Maame - It 'Ain't Over Yet

Well, it's the end of the line, and I'm just getting my post out for our latest Cook the Books Club selection. We've been reading Maame, by Jessica George, these past two months; hosted by Debra of (Eliot's Eats).

 Truthfully, I was getting so depressed by and outraged at the central character, Maddie, for her attitude of victimization and not standing up for herself, that I just put the book aside and went on to life and other reads.  Then, when time was growing short for some sort of review, decided to do one of those sneak peeks to the ending.  Okay, looking much better, and worked my way backwards.  Things do improve, in life and sometimes even in books.  She does eventually take control of herself and her life, basically after her dad dies and frees her up in a sense to move on; after being his care giver, and mainstay of the whole family for so many years.  I won't give the ending totally away for those who haven't yet read the book, but if you can press on, it's a good lesson in giving people a chance and understanding what may have caused their dysfunctions.

From the Publishers:

"Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.

It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.

So when her mum returns from her latest trip, Maddie seizes the chance to move out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts”: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils―and rewards―of putting her heart on the line."

Just to explain, what we do at Cook the Books is to prepare something inspired by our reading of the current selection.  For inspiration, I chose to find a dish from Maddie's home country of Ghana.  In Marcus Samuelsson's cookbook on Africa, The Soul of a New Cuisine, he says "Cooking food in banana leaves is a tradition in West Africa."  He includes a recipe for Snapper wrapped in Banana Leaves, which I used, with some adaptations, based on my location in Hawaii.  The fish became Ahi Poke, which is chunks of ahi tuna in some seasonings, to which I included some salted, preserved lemon; which all went into the banana leaf parcels.  Here is Marcus' recipe:

As you will notice, the mainstay of this dish is a rich risotto type preparation, made with rice, coconut milk, stock and various vegetables.  This is all served along with the fish wraps.  The recipe also calls for morning glory or spinach, however I used sweet potato greens from our garden, another popular African  green.

An absolutely delicious concoction altogether!  And certainly a taste of another cuisine.  This will be posted with Cook the Books and linked also to Foodies Read, hosted by Heather and Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marge, the Intrepid Reader and Baker, also sharing this post at Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz.   Stay tuned for the coming soon Round-Up of everyone's posts, which should be enticing and interesting!  

Coming to My Senses

Our latest Cook the Books Club selection is Coming to My Senses, by Alice Waters, which I am hosting this round.

And, I kept hoping that she would!  In the end.  As far as her personal life went at least. Rather radical politics and morals, (what she termed "serial monogamy") though an accurate glimpse into that particular time and place.

 For the restaurant concept, as Alice remarks in her Afterword, "I knew very well that I was running a counterculture restaurant, and that Chez Panisse would never have happened without that movement.  I couldn't have done it in the real world; the idea of having only one menu was preposterous by mainstream standards, and I never could have borrowed money from the banks.  But everybody in the counterculture felt that if you did something really well, however unorthodox, if you stayed true to human principles, you could succeed.... Our place didn't look like other places.  We bought used furniture and put mismatched vintage glassware on the table.  We hired women as cooks and waitstaff in a fine-dining establishment, which was practically unheard of at the time.  The women and men we hired didn't have long cooking resumes but were smart and talented and believed in the vision."

From the Publishers: 

"The long-awaited memoir from cultural icon and culinary standard bearer Alice Waters recalls the circuitous road and tumultuous times leading to the opening of what is arguably America's most influential restaurant.

When Alice Waters opened the doors of her "little French restaurant" in Berkeley, California, in 1971 at the age of 27, no one ever anticipated the indelible mark it would leave on the culinary landscape - Alice least of all. Fueled in equal parts by naiveté and a relentless pursuit of beauty and pure flavor, she turned her passion project into an iconic institution that redefined American cuisine for generations of chefs and food lovers."

