Personal Librarian served with baked cod and a lemon/pea risotto

 Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray and served with baked cod and a lemon pea risotto 

This one was interesting and also a little flawed.  First, what I really liked was finding out about this remarkable woman in history that I knew nothing about!   Bella da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and ultimately one of the most powerful women in NYC during the early 1900's.  She handles his rare manuscripts, books, bibles and artwork and is given the power to buy at will under his name.  She builds out the Pierpont Morgan library  and is J.P. Morgan's constant companion.   I looked her up and all of this is true!   And, she was passing as white her whole life!    This is really the story of  how she got to this place of power, how she dealt with the difficulty emotionally of hiding her true self and  how she got comfortable with who she was.  Plus, she was able to go places and do things that few women could do.  She was fearless and powerful.   The history was fascinating.  Also, I  always like a book about books though at time this felt like it was more about art.  I also like that i've been to the Morgan library in NYC and it is pretty amazing. 

Where i struggled a little bit was with the writing style.  I really had a hard time connecting with Bella.  So much is said in a matter of fact way and the dialogue felt a little stilted.  I just didn't have an emotional reaction to any of it and that had me a bit bored.   I would still give this a solid 3.5 stars and recommend it especially if you are interested in this part of history.  

I could not figure out a food item!  I swear there is no food in this book.  If there is, i totally missed it.  I struggled with what to make.  Nothing really stood out as representing the library.  I knew it needed to by something New York related even though the book does take us to Italy for a brief moment. 

I finally landed on baked cod served on a lemon pea risotto.   Here is why...  i had the opportunity to live in the NY market for 2 years when i was in my 20's.  before that time , my experience with restaurants was minimum- diners or chains but no fine dining.  When  I lived outside of NY and worked in the city, I was exposed to fine dining for the first time.   Super fancy restaurants with foods i had never had before.   Back then it felt like all of the food was served vertical....  piled up on top of each other.   I decided to do a delicious baked cod https://www.kleinworthco.com/air-fryer-cod/.  Super easy in the air fryer .  I make risotto pretty often so this time i added some fresh english peas and some lemon zest.  It felt very spring like!  I would imagine that Bella was served this in a fancy restaurant!  Enjoy! 

Epistolary Novels #4 Love and Saffron served with Mussels in a Saffron sauce

Love and Saffron by Kim Fay and served with Mussels in a Saffron sauce. 

You know my love of the Epistolary Novel!  I've shared it many times.  This book checked every box for me.  It is letters between 2 women who become friends through the mail in the 60's.   Imogen lives on Camano Island in the PNW and writes a monthly column in a magazine.  Joan lives in LA and writes her a fan letter which starts the friendship.  Joan is young and still finding her voice as a writer and exploring food.  They discuss the foods of the PNW and of LA.  Joan introduces Imogen to Mexican food and new flavors and spices.  Within their letters, secrets are shared and dreams and heartbreak.  Imogen's husband is inspired by the food and the smells and that changes their relationship. Joan meets someone but is worried that society will not embrace her choice.   

I love all of the food talk.  Today I am so spoiled and have exposure to so many different foods and cultures but in the 60's and 70's that wasn't the case.  These women are learning and growing and exploring new experiences.  Oh how wonderful to explore for the first time!   Their curiosity and pleasure in the new experience is fun to read.   

This is a short novel and I read it in a day.  I went back and read parts again because i just wanted to soak in the food.   I will not share too much but i do recommend a box of tissues nearby when you read it.  

this is ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me.  I just loved it and recommend it for anyone looking for a quick, lovely read on friendship and food.  

I knew i wanted to make mussels in saffron since that is what starts the friendship.  Mussels are super popular in the PNW and i have learned to love them during my 10 years.  I had never used saffron and realized the cost was probably one of the reasons!  $25 for a small container. 

I went with Martha Stewarts recipe because...  it's Martha Stewart! 

https://www.marthastewart.com/951456/steamed-mussels-wine-and-saffron?xsc=eml_msc_2012_11_26&om_rid=NlBBaI&om_mid=_BQs9hWB8vS8%24pV

OMG ,  so good!  I have plenty of saffron left so I plan to make this multiple times.  I only used just under a full lb of  mussels (I'm just one person) and her recipe calls for 3 lbs.  I went ahead and made the full amount of broth because i wanted extra broth.  Glad I did.  I had some sourdough bread I toasted and it was so perfect!  I almost ate all of it in one sitting!   

The Trees served with fried catfish, collard greens and hushpuppies

 The Trees by Percival Everett served with Fried Catfish, hushpuppies and Collard Greens.  

