2017 Books and Cocktails Book Club

Join us in 2017 for Books and Cocktails, a book club that meets in Lancaster county and or York county every other month, the second Thursday of the month. Each book matches up with a cocktail.We meet at various restaurants to discuss the book of the month, have a cocktail, and enjoy an appetizer or dinner. And yes, you may join us even if you do not drink, feel free to order your drink virgin or have a tea, coffee or soda instead. We read books across a variety of genres such as classics, biographies, memoirs, romance, Amish, mystery, historical fiction and many others. Most of the books come from the book Cocktails for Book Lovers by Tessa Smith McGovern.

Cocktails for Book Lovers 

Examples of drinks from the book are Sweet Sherry Cocoa, Gin Rickey, Orange Champagne Punch, Salted Caramel Bourbon Milkshake, and various martinis. For our very first book club, we read Eva Luna by Isabel Allende.  For the cocktail, we had Madrina's Banana Rum Cocktail.  Eva Luna's godmother was a lover of rum. This is the recipe from the book which the restaurant made for us.

 Madrina's Banana Rum Cocktail

1/8 cup low-fat milk
1 tbsp. light rum
1 tbsp. white creme de cacao
1 tbsp. creme de banana (or other banana liqueur)
1/2 banana
wedge of pineapple
maraschino cherry

Place all ingredients except the fruit in a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with fruit. Serves 1.

We will also be having some additional events such as book festivals, day trips to bookshops, and author events.
Here are a few of the upcoming books we will be reading:

Murder is Binding

Wuthering Heights

Dan Gets a Minivan



 




We look forward to you joining us. Questions or comments, email Narnia9334@hotmail.com or to sign up go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/BooksandCocktails/ and request to join.

Anyone who may be visiting the PA Dutch country and would like to drop in the book club for a visit is more than welcome.  We like meeting new people!

Join Us in Reading Anna's Crossing

Join our book club In July we will be discussing Anna's Crossing by Suzanne Woods Fisher. We invite you to join us in Wrightsville Pennsylvania on July 14th for in-person meeting. Just go on Facebook and ask to join Books and Cocktails Or, if you can't make the face to face discussion join us in a discussion on Goodreads in the group Pennsylvania.

Here is Goodreads description of Anna's crossing:

 When Anna Konig first meets Bairn, the Scottish ship carpenter of the "Charming Nancy," their encounter is anything but pleasant. Anna is on the ship only to ensure the safe arrival of her loved ones to the New World. Hardened by years of living at sea, Bairn resents toting these naive farmers--dubbed "Peculiars" by deckhands--across the ocean. As delays, storms, illness, and diminishing provisions afflict crew and passengers alike, Bairn finds himself drawn to Anna's serene nature. For her part, Anna can't seem to stay below deck and far away from the aloof ship's carpenter, despite warnings.
When an act of sacrifice leaves Anna in a perilous situation, Bairn discovers he may not have left his faith as firmly in the past as he thought. But has the revelation come too late?
Amish fiction favorite Suzanne Woods Fisher brings her fans back to the beginning of Amish life in America with this fascinating glimpse into the first ocean crossing as seen through the eyes of a devout young woman and an irreverent man. Blending the worlds of Amish and historical fiction, Fisher is sure to delight her longtime fans even as she attracts new ones with her superb and always surprise-filled writing.

What others are saying about Anna's Crossing

Publisher’s Weekly said, “This book is a winner.”

Romantic Times gave it four stars.

Booklist said, "Fisher takes readers on an incredible journey in the first of her new Amish Beginnings series. Tracking a 1737 voyage of early Amish immigrants, this inspirational novel is rich in nautical and religious history and authentic detail… Those who summon the courage to read about the raw immigrant experience on this treacherous crossing will find a deeply satisfying story of conviction and hope." And USA Today is going to feature it in their ‘Happy Ever After’ section.

Pick up your copy of Anna's Crossing today!

PA Dutch Country Bald Eagle Buried in the Snow

Folks often ask me what the weather is like here in Pa Dutch Country. Well, we just had a nice little storm the other day. I got about a little over nine inches of snow. Not far from my house is beautiful Codorus State park. And in that park lies a symbol of Freedom protecting her unborn babies. No matter what the weather is this mother and father team of eagles guard and protect their unborn eaglets. You can barely see the eagle peeking out of the snow as she lays on her eggs.

Join me as I watch in awe these beautiful creatures symbolic of our country's freedom as they shelter the eggs of these soon to be beautiful eaglets.

Fastnacht Day!

Fastnachts are basically a doughnut, typically made with potatoes. Fastnachts can be squares, triangles, rectangles, and even round. Fastnacts do very from county to county in PA. The typical fastnachts are plain, and then you cut them in half like you would a bagel. You can put on Table Syrup such as Golden Barrel Table Syrup. Today's modern fastnachts may have have glaze or could have granulated or powdered sugar on them.

Fastnacht Day is Shrove Tuesday the night before Ash Wednesday (the first day of lent). Fastnacht literally means " fast night". So what people would do is use up all the lard and fattening things before Lent when it would be given up.