I had a few laugh out loud moments, for instance when, a decade after the restaurant had been opened she "filmed an episode with Julia Child for one of her shows ... I was pitting olives with my fingers, and she said in that fluting voice of hers, "Oh! Is that how you pit an olive, Alice?  How fascinating"  And the recollections of how she picked her staff and collaborators, "I looked for another person who could cook - I was way too afraid to shoulder all of the cooking myself.... and Tom, ever the great connector, said "Oh I'll find somebody for you ... and he found Paul Aratow, an aspiring filmmaker who was the cameraman for Agnes Varda's documentary on the Black Panthers.  Paul was a really good Italian cook, and he did help me.  I believed in his instincts."

There was just so much food inspiration, but I was especially taken with her love of salads, Alice even went so far as bringing one as her special dish to New York for a big fete featuring the "twenty-five best restaurants in the country.  (We were number seven!)." P.103.  She brought a composed salad, on a special plate donated by James Beard.

As I do love salads,  that was my inspiration and featured dish for this post!  Some of its story involves a long diatribe on the subject of Sacha Inchi, a plant I'm growing, also known as the Peruvian Peanut, just check out the above link. However, I just can't resist -  this nut is actually a complete protein!  You notice the small brown object on my fork in the picture?  That's one, and I did post about it earlier, but by now I have processed it and actually use the nuts in meals.  As it's one of those tropical plants and probably not of general interest, still I find it fascinating!  Just look at the shape of it!

You harvest them when they turn brown, then dry, roast and crack them open, a whole process to get at the nut inside.  Similar in some ways to the process of chocolate or coffee. But worth it in the end.  They are good, and a nice replacement for where you might use peanuts.

Anyway, back to the salad.  Not a totally "composed" recipe, but more as I tend to do, throw things together!  With an oil and vinegar dressing, also thrown together, I usually add some shoyu, sesame oil and a bit of Balsamic vinegar.  Hoping it all works out well.  This one did!

As far as I recall, it had shredded cabbage, slices of small sweet pepper, cherry tomatoes, ramen noodles, shredded carrot, some fresh greens, basil and of course, the toasted Sacha Inchi nuts.  

The deadline for posting your contributions is September 30th.  Be sure to add your link in the comments at Cook the Books Club.  I'll be including this post at Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marge, the Intrepid Reader and Baker. and the Sept. Foodies Read, hosted by Heather.

Onward and Upward All!

 A delightful week, altogether!  

Here we are, at Sunday Salon again, and in the universe!  Yes!  I too choose love!!  We are celebrating!  With Champagne even, or at least Prosecco.  This is some art my husband Bob posted recently (Sean is his younger brother) and I was reminded of it by Deb at Readerbuzz, the stalwart hostess of Sunday Salon, as last week she posted this cover of Bob's Saucer Repair, which is now on my reading list for Sci-Fi month.

Sometimes Eating Helps - For Crying in H Mart

She certainly did quite a bit of both.  Crying and eating in this memoir, which is our Cook the Books Club pick for October/November.  Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner, and hosted by Simona of Briciole, with lots of interesting, some deliciously so, Korean food.  I struggled at times getting through the story of her upbringing.  Some parents can be so overbearing even in their love, wanting to direct every aspect of their children's lives.  Of course, in my case, there were 7 of us, and a different nationality, so not too comparable to an only child in a Korean American home.

From the Publishers:  "#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American—“in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself” (NPR). • CELEBRATING OVER ONE YEAR ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST

In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother's tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.

As she grew up, moving to the East Coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, and performing gigs with her fledgling band--and meeting the man who would become her husband--her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live. It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her..."

Another Wild Week? Maybe Not.

 A Week in Review

 Hello everyone at Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb Nance at Readerbuzz, Heather at the October Foodies Read, and Marge, hostess at Weekend Cooking, along with anyone else out there.

First off, it's time for bacon!  Yes, we've got a pork belly curing.  Today is Day 1 of a 10 day cure.   Sorry all you vegans and vegetarians!  But, I do love my bacon.  No pictures though.  Who wants to see a slab of pork belly?  Instead, maybe a recipe or two later. 

Favorite Beverage of the Year! 

The Zookeeper's Wife and That's Not All!

 What an amazing book!  And, yes a true story, based on diaries and historical sources, The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman.  It's an unusual combination of horrendous war crimes, and humor with all the fascinating human and animal characters.  I was absolutely mesmerized, saddened and amused alternately.  

