Eggplant Walnut Pâté

1 large eggplant 1 cup shelled walnuts 2 cloves of garlic 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon of Georgian Spice Mix salt to taste fresh pomegranate seeds extra virgin olive oil to drizzle You can grill the eggplant with an open flame--either your grill or your gas stove--until the skin is charred and it starts to soften--put it in a paper bag, roll the top closed, and let it steam. Then peel and scoop out the flesh. Alternatively, preheat the oven to 450°F. Make small slits around the eggplant with a knife. Place on a heatproof dish and bake in the oven until skin is dry and the inner flesh soft, about 40-50 minutes, depending on the size. While the eggplant is cooking, place walnuts in the food processor and pulse until texture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Heat a skillet on high heat and dry-roast the cloves of garlic with the papery skin still on. Keep on heat, tossing occasionally, until the skin becomes charred all around and the cloves soft. Remove skin and set aside. Remove eggplant from the oven and let it rest. When cool enough to handle, discard the skin and place the soft pulp in a colander over a bowl to let the liquid drain from the eggplant. Place the eggplant, roasted garlic, grated ginger, olive oil, ground spices and pomegranate sauce in the food processor with the ground walnuts. Process until smooth and creamy. Season with salt to taste. Scoop into a bowl, drizzle olive oil over the top and garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Nothing Special by Nichole Flattery

Wow, a new and different take on Any Warhol and the Factory. This centers on the making of Warhol’s work entitle A Novel (1968), an experimental slice-of-life breeze block built from taped conversations typed up by two schoolgirls, one of whom the author imagines as our narrator, Mae. We join her in 2010, deep in middle age, before we cut quickly back to 1966, when she’s 17, riding escalators with an eye out for male attention, having been cold-shouldered at school and left alone by her mother, a waitress with a drink problem and an on-off boyfriend whose household presence seldom seems healthy. So an escape to The Factory would have at least initially been welcome, and then what it was, and the effects it left are what are imagined for the rest of the book. It is a bit psychodelic in tone at time, capturing what I see it as having been like watching some of his movies--also about nothing, a relic of a gone by era.

Garcia's Meat Market and Cocina, Idaho Falls, ID

Our favorite Mexican restaurant in Idaho Falls is now closed on Sundays (maybe it always was? Maybe we are usually there on Monday or Saturday?) and that turned out to be a very good thing indeed, because we found this restaurant (and market) instead. We loved the huaraches, and I was quite happy with the cheese enchiladas, while my spouse liked the tacos al pastor. We should have ordered chips, something we will remedy next time, and our son, who often eats mostly rice and beans, thought these were really good.

This place also highlights an issue with Yelp reviews--this had lower reviews than other Mexican food restaurants, but after being here, I think it is the organizational style that drove some reviews. Here you wait in line, you order, and then you jockey for a seat. We were there at a peak time, and had easily 20 people in front of us--which gave us the opportunity to figure out what was what with scoring a table. Added to that, the waiter, noting our anglo appearance as a minority of diners, and therefore likely pegged us as amateurs, reassured me he would have our back on this. The one star reviews are almost exclusively related to service--which we found to be efficient, helpful, and as attentive as you can be when there are 2 of you and 50 of us. We loved it, all the loudness, and chaos, and music being a plus in our books.

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

This is an easily approachable story centers around five friends — the Jordans (a gay couple), Naomi, Marielle and Craig — who first connect as transfer students at UC Berkeley when they’re assigned to the same dorm suite. Just weeks shy of graduation in 1995, Alec — the sixth member of their tightly knit group and the one known for his fondness for mixing ecstasy and ketamine — is found dead after an apparent overdose. Following Alec’s memorial service, the unmoored musketeers make a pact to stage “living funerals” for each other in future times of crisis. That way, unlike Alec, they can be honored, loved and celebrated while they’re still kicking. So a Big Chill theme with a more modern variety of friends and a slightly darker vibe. With such a setup at the outset, it’s not hard to guess how the book will unfold. Over the course of 30 years, each of the characters asks for a funeral at a particularly thorny point in their life: Marielle’s divorce at 39, for example, or Naomi’s parents’ death in a plane crash three weeks after her 43rd birthday. At these milestones, the crew pulls out all the stops, with wholehearted eulogies, free-flowing wine and memories of who and what they once were. Naomi has endless cash, so "how will we afford this" is not an undercurrent, nor is anybody else in their lives, for that matter. Despite some dark matters, it is largely light and overall enjoyable.

