Colonel Chabert by Honoré de Balzac (1832)

I am pretty new to Balzac, but two things. He really nails the human condition in each and every tales he tells, and while this is very good, it is not his best. Read some of his novel length works and then, when you have nothing left and still need more, turn to the stories. This falls in between, as more of a novella, but I would have loved to see it fleshed out to a full length book. The colonel is a legendary and long presumed to have fallen hero of Napoleon's rampaging Austrian campaign. He was declared dead after the Eylau, which was a bloody, deadly, and indecisive battle between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Bennigsen near the town of Preussisch Eylau in East Prussia. He literally clawed his way out of a grave and is now a shattered, diminished, and yet still recognizable figure who returns to Paris to discover the breadth and depth of his wife's betrayal.

Four Good Days (2021)

This is a movie for ou times. The tragedy of the opiate epidemic crashing through middle class homes and neighborhoods is all on graphic display here. Tragic circumstances lead to recalibration of words we can take for granted. Normally, we might think of a good day as one filled with friends, family, food, and fun. Lightness of heart and the ability to feel hope for the future at least. That is just not an option for families that are struggling with an addicted loved one. Glenn Close is the quintessential graduate of the Alanon school of hard knocks. She says no, no, a thousand times no when Molly (played convincingly well by Mila Kundis) comes knocking on her door. No, you cannot come in. No we won't allow you to steal from us again. No you can't take a shower. When they check in to a detox facility she tells the receptionist that this is her daughter's 15th detox. And she looks every bit a mess. The only thing this movie got wrong is that the one month injection of Naltrexone is that it is a tool in opiate addiction treatment and it is not nearly the magic bullet it is portrayed as. What they do get right is that every single day is a struggle to stay aober, and that sometimes you go from hour to hour in that struggle. The song in the credits was nominated for an Academy Award in a particularly talented field, but the movie is well worth watching on it's own.

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Desapin

This book, short as it is, has a lot of subtext below the text. The author herself is of mixed Korean and French heritage, as is her lead character, and the book has that as a focus and an undercurrent. The book is set in an out-of-season South Korean resort on the border between North and South Korea. Sokcho ia a city so close to South Korea’s impenetrable northern counterpart that it is possible to take a day trip over the border. The main characters are a mysterious foreign visitor and a young woman whose dual nationality and anguished diffidence mark her out as an anomaly among her community. The narrator has returned to her home town from university in Seoul with a bit of a sense of being adreift. She is working as a live-in receptionist and cook at a dead-end guesthouse run by the grumpy boss, and she has resisted opportunities for further study abroad as obstinately as she holds out against an anticipated engagement to her vacuous model boyfriend. The unexpected arrival at the hotel of a guest from France, a comic-book artist called Kerrand, stirs a frenzy in the young woman, in whom he takes a sporadic but intense interest. Kerrand is old enough to be her unknown French father, and the book centers on their time together. The story telling is hauntingly beautiful, and I found myself swaying through it to a satisfying ending.

Coming 2 America (2021)

This movie was nominated in the area of hair and make-up, and it is lush in both that and the costumes by Ruth E. Carter (who did the Wakanda wardrobe in Black Panther) bring the fictional country of Zamunda alive with vibrant colors and cloth that befits royalty. The original movie dates back to 1988 but the story is appropriately fast forwarded as well. The movie has gravitas by Eddie Murphy standards--there is still a slap stick joking quality to everything, and while his character has older children, he doesn't seem to have commenurately matured, and there are some truely cringe-worthy jokes that just do not hold up with a 2020 lens, but the story holds closely to the formula of the original. Murphy finds that he has an out-of-wedlock son from a sexual encounter when he was intoxicated and he brings him back to his country to become the king, upending his eldest daughters plans to assume that role herself. Some predictable zaniness ensues, but truly, the costumes far exceed what you might expect.

Tastes Like War by Grace Cho

This is my second memoir written by a mixed race Korean woman about her upbringing in a profoundly racist town and her relationship with a now dead mother. This one has an anchor in the Korean War, which is a layer of trauma that bleeds into the current generation. It is also a food memoir of sorts, a catalog of what she and her family cooked and ate and refused to eat. Food is a way for the author to measure her mother’s life, from a youth dismantled by the Korean War to her stint as a waitress and a sex worker at a bar that catered to US servicemen; from her marriage to Cho’s father to her emigration to small-town Washington state to and her long decline as a result of schizophrenia. “In my lifetime I’ve had at least three mothers,” Cho writes: healthy, sick, and sicker still." The understanding and experience of mental illness is told from a lay perspective, but interesting and instructive.

