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

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. 

April/May selection: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

For the April / May 2025 edition I chose the novel The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson (May 2024)

At some point last year, upon returning a book to the library via the Libby app, I was offered the option to "skip the line" and borrow a sought-after novel with a long, intriguing title. I accepted the offer and soon I found myself drawn to the story and even more so to its historical background: the period post-WWI and Spansh flu pandemic, and the challenges the time posed to women, war veterans and the UK at large.

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel...

But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

I enjoyed Simonson's style so much that after finishing this novel, I borrowed her earlier ones: The Summer Before the War (where again the war in question is WWI) and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

While the novel i selected is not food-oriented, it includes a number of references to foods. I hope it will provide inspiration and, above all, an interesting read.

Simona, briciole

Deadline for contributing your post: Saturday, May 31, 2025.

 

Leave a comment below with a link to your post or email me at simosite AT mac DOT com

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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.  

Land of Milk and Honey: The Roundup

Well, we had a good variety of dishes inspired by this strange, dystopian novel.  As well as some strong likes and dislikes!  Here they are, in order of posting.  Please visit all the links for the full stories, and leave comments on them.

First off, and really outstanding I must say, was Amy, of Amy's Cooking Adventures, with her Mirror Glazed Galaxy Cake.  Just beautiful, and so appropriate for the book.

She said, in brief, "Yeah…even though I’m usually all for dystopian stories, this one did not do it for me. It was bizarro land.

Next in was Debra of Eliot's Eats who brought a Green Juice Smoothie to the table, celebrating all the green that the damaged planet was missing.  She really enjoyed the novel, saying "I thought this was one of the best books I have read in a while. I could not put it down."

Next, Marge of The Intrepid Reader and Baker made us a dessert, Japanese Strawberry Shortcake.  Sounds good to me!  She noted that, "It's fair to say I didn't love this book, and I was glad when it was done, but sometimes that is what being in a book club is about right? You read the selection knowing that it might not be the kind of book that you would normally read."  Yes truly, we sometimes do get stretched!

Then Simona of Briciole, arrived bringing us a serving of Radicchio with Red Grapes, "a little bitter and a little sweet" and the contrast in taste and color seems quite appealing.  She had mixed thoughts about the novel, and mentioned "Readers who enjoy dystopian stories may agree with the praises bestowed upon this one." 

I, Claudia Honey From Rock, came in last, just under the wire, with a meal based on the "the years-old fish and bioengineered flour" mentioned in the Publisher's Weekly review in the introduction post. Ventresca Tuna in a Bechamel Sauce with Brazilian Cheese rolls made from tapioca and breadfruit flours. The curly kale would not have been available to the rest of the planet however. Or probably the Béchamel sauce with its butter and milk.  I was among the group who didn't really enjoy the book.  

I hope no one got left out.  If so, let me know.  

News Flash!!  I did miss this very early post which came in on Christmas Eve of 2024!!  My Apologies to Wendy, of A Day on the Life on the Farm, who brought us a very comforting Roasted Vegetable Soup with Pomegranate arils.  She said, in brief:  "There is tons of food in this novel including prehistoric animals that were brought back to life from DNA by the scientists working in this lab." (The mountain research center where the chef was working)

Now we're on to our next selection, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, a memoir by Ina Garten, and hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats.