October 2015 Host:  Karen

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Summary

This is the story of Rachel Chu, an economics professor at NYU, who falls in love with another professor without knowing he comes from a Chinese Singaporean old money family.  She goes home with him to his best friend’s wedding and experiences a major culture shock when she meets three closely intertwined Singapore families and their world of crazy rich Asians.  When they find out she is a ‘lowly’ American-born Chinese, the scheming, gossip, and back biting commences in order to destroy their relationship.  This story is often hilarious, addictive, and filled with incredible opulence including the millions spent on clothes (per season!) and lavish parties and homes.  Although a bit long at over 500 pages, this is an enjoyable voyeuristic, transporting, and at times satirical novel.  

Menu

Wine and Singapore Slings

Chicken and Beef Strips, Eggrolls, and Dumplings

Various Entrees from Johnny's Asian Bistro

Dessert (Lemon Tart)

September 2015 Host:  Sarah

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Summary

This is the story (based on Will and Kate) of Bex, a Midwestern girl who spends a semester at Oxford and ends up falling in love with Nicholas, Prince of Wales.  Over the years they go through many ups and downs in their relationship, all under scrutiny by their family, friends, and of course, the paparazzi.  We are privy to the ins and outs of what it entails for someone to become a part of the royal family and descriptions of the innermost rooms of some famous English castles.  Two pivotal characters are Bex’s over achieving twin sister Lacey, who is jealous of all the attention her sister is receiving, and Nicholas’ precocious and charming brother, Freddie. The authors do a great job of describing the British monarchy idiosyncrasies, and although a bit long, this was a fun and entertaining read.

Menu

Salad

Pizza

German Chocolate Brownie Cake (Tony's Market)

August 2015 Host:  Jaci

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Summary

This novel is set in France and Germany during World War II.  The characters include a young blind girl named Marie Laure, her father who is a locksmith for the Museum of Nature and Science in Paris, her agoraphobic great-uncle along with his elderly housekeeper who eventually joins the French resistance, and Werner, a German orphan who is accepted into a science academy for Hitler Youth because he is a prodigy in building and fixing radios.  The novel focuses mainly on Marie Laure from France (the author does a wonderful job of giving the reader the blind girl’s perspective) and Werner from Germany.  Both are intelligent, sensitive, and have a thirst for knowledge.  As the German army advances closer to Paris, Marie Laure’s father takes steps to hide some of France’s artistic treasures along with a highly valuable jewel.  Locating these treasures and especially the valuable jewel (of which four copies were made in order to elude the Germans) turns into a dangerous game of hide and seek.  This book is definitely a page turner and the author does an amazing job of bringing the characters with their idiosyncrasies to life.  Although there are numerous novels set during World War II, this novel gave us a sense of what it was like for children who were living a happy life and then were starving or those who were brainwashed by Nazi leaders and made horrific choices to survive that they would not have otherwise made.  This novel is beautifully written and we highly recommend it.  This book is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Menu

Fruit and Cheese Plate

Quiche

Pasta and Egg Salad

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

(recipe to follow)

Dessert

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Ready in: Under 30 minutes Recipe difficulty ⅗ Difficulty: 3 (1=easiest :: hardest=5) Serves/Makes: 4 

 INGREDIENTS: 

 16 Boston, bibb or butter lettuce leaves 

1 pound ground chicken breast 

1 large onion, chopped 

2 tablespoons minced garlic 

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce 

¼ cup hoisin sauce 

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger 

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar or red wine vinegar 

2 teaspoons Asian chili pepper sauce (see Note) 

1 can (8 ounce size) sliced water chestnuts, drained, finely chopped 

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced 

2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil 

 PREPARATION: Rinse lettuce leaves, keeping them whole. Set aside to drain. Cook chicken in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring often to break up the meat. Add onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and chili sauce. Cook until the meat is crumbled and brown. Add water chestnuts and green onions. Cook until onions begin to wilt, about 2 minutes. Stir in sesame oil. Arrange lettuce leaves on the outer edge of a platter. Spoon meat mixture in center. Allow diners to spoon meat mixture into lettuce leaves and eat like a taco. 

COOK'S NOTES: Asian chili pepper sauce can be found in the Asian section of most supermarkets. Some brands contain garlic, which is fine. You can use ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper or ½ teaspoon dried red chili flakes instead. 

