Announcing: Our Next Four Cook the Books Selections!

As we dig into our current pick of How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K. Fisher, hosted by Simona of briciole, it is time to announce the next round of Cook the Books selections, taking us all the way through March of 2014. A wonderful variety we have--two fiction, two non-fiction. We'll travel from Germany to Texas, into our own gardens and backyards, throughout America and all the way to Africa looking for delectable foodie inspiration!

August/September 2013

We will close out the summer traveling from Germany to Texas as Heather of girlichef shares her favorite read of 2012, The Baker's Daughter: A Novel by Sarah McCoy. 

Heather says, "A story that flawlessly weaves the past with the present. Two bakeries. Two countries. Two eras.  We start off the year 1945 with Elsie Schmitt, a teenager who works in her father's bakery in Nazi Germany.  Her life changes forever when an escaped Jewish boy appears on her doorstep on Christmas Eve. Sixty years later in El Paso, Texas, journalist Reba Adams plans on interviewing an older baker from town for a feel-good Christmas story in the local magazine.  Little does she know the impact that speaking with the owner of Elsie's Germany Bakery will have on her outlook of life. Family, forgiveness, strength, and a testament to power of sharing a good loaf of bread.  I hope that you'll take as much inspiration from this novel as I did - I know I can't wait to read it again!"

The deadline for The Baker's Daughter is Monday, September 30th.

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October/November 2013

You are what you eat! Rachel, The Crispy Cook, gets us thinking local with her pick of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver and Steven L. Hopp.

 Rachel says, "Barbara Kingsolver is one of America's great modern fiction writers, but in this book, co-authored with her professor husband and recipe-sharing daughter, she provides us with an entertaining, insightful and inspiring memoir of a year spent living la vida loca-vore. The Kingsolver/Hopp family worked hard and conscientiously to eat only what they could grow, raise, gather or buy locally and their adventures in cheesemaking, pumpkin growing and turkey harvesting are all so interesting. Given that our Cook the Book clan is spread out across the globe, I am particularly interested to see what others will be inspired to share from their local bounty." 

The deadline for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is Monday, November 25th.

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December 2013 /January 2014

From thinking local to going global, I (Deb at Kahakai Kitchen) am taking us on a long journey to the recovering African country of Rwanda in Baking Cakes in Kigali: A Novel by Gaile Parkin.  

While poking around a used book store, I picked up a copy of Baking Cakes in Kigali because of its title and cover (always looking for that next CTB foodie book pick!), and found myself getting caught up in the story. Angel Tungararza is a talented cake maker from Tanzania who moves with her husband, who has taken a job at a university, and grandchildren to modern-day Rwanda. Along with baking and selling her cakes, Angel dispenses advice to her customers who come from from all walks of life, listening over cups of tea as they share their stories. At times sad, sometimes humorous, but ultimately a life-affirming and inspiring read with an engaging heroine to love. 

The deadline for Baking Cakes in Kigali is Monday, January 27th.
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February/March 2014

Simona of briciole takes us on a foodie journey through America via Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens by Andrew Beahrs.

Simona says, "What foods do Americans miss when they are abroad? Mark Twain's autobiographical book, A Tramp Abroad , written in 1879 while on an extended stay in Europe, includes a scathing assessment of the cuisine offered by European hotels. After negative reviews of pretty much everything he has eaten during his stay, Twain sees the light at the end of the tunnel, since he is getting ready to travel back home, where he is planning to eat: Radishes. Baked apples, with cream. Fried oysters; stewed oysters. Frogs. American coffee, with real cream. He goes on to mention about 80 more American foods from buckwheat cakes to squash pie. On first reading, the list made me think about the menu of a Baroque banquet. In Twain's Feast, Andrew Beahrs "tracked down a number of these American classics, discovering what Twain's experience of them was, what's become of them today, and what's being done to bring them back."

 
The deadline for Twain's Feast is Monday, March 31st.

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There you have it—our reading list for the next several months. Start looking in your favorite bookstore, library or on-line for these four books. 

Happy reading, eating and cooking to you all!

Announcing Our Winner for "The Color of Tea!"

