Books that I’ve either finished, or am about to finish!

Quiet Days In Clichy

Paired with: Pancetta and brie crepes

The Glass Room

Paired with: Raspberry cake

Reviews and Recipes in the works!

I’ve been a very, very bad book blogger. But, I hope to do some serious catching up over the next week!! I have some reviews and recipes in the works, but in the mean time, here are the books I’ve purchased over the past month. I went on a bit of a spree, and I can’t wait to delve into all of them.

The Scoop:  The novel actually follows three different narratives, but the person that ties them all together is Iris Chase. Iris, now an old woman, recalls her childhood and her relationship with Laura, her troubled younger sister. Indeed, the first thing Iris tells us is that Laura drove her car off a bridge in 1945. What follows is an account of the years leading up to her suicide, as well as a book within a book- a science fiction story called The Blind Assassin. The plot is incredibly rich, and I would be doing it a disservice if I were to describe it in great detail. Suffice it to say, Iris’s past, her deceits, her failures, and the complicated bonds she shares with lovers, family and friends are all teased out beautifully. It’s a life full of tragedy, but the Blind Assassin subplot is a stunning tribute to pulp science fiction, as well as a poignant love story.

Edibility: High. It takes a while to get going, but once it does you’ll have a hard time putting this one down. The “present day” chapters are probably the slowest, but still compelling in their own right. Iris, Laura, and Alex are flawed but vividly rendered- you may not agree with their decisions, but Atwood makes sure you understand them.

Rating: Ambrosial. A haunting, gorgeous novel worthy of its praises (it won the Booker Prize in 2000). Often novels that have multiple narratives have parts that are disproportionally better or more developed than the others, but I would argue that each of the three stories supports and strengthens the other pieces. One of my all time favorites- a really decadent treat.

Consume with: Ice cream and Orchid Syrup.

I decided after much hair pulling that sometimes the best solutions are the easiest ones. So, pick your favorite fruit sorbet or vanilla ice cream (can be non dairy) and pair it with orchid syrup- an exotic, sophisticated plant with, dare I say it, all the trappings of a science fiction creature.

Orchid Syrup

10-14 orchid flowers (no stems!)*

3/4 cup agave nectar or honey

3/4 cup water

1 tsp rosewater (optional)

Blend the flowers with the sweetner in a food processor or blender for a couple minutes, then slowly add the water until smooth. If you want it to be completely smooth, strain the syrup through cheescloth or a really fine strainer. Chill in the fridge, store leftovers for a couple days.

* Okay, so if you don’t have orchid flowers lying around, obviously this seems kind of crazy. But if you still want fancy, elegant syrup for your ice cream, try mixing the water, agave and rosewater with a bag of frozen raspberries in the blender instead.

Life is crazy so I haven’t reviewed yesterday or today :( BUT I have a few lined up for this weekend, and so I don’t get out of the habit of posting, I will leave you with a wonderful passage from Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins.

Along their migratory routes, monarch butteflies stay nights in certain trees. The “butterfly trees,” as they are called, are carefully chosen— although the criteria exercised in their selection are not known. Species is unimportant, obviously, for at one stopover the roosting tree may be a eucalyptus, at another cedar or an elm. But, and this is what is interesting, they are always the same trees. Year after year, whether moving south or returning north, monarchs will paper with their myriad wings at twilight a single tree that has served as a monarch motel a thousand times before.

Memory? If so, it is genetic. For you see, the butterflies who journey south are not the ones who come back. Monarchs lay their eggs in sunny climes. Then they die. The hordes who flutter northward in spring are a succeeding generation. Yet, without hesitation, they roost in the same trees as did their ancestors.

Scientists have examined butterfly trees and found them chemically and physically identical to the trees surrounding them. Yet no other tree will do. Investigators have camouflaged a tree’s color, altered its scent. The monarchs were not fooled. Another of nature’s mysterious constants. A butterfly always knows when it is there.

(I dare you to look up “butterfly tree” in image search. IT IS SO TERRIFYING/AWESOME. It’s beautiful and grotesque and just wow. If I saw that in real life I would probably have an existential crisis.)

The Scoop: Hannah Heath, an Australian book conservator, is commissioned to restore the famed Sarajevo Haggadah. The Haggadah is a passover prayer book- nothing particularly unusual, but this one dates back to the 1400s and contains beautiful illuminations (a very Christian tradition of bookmaking). The story follows Hannah as she researches seemingly innocuous items found in the books page: an insect wing, a wine stain, sea salt, and white hair. By the far the most compelling chapters are the ones that flash back to these objects’ origins- I was almost disappointed when the book returned to Hannah’s time (1992). Hannah must navigate war torn Sarajevo, the bureaucracies of the UN, and messy relationships with lovers, colleagues and her domineering mother; all interesting stuff, but you’ll find yourself eagerly anticipating the next missing piece of the haggadah’s history.  

Edibility: Average. Not hard to get through, but it’s not breezy. The switching between the novel’s present day and the other narratives breaks the momentum, but the story doesn’t drag- just when you’re starting to get bored with Hannah, crazy (if a little contrived) stuff starts happening, and you’re sucked back in until the end!

Rating: I think People of the Book deserves separate ratings. Hannah’s story is, overall, entertaining and well done. It’s Toothsome. But the chapters that deal with the history of the haggadah are positively Ambrosial. Every vignette is rich with history and fascinating characters, and each one tops the previous in quality.

Consume with: Baklava, a sweet, nutty dessert with a complicated history spanning many Eastern countries. Just like the haggadah! This is a really common, basic recipe, but it’s common because it works and it’s really delicious.

Baklava

Serves 8-10 people

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough

1 lb chopped nuts (pistachios, walnuts, pecans work best)

1 cup butter or Earth Balance margarine

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup water

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a big ol’ baking dish.

