Another Turn of the Page: Why I Love to Read

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen.
The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

If you wish to believe that quote, and I do, my Mother lived at least a thousand lives or more before she died on April 5th. She was 98. I never remember her without a book. She loved to read at the table while eating. This was taboo when she was growing up and she told me she was reprimanded many times for bringing a book with her to the dinner table. Probably why she did it as an adult. Back then it was Louisa Mae Alcott and Daphne Du Maurier, Phyliss Whitney and Victoria Holt. Mysteries were her first love so I am guessing Agatha Christie was on her list. She liked the detective and spy thrillers too: Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, Ruth Rendell, John D. MacDonald, Robert B. Parker. I don’t remember her ever reading to me as a little kid, but I guess her example was enough. I do know she urged me to read, Liittle Women, and at the time i though it too big. Or maybe it was just being stubborn because, “your Mom told you it was good’. When I finally did get around to reading it, I loved it. I know Mom also took us to our local branch library and we never were restricted on how many books we could check out.

While going through Mom’s notebooks and papers the other day I found a binder with a typed alphabetical list of books she had read. It was labeled as List #1 and there were 345 titles. There was a rating system too, the more stars, the better the book. Lee Child, Charles Todd and Sue Grafton’s books had a lot of stars. I hope I eventually find List #2 or even #3 because the latest read date on list #1 was 2008.

And so, I am a reader. I became a librarian and ended up recommending books to people, like my Mom did with me. And I didn’t have to worry about recommending “big books” because kids were devouring Harry Potter, some of which exceeded 800 pages. Remember, Little Women, it was 388 pages. What was I scared of?

So, thanks Mom. I have two books going at once right now and I belong to three book groups. It is a great vice to have. And now more books:

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022) 560p. Demon Copperhead is the protagonist of this book which is patterned after David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Kingsolver moves the story from London to Appalachia where she addresses the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, opiate addiction and poverty much like Dickens’ attack on the societal problems of his time.

2. Death in the Dark Woods (Monster Mystery #2) by Annelise Ryan (2023) 336p.In this second installment of Annelise Ryan’s Monster Hunter series, Morgan Carter and her dog Newt are on the hunt for Bigfoot in the forests of northern Wisconsin. But is the elusive cryptid really to blame for the recent murders in the area? In the first of the series, she was looking for a monster in Lake Michigan.

3. The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota (2015) 468p. The plot follows several Indian men who all move illegally to London in order to earn enough money for their poor families back home. The author takes us into their lives and what their immigrant situations are really like. Only hoping to provide for their families these people live day to day in a constant state of fear.

4. Inmate 1577 (Karen Vail #4) by Alan Jacobson (2011) 453p. When an elderly woman is found raped and brutally murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague, Detective Roxxann Dixon.
As Vail, Burden, and Dixon follow the killer’s trail in and around San Francisco, the offender continues his rampage, leaving behind clues that ultimately lead them to the most unlikely of places: Alcatraz.

5. Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (2020) 388p. This story features Eva Traube, a twenty three year old Jewish woman, living in France during WWII. In 1942, Eva and her parents are on a list to be rounded up. Eva’s father is taken but she and her mother are able to escape Paris due to Eva’s artistic talent at falsifying paperwork that will allow them to escape to Switzerland. Before reaching the border the women settle in a small town in the Free Zone. It is here that members of the resistance recruit Eva to use her new found forging talents to save thousands of children and adults who would otherwise have been killed by Hitler’s regime.

6. Shattered (Michael Bennett #14) by James Patterson (2022) 384p. When FBI Agent Emily Parker, a good friend of Detective Michael Bennett of the NYPD, went missing, Michael had just returned from his honeymoon. Remaining on leave, he immediately goes to Washington DC where she was based. Not authorized by the NYPD, but with an FBI contact, Bobby Patel, feeding him information, Michael is determined to find Emily, confident she is still alive.

7. The Wager: Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (2023) 354p.This historical non-fiction book is an amazing account of the British naval ship HMS Wager. In 1741, as part of Commodore George Anson’s squadron, they set out to intercept Spanish galleons carrying treasure from South America. With treacherous tides and storms through the passage between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the Wager runs aground on a desolated island. With little resources, the crew faces starvation and freezing temperatures along with mutiny and betrayal.

