Food And Lit: Venezuela

I’ve been hit or miss with the Food And Lit challenge this year on Litsy. I’ve been keeping up with the lit part, but not doing so well with the food. Just haven’t been cooking as much in general. I did make arepas this month though, so I wanted to share.

I followed this recipe. I was intimidated, but it was actually really easy. I made the dough and shaped the arepas in the morning, and then cooked them just before dinner. My kids loved them! The vegetarians ate them with a mix of black beans and sweet potatoes, and the meat eaters ate them with boneless ribs. We all had corn on the cob, and avocados and lime wedges for toppings. I had the leftovers for breakfast with a bit of butter and syrup. I will be making more in the future!

For the lit portion of this challenge I read Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse by William Neuman. This recent history of Venezuela once again made me realize how little I know about what‘s going on in the world. Thank goodness for books and reading challenges.

Next month we’re reading and eating from Spain!

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On My Nightstand May 4, 2024

We’re enjoying a