High Tech Book Swapping

I love receiving packages in the mail. Don't you?

This is one of the great perks of living in the US, like having Netflix, Amazon, and today I bring you...

Swaptree!

So what is Swaptree, you ask me? Basically, it's a trading service that allows members to trade books, music, DVDs, and video games. You sign up for a membership, list the stuff you have trade, and choose what you'd like to receive. Then the website does some algorithm wherein you can trade what you have to get what you like. Users get sent trade offers and it's up to them to accept the trade or not. You can also see what stuff you can get in exchange for the stuff you've already listed.

Image taken from Swaptree.com

You can either print shipping labels off your own computer (you need to input a credit card for this) or you can take your item to the post office and mail it from there. The only thing you pay for, is shipping your item! Most items cost about $2.50 to ship. I like to print out my own labels cause it saves me a trip to the post office. If you print your own label, you can just drop off your package at a blue USPS collection box.

Occasionally, I end up with a book that doesn't quite deserve permanent space on my bookshelf and that's when I list it on Swaptree. It's a good way to get a lot of slightly older, popular books, but you might have to wait a bit for newer titles. Either way, it's a fun way to trade books without having to spend much.

I just accepted a trade for my copy of I see you everywhere by Julia Glass in exchange for The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. 

Sarah Edwards, I hope you enjoy your "new" book! In the meantime, I'm looking forward to getting my new book too!

Of Book Love and Libraries

I devour books. Devour them, I tell you. Which also means I end up reading them way too fast because I'm so excited to finish reading them.

Take for instance, Rick Riordan's first book in the Kane Chronicles series, The Red Pyramid. I bought it for almost $20 (man that was expensive!) and was disciplined enough to save it for a 5 hour plane ride. I finished all 516 pages in two hours.

Michael Scott's long awaited fourth book in his Nicholas Flamel series, The Necromancer, also came out. And I bought it. For $15. And I read it in one sitting. All 401 pages of it.

 Notice they're both hardbound too.

Buying books, especially brand new books, adds up. And when I end up reading them way too fast, I end up feeling gypped. Cause I spend so much!!!

But alas, I would be poor if I bought all the new books I wanted from Barnes and Noble. Lucky for me, there are other ways of getting my hands on them.

Booklover's alternative to new books #1:

The Public Library

I know it sounds very retro, I haven't stepped foot in a library since college (where I only went there to study, and not borrow books.) But as a child, I would spend my afternoons there, always borrowing the maximum number of books every day which only amounted to the pitiful number of three.

So one day in the recent past, I decided to look up the nearest library and I headed over there.

Sure, there books aren't super recent, but there's a decent enough selection to keep me occupied. And take note, I can borrow a lot of books at a time, keep them for three weeks, and best of all, it's absolutely FREE. I found the last few books in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series that I'd been too cheap to buy for myself, as well as few other odds and ends. Sure some of the books I picked up weren't great, but hey, what did I lose? And during my library trips, I even read a few issues of my favorite magazine, Real Simple. 

Public libraries here in the US are such an untapped resource. Aside from borrowing books, you can also read magazines, borrow DVDs and even surf the internet. I've even found that you can log in to your county's website, search for titles you want, and have them placed on hold for you at your local library! And since all the county's libraries are linked, you've got access to all of them!

I wish we had public libraries like this in the Philippines. Yesterday, I brought home seven books from the library and I didn't spend a cent. I already went through two yesterday though. At least this time I didn't feel bad about reading so fast. More alternatives to buying new books in the next post.

Food Tripping

I realize this is fast becoming a food blog and I don't mind! I have a lot of free time on my hands and I really enjoy spending time in the kitchen now. It's becoming a new outlet for my creativity and I'm really enjoying it. (Yes, I admit, I used to only bake sporadically and rarely cook.) 

Here are some highlights of some really great meals we've had at home:

I was really craving something made with tomato and basil so Gerard (the professional chef) whipped this up in the kitchen. Garlic Bread (well, I made that), Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce and Meatballs, and my favorite Pizza Margarita! (Did we overload on the starch? A bit. But it was totally worth it!)