West Side Story (2021)

I waited a couple of weeks after watching the movie to see if the passage of time lessened my feelings of dissatisfaction with this remake. Yes, it has a cast that is more diverse than the original and more in keeping with what the Sharks and the Jets would have looked like. No, the 150 minutes did not fly by, there could have been some serious cropping of the story if they were going to the trouble of a remake. If Joel Coen can get the Tragedy of Macbeth down to 90 minutes, then why the heck can't this reworking of the Romeo and Juliet story get winnowed down to a similar length. The dancing is at times breath taking, but everything else was all too familiar. I am sure that there is a lot of great new dialogue added because Tony Kushner is a talented writer (not known for brevity, of course, but he has a way with words), but it was lost on me. If you deeply love musicals, this is a classic score that will take you back, and Ariana DeBose is mesmerizing, but so far this is my least favorite nominee that I have seen--I am sitting at 38 of the 54 movies nominated watched, so I could still find a clunker in the remainders, but it will definitely fall into the bottom third.

Black Food by Bryant Terry

It is really hard for me to put my finger on exactly how to categorize this book. I came to read it because it is the March cookbook featured in my Food 52 cookbook club, and while there are recipes in it, that is almost incidental to the rest of the book, which is about black food and the African diaspora. The author, who is more of an editor, is the popular Black vegan chef Bryant Terry, who’s based in Oakland and highly involved in education, healing, and activism. The book contains a chorus of more than 100 Black voices in and about the food world. It is a detailed collection of essays, poetry, art, and recipes. All told, it is an ambitious account of Black food across continents and past and present. Terry has a master’s in history, and this book does border on the academic, digging into the culinary history of the African diaspora; but it’s also as varied as the profusion of voices it contains, from restaurant chefs to food writers to artists. It is an experience wrapped around food and what it means, as seen through a black lens.

Lost Daughter (2021)

This is a bit hard to follow and the content is decidedly grown up. I read the book that this is adapted from, which is harrowing and haunting, and that essense of the book is perfectly rendered in this film version by Maggie Gylenhaal. All I can say is that she didn't pick easy as a starting point. Leda is a woman with the symbolic Yeatsian name who is a professor and translator, taking a brief vacation in Greece, and looking forward to relaxation in the sun. However, almost immediately upon her arrival in the small seaside town, things start to go strange and it seems that while those around her are loud and a bit rude, she is at the center of the strangeness. It is hard to figure out why her reactions to things so intense. Why is she so paranoid and awkward? What is going on with her? The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks, demonstrating that Leda is not a woman who mothering came naturally to, and that mistakes were made and regrets remain. An atmospheric movie beautifully filmed and acted.

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

This is the book that sealed the author into the book of life, as well as tippping the scale in her favor when it came to the Nobel Prize for Literature. I am not sure that I exactly grasp it all, but it is a hard book to put town--and a hard one to pick up because it weighs in at a thousand pages, and it is not bedtime reading. The subtitle in fact is the Reader's Digest of what is contained : “A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects. Told by the Dead, Supplemented by the Author, Drawing From a Range of Books, and Aided by Imagination, the Which Being the Greatest Natural Gift of Any Person. That the Wise Might Have It for a Record, That My Compatriots Reflect, Laypersons Gain Some Understanding, and Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment.” Well, there you have it, in a nutshell. The sprawling tale, richly decorated with period maps, drawings, paintings, and etchings, is the story of a real-life 18th-century Polish mystic named Jacob Frank (1726-1791). From humble beginnings, he claimed to be the Messiah sent “to introduce an eternal existence into the world.” He rejected the Talmud and converted to Islam and then Catholicism. Along the way, he attracted tens of thousands of disciples, solicited and lost fortunes, escaped imprisonment, advised the Holy Roman Empress and set up his own faux royal court. I cannot say that I completely understood it but is miraculously entertaining and consistently fascinating. Do not miss it, even if you cannot lift it.