Sauteed Shrimp With Peanuts

I wanted a lickety split recipe as I had thawed shrimp a day ahead of time, and then unexpectedly was going out of town and it was a relative imperative that I make them that day, but I had also just gotten my most recent COVID booster, and as is typical for me, was achy and tired as a result. So a no fuss no muss recipe was ideal, and I had already salted them ahead of time so could skip that step. These were good, but probably not going on repeat--unless I find myself in the same situation again! 1 ½ pounds extra-large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 2 teaspoons coriander seeds 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 1 teaspoon paprika 1 garlic clove, minced 1 ⅛ teaspoons sugar, divided ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped 1 tablespoon lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving 3 tablespoons dry-roasted peanuts, chopped coarse BEFORE YOU BEGIN We prefer untreated shrimp; if yours are treated with additives such as sodium tripolyphosphate, skip the salting in step 1. You can substitute jumbo shrimp (16 to 20 per pound) for the extra-large shrimp; if substituting, increase the cooking time by 1 to 2 minutes. To use the plain seared shrimp as a neutral protein in rice bowls or salads, skip steps 2 and 4. 1 INSTRUCTIONS Toss shrimp and ½ teaspoon salt together in bowl; set aside for 15 to 30 minutes. 2 Meanwhile, grind coriander seeds and peppercorns using spice grinder or mortar and pestle until coarsely ground. Transfer to small bowl. Add paprika, garlic, 1 teaspoon sugar, pepper flakes, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt and stir until combined. 3 Pat shrimp dry with paper towels. Add 1 tablespoon oil and remaining ⅛ teaspoon sugar to bowl with shrimp and toss to coat. Add shrimp to cold 12-inch nonstick or well-seasoned carbon-steel skillet in single layer and cook over high heat until undersides of shrimp are spotty brown and edges turn pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Working quickly, use tongs to flip each shrimp; let stand until second side is opaque, about 2 minutes. Transfer shrimp to platter. 4 Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to now-empty skillet. Add spice mixture and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, return shrimp to skillet. Add cilantro and lime juice and toss to combine. Transfer to platter; sprinkle with peanuts; and serve, passing lime wedges separately.

What An Owl Know by Jennifer Ackerman

Owls are iconic--you know one when you see one; which is almost never because they are so elusive and camouflaged. I was on a guided bird walk through a county park and one of the guides from another group had a Barred Owl in his scope. He kept it in place and walked every single person who wanted to see it through spotting it--even knowing that I was looking right at it, I had trouble picking it out, so hidden was it in the tree. And I was clearly not the only one. They have cultural significance and are often depicted in art. They are associated with wisdom and prophecy (the goddess Athena and her owl) to some; to others they are considered portents of bad luck, illness and even death. Here are my take aways from this book, where I learned far more than I knew (not really a stretch, as I knew almost nothing besides how hard they are to find, and so logically, they are also hard to study. They have huge eyes--like enormous. Their bodies a tiny, skinny things and their eyes are 7% of their total body weight. If it were a human, our eyes would be the size of oranges. One researcher's theory of why their eyes face forward is that is ergonomics--they wouldn't be able to hold their heads up if they were laterally placed. They have the most highly specialized feathers of any bird, with many shapes with different purposes, and thousands of them. One counted over 12,000 on an owl, whereas a bird of similar size has 1/3 that many. Their hearing is exquisite--they hunt in total darkness, guided by sound to their prey--the feathers help them gather the sounds, and 75% of their brain power is devoted to seeing and hearing. So maybe they are not so much wise as having spy potential. There is much more to be found in here, and I recommend it even if you have only a passing interest in birds. It will leave you wanting more.

Gai Noi, Minneapolis,MN

Wowza, this place was amazing and I cannot wait to go back. My spouse agreed to drive me to a baby shower that was north of us, but not so far as Minneapolis, but we really wanted to try this restaurant, so we made the extra effort. Why? The New York Times names it one of the fifty restaurants in the United States that they were excited about, and a restaurant in our town made that list--it is not just our favorite restaurant now but our favorite restaurant of all time in our place, so we are quite intrigued by this list. Suffice it to say that this was knock it out of the park amazing food. We over ordered, we would get a different variety next time, but what we got both amazed us and left us hoping for a next time. Here is some background from the web site: Gai Noi, short for khao gai noi, is a type of short grain glutinous rice emblematic of the northern Xieng Khouang regions of Laos, where chef Ann and her family are from. Also known as ‘little chick’ due to its spotted appearance and small shape, khao niew (sticky rice) is a staple of the Lao diet and is eaten in tandem with nearly all other dishes. So important is sticky rice in Lao culture, most Laotians refer to themselves as ‘luk khao niew’, or ‘children of the sticky rice’, as sticky rice is the sustenance of the people; the central component of any meal and gathering. The restaurant is open 11AM-10PM seven days a week, and so it is also a great find if you want to eat at non-traditional hours, or like us in our later years, want to eat in the early evening, when a lot of restaurants have yet to open. One caveat--we arrived just at 5PM and it was already hopping. We were able to get a table, but when we left, there were at least 40 people waiting to be seated. They do have shared tables, which can augment availability, but it is a place that favors those of us who eat at off hours. None-the-less, this place would be work the wait. It has a fun atmosphere and good people watching as well.