From the Publishers:

"A true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.

Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Polish Christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who managed to save over three hundred people. Yet their story has fallen between the seams of history. Drawing on Antonina’s diary and other historical sources, best-selling naturalist Diane Ackerman vividly re-creates Antonina’s life as “the zookeeper’s wife,” responsible for her own family, the zoo animals, and their “Guests”―Resistance activists and refugee Jews, many of whom Jan had smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto. Ironically, the empty zoo cages helped to hide scores of doomed people, who were code-named after the animals whose names they occupied. Others hid in the nooks and crannies of the house itself.

Jan led a cell of saboteurs, and the Zabinskis’ young son risked his life carrying food to the Guests, while also tending an eccentric array of creatures in the house. With hidden people having animal names, and pet animals having human names, it’s small wonder the zoo’s codename became “The House Under a Crazy Star.”

Yet there is more to this story than a colorful cast. With her exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman explores the role of nature in both kindness and savagery, and she unravels the fascinating and disturbing obsession at the core of Nazism: both a worship of nature and its violation, as humans sought to control the genome of the entire planet."

The Secret Life of Bees and Some Cake Too!

 

We at Cook the Books Club are currently reading The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, hosted this round by Debra of Eliot's Eats.  This is a novel I had totally missed out on, though it's been around for over 20 years now. Quite an original and fascinating tale. I especially loved the account of 14 year old Lily springing her nanny from the hospital lockdown, after she was beaten up for daring to attempt voting!  

Getting Into Jang! By Kang - A Whole New Cuisine

 

I just discovered, Jang, The Soul of Korean Cooking, by Mingoo Kang.  Well, it's a new trip for me anyway.  The Jang journey!  And a truly fascinating one.  How they're made, and how to apply to my usual (or should I say unusual) cooking.  I said discovered, but to give proper credit it was due to the Eater post: The 17 Best Cookbooks of Spring 2024, which I've totally enjoyed, checking out many of them from the library and sampling recipes!  In between finding out which type of galangal I'm growing and how to use our Blue Turmeric.  For the ever blooming road of growing and researching plants and their uses is never ending. Anyway, this book is now due at the library, and I need to decide whether to buy it Yikes!  There are so many more recipes I want to try.

The Publishers say:

"Like butter in French cooking or olive oil in Italian, jangs are the soul of Korean cuisine. These soy-based umami sauces—gochujang, doenjang, ganjang—are found in every meal, from soups and stews, to salads, marinades, and even desserts, adding depth and complexity to every dish.

Few chefs understand these ingredients better than Michelin star winner Mingoo Kang, who has dedicated his Seoul restaurant, Mingles, to the exploration of jangs. In his first cookbook, Kang expertly weaves jangs’ history and methods into 60 accessible recipes to bring the sauces to life. Through artisan profiles, sidebars, and step-by-step photographs, Kang uncovers one of the culinary world’s best-hidden secrets... while showing how they can be used to make both Korean and Western dishes more delicious."  

A Balti Curry for Major Pettigrew

I just finished this delightful novel set in a parochial English village, where everyone knows everyone else's business, and with many of the long held prejudices still in place.  Confrontations are in order.  And here, they happen with some surprise consequences!  I loved this book, and wanted to share the good news!  Here's the Publisher's Weekly review:

"In her charming debut novel, Simonson tells the tale of Maj. Ernest Pettigrew, an honor-bound Englishman and widower, and the very embodiment of duty and pride. As the novel opens, the major is mourning the loss of his younger brother, Bertie, and attempting to get his hands on Bertie's antique Churchill shotgun-part of a set that the boys' father split between them, but which Bertie's widow doesn't want to hand over. While the major is eager to reunite the pair for tradition's sake, his son, Roger, has plans to sell the heirloom set to a collector for a tidy sum. As he frets over the guns, the major's friendship with Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani widow of the local food shop owner, takes a turn unexpected by the major (but not by readers). The author's dense, descriptive prose wraps around the reader like a comforting cloak, eventually taking on true page-turner urgency as Simonson nudges the major and Jasmina further along and dangles possibilities about the fate of the major's beloved firearms. This is a vastly enjoyable traipse through the English countryside and the long-held traditions of the British aristocracy."

