June/July Selection: A Bakery in Paris

I was pleased to be invited to host CTB for the upcoming months of June and July. I chose the historical novel A Bakery in Paris by Aimie Runyan (August 2023)

This is the story of two women, Lisette, born into wealth and privilege in France to parents who are cold and distant towards her. As she becomes an adult in 1870, she flees the marriage planned by her parents and runs into the arms of Theo, a National Guardsman, who is part of the resistance against the Prussian oligarchy in control of the country. Micheline is a young woman entering adulthood in 1945 as WWII is ending, and people are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Micheline was raised in a loving, caring home above a cafe. Her father was killed in the war, and her mother disappeared, leaving her to care for her younger sisters. When the cafe tenants leave without warning, Micheline is unsure of how she will continue to provide for her siblings. She speaks with an elderly neighbor who encourages her to attend culinary school and restore the cafe into a bakery. The neighbor told Micheline that she was great friends with her grandmother and had many fond memories of joining her for treats after school when her mother, Lisette, owned the store. The novel skips back and forth between the lives of these two young, strong, and determined women as Micheline follows the recipes she has found in her great-grandmother's journal. These recipes are listed between chapters in the novel. I hope you enjoy this novel and will join me at the end of July when I do a roundup of the reviews and recipes inspired.

Wendy, A Day in the Life on the Farm

Deadline for contributing your post: Thursday, July 31, 2025.

 

Leave a comment below with a link to your post 

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Remember that membership in our book club is open to anyone and we hope you will join us by reading these selections and creating inspired recipes. New participants are always welcome and so are returning ones. For more information about participating, click here.  

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club: The Roundup

It's time for the roundup of Cook the Books' Club April-May edition for which we read the novel The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson. 

As I've done in the past, I will present our club members' contributions as a menu organized in courses. For each dish, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a quote from it, a taste: follow the link and read the author's take of the book and how the reading inspired the cooking. 

Cook the Books Club's The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club-Inspired Menu 

Appetizer:

Anchovy Pesto Toast

Bread:

Potato Bread

Main dish:

Spinach and Paneer Pulao

Sandwich:

Woven Bacon Sandwich with Onion Jam

Side dish:

Fava beans and peas 

Dessert:

Chocolate Eclairs

Make yourself comfortable and enjoy the menu.

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Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm prepared Anchovy Pesto Toast

"High Tea is served each day and on one of those occasions, Anchovy Toast, was served. This was the inspiration for the recipe that I am sharing today. I enjoyed this novel, which is, in essence, a love story... I had never heard of Anchovy Toast and wanted to confirm it was a thing. A Google search turned up numerous recipes. I decided to create my own, and it was pretty darn good." 

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Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures baked Potato Bread 

"It was a nice little historical fiction that managed to combine levity with the harsh realities facing survivors of WWI... Since some rationing was still in place just after the war, when this story took place, I started wondering if I could find any recipes specifically from that era... [Win the War Cook Book], published in 1918, was just what I was looking for with hundreds of war time recipes. I started reading and was so pleased when I found this recipe for potato bread!"

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Claudia of Honey from Rock made Paneer
and used it to prepare Spinach and Paneer Pulao

"I decided to feature Basu and Pandora, who, is revealed, after putting aside his more ordinary honorific, to be the new young Maharaja of Kochi Benar. Then of course there is a quite hypocritical turn around, a Royal welcome! And he is able to help with the exciting developments and resolution of the storyline. So, in remembrance, a delicious curry and cheese in their honor!"

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Debra of Eliot's Eats cooked Woven Bacon Sandwich with Onion Jam

"There is a lot of standard British fare—tea, sardines and toast, Dover sole, cheese sandwiches and scones. Champagne, cocktails and wine flow, too... I had to go with a version of Tilly’s Famous Bacon Sandwich (with sauteed onions). I was going to just recreate the recipe from the back of the book but then I ran across an onion jam recipe in by Heart by Hailee Gatalano and I had to try a version of that on this sandwich. This is a great recipe for bacon sandwiches before summer tomatoes are ripe." 

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Simona of briciole (your host) prepared Fava beans and peas

"The book inspired me to look at a food from my upbringing, something not only Italian, but from my family traditions. When I was in Italy last month, the smell of roasted chestnuts... reminded me of my mother. Every October, she would buy a large amount of chestnuts from someone in Casperia, the village in central Italy where she grew up. Then, in the following weeks, we would eat them often, as dessert at the end of dinner, alternatively roasted and boiled... The side dish is earthy and sweet (almost dessert-like) and it's vegan."

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Marg of The Intrepid Reader prepared Chocolate Eclairs

"Once again Helen Simonson has given us a book which feels lighthearted, and yet covers many serious topics including racism, the effects of war, class differences and social change, and asks questions like how should the end of WWI, or indeed any war, be commemorated the year after it ended. She does it with a gentle humour and wry observations about society and class... My husband has been asking me to make eclairs for the longest time... I have made choux pastry once before, but not eclairs, but now is the time for it to happen."

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A great Thank you! to everyone who joined in this edition of Cook the Books.

I believe all the submissions I have received are presented in the roundup. If you find anything missing or in need of amendment anywhere in the roundup, please do let me know.

And now, I’ll pass the baton to Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm who is hosting the June-July edition in which we are reading the novel A Bakery in Paris by Aimie Runyan.

Arrivederci a presto!

Simona, of briciole