My bedtime reading has changed considerably.

I used to fall asleep, my paperback book falling to the floor beside the bed, or ending up somewhere in the bedclothes with me. If my reading material happened to be a hardcover, it would usually bring me awake with a start as it fell on my face or chest as I dozed off.

Not so, now. Instead, it’s a thin, hard slab of plastic that smacks me on the chin when it falls out of my hands as I lapse into sleep. Yes, I got a Kindle for Christmas and am gradually adjusting to life without books, real books, I mean. Slide an almost invisible switch to turn the thing on/off; push a button to turn a page or go back a page, push another button to tell Kindle to send a sample of a book I might want to read; push a button to tell it to forget it, I didn’t like the sample, or yes, send me the book, please.

If I indicate to my Kindle that there is a particular book I’d like to buy, it’s there, on my Kindle, within minutes.

I find that amazing; how do they do that? How can an entire book magically enter my Kindle, which is approximately the size of an average paper back but only about a third of an inch or less thick? And how does it keep track of exactly where I was in the book when I fell asleep and it turned itself off (it goes dormant after a certain number of non-use minutes)? If

I wake up and switch it back to life, there’s the page I was reading, exactly as I left it. How does it do that?

Just a few days ago, I learned that I can actually check books out of the library onto my Kindle, thereby avoiding paying for a book I might wish later I hadn’t bought. The library book will stay in my Kindle for three weeks, after which time it will automatically disappear.

First, how does the library get it in there, and then how do they make it disappear on the due date? It simply baffles me. Are there millions of books being zapped through space from storage places all over the world into Kindles (or Nooks, or whatever device you’re using) everywhere?

I wasn’t sure I’d take to Kindle; I very much love books, of all sizes and shapes, and just the feel of them as I read pleases me. I still have on my shelves books I fell in love with as a child, and occasionally page through, remembering how they opened up entire other worlds to a small girl living in a logging town in the Pacific Northwest. I can’t get rid of them and would be deeply saddened if they should suddenly disappear.

Yes, my Kindle will store the books I’ve read until I tell it to get rid of them, but I can’t just pick up a particular book and leaf through it, turning to pages I’ve marked with passages I want to read again, and perhaps again and again.

I hadn’t had Kindle long, however, before I discovered its biggest advantage, from my point of view. It is the ultimate portable book. It’s so slim, I can slide it into a side of whatever purse I’m toting, and at any time during the day when there’s a hiatus in activity (such as a doctor/dentist waiting room, or a prolonged traffic tie-up, or someone late for our meeting), I can whip out Kindle, power it up and there’s my book, ready to help pass the time. Very convenient.

I wonder if there’s such a thing as a Kindle for recipes? It would be so handy just to type in what I want to prepare and have my Kindle pull up a recipe, instantly. As it is now, I can spend way too much time searching through far too many recipe books and files looking for a particular recipe I’m sure I have, but where. I read somewhere that there is a “recipe app” for smartphones or equivalent, but my phone isn’t that smart.

Sift flour with salt, 1 t. sugar and baking powder; cut or blend in butter. Add egg yolk and brandy (or milk), mixing to combine. Pat into a buttered 11×7 baking pan. Spread with jam. Beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in 1½ cups sugar, vanilla and melted butter. Add coconut. Spoon this mixture over the jam, spreading gently. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 min. Cool; cut into 1-inch squares. Store airtight or can be frozen. Makes 6 dozen.

Now let’s talk about those mid-January blahs.

When it’s gray, gloomy and chilly, what’s more comforting for an evening meal than a rich bowl of soup. If you have to buy the lump crabmeat, this bisque may seem a bit extravagant, but it will be well worth the expenditure. Rich, velvety and filling; it’s all you need to make a winter evening brighter.

CRAB CRIMINI BISQUE

1 lb. crimini mushrooms (baby portabellas)

6 T. butter

1 cup finely chopped onion (or use shallot if preferred)

1-2 garlic cloves, minced (don’t overpower the crab with garlic)

2 T. flour

2 cans (14 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth (or 3½ cups homemade broth)

¹/3 cup dry sherry

½ cup whipping cream

2 large egg yolks

1 t. fresh lemon juice

½ lb. fresh lump crabmeat (be sure to pick over for tiny shell bits)

3 T. finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Cut off mushroom stems and chop finely. Slice the mushroom caps; set aside.

Melt 3 T. of the butter in a heavy saucepan over med. heat. Add chopped mushroom stems, onion and garlic; sauté until mushrooms release their liquid and it evaporates, about 10 min. Add flour and stir 2 min. to make a roux. Whisk in the broth and sherry and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat to low, cover partially and simmer 25 min. Strain into a large saucepan, discarding the solids.

Melt remaining 3 T. butter in a large skillet over med.-high heat; add sliced mushroom caps and sauté until golden brown, about 10 min. Mix sliced mushroom caps into the soup.

Simmer the soup about 3 min. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream, egg yolks and lemon juice, to blend. Stir the crab then the cream mixture into the soup. Cook over low heat until the soup thickens slightly, stirring constantly (do not let it boil!). Season to taste, mix in parsley and serve. Serves 4. (This is delicious with cornbread.)

One of my stepdaughters loves all things sweet potato; this soup is one of them. It’s a grand vegetarian dish if you change the chicken broth to vegetable broth.

SWEET POTATO CARROT SOUP

1 T. olive oil

2 white sweet onions (such as Maui or Walla Walla), chopped

6 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

2 red-skinned sweet potatoes (often called yams), chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 leek (white and pale green part only), chopped

1 T. freshly grated fresh ginger (yes, it will make a difference if you substitute ground)

1 cup whipping cream

2 t. brandy

2 t. chopped fresh mint

1 t. grated lemon peel

½ t. grated lime peel

Pinch of chili powder

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over med.-high heat. Add onions and sauté until golden, about 10 min. Add broth, sweet potatoes, carrots, leek and ginger; simmer until potatoes are tender, about ½ hr. or so. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender until smooth. Return puree to Dutch oven; add whipping cream and heat through. Mix brandy, mint, lemon peel, lime peel and chili powder into soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper; serve.

But, a quick recipe on my Kindle? Just a thought, but I wonder if “they” could do that the same way they send me books. As I said, my curiosity bugs me every time I turn it on.

How do they do that?

RECIPES

Before we get to any other recipes, I need to repair a pre-Christmas recipe omission from the Dec. 21 column about cookies. A letter from a reader asked me please to check on the recipe for Raspberry Delights, because she made them and felt there was an ingredient missing. She was quite right, as I found to my dismay when I checked. She asked if I could re-print the recipe if it was incorrect, as she would like to have it. So, here is the corrected recipe, along with my apologies to her, and to anyone else who made these and felt they didn’t turn out as expected.

RASPBERRY DELIGHTS

1¼ cups sifted flour

1½ cups sugar plus 1 t. (see instructions)

1 t. baking powder

½ cup butter (the previously omitted ingredient)

2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk (see instructions)

2 T. brandy (or use milk)

¾ cup thick raspberry jam

2 t. vanilla

6 T. melted butter

2½ cups flaked coconut