Fall – Peaceful Reader

Fall Cooking

Two weekends ago I stayed with my mom while her husband traveled out of town. My goal is always to get her out and about which for her can be as simple as a drive thru coffee shop. On Saturday morning we did just that. She’s fallen in love with her local Scooters and it’s about the only choice in her small town. We picked up pumpkin spice lattes and two cinnamon rolls and sat on her patio to bask in the sun. Because the day was so gorgeous we were able to stay out there for about two hours! We have to hold on to days like that as cold weather approaches.

The next day our adventure was an Apples on the Avenue about 20 minutes north of her. Another day filled with sunshine but very windy. We were happy to enjoy the weather from inside the car. We picked up two bags of apples and headed home. I used some of those apples to make a delicious dessert to serve at two different events. I would make this again. And eat it again and again. I went to a small pre-Halloween party on Saturday night and we shared this with Grandmother’s Sauce (recipe below) and then I served it again on Sunday when I made a birthday lunch for Kristin and Travis. I did give my mother some of the bread pudding as well to celebrate our Sunday outing.

Here is the Honey Apple Bread Pudding recipe by Melissa Clark on New York Times Recipes. Hopefully you are able to click the link and look at the recipe. I know the whole subscription thing prevents this sometimes so I made a Google copy for you. I used a chunky French loaf instead of the Challah bread. I served delicious “Grandmother’s Sauce” over the top and it took this recipe next level. Also sometimes the sauce is perfect dipped on your finger straight out of the jar!

Grandmother’s Sauce (from The Cottage; Casual Cuisine from Old La Jolla’s Favorite Beachside Bungalow by Jane & Michael Stern)

2 cups whipping cream
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip the cream in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl beat the egg with an electric mixer until thick and lemony colored. Gradually add the sugar, beating until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Chill at least 1-2 hours so the sugar is fully dissolved. Makes 5 cups.

I think you could substitute any fruit for the apples but at this time of the year the apples I picked up were tart and perfect in this dessert. Enjoy!

Farewell to September

I can’t believe October begins tomorrow. Summer is my favorite weather season because I like the heat of the sun, the warm days on a boat or patio, and easy summer foods and beverages. Many people love all that about Fall; the pumpkin spiced everything, the sweaters, the leaves falling. We’ve had amazing weather throughout September and I hope October brings more of the same. Truthfully all the seasons provide something to love but when we veer towards winter I dread feeling chilled all the time. As with every month I’ve done a fair amount of cooking and reading this last week. Right now I’m enjoying Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, the 2nd in the series.

Last weekend I cleaned up an area of my living room and went through a stack of books. Weird right, that I would have a stack of books sitting right on the floor in any of the rooms in my house? As I sorted this particular stack of books I found a note from a friend inside the front cover that said “I’m going to want this one back” which is code for “this was very good!” so I promptly started to read it.

The Plot was amazingly good and written by Jean Hanff Korelitz, an author I was completely unaware of until now. I read the book in 4 days and while it has some creepy moments it isn’t over the top because I can’t handle scary. It has great plot twists and interesting characters. Now I want to read other stories by this author. She is a playwright and started an online book group, Book the Writer, that pairs authors with readers. Check out the EventBrite page to see upcoming authors. I would love to sit in on one of these sessions even though technical they all take place in NYC apartments. (After browsing the list I signed up for the online group with Jhumpa Lahiri and her new book Wherabouts. I’ll have to check if the library has a copy as I made a promise to myself about book buying after I moved that stack of books from one spot to another.

{Half-Baked Harvest image}

Sometimes my brain works overtime and I try to prepare something for book club that relates to the book we read. This is not always easy but reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman the food question was very clear. The characters all eat pizza together in the apartment with the bank robber/kidnapper and so I made Roasted Mushroom Kale Pizza from Half-Baked Harvest and it was delicious. There were no leftovers. Last night I made Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna and it is amazing. We had it for dinner tonight with a salad and we had to force ourselves to stop picking at what remained in the pan. Two pieces is plenty…but oh, so good! I do want to make her Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew soon as well…I mean tomorrow is October after all.

Now I’m off to do a little bedtime yoga with Adriene and get myself mentally prepared for Friday.