Pageboy by Elliot Page

This is a brave coming of age story, told by someone who is well known, but in many ways it is mostly not so much about coming out as a public figure but as a story of growing up and into yourself. The anecdotes are heartfelt, sad, humorous, and supremely captivating. I suspect that trans people everywhere will see some of their story in this, and for those who are not trans, it is an opportunity to hear what it is like. Page made headlines when he came out as queer in 2014 and again when he let the world know that he was a trans man in 2020. The latter revelation was Page reintroducing himself on his own terms. The former was more complicated. He kept both hidden for a long time, but there was a lot of speculation along the way. The author started acting professionally at the age of 9, but he had already learned to play a part. From his childhood as a “tomboy” to his days as a closeted celebrity, Page yearned to be someone other than the person others expected him to be. While the author describes his romances with other boldface names and shares anecdotes about unnamed Hollywood figures that will undoubtedly lead to speculation, he is primarily interested in examining what it was like for him to grow up repressing his authentic self. He remembers the heartache of unrequited crushes and the impossibility of forming authentic relationships while living a lie. He recounts bullying and abuse, from his peers and from his family. He reveals how his body dysmorphia led to self-harm and disordered eating. He testifies to the lifesaving power of gender-affirming care and a loving community.

Spaghetti with Pine Nuts and Swiss Chard

I have said it before and I will say it again, Josh McFadden's cookbook Six Seasons still stands out as the single best cookbook I have cooked from, and this recipe is one of my favorites--there is still some swiss chard surviving outside and so this is a summer and fall dish in my neck of the woods. You can sub out the pine nuts for something less pricey, but they really shine here. ½ cup raisins red wine vinegar kosher salt freshly ground black pepper 8 ounces spaghetti or tagliatelle, or angel hair extra virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced) ½ cup pinenuts ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes 1 bunch Swiss chard (dried ends trimmed, stems thinly sliced, leaves torn into strips) 3 tablespoons unsalted butter parmigiano reggiano cheese (for grating) METHOD Spaghetti with Swiss Chard, Pine Nuts, Raisins, and Chiles is a guest recipe by Joshua McFadden so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe Combine the raisins, a splash of vinegar, and warm water just to cover in a bowl and plump for 20 minutes. Drain. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like the sea. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the package directions. Start tasting a minute or so ahead of time so you don't overcook it. With a ladle or a measuring cup, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and drain the pasta well. Meanwhile, pour a healthy glug of olive oil into a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and pine nuts and let them toast very slowly until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chile flakes and cook for another 10 seconds so they can bloom, then add the drained raisins. Increase the heat to medium, add the chard stems, season with a bit of salt and black pepper, and cook slowly until the stems are slightly tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the torn chard leaves and a splash of water (use the pasta water, if the timing works), cover the pan, and cook until the leaves are wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the drained pasta and the butter to the chard and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, black pepper, or chile flakes. Grate a bit of Parmigiano over everything, drizzle with more olive oil, and pile into bowls. Serve with more grated cheese.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

This is a singularly amazing book that depicts a middle class family on the precipice of a massive catastrophe that slowly but surely unfolds. That underlying anxiety both propels this story forward while simultaneously looping back into the family's past. Everything that happens feels both spontaneous to the moment and yet determined by a web of tragedies and deceptions that stretches back for decades. Every incident that seems to stand alone then unspools to greater complexity — not like a mystery being solved but like a labyrinth being constructed. We see all of us in the characters within: Dickie, who was set up well in life by his parents, finds that his mediocre skills as a car salesman that served him well in good times are not what it takes when times get tough and he is slowly slipping into bankruptcy. His wife Imelda is panicked by this and starts to behave quite erratically as she fears she will once again be living in poverty. Their daughter Cass is about to leave home and struggles with who she is, who she wants to be, and where she fits, all of that not going particularly well and their son PJ, who is being groomed by an internet predator. It all comes to a head at the end, but with this book it is the journey that is so astounding. It has been long listed for the 2023 Booker Prize, and deservedly so.