So I reciprocated the next day with this for breakfast:

Poached Egg on top of Garlic Bread (again!) and Applewood Smoked Bacon 

(I wanted to make a Hollandaise sauce to go with it but I haven't learned how to yet.
Maybe Gerard will teach me.)

And this was my piece de resistance for the week:

Chocolate Covered Potato Chips!!!

Royce Chocolate Potato Chips, eat your heart out! 

I'd been seeing recipes for chocolate potato chips a while now and I'd been wanting to make them for a while. I took the super easy route.

I melted different kinds of chocolate chips in a paper cup in the microwave (stirring  them after each 30 second interval until they were all melted) and used a plastic spoon to coat one side of the chips with the chocolate. Usually only takes me about a minute total in the microwave before the chocolate is ready. I used Ruffles Potato chips with less salt cause the ridges make the chocolate stick better.

Then I placed the chips on a foil covered pan and stuck the pan in the fridge to let the chocolate set, before moving the chips to a Ziploc bag.

My Chocolate Potato Chips were a hit! A few people gave me a skeptical look when I said they were chocolate covered potato chips but after biting into the perfect salty sweet combination, they were hooked! Hmmm I love chocolate. Don't you?

My next project: baking cupcakes for a nephews birthday party. And I've got a shiny new cupcake carrier to bring them in!

P.S. I've found the best time to eat Chocolate Potato Chips. While watching a movie!!!

Music and the Market

I think we're really lucky that we live within walking distance to the Concord Farmer's Market which is held Tuesdays throughout the year and Thursdays from April to October.

I usually like to go both times during the week. On Tuesdays mornings, it's a great excuse to get out, walk, and enjoy the sunshine. I love any excuse to be outdoors and the Farmer's Market at Todos Santos Square is full of people and awesome goodies. My favorites are the Ranier cherries, which are huge, yellow cherries that are super delicious. Too bad cherry season ended last week. Boo! But they got lots of other yummy fruits, peaches, nectarines, apples, blueberries, you name it. They also got an awesome array of vegetables, artichokes, beans, squash, anything and everything!

My first Tuesday out there, I actually saw a fresh oyster stand which hasn't been back since (to my husband's disappointment.) But I did come home with yummy Afghan squash bolani, garlic, cream cheese and mint dip, comb honey, and of course, cherries.

Gerard and I now have a standing Thursday afternoon/evening date wherein we take a picnic blanket and bottle of water and we walk to the square to have dinner there. There are so many food stands to choose from, we've decided we're going to try them all!

One time we had a an enormous Louisiana links sandwich and mini churros with chocolate sauce. Another time it was grilled rib-eye teriyaki with fried rice, a crabcake, and a grilled artichoke. There's lots more to choose from, like baked potatoes, more barbecue stuff, Indian food, oven baked pizza and there's even a Filipino stall that sells fresh lumpia, barbecue, and sago! (How awesome is that?) 

Aside from the food stalls, there are farmer's market goodies like plants and flowers, organic eggs, home made goodies, huge bags of kettle corn, and scented handmade soap too! 

Of course on the way home I like to make a quick stop at Half Price Books but I digress.

And on Thursdays, there are free concerts. I think the groups probably change weekly but we haven't stayed that long at the market to actually find out. 

I love that we have a weekly,  local, outdoors thing to do. We can sit on the grass, enjoy the sunshine, eat yummy food, and just relax. There's just something about the simplicity of it that keeps us in the moment that we thoroughly enjoy. Totally another reason why I like living in Concord.

Cupcake Crazy

My accomplishment for the week:

100 something cupcakes for my husband to bring to a work party.

I am now officially a housewife. (Until I can get a job.)

Ready for the oven

Fresh from the oven!

And my favorites, "S'Mores" cupcakes with graham cracker crumbs and toasted marshmallows.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!