February 2014 Host:  Stephanie

 

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

 

Summary

In this book Will Schwalbe shares his memories of his mother and discusses the books they shared during her last year suffering from pancreatic cancer.  Mary Ann Schwalbe was a committed humanitarian who had been a director of admissions at Harvard and was the prime force behind building the first public library in Afghanistan.  She was also an avid reader and formed a two person book club with her son, they read and discussed many books while in waiting rooms.  The book reveals how a mother and child shared meaningful reading and bonded later in life.  Some of the books they discuss are well-known but others not as well known (e.g., The Elegance of the Hedgehog).  At the end of the book Schwalbe includes a list of the books and authors of the books they mentioned or discussed, and most readers will add some of those books to their own reading lists.  You will probably find some of her favorites are your own such as I did (e.g. John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany).  The book redefines reading; from a passive venture to an active pursuit.  This is a wonderful read although very sad at times, but well worth finishing.

 

Menu

 

Appetizers

 

Bean and Corn Salad

 

Avocado Salad

 

Tacos and Refried Beans

 

Jennie's Homemade Sugar Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

January 2014 Host:  Sarah

 

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Summary

 

This piece of historical fiction is based on the life of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, who is mentioned briefly in Genesis.  The lives of Dinah’s friends, mothers, and aunts are described with the ‘red tent’ serving as the structure women would retire to during menstruation.  It was here where they would rest/recuperate, share stories, and celebrate lives, births, and deaths.  The structure was considered sacred as only women of child bearing age could enter and the red tent provided many women with joy and strength.  It is a place where women can pass stories down from generation to generation and talk freely about themselves, and it is also a place where births and deaths are witnessed by the women.  Dinah becomes a midwife and the author describes giving birth in biblical times, the joy, the pain, and the sorrow of babies born dead and mothers who die in childbirth.  We all enjoyed this book and anyone will definitely learn something about this time and place.

 

Menu

 

I forgot to take pictures and wish I hadn't since we had an awesome spread of Mediterranian food which included chicken and beef, tabbouleh salad, baba ganoush, and bakery cookies.  I did take a picture earlier of the greek meatballs and tzatziki sauce I made so I will include them here.

 

Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

(recipe adapted from Rachael Ray's recipes at foodnetwork.com)

 

For the meatballs I combined one pound of ground beef with one pound of ground lamb, 1/2 cup feta cheese, one egg, 1 teaspoon ground mint, 1/2 grated red onion, 1 tbsp. oregano, one pinch cinnamon, 2 grated garlic cloves, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/3 cup bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste.  Form into meatballs (makes about 30).  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. 

 

For the tzatziki sauce I combined in a food processor 1 grated seedless cucumber (after pressing into a strainer to remove excess water), 1.5 cups of greek yogurt, 2 tbsp. dill, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 clove garlic, 2 tsp lemon juice, salt to taste.  Chill for at least one hour before serving.  

 

 

 

 

November 2013 Host:  Jennie

 

  Nothing to Envy:  Ordinary Lives in North Korea by
                                  Barbara Demick

 

Summary

 

This book follows six North Koreans through their lives in the 1990s and gives the reader insight into what it is like to live there on a daily basis.  We become privy to details such as their modest housing, the lack of heat in the wintertime, the many ways they came up with to avoid starvation (such as milling bark and grasses), and how they had to watch what they said around government officials or else be sent to a work camp.  When the Korean peninsula was split after WWII, Stalin installed a like-minded leader in North Korea, Kim ll-Sung, who eradicates religion and replaces it by his own cult of personality and achieves a god status in his country through constant propaganda.   Upon his death, many North Koreans committed suicide.  When the collapse of the Soviet Union cut off their aid of food and oil to North Korea, they were unable to maintain their electrical grid (on the first page we see a picture of the Korean peninsula at night, South Korea has thousands of twinkling lights and North Korea is pitch black) and millions starved to death (the army took for themselves the aid sent by the US and UN).  The majority of the country still suffers malnutrition, evident in their physical attributes such as being shorter than their relatives in South Korea and having heads disproportionately large to their body size.  This book is informative and will fill the reader with disbelief and a renewed gratefulness for their circumstances; we highly recommend it.

 

Menu

 

Hot Toddies

 

Appetizers

 

San Francisco Salad

 

Mashed Potatoes

 

Barbecued Pork, Chicken, and Sausage

 

Pumpkin Pie

 

Chocolate Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 2013 Host:  Colleen

 

Unbroken:  A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

 

Summary

 

 

This is the story of Louis Zamperini, who became one of the youngest members of the U.S. Olympics track team in 1936.  He was later drafted into the Army Air Force and became a bombardier assigned to the often unreliable and awkward B-24 (the B-24 killed an astonishing number of its own crew).  After surviving a number of bombing missions against Japanese targets, his plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean while searching for another downed plane.  He spent the next 47 days in a disintegrating raft circled by relentless sharks, was scorched by the sun, and endured endless hunger, only to be rescued by Japanese soldiers.  Zamperini became a POW for two years and was ruthlessly beaten by one of the guards, Mutsuhiro Watanabe, a.k.a. “The Bird”.  It is stressing for the reader to read about the horrible conditions Zamperini endured, (e.g. the near daily beatings and sadistic torture, the almost nonexistent food) however he did survive and remains unbroken even today at the age of 93.  This is one of the very best books we have ever read and we look forward to the movie release sometime next year. 

 

Menu
 

 

Fruit Salad

 

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

(food.com)

 

Ingredients
 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 2/3 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Directions

 

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl.

In a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well.

Gently fold in the flour mixture.

Cook according to your waffle iron directions.

