Ssssssssss!

Today (July 16th 2026) is World Snake Day. And this is important because snakes are awesome.  Some of them are crazy scary, sure, but still awesome.  Just remember, 'red touch black, friend of Jack, red touch yellow, kill a fellow'.  Okay, so maybe that won't help you out i every snake situation.  But it is a good little tidbit to know.

Sister Snake by Amanda Lee 'Koe

Two snakes bond and form a friendship stronger than any blood ties.  They take on human form and try to live in the human world.  But they have very different ideas about what that should look like.  They are bound by love and a shared, secret past, but is that enough to overcome the worries and trials of their very different human lives?

I thought the concept of this book sounded very interesting.  And it started off well.  But as the book went along my interest faded some.  I liked the idea of having two sisters that love each other very much but at the same time they can not stand each other.  That felt very true to me.  I thought it was interesting that the two chose very different human lives.  But although the relationship between the two was very complicated, the characters themselves were not.  They felt rather flat and one dimensional to me.  The only character I was really interested in didn't get enough pages.  The middle of the book dragged a bit.  It is a shorter book and moves quickly for the most part.  I do not know the story this is based on so I have no comparison to make, but as a stand alone, I was not disappointed but not impressed either.  I just found it lackluster and will soon forget all about it.  I wouldn't recommend it.

Stay Out of the Water

Today (July 14th, 2026) is Shark Awareness Day!  So go out there and make sure everyone knows about sharks.  But in a good way.  Sharks are not evil, just hungry.  Unfortunately,  there are a lot of movies out there that project a different message.  And I have to admit that I like the watch shark attack movies, especially ones where the sharks attack because humans did something stupid first.  Like this one.

Toxic Shark starring Kabby Borders

A singles retreat is terrorized by a toxic shark.

This movie is ridiculous.  The acting, writing and plot are all not great.  You kind of know how this is going to go.   You have the self-centered guy who refuses to admit the danger because it will cost him money, the loud mouth complainer who never actually helps, the people there just to get eaten and the ones you know will figure it out and live.  And why would a shark want to spray toxins on people before they eat them, or why would the toxins turn people into zombies?  I don't know and I don't think the writer did either.  But I actually found this entertaining to watch.  It was exactly what I expected from the title.  It was not as good as some but better than some.  If you are watching it you probably know what you are in for and I don't think you will be disappointed.  It is a bunch of people running around in not a lot of clothes, screaming and getting eaten, with a new twist I never saw before.  If you like B shark movies, this is for you, if you don't why on Earth would you watch something called Toxic Shark?

Beans Are More Than The Musical Fruit

Today (July 3rd 2026) is National Eat Your Beans Day.  For this very special day there are many different beans to choose from.  And so many different recipes to use.  And they are good for you.  They are low in fat and free of cholesterol. They are high in fiber, protein, iron, potassium, and antioxidants and some other stuff.  And I think they taste good too.  Everybody should eat more beans.

This recipe has cannellini beans in it. This recipe can also be used for National Quinoa Day and National Cabbage Day.  Because there is so much good stuff in there. You might want to give it a try for all the vitamins and minerals, and the taste.

I had some cabbage in my fridge so I was glad when I came across this recipe for Baked Cabbage Sliders from 101 Cookbooks when I was looking for a recipe for what I was going to make for lunch.

I have been trying to make some meals that are not meat or carb heavy so I look for grain or quinoa

(which is not technically not a grain) based recipes.  Hopefully they taste good too.  And it is a bonus when I have some of the ingredients (like half a head of cabbage that will eventually rot) already.  And if it has a mix of ingredients that are good for you, all the better.

So, because I was making these to bring to work for lunch and would have to make them after work I cooked the quinoa the night before I made the patties.  It saved me some time when I was making the patties the next day.  

I halved the recipe because it was lunch for just my husband and me and I didn't want a bunch of leftovers around until I knew what they would taste like.  

Since I had the quinoa already cooked I just mixed it with the eggs, and the cottage cheese.  Then I had to mash the cannellini beans into paste.  The recipe says to use your hands, I thought I didn't need to do that so I tried to smash them with the back of a spoon.  But the beans slipped out from under the spoon and I eventually had to get in there with my hands.  

Then you add the cabbage (well chopped, I didn't know what that meant so I chopped it small) and the scallions, then the breadcrumbs.  Then you let it sit, to firm up.  

I did not use a 1/2 cup measure to make the patties.  I just divided the mix into 6 almost even parts.  (Since the recipe says the whole recipe will make 10 patties.) 

The recipe is actually called 'baked' cabbage sliders but it says you can fry them too.  That was my choice.   I fried them until they were browned on both sides and I was sure the egg was cooked.  They are a little  fragile at first.  But I think (because I didn't want to do two pans of patties) I crowded the pan and made them hard to flip.  

Based on the suggested toppings I made a sauce of avocado, Greek plain yogurt and sriracha.  I didn't use a recipe or measure anything.  I mashed two avocados, added the yogurt and sriracha until I liked the taste.  A little salt went in there too.  I thought about a touch of lemon juice but decided against it in the end.  But if you try you might want that for taste and to stop the browning of the avocado.  

I tried the patties right out of the pan and they were tasty and good.  They were also good the next day when we heated they up, not hot, but room temperature.  I think the sauce was a good fit. The recipe says you can add more cabbage and they will still stick together.  I might do that next time.  I might also make other changes.  But slight ones because I am worried about consistency of the patties.  

I liked these for lunch.  The three patties I had were very filling and perfect for lunch.  I will try these again.