Short Rib Ragu

We bought a 1/2 a cow as one of our pandemic purchases--early on there was some concern about supply chains and the meat packing industry was hit hard early on as well, so we partnered with someone we knew and went straight to the farmer. It is Iowa, after all. The hardest part was acquiring the freezer necessary, but we managed that as well, and now, almost two years later, we are getting another one, and we need to quickly finish up the first cow! This was a very rich way to have the short ribs that were left. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 1/2 to 4 pounds short ribs, each about 2-inches long, cut flanken style, across the ribs Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 dried bay leaf 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 5 sprigs fresh thyme 2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley 4 small carrots, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 medium onion, diced 2 medium shallots, diced 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1/2 cup ruby port 2 cups red wine, such as cabernet 1/2 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled 3 1/2 cups homemade beef stock 1 pound pappardelle or other long, flat pasta Chopped parsley Grated Pecorino Romano, for garnish Directions Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a 5-quart casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, and heat until it is almost smoking. Season short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Working in batches if necessary, add short ribs to the hot oil. Cook ribs until browned on both sides. Remove ribs from casserole, and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside. Meanwhile, prepare bouquet garni: Place bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in the center of a square of cheesecloth. Bring edges together, and tie with kitchen string. Set bouquet garni aside. Add carrots, celery, onion, and shallots to oil in the casserole, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and golden, about 10 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste to the casserole, and stir to combine. Add ruby port; stir with wooden spoon until all browned bits have been scraped from the pan and the bottom of the casserole is clean. Add red wine, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Add garlic, beef stock, and the reserved bouquet garni. Return browned ribs to the casserole. Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover the casserole, and place it in the oven. Cook until ribs are very tender, about 3 hours. Remove the cooked ribs from the casserole. Set the casserole on the stove top over medium heat, and simmer to thicken sauce just slightly. As soon as the short ribs are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, and shred into small pieces. Degrease the sauce and discard the bouquet garni. Return shredded meat to casserole, and simmer to reduce sauce by about half. Fill a large pot with water and add a few tablespoons of salt. Set over high heat, and bring to a boil. Salt well, and stir in pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente. Drain pasta, and serve with short-rib ragu, sprinkle with the parsley. Serve with freshly grated Percorino Romano.

Detransition, Baby by Torres Peters

If you are under 35 you probably will learn less from this than if you are over 50 years old. This is front and center a book that has the back story about what it is to be trans in America right here and now, how much more complex the options and the possibilities are, and if the literature is correct, about 1/5th of us face these uncertainties about gender and gender roles. The front story is that this book is about the desire to be a mother. It tells the story of three characters — Ames, Reese, and Katrina — who are in the process of deciding whether or not to raise a child together. Katrina has just learned that she is pregnant. Ames is game for co-parenting, but he wants Reese, his trans woman ex, to be involved in co-parenting. Not surprisingly, Katrina is a bit dubious. Much of the action of the novel takes place in the intervals opened up by Katrina’s requests for some space to think. In these intervals, we get to know Reese and Ames better, and see a lot of the choices they made prior to Katrina being on the scene. This was eye opening for me in a good way.

Spiderman: No Way Home (2021)

My major beef with the Marvel Universe, besides that you have to keep up with it to have any chance of understanding the plot that is being woven in between the seemingly endless action sequences (thank goodness I just watched the last Spiderman so I knew allt he names and faces), is that they are just way too long. I just have trouble watching a nonstop action movie for 150 straight minutes. One review I read likened it to a comic book experience (which he thought was a good thing), which tells me once again that maybe the problem is that I just don't get it. The movie does do what Marvel has been altogether marvelous at, which is weaving characters and mythology from the other cinematic iterations of this character into the universe of the current one, which is not just a casting gimmick (although it does unite quite a fewgreat actors under one movie roof). The villains that return from other films don’t overcrowd the narrative as much as they speak to a theme that emerges in the film that ties this entire series back to the other ones. That is possibly bad news for the interloper into the Marvel Universe, but it has been a recipe for blockbuster success. Prepare to be dazzled. Or Dizzied. Or both.

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

In this bittersweet memoir, which is on Obama's 2021 reading list, the author teaches those of us who do not already know it that in Mandarin the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly to beautiful country. Qian's family flees China under a dark cloud and emigrate illegally to the United States in order to escape. Unfortunately, when she arrived as a seven-year-old in New York City in 1994 full of hope and curiosity, she is overwhelmed by fear and scarcity. They have no money, very limited food, and the dread of being found out. In China, Qian's parents were professors; in America, her family is undocumented and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive. It all takes a toll. In Chinatown, Qian's parents labor in sweatshops. Instead of focusing on their only child, they fight constantly, taking out the stress of their new life on one another. She discovers herself to be on the bottom of the American caste system. She is shunned by her classmates and teachers for her limited English, so Qian takes refuge in the library and masters the language through books. There is a happy ending for her, but it is fraught with false starts and pitfalls along the way.

