Bookcrossing

Today I went to a BookCrossing meeting. I've always like to read, and when I found BookCrossing about two years ago I was happy to join!

The idea behind BookCrossing is that many people read books, only to put them on their shelf after reading, where they'll collect dust for the rest of eternity. Why not share them with others? In BookCrossing you can register books you own but no longer need, get a number (BCID, Book Crossing ID number), label the book with this number and some brief information on what BookCrossing is all about, and then leave the book somewhere for a random stranger to find. Hopefully, the finder will read the book and also go to the BookCrossing website and enter the number, letting the previous owner know he or she has found it. After reading, the finder passes it on again and some books have traveled all over the world this way!

Now I must add, I have a hard time letting go of my books. I've only released a few books of my own; I'm a frequent re-reader and I like to have a good collection on my bookshelf. But I still like the idea of sharing books so much I often get books especially for BookCrossing. Marktplaats (sort of like Craig's List) often has free books listed, I get many from thrift stores and one of the Dutch BookCrossers has made a deal with her local thrift store to pick up many of the unsold books, too. My room's full of books now, stacks are everywhere, but I'm reading books I don't think I would've even come across if it hadn't been for BookCrossing.

I'd like to invite any readers to join BookCrossing, and who knows, we may read each other's books some day! (Yes, this is a referral link, but it's not a commercial site, I just like to see who joined through my blog or website. But if you really hate referral links just use 'http://www.bookcrossing.com' :))

Insects, yummy!

I know, most people hate insects. Many people are even scared of them, or consider them gross. But did you know many insects are edible and not only that, are very tasty?
I first ate insects about two years ago. A couple of colleagues and friends of mine had gone to a survival course in Belgium, where they'd collected wild plants, mushrooms and insects to eat, and learned what to select. Then, at work, they prepared mealworm pancakes & dates stuffed with crickets for the rest of us. It took a few moments to get used to the idea, but it was actually quite tasty, tasted a bit like nuts.

Then, since I work at a history theme park and it's quite likely people in prehistory ate insects as part of their diet as well, I regularly got some mealworms in to allow people to taste them. It's quite fun to see people think about eating them, some grossed out by the idea, but many others fascinated and willing to give it a try.

In summer of 2005, I went to this same survival/nature food workshop, had a great time! You can find some more pictures at http://www.barefootwitch.com/eten2.html And yes, it was quite good.

And just a few days ago, one of my friends gave me a really cool book for my birthday, Creepy Crawly Quisine. It's full of delicious recipes with many kinds of insects I've never tasted yet! The only problem is that I don't know where to find most of them; I live in the Netherlands and most of these bugs don't live here... I get my mealworms and crickets from the pet shop but I have no idea where to purchase the rest. Ah well, I'll find a place!

Here's a bit more information about this book: http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/creepy/