Time Travel

I feel like I’m time traveling through the month at light speed, forward motion on zoom. We’ve been lucky to have Groovy Girl home the last two weekends. We’ve hiked in the Fall leaves, we’ve eaten amazing food and cuddled. Her coming home from college at first was like “hmmm, should we fist bump and call it good?” but now we throw caution to the wind, trusting that we’ve all been safe during the week, so that we may cuddle on the sofa together to hang out. She and I are “cuddlers”, we love to share a blanket, the sofa, anywhere where we can snuggle close and breathe each other in. She is really good about wearing a mask in her daily life and only goes to one class – ballet – in person (and they wear masks while dancing) with the rest of her classes meeting virtually so from the comfort of her dorm room.

(source)

Last weekend when she was here I dreamed that I wanted cauliflower tacos and when I googled the recipe I found lots of choices. I had to weed through the recipes because she is allergic to tomatoes. I found a recipe on Bon Appetit that is so FANTASTIC! I made them again this Friday night. We loved that it was vegan, that it needed no other toppings to make it delicious. We tried to add a little goat cheese and did not like the combined flavors as the taco flavor is so bold that it needs no other accompaniments. We did have some of our garden kale cut in to strips to add on and a little fresh baby greens and those two seemed to be fine additions to offer a little extra fresh crunch but otherwise these tacos are spot on perfect and have found a place in our permanent collection. The two sauces are easy to put together and I had everything already in my cupboards. If you are looking for a meat-free dish that comes together quickly this one will not disappoint. Groovy Girl ate 4 the first night we had them.

I finished The Guest List and Wrong guy, Right room; both very good. I lost interest in the Guest List halfway through-felt like we really dipped down with sorrowful tales and back and forth memories but the last few chapters really redeemed the tale. Wrong guy, Right room was delightful. I’m now reading Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt for school; it is on our list for Iowa Children’s Choice Awards this year and it’s good. I’m still working on Untamed by Glennon and I need to review This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, one of my favorite authors, for book club this month. After watching the Smithsonian’s National Book Festival authors this year all online I am trying to read Marlon James’ book Black Leopard, Red Wolf. It’s unique and I’m not sure I’ll make it through it but he was interesting to listen to him talk.

Did you watch the vice presidential debate? I’m super ready for this campaign to be over and a new administration to take office. Please have a peaceful week!

September is really here

and school has been in session for two weeks. No longer am I welcoming students into my amazing library space to talk about books, pick out books, and work on projects. Instead I am pushing my library around on a cart; books and computer riding with me. It is a weird year. Oh did I mention the masks, and face shield, hand sanitizer, wipes-those are all there also.

Kids are happy to be together and most seem to be okay wearing masks everyday. I feel their strength in the idea that it’s better to be together with a mask on than not. We have one 5th grade student demonstrating irony to us every day with his “Trump 2020” black mask. IRONY. We are in this mess because of that guy.

We were to stay positive with both students and staff. I did get more books in on Friday and so next week after school will be a little like Christmas as I unpack them and get them in to our system.

This weekend I’ve done equal parts relaxing and getting things done around the house. The mess of life spirals so easily into piles on tables, mail clutter, laundry…so I worked to get that under control. I’ve also made lemon bars (recipe from my Baking Ill. cookbook), a butternut squash and kale soup, both produce from my garden, and an angel food cake recipe for my mom. She is struggling with some health issues and could use a more desserts in her life.

I am mourning Chadwick Boseman like everyone else in the world. I marvel at his ability to continue to make amazing art while he was very sick. The resiliency of people amaze me. I started to watch the whole Captain America series on Disney so I could understand the story line and see where Black Panther connects up. I also watched the pilot for Lincoln Heights, one of the first shows he did. My husband and I watched a great love story, Always be my maybe with Ali Wong, on Netflix and we started a new show Away with Hilary Swank headed to Mars. We are looking forward to the new series Enola Holmes at the end of September.

I haven’t just been cooking and watching! I am reading The Choice; a memoir by Dr. Edith Eva Eger. My brother sent this to me over the summer and it’s been on that stack of to-reads. Resiliency is the theme here today I guess. We are all going to make it through this one way or another. Let’s get to November, VOTE, and then keep voting for the good candidates, the ones who can get it done like finding ways to end racist laws/practices and climate change. The list is long…

Peace

Best Books (so far) 2019

It was a beautiful day today-the sun was shining and it felt warm even though the wind was a bit brisk. I can feel summer winding down and even though I Fall weather is lovely and I love a good sweater I always miss summer. I’m a t-shirt and sandal kind of person and love being outside.

Fall weather does bring it’s own joy with it as well. Sweaters, boots, beautiful leaves falling, and warm beverages-ohhh, and backyard fires. Good times!