The Roman Theater, Taormina, Sicily

Today is my DIL birthday and she loves to travel. This rendition is painted by French artist Joséphine Sarazin de Belmont in 1825, but it has been painted many times over, and could be done again today, such is the setting as well as the reconstruction. It is actually mostly likely a Greek theater that the Romans renovated to suit their needs. The Greeks did theater, the Romans had gladiators, but the spectacular setting that is Taormina, on the eastern coast of Sicily, high up upon a mountain, is the thing to experience. We went to Sicily to drop our kids off for their study abroad experience--like any good parent would do--and then we were off to explore a bit on our own before we headed home. They were supposed to go to Israel for an archeological dig, but that fell through because of unease about violence that pales in comparison to what is happening now, and this was a plan B alternative, so we had done little in the way of preparation. COmplicating things further, we had only been home from a two weeks stint in Russia (thank goodness we went when we did, because we are never going back, not at the rate it is going), so we meandered criss crossing the island, and my MIL, who has been dead on in places she has recommended in Europe, guided us here. It is up what used to be a perilous road and now is just a vertiginous highway, and is a beautiful place to experience modern Italian food in an ancient city with stupendous scenery. Put is on your to do list.

The Supermajority by Michael Waldman

This is basically a book that looks briefly at bad decisions the court has rendered at the end of its term one year ago, but it includes a brisk history of the court’s last 200 years, from the disastrous lows of Dred Scott v Sandford (1857) and Plessy v Ferguson (1896) to the highs of Brown v Board of Education (1954) and Obergefell v Hodges (2015). The unmooring of the court from stare decisis is at core the concern and a blueprint for why this unravels the authority of the court, and the justices that play those roles. What the book does do is to pose possible reasons for each justice's position from their own life experiences, which is bad enough, but what it does not do is to pose questions about the outside influences essentially buying decisions from various justices--much of the information about Alito, Thomas, and Roberts getting big payouts from right wing donors who have had decisions go their way is a further erosion of public faith in the work that the court does. It also side steps the question of who leaked the Dobbs decision to the press, when it seems the preponderance of evidence is that it was Alito himself, attempting (successfully) to box other justices in, and creating the firestorm of support for abortion nationally, even in conservative bastions--at least so far. This book would be best if you were not already following the court closely and wondering exactly how bad this really is.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

I made these for the groom's dinner and then took leftovers to work--this was one of the cookies I got asked about. 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup sugar 1 egg Juice of 1/2 lemon Zest of 1 lemon 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Glaze 3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1. For the cookies: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and well blended. Beat in the egg, lemon extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Scrape down the bowl and beater and add flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch and baking soda, beating everything together until fully incorporated. 2. Dust a countertop with a small amount of flour and turn dough out. Knead lightly and shape into a log. The shape is up to you—can be round or square. You can divide the dough into two logs, if that works better for your refrigerator. Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. You can also double wrap the dough logs, place in a freezer container, label and freeze for up to 2 months. If using frozen dough, set out on counter while the oven preheats, to make the dough easier to slice. 3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper. Place cookie dough log on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to slice 1/4-inch slices. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 or until the cookies are a light golden brown on the edges. While cookies are baking, make glaze by combining lemon juice, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Use a spatula to gently remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a wire rack set over wax paper or foil (to catch drips) to cool slightly. Use a brush to spread glaze on cookies while they're still warm. Let cookies dry and place them in airtight containers for storage. (As if. They'll be gone before you can turn around.) It's a good idea to put parchment paper or waxed paper between the layers of cookies.

Owner Of A Lonely Heart by Beth Nguyen

I was reading this book while I have been listening to Marcus Samuelsson's book Yes, Chef. They both share an immigration story, and the experience of being other in the country they grow up in, Nguyen being Vietnamese in the United States and Samuelson being Ethiopian in Sweden. They both experience prejudice and racism. They both fixate on parentage and what happened to them, how their parents feel about them, and how to move beyond that in their everyday lives. What is different is that Nguyen grapples with a lot of issues that gnaw at her. She notices things and then she tries to grapple with them, and it doesn't always go well. She is willing and able to be flawed. She expresses her aloneness in a way that we can all relate to, even if you don't share that with her. This is a book about history, about family, about where and to whom we belong, and whether we ever really do. It is a portrait of things left unsaid, and what happens next. It is quietly moving and thoughtful.