8.The Kommandant’s Girl (Kommandant’s Girl #1) by Pam Jenoff (2007) 395p. The story revolves around nineteen-year-old Emma in war-torn Poland, whose husband flees underground to help the resistance fighters. She takes on a new identity as Anna, and hides her Jewish heritage. Wanting to do whatever it takes to help her husbands’ cause, she takes a job as the Kommandant’s personal assistant where she has access to secret information that will help the resistance.

9. On Animals by Susan Orlean (2021) 256p. In this collection of stories, largely pulled from articles she has written for The New Yorker, Orlean examines animal/human relationships. They range from the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, to the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with, all who are central to human life.

10. Fool’s Crow by James Welch (1986) 391p. In the Two Medicine territory of Montana, the Pikuni Indians are forced to choose between fighting a futile war or accepting a humiliating surrender as the encroaching numbers of whites threaten their primitive existence.

11. The Hunter (Cal Hooper #2) by Tana French (2024) 480p. Two years have passed since retired Police Detective Cal Hooper moved from Chicago to the small village in West Ireland, where he has taken a local teenager, Trey Reddy, under his wing. But when Trey’s absentee father returns home with a cunning scheme, the peaceful life that Cal and Trey have built comes crashing down. Read The Searcher before The Hunter to better understand Cal and Trey’s backgrounds.

12. The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017) 389p. Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, magazine reporter Monique Grant, listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn tells a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. And a surprising connection to Monique.

Thanks Mom!

Another Turn of the Page: Every Month has Ides

“Beware the ides of March.”
Soothsayer to Caesar in Act I, Scene II, Julius Caesar -William Shakespeare

Today is the Ides of March. I briefly mentioned that to the teller when I was doing some banking today and he looked at me with one of those “huh?” looks. I didn’t bother to elaborate but it struck me that this phrase is not as common as I thought. The phrase the “ides of March” was coined by Shakespeare when he had a soothsayer or a prophet say this line to Julius Caesar in the play Julius Caesar. This was written way after Caesar’s time but it referred to his assassination on March 15, 44 B.C. So, ever since it has been associated with gloom and doom. But did you know that every month has an Ides? According to the Roman Calendar the Ides is the middle of the month and for March it always falls on the 15th. It is not a strict division since it is based on the ancient calendar and the occurrence of the full moon but for the months of March, May, July and October it is the 15th, every other month it is the 13th. And you don’t really have to beware anything on these dates but if you look back in history you can always find something, good or bad. For instance on the Ides of January in 1939, bushfires in Australia burned 7700 sq. miles of land and killed 71 people. But in 1888 the National Geographic Society was formed. On the Ides of July the Holocaust began in 1941 but in 1799 the Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt. So what does all this mean? Not much really. Yesterday was PI(E) Day. It was March 14th 3.14 is Pi, the universal number, so let’s celebrate and eat pie. Coming up is March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day, so let’s eat corned beef and cabbage and raise a glass of green beer to fun or unusual observances that get us through the end of Winter and on to Spring.

Hey, the group also read a bunch of books, here they are:

1. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy (1999) 512p. A tale of two women, one from Ireland, one from America, who exchange houses for a summer, and in doing so learn much about each other, as well as much about themselves.
   
2. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (2023) 336p. A multigenerational family saga told through the voices of Ann, her mother and grandmother. The time period begins in 1960s Vietnam, when the grandmother escapes just before the fall of Saigon and continues to modern day Florida.
   
3. Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891) 360p.Our classic this month is the story of Tess Durbeyfield trying to live her life in 19th century England; eldest daughter to educated rural working class parents with their sights on their wealthier ‘family’ the D’Urberville’s. This book is chock full of family tragedies, deaths, sexual harassment and assault, gender inequality, and more.
   
4. The Cloisters by Katy Hays (2022) 312p. Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art. She is assigned to do research for an upcoming exhibit on ancient prophecy including a lost deck of Tarot. Lots of twists and turns make this an interesting mystery.
   
5. Blow Back by James Patterson (2022) 504p. US president Keegan Barrett swept into office on his success as director of the CIA. Six months into his first term, he devises a clandestine power grab with a deadly motive: Revenge. Our reviewer said, except for the CIA background of the main character, this book sounded very familiar to reality.
   
6. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (2020) 459p. Forced to flee from Acapulco after the massacre of their entire family, Lydia and her eight year old son Luca become migrants and begin their journey on foot to the United States. This novel sparked a lot of controversy when it was first released because it was written by a white woman about the migrant experience.
   
7. Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum #30) by Janet Evanovich (2023) 336p. This latest book in the series finds Stephanie working with an additional sidekick, Bob, Morelli’s dog, who she is dog-minding, while she hunts down two crooks who, in separate and accompanying incidents, have stolen jewelry from Plover’s jewelry store. Yes, Lula and Ranger and Grandma Mazur are here too. A light fun read.
   
8. Without a Trace by Danielle Steel (2023) 288p. A fast-moving romantic suspense novel set in France, about a man who decides to change his life after a near-fatal accident. This is the author’s 143rd fiction book. A prolific author who is right up there with James Patterson.
   
9. The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War by John ‘Chick’ Donohue (2017) 272p. An entertaining, feel-good, hard to believe it is true, memoir of an Irish-American New Yorker and former U.S. marine who embarked on a courageous, hare-brained scheme to deliver beer to his pals serving in Vietnam in the late 1960s. The movie of the same name is also recommended.
   
10. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (2003) 292p. Fascinating, funny, gruesome. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings, from body snatching, and crash test dummies, to cosmetic surgery practice and crime investigation. Organ donation is not the only thing a cadaver is used for. Well-researched, the author’s light touch takes the edge off of what could be a taboo subject.
    
11. This is Happiness by Niall Williams (2019) 400p. An uplifting ode to Ireland, its landscape, and to family and community roots, in this gentle coming of age novel set in the rural village of Faha in County Clare. It speaks of a not so long ago past where life was simpler and a place ran on its own sense of time.

Saying Goodbye and Remembering

A very dear,dear friend passed away yesterday. He was part of a deep and lasting friendship we have had with his wife and another couple for maybe 40 years. That friendship began with an eating group we formed, affectionately called the Foodies. I have posted before about the group so I won’t repeat that here but at the end will give you a few links to some previous posts. We started with food around our own tables and Kenn, being a hunter, liked to serve us venison if he had been lucky that year. He also knew his way around the kitchen so I know that he and Pam shared in the preparation of their dinners, mostly. Right, Pam?

Dinners were lively, with discussions ranging from religion to hunting, from nature to politics,(a topic Kenn loved to talk about.) We discussed books, philosophy, art (So ,Curt, you’re an artist, explain …) and food. We would go on for hours. I miss this good talk. There was also a lot of laughter, a lot of eating and a lot of good wine.

As the years went by we added travel to our dining. It could just be a good restaurant here in Wisconsin. Or maybe in Bellingham, WA, where Kenn & Pam moved. Or on Orcas Island, or Whidbey Island or Lummi Island or at Friday Harbor on San Jose Island, when we gathered in Washington State.

Or in Berlin. Kenn and Curt were great for trying almost anything. Curt was a good one for finding something unusual on the menu and Kenn, inevitably would go along with him. I remember him frequently asking Curt what he was going to order. In Berlin, in an outdoor Vietnamese eatery, the two of them decided to order duck tongues and chicken feet. The rest of us just looked on.

We will remember and look back fondly at all those good times to with Kenn. His crazy sense of humor, how he loved people. By the time we all left a restaurant, he would have chatted up the waitress, the bartender and sometimes the cook. He knew their life story by the end of the evening. He was a hugger too. He loved the outdoors and though we teased him about spending a weekend in the woods “killing things”, he was a responsible hunter and respectful of nature. And always on the lookout for the next adventure.

So, goodbye big guy, it was a privilege to know and love you.

• link one to Foodie stories
• link two to Foodie stories
• link three to Foodie stories
• link to a Venison gift

Magazine Menus

I get magazines from my healthcare provider. I get flyers and brochures from my grocery store. I get another magazine from AARP. I used to get a complimentary copy of Our Wisconsin magazine. In every single one of these publications there were recipes. The health one of course was trying to get me to eat healthy, the grocery one wanted me to buy the ingredients for their family friendly recipes at their store, AARP mostly featured articles on how to eat well after fifty or how to maintain a healthy weight and the Wisconsin one featured recipes with local ingredients, mostly sent in by their subscribers. I pretty much glanced at them or just ignored them completely. My husband does most of the cooking and his go-to is the New York Times food section or food shows or just our own cookbooks.

