Feb/March Round Up: Be Ready When the Luck Happens

Thanks to all who read Ina Garten's Be Ready When the Luck Happens, the Feb/March selection. I am listing the inspired-by recipes in posting order. 

Wendy was first and posted before I even had the announcement up. She's an Ina fan and has more than a few of her cookbooks:

Her memoir was just as engaging as her personality on television and in her cookbooks.   I LOVED this memoir.  I got it from the library a couple of days before I left on vacation, thinking I would read it on the plane.  I picked it up that first day and finished it before our trip.  

Speaking of her trip, she made this lovely meal when she returned. She took the recipe for Garten's Barefoot in Paris Cookbook for Crispy Salmon with Lentils. This is a quick and easy meal that looks delicious. 

Next up was Camilla with, to quote Ina, "frosting delivery systems." These delights are also known as Ina's famous coconut cupcakes.

Camilla was not very familiar with Ina's rise to fame but she enjoyed the book and learning about Ina's early life:

I especially loved her culinary epiphany in France - how they shop, how they cook, and how they eat. I had a similar revelation when I lived and worked in Italy. It's the same thing: foods are eaten in-season; shopping is done in specialty shops; and dishes are made to enhance the natural flavors and quality of the ingredients.

Besides making the cupcakes, she adapted Ina's recipe and made a gluten-free coconut cake. She also was inspired to make Ina's recipes for  Pan-Fried Onion Dip, lentil soup, and a chocolate cake. Look for those recipes soon at her site.

I always admire Amy's honest and transparent book reviews. She was not a huge fan of this selection:

It was kinda nuts, but it was like watching a train wreck - but a train wreck that happens to work out for the best, because as the title suggests, she is very lucky in that all of her ventures very extremely successful.

Now the second half of the book. I think I would be generous rating it a 1.5. At this point Ina has become a household name, so the remainder of the book is a walk through her success. We read about every book she writes, buying her Paris apartment, filming her shows, and while name dropping celebrities (my dear {insert celebrity}, the wonderful {insert celebrity}, the "make me (the reader) want to stab my eyes out" {insert celebrity}). It was so boring!!!!

But, Amy still found some delicious inspiration from a recipe on Ina's website: Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Egg. 

This does look like a delicious lunch (or brunch, or breakfast, or brinner) dish.

I (Debra at Eliot's Eats) was up next.

I loved reading this book and learning more about Ina, especially her early life (with some unfeeling parents) and her college years and White House career. She is pretty transparent in this work and I thought at one point she might have admitted to doing some illegal substances with a well-known NYC foodie. (No judgement.) She admits that her marriage (which seems ideal and perfect now) once hit some rocky spots with Jeffrey and her actually separating. She chronicles the feelings of coming to age during the feminist movement but still thinking she needed to hold on to some of the domestic traditions that held her back.

I was surprised there were not more recipes in the book but I did find the best brownie recipe ever! 

Simona ran into a bit of bad luck with this selection. By the time she was able to get off the wait list at the library and grab a copy of the book, she found herself ill. 

When I finally started reading it and doing some research on her recipes, I got sick, in a way that made experimenting in the kitchen out of the question for a while. I am finally better, but also short on time and not yet comfortable in straying far from foods I know I can consume. I had made the recipe below a few times while reading the book, before getting sick and I made it again after I got better, as it belongs to the "safe" category. Adjusting to life happening, I  may say.

 

Above is her Root Vegetables and Escarole with Tofu. Simona, I hope you are feeling much better now.

Claudia was "clueless as far as the author goes." She summarizes her thoughts on the book (and Ina's life) here:

Ina, as we read in her memoir, was shaped by a sad, difficult and actually abusive childhood.  You come to realize afresh that some people really should not have children at all.  Because of which upbringing, Ina Garten it seems was driven to assert herself in adulthood.  With her accomplishments and ambition in the face of obstacles, at times including her marriage, it was a wonder to me that her relationship with her husband, Jeffrey survived.  She was blessed indeed with that man in her life, and that they were both able to grow through it all.

She made Oven Baked Asparagus Risotto from Ina's Go-To Dinners and deemed it "very good, delicious in fact."

Claudia, I don't even know how to write your part of the round up. I am so truly sorry for your loss and I cannot even imagine what you are feeling. Know that we are all sending you good thoughts and as much comfort as we can virtually.