recipes – Peaceful Reader

What the future holds

It’s taken me all month to mentally deal with the outcome of this election. I’m simply heartbroken. Our country is in a tough place. Like the serenity prayer I can’t focus on what I cannot change. Watching each and every instagram post about politics is not going to make my life healthier. It’s there and it’s bad but I have other ways I want to finish off November. Deep breath, more yoga, more reading.

I’ve read a lot of great books the last few months and I’ve made a few good recipes. So let’s talk about that…move over politics and welcome to the art of wintering or hygge. We’ve got to nestle in and take care of ourselves so we will be ready for the next term. https://www.carleyfortune.com/I’ve discovered a new author, Carley Fortune, when I read a review about her latest book This Summer will be Different (2024); a love story set in Prince Edward Island. It’s a fun read with interesting characters a a whole lot of twists. I’ve now read Every Summer After and I’m reading Meet Me at the Lake right now. I love the Libby app which has helped me read so many books this year. Suffering from insomnia (thank you menopause) I often read at night using my Kindle app on dark screen. I don’t sleep with my phone but if I wake up or even worse, cant fall asleep then I turn to reading. Fortune’s books have a fun premise, beautiful Canadian setting, romance and sex with an interesting set of characters. The plots make sense and there isn’t any abuse or negative dynamics.

I read Horse by Geraldine Brooks (2022)for book club and loved the back and forth timeline between the present and the past. I loved learning more about horse racing, Black history, and learning about the real people involved in this story. This was my first Brooks book; are there others I should read?

I read All The Colors of the Dark (2024) by Chris Whitaker. I’ve never read anything else by him as well and this was a very interesting crime drama that circled the 1990’s to present. I fell in love with the characters and they way Whitaker told the story although it was long it was worth it.

I read two amazing fantasy books, The Last Dragon on Mars (2024) by Scott Reintgen and The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020) by TJ Klune. The Last Dragon is now circulating heavily at school by my students that love high fantasy dragon books like Eragon. Cerulean Sea is a beautiful love story that highlights the prejudices we see in the world and the hope to leave those behind (Yes, I see the connection between this and the election with my politics on high brain)

It’s so easy to disappear inside a book, a good story, a let it take you away from what is happening in real time.

As far as recipes go I made this fabulous tofurky by hand yesterday morning and it tasted delicious! Thanksgiving is a non holiday to us but we did have dinner with our son which was a nice way to spend the day. Food, cards, and conversation. Oh, there may have been some football on the screen and some reminiscing about our ancestors. I use a lot of NYT recipes because I get a discounted teacher subscription to the Times (not in love with them rn but I do love the cooking app) I made a deliciously easy carrot recipe for Thursday’s meal and an amazingly flavorful tomato lentil soup yesterday. You’ll have to google those.

Keep your chins up and find your joy right now. We need to be ready to stand together as the awful things begin to happen and hope we can help our neighbors, friends, and those we don’t know yet. Peace be with us.

January Bits

(Our view)

Winter came in like a fury two weeks ago with lots of snow and cold temperatures. It’s beautiful out with the snow glistening under the bright sun. All the winter gear is necessary at this point; hats, gloves, big, long coats, scarves, plus warm beverages for your insides.

Successfully getting ahead of a winter storm we took Japhy to Minneapolis so she could get on a plane to Guatemala. She will spend the next 4 weeks at a yoga center on Lake Atitlán to become a certified yoga instructor. I miss her desperately yet I know she’s on an amazing journey in a very cool place. Also it is 83 degrees there…very different from 3 degrees!

(Japhy’s view)

My mom’s birthday was January 15th and we celebrated her life with a Red Lobster lunch with friends, game of spite and malice with another set of friends, texts with my brothers, and a toast over FT with my sister-in-law all to say we miss her very much yet are glad she’s not in pain anymore. Her pictures flash up on my phone all the time and it all gives me a reason to pause and think of her for a brief moment.