This book!  Not sure how to describe it- a mystery, a horror novel, a dark comedy.  I'm just not sure.  It leaves me a little speechless.  I'm going to say it is brilliant.  Here is how NPR described it- "It's a racial allegory grounded in history, shrouded in mystery, and dripping with blood. An incendiary device you don't want to put down."  I think that covers it.   

Back in December I was visiting with my sister in Sacramento and our friend Bill told me I had to read this book.  He said it was the best book he read in 2021.  In exchange, I told him to read my favorite book of 2021, Hamnet.  It took me a while to get this from the library and I knew nothing about it.  I started it and had to stop and look up the author.  I wasn't familiar with him.   Turns out he has published 30+ books and won so many awards that it would take a page to list them.   

The book starts with a brutal murder in Money Mississippi.   Next thing you know a 2nd murder, just like the first one , occurs and even has one of the same victims! (that victim disappeared from the first murder scene)   2 detectives are sent in from the MBI to support and it just gets weirder at that point.    The murders are connected to the lynching of Emmett Till.  I'm not sure I should say much else about the plot because it is better for you to go in unprepared.  I will say this, Everett is having a lot of fun with the total racist white characters.  Everything from the language (which was shocking at first and took a while to not flinch when I read it) to the names of the characters-  Red Jetty, Junior Junior, Hot Mama Yellow, Pinch Wheyface.   The only sane people in the book are the 2 black MBI detectives and the 1 female black FBI agent.    The book is disturbing and gets a bit weird BUT it also had me laughing out loud a few times.      It definitely has Quentin Tarantino vibes.  

As soon as I finished the novel, I went and read every review I could find  and then listened to 2 podcast where the author was interviewed.   I felt like I needed to know more!   I almost want to read it again because I read it so fast, I feel like I missed some stuff.   I'll leave you with this- Read it!  Be prepared to be disturbed and uncomfortable.  But be prepared to be impressed! I'm betting this will be in my top 10 for the year.  It is different from my normal reads and that makes me happy.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐\

I knew I wanted to make catfish for this book.  It is mentioned several times in the story and seems to be the fish of choice in MIssissippi.  Took me a while to find catfish in Seattle but I did.  

I found a recipe to make it in the air fryer and you know how much i love my air fryer!  I gotta say that it was delicious!  Here is the link https://thisoldgal.com/air-fryer-southern-fried-catfish/

I have never made hushpuppies or collard greens.  The Collard greens were tough because most recipes have bacon in them.  I'm trying not to eat bacon these days so I had some changes and it turned out great!   

I had 2 bunches of collard greens.  I tore them up so they were smaller pieces.    Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan and sauteed 2 minced cloves of garlic and about a quarter of an onion diced up.  I added the collard greens for a few minutes and then covered all of this with vegetable broth.  Approximately 3 cups.  I reached a boil and then cut it down to a simmer.  I added in a few shakes of red pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.  Covered the pot and let it simmer for ~1 hour.   it was so good!! 

Here is the link to the hushpuppies were delicious but I wish I had cut the recipe in half.  I had hushpuppies for days!! https://whiskitrealgud.com/homemade-hush-puppies-recipe/ 

Tokyo Ever After served with Salmon and cucumbers

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean served with Salmon with Scallions, Cucumber salad , edamame and a red bean dessert!

This book is fun.  This is like movie candy.  You know those superhero movies that it doesn't matter if you know what is happening, it's just fun to sit in the theater and enjoy the show?  That is this book.  It is a delightful quick read. Doesn't matter that is isn't realistic, it is just fun and a great read!    Princess Diary in Japan. 

In a nutshell, Izumi Tanaka, finds out that her father is the Crown Prince of Japan.   Izumi never knew her father and felt out of place in her small Northern CA town.  Once she discovers who her father is, he wants to meet her and she goes to Japan to explore this part of her family.  There is a very handsome body guard and 2 evil step cousins and 1 really fun cousin.   We get to experience all of the new stuff with Izumi and can't help but wonder if this is her new life or if it is too good to be true.  It's just a fun little fairytale but has a totally cool heroine at the center.  This book had a lot of humor in it and a sweet love story along with a sense of belonging.  

 I was interested originally because my niece has been living in Japan for 2 years and i so wanted to go visit her.  That didn't happen, Thanks a lot COVID, but someday we'll go together.    I gobbled this fun little book up in 2 days.  It also has a strong sense of place which is nice!   Book candy!  I gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.  Totally fun read and highly recommended

I really wanted to make Dorayki which is like a red bean pancake.  She mentions it in the book.  But I couldn't find red bean paste anywhere!  I ended up using a couple of recipes from a Japanese cookbook I have and I found some red bean paste dumplings at Whole Foods.   The salmon was great!  The cucumber salad was pretty good but I made so much  that I had salad for days.   Ended up throwing out a bit!   Enjoy!