mother's day brunch and books

We had a Mother's Day "love feast" at church on Sunday. I made a breakfast casserole, fruit salad with honey and mint, and served it with breakfast pastries, juice and coffee.

The breakfast casserole is a recipe from Paula Dean that turned out well. I don't know that I will make it exactly the same again as I found the flavors to be a little too competitive. The hash browns on the bottom were a little over the top but all in all, everyone really enjoyed it.

The fruit salad is a "go to recipe" for me and is from Tyler Florence when he was on How to Boil Water. I don't always use the same fruit but I add the honey, orange juice and mint always. I really like this fruit salad; the mint really brightens up the flavor and makes the fruit so happy.

Ok, about books. I have been getting some good summer reading suggestions and even some loans of books (which is super cool). I have been crazy lately wanting to read some really good fiction. Like GOOD fiction not fluffy stuff. I read Mists of Avalon and Pillars of the Earth recently and unfortunately, I was a little irritated with both each for their own reasons. Pillars of the Earth was definitely the better of the two. I keep trying to read Moo by Jane Smiley since people around the college where I work are all keen on Jane Smiley but I cannot seem to get into it. I find the narrative annoying and the satire very contrived and obvious. I don't want to be told who a character is but rather shown through his or her actions and interactions with other characters. Sorry Jane Smiley fans! Eh, maybe I will try something else.