What Remains by Carole Radziwill

I hosted May's book club at my new pad in the Val. We read Carole Radziwill's memoir, What Remains about the death of her husband, Anthony Radziwill and her friends' and husband's cousin, JFK jr and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. I thought it was a pretty interesting read since I was so obsessed with them in the mid-90's when I lived in New York and still haven't gotten over their tragic deaths in a plane crash in '99. As a "Real Housewives of NYC" devotee I thought the book added depth to Carole's character for me.

It was a 8 1/2 month pregnant me, Suzy, Abby, Tamar, Amy R, Liesel, Stefanie and Bianca. I made salmon, cauliflower, a salad and some crazy gooey cookies. I wish I had remembered to take a picture! Next book club the baby will be on the outside of my body!

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Second Half

AmyS hosted Part II of The Goldfinch book club. It was a pretty intimate group of just me, Suzy and Stefanie but we had a great time and got to talk about all sorts of stuff - not so much the book but oh well!

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt : First Half

Ann hosted March's book club. Allegedly Matt made super delicious margarita's. Unfortunately I could not imbibe because of the baby in my belly. The book was the first half of The Goldfinch which I am loving. It was me, AmyS, Suzy, AmyR, Abby and Liesel. It's always a good time to yuck it up with you girls. We didn't so much talk about the book but there's always next month!

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Bianca hosted a lovely book club last night. I loved seeing her cool new house and the kids running around! The carrot, lemon, ginger soup was so delicious as well as the homemade croutons and salad. Yummy!

It was Bianca, Liesel, Suzy, AmyM, Dana, Stefanie, me and it was great to welcome back Abby! It's always a relief to laugh, talk and hang out with you girls!

I think Bianca and Stefanie were the only ones to actually finish the book but I came close! It took a little while to get into but once you do it's pretty fascinating. As Stefanie said "It's like Downton Abbey meets Sliding Doors". Life can turn out so many different ways.

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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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!