Celebrate Vaccines

Once again, into the fray. I am so grateful for vaccinations in general and the COVID vaccine in particular. It is so fitting that Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize this year, and so nice that it came on the heels of their world altering contribultions--they literally saved untold millions of lives, and they were able to witness the fruits of their labors. The discoveries by the two were critical for developing effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic that began in early 2020. Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times. 

Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison

This short, quiet, deep, and thoughtful book was found by me through Obama's 2023 Summer Reading List, the last of the lot for me to read. The multi-ethnic photographer at the center of the book narrates the novel directly to her husband, a Jewish tie designer. We find out that she identifies as “Black, Haitian, Japanese.” This trilogy fuels her hurt as she mourns lost relationships and futures, as well as beginnings, endings, and in-between. There is a lot here, including grief, police brutality, sex versus love, and the ways we choose to cope with events we aren’t yet able to process. But what is central to the novel is parenthood--to be or not to be. The narrator and her husband consider having a child of their own, but live in the perpetual shadow of crimes committed by law enforcement against people of color. The decision to parent must contend not only with the terror of future loss, but also the guilt attending loss experienced in the narrator's past and present.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Pomegranate Molasses

This is simple and easy--but it gets watery quickly and the pomegranate molasses slips off the vegetables, so dress this table side and eat immediately. • ½ pound Persian or English cucumbers, peeled • 1 large or 2 small Roma (plum) or other fleshy tomatoes • ½ cup chopped fresh herbs: one or more of mint, sorrel, lovage, flat-leaf parsley, and/or leaf celery • ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste • About 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (recipe follows) • Cut the cucumbers lengthwise in half, cut into 1 ½-inch lengths, and then cut into spears. Set aside in a shallow bowl. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Drop in the tomatoes, then use a large spoon to lift them out, let cool a moment, and peel. Chop the tomatoes into 1/4-inch chunks. Add the tomatoes to the cucumber, then add the herbs and toss to mix. Add the salt and toss. Add the pomegranate molasses and toss. Taste for seasoning and adjust the salt if you wish.

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

This is longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, which has happened a couple of times before. The Irish can certainly write, and this one is amongst the most productive. His books cover a range of experiences and he is an amazing storyteller. In this book, grief, guilt and regret feature prominently. Also, that America is not the only country where you cannot trust the cops. Tom Kettle is a retired policeman living among the gothic wilds of the Irish coast in a lean-to attached to a Victorian castle. He’s fairly miserable to begin with; a crushing set of personal losses – his wife and two children are dead but hauntingly on his mind – having left him isolated and confused. His hard-earned peace in his post-work life is disturbed when two former colleagues knock at his door, asking for help on a cold case concerning crimes by priests. The story is grounded in this shameful chapter of recent Irish history, the covered-up crimes of the “empire of the Irish priesthood”, which caused so much suffering to infants in its care. Turns out Tom and his wife have a murderous secret that he has kept for her, involving her abuse and their revenge for that. This is the book that addresses the impact of trauma on memory.

Esmeralda, Andover, Vermont

We had a wonderful pop up sort of dinner at Esmeralda in Andover, Vermont. It is an experimental restaurant from Maria Rondeau and JuanMa Calderón, who run Boston’s beloved restaurant, Celeste--many of the 20 or so guests that we ate with the night we were there came because they had such good memories and food at the mother ship. It is located in a special setting, on a hillside surrounded by nature, at Rondeau and Calderón’s country residence. The idea is that this is a place where guests come together for shared culinary experiences that merge local and Latin American flavors, sounds, and culture. Each month during the Summer and Fall, Esmeralda hosts a weeklong series of events with menus featuring rustic takes on Peruvian classics as well as an all-day feast centered around the pachamanca, the ancient method of cooking in the ground. It is more theater than cooking, and the night we were there the underground oven was filled with pork, alpaca, lamb, chicken, butternut squash, potatoes, yams, pineapple, and the Peruvian version of tamales, only sweeter. The meets and vegetables were delicious, but the sauces that accompanied them were even better. Lunches and dinners are served outdoors on the lawn and patio, as weather permits, or inside the dining room. Guests are encouraged to mingle over pisco sours while jazz plays from the speakers, and take in the stars around the fire pit after the meal. Our evening at Esmeralda was an experience beyond the meal itself — it was a dinner party with guests we would have been unlikely to meet any otehr way.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