Frosted Maple Bars for Family Tree

 

Our Cook the Books group have been reading and posting about  our current June/July selection, Family Tree by Susan Wiggs, which event I'm also hosting.  I read the book several years ago, and just re-read it for this round.  Delightful both times.  The heroine, Annie Rush, goes through so much loss in her story!  Totally unique and devastating experiences, that would wipe out most of us!  

But, going through them, along with her gave me an insider's glimpse of something I had never thought about, of what it would be like waking from a year long coma, learning again who you are and what had happened.  An entire life lost! The whole recovery process, rehabilitation, then putting the past behind and beginning again!  Not your ordinary cliche story.  Also learning about the whole maple syrup business, how it's done, etc. was a fascinating discovery.  Susan Wiggs keeps it real!

From the Publishers:

"Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Los Angeles home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child. But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a yearlong coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she’s lost.

Cooking with Julia in Mastering the Art of French Murder

Our latest Cook the Books Club pick is the clever and very entertaining novel by Colleen Cambridge, Mastering the Art of French Murder. I loved this truly enjoyable read, both from the mystery perspective as well as the enticing food and wine discussions.  From the Washington Post:

"Set in midcentury Paris and starring Julia Child’s fictional best friend, this magnifique reimagining of the iconic chef’s years at Le Cordon Bleu blends a delicious murder mystery with a unique culinary twist.

“It’s Child’s ebullient personality that is the heart of the book. Part historical fiction, part mystery, Mastering the Art of French Murder is totally delectable entertainment for fans of lighthearted detective fiction.” – The Washington Post

And from the Publishers' report: 

"From fine Bordeaux and freshly baked baguettes to the friendly chatter of the green market, postwar Paris is indulging its appetite for food, and life, once more, as Tabitha Knight, a young American woman, makes friends with chef-in-training Julia Child—and finds herself immersed in a murder most unsavory . . 

Between tutoring Americans in French, and sampling the results of Julia's studies at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, Tabitha's sojourn is thoroughly delightful. That is, until the cold December day they return to Julia's building and learn that a body has been found in the cellar. Tabitha recognizes the victim from a party given by Julia's sister, Dort, the night before. The murder weapon is recognizable too—a knife from Julia's kitchen."  Of course, she must help to find the killer and protect her new friend.

The Portuguese Escape and Bacalhau, Etc.

The Portuguese Escape by Ann Bridge, an author I have only recently discovered, then also saddened to hear she is no longer with us, in one sense anyway, but luckily her books live on!  This is the third novel of Bridge's I've read, and the second of her Julia Probyn mysteries.  What a wonderful, witty, and intelligent writer, always a delight to discover such an author!  Very highly recommended.  

From the Publishers:  "Julia Probyn, journalist and amateur sleuth, must acquaint herself with the world of counterespionage. Hetta, a young Hungarian Countess, just released from behind the Iron Curtain, is drawn into a communist plot. Together the two young women will need all of their strength to unravel the schemes and machinations closing in from all sides.

With Ann Bridge's talent for evoking place and mixing mystery with humor, The Portuguese Escape, book two in The Julia Probyn Mysteries, is full of danger and adventure amidst Communist intrigue." To put it mildly! And with romance touchingly thrown into the mix.

Home Cooking and The Great Ulu Project

When you have uku (Hawaiian for plenty) ulu (breadfruit) then you make flour!   That way the useful season gets extended further into the year.  Currently researching the best recipes for it.  No gluten, so you have to move on from there. I don't normally do gluten free cooking.  So, I've found one solution is to incorporate some Semolina flour!  My banana-chocolate brownies came out well.  With a mix of AP flour and ulu flour half-half.  The focaccia not so well.  It needed more water as I found the ulu flour absorbs more.

Which brings me to the book: Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin, various essays, which I've been reading in a sort of haphazard way.  There's her Cold Roast Chicken recipe with buckwheat noodles.  And that inspired the next step.  Make noodles.

