White Deer, White Snow, Book Covers.

A friend posted this picture on Facebook on Saturday, she saw the animal in the woods out back of where she lives.. I was absolutely fascinated. It is a deer and running with ‘normal deer’, we none of us know what it is. One suggestion was that it could be a Seneca deer which are rare, but they are completely white, not black and white. It was also suggested it might be albino, but that means at least one eye should be pink apparently.

When I first saw the picture I thought it was a sheep or something. Fascinating picture. Anyone know what it is or even if it is anything special? I have pictures of white lions who are definitely not albino.

Over the weekend I have been getting pictures from friends on the coast of NC showing all the snow they have had. For that area it is very unusual. They have had several fairly heavy falls of snow. One friend’s house backs on to a golf course and her pictures show the course absolutely covered – looks very pretty, but usually you can play golf there at this time of the year although you might have to wait a bit to let the frost disappear from the greens.

I am reading the second book by Mary Doria Russell called Children of God. Another excellent story. But what gets me is the cover. I understand from what my author friends write, they don’t get any input on the covers of their books and in my opinion the artists never read the books anyway and mostly have no conception of what the book is about. If you really look at this cover, you can see some circles with stars which could indicate space, but at the bottom it has no relation to the story which is predominantly about Jesuit priests and space aliens. I have no idea what that picture is supposed to represent. I wouldn’t have chosen this book, or the earlier one, The Sparrow, by looking at the covers. One of the best covers I ever saw was the Australian cover for Glenda Larke’s Stormlord Rising, it actually depicts a scene from the book which is interesting to look at (you won't see the cover I am talking about at this link though. However, I understand books only sell with certain types of cover – sounds nonsense to me, but I am no expert. It is a fact, and I have complained before, that certain publishers use a figure in a cloak for the majority of their spec. fic. books. Usually a cloak blowing in the wind. Except that I know the author writes good books, I wouldn’t pick up a lot of them.

Got an email with some cartoons in it this weekend. There were a whole bunch of them, but this one I thought was very funny. Matt didn’t, but I hope you will get a laugh out of it. Seemed such a good idea to me.

Another recipe from Eating Well which is designed to be good for your skin. I know sweet potatoes in particular are rich in all kinds of healthy nutrients and reputedly very good for people with diabetes. Unfortunately, Matt doesn’t like sweet potato although I might try him on this recipe anyway.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

From EatingWell: January/February 2011

Make a double batch of this quick vegetarian chili, full of black beans and sweet potatoes, and eat it for lunch the next day or freeze the extras for another night. We love the smoky heat from the ground chipotle, but omit it if you prefer a mild chili. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread and coleslaw.

4 servings, Ingredients

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

4 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile (see Note)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups water

2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoons lime juice

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the sweet potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

Nutrition

Per serving : 307 Calories; 8 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 5 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 51 g Carbohydrates; 12 g Protein; 14 g Fiber; 494 mg Sodium; 947 mg Potassium

2 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 3 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 lean meat

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Note: Chipotle peppers are dried, smoked jalapeño peppers. Ground chipotle chile pepper can be found in the spice section of most supermarkets or online at penzeys.com.

Have a great day