This is a book so low key in tone that you could almost miss the kicker at the end, but not quite. In the time since The Dutch House came out to now I have read Patchett's entire oeuvre of memoirs and essay collections, which are much more revealing of her than her works of fiction are, and so this was an extra special pleasure to read as a result. It is the quietest of quiet stories: a mother recounting select elements of her life to her adult daughters as they pick sweet cherries during the pandemic. Quiet, yes, but entrancing in ways significant and minute via the details tucked into the corners--classic Patchett. Emily, Maisie, and Nell are stuck on the farm with their parents, Joe and Lara, as the pandemic rages. Most of their usual seasonal workers, in that first covid summer, can’t make it to northern Michigan for the short, intense harvesting season. Thus, given the work ahead of them to get the crop in, Lara has lots of quality time with her girls, who are clamoring to know the specifics of her early-career romance with a famous actor. The minute details of this family captures so much of what is true in daily life and family dynamics, moving easily from laugh-out-loud funny to moist-eyed poignance, sometimes in the same sentence. The book moves back and forth between the summer that is being remembered and the current one, and there is so much wisdom about relationships in general, and the evolving relationships within a family as children grow to adulthood that this should simply not be missed, even if this turns out to be your first exposure to this author.

Emmer Mushroom Pilaf

Our cookbook club selection is A Taste of Persia by Naomi Duguid, who has been writing cookbooks for about 20 years that are largely centered on Asia. We cooked a series of things out of it over a long weekend, and this one was good, but I thought it needed more mushroom flavor, and would rehydrate a porcini mushrom and add the liquid to boost it up a bit. We did the no meat option. ■ 2 Tbsp. sunflower or vegetable oil ■ 2 Tbsp. ghee or butter (or 1 Tbsp. margarine) ■ 2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 1 cup) ■ 225 gr. (½ lb.) ground beef or lamb (optional) ■ 225 gr. (½ lb.) mushrooms, chopped or sliced thin – brown, button or portobello (about 4 cups) (or 110 gr. or ¼ lb. mushrooms if using meat) ■ 2 tsp. dried thyme ■ 1 cup (scant 225 gr. or ½ lb.) emmer, farro or other wheat berries, washed well and drained (or soaked; see note) ■ 2½ cups water or light broth ■ 1½ tsp. sea salt, or to taste (less if using salted broth) ■ Generous grinding of black pepper ■ 2 to 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon or mint Optional accompaniments: ■About 2 cups plain thick yogurt, lightly salted (if not using meat) ■Plate of fresh herbs such as basil, coriander, mint, fenugreek, parsley, dill and green onions Place a wide, heavy skillet or heavy pot over medium heat. Add oil and butter; when butter melts, swirl to coat pan. Toss in onions and cook until translucent. Add meat, mushrooms and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat has changed color and mushrooms are starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add wheat berries and water or broth and bring to a boil. Add salt and return to a boil. Lower heat slightly to maintain a strong boil and cook for 5 minutes. Cover pan, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until emmer is very tender and cooked through; regular wheat berries (prepared following note below) may take longer. The finished dish should be slightly soupy, like a very thick risotto. Taste and add salt if needed, and the pepper. Stir in tarragon. Serve hot or warm, with yogurt and an herb plate, if you like. Note: If you can’t find emmer or farro, try to get soft wheat berries. If using regular wheat berries, soak them for an hour or so, then briefly pulse in a food processor to help crack them and thus speed cooking.

In The Country Of Others by Leila Slimani

The author draws on her own family history in this, the first installment in what is proposed to be a trilogy. The book begins in 1944 when Mathilde, a passionate young Frenchwoman from Alsace, falls in love with Amine, a handsome Moroccan soldier fighting for the French. She marries him and after the war they go together to live in Morocco, first with his mother and siblings in the city of Meknes, and then to the hectares of stony countryside that Amine has inherited from his father, who wanted to build a farm there and grow fruit and almond trees. Slimani’s grandmother was in fact an Alsatian girl, Anne Dhobb, who married a Moroccan soldier; together they built up a fruit farm near Meknes. Dhobb published her own memoir in Morocco in 2004, and we have to assume it helped the author with this story. There are interwoven themes of cultures clashing--France and Morocco, Christian and Muslim, French and Arabic, colonizer and colonized--that pair with the tensions that are happening in the home. Accommodations are made within Amine and Mathilde's difficult marriage; the boundaries between cultures turn out to be more porous than they appear at first. Mathilde is volatile and histrionic but she’s also valiantly inventive, finding ways to adjust to her new country, and to love it. Amine doesn’t kill his sister Selma who is in love with a glamorous French airman – and is pregnant with his child. The book erupts at the end when those who demand independence fight against family members into an explosive ending.