Lately we have been going through a lot of stuff that has been piling up, mostly in preparation for a big remodeling project we will be embarking on, starting in April. I thought I would attack the magazines and flyers. For each I did a quick flip just to see if there was an article I had missed. This pile wasn’t just the ones I previously mentioned but there were Smithsonians, Bookmarks Magazine, Sierra Club Magazine and Audubon. Naturally these last ones did not have recipes. Anyway, just as I was about to close up the latest healthcare magazine my eye caught on a recipe called, Smoky Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos. Well, we love sweet potatoes and had just picked up a few the other day. There was a can of black beans in the pantry and Curt was game to make them. But since we were short kale and a jalapeno we added those to our grocery list and decided to try these tacos the following evening.

Smoky Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

Ingredients:
2 C sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 medium)
4 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (or regular chili powder)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C medium yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 C shredded kale
2 tsp lime juice
1/3 C low-fat sour cream
1 Tbls skim milk
tortillas (corn or flour)
lime wedges

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
1. In a medium bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, 2 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp chili powder and salt. Toss to coat. Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet and roast 10-15 minutes, until tender and lightly browned, set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tsp oil over med. heat. Add onion, garlic and jalapeno. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, about 2-3 minutes. Add the black beans, 1/2 tsp chilli powder and the sweet potatoes. Cook, stirring, until hot, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the kale with the remaining 1 tsp of oil. With your hands, massage the oil into the kale. (This step is important to soften the leaves and infuse them with the oil). Add 1 tsp lime juice and set aside.

4. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, milk, remaining 1/4 tsp chili powder and remaining tsp of lime juice. We used a purchased Crema instead.

5. To assemble, put some of the potato/bean mixture into the tortilla of your choice. We used flour ones which we briefly toasted on the flame of our gas stove but you can warm them in your oven or microwave. If you use corn tortillas we suggest you double them as they break easily when folded. Heating these in the microwave works well. Top with some of the kale slaw and the chipotle crema. Serve lime wedges on the side.

So, how did they taste? They were good but not great. They need something more. The recipe suggests additional toppings of tomatoes, red onions and radishes and I could see those adding to the flavor. What I did instead was drizzle on top of mine some salsa which made a big difference. Would I make them again? Yes but definitely with a tomato salsa or a tomatilla salsa verde. Bottom line, don’t ignore those recipes that appear in unlikely places but be prepared to give them a shot of your own creativity.

Another Turn of the Page: February Contradictions

“Though, February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises”
― Charmaine J Forde

My custard filled Paczki and a cup of Apricot tea

Before I give you our books I wanted to address the odd conflicts this week. Fat Tuesday was this week. If you are a Christian you know that Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. On Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, you are supposed to prepare yourself for the 40 days of fasting before Easter. People would go to church to confess their sins and clean their soul. In other words, they would be ‘shriven. Fat Tuesday also goes by the name Mardi Gras, which is a day of party and excess and dancing and eating. So before you give up things like chocolate or alcohol or whatever is a sacrifice for you, you party hardy. I live in Northeast Wisconsin where there are a lot of Belgian, German and Polish traditions. We don’t have a lavish parade, instead the bakeries around here produce a delicious Polish pastry known as Paczki. These fried and filled pastries, pronounced “puhnch-kee,” date back to the 1700s, when people would traditionally use up “luxurious” foods like lard and sugar to ensure they wouldn’t be wasted during Lent. To me they are similar to a Bismark but when I researched this I discovered that that though they sort of look the same the dough is different. Ours had a custard filling but there are prune and raspberry fillings as well.

Ok, that was Tuesday. The next day was Ash Wednesday and by coincidence it was also Valentine’s Day. The beginning of Lent, fasting, repentance, contemplation vs love, roses, candy, dinner out where one will be indulging in those “luxurious” foods. I am sure there are some who were having a hard time deciding what to do and which way to go. For me it was easy. We flipped a coin but there were hearts on both sides. Curt made a tenderloin steak, a huge salad with roasted caulifower tossed in and for dessert, Tiramasu. So, whatever your tradition, be kind, be good and find yourself a good book to read for the rest of the month.

1. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (1993) 343p. This book continues the story of Taylor and her adopted daughter, Turtle. The Cherokee Nation learns of this not-so-legal adoption and requests she be returned to the tribe. Bean Trees is the prequel.
   
2. Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (2023) 400p. This novel is an emotional, heart wrenching family drama. It centers around the Padavano family of four sisters and the broken young man who marries into the family. Hello Beautiful!, is the greeting Charlie Padavano gives each of his daughters. With a nod to Louisa Mae Alcott’s Little Women, the author has given the four girls the characteristics of Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth.
   
3. Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray (2011) 334p. A memoir of a young woman, born to drug-addicted parents, who, at fifteen goes from living on the streets, to eventually graduating from Harvard.
   
4. Into the Storm: Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane and an Epic Battle for Survival by Tristram Korten (2018) 288p. The true story of two doomed ships and a daring search-and-rescue operation that shines a light on the elite Coast Guard swimmers trained for the most dangerous ocean missions.
   
5. North Woods by Daniel Mason (2023) 372p. The author chronicles life on a single plot of land in northern Massachusetts over the course of American history. We meet the inhabitants of this land, both human and non-human, both living and dead. It is told in twelve interlinked stories corresponding with the seasons and months of the year.
   
6. Dream Town (Archer series #3) by David Baldacci (2022) 432p. It is 1953 and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to visit friend and actress Liberty Callahan. Through her he meets script writer, Eleanor Lamb, who hires him to investigate who is threatening her life. But before he gets started, Eleanor disappears.
   
7. Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese-American Spy Hunter and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Mark Harmon, Leon Carroll (2023) 272p. From extensive research into almost forgotten historical documents, NCIS star Mark Harmon and co-author Leon Carroll, a former NCIS Special Agent, have collaborated on the true story of what happened before, during and after Pearl Harbor.
   
8. The Edge (6:20 Man #2) by David Baldacci (2023) 416p. Travis Devine is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent whose missing laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, will endanger the lives of countless operatives.
   
9. Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow (2023) 416p. In light of election-denialism and the rise of fascist tendencies in the US today, Maddow takes a look at how history repeats itself in the pro-fascist, pro-Hitler, anti-semitic movements in the US that were widespread in the forties, in part fueled by Germany’s media-bombing of the US with millions of leaflets and letters. Conspiracy theories about the Jews, intermarriage, blood-spoiling white purity, all in the guise of America First and nationalism and populism. Sound familiar?
   
10. Slow Horses (Slough House #1) by Mick Herron (2010) 320p. Slough House is where the MI5 spies, who have messed up or disgraced themselves in some way, are sent to while away what’s left of their failed careers. Jackson Lamb is the head of this band of misfits, nicknamed the Slow Horses. But Jackson has been around the spy game a long time and knows where “the bodies are buried” and is privy to a lot of MI5 secrets. So when a suspicious kidnapping of a Pakistani man is reported with no demands for a ransom forthcoming, Lamb suspects shadiness at MI5.

Another Turn of the Page: Buried in Snow

“The weather is nature’s disruptor of human plans and busybodies. Of all the things on earth, nature’s disruption is what we know we can depend on,
as it is essentially uncontrolled by men.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

Last year at this time I was writing about a January thaw. We had a ton of snow earlier in the winter, drifts, wind, ice, the whole nine yards. As of that writing, January 15, 2023, we were experiencing 30s and 40s. In contrast, this morning we woke up to -8 degrees. It has gotten to 3 and the wind is giving us a wind chill of only -10, for now. We have a foot of snow on the ground, courtesy of a blizzard that arrived last Friday and didn’t leave till late Saturday. Most of Sunday was spent digging, shoveling, plowing and pushing snow back out of the way of our porches, walks, and roads. I have a mountain in my back yard that is 8′ high and 12′ across. So it was fun looking back a year.

Because of this lovely weather we cancelled our meeting. Our table at the coffee shop was still reserved but we formally weren’t meeting. I was surprised to hear later that one member of our group actually braved the weather and went out, hoping someone else might do the same. Alas, she had to enjoy her coffee alone.

On the bright side, we here in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Home of the Packers, were treated to an upset win over the Cowpokes of Dallas on Sunday in a playoff game. You don’t have to be a fan of football to appreciate the look on the face of Jerry Jones, the Dallas owner, as the young’uns (we are the youngest team in the NFL) from the frozen tundra stunned the Big Boys from Texas by scoring a total of 48 points. We had 27 points before they even got on the board. Nobody else picked us to win either. Frankly, we didn’t think we were going to win. Just wanted a respectable showing. But It certainly has helped everyone’s spirits during this cold snap.

Because of the low book group turn out not many books were reported. Here’s what came in.