Meanwhile, a short review on the subject of that book:

From the Publishers: "Weaving together memories, recipes, and wild tales of years spent in the kitchen, Home Cooking is Laurie Colwin's manifesto on the joys of sharing food and entertaining. From the humble hot-plate of her one-room apartment to the crowded kitchens of bustling parties, Colwin regales us with tales of meals gone both magnificently well and disastrously wrong."

Love and Saffron with Ulu and Deconstructed Kebabs

We at Cook the Books Club are currently reading Love & Saffron, by Kim Fay,  this round hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.  It's sub-titled A Novel of Friendship, Food and Love, and truly is.  A series of letters written between two women who come to know one another well, beyond which it becomes a friendship that deeply affects their lives and those they love.  It was also a reminder of the friendships in my own life, those I communicate with daily.  Particularly a good friend of many years, just recently more closely reconnected with.  We now email back and forth about what we're cooking, planting, research of the various aspects of it all, and food we're experimenting with; occasionally visiting local farmers markets, and sharing meals.  Lately the experimentation has been ways of utilizing breadfruit (ulu), including making flour.  (A post on that to come.)

A Good BBQ For Food Americana

 

Our most recent Cook the Books Club selection is Food Americana  -The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America's Favorite Dishes, by David Page. This round hosted by Simona, of Bricole.  

Not my usual sort of reading material.  This is a lovely club/ reading group, which gets us all out of ruts! :). .. My usual sort of rut being escapism, light mystery fiction, or non-fiction totally based on what project I'm involved in or researching.  At the moment, improving my chocolate making.  Just finished making a fermentation box, and it's cooking away at the moment. So much for that.  This book, on the other hand, is about food in America.  In case you weren't aware of it all, and with background on the various types: Hamburgers, BBQ, bagels, spaghetti, ice cream, etc. etc. including those not so American, i.e. Mexican, sushi and Chinese food.  According to the publishers:

"David Page changed the world of food television by creating, developing, and executive-producing the groundbreaking show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now from this two-time Emmy winner comes Food Americana, an entertaining mix of food culture, pop culture, nostalgia, and everything new on the American plate.

The remarkable history of American food. What is American cuisine, what national menu do we share, what dishes have we chosen, how did they become “American,” and how are they likely to evolve from here? David Page answers all these questions and more.

Engaging, insightful, and often humorous. The inside story of how Americans have formed a national cuisine from a world of flavors. Sushi, pizza, tacos, bagels, barbecue, dim sum―even fried chicken, burgers, ice cream, and many more―were born elsewhere and transformed into a unique American cuisine."  I would beg to differ.  These items may be what we or some of us eat, but they are not our National cuisine.  We obviously don't have one.  

Kitchen Experiments for Lessons in Chemistry

 

Our latest book selection for Cook the Books Club has been Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, hosted this round by Debra of 
Eliot's Eats.   From the Publisher:

"Meet Elizabeth Zott: “a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention” (The Washington Post) in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show."

 I found the book somewhat enjoyable, occasionally interesting and sometimes annoying.  Interesting historically in a sad way, with a look at how professional women have been treated in the past.   Annoying, hypocritical really, in the sense that "scientists" as well as authors, artists, engineers, etc. understandably, very much dislike having their work and inventions, or designs appropriated by others.  As happened in the novel.  Actually it's a criminal offense.  Yet they can look at the beauty, purpose and design all around us and assign it to random chance. Ha.  Also, I found it highly unlikely that her cooking show would have become popular in the early1960s.  What did become popular then was Julia Child's cooking show. 

There is a lot of hypocrisy in the world and always has been, not just in the arena of women's rights.  At least Garmus' novel was thought provoking and even occasionally humorous, despite the improbable and sometimes fantastical side.  I loved Elizabeth's dog, 6:30.  When Calvin died, "he sensed her death wish, and because of it, had been on suicide watch all week." Like her daughter, the dog is rendered almost magically intelligent and gifted.