Today I’m sitting in front of a beautiful burning fire thinking about the last time she and my brother Jason sat in this same space and I’m thankful for the good things she brought to my life. While reminiscing I pulled out one of her Big Sky Montana cookbooks to browse and I found a little note on a recipe telling me when she made it and what she liked. While browsing I found a Brussels sprout and walnut recipe I’m going to make tonight.

Because of the temperature I’ve made soup to keep our insides warm and happy. I made a cauliflower/potato soup and a red lentil soup last week and both were very good. I made the red lentil soup for book club on the 15th and then made it again on the 17th for friends visiting from New York. It’s easy to put together and I paired it with jasmine rice so it could be served as a dal and we had toasted pitas for our bread.

Stay warm wherever you are and appreciate the little bits about your life…

Cooking with Love

One of my favorite things is to make food whether it be just for me or for friends here for dinner. I like both the complicated and the uncomplicated recipes. My mother and grandmother loved to cook. When I lived with my grandmother she would chide me if I didn’t offer to make visitors like my uncles a sandwich. My young brain thought “they are grown ass men; they can get their own sandwiches” and now while I still agree with that sentiment I do love to welcome people into my home with a good meal.

My husband’s job changed over the last month and we’ve been able to spend time with friends more in the evening because he’s not in rehearsal every night. I’ve made a handful of great recipes that you might like.

I made this delicious Chicken Korma recipe from Tea for Turmeric a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit. I’m technically. not a meat eater but if I can find it from a local farm then I’m okay with it. I could have substituted tofu but my husband eats many vegetarian meals for me so I decided to switch it up. He loves Indian food and he liked this dish. I served it with a side of brown rice and some roti bread.

One night in January I had some women friends over to play cards and I made this black bean soup from Cookie + Kate with fresh bread. It was delicious and easy and I’ve now made it two more times. I’ve really stepped into the Blue Zones idea of eating beans or lentils as much as I can. The first time I made this I used the 4 cans of beans it calls for but for the second time I actually cooked dried black beans in my slow cooker while I was laboring away at school. It was worth it to make my own for the recipe but the cans definitely made the recipe quicker. I served this with lots of toppings like avocado, green onions, crumbled feta cheese, blue chips, and sour cream.

Tonight I made a stir-fry that was very flavorful. I was hungry for tofu and quinoa so I Googled those two ingredients and came up with Sesame Tofu Quinoa Bowl from The Almond Eater. I swapped the broccoli for cauliflower and adding in edamame. We had broccoli last night with some homemade mac and cheese. Also because I don’t like plastic bags I used a bowl with a lid to marinate the tofu with the Tamari sauce. It worked out great and we ate with chopsticks in front of the fire while we watched Triangle of Sadness~highly recommend the movie as well!

Good food feeds your soul! Bon Appetit!

Oh, I forgot dessert! I’m attempting to step away from sugar but sometimes you just need a good dessert to share with friends. This S’more recipe is a perfect winter treat-I served it with a little cup of Bailey’s.

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!

Summer food and a few books

I am loving my solitude this summer. Groovy Girl goes off to work at the water park and the husband goes off to make a movie or direct a show and I have the day to myself. I have been to work several times and it is so quiet there that it is easy to get a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. I am almost finished with inventory for the year. My goal for meals is to have something ready for my two worker bees; it’s the least I can do for them after they’ve labored out there in the world especially the teenager as she is out in the hot sun for a good 9 hours. I want to have good food ready for them.

I made this vegan corn chowder even though it is way before sweet corn season but I had a large bag of white corn in the freezer and soup to me is always good even on hot days. I am in the process of making this pasta dish tonight with fresh cut basil from my garden. I roasted some broccoli and I put together a fresh salad using greens a friend who shared part of her CSA for the week. I’m looking for easy meals that I can put together and they can eat late when they come through the door. Easy for me, easy for them.

