Miss Benson's Beetle and Spam!

 Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce.  I saw this book mentioned on a few sites and the author wrote The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry which I really liked,  so I picked this up. 

I really liked this one though I will admit I thought it started a little slow.  Miss Margery  Benson is a middle aged unmarried teacher who pretty much has a breakdown one day at school and walks away from all of it.  It's the 1950's and an unmarried woman doesn't have a ton of choices at this point.  But she decides to follow a dream from childhood and go in search of an elusive beetle in New Caledonia.  To make this happens, she needs an assistant and ends up with the exact wrong person , Enid Pretty. 

Once they get on their journey, I loved it.  There is some tragic things in both of their lives and they don't immediately bond.  What I loved is that they both come to appreciate the other one.  Margery experiences kindness she has never experienced and Enid experiences friendship that she has never experienced.   There are some super funny scenes but also a few that will rip your heart out.  

New Caledonia.  about 750 miles from Australia

There is this side story that I didn't love with this man who is tracking them because he didn't get the assistent job.  Didn't love that character .   Without spoiling anything, I'll say it didn't end like I wanted but l loved the author notes at the end including the interview she does with the main characters.  Almost made me forgive the ending.   

Overall, I highly recommend this book about friendship, taking a chance and finding love in unlikely people.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

When they are out in the jungles of New Caledonia, they eat a lot of Spam.  Now, I have been trying not to eat any pork products but i LOVE Spam.  So, I made an exception and fixed up some Spam.  My favorite way to eat it is to fry it with potatoes.  Today i cut it up and put it on a cookie sheet with some fresh pineapple.  I covered it with teriyaki sauce, crushed garlic and added a chopped up onion.   I baked it in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes, tossing it several times.  I put it over rice and had a delicious dinner.  I like for spam to get super fried on top which didn't happen in the oven .  So, the next day, i put the leftovers in a pan and fried them up.  It was great.  I think next time i might just do the whole thing on the stove.  

Enjoy and keep reading. 

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop and Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune

 I listened to both of these books on audibles.  They fit a few categories for me- books by diverse authors and books about food.  

Vanessa Yu's Magical Tea Shop-  I liked this one the best of the 2.  Vanessa Yu comes from a line of  women who can tell the future but she can't control how she blurts out the future resulting in many tears and heartbreak.  Her Aunt, has the gift and can help but Vanessa must go with her to Paris to help her open her tea shop.  Of course there, she learns important lessons, falls in love and gets a new gift.  Okay so here are my likes and dislikes 

Liked - the magical realism, PARIS, the food and the family cultural  references.  I also liked how the author addressed the racism that her Aunt Evelyn experienced.  

What I didn't like - She fell in love like overnight.  That feels a little too rushed for me.  I wanted her to embrace her talent but instead she threw it away and some of the folks that were told their future, didn't do anything to fix it!  I was like....  Okay now you know so do something!  

The narrator was good and this was good for my afternoon walks.  Didn't take a lot of brain power. 

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2  

Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune -Natalie Tan hasn't talked to her mom in 7 years after a falling out and now her mom has died.  She comes home to San Francisco to wrap up her life and decides to reopen the restaurant her grandmother ran.  Chinatown is changing and she hopes bringing back the restaurant will keep some of the culture alive in the city.  She must cook 3 special recipes for 3 families who are struggling for the restaurant to be successful. 

Liked- the magical realism, SF one of my favorite cities in the world, the food references.  

Didn't like - She went on and on about missing her mom but yet they had been estranged all of those years.  That made me frustrated.  If she missed her so much now, why didn't she reach out years ago?  And, everytime something went wrong, she ran.  I got frustrated with the main character. 

At first the narrator bothered me but now i'm not sure if it was her or the book. 

⭐⭐⭐ because there was some fun parts and it was also good for my walks . 

For Natalie Tan's book, I experimented with Ramen noodles.   I saw a woman on Tik Tok take Ramen noodles, throw out the seasoning pack and make her own seasoning.  So, i tried it. 

I boiled the noodles and had them ready.  In a pan i heated butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, onions , chili flakes.  I added some spinach and the noodles.  Then i added an egg.  I cooked it all up and topped it with Everything Bagel seasoning.    So good!  I've made this a few times since this first experiment and tried adding a few additional things to it.   Super easy for lunch and yummy. 

For Vanessa Yu's book,  I decided to make a Croque Madame.  Well, to be fair it isn't an actual croque madame because i'm not eating much pork these days (Don't remind me of the Spam post I just did!)  

I made this one with just the cheese, béchamel sauce and egg on top.   Béchamel is pretty simple to make.  It is butter, flour and a bit of milk .  Whisk it together and add some paprika, salt and pepper.   

I toasted the bread.  Put it in a pan can layer on shredded Gruyere cheese.  Put on the top bread, coat it with bechamel sauce, more cheese and put under the broiler.  Maybe 5 minutes.  Meanwhile I fried an egg.  When the sandwich came out, i put the fried egg right on top.  Delicious!   

Jane Austen #3- The Next Great Jane

 What a fun read!  I heard about this book on one of my favorite podcast, Novel Pairings.   It is a young adult novel with hints of Jane Austen all through it.  A 12 year old girl in Maine wants to be a great writer like her namesake Jane A.   She lives with her single father who studies Plankton.  Her mom comes into town with a new fiance and plans to get closer to Jane.  Also a famous writer moves to town with a son that drives Jane nuts.  So many fun JA references including the Fairfax family and Kitty plus lots of prejudice happening. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I read this book over a weekend and it was the perfect feel good, quick read.   The book is set in Maine so I made New England Clam Chowder.  I had actually never made clam chowder before and it was pretty easy and tasty.  

I found a post on Pinterest that I followed  but left  out the Bacon.   Turned out great.  Added a few oyster crackers and it was a full meal.   

https://www.thekitchn.com/clam-chowder-recipe-23079005?newsletter_slot=11&utm_source=k_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10032020

Keep reading!