It's time for the roundup of Cook the Books' Club December 2025/January 2026 edition for which we read the memoir in lyrical essays Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
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 Bite by Bite-Inspired Menu
Breakfast
Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Homemade Granola
Snack:
Hot Honey Pecans
Main dish:
Chicken Curry with Potatoes
Mushroom Risotto
Umbrian Lentils with Honeynut Squash and Vegetables
Dessert:
Hummingbird Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Make yourself comfortable and enjoy the menu.
"Pancakes are already delicious on their own but what if we combine them with another breakfast-dessert - Cinnamon Rolls!... While this sort of compilation is not my typical style, I could appreciate that each chapter was inspired by a food. The cinnamon chapter was an informational chapter that read more like a textbook than some of the other chapters that were centered around the author’s memories or musings. It was interesting enough and a great inspiration for these pancakes!"
Deb of Readerbuzz shared My Mom's Homemade Granola
"Some of the foods are exotic to me... Some of the foods are foods I use often... Some of the foods are so familiar to me that I actually grow them in my yard and cook with them all the time... Here's a recipe I make that uses several of these foods... My mom would collect and refill our granola storage container every year as her Christmas gift to us... Every time I make granola, I think of my mom."
"Aimee shares her culture and heritage in this sampling of short stories that I was surprised to enjoy so much... When talking about Pecans, Aimee mentioned being down south for a book signing during a pecan festival and enjoying the Honey Crisp pecans. I have no idea what Honey Crisp Pecans are, but I had some pecans and some hot honey... and the pecans were glazed and toasted. They are amazing. If these are not Honey Crisp Pecans, they should be."
Debra of Eliot's Eats made Chicken Curry with Potatoes
"I was immediately drawn to lumpia, then to a lychee martini, then to her mother’s elusive chicken curry (and the potato bits). Beyond these, though, inspiration could be found on almost every page… I kept coming back to the lumpia essay... I found a recipe for Filipino Lumpia... Unfortunately, during our snowmageddon, I didn’t run to the store so I couldn’t buy the ingredients for lumpia. I did have everything for a chicken curry though... Her favorite part of her 'mother’s curry was the potatoes sopped in ginger, coriander, cumin.'"
Claudia of Honey from Rock made Mushroom Risotto
"A delightful, poetic compilation of short essays about food and the author's memories associated with various fruits and meals she has enjoyed over the years... For cooking inspiration, I was especially taken with her tantalizing description of a Mushroom Risotto she and her husband enjoyed in the Swiss Alps. And, of course I had to make it! Hard to say if it was as good as the one in Aimee's memory, but damn good all the same! A fresh salad of slivered kale and cherry tomatoes was good contrast."
Simona of briciole made Umbrian Lentils with Honeynut Squash and Vegetables
"Before selecting this book for our club, I knew and appreciated the author’s poetry, but was not familiar with her essays. I like how she uses a food to start a thread that weaves through memories with factual details sprinkled in... I was inspired by the time of year and the food memory it elicited. To celebrate the New Year (Capodanno), I followed the tradition of eating lentils... typical of my home region."
"The audiobook is narrated by the author herself. Some times that can work and other times not so much, but I do think it worked here... I decided pretty early on what I was going to make... something that is kind of inspired by the essay on pineapple. I had two reasons for making Hummingbird cakes. The first was because in the essay, it talks about the fact that hummingbirds are banned in Hawaii... The second reason is because my auntie had given me this recipe ages ago."
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 Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures who is hosting the February-March edition in which we are reading the novel In Miss Eliza's English Kitchen by Annabel Abbs Runyan.
Arrivederci a presto!
Simona, of briciole
No comments:
Post a Comment