Our girls

I’ve browsed through a new cookbook, The Fresh Egg Cookbook, that my friend MK gave me. She is honestly one of the best gift givers. She went to the Decorah Seed Saver store and found this cookbook for me in celebration of the beautiful chickens that grace my back yard. There are some really good recipes in here as well as chicken tips. We are on our fourth round of chicken parenting and we love it! They are quirky characters that roam our backyard and provide us with eggs.

I finished the first, Shadow and Bone, in the GrishaVerse trilogy today which was recommended to me be a family of former students. I have to pace myself though before I start the second one. My mother-in-law recommended How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior and I picked it up yesterday from the library. Before all that I finished my Book of the Month Club May pick; Things we lost to the water by Eric Nguyen, which was a very compelling story of immigration, New Orleans, Vietnam, and Hurricane Katrina.

You may wonder if I am getting ANY homework done…?

Memorable Memorial Weekend

{Minimalist Baker}

I love a good three day weekend! I’ve accomplished quite a few things over the last three days but the best parts were several social occasions seeing friends and hugging people in my circle. We had an engagement party last night and a graduation party today. We also had lunch with friends on their patio. I made these strawberry rhubarb margaritas for the occasion. The recipe is from Minimalist Baker and they were delicious, so refreshing and tart.

Last week I tried a new recipe because I just couldn’t figure out what to make for dinner. We recently have had a lot of pasta and I’d made tacos and salmon other days so I just was looking for something different to try. A friend from school mentioned that she’d made lentil sloppy joes and so I searched and found a vegan recipe to try. I made them on Friday night and I loved them. Because of Groovy Girl’s tomato allergy I switched out the cans of tomato and used one 28-oz can of pumpkin. I feel like I could add in sweet potato to replace tomatoes as well. I had lovely brioche buns that I broiled in the oven first because I like them a little crispy/crunchy. Both my husband and I loved them and GG, well, she was not quite as in love because it had onions (next time I would make sure to really dice up the onions) but she ate it. I liked that it was a super easy slow cooker recipe that I put together and it was done in about 3 hours. Here is the recipe I used from Yummy Mummy Kitchen and here is another one I plan to try next time from again the amazing Minimalist Baker.

I did do some gardening this weekend as well, channeling my lovely Grandma Bruch. I think of her so much as I cook and plant as those are two areas she excelled at in life. She loved geraniums and irises and planted lots of vegetables. My love of rhubarb comes from her as she had a several large plants and did a lot of baking and jam making with the stalks. She was an amazing and wonderful grandma and I miss her very much. I’m glad my son was able to spend so much time with her and I’m sad that she never met my daughter. I can still hear her voice calling my name. I wish she and I could play one more game of spite and malice, our family card game. I can still hear my dad’s voice as well and I wish I could play one more game of backgammon with him.

How did you spend your weekend?

Basics of life

We’ve been cooking, reading, and walking the dogs here. The weather has moved into cold Fall making it not as much fun to take lazy, long walks with the two beautiful pups that we love and I’ve spent more recent time reading than watching.

Groovy Girl was home for the weekend though and we did start a new Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit, which is quite good. It’s about a young girl who becomes a chess prodigy during the 1950s. The costumes and the acting are so good and the story is very intriguing. Cuddling on the sofa with her is one of my favorite activities not matter the season.

I did read an entire chapter book this weekend which is always exciting. I started The only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert during a free read time Friday at school. The 6th grade class I was in were very book involved (yeah!) and I just pulled this one off the cart because no one picked it up. I read three quick chapters and pretty much wished I could spend the rest of the day with it. I continued to read it on Friday night and finished it Saturday evening right before I started watching game 4 of the World Series. What a good book! I started another small chapter book, Planet Omar: accidental trouble magnet by Zanib Mian which is perfect for young 3rd, 4th grade readers and features a Muslim family navigating a new town and school.

