Summer is here!

Summer has officially begun in Seattle! We don't start to heat up until July so for us to have a few days in the 80 prior to the 4th of July, it's a big deal! I always read a couple of light weight chick lit books during the summer. It's just fun and perfect for the beach. While I was in Hawaii recently I read 2 books on the beach. Life is a Beach is by Claire Cook, the author of Must Love Dogs and Goodnight June by Sarah Jio. Both were fun and the right choice for the sitting in the sun. Life is a Beach is about 2 sisters trying to figure out their life. The main character is living over her parents garage and can't figure out her relationship with her artist boyfriend. Her sister is married and overworked with kids and isn't very happy. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. By the end the relationship is figured out and the sisters are headed in the right direction. Not sure there is a lot of beach in the book except that they live near the beach and the one sister makes jewelry from beach glass.

 Goodnight June is set in Seattle. I've read 3 of the authors other books and really enjoy that they are all set here in places I know. This one is about a woman who inherits a children's bookstore in Green lake and must decide between saving it and her childhood memories or going back to her high powered job in NYC. Of course there is some baggage with the store and her childhood and a handsome restaurant owner next door. I really enjoy her books because they mix mystery, romance and local color well. What I dislike is that the characters fall madly in love within a week. Really. How often do men say they are willing to sacrifice their entire life to help the woman they just met? Just wish the romance didn't happen so fast. But, really fun read and loved the tie into books especially a classic like Goodnight Moon. I'd recommend both for some light reading.
The 4th of July was Friday and I made Cherry Pie and French Vanilla Ice Cream. Delicious. Went to a friends house where we had ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad and ice cold beer. afterwards we watched fire works on the roof top. overall a fun evening. The cherry pie was pretty easy. I have to admit that i didn't make my own crust. I don't have my big food processor (it's in storage) and it is hard to make without a food processor. So, I used Pillsbury dough that I rolled out. But the filling was all mine!
Here is the recipe;

• 3 cans of tart cherries in water (not the pie filling! i use Oregon Fruit products Red tart Cherries. find them with the canned fruit section)
•   4 Tbls cornstarch
•   1 1/4 cup sugar
•   1/8 salt
• 1/4 vanilla extract

  Drain one can of cherries. use the juice from the other 2 cans. Mix fruit, cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir regularly. Let cool. Preheat oven to 425. pour filling into prepared pie crust. trim the edges of the pie crust. cut strips into a 2nd piece of pie crust to create a lattice top. drip the stips over the top and press around the sides with a fork or crimp with your fingers. Brush top with a egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 20 minutes and then lower temperature to 350 and cover the edges with foil or a pie crust shield (I bought one at Sur La table) and bake for another 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Serve and enjoy!

lattice pie top



cheery pie filling

 

finished Cherry Pie



 

Pie!

Songs of Willow Frost

Our book group choose Songs of Willow Frost for the May/June book. This is the 2nd book from Jamie Ford. I was excited to read it because it is set in Seattle and I always love reading books with a little local flair. I found the story to be so sad. A Chinese -American orphan in the 1940's is looking for his mother. The story goes back and forth between his search and her early struggles that caused her to give him up. Really well written and interesting. But not a book to read if you are already a little depressed. I gave it 4 stars out of 5 mainly because it is a story that moves quickly, keeps you interested and leaves an impact on you. I often think how difficult life must be for immigrants even today as they try to fit into our culture. But back then it was much much worse. A few years back I read a book called Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. That was one of the best books I've read about the struggles of fitting into a new country. The hardship for that young girl and for that family stuck with me for a long time. They live in extreme poverty in the US and work in a factory. It is modern day which is jarring as I sometimes forget that things haven't changed as much as we want to believe. I haven't really cooked much in the way of Chinese food. I joke with a friend at work that until I went to college I thought all Chinese food was Chow Mien in a can. I decided to create a Chinese Chicken Salad. I don't really think that is at all Chinese! I looked up the history of Chinese Chicken salad and it said it was a Western Dish inspired with Asian ingredients hence the name. I think the only thing Chinese about my version is the fried won-tons! But here it is; 1 bag of Cole slaw mix a few leaves of green lettuce Red pepper Green onions Sugar Snap peas Cucumber Peanuts wontons Chickens I bought a roasted chicken and picked it off the bone so I didn't have to do the entire thing from scratch. For the fried wontons, I bought a pack in the grocery store and fried then in a little bit of canola oil. Just enough to get them dark. I made a dressing with a little bit lemon juice, white vinegar, Asian sesame oil, sugar and salt. Pretty simple recipe and I made enough for me to have for lunch most of the week. Of course after 3 days, I was done with it. Super simple and super good. But not really super Chinese!

the finished product

Cooks on Books

Two books worth checking out

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/135018.The_Book_Lover_s_Cookbook