Over the last few months I’ve read quite a few books from April-August and some of them you should definitely add to your reading lists. I have two different lists; one with adult reads and one with children’s literature. They are all worth reading though whether you are young or older…

Adult Fiction:

Daisy Jones and the Six (2019) by Taylor Jenkins Reid – This was the book that made me jump head first into Book-of-the-month club! This read like it was real, so much so that I googled it to see how I’d missed this band. Billy Dunne, Daisy Jones and the rest of the cast all make for memorable characters that stayed with me. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, baby! She’s an author I want to read more of soon.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (2006) by Zora Neale Hurston – We picked this one as our “classic” for book club and I was so satisfied reading this excellent novel. It felt like I was back struggling with the Joad (Grapes of Wrath) family in college. Janie’s life is a rough and joyous journey as she tries to stay independent and enjoy life along the way.

Normal People (2018) by Sally Rooney – This second novel was a very interesting tale of friendship and love between Marianne and Connell while in high school and at Trinity College in Dublin. the characters are very memorable and the story was so intriguing. I also read Rooney’s first book, Conversations with friends, and liked it as well.

The Kiss Quotient (2018) and The Bride Test (2019) by Helen Hoang – These two little books are w-a-y too sexy for most but oh, so good. They rate like 12 stars from me. Stella Lane and Khai Diep both resonated with me as characters on the spectrum struggling with their emotions. Sexy and fantastic; Hoang is writing a 3rd and I can’t wait! Also I did find both at my local library!

The story of Arthur Truluv (2017) by Elizabeth Berg – What a beautiful story of Arthur as he works through the death of his wife and learns to form a new family of sorts with a young and lost teenage girl and his bothersome and moody next door neighbor Lucille. Family is truly what we make of it when we need it and Arthur opens up his heart to help those around him even though he still feels devastated. Thank you to Jen and Chris for passing this on to me this summer. I’m waiting for the second one to arrive.

Memoirs:

Educated (2018) by Tara Westover – Amazing read! I was so intrigued by her family struggles and Tara’s desire to rise above. I was appalled at some of the problems she had to overcome from her own family but her own independence was even more breath-taking because of it.

The shortest way home; one mayor’s challenge and a model for America’s future (2019) by Pete Buttiegieg – Also an Amazing read!! Mayor Pete is a wonderful writer and his story flowed from his family life, his public life, and his road to love. I was already part of the #PeteWave but after this I feel like I know him personally. I’m totally rooting for him.

I am a fiction reader for the most part so the fact that I have not one but two excellent memoirs on my list is pretty amazing. Honorable mention would be The Saboteur (2017) by Paul Kix which tells the story of Robert de La Rochefoucald who was part of the French Resistance during WWII. We read this for book club and I found out Kix has a podcast, Now that’s a great story, and it is quite good! Not that I need another podcast b/c I can’t keep up with what I have downloaded so far.

Young Adult and Children’s lit:

On the come up (2019) by Angie Thomas – Her second novel focuses on 16-yo Bri as she strives to make it the rapper world; a world that her father was king of before his death. I have to admit Bri was a bit brazen for me yet I understood where her anger boiled and spilled over from as she deals with life in her neighborhood. I look forward to what ever Angie brings forth in her 3rd novel.

The Novice (2015) by Taran Matharu – High fantasy and a fun escape book that a student recommended to me. Fletcher and the other cast of characters in this magical world of summoners was easy to get lost in and I quickly read the second one as well, The Inquisition. My friend Wyatt did give me the 3rd one a few weeks ago and it is still sitting on my desk. I have a stack to finish here before I’ll be ready to bring it home.

Gracefully, Grayson (2014) by Ami Polonsky – Grayson’s story is an amazing journey of acceptance as she learns to accept who she is and share her true identity with her adopted family. Grayson’s parents died years ago and she is being raised by his uncle. As Grayson reads some old family letters she begins to understand that this is who she has always been. This is wonderfully written debut novel about friendship and acceptance.

Amal Unbound (2018) by Aisha Saeed – Amal desires to be a teacher one day until an event in her small Pakistani village takes her dream away. When she gets angry at the local landowner for his rude behavior he teaches her about power as he forces her parents to send her to him as a servant. Amal’s fierce independence never lets her accept her fate as she fights for a way to break free. I loved this story and hope to find more of her stories to come.