If you didn't get a chance to look through the roundup of all the dishes inspired by our April/May pick, "The Color of Tea," yet, I encourage you to do so. With the variety of beautiful baked goods and sweet and savory treats, we almost have the perfect cafe menu of our own! We certainly made the judging process difficult for author Hannah Tunnicliffe, never less, she persevered and we have the results below.

Hannah wrote such a lovely email, I have included in its entirety below:

Dearest Deb, 

Well, I've finally had a thorough read through of all the (incredible!) entries for The Colour of Tea. I have to admit - judging has been more challenging than I imagined. Everyone has gone to such an effort and translated the story, settings and characters in such diverse and personally meaningful ways; I had a really REALLY tough time! If only your Cook the Books club members were a little less creative and talented... ;-)

Right, so, here we go.... I was enchanted by Rachel's tea eggs, even if she wasn't in love with the end result, they looked beautiful and reminded me of the century egg congee I used to eat in Macau (and how pretty they would be for Easter!). Simona's roasted carrot scones looked gorgeous (especially pictured with her homegrown delicate pink rose) as well as tasty; scones are a personal favourite for me too. I was very touched that Ana made pavlova, as it is practically New Zealand's signature dessert and I had never drawn the connection between macarons and pavlova before - very clever! Of course, I loved your raspberry-almond oat bars - the sweetness of raspberry paired with teeth-satisfying firmness, just the sort of treat I'd eat in my "office" too ;-) Then, the tarts from Marla, Louise and Heather - ooooh, I do love a tart... Louise's was the closest to the tart Grace made for Pete in the book but Marla's was so divinely simple and Heather had me at 'smoked sea salt'. Heather had made a delicious tomato tart previously, so I was very impressed she edited using seasonal produce (asparagus) and made yet another delightful tart dish. Danielle had me desperately craving a perfect New York bagel and very happily drawn into her life and loves through her great blog. Debra's macaroons were so versatile - I'm a huge coconut fan and had never thought of making them that way with a space for a filling - delicious genius! 

And now for my two favourites - pomegranate-vanilla macarons with chocolate ganache by Claudia and vanilla-chamomile cremeux by Camilla. Firstly, hats off to Claudia for making macarons! Dark chocolate ganache is my favourite macaron filling, cuts perfectly through their sweetness and pomegranate is a great, unique flavour idea, I'm jealous I didn't think of it myself! I can just imagine the gorgeous pink and brown delights in the glass cabinet at Lillian's. A creation Grace and Gigi would be proud of. And finally, the vanilla-chamomile cremeux. I loved the simplicity of this recipe with the addition of chamomile and topped with some thyme. It was the recipe I most wanted to make and could imagine Grace cooking it with Faith at her side, wearing a tiny apron and dipping her fingers into the cremeux. To me, the macaron and cremeux recipes would be Grace's favourites and somehow represented her life and her future. For that reason these are my two winners and I'd love to send Claudia and Camilla a little New Zealand food-themed prize if they would like to send me their addresses. 

As an aside, I appreciated all the feedback your readers had about The Colour of Tea. I know it is not everyone's style of novel but your readers were gracious in their criticism and genuine and thoughtful with their compliments. I laughed when I read that your readers were frustrated with Grace...I was too! Lol! But that's her - flawed and somewhat obsessive but ultimately looking for love and purpose just like the rest of us. I hope your readers grew to like her like a friend as I did. Regarding the model on the cover, I'm afraid I don't have much of a say in cover design but yes, the model is not a red-head and that amused / confused me too, although I think the overall design is lovely. If there are any other questions or feedback please let you readers know that I love being contacted and have contact forms on websites www.forkandfiction.com and www.hannahtunnicliffe.com. 

A huge big thank you for organising, Deb, and involving me (and The Colour of Tea) in Cook the Books! Let me know if I can help out in any other way; 

Very best wishes, 

Hannah

                 Claudia's Pomegranate-Vanilla Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Camilla's Vanilla-Chamomile Cremeux

Congratulations to our co-winners Claudia and Camilla! Ladies, if you send me your mailing addresses, I will get them to Hannah so she can send out your special treats. Add your Cook the Books Winner's Badges to your collections proudly! ;-)

A big THANK YOU to Hannah, who not only wrote a terrific book but is also a truly  thoughtful judge and a wonderful person!   