First things first, make sure your nuts are chopped, then mix with the cinnamon. Set this bowl aside for later.

Make the syrup! Boil sugar and water until the sugar is melted, then add the honey and vanilla and leave on low heat for about 20 minutes (or about the time you’ll need to put the dough together).

Unroll the phyllo dough. Cut to fit the shape of your pan! Phyllo dries out REALLY easily, so don’t just let it sit out. Leave a damp towel over your stack, otherwise you will be in trouble. Melt your butter, otherwise you will be FRUSTRATED. Then, put two sheets in the pan at a time and brush the butter over them to coat. Repeat until you have 8 sheets stacked. Spoon a couple tablespoons of the nuts on top, spreading evenly. Keep layering sheets (two at a time) with the nut mixture in between. The top layer should be like the bottom, with about 8 sheets.

Cut baklava into diamond shapes, toss in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. Check on them after 40!

Take your syrup off the stove if you haven’t already and let it cool, covered, in the fridge while your baklava bakes.

Take your golden brown yumminess out of the oven and immediately pour your cooled sauce over it! Devour. Freeze leftovers (not that there will be any).

The Scoop: Another WWII novel, but different in every imaginable way. The story follows Juliet Ashton, an English writer and bibliophile who garnered recognition for her charming wartime articles under the name “Izzy Bickerstaff.” After the war, however, one of Juliet’s old books finds its way into the hands of Mr. Dawsey Adams of Guernsey (a small island off the English coast, under German occupation in WWII). The narrative takes off from there, all in the form of funny, personal, and deeply felt letters between Juliet, her publisher, her best friend, and the people of Guernsey. It’s not often you read 1st person perspective from more than one or two characters, and in less capable hands the “letters” device would feel hoaky or confusing. Amazingly, Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows manage to pull it off and still create a cohesive, really lovely novel.

Edibility: High. This probably won’t take more than a few long afternoons. Juliet is a compelling lead, and her passion for books instilled my reading with a pride and purpose uncharacteristic of “light” fare like this! It’s not all sunshine and roses, but the happy moments are infectious, and the romance isn’t cloyingly sweet.

Rating: Toothsome. Quirky, but not contrived. You’ll find yourself genuinely caring for almost every character, and cheering their small (but important) war time victories. It’s a little fluffy I guess, but well above the realm of guilty pleasure.

Consume with: Lavender Scones and Earl Grey Creme Tea. Delightfully British and relatively simple!

Lavender Scones (makes 1-2 dozen scones, depending on their size!)

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tbs baking powder

1/4 cup lavender sugar*

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk (dairy is fine, I love almond milk but soy works too!)

3/4 cup buttermilk OR 3/4 nondairy milk+2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. If using nondairy milk, mix the milk with the apple cider vinegar and let sit for a few minutes. Mix the dry ingredients well, then form a “well” in the center and pour all the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined- the mixture will be more wet than doughy, that’s normal. You can either make drop biscuit style scones, or add up to another 1/2 cup of flour and form the dough into a flat(ish) circle in the center of the baking sheet. That way, you can make cute little scone triangles later!

Start checking on them after 10 minutes, they should definitely be done after 15. Let cool, then cut (if making triangles) and serve with Earl Grey Creme (Teavana sells a great one!) or regular Earl Grey.

*You can buy lavender sugar at gourmet markets, online, or at farmer’s markets. Otherwise, you can make your own by mixing 2 tbs of dried lavender (or 4 tbs of fresh) with 1 cup of sugar. Set it aside for about 2 weeks, then sift out the lavender and voila!

As an avid reader and an avid consumer of food and drink, I decided to combine my loves into something fun and productive. Basically, I will post reviews of books and comics I’ve read recently, that have been released recently, or that I remember fondly from years ago. Many of them will be familiar to you, but hopefully many are fresh!

After that brief review, I will post a “pairing” to consume with your book, which will often include a recipe to try. Because the only thing more delicious than a good read is a crumbly muffin or a cup of tea to go with it! The food won’t always been super tailored to the book, but it’ll relate in some way, or else be so perfect a combination that I don’t care if it makes sense or not.

WARNING: There will probably be a lot of food related puns. And I’m not sorry.

Since City of Thieves by David Benioff helped inspire this blog’s title, I’ll kick things off with it!

The Scoop: Told from Benioff’s grandfather’s point of view, or at least as the author imagines his grandfather’s experiences during WWII in Leningrad. Benioff apparently recorded hours and hours of conversation with Lev Beniov, and the result is a gripping, immediate tale with a deceivingly simplistic goal: to find a dozen eggs in less than a week. Amidst a crippling blockade, freezing cold, and Germany’s advancing forces, Lev and army deserter Kolya must get the eggs for a Colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake in order to barter for their freedom. The characters are vivid, and while you end up worrying about them a lot (Nazis! Frostbite! Landmines!), there’s some small comfort in knowing Lev survives to tell his grandson David this tale.

Edibility: High. I devoured this in two days. It’s an entertaining, almost breezy read despite the dark subject matter; Kolya is a charming, roguish type, and it’s fun trying to guess who David’s grandmother is within the story.

Rating: Toothsome. Not a classic by any means, but it’s a fast, highly enjoyable work of historical fiction. Benioff is also a screenwriter, and it shows; the dialogue is snappy, and the writing is very “active.” So, if you’re looking for flowery prose, look elsewhere.

Consume with: Library candy. What is library candy, you say? Well, in WWII era Leningrad, it was book binding glue that had been boiled down and shaped into a bar of tasteless protein, wrapped in book paper. Sounds awesome, right?

If not, I’m currently in the process of making my own library candy. Recipe will be posted if I manage a hard candy more edible than book binding glue.