And speaking of the World Series-what an amazing end to that game and Brett Phillips will always be remembered for his hit and the fun he had air-planing around the field. The game was good but became fantastic if you stuck around to the end. It reminds everyone why baseball is so joy-filled.

In between watching and reading I’ve made some excellent food! Yes, excellent! Last week I made this Roasted Tomato Soup from How to feed a loon blog and I loved the flavor of late summer really ripe tomatoes and the fresh basil together. This fed me all week at school and we just finished up the last of it for a late dinner last night. My mother-in-law sent me this naan recipe and I made it yesterday afternoon on a whim. Didn’t really have a plan for Indian food so we enjoyed the toasted naan with our leftover soup. It will be easy to make these again because the recipe pulled together and the dough had a good rise in about an hour.

This morning for breakfast I whipped up this Cozy Turmeric Porridge from my favorite Minimalist Baker. A small bowl was so warming to my soul on this chilly morning and I have enough leftovers for the week. I did not have pomegranate seeds on hand but topped our bowls with a little Agave syrup, coconut milk, and cinnamon sprinkles.

Before Groovy Girl arrived home on Thursday night she said she was excited to come home to eat vegetables! Wow! How many teenagers say that!?! She says food is less than exciting (bland) and no good veggies at school so I made sure we had tons of good colorful vegetables in our fridge. She loves sweet potatoes and when she saw me unpacking them she asked if we could make sweet potato fries. I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven and they were delicious although not as crispy as I would have liked. This week I’m going to make this Pumpkin black bean soup (also from Minimalist Baker) and this Winter Roasted Vegetable Soup also from my mother-in-law. I love soup, it’s versatile and gives me a warm yet light lunch at school.

We are getting closer to the election and while I’m very anxious I also have to be filled with hope. Make sure wherever you are that you go vote.

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!

The Choice: Embrace the Possible

Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s memoir is a deep look into what it was like to live through extreme trauma and survive. At 16 Edith was sent to Auschwitz and was herded into one line with her sister and watched as her mother was pushed into another line, one of death. Edith and her sister Magda fight one minute, one hour, one day to make it through their ordeal together. In four parts, Prison, Escape, Freedom, and Healing, Dr. Eger’s shares with us what her own experience was like as well as patients she has worked with who have been imprisoned in other ways. She lets her journey be the guiding force to helping others. I enjoyed her family story very much, as well as her work with patients. Several of the patient accounts made me cry. It is always difficult to read first hand accounts of the Holocaust; the details overwhelming, and painful. I highly recommend her story and want everyone to read it. It’s an critical reminder of how important our freedom is and that we should never take it for granted.

I’ve discovered that I’m baking more these days and I think it is a stress-reliever. Baked goods for mental health! I made this delicious Czech breakfast cake one morning and shared it with friends and another day I woke up really early and made this French apple cake (Once upon a chef) for a trip to Iowa City to see Groovy Girl (Groovy College Student?). I will make both again. I’ve discovered a new little recipe spot on Bon Appetit called It’s Just that Simple! It’s like family recipes that they just talk you through as if they are telling you a recipe over coffee. I made the Desi Omelette one night for a quick dinner and a Korma recipe another night. It’s my kind of easy recipe site-like I’m getting them from friends.

(French Apple Cake)

Reading three books: Untamed by Glennon Doyle, my friend Angelle’s book, Wrong guy, right room, a fun romance book-find it here on Amazon, and The Guest List by Lucy Foley.

Be safe out there. Wear your mask. Stay positive. Do everything you can to get out the vote. Last night’s debate was even more proof that our current leader is completely unstable.

What a crazy summer!

photo: Scott Shepard

This feels like the middle of summer; it’s hot and the sweet corn is up and being sold on street corners all over the Cedar Valley. I’ve packed in a lot over the summer but I need a few more slow days reading in the hammock (when it’s not a 100 degrees out) and relaxing with friends. It’s been so busy writing hasn’t happened as much as I like; I dream up blog posts but they stay there in my mind.