We will have the announcement post with our next four books posted later this week! Until then, we hope you are enjoying into our current selection, "How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K. Fisher, hosted by Simona.
  

Color Us Delicious: The Cook the Book's Roundup for "The Color of Tea" by Hannah Tunnicliffe

Plenty of delectable sweet and savory bakery and cafe treats are on the menu for the roundup of our April/May selection, "The Color of Tea" by Hannah Tunnicliffe. Cook the Books participants found inspiration in this novel, set in a macaron-filled cafe on the bustling island of Macau China.

 
Get ready for your mouth to water!

MY CTB co-host, Heather of girlichef, enjoyed her second reading of the book and made  an elegant Asparagus Tart saying, "So, since it is full-on Spring, I turned to a veg that is in season right now to make my tart, Asparagus. Half of the slender spears standing at attention, the other half slightly bent to one side, as if swaying to the music...green and dusky purple. I also found a block of Monterey Jack cheese with brilliant red flecks of roasted red peppers inside that I knew needed a place in the tart. Add a little garlic oil...a smattering of black pepper and the smoked sea salt I'm so obsessed with, and it makes Spring seem almost as sensual as Summer."

Although she didn't connect with the book, CTB co-host Simona of briciole found the inspiration to make some savory Roasted Carrot Scones, saying "The scones were inspired by the novel in the sense that they were a reaction to it. They are unadorned, crisp outside and tender inside, a bit rustic, a bit surprising with their nuanced flavor of carrot punctuated by the small pieces of candied ginger, simply irresistible. Scones are traditionally served with tea and without roses, but I was too excited about cutting the first pink rose of the season from my bush not to share it here."  

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camila found she couldn't put down the book. She got some help from her youngest "kitchen elf" to make these pretty Vanilla-Chamomile Cremeux saying. "This is one of his favorite desserts and one he's made more than once. I almost don't have to help him anymore. But we added some chamomile to the mix, this time around, to fit the 'tea' theme of this post. ... To serve, we topped the cremeux with cookie crumbles and fresh thyme."

Claudia of Honey From Rock enjoyed the book (although she wanted to yell at Grace throughout!), and was the one brave soul willing to take on the much-feared macaron, making these wonderful Pomegranate-Vanilla Macarons with Chocolate Ganache. She says, "I found something new (to me anyway) at the Natural Foods store, Pomegranate powder, and thought that would tint the cookies and help offset that sweetness. ... They were absolutely perfect for my women's OCC Prayer meeting Saturday morning, served with a pot of Thé au Chocolat, a lovely black tea flavored with dark chocolate."  

Debra of Eliot's Eats finds macaroons much more baker-friendly than macaroons and made some Lillan's-worthy Coconut Macaroon Tartlets with Peach-Honey Filling  Chocolate Drizzle. She says, "What a lovely book—truly lovely. ... Macarons scare me but not macaroons. I used to think coconut macaroons were the fanciest cookies we ever made growing up. And, I still needed to use up some more of that stored away jam. I would make macaroon tartlets, fill them with jam  and drizzle them with chocolate.  ... Not macarons, but maybe Grace would have allowed them in the shop."

Danielle of The Growing Foodie plans to make her first macaroons at a cooking class on an upcoming Paris trip so she took on another bakery staple, Mini Homemade Bagels. She says, "I began to think of something comforting I could make with tea that draws on my own life. That's when I got to bagels.  You see, bagels were great breakfast treats when we were growing up.  And we were SPOILED with the best bagels in the world living in New York. When I moved to Boston, I was shocked at what passed for bagels. Okay, sure, I ate them but I craved a good New York bagel. Now that we're in New York, it's about time to make this tasty treat for myself. Pull up a chair next to your best friends, gab and gossip, and have a bagel.  It's good for your soul." 

Marla of Sightsbitsandbites joined in for her second CTB round and says, "i found myself very easily pulled into this story. i’ve imagined myself relocating to a faraway land and starting anew. this is exactly what the main character (grace) does." After conferring with her cooking partner Louise, a pretty Tomato Tart in a Parmesan Crust was on the menu. Marla says, "the main character and her future husband shared a homemade tomato tart the day they met, and the hopeless romantic in me knew that’s what i wanted to make too." 

