk, walks on the beach, and our daughter and son-in-law 's upcoming visit.

How was your week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.