Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

I hosted a small but lovely Book Club last night. It was me, Suzy, Heather and Ann. I think it's nice to have a small group sometimes to really get to talk. Unfortunately Heather got bitten by a biting fly in our house. Sorry Heather! Between that and the terrible brownies, you're never going to come back!

I almost finished the book - Only 14 pages to go! No one else got too far so it was okay. It was about an English newspaper based in Rome written in a series of short stories that all eventually connect. I thought it was a really good read and I can't wait to see how he wraps it up.

As for food, I Gwynnied out. It was all from her It's All Good cookbook and it was all good except her "foolproof, cakey, fudgey brownies". Instead they were heavy, dry and chalky. Good thing I got back up berries and cookies from Whole Foods. Here are the recipes. I'll omit the brownie recipe:)

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas,
                       adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow's book "It's All Good"

1, 14oz can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained and dried
1 cauliflower, cut up into florets
3 tablespoons olive oil

For the dressing.

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup of olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 425. Put the cauliflower and chickpeas in a roasting pan with the olive oil and salt. Bake for 45 minutes or until it's nice and brown. Whisk the ingredients for the sauce together. Mix it all together and voila! So delicious!

Gwyneth’s Vietnamese Salad, from It’s All Good 
  • 4 large bok choy leaves, rough bottoms discarded, stems cut into 1/4” bias and leaves shredded
  • 4 big leaves Napa cabbage, shredded
  • 1 bunch watercress (discard thick stems), roughly chopped
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
  • the leaves from about 8 stems each basil, mint, cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 small cucumber, thinly sliced on the bias
  • 1 red Thai chili (or more…or less), thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts, roughly chopped
  • Vietnamese Dressing
Toss the bok choy, cabbage, watercress, carrot, herbs, cucumber, chili and 1/4 cup of the peanuts together with enough dressing to coat.
Vietnamese Salad Dressing

  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons agave nectar
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion or shallot
  • sea salt
Whisk all ingredients together. This will keep for a week in the fridge!

 
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Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles



On June 25th, we had another super fun Book Club hosted by Courtney with scrumptious food from Thyme Cafe! It was me, Suzy, both Amys, Tamar, Ann, Liesel... and I was so happy to meet the special surprise guest, eight week old baby Anya! She is so  delicious and sweet. I loved holding her!



The book discussion was pretty slim. I almost finished. I love reading about this time period and all the old time glamour. I wish we could go back to certain aspects of the 20's and 30's like paper correspondence and the clothes.

I'll be hosting next in August. Book and date to follow...

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

On May 2nd, Heather hosted another amazing Book Club starting with Gin Rickeys for the 20's era cocktail hour. Every detail was perfect down to the lemon cakes for dessert. The food and company was fabulous as usual. It was me, Courtney, Amy R, Bianca and Dana.

Sorry no pic!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

March 19th, Liesel hosted a very pregnant book club - well, I guess she was the only one pregnant;) We chose a classic, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone got through it. I thought it was just me because I had a much older (unreadable) translation, but it seemed no one could really get into it. A few of us said we would push on but it's still sitting collecting dust on my night stand as I've moved on to other stuff.

I'm so mad I forgot to take a photo - AGAIN! Can you guys please remind me? I have no brain! In attendance was, Liesel, her sister, Dana made a guest appearance, Bianca, AmyR, Suzy and me. Cute little Luca made a few pantless appearances as well as wanting all of us to witness his bath time. He is so adorable!

The food and company was fab. I loved the butternut squash soup and salad. Thanks Liesel! I hope you can make it next time but it may be cutting it close! The next book is another classic, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and I think Heather is next up to host. We also talked about seeing the movie as a group. It comes out May 10th I think.

Since I forgot to take a pic, I thought I'd include one from Easter of my baby boy with a chick. Isn't he presh?

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Okay, I am seriously slacking on my BC blog! Get it together! So, Tuesday, February 12th, two month in a row, special guest, Stefanie hosted a super fun book club at her parents' house. We read Cheryl Strayed's Wild about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which I found very inspirational though I would never have the guts to set out alone like she did. Most of us finished or came pretty close!

Heather made a quick appearance as she was gearing up for a half marathon that weekend! Otherwise it was me, Stef, AmyS and AmyR, Liesel and Tamar. We had fun looking at awkward junior/high school pics displayed about the Sobelle home. The delicious food was from Thyme cafe on Ocean Park (plug for Moira O'Keefe's awesome restaurant). I think we alarmed Liz and Dick with our unladylike talk. Sorry!

No pic dammit! Must do better!!!







Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

This post is so late! Sorry! Tamar hosted a fabulous book club in January. It was AmyR, AmyS, Bianca, Suzy, me and special guest star, Stefanie!


Tamar made lots of delicious vegan treats including a lentil soup, cauliflower rice, green beans and rice pudding. I've been trying to eat a much more vegetarian, plant based diet so Tamar's recipes were an inspiration. Here they are...



The Lentils:
Put 1 chopped onion, 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced, 1 Tbsp madras curry powder, 1 Tbsp garam masala, 1.5 tsps turmeric, 1 tsp salt, black pepper, 4-6 cups of water, 3 cups red lentils, 1 bunch lacinato kale, chopped up into small pieces into a slow cooker and cook on low overnight or for 6+ hours.  It will either be soupy/stewy or not depending on how much water is used.  Serves about 6-8 people

Cauliflower: 
Take 2 heads of raw cauliflower, wash, and break up into small pieces.  Put florets into food processor and pulse until califlower is in tiny "ricey" pieces.  You probably will have to do 2-3 rounds if you use 2 heads of cauliflower.  Add coconut oil to a large skillet on medium high heat.  Cook cauliflower in skillet and add salt, pepper and smoked paprika (or whatever spices you want) to skillet.  If you want, transfer to an oven safe ceramic dish to keep warm before serving.  This will create a more golden crust.  This should make enough for about 6-8 as a side dish.

The Balinese black rice pudding recipe I used is here.  The only adjustment I'll make is that I soaked my black rice overnight and then some (so probably about 18 hours) and when I finally cooked it, it cooked super fast.  It needed only about 15-20 minutes, if that to get to the desired consistency.  I also doubled this recipe and added 2 vanilla pods, plus a splash of vanilla extract.

Enjoy! See you gals next time at Stefanie's parents' house Feb.12th. The book is Wild by Cheryl Strayed.