White Beans and Greens

If you were in a ppanic during hte pandemic about running out of dried beans, and over indulged a weakness for Rancho Gordo products, then this is the recipe for you. If you also stewed greens and socked them away in the freezer for over winter use, then this is really pretty easy peasy to put together as well. ¼ cup olive oil 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and small-diced 1 small yellow onion, small-diced 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary or thyme 5 garlic cloves, minced ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste 1 large or 2 small bunches escarole, kale or Swiss chard, stems removed (10 to 12 ounces) 3 c. of rehydrated white beans 2 cups broth Kosher salt and black pepper 1 tablespoon lemon juice ½ cup shredded mozzarella (optional) 3 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, plus more for serving In a 12-inch skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the fennel, onion and rosemary, and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Begin adding handfuls of the greens, cooking and stirring until leaves wilt. Add the white beans, broth and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer, mashing some of the beans with a wooden spoon, until the liquid has reduced and thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, then the mozzarella, if using, and Pecorino Romano. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Divide among shallow bowls and top with more Pecorino Romano. Serve with toasted bread and a dish of red-pepper flakes on the side.

Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac (1839)

This is just my second Balzac book, but I feel like, between the books and the introductions, that I am starting to get a feel for his sensibilities. This year is the year that I am reading 19th century French classics, and I feel like I am off to a good start. This is part of Balzac's prodigious writings that add up to what he called the Human Comedy. The action here is limited to the four walls of a gloomy stone house in the French village of Saumur, inhabited by the Grandet family: the elderly Monsieur Grandet, his wife Madame Grandet, their only daughter, Eugénie, in her early twenties as the story begins, and their sole servant, Nanon. The story is nominally about the unsanctioned love affair between Eugénie and her cousin Charles, who has been sent to visit his uncle in the country, as, it soon becomes apparent, to get him safely out of the way while his father – Monsieur Grandet’s brother – declares bankruptcy and then proceeds to kill himself, leaving Charles doubly bereft and dishonored. It is really about the corrosive nature of money and the endless pursuit of more of it to the exclusion of happiness. Ebenezer Scroodge, created just a few years later by Dickens, has nothing on Monsieur Grandet, who is one of the most gloriously frugal of all the fictional misers. Clever, adaptive, deeply cunning and immensely avaricious, he struggles to force himself to act decently to his wife, daughter and the truly unique and admirable Nanon, but he is continually undone by his greed. This is a theme Balzac returns to over and over again.

Jamaican Hand Pies

3 ½ cups/450 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling 3 teaspoons/7 grams ground turmeric 2 teaspoons granulated sugar 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal) 1 cup/187 grams vegetable shortening ½ packed cup/67 grams minced or ground unrendered beef suet (see Tip) ½ to ¾ cup/118 to 177 milliliters ice cold water FOR THE FILLING: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 small Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded and minced 1 medium onion, diced 1 pound beef chuck, minced or ground 2 teaspoons ground allspice 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon paprika 1 tablespoon soy sauce, preferably dark soy sauce 2 small beef stock cubes (14 grams), dissolved in 3 tablespoons boiling water Make the crust: Whisk flour in a medium bowl, then whisk in turmeric, sugar and salt. Work in shortening and beef suet quickly, rubbing them into the dry ingredients with your fingers until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Gradually add 1/2 cup ice cold water while stirring with your hands to form the dough. If the dough isn’t coming together, add more water by the tablespoon as necessary. Form dough into a ball, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. While the dough is chilling, make the filling: Heat a large frying pan over medium, then add vegetable oil. Fry scotch bonnet peppers and onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 4 to 8 minutes. Season with allspice, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, soy sauce and the beef stock mixture. Cook, stirring, until most of the liquid evaporates, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a dish and let cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. (The filling can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.) When ready to assemble patties, heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll on a lightly floured work surface with a lightly floured pin into a 12-inch square. (Turmeric will stain a porous work surface. Roll between sheets of parchment paper if needed.) Fold dough in half to form a rectangle, then fold again the other way to form a square. Roll again into a 12-inch square. Repeat this process 3 more times, letting dough rest as needed if it’s too stiff to roll. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness, then use a bowl or pastry cutter to cut out 10 (6-inch) rounds, rerolling scraps as necessary. Divide beef mixture among rounds, spooning about 1/4 cup onto one side of each round. Fold the other side of each round over the meat until the edges meet. Using a fork, seal the edges, then prick the center of each to allow steam to escape. Place patties on 1 or 2 baking sheets, and bake until pastry is set and golden, 22 to 25 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