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209363.The_Book_Club_Cookbook

New Beginnings

I've had this blog for a while now but haven't posted for a year. I started this as a way to track my journey as I trained for a half marathon. Then it morphed into books and food and travel. Now it is landing at books and food. It seems I always come back to those things. It's not like I don't have other blogs. I have my hamburger blog that I started about 5 years ago with my nephew. We were in search of the best burger in CA. It became just my blog in search of the best burger anywhere. Mainly west coast but also wherever I happened to travel. There is also the book blog that goes with our monthly book group- Beehive. The book group also started bout 5 years ago and still meets monthly to discuss books. I love my book group. It forces me to read things I might not normally read and lets me see some of my favorite people in this world. The links for both blogs are listed to the right with my favorite blogs. I'm going to try to again. This time focusing on what I am reading and food that it inspires me to cook. Joining together 2 of my favorite things in life. Let's see if I can make it work this time!

Books for March

Book group discussed The Cat's Table last week.  This was my recommendation.  
In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy boards a huge liner bound for England – a ‘castle that was to cross the sea’. At mealtimes, he is placed at the lowly ‘Cat's Table’ with an eccentric group of grown-ups and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys become involved in the worlds and stories of the adults around them, tumbling from one adventure and delicious discovery to another, ‘bursting all over the place like freed mercury’. And at night, the boys spy on a shackled prisoner – his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever.
Really enjoyed the book.  It was a nice light read for the month of February.   The food was good.  Lot's of salads, curry rice and veggies, dessert. 
For April we are reading Moloka'i.  Looking forward to it!

 

Cutting for Stone

I finished Cutting for Stone last week.  Really great book and worth the investment.  It does take a bit to get into it and it is not a quick read. 
" Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him."

Our book group had a great discussion with this book.  Lot's of conversation on the relationship of the boys with their father, step father, their mother and the woman who betrays them.  Also, good questions about the medical issues in the book.  Probably the most conversation we've had on a book.
Next up...  The Cat's table.

French Macarons- the first attempt

Last week I attempted the French Macaron.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/almond-macarons.aspx



Egg whites

 

Lemon curd



I used the recipe on Fine Cooking partly because there is a video with it and it was pretty easy to follow.
I have always been intimidated by the Macaron.  I had heard it was difficult and that it takes ton's of practice.  I think for a first attempt they came out pretty good.

Couple of things- almond flour is expensive!  13.99 for a lb.  Also, I could not get the darn things flat!  Mine kept puffing up.  They look like little hamburgers.  But the taste was pretty darn good.  I did a lemon curd in the middle of half and a Chocolate Ganache in the other half.  I took them to work and everyone gobbled them up.  I would give them a B- for a first attempt.  It definitely got me inspired to try again.  This time with some color and flavor. 
I found this blog that has some helpful hints on making Macarons   http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2011/04/how-to-make-macarons-whats-working-for-me-right-now/

I'm going to try her suggestions on piping them and see if that works.  Based on her writing, it appears it takes most people a few trys. 



Could not get them flat!



The finished product.  A little hamburger with Chocolate Ganache

Beautiful Ruins

Finished reading Beautiful Ruins last week.  Really enjoyed it! The story takes us to Italy, LA, Edinburgh and eventually Seattle.  It includes some Hollywood royalty, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, some humor, love and sadness.  It was a quick read and I would highly recommend it.   Plus it made me want to travel to Italy!    Richard Burton is a fascinating character.  When I look at his photo's I don't think he was particularly attractive but he had charisma.  On the screen he was powerful.  This book felt like a movie to me.  It was very visual and I kept picturing all of the characters.  I'm curious if they have optioned it be make a movie which would be fun because it is about making movies.
I'm almost finished with Cutting for Stone.  Much tougher read but really enjoyable. 

2013

WOW!  how did 3 months go by.  I have been terrible at updating the blog and am going to shoot to get on a regular schedule again.
I finished my run after Thanksgiving.  It went really well.  Didn't break any records but I finished.  Now I've signed up to do another half marathon with some friends from work.  It's not till June so I'm taking a bit of a break.  But not too long.  I need to start training again by end of February.
Couple of New Years resolutions ;

• Go back to Yoga!
• Try a new recipe every week
• pay down the credit cards
• update the blogs - burger and this one- regularly.

That's not too bad.  All completely within reach.
I should probably add- don't eat so many pastries.  I have a new project at work with La Boulange.  I'm eating a ton of pastries.  At this rate I will need to increase the yoga and exercise or buy new pants.  Have to start limiting the goodies when I'm in the market. 
Love the project.  It is all the things I enjoy- food, Paris, craziness!  It's going to be a great year.

Finished the half marathon!

Pastries!

STOP!