Barbie (2023)

First of all, Greta Gerwig is mining her childhood for gems and insights to share with the rest of us, and this movie is no exception. The Google reviews are hilarious, because while the overall rating is a three, the actual ratings are largely either 5 or 1--so you will either love of hate this movie, which Gerwig co-wrote with her real life partner. At the start, Barbie lives in a wonderland of pink places, houses with no walls, and women are in charge--much like what little girls are supposed to do when they play with dolls, act out the futures they hope for themselves. Men are adjuncts to the real business of life, but there is no sex, no relationships, and everything is perfect--up until it is not. Barbie starts to have dark thougts and she and ken travel to the real world, where Barbie discovers that in fact women have no power and men are in charge, a fact that Ken finds intoxicating, and upon return to Barbieland they shuffle power, which is also not a great look. The tone is light and fluffy but there is a darkness here. There are several levels that this movie works on. THe first is that as a satire it is comic genius, with so many zingers. Mattel also is a winner, because while they are skewared at every turn, Barbie made a comeback as a doll. The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, even if you are not a huge fan of pink. It really works. The deeper question about gender roles is dealt with in such a way that you will be thinking about it for days to come, and overall, while the ending was not to my taste, this was a great film.

Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang

There are so many ways to read this book--it is wonderfully capable in that way. On the one hand it can be seen as an almost slavish devotion to the American ideal of work as worthy only to appear out of step with the reality of a pursuit of wealth without work is what people seek. On the other, it could be seen as a caricature of every stereotype made transparent. And so many more--the point is that it is enjoyable and illuminating. Joan is a Chinese American doctor who feels most at home when at work. In keeping with the world's exhausted and exhaustive use of "okay" — is to present Joan as an old stereotype: mousy, industrious, inscrutable, asexual. She is both admired and begrudged for her robot-like dedication, accomplishing nothing but work and sleep and remaining serene while doing so. A number of things go on to occur in the novel that make it clear that Joan is very much not okay, and neither are most of the rest of us, which is the point, I think, that this idea that work is 'the way' serves only those who make money off that work, and not the worker. Time to turn off the media and find yourself.

Chester, Vermont

This is yet another very quaint town in Vermont with a population of 3,144, centrally located, and in close proximity to several ski areas, the Hall Art Foundation, and has a Main Street studded with craft shops and galleries. The Stone Village Historic District and its sweet main street and green claim spots on National Register of Historical Places. My spouse and I were going to a pop up afternoon meal nearby and so spent a few hours enjoying ourselves here and would recommend it. We were there on a perfect late summer day and sat on benches next to the Hearse House (which was previously known as Hearse Shed, which is a bit more accurate when it comes to size, but it does has a very clean public bathroom), situated near the cemetary. The town website does have a downloadable map of the historic buildings, and the one pictured here was for sale when we were there--a seven bedroom, 8 bathrooms house which needs updating but has good bones and could be a lot of fun.

Workhorse by Kim Reed

I had a hard time picking a rating for this, and in the end it may be on the harsh side because I was expecting this to be more about food, when in fact it is about the author herself, her slow growth into adulthood, her own prejudices that got in the way of her seeking a job that would allow her to pay off her student loans rather than staying with work that she didn't love and did not pay the bills, and her continued inability to see how that continued to hamstring her the longer she worked with the Joe and Mario show. I suspect she got the book contract because she was employed by them for so long and was willing, on some level, to dish, but it isn't really dirt so much as a critique of the whole structure that underpins the high end restaurant business. I read a review that called it a wistful insider's story and that sums it up. The author started working at Babbo when she was in college, mostly as a coat checker or manning the reservation line, but then after literally years, she became Joe Bastianich's executive assistant. So she went everywhere and saw everything, but not from the chef's side of the table. There is a lot of name dropping, and she got valuable lessons I have no doubt, but she does not paint a picture that is enticing. She does describe her own motivations, seeking a seat at the table--which she got--but in the end it wasn't enough.

Wedding Season (2023)

I will admit that in this genre--romance comedies that go immeditately to a streaming platform without passing go--I am very generous when it comes to criticism. The whole reason that I am choosing a movie in this genre is because I do not want to think, I want to be able to tell what the end will be like from how it begins, and absoultely, no exceptions, no surprises. I watch these sorts of films when I am stressed by this, that, or the other, and I want a mind clearing couple of hours--in that framework, this did not disappoint. I was recovering from putting on a wedding and about to go to another, so it was fun even. What happens? To appease their moms, a pair of Indian American entrepreneurs pretend to be dating each other so that their over invovled parents don't continue to set them up, and agree to attend a season of weddings together. There are a lot of cultural cliches, and if that is a deal breaker for you then skip this one--but if you love a little Bollywood dancing, then that is an added bit of fun in this. You choose.

