Commonwealth, Moonglow, Hillbilly, A Gentleman in Moscow

So far in 2017 we've read...

Commonwealth by Ann Patchet at Jacyln's

Moonglow by Michael Chabon at Liesel's

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance at Dana's

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles at Tamar's

Proof by C.E. Tobisman

Suzy hosted October's Book Club. She finally made food from her culture! We had grape leaves, babaganoush, hummus, a delicious lentil dish, a salad and lots of pita. It was yummy. We're still waiting for those recipes, Suzy.

We got Cindy for a repeat appearance to talk about her book, Proof. It's a sequel to her first book, Doubt with the same protagonist, Caoline Auden. I loved how open she was to listen to our comments. We'll see if any make it into the book!

We had a big group -Suzy, Liesel, Dana, AmyR, Tamar, Jaclyn and guest appearances by Ashley and Cindy. Such a fun night!

Doubt by C.E. Tobisman

I hosted the August book club at my house. Despite the initial drama of a shooting and street closures a block away - oh and loud ghetto-copters and police cars everywhere, we had a lovely evening! It was such a treat to have the author, Courtney's friend, Cindy Tobisman attend and talk about her book and her writing process.

It was a pretty big group - me, Suzy, Courtney, Liesel, Dana, Jessica, Heather, Tamar and Cindy! It was such a warm night so we had a comfortable dinner outside. The burrata heirloom tomato salad was a hit. Here's the recipe from Suzanne Goin's book Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

Looking forward to reading your next book, Cindy!

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Tamar hosted the June Book Club. The book was an oldie - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I remember reading it when I was twelve and thinking it was pretty racy. Talking about menstroo-ation and bras and kissing! I'll save the original version for Pippa - not the texting, modern version.

Tamar made delicious vegan tacos and seriously good vegan chocolate chip cookies. Recipe below. It was an intimate group - me, Dana and Suzy. We got to talk about all sorts of crazy online dating, the challenges of cohabitation and babies. We covered a lot.

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cup almond flour (I like Bob's Red Mill blanched the best)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup coconut oil (plus some for greasing cookie sheet)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350, grease cookie sheet.

Mix flour, salt and baking soda in one bowl. 

Mix coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla in another bowl. Combine dry with wet, then add choc chips. Mix and form into balls. Bake for about 10 minutes.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Bianca hosted Book Club in March. We read When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. It was me, Tamar, Suzy, AmyR, Liesel and Dana. Bianca made a delicious soup, salad and bread. Everyone read the book I think! And we actually talked about it.

The Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown

Dana hosted January's Book Club. The book was Boys In The Boat by Daniel James Brown. Unfortunately I wasn't there so can't comment but looking back on emails it looks like the food was great!

"I have two ideas for dinner - one is Rachlette (bubbly cheese poured over a bunch of veggies, potatoes, pickles etc.) and is a fun, interactive winter dish. And the other is an amazing African, chicken, veggie and nut soup. Very healthy and delicious soup with a side dish. Any thoughts?"

And it looks like Liesel, Bianca, Tamar, Amy M and Suzy were there. Anyone else? I lost steam with this book. I loved it in the beginning but the detail of every race got tedious for me and I eventually stopped reading it. Did anyone love it?

The Martian by Andy Weir

As far as I can see we skipped a few months - August, September and October. Please let me know if this is an error. November's book club was at Heather's lovely home. Even though she fretted the food was a disastrously overcooked and almost ordered a pizza, I thought the short ribs and kale potato mash were absolutely amazing! Her "failure" would be my masterpiece! The polenta cake dessert was totally delicious as well. Recipe below.
It was Dana, Liesel, AmyR, Bianca, Suzy and me. We were regaled by stories of Suzy's online dating adventures. Between the polenta cake and her titillating stories I went home and came all over the place.

Here’s the cake:

• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 4 large whole eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup cornmeal [NOTE I DO HALF CORNMEAL, HALF POLENTA FOR A LITTLE CRUNCH]

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. and butter and flour a 10-inch round springform cake pan.
2. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Split vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape seeds from pod and add to butter mixture. Beat in whole eggs and egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and fold in flour and cornmeal. Pour batter into pan and bake cake in middle of oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove side of springform pan and place cake on a rack and cool completely. 

For the compote: put a bag of your favorite frozen berries in a bowl, sprinkle with about 1/4 cup sugar and douse with grappa. Also that to sit for a couple of hours.

For whipped cream: I add a big dollop of mascarpone to heavy cream before whipping, which I find stabilizes the whipped cream and stands up to the berry compote better.