1. The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls (2013) 267p. It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When police start investigating the girls situation they decide to take a bus to Virginia to find their widowed Uncle Tinsley.
   
2. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (2021) 624p. World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.
   
3. Holly by Stephen King (2023) 449p. Holly, a shy introvert, is a character King first introduced us to in Mr. Mercedes. She again appears in Finders,Keepers as a partner to Bill Hodges, an ex-cop and PI. In The Outsider, she has become a private investigator and now in Holly, she has a case of her own trying to find missing persons who have been kidnapped by a murderous couple.
   
4. A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows, Birder Murder Mystery #1 (2014) 352p. DCI Domenic Jejeune is a Canadian police detective who would rather spend his days birdwatching. Soon after his arrival in Norfolk, Jejeune is assigned to solve the murder of a prominent ecological activist. If you love mysteries and birdwatching, this series is for you.
   
5. French Braid by Anne Tyler (2022) 244p. Set in Baltimore, in 1959, the Garretts, an ordinary American family consisting of father Robin, mother Mercy and their three children, the sensible and responsible Alice, the more flighty and rebellious Lily, and the sensitive 7 year old David, take their one and only family holiday at Deep Creek Lake. The author then takes us through the lives of these people in the next couple of decades.
   
6. Nemesis by Philip Roth (2010) 280p. It is the summer of 1944, WWII is still raging in Europe and the Pacific but at home in Newark, New York something else is raging, a polio epidemic, the strongest in eleven years. The story follows a young man who is not fighting in the war due to his poor eyesight and has instead become a school playground director, trying to nurture kids through the turmoil surrounding them.
   
7. The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood (2004) 288p. The story of a young man who narrowly survives a terrible car wreck that kills his little brother. Years later, the brothers’ bond remains so strong that it transcends the normal boundaries separating life and death. Charlie can still see, talk, and even play catch with Sam’s spirit. But townsfolk whisper that Charlie has never recovered from his loss.

New Year’s Day Reprise

As we head out to see what birds may be about on this first day of 2024 I thought a repost of our new year tradition was in order. Enjoy. I will update you later on our bird list.

Clash of traditions: Birds or Beans?

A Tasty Christmas Present: Part Two

On to the next part of the Banh Mi ingredients, the baguette. Technically this was started the night before but all of the additional prep and rising and forming took place the day it was served. So if you are going to attempt your own baguettes, and I encourage you to do so, they were marvelous, begin a day ahead.

Classic Baguette (a la King Arthur Flour)
makes 3 baguettes or 6 mini baguettes

Ingredients:
Starter (Poolish)
1/2 C water, cool
1/16 (a pinch) of active dry yeast
1 C flour

Dough
I C + 2 Tbls lukewarm water
All of the Starter
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 C flour
2 tsp salt

Step 1: To make the Starter ( night before )
Mix everything together to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 14 hours; overnight works well. The starter should have expanded and become bubbly.

Step 2: The next day add to the starter all the dough ingredients. Mix and knead everything together to make a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. Nathan did this with a wooden spoon and his hands since we do not have a stand mixer but if you have one, knead for about 4 minutes on medium-low speed; the finished dough should stick a bit at the bottom of the bowl.

Step 3: Place the dough in a lightly greased medium-sized bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rest and rise for 45 minutes. Gently deflate the dough and fold its edges into the center, then turn it over in the bowl before letting it rise for an additional 45 minutes, until it’s noticeably puffy.

Starting top left: 1. Starter 2. Dough ingredients added to starter 3. After the mix, a knead.
4. In bowl for !st rise. 5. Noticeable increase in size after 1st rise.

Step 4: Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Gently deflate it, and divide it into three or in our case for mini baguettes, six equal pieces.

Round each piece of dough into a rough ball by pulling the edges into the center. Cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes; or for up to 1 hour. (picture of balls below, before and after rise.)

Step 5: Here comes the tricky part. Working with one piece at a time, flatten the dough slightly then fold it nearly, but not quite, in half. sealing the edges with the heel of your hand.

Turn the dough around 180° and repeat: fold, then flatten. Repeat this whole process again; the dough should have started to elongate itself.

With the seam side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a 16″ or 8″ log. Taper each end of the log slightly to create the baguette’s typical “pointy” end.

Step 6: Place the logs seam-side down into the folds of a heavily floured cotton dish towel (or couche). Cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise until they’re slightly puffy. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature (about 68°F). At this point I think you can figure out why you need to start early and why people who work at bakeries get up in the middle of the night.