I read this because it was on Obama's reading list, but it also won the Booker International prize this past year. It is a small, almost novella sized book that really packs a punch, and is on a subject that is near and dear to my heart, which is the psychological trauma incurred in war and how it can ripple, in this case across ones fellow soldiers, but also across families and even inter-generationally. In World War I the French government drafted soldiers from its colonies, including Senegal. These recruitments were not always voluntary – some men were stripped of their land if they resisted enlistment. This book gives a merciless yet poignant insight into the experience of West Africans who served, died, or had their lives changed forever in the brutal trenches of World War I, fighting for a country that was not theirs. The story is told in the first person by Alfa Ndyaye, a 20-year-old from a rural, innocent village background in Senegal who is persuaded to join his friend and become a low-ranking tirailleur or rifleman in the French army, this story, dedicated to the harsh reality of life, death and everything in between is short but not for the faint-hearted. He holds his friend while he dies, disemboweled, and it changes him forever. He becomes either a super soldier or a mad man, depending on how you see it, and we are in his head while it happens. This is a perfect Armistice Day read.

Drive My Car (2021)

This is based on a short story by Haruki Murakami and somehow the most memorable part of the movie is that the director has managed to capture the same melancholy atmosphere of the author's books and characters themselves. The main character is an actor and theater director Yûsuke Kafuku who has a complicated and not entirely satisfactory relationship with his wife, screenwriter Oto. The creatively gel very well, she preparing him for his acting roles, and she using him to verbally build a story for her next television project. They are enmeshed with each other but not altogether happy. Two years after a personal tragedy laced with unresolved resentment, Yûsuke moves to Hiroshima, a city with its own history of disaster, to put on a new stage version of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, performed by actors speaking their respective native tongues. As part of the job, he must agree to have a chauffer, a condition he is reluctant to. Getting behind the wheel of his outdated but beloved car carries importance for him and goiving that up has a lot of sympbolic power. The driver, carrying her own trauma, gains his trust and his ear, and together they work through the things that have been eating at them and not allowing them to move on. This is beautifully rendered, if a bit on the long side.

Chronicles From The Land of The Happiest People On Earth by Wole Soyinka

This is an uncomfortable book to read. It goes beyond satire to a place that is almost on par with Dante's inferno. I read that the author renounced his United States citizenship after the 2016 election, when an openly racist, xenophobic misogynist was elected to the highest office, and he may as a result feel a bit stateless. The book tells the multidimensional story of a secret society dealing in human parts for sacrificial uses, whose members encompass the highest political and religious figures in the land. It details how the conspiracy and cover-up of this quasi-organization affect not only the life of the nation but, more specifically, the lives of four friends. This is essentially a whistleblower’s book. It is a novel that explodes criminal racketeering of a sinister and deadly kind that is operating in an African nation uncomfortably similar to Nigeria. It is a vivid and wild romp through a political landscape riddled with corruption and opportunism and a spiritual landscape riddled with fraudulence and, even more disquietingly, state-sanctioned murder. It is a difficult read that will leave you thinking for days if not more.

Nightmare Alley (2021)

This is a dark and stormy movie, with everything you would expect from Guillermo del Toro. And it is aptly named as well. The story ultimately conculdes that what comes around goes around, but the devil is in the details. The story is about grifters, how they operate, who they take advantage of and what becomes of them. It comes as no surprise that Cate Blanchett pulls that role off seamlessly--the authenticity that she brings to every role she takes on is exceptional. The story does not revolve around her but rather Bradley Cooper's smart, traumatized and deeply flawed character of Stan. Before utters his first line of dialogue the viewer has already seen him mercilessly drag a corpse and set a house on fire. He is in almost every sense but the legal one a fugitive, from his past and his own unresolved resentment, a man who lands at a 1930s traveling sideshow populated with curious acts of benign mentalism and bizarre cautionary tales. He woos and wheedles his way into a high class charlatan and thus begins his downfall. Equal parts painful and believable, a memorable character in a familiar story that ends almost exactly where it begins.

Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac (1835)

I am going all in on the 19th century French classic novels this year and I started with Balzac. I am sad to say that while I have watched more than one movie in which Balzac is a featured character, this is my first actual novel. The good news is that I loved it, and am eager to spend more time reading works in his La Comédie Humaine. This story centers on one young man from France’s provinces, Eugène de Rastignac, who has just settled in Paris and set his sights on becoming a lawyer. He desires to climb the social ladder fast and his impatience for money, status and power soon makes him cross paths with one impoverished father of two daughters (old Goriot) who selflessly devotes his remaining time to them (or, more accurately, to the memory of them). From richly-decorated Parisian drawing-rooms to the bedlam that reigns in a poverty-stricken lodging house, the result of this crossing of the paths is a thrilling head-to-head collision of reality and illusion, youth and old age, ruthless selfishness and selfless devotion, all happening at the very heart of turbulent and exploitative Paris of 1819.