Merci Suarez changes gears (2018) by Meg Medina – This is a feisty school story with Merci and her family struggling to make it through middle school as a scholarship student and as a sunshine buddy to the cute new boy, all while watching her beloved grandfather begin to suffer from bouts of confusion.

Amina’s Voice (2017) by Hena Khan – Amina is struggling with middle school as her best friend, Soojin begins to hang out with one of the popular (and unkind) girls. It is so hard to figure out how to stay true to yourself but also fit in with the friend you love. Amina worries about her friendship and her strict uncle coming to stay with them which is already enough to handle when the mosque her family attends is vandalized. When the community comes together for them Amina learns to understand how to be herself.

Aru Shah and the end of time (2018) by Roshani Choksi – Aru totally stretches the truth to her classmates (and to herself, really) as she deals with her absent and busy mom and their life living in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art. When three classmates stop by to accuse her of more lies she breaks a vow to her mother and she lights an ancient lamp to placate her classmates. When time is literally stopped she must unlock the mystery of her family’s history in order to put life back in motion. I must make time to read the second book in this series.

Walking with Miss Millie (2017) by Tamara Bundy – Alice is not happy that her mom has moved the family to the exact small town where her mother grew up just so they can take care of her aging grandmother. She misses her dad and her old life. When she is forced to spend time with her grandmother’s aging nieghbor Alice learns that life in a small town can be filled with all kinds of interesting characters. I liked the slower pace to this as Alice learns to navigate some life lessons.

Ohhh. That’s a lot of books. I hope you find something interesting to read from my list.

Weekly Recipes 15; I love September!

{Grit Cakes w/ shrimp}

It’s my second favorite month. School starts, the weather is amazing. I love what we’ve always called “Indian Summer”; warm weather with a September breeze.

I’m in my second week of school and it’s been a very smooth transition. Groovy Girl is settling into her freshman year; top dog in her junior high. She’s already busy with football cheer and soon dance will begin. Then we’ll be a whirlwind of crazy.

{G.G. 2nd from the L.}

Today there was a little football activity happening at our kitchen table with my two favorite men. Husband and son were busy drafting their fantasy football teams and I loved listening to them banter back and forth together and with the other online football friends. Knowing this annual event was taking place and that the 21-year-old headed to our house to draft with his dad like old times I offered to make them brunch. I know, my gifts abound…

At Early Girl in Asheville this summer my husband ordered grit cakes; it was like biscuits and gravy but with cakes made from grits. I took that as my inspiration for today’s menu. I googled, looking at a variety of different recipes, and settled on one from Epicurious. It was Shrimp and Grit Cakes though and my handsome husband is allergic to shellfish. I did have a lovely piece of good farm-raised steak from a local meat locker so I transformed the recipe just a bit. The grit cakes were so very easy to make and delicious! I need to host a brunch for friends just so I can make this again.

I sliced the steak into bite-sized pieces and created the same sauce the recipe calls for except I didn’t add the flour. I also had three ears of sweet corn calling my name from the vegetable drawer and I cut the kernels from the cob and added that and it blended like it belonged. On a small plate I plated two grit cakes with the steak, juices, and corn/pepper mix on top and a handful of blue chips tucked on the side. A little Parmesan over the top and it was ready to be eaten! As usual I failed to take a photo before they dug in. The plates looked award-winning and the they were licked clean so I guess I did good.

The recipe made enough that I have leftovers that we can eat for breakfast tomorrow. Tonight I will be whisked away for an anniversary dinner out on the town. Dressing up + no dishes to do = win/win

I’m working on finishing Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam. I have about 6 short fiction books to read for Iowa Children’s Choice that I need to finish before my final ratings.

Have a great l-o-n-g weekend.

Weekend Joy.

I’ve had a great weekend. We picked out two lovely pumpkins on Friday and we’ve taken several walks to admire Fall colors. I’m almost finished reading Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill and I’m at a point where I don’t want to put it down. I read four more chapters this morning before going to church. I have to really push for other times in my days to read other than bedtime because then I only get 2-3 pages read before my eyes drift dreamily shut.

I finished the post about four of my favorite ARC’s from September’s reading. It is frustrating to plan a post in my head, finish the books, but not get to my computer all week long to write it. I have a certain glee over finishing and finally completing the post.

The best part of my weekend though was spent curled on the sofa with Groovy Girl and the dog, watching two movies on Friday and Saturday night.

My husband and I awarded her 2 movie nights for how well she prepared herself for a recent Social Studies test on Native tribes. She studied three different times with us and her hard work paid off-she scored 100 % on the test! My husband took her to our local movie store on Friday night even though we have a Netflix acct., somehow now going to the movie store is more thrilling that pulling it from the ole queue.