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450°F. Start to heat 1 1/2 cups of water to boiling. Under the rack you will be baking on insert a cast iron pan or a large 9 x 12 roasting pan to hold the water.

Step 7: Cover your baking sheet with parchment paper and gently transfer your baguettes. Slash diagonal cuts on the top of each with a sharp knife or razor blade.

Finally! Step 8:

Load the baguettes into the oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the lower pan, and quickly shut the oven door. The billowing steam created by the boiling water will help the baguettes rise, and give them a lovely, shiny crust.

Bake the baguettes for 24 to 28 minutes, or until they’re a very deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool them on a rack. Or, for the very crispiest baguettes, turn off the oven, crack it open about 2″, and allow the baguettes to cool completely in the oven, until both baguettes and oven are at room temperature. our baguettes came right out and the last two went in, because my oven wasn’t big enough for six at one time.

Ta-Da!!!!! If all went well, your baguettes should look like Nathan’s.

These mini baguettes measured about 6 inches each. To make the Banh Mi, Nathan cut them in half lengthwise. On one side he spread the liver mousse, on the other side he spread a sauce he made from Sriracha sauce and Kewpie mayo (Japanese mayo, which is more eggy). For ours he added a lettuce leaf, deli ham and pickled vegetables. This was a quick pickle that he made with daikon radish and carrot. The pickle, pate and mayo are pretty standard. You can do different deli meat or tofu or even a chicken cutlet.

Our Banh Mi was a perfect dinner. It went well with wine or beer. No sides were necessary. It was a wonderful Christmas gift. If you aren’t as ambitious as our son you can try your own with a store bought baguette and deli liver sausage or braunsweiger. Have fun with it.

A Tasty Christmas Present: Part One

Our Christmas was very quiet. Years ago we would get together with my sister and her husband, my Mom and Dad and of course our son. That was when we would travel to the Twin Cities in Minnesota where my parents lived. My sister was there too so naturally we were the travelers. But lots has changed since then. My Dad has passed, my sister and her husband have moved further west into Minnesota and my mother is now in assisted living. My son is no longer the little kid we rained presents upon. He is grown and lives on the other side of Wisconsin. But he comes home for the holidays. We do a jigsaw puzzle, visit with friends, take walks, do a little birding and open a few gifts. Nathan doesn’t know what to give us anymore because frankly, we have everything we need and if we want something, we buy it. But he does want to give us something and since he cooks as good as his Dad, he told us he would be preparing dinner for us one night. He was going to make us each a Banh Mi. Banh Mi is a short baguette with a thin, crisp crust and a soft, airy texture. It is often split lengthwise and filled with savory ingredients like a submarine sandwich and served as a meal. It is a different combination of ingredients than any sub you are familiar with, pate, mayo, pickled vegetables, ham or other protein. Nathan first made the pate (liver mousse) and the baguettes from scratch.

Chicken Liver Mousse

Ingredients:
15 ounces chicken livers (approx.one container), cleaned, rinsed and patted dry.
salt, freshly ground pepper
4 Tbls milk
2 Tbls butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
dried thyme, 1/4 tsp
marjoram, 1/4 tsp
1/2 C of heavy cream

Preparation:
Step 1. Season the livers with the salt and pepper. Put them in a bowl with the milk. Soak for about 10 minutes then drain off milk.

Step 2. Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the shallots. Cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and the herbs and cook about a minute or two, then add the drained chicken livers. Sear on one side, about 1-2 minutes, then turn and cook until firm, about another two minutes. Cook until nearly dry.

Step 3. Add the liver mixture to the blender. Add about 1/4 cup cream and blend until smooth. If it is stiff, add the remaining 1/4 cup and blend till very smooth but not runny.

Step 4. Pour mixture into ramekins or jars. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the wrap to the surface of the mousse so that it doesn’t oxidize. Chill in the refrigerator until set, roughly 4 hours. It will thicken to the consistency of cake frosting. This can be made a day in advance if needed.

Nathan made this in the morning so it would be ready for dinner. I’ll finish the preparation in the next post because the baguettes need an entry of their own. See you soon.