Old Fashioned Coconut Cake

We had out of town guests that we were less than ideally prepared for, and my husband was able to make and assemble this after work and before dinner. Absolutely delicious in an over the top celebratory kind of way. 3 cups (360g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon cardamom 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (213g) cream of coconut (e.g., Coco Lopez brand) 1/4 cup (57g) water 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 24 tablespoons (339g) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 cups (396g) granulated sugar 6 large eggs, at room temperature Frosting 1/4 cup (60g) coconut milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 16 tablespoons (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature 5 1/2 to 6 cups (622g to 678g) confectioners' sugar 1/16 teaspoon salt Soak 1/2 cup (120g) coconut milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Filling 2 cups (170g) shredded coconut, sweetened 1/2 cup (113g) heavy cream 1/2 cup (120g) frosting (from above) Garnish 2 cups (170g) shredded coconut, sweetened Take your baking to the next level: Virtual classes Instructions Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack positioned in the bottom third. Butter two 9” x 2” round cake pans and dust them with flour, shaking out any excess. To make the cake: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and salt into a large bowl; set aside. In a large measuring cup or small bowl, stir together the cream of coconut, water, and vanilla; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater (or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer), cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the cream of coconut mixture and beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 830g per pan) and smooth the tops with a spatula. Tap the pans firmly on the counter to remove any air bubbles. To bake the cake: Bake the cake layers for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick or thin paring knife inserted in the center of a layer comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then invert them onto the rack and turn right side up to cool completely. Prepare the frosting, soak, and filling while the cake cools. To make the frosting: In a large measuring cup or small bowl, stir together the coconut milk and vanilla; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater (or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer), cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add 3 cups (339g) of the confectioners’ sugar then the coconut milk mixture. Mix on low speed until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add the remaining 2 1/2 to 3 cups (283g to 339g) confectioners’ sugar and the salt, beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. The frosting can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days or refrigerated for up to five days; bring it to room temperature before using. To make the soak: In a measuring cup, stir together the coconut milk and vanilla; set aside. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the coconut and heavy cream. Let stand for about 10 minutes, then stir in 1/2 cup of the prepared frosting. Use immediately; the filling shouldn’t be prepared ahead. To assemble the cake: Level the tops of the layers with a serrated knife so they’re flat. Brush the cut side of the layers with the soak. Place one layer, cut side up, on a flat serving plate; you can keep the edges of the plate clean by sliding strips of parchment under the cake while you frost it. Spread the filling over the top of the layer. Place the second layer, cut side down, on top of the filling and frost the top and sides of the cake with the frosting. Sprinkle some of the sweetened shredded coconut on top of the cake and press the rest into the sides, covering the entire cake with coconut.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

I cannot exactly put my finger on the reasons why, but I really loved this memoir. It is equal parts sad, nostalgic, culturally rich, vulnerable and underneath it all it rings true. The author opens with the loss of her mother Chongmi to cancer when she is in her early 20's and her mother was in her mid-50's. It came on the midst of the deaths of her grandmother and aunt, so that when the author found herself going regularly to H Mart, the Asian supermarket chain redolent with as many flavors of nostalgia as there are Korean ingredients. The book is emotionally layered, and these pilgrimages are suffused with the grief, anger and anxiety that start off the look back at a turbulent relationship that never had a chance to settle in to an adult one. This story is also the author's own, showing not just where she went next, but where she comes from, and who she is. There is a lot about being from a mixed background, not white and not Korean, both and neither and wanting to be what she is, which is both.

Roasted Squash with Spicy Greens

This was flat out amazing. I served with the yogurt on the side because vegans were involved, but you could serve with a plant based yogurt, or skip altogether. 1½ pounds butternut squash ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning 1 bunch baby spinach or Tuscan kale 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar ¼ cup untoasted sesame seeds ¼ cup hulled sunflower seeds ¼ cup pumpkin seeds ½ teaspoon mustard seeds (any color) ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes ¾ cup Greek yogurt Preheat the oven to 500°F with a rack in the lowest position. Starting at the neck end and continuing to the belly end of the squash, cut squash crosswise into ½-inch-thick rounds, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Transfer the squash to a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle generously with oil, turning to coat. Season both sides with salt, then arrange in a single layer. Roast on the bottom rack until the squash is tender and lightly browned around edges, 15 minutes (I don't even bother turning it, preferring to get one side as dark as possible). While the squash roasts, use your hands to strip the kale leaves from the stems, then cut leaves crosswise into ¼-inch-wide ribbons. Wash and dry the leaves, then transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle vinegar over, then toss to coat. Stir together ⅓ cup oil, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, mustard seeds, and 1 teaspoon salt in a small skillet or saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and cook, swirling the skillet often, until the seeds are golden brown and starting to pop, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, quickly stir in the red pepper flakes, and immediately pour oil mixture over the kale—there will be a bit of spattering as the hot oil hits the moisture on the leaves, so take care with this step. Toss to combine. Spoon the yogurt onto a platter. Top with the roasted squash, then pile the sizzled greens on top.

