• Book Reviews,  Seasons

    The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family by Laura Schenone | Book Review

    The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken book cover

    The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family by Laura Schenone Genres: Food, Memoir, Non-Fiction Original Publication Date: 2007 Source: I purchased this book Goodreads Find the Author: Goodreads, Amazon Laura Schenone undertakes a quest to retrieve her great-grandmother’s ravioli recipe, reuniting with relatives as she goes. In lyrical prose and delicious recipes, Schenone takes the reader on an unforgettable journey from the grit of New Jersey’s industrial wastelands and the fast-paced disposable culture of its suburbs to the dramatically beautiful coast of Liguria―the family’s homeland―with its pesto, smoked chestnuts, torte, and, most beloved of all, ravioli, the food of celebration and happiness. The Lost Ravioli…

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    Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History by Helene Stapinski | Book Review

    five finger discount book cover

    Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History by Helene Stapinski Genres: Crime, Memoir, Non-Fiction Original Publication Date: 2001 Source: I purchased this book Goodreads Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon With deadpan humor and obvious affection, Five-Finger Discount recounts the story of an unforgettable New Jersey family of swindlers, bookies, embezzlers, and mobster-wannabes. In the memoir, Mary Karr calls “a page-turner,” Helene Stapinski ingeniously weaves the checkered history of her hometown of Jersey City—a place known for its political corruption and industrial blight—with the tales that have swirled around her relatives for decades. Navigating a childhood of toxic waste and tough love, Stapinski tells an extraordinary tale at once heartbreaking…

  • Book Reviews

    Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (1948) | Book Review

    Cheaper by the Dozen book cover

    Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr., Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Genres: Memoir Original Publication Date: 1948 Source: I purchased this book Goodreads Cheaper by the dozen? What do you get when you put twelve lively kids together with a father—a famous efficiency expert—who believes families can run like factories, and a mother who is his partner in everything except discipline? You get a hilarious tale of growing up that has made generations of kids and adults alike laugh along with the Gilbreths in Cheaper by the Dozen. Cheaper by the Dozen Translated into more than fifty-three languages and made into numerous films over the years — including a…

  • Seasons

    Verona Park | Verona, New Jersey

    Verona Park

    Verona Park In New Jersey The park is 54.32 acres with a 13-acre lake. It was designed by the Olmsted Brothers, who also designed the magnificent Central Park in New York, and Branch Brook Park in New Jersey (see my April 29th post). The park has paddle boats (including swans!), a boathouse, a lake stocked with trout, bocce courts, tennis courts, a gazebo, playgrounds, softball fields, and many other attractions. You can read about the park HERE and HERE. Please check out Leap Day 2020! Thank you for reading The Literary Lioness!

  • Seasons

    Cherry Blossoms in Branch Brook Park!

    cherry blossom tree

    The Cherry Blossoms Are Back In Bloom Branch Brook Park is a beautiful 360-acre county park that is located in both Newark and Belleville, New Jersey. Branch Brook Park has the LARGEST collection of cherry trees in the United States. That’s right, larger than Washington, DC.!  There are over 5000 trees in the park. The park was designed by the Olmsted brothers, as was New York’s Central Park. Check out Verona Park! If you love nature, please check out my post on Environmental Mindfulness! Thank you for reading The Literary Lioness!