The other half of the dynamic cooking duo, Louise of Books, Cooks N Clubs, identified with the author--finding many things in common and enjoyed the book saying, "Along this journey, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The sometimes frustration I felt with Grace  ….   yelling  (with my inside voice) … “oh come on Grace”! Other times I was jumping for joy celebrating her successes right along with her and her friends." About her (first ever!) Roasted Tomato Tart she says, "I’m pleased to announce it was a successful baking adventure, (my husband took a 2nd helping and asked to take leftovers for lunch – he never does leftovers!)"  

Ana of Sweet Almond Tree liked the ability to journey to a place she had heard about in old movies saying, "“Macau…  I may visit one day.”  And just recently, I did.  The trip cost something like 15 US dollars plus tax, and I took it sitting in the comfort of my reading chair." For her dish Ana picked a Pavlova saying, "What is a pavlova I thought, but a deconstructed macaron?  Egg whites, sugar, creamy filling, almonds, fruit.  Take the macaron ingredients apart, rearrange them (which is where the cooking term "deconstructing" comes in handy), and you have a whole new dessert, one in the shape of a pavlova!" 

Rachel, The Crispy Cook and fellow CTB co-host really got into the book once Grace opened her cafe, loving all of the descriptions of Grace's co-workers and customers and saying, "The reader finds out the intriguing back stories of these people and of Grace herself, which makes her a lot of more sympathetic than she was to me at the beginning of the tale." Rachel went the savory route with lovely marbled Tea Eggs, saying, "Reading this book provided the perfect opportunity to finally eggs-periment with making Tea Eggs, as I imagined that might be something found on the menu at Lillian's, Grace's Macau cafe." 

Finally, over at Kahakai KItchen, I lived out my fantasy of my own little cafe & shop vicariously through Grace. For my novel-inspired dish, macaron-making is WAY above my skill set and comfort level, so I opted for another of my favorite coffee shop treats, Raspberry-Almond Oat Bars. Buttery, soft and chewy, with a good combination of sweet cinnamon and tangy raspberry jam, they were just right with a cup of fruity berry-green tea.

With all of these delightful dishes on the menu, I would love to come hang out at our virtual Cook the Books cafe with all of you! Thanks to everyone who joined in this round. I do not envy Hannah Tunnicliffe, the author of "The Color of Tea" and our judge for this round, in having to pick her favorite!

I'll be back soon with the post announcing our next four book choices (after our current selection of How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K. Fisher and hosted by Simona). Following that will be be our judge's decision and then I'll turn things over to Simona for the next round. 

Stay tuned!   

Get Your Bake On!: The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe (with Exciting Judging Announcement!)

It gives me great pleasure to introduce our Cook the Books selection for April and May; The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe! In a busy life with an often demanding schedule, I love a book that I can fall into and that takes me away and helps me escape. The wonderful The Color of Tea does just that!

From the delectable French pastries and perfect little macarons, to scenes of life in exotic busy Macau, this novel had me hooked from the start. I'll confess it was the gorgeous cover art that first drew me in and I was immediately captured by the story about Grace Miller, an English expat who moves with her Australian husband to the tiny island of Macau in China. Grace, to escape the realities of the shattered dreams of her life and to do something bold and unexpected, uses her passion for baking to open a café. Serving coffee, tea and pretty-colored macarons to the women of Macu, Grace begins to find her strength and herself and to blossom. There is plenty of food, coffee, tea and of course baking inspiration in this lovely book!

If you would like to join in this round, have The Color of Tea finished, make a dish or dishes inspired by the book and post it by the deadline, Monday, May 27th.

Email me at debinhawaii@gmail.com or leave a comment here with your entry. You can also link up your dish by using the inlinkz link below. 

***The Color of Tea Judging Announcement***

Do you ever read a book and think that the author seems great, and that you know you would "click" and be friends in person? That's the feeling I got from the book and from reading about author Hannah Tunnicliffe, world traveler, food lover, tea drinker and baker, former HR professional and now published author. ;-) She seemed very down to earth and easy to like. When she quickly responded back to my email asking her to be our judge for this round and agreed, my feelings were confirmed. Hannah was excited that we selected her book for CTB and is very enthusiastic to be the judge, even offering up a small prize for the winner. How great is that?!? 