A Cuban Girl's Guide To Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

This is another pick from Reese Witherspoon's Young Adult recommendations, and it has all the multi cultural mixings that happen in others in the group of books that she picks out. Lila is a young woman, almost 18 and recently graduated from high school. Her future doesn't hold college but rather running the family's traditional Cuban bakery in Miami. She is right on track to that success when her grandmother dies unexpectedly, and her long time boyfriend dumps her. She spins out of control and her family decides that the best solution is to send her away to a family friend in a small English town. Okay, that part seems like a stretch--more running from problems than solving them, but that is the story. There she meets a boy, Orion , who is also headed for running his family's tea shop. They form a friendship while she is expanding her baking horizons to blend in a bit of where she is with a bit of where she is from. It has a lot of classic elements of a romantic comedy but with a Cuban girl teaching her new found friends things about her culture through food.

Southern Minnesota Fall

I have been to southern Minnesota exactly twice once when fall has descended and the leaves are turning and the trips were separated by over twenty years. The first time was the year that my youngest son was getting chemotherapy for a brain tumor, which was a year so stressful that I found it difficult to enjoy much of anything or to deeply relax in any way. I understand why we did it, but I am not sure it was worth all the money and trouble. So not surprising maybe that it took me so long to go back! This year, my second trip, was a work trip. I work remotely and part of my job is to supervise several clinics in southern Minnesota. As part of that job, I am to visit them on site once a year, which means it has to happen by the end of September. Usually I make a summer trip, but for one reason and another, that did not happen, and this year's trip was just under the wire--what a gorgeous time to go! I am not much for driving alone, but between a good audiobook and the view, the journey itself was beautiful, and I would recommend it highly!

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

I was in a quilting class talking about Ann Patchett, her non-fiction writing in general and her book Truth and Beauty, which is about her friendship with the author of this book, and one of my fellow classmates asked if I had read this and recommended it. I had not. I liked but did not love this book, and the reasons may be complicated. One is that I really loved Patchett's book, and knew a lot of the details told her and more already. The other is that I am the parent of a childhood cancer survivor, and so it hews close to the bone for me, but from the parent's side, and they do not fair particularly well here. Then there is the part where the fact this involves a potentially dying child isn’t even the bleakest part of her story. This is the kind of subject matter that almost always lends itself to cliché; this does not veer into that territory. When Grealy was nine, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in her jaw. After a few false diagnoses, she had one-third of her jaw removed and then underwent an intensive course of chemotherapy and radiation. On the one hand she was lucky to survive--on the other her face was forever scarred and left the author similarly scarred on the inside as well. It is not a sob story, trust me, I cried ALL THE WAY THROUGH John Green's book The Fault In Our Stars, when the story veers into the losses childhood cancer robs people of, I am a sucker. I have imagined it all and lived a good deal of it. Not so in this one. It is just the cold hard facts of severe illness as something that can be grown up with but not escaped.

Tahini Crisps

My baking friend and I made this for my son's wedding, and then took them on a work trip and the only recipe that I got asked for was this one. They are not too sweet, but buttery and nutty. ¼ cup firmly packed (54 grams) light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter (½ stick), softened ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (143 grams) tahini, preferably Soom brand, at room temperature ½ lightly beaten large egg (25 grams) ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml) pure vanilla extract ½ cup plus 1½ tablespoons (71 grams) bleached all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon (2.7 grams) baking soda A pinch of fine sea salt ¼ cup (42 grams) hulled sesame seeds, for coating Make the dough: In a food processor, process sugars for several minutes, until very fine. With the motor running, add butter one tablespoon at a time and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add tahini and process until smooth and creamy. In a small bowl, whisk together beaten egg and vanilla extract. Add egg mixture to food processor and process until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to food processor and pulse just until incorporated. Scrape dough into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour and up to overnight, to firm for shaping. When ready to bake, set an oven rack in middle position. Set oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough into balls: Place sesame seeds in a small bowl or ramekin. Measure out 10 pieces of dough, 1 level tablespoon (18 grams) each. Roll each piece of dough between the palms of your hands to form a 1-inch ball, then roll ball in sesame seeds to coat. Place balls 1½ inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6 minutes. Rotate cookie sheet a half turn. Continue baking until cookies lightly brown and centers, when lightly pressed, have barely any give, 6-9 minutes. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet until firm enough to lift, about 1 minute. Use a thin pancake turner to transfer cookies to a wire rack. Let cool completely.