Friday we settled in with a big bowl of popcorn and watched We bought a Zoo with Matt Damon as the adorable widow with two adorable children. I don’t get out much apparently because I didn’t pay attention while this was at the theater so when the credits started flowing I knew we were in for something interesting with Cameron Crowe as the director. His other big movie, Almost Famous, is one of my favorites. I teared up a few times during the movie as the family struggles with the mother’s death. I know my family would also completely fall apart if something tragic happened to me. For Real-we joke about it all the time here. I appreciated the teenage son, well-played by Thomas Ford, as he tries to cope with his mother’s death. Plus who could resist Maggie Elizabeth Jones as little Rosie! We loved her impish look.

Saturday we watched Big Miracle with our favorite Office character, the handsome John Krasinski, plus Drew Barrymore and Kristen Bell. This is a great story of three whales, a mother, father, and baby California Grays, stuck in an ice swell off the coast of Barrow, Alaska. Ted Danson plays against type as the owner of an oil company angry about the whales and the environment who finally sees the reason behind trying to save them. The local indigenous tribe is in favor of killing the whales so their traditions are shared with their children. This incident did take place in the 80’s during Reagan’s administration yet the arguments are still timely as we struggle with natural resources vs. the natural world issues.

Both stories are based on real events and they were great picks by Groovy Girl. I have a whole cleaning list that didn’t get finished this weekend but I’m grateful for the time spent relaxing and sharing good stories. How did you spend your weekend? Everyone in my family is now quietly working on projects which means it must be time for me to steal away to finish Iron Hearted Violet!

Weekend Cooking; Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef and other menu ideas

I browsed the new nonfiction shelves of my local library and came up with two cookbooks and two parenting books in under two minutes. I had to quickly walk away after that because I go on these binges and bring armloads of nonfiction home only to let it sit and sit and sit until I return it two days late.

This time one recipe stuck out like a yummy thumb just waiting to be cooked. I had a beautiful small pie pumpkin from the last farmer’s market and I didn’t know what to do with it; no one here really likes pumpkin pie. So I thought what the hey, I’m sure they’ll love pumpkin soup. Ha.

I’ve enjoyed reading Gluten-Free Girl’s blog a few times on my recent quest to explore and understand celiac disease so her name popped out at me as my neck twisted sideways at the new cookbook spines. I would own this book if I were to indeed become gluten-free just for the stories splattered among the recipes. I’ve enjoyed understanding more about Shauna’s journey and their sweet love story.
How can you resist headings like; Grocery Shopping as Foreplay and Honey, remember to eat.

Many of the recipes are too complicated for me or include ingredients unavailable to me in my sleepy small town but there is much more to this cookbook than just recipes. In a small section at the front Daniel explains the importance of “mise en place”-a perfect three paragraph summary of my cooking life. He describes Shauna in the beginning like this “she’d put a hot pan on the burner and then start chopping her onions with the oil getting hot in the pan. She’d run from the stove to the refrigerator while a dish was simmering, always a bit frantic.” (14) That’s me-most of the time. I do not set up ingredients first. I want to be that organized and now I can name it; mise en place. Daniel gently reminds the reader that is why the ingredients list tells us what to do; chop, dice, cups, tsps so it can be there ready! I feel enlightened.

If you are gluten-free this book would make a great holiday gift to yourself!

I made pumpkin muffins last night while I put the finishing touches on the soup and on Wednesday afternoon I had a brownie craving and made a pan of them just like my mother used to. I thought her recipe was magic when I was growing up. She admitted to me just a few years ago that she peeled that recipe from the back of the Hershey chocolate can. How deflating. I’ve cleaned it up a bit and made it my own.

Click for recipes:

Pumpkin Soup
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Judy’s Chocolate Brownies
Butternut Couscous (tonight’s menu with salmon from the co-op)

p.s. my kids disliked the soup but loved the muffins even though I told them (after the fact) that the muffins also had pumpkin in them. They didn’t care. It’s all about the dark chocolate! My husband, with a more discernible palate, had several bowls of soup and then, three muffins.

I discovered a new foodie blog this week while searching for the above butternut and Israeli couscous recipe. Meet Peter and Keith at Feast. I scrolled through a few recipes and they all look wonderful. I hope they keep going.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking. Click over to Beth Fish Reads for more food-related posts. Happy eating!