So our judge for this round is the author herself, Hannah Tunnicliffe!

You can find Hannah at either of her two websites: http://www.hannahtunnicliffe.com/ or http://www.forkandfiction.com/

I am looking forward to finding out how you like the book and seeing what delicious creations you are inspired to make from it!

Aloha,

Deb

Inspector Montalbano Uncovers the Mystery of the Winning Post!

Our wonderful guest judges, Lavonne and David Neff of The Neff Review thoughtfully reviewed the submissions for this latest round of Cook the Books, in which we savored Andrea Camilleri's "The Shape of Water". Here's what Lavonne had to say:

"Both of us enjoyed the Camilleri books we’ve read, but we still have quite a few left to go. We got waylaid by Donna Leon’s 22-book series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. She’s one of our very favorite mystery writers, and her descriptions of the culinary creations of Paola Falier, Brunetti’s wife, would drive you all to your kitchens. But given the absence of a Paola in Inspector Montalbano’s life (and his own reluctance to do more in the kitchen than open the refrigerator), you’ve all done wonderfully well to come up with food he would love.

I love the idea of an international book club, with hosts from (left to right) Hawaii, California, Indiana, and New York, and other participants this month from Australia, Hawaii, Vancouver, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and the U.K. On the other hand, food is best whenprepared and eaten with friends—and kudos to Marla and Louise who got together in person to make delicious looking arancini.

Claudia’s adaptation to the “current trend of stacking things” is right up my alley. One of my blog posts last year, “Make It Modular,” puts “stacking things” in chart form. I’m going to try your recipe, Claudia. Alicia, I love the way you used leftovers in your pasta. I often say my refrigerator is my best cookbook. And the cat’s mother’s acquacotta maremmana looks enticing—did you choose “cooked water” to go with the title?

Thanks to Heather(and Ana) for càlia e simenza, which looks better than trail mix any day and is easy to make, to Simona for cookies that I’ll bake as soon as I figure out where to buy baker’s ammonia, and to Debra for a dish that I think best exemplifies Inspector Montalbano’s approach to food. I too love food that can “be served up without any problem,” especially if garlic is involved. Ana, how appropriate to choose pasta alla puttanesca—and is there a pasta in the style of corrupt politicians too? And Rachel, the pollo e pomodori looks delightful.

(By the way, my go-to Italian cookbook is Trattoria by Patricia Wells. I’ve never had one of her recipes go wrong. Friday evening I fixed two of her recipes, petti di pollo alla salvia (sautéed chicken breasts with fresh sage) and risotto al limone—but I digress. They aren’t even remotely Sicilian.)

Well, David and I read all of your blog posts and then read them all again, and as we ate leftover risotto (“As they ate, they spoke of eating, as always happens in Italy”) we talked about what we most liked. Since we found it hard to decide, I asked him one question: “Which recipe do you want me to make for dinner tomorrow night?” He didn’t hesitate: he wanted sciuscieddu, though he didn’t try to pronounce it: egg and bread crumb soup.We both thought Deb wrote an excellent review of the book, both its plot and its food, and she bravely not only researched Sicilian food but even adapted English-language recipes to be truer to the Sicilian original. A bonus for us is that the recipe can be made vegetarian (we call ourselves part-time vegetarians). So the winner is Deb of Kahakai Kitchen—but really, you’re all winners, and so are we, with all these good new recipes to try. Now go make more of that Sicilian food and invite the neighbors over to share it!

P.S. Deb, do you think it would hurt to cook the garlic a little before adding it to the dumplings? And is there a wine you’d recommend to complement the soup?"

Hats off to our winner, Deb, and a big thank you to our delightful guest judges!

And now, to pass the torch to our CTB winner and current Host of the next CTB round. Hope you are all enjoying our next book, "The Color of Tea", by Hannah Tunnicliffe.

-Rachel, The Crispy Cook

Sciucieddu Update:

Lavonne made a batch of Deb's award-winning soup and here's what she had to say:

"It's delicious! Just before serving, I added the juice of one lemon, which I think made it even better. Oh, and if it really bothers Deb that her dumplings fell apart, tell her to keep the broth just at or just below boiling, and to let the dumplings cook in it for at least 5 minutes. Then they turn into little meatballs."

Looks scrumptious~!