NUTRITION: 358 calories, 13 grams fat, 22 grams carbohydrates, 37 grams protein per serving. This recipe is low in carbs. Show full nutritional data (including Weight Watcher's Points ®, cholesterol, sodium, vitamins, and diabetic exchanges) 

 This recipe from CDKitchen for P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps with Chicken serves/makes 4 Recipe ID: 75955 SUBMITTED BY: rec.food.recipes Terry Pogue tpogue 

 

June 2015 Host:  Jennie

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Summary

This is a coming-of-age story of 14-year old June Elbus set in New York in 1987.  June forms a very close attachment to her uncle Finn, who is the only one who truly gets her. June is not your typical 1980s teen, she listens repeatedly to Mozart’s Requiem, wears lace up boots, and wishes she was a falconer from the middle-ages.  As his last act of love of June and her family, Finn paints a portrait of June and her sister Greta.  The portrait affects the family in many ways.  June soon loses her beloved uncle to AIDS during a time when the disease was a mysterious and frightening epidemic. June soon discovers her uncle’s lover Toby and is drawn to him as her last link to Finn.  Soon these two develop a quirky friendship that must remain secret due to June’s mother's complex and envious relationship with her brother Finn.  June must also deal with her insecure 16-year old sister Greta who taunts her about her uncle Finn and plays malicious tricks on her.  The author touches on the themes of sibling relationships and the fear of ostracization and embarrassment that AIDS brought about in the 1980s.  The characters are well described and aptly flawed.   I really enjoyed this book as the aspects of the relationships were described on many levels and the book appeals to adults and teens alike.  This is a sad and meaningful book, but also filled with bits of happiness.  We highly recommend this book. 

May 2015 Host:  Colleen

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Summary

This novel, first published in 1948, is a 1930s coming of age story about 17-year old Cassandra Mortmain who wants to become a writer.  Cassandra is the middle child in an eccentric family.  Her father, once a celebrated author, has had writer’s block for years.  In better times, he rented a castle in the English countryside, which has since become rundown and dilapidated and the family is on the brink of starvation.  The family hopes that he will one day begin writing again or that Cassandra’s beautiful sister Rose will marry well and save them all.  Her eccentric stepmother Topaz, an artist’s model, makes the best of the situation as does her brother Thomas.  Stephen, who is in love with Cassandra, works long days in the garden and such without pay to help out the family.  Although he is handsome and noble, she does not fall for him as in her own words:  “ …his expression is just a fraction daft.”  Their world soon changes as new bachelor brothers, Simon and Neil Cotton become landlords of the castle.  This book is beautifully written, light and funny, and the descriptions of the castle will make you feel as if you are there.  You will not want to put this novel down after you have read the first sentence…“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”  We highly recommend this book.  

Menu

Mushroom Tartlets

Seasoned Cauliflower

Coleslaw/Fresh Berries

Potato Salad

Pulled Pork

Bundt Cakes

April 2015 Host:  Nancy

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Summary

After the devastating loss of her mother at a young age, a failed marriage, drug abuse, and no real direction in life, Cheryl Strayed makes the unusual decision to hike solo - approximately 1100 miles on the Pacific Coast Trail – from the Mojave Desert to the Washington border.  Cheryl’s story goes back and forth from relating her daily hiking adventures to recounting the previous 22 years of her life.  Even though at first she can barely lift her backpack and she soon finds that her boots are too small, she perseveres through pain, lack of food, extreme exhaustion, and fear.  She almost steps on rattlesnakes on the trail and runs into a few hikers who are worse than the snakes.  Once she has spent a few days in the wilderness, Cheryl realizes that this is a huge life changing experience, one that allows her to commune with nature and her personal problems drift away as she deals with more immediate problems such as hunger, the mutilation of her feet, and fresh drinking water.  Cheryl is brutally honest about things in her past that she is not proud of and we are privy to her unique account of her healing journey.   This book is highly recommended.

Menu

Drinks

Appetizers

Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Garlic Bread

Roast Chicken

Scalloped Potatoes and Edamame

March 2015 Host:  Stephanie

Pig's Foot:  A Novel by Carlos Acosta

Summary

One day Oscar Kortico wakes to find himself utterly alone in the world. As the sole descendant of his family line he is not sure what to do or where he should go, but in the midst of this uncertainty, he holds fast to what his grandfather always told him: 'No man knows who he is until he knows his past, the history of his country.  As he sets out to find the lost village of Pata de Puerco and the meaning of the magical pig's-foot amulet he has inherited, the search for his country's hidden history becomes entangled with his search for the truth about himself.  Through a vivid, if not entirely reliable, retelling of the stories of his ancestors we live the tumultuous history of Cuba through Oscar's eyes, from the arrival of slaves through the wars of independence, to Bacardi rum, dictatorship, revolution and, finally, to a freedom of sorts. (this review was taken from goodreads.com) Only a few of us actually finished the book, it was very unusual and although funny at times, a bit of a letdown in the historical development of Cuba.  The characters were very unusual, and the ending was hackneyed

Menu

Mojitos

Crostini w/Goat Cheese, Fig Jam, Prosciutto, & Basil

Cuban Salad

Cuban Seasoned Pork

Baked Cinnamon Apples

Vanilla Ice Cream w/Cinnamon Churro Chips

February 2015 Host:  Karen

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

This is the story of 10-year old Rachel whose mother is Danish and father is an African American GI.  After the family moves to America, tragedy strikes and Rachel moves in with her paternal grandmother.  Rachel feels alienated from her family and is unable to put herself into a black or white category.  She feels she does not fit in with the white girls because of her dark skin and does not fit in with the black girls because of her blue eyes and over achiever status.  She also struggles with the memories of the tragedy that had befallen her family and misses the Danish-American culture in which she was raised. The second half of the novel covers the nuances of Rachel’s development, her conflicts with her judgmental but well-meaning grandmother, and her relationship with a liberal white college boy.  From each of the main characters, we get an alternating view of Rachel’s past through a climactic build until the end, where we learn the most profound incident of Rachel’s life.  The novel explores the complexities of racial relationships and identities and the reader is compelled to read to the end to understand the mystery of the horrific tragedy that befell Rachel.   

 January 2015  Host:  Stephanie

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Summary

This is the story of a jinni, a magical being of fire, and a golem, a Jewish creature made of clay brought to life to do another’s bidding, and is set in turn of the century New York City.  The jinni was freed from a 1,000 year imprisonment in a flask. The golem was created to be a rich merchant’s wife, however, the merchant dies en route to America and the golem arrives at Ellis Island alone. They must separately find their way in circumstances that they are unprepared for while concealing their essential natures (e.g. the golem has to ‘pretend’ to eat food). They eventually meet and their growing friendship is tested by their inherent nature and another who seeks to control death.  The side characters that the golem and the jinni interact with are also richly developed.  Two such characters are Mahmoud Saleh, a Jewish doctor down on his luck, and Fadwa, a Bedouin girl from 1,000 years before the story was set.  The author has done a lot of research creating her settings from 1900 New York City to Syria in the 1800s and life in the desert one thousand years before.  The reader is transported into another realm of existence through her attention to detail and magical realism.  We had mixed reactions to this book, some of us loved it, and some of us did not bother to finish it (the book was very long at over 500 pages).  If you enjoy mythology or descriptive stories about early 1900s New York, then this is a must read. 

November 2014 Host:  Sara

Orange is the New
Black by Piper Kerman

Summary

Piper Kerman carried drug money in Brussels in the early nineteen nineties and this catches up to her a decade later when someone names her for the crime.   The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, well-educated Piper must begin a fourteen month sentence in the women’s correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut.  She chronicles her prison experiences in this candid memoir.  Piper describes prison life in detail such as good prison guards versus bad, earning phone privileges, smuggling food in one’s underwear for cooking later, warding off sexual advances, and learning the plethora of protocols and rules to avoid trouble or having privileges revoked.  She eventually makes close friends on the inside, avidly reads the large assortment of books her family and friends send her, and runs six mile a day on the prison track to relieve her stress.   Piper touches on many subjects such as the incarceration of non-violent drug offenders (e.g. a Dominican woman in her seventies is serving four years for a wire charge which involved taking messages for a drug dealing relative) and restorative justice.  If you have watched the show, the book is a ‘safe’ read and not as graphic (e.g. no pregnancy drama, brutal beatings, overt sex, drug running, etc.)  This memoir is about women from different backgrounds bonding despite their terrible situation and we recommend it.

Menu

Green Beans

Macaroni and Cheese

Berry Cobbler