October 2013 Host: Colleen
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Summary
This is the
story of Louis Zamperini, who became one of the youngest members of the U.S.
Olympics track team in 1936. He was
later drafted into the Army Air Force and became a bombardier assigned to the
often unreliable and awkward B-24 (the B-24 killed an astonishing number of its
own crew). After surviving a number of
bombing missions against Japanese targets, his plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean
while searching for another downed plane.
He spent the next 47 days in a disintegrating raft circled by relentless
sharks, was scorched by the sun, and endured endless hunger, only to be rescued
by Japanese soldiers. Zamperini became a
POW for two years and was ruthlessly beaten by one of the guards, Mutsuhiro
Watanabe, a.k.a. “The Bird”. It is
stressing for the reader to read about the horrible conditions Zamperini
endured, (e.g. the near daily beatings and sadistic torture, the almost
nonexistent food) however he did survive and remains unbroken even today at the
age of 93. This is one of the very best
books we have ever read and we look forward to the movie release sometime next
year.
Menu
Fruit Salad
Spiced Pumpkin Waffles
(food.com)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 2/3 cups milk
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
Directions
Mix
together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt
in large bowl.
In
a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well.
Gently
fold in the flour mixture.
Cook
according to your waffle iron directions.
I
do these in my belgian waffle iron and it uses about 1 cup batter and takes 4-5
minutes to bake.
They
come out a nice deep, golden brown.
These
are great with a little bit of syrup, but would also be great with honey
butter.
Bacon
Breakfast Casserole
(crockingirls.com)
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Breakfast Sausage
- 8 Ounces Diced ham
- 1/2 Cup Fresh chopped
mushrooms
- 1 Cup Chopped onions
- 1 Can Rotel
- 18 Eggs
- 1 Cup Cheese
- 1 (32oz) Package Hash browns
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh baby spinach (a couple
of handfuls)
Directions
Lightly brown breakfast sausage,
Layer half of the hash browns in the bottom of slow
cooker, followed by 1/2 of sausage and 1/2 of ham. The next layer will be all
of the baby spinach, the mushrooms, and onions.
Repeat the first 3 layers (hash
browns/sausage/ham), and then top with a can of Rotel tomatoes with mild green
chilis.
Whisk the 18 eggs in a bowl, then pour over top.
Sprinkle cheese over top of casserole and cook on
low for about 6 hours