Taste by Stanley Tucci

Buckle up, this is mostly fun, with a side of seriousness thrown in. This is a memoir that revolves almost entirely around food--the role it plays in his life, the making of it, the recipes for his favorite dishes, the experience of eating food, and then what happens when you can't do that for a period of time (he had cancer of the tongue). There is a bit of name dropping, nothing too egregious--he is, after all, a well known actor who met his current wife at a celebrity wedding, he is entitled to brag a bit). The best thing I can say is that he seems to know what he is talking about, and I share his sensibilities around food--it made me sad that I did not grow up eating the way he did, but I think that I have more than made up for it since. I also hope that my children feel like they grew up with a breadth of exposure to food from around the world and a love of both the eating and the making of it.

Brussel Sprouts with Balsamic and Garlic

The air fryer is a new item in our cooking repertoire. We replaced our old toaster oven with one that has a lot of features, including air frying, and this recipe was developed for that. Very good side, and easy to put together. 1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved through the stems (cut larger ones in quarters) 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, plus more for serving ½ teaspoon soy sauce Heat air fryer to 400 degrees, if preheating is necessary. Place brussels sprouts in the air fryer basket; drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and the salt. Fry for 15 minutes, shaking basket or stirring the sprouts halfway through. Sprinkle sprouts with garlic. Continue to fry until the garlic is golden brown, another 2 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar to a simmer. Continue to simmer until thickened and starting to look syrupy, adjusting heat as necessary to prevent burning, 2 to 3 minutes. (Keep a close eye on it; it will go from reduced to burned very quickly.) Remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons oil, the lime juice and the soy sauce. Transfer brussels sprouts to a serving platter and drizzle with balsamic dressing. Squeeze more lime juice on top to taste.

Oh William! by Elizabeth Stout

The current installment in the trilogy that reflects on the life that is Lucy's, she is in her sixth decade, a moderately successful novelist who is about to lose her second (and dearly held) husband. He is the one who well and truly gets her, who values her above all others. She is still friendly with her ex-husband, partly for their shared kids, partly because they are still friends. The book, sparse as it is, reflects on all things that make up family--the ones you marry, the ones you leave, and the ones that you share blood with. There are a lot of permutations on display here, and oh so many hurt feelings. COVID is not in the picture, but severe neglect and poverty in childhood are front and center. The reverberations to the next generation and beyond are unmistakable. It is a quiet book, one that leaves you with more than you started with, and a lot to ponder.

Ropa Vieja

There are so many different versions of this long stewed meat recipe from countries that touch the Caribbean, all of them worhty of consideration, but this one (from Serious Eats) includes green olives, which along with red and yellow peppers, are my favorite additions to the dish. Serve it with black beans and rice and enjoy the flavors of warmer places. 2 1/2 pounds (1.1kg) beef flank steak (brisket and skirt work as well) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons (45ml) vegetable oil, plus more if needed 1 large yellow onion (about 15 ounces; 415g), diced 3 red, yellow, and/or orange bell peppers (about 8 3/4 ounces; 250g each), thinly sliced 8 medium cloves garlic (3/4 ounce; 25g), minced 1 tablespoon (15ml) tomato paste 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 cup (120ml) dry white wine 1 (14-ounce; 396g) can peeled whole tomatoes in their juices, crushed 1 cup (240ml) stock 2 bay leaves 1 medium carrot, diced 1 celery rib, diced 1/2 cup (90g) pimento-stuffed olives, sliced into thirds 1 small handful chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems (about 1/2 loosely packed cup) Cooked rice and pinto or black beans, for serving Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Cut flank steak into large pieces that will fit on the bottom of a Dutch oven in 2 batches. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Working in batches, add steak and cook, turning, until browned, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer steak to a plate and set aside. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and allspice and cook, stirring and scraping, for 1 minute. Add white wine and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Boil until raw alcohol smell has cooked off from wine, about 2 minutes, then add canned tomatoes and stock. Return beef to pot, nestling it under the liquid among onions and peppers, along with any of its accumulated juices. Nestle bay leaves, carrot, and celery into pot. Add more stock, just enough to cover all the ingredients, if necessary. Cover Dutch oven and transfer to oven, then let cook until beef is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves, carrot, and celery from pot and discard. Remove beef from pot and, using 2 forks, pull apart into very thin, long shreds. Return beef to pot, stirring to combine with vegetables and cooking liquid. Stir in olives, return Dutch oven to medium heat, and simmer until juices have reduced just enough to coat the beef in a rich, saucy glaze. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro, then serve with rice and beans in equal parts.