Another Turn of the Page: Happy Holiday Reading

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Personally I love getting books and I love getting socks. And this year I am giving socks and books but not to the same person. This month in the book group I thought it might be fun to do a book exchange ( maybe we can do a sock exchange next month). I asked the members to bring books along that they wouldn’t mind giving away. We all have books we have read or were planning to read that are just sitting so wouldn’t it be nice to let someone else enjoy them. There were no guarantees the books would get taken so we planned on giving the orphans to the library for their book sale or take them to a Little Free Library. Well it was a grand success, the table was filled with books. I think everyone took one or two, we had a nice bag to donate and I put 6 into a LFL on my way home.

We also did our round table of what we were all reading but since it was December, two of our members brought more than one to talk about. Between them they brought nine Christmas books. Both admitted they adore the small books written specifically for the holidays, very much like Hallmark movies. Oh, and both of them love the Christmas movies too. These two are not related by blood or marriage but share a love for this genre. I won’t be annotating each one but there will be a list at the end of the regular books in case you too, love Christmas books.

1. Raft of Stars by Andrew J. Graff (2021) 304p. Two ten year old boys, Bread and Fish, think they have committed a terrible crime so they grab what they can and flee into the Northwoods of Wisconsin. When Bread’s Grandad sees the note they leave explaining their predicament, he and the sheriff strike out after them.
   
2. The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro (2013) 456p. Newlywed Grace Monroe is a successful 1950s London socialite. When she receives an unexpected inheritance from a complete stranger, Madame Eva d’Orsey, Grace is drawn to uncover the identity of her mysterious benefactor.
   
3. Dream Town ( Archer Series #3) by David Baldacci (2022) 432p. War vet turned PI, Aloysius Archer solves crime in 1953 Los Angeles with the help of his associates, ex-FBI Willie Dash and aspiring actress, Liberty Callahan.
   
4. Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O’Brien (2022) 455p. The story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical’s deadly secret of Love Canal–exposing one of America’s most devastating toxic waste disasters.
   
5. Sand Castle Bay ( Ocean Breeze series #1) by Sherryl Woods (2013) 495p. Emily and Boone were childhood sweethearts that wanted different things in life and eventually went their separate ways. After a hurricane damages Emily’s grandmother’s restaurant, she and her two sisters come home to help. What Emily didn’t expect was for her feelings for Boone to resurface.
   
6. Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins (2021) 480p. Lauren is a thriving professional and newlywed in her late 20s when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She and her husband Josh are forced to face a future much different than the life they envisioned together.
   
7. Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure and Human Origins by Lee Berger (2023) 240p. Homo naledi, the subject of this book, were a small brained proto human that lived approximately 335 000 – 236 000 years ago. The book centers on the remains that have been found in the Rising Star cave in South Africa, a notoriously difficult site to reach.
   
8. The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis (2023) 399p. A delightful novel about alien invasions, conspiracies, and the incredibly silly things people are willing to believe—some of which may actually be true.
   
9. The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance by Dan Egan (2023) 228p. Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of phosphorus one of the most lethal substances on earth but also a key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer.
   
10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack by Rebecca Skloot (2010) 370p. This is the true story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were taken during her cancer treatment, without her knowledge. These cells later came to be known as HeLa cells, and are considered one of the most important landmarks in Cancer research. Simply put, this African-American woman from poverty was exploited for science.
    
11. The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman (2020) 390p. Pia is a German immigrant living with her family in Philadelphia. in 1918. Her father joins the army in hopes of proving his loyalty to his new adopted country. The Spanish flu is rapidly spreading through the city and Pia and her siblings are starving. When she returns home from a search for food, her siblings are gone, taken by someone who wants to make them into “true Americans.”
    
12. Honor by Thrity Umrigar (2022) 326p. Indian American journalist, Smita has returned to India, believing she has been called there to take care of her friend and fellow journalist, Shannon. But after visiting her friend in the hospital, she learns she has been called there to cover the case of Meena – a Hindu woman who has been ostracized and later attacked by both members of her village and her own brothers for marrying a Muslim man. A moving story of two courageous women.

And for your holiday pleasure here are the Christmas books.

1. The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber (2022) 340p.
2. Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman (2017) 65p.
3. The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan (2018) 407p.
4. Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan (2012) 351p.
5. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans (1996) 128p.
6. Death and Papa Noel by Ian Moore (2012) 351p.
7. The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett (2023) 208p.
8. Starry Night by Debbie Macomber (2013) 256p
9. Christmas at the Shelter Inn by RaeAnne Thayne (2023) 304p.