Chianti and Cannelloni

Another new series!  And, I love when it's a good one.  This novel involves a former NY Homicide detective who retires to Italy, and of course, gets involved in solving a homicide!  Who would have guessed?  But there are enticing mentions of delicious local food and wine, with a fine development of characters and plot.  More here from the Publisher's Weekly: 

"At the start of this vibrant mystery from Trinchieri (The Breakfast Club Murder as Camilla T. Crespi), retired Bronx policeman Nico Doyle is having breakfast one morning at the run-down farmhouse he has rented near the town of Gravigna, Italy, his late wife's hometown where he's recently settled, when he hears a gunshot in the hills. When Nico investigates, he comes across the body of a man whose face has been obliterated by a shotgun blast. The victim's Michael Johnson running shoes suggest he's an American. Salvatore Perillo, the carabinieri officer who takes charge of the case, says on learning Nico was once a homicide detective: "I've dealt with only a single murder in my career. Holy heaven, New Yorkers must have murders every day." Nico agrees to assist Perillo, despite his dislike of working homicides. 

Enticing descriptions of food and wines, an introspective protagonist with an unusual background, and an intricate plot that weaves its way amid past peccadillos combine to make this a winner. Readers will eagerly await Trinchieri's next."   

Unfortunately, there are so far only two books after this one in the series.  However she has also written under her nom de plume,  Camilla T. Crespi.  So there is that.  

I was going through another library book, One, Jamie Oliver's latest, for which I had been on quite a long wait list.  I made a dish from his cookbook to go with this post, which he calls Crazy-Paving Cannelloni.  Was quite yummy, and we both liked it a lot.  Plus, crazy easy!  But,  a reminder, I really, really need to get out that unused pasta machine and experiment! 

It All Started with Halo-Halo

  

I first read about this popular, in some places, dessert, Halo-Halo, in my copy of Filipinx, Heritage Recipes from the Diaspora, which I reviewed  and posted about last year. Then just recently, after experimenting with various versions of the treat, I wanted to do a post on it, but with a Filipino authored book to go along with my post. Well, searching the internet for authors, preferably of cozy mysteries, brought me to: Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala.  Which book, luckily I enjoyed very much.  Also, her covers are so striking! From the Publishers:

"The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes-one that might just be killer.... When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case."  And from the Publisher's Weekly:

"Lila Macapagal, the narrator of Manansala's outstanding debut and series launch, notices two unwelcome customers at Tita Rosie's Kitchen, a Filipino restaurant run by her aunt in Shady Palms, Ill., where Lila has moved after a devastating breakup with her fiancé. Ed Long, the restaurant's landlord, is trying to close the place down, and Long's stepson, Derek Winter, a steady customer, consistently writes negative reviews about its cuisine on his blog....... Chock-full of food lore, this delicious mystery will leave readers hungry for more of the adventures of Lila, her friends and relatives, and her chunky dachshund (who is named after a kind of short, fat sausage). Cozy fans are in for a treat.

Pulled Pork Pasties for The Kitchen Front

 

We at Cook the Books Club have been reading our current selection, The Kitchen Front, by Jennifer Ryan, hosted by myself this round.  I chose the book, based not only on positive reviews, but on reading it as well as others of her excellent works: The Wedding Dress Circle, The Spies of Shilling Lane and The Chilbury Ladies' Choir.  

Even though I've told myself I've already read too many novels  set in those War Years, (I or II), but then get sucked back in.  Both periods of history encompass so many absorbing stories, and amazingly, more coming out all the time.  This book is a good example of the never-ending variety, between points of view and characters, unusual plotting, etc. turning into a very interesting and enjoyable read.

From the Publishers:  It's the tale "of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses: The Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is holding a cooking contest—and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives." And, yes that contest actually happened.

There was a variety of meals and food to get inspired by, and I took notes.  Among them, Berry Scones, Lord Woolton Pie, Cocquilles St. Jacques, Audrey's Mushroom Soup, Paolo's Chicken Cacciatore (yes, we even had a contribution from a Prisoner of War), and Audrey's' Cornish Pasties, (from page 305) which I chose to make for this round. 

Fairy Cakes for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

The current read for our Cook the Books Club is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, selected for us and hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats.   My special vintage edition, beautifully illustrated with paintings by Angel Dominguez, was found online through Etsy.  If you'd like to read (or re-read) this old classic, and join the party, you have until the end of September.  What we do is read the selected book, get inspired by something in it to cook, then post our food and thoughts.