The Invisibled by Jesse Holland

This is a compendium of our past assembled by people who led the country and whether they owned other people or not. There is a lot of good information in here about enslaved people who worked within the White House and those who were owned by previous Presidents of the United States--so a but of an eye opener in come cases and then things we know in other cases. The author has some firsts. He was the second African American to be editor of the daily campus newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, and he is the first ever African American to be a Supreme court correspondent for a major media organization. He has been a longtime reporter for the Associated Press, where he has covered the White House, as well as Congress, and so has a context within which to look at and present this information. There are some high points, like the Adams presidents never owned slaves, even though both of them certainly could of, and there were economic incentives to do so, but they believed it to be wrong. There are things we know, like the fact that Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe were all Virginians and not only owned slaves, but in some cases owned many. Washington and Madison freed the slaves closest to them upon their death, and Jefferson did not, not even those whom he had fathered. This paints Jackson a bit more favorably than I expected, but others, like Polk and Johnson, do not come off well. The history of slavery is touched upon, but the real focus is the presidents themselves, both while they were in the White House and when they were not. Definitely worth reading as a part of a US History education.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are surprisingly good considering there is no yeast, and you can literally go from waking up to eating them in less than an hour, and you ware likely to have everything on hand if you bake in general. Defintiely the best conamon roll per minute of effort! ½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter, very soft, plus more for greasing the pan ½ packed cup/110 grams light brown sugar 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon ¾ cup/90 grams chopped pecans, toasted (see Tip) FOR THE ROLLS: 2 cups/256 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon fine salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ cup/54 grams canola oil ¾ cup/180 grams buttermilk FOR THE GLAZE: 4 ounces/113 grams cream cheese, very soft 1/2-3/4 cup/51-76 grams confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon whole milk or heavy cream ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Make the filling: In a medium bowl, using a flexible spatula or wooden spoon, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the pecans. Set aside. Make the rolls: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the oil and, using a flexible spatula or wooden spoon, mix until incorporated. (It might be a little lumpy. That’s OK!) Stir in the buttermilk until just blended. Gather the dough into a ball and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 1 minute. Roll out the dough into a 15-by-8-inch rectangle. Gently spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border all around. Starting from one of the long sides, roll up the dough into a tight cylinder. Rotate the roll so that the seam is against the work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut the roll crosswise into eight equal slices. Transfer the rolls to the prepared pan, spacing them evenly. (At this point, you can wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a day or 2, or freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to come to room temperature before proceeding.) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden. While the rolls bake, make the glaze: In a medium bowl, using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, beat the cream cheese until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat well. Add the milk and vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside. Remove the rolls from the oven and allow to cool for 3 to 4 minutes before coating with the glaze. Serve warm.

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

I thought that I knew a fair amount about the Sackler's and their relentless quest to sell as many opoiods as possible. Afterall, I have been a health care provider for over three decades and substance addiction, abuse, and treatment has always been in my wheelhouse, so I have seen the downstream problems that result and I have been on the receiving end of pharmaceutical reps whose main goal is to sell their drug and who are far less schooled in the ins and outs of pscyhopharmacology. None of that prepared me for the breadth and depth that the family went to sell their product, regardless of who it harmed, and then when it looked like the pipe might need to be paid, skimmed off all their profits--like billions of dollars--and left a hollowed out company to declare bankruptcy. This is deeply insulting to pretty much everyone, but the thing that struck me is what I have observed about other oligarchs. The Sacklers believed themselves to be better than not just most people but pretty much all people, that by virtue of being fabulously rich they were now entitled to be immoral and to come away unscathed. They were used to buying immunity and influence, and thought there would be no bounds to their ability to manipulate people for profit. They were shocked that their family name would not just be revealed but dragged through the scandal that they had created. They complained that their children could not get into elite private schools, that their charitable donations should be shunned. The other thing that shouldn't have surprised me but did is that they knew all of this going back to the beginning, and much like the tobacco industry, they buried it, deep, and since then thousands have died. So, yes, they have blood on their hands.