Where to find Fastnachts:

York - Brown's Orchard , 8892 Susquehanna Trail South, Loganville, PA 17342 (717) 428-2036

Maple Donuts - 3455 East Market St. York, PA 17402 (717) 757-7826

Lancaster - Martin's Country Market 1717 W Main St Ephrata, Pennsylvania (717) 738-3754

Oregon Dairy Supermarket 2900 Oregon Pike, Lititz, PA 17543 Phone: (717) 656-2856

Lehigh Valley - http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/dining/mc-fastnachts-lehigh-valley- 20150210-story.html

Dauphin County - Pennsylvania Bakery, 1713 Market St., Camp Hill: 717-763-7755


Recipe:

Fastnachts with potatoes and yeast

2 1/2 c. hot mashed potatoes 1 cup milk 3 beaten eggs 2 Tablespoons melted butter 2 cup sugar 2 Tablespoons Baking powder 5 cup all purpose flour

In a large bowl combine all ingredients, but add flour slowly. Divide dough in half and roll to 1/2" thickness. Cut with doughnut cutter. Fry in deep fat or oil, turning when brown. Drain on paper towels and let cool.

Fasnacht Dates:

February 17, 2015 February 9, 2016 February 28, 2017 February 13, 2018 March 5, 2019 February 25, 2020 February 16, 2021 March 1, 2022 February 21, 2023

Books and Cocktails

Join us for a new Book Club that will meet in Wrightsville, PA Once a month on Thursdays for Cocktails and book discussion at a restaurant. Each book is assigned a cocktail that is either a favorite of the character in the book, the authors themselves or is of the era. Examples of drinks are Orange Champagne Punch, Salted Caramel, Bourbon milkshake, and Gin Rickeys. We will be reading the 50 Books listed in Cocktails for Book Lovers. It has such authors as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Alice Munro, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jamaica Kincaid. The genres cover a wide range such as classics, romance, autobiographies, as well as others. You do not have to own or have read Cocktails for Book Loversin order to participate. But, it is a great book that I highly recommend. If you have already read the selection for the month you are still free to come and join in on the discussion. For those who don't drink you can always order your drink Virgin or have a tea or soda instead.

We will also be planning some additional events that will take place on the weekends. Examples are book festivals, day trips to bookshops, and author speaking engagements.

People who may be out of state and are coming to to visit Pennsylvania Dutch Country are always welcome to come and join in at any of the meetings during their time here. Just send an email to PaDutchTravel@gmail and we can get you the name of that month's book. Here are a few of the titles we will be reading.

Eva Luna: A Novel

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading

David Copperfield

At the end of each meeting we will also swap books for anyone interested. This is also a great opportunity for people involved in BookCrossing. If you don't know what BookCrossing is you can see the books I've shared here. http://bookcrossing.com/referral/PaDutchTravel

We look forward to you joining us. Questions, comments , email Narnia9334@hotmail.com or to sign up go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/BooksandCocktails/ and request to join.

A Day in York City Pennsylvania

Thursday I went in to York city for a bite to eat and what a fantastic day I had. First I stopped off at J.r.s Fresh Cut French Fries in Central Market House for a shrimp combo. The shrimp combo includes fries and a drink all for 7.50! The shrimp was good, and of course the fries were good as always. If you have never tried J.R.s you really should. It's a very inexpensive and tasty meal. Not to mention the people are very friendly.

Then I strolled on over to see Sarah at Nuts About Granola. She is also located in the market. I got the greatest Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola, it's called Lover's Combo. If you haven't tried the granola, it is highly recommended. Sarah's granola is so good her granola was actually featured on Rachel Ray. That's right Rachel Ray, I guess that puts Sarah like in Celebrity status. I will be visiting Sarah quite frequently I think, because now I am officially hooked on her granola.

Then I headed over to the  York book emporium to meet with Jim Lewin and find out about his bookstore. We sat and had coffee and talked about the store and it's history and the types of things the emporium carries. Jim keeps free coffee available for the customers, which I think is a nice added touch. Then Jim gave me a grand tour. After I talked to Jim I set off on my own in the bookstore.  It's the first time I was ever in there. It was huge, I thought I was going to have to stick up a flag for him to come find me. If your like me and you love books, then you will love this bookstore. This is not your typical used bookstore, nor any bookstore for that matter.The York book emporium offers everything from antiques to old military items, collectibles, music, you name its there. I was in there singing and dancing to the music that was playing. No not in my head I mean literally.  Who knew you could have so much fun in a bookstore. Oh and did I mention it is very affordable? Yes again Jim put's the big internet gurus to shame.  This is my new favorite bookstore!

Animal Rescue Inc.

Animal Rescue is a no kill shelter located in  New Freedom, Pennsylvania (York County) .  This is a great place to adopt a cat or dog.  There are many many wonderful animals to choose from.  I personally know this from experience because when I am not busy with my travel business then I work there a few hours a week.  The owners are wonderful they really go over and beyond for all the animals.  All the animals there are very loved. The picture above is me sitting in my co-workers building with her cats. No makeup, hair not done, watch out!

The cats and dogs are so lovable.  Below is a picture of Tasha.  She hangs out with me in the laundry room.

Come visit yourself.  You can reach the shelter at 717 993-3232.  To see more adoptable pets go to 
http://animalrescueinc.org/