I did make a big batch of yogurt at the beginning of July. Delicious and creamy, mixed with fruit preserves and pumpkin butter it is the best start to my day. When I make it I don’t use the cream in the recipe-I just used good quality, local 1% milk. I recently found a easy (two ingredient) coconut yogurt recipe from Minimalist Baker that I want to try for my dairy-free Groovy Girl.

My husband and daughter have been very busy with our summer musical production of Beauty and the Beast. She’s had a great time as an ensemble character; she dances, she plays a wolf, Maria, the baker’s wife, and a townsperson. It has been quite a run, with sold out performances, and today the run is done so life might be a tiny bit quieter. (maybe)

I have made it to yoga more than a handful of times which was on my summer plan. I’ve recently read several articles talking about the importance of meditation on our brain. It’s a matter of settling our brain from 5-50 minutes; the more we let it rest, the better our mind functions. It makes sense of course just like sleep for our bodies. I’ve added that to my day even if it is just 5 minutes of quiet breathing in the car before I get out.

I’ve read quite a few great books already and I still have a full basket to go. Every summer I bring home a crate of books to read. Some are books that students loved and it’s my turn to try them and some are books I read to pre-choose the Iowa Children’s Choice Awards. I love doing this as I like to make sure there are a lot of well-rounded choices; books with diversity, books that take kids out of their small-town Iowa world, books that expand their minds, books that tell amazing stories. I’ve read a few that fit this description:

1. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan – As a Pakistani-Muslim girl in American Amina struggles to mix her family’s culture while blending in at school. Luckily she does have one true friend in Soojin who seems more adept at understanding people. This is a rich story filled with family, food, and new beginnings but also devastating vandalism of her beloved mosque. One of my favorite quotes from the book is from her brother Mustafa – “It’s just so freaking unfair. What kind of person would want to destroy a place where people gather to pray and learn?” My thoughts exactly.

2. Bob by Wendy Mass – This story is a bit of magical realism more than fantasy to me. Livy and her mom come back to visit her grandmother in Australia 5 years after their last visit. When Livy explores her mother’s old room and the room she stayed in when she was little she finds a young greenish creature named Bob in her closet. Bob remembers everything from her last visit but Livy struggles with these same memories. She makes it her duty to figure out how to get Bob home (wherever that might be?) while her mother is off visiting old friends for a week. I had trouble getting into this story yet I liked the conclusion of Bob’s story.

3. Merci Suarez changes gears by Meg Medina – This excellent title won the Newberry medal this year! This story resonates with her family’s rich family culture as Merci navigates her private school surroundings as a scholarship culture. Eventually she learns that if she stays true to herself all will work out. Her grandfather plays a large role in her life and his world is changing as he ages and this affects the whole family as they learn to deal with his aging mind.

4. Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed – Amal lives in Pakistan with her family and she loves going to school and being in her village. Her only dream is to become a teacher. One day she has a heated encounter with her village’s horrible landlord and her dreams are quickly disrupted as she learns what it means to have an enemy. I loved this story and learned a great deal about Pakistani culture. I hope she is working on a second book of Amal so we can see if she realizes her dreams.

5. Aru Shah and the end of time by Roshani Chokshi – I’m only about 5 chapters in but am in love with this fast-paced fantasy book about spunky Aru who has awakened a demon in her mom’s Indian museum. This is one from Rick Riordan’s new imprint and it is excellent.

I’ve also read Helen Hoang’s two books; perfect, quick summer reads and sexy-not for the prudish. These are modern day romance novels even though the covers do not feature bodice-ripping of any kind. I like the characters which feature people on the autism spectrum. I read this fantastic Washington Post article about Hoang and her desire to write romance novels. Very sweet, super sexy, and I will read every book she puts out…

How is your summer?