I do these in my belgian waffle iron and it uses about 1 cup batter and takes 4-5 minutes to bake.

They come out a nice deep, golden brown.

These are great with a little bit of syrup, but would also be great with honey butter.

Bacon

 

Breakfast Casserole

(crockingirls.com)

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 Pound Breakfast Sausage
• 8 Ounces Diced ham
• 1/2 Cup Fresh chopped mushrooms
• 1 Cup Chopped onions
• 1 Can Rotel
• 18 Eggs
• 1 Cup Cheese
• 1 (32oz) Package Hash browns
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh baby spinach (a couple of handfuls)

Directions
 

Lightly brown breakfast sausage,
 

Layer half of the hash browns in the bottom of slow cooker, followed by 1/2 of sausage and 1/2 of ham. The next layer will be all of the baby spinach, the mushrooms, and onions.

 

Repeat the first 3 layers (hash browns/sausage/ham), and then top with a can of Rotel tomatoes with mild green chilis.

 

Whisk the 18 eggs in a bowl, then pour over top.

 

Sprinkle cheese over top of casserole and cook on low for about 6 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2013 Host:  Nancy

 

Pure by Andrew Miller

 

Summary

 

Pure is an unusual, yet well written piece of historical fiction set in Paris, France, in the years preceding the French Revolution.  Jean-Baptiste Barratte, an engineer from Normandy, has been given the job of excavating the vast pits of the cemetery of les Innocents located in the center of Paris.  Bodies have been piled into the cemetery for centuries and the King is concerned about the filth and contamination that emanates from the cemetery. The stench permeates the food, clothing, and people of the area and Jean-Baptiste is given one year to make it pure.  The removal of the graveyard is a subject of historical record and the bones end up in the famous catacombs of Paris, where they can be seen to this day.  The novel follows the progress of the engineer and the relationships he forges with his workers, the family he boards with, and others in the neighborhood.  The coming revolution is foreshadowed throughout the novel, allowing the reader to fill in some of the blanks.  This book is a winner of the Costa Book award. 

 

Menu

 

Spinach Dip

 

Rice and Naan

 

Chickpea Curry

 

Dessert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 2013 Host:  Emily

 

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg

 

Summary
 

In this book, Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, challenges women (and men) to reevaluate their work and life assumptions.  She advocates a ‘lean in’ theme, where women historically, and even to this day, tend to stay in the background, thus allowing their male counterparts to take more leadership roles.  Even though 50% of all college graduates are women, men still hold the vast majority of leadership roles in government and industry.  Some of the topics she touches on are how men should take on more of the family responsibilities that may typically lead a woman to stay home, how women who are planning a family tend to mentally check out of work, how women are mentally wired to be liked more than successful, and how our careers are changing from a series of upward ladders to the up and down side movements of a jungle gym.  She asks the questions that all women should ask themselves such as:  are you criticized for being too direct (something that is not considered negative for a man), at meetings do you sit at the table and speak up, and do you have an inner voice that says you are not qualified or that you are an imposter.  Sandberg provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, the steps women can take to combine a satisfying career with personal fulfillment, and how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home.  We all really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it as we could relate to some of Sandberg’s life experiences. 

Menu

Shrimp, avocado, and black bean salsa

 

Mexican Rice

(this recipe can be found on foodnetwork.com)

 

Tacos

 

Mexican Wedding Cookies

 

 

 

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon Taco Seasoning
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 ounce tortilla chips, finely crushed *

Beat or whisk the cream cheese and eggs until smooth. Add the seasoning; mix well. Stir in the cheese and crushed chips; mix well. Grease a 9x13" baking dish or line with parchment paper; spread the cheese mixture evenly over the bottom. Bake at 350º, 35 minutes or until browned, but not too dark. Let stand 5-10 minutes before adding the topping.

* 1/4 ounce is about 4-5 small round tortilla chips. I used the unflavored white corn kind. They only add about 4 carbs to the whole recipe.

Topping:
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon Taco Seasoning
1/2 batch Red Enchilada Sauce (about 1 cup)
8 ounces pepper-jack cheese, shredded

Brown the hamburger; drain fat. Stir in the seasoning and enchilada sauce. Spread over the crust. Top with the cheese. Bake another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbly.

Makes 8 servings

                               June 2013 Host:  Jaci and Stephanie
                                                     
                             The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton        

Summary

This novel begins in the year 1913 when a dock master discovers a four-year-old child left alone on a dock in Queensland, Australia after all passengers had disembarked from a boat that had sailed from England.  The dock master and his wife decide to keep the child, as efforts to trace her family have failed, and they name her Nell.  In the present day (this novel switches perspectives between the years 1913, 1975, and 2005) Cassandra is grieving for her grandmother Nell’s passing and discovers, while going through Nell’s things, that Nell had continued searching for her true parents.   Cassandra takes over this search which leads her to England and a small Cornish village, and finally to a small and very aged cottage with a walled garden, that may contain answers to some of the many secrets of the past.  This novel was a real page turner, although rather lengthy at 550 pages, and some may have difficulty keeping track of what is happening with the frequent going back and forth between generations.  Also, the male characters in the novel are weak and at times, insipid.  These flaws, however, are easily overlooked with the author’s pacing and attention to character detail.  Everyone in our book club thoroughly enjoyed this great read and would highly recommend it. 

Menu

                                      Appetizers

                                                  Coleslaw

                                                  Salsa

                                                  Fish Tacos

                                                  Shrimp Salad

                                                  Pasta Salad

                                                  Key Lime Pie

                                                  Cupcakes

                                                  The Van

                                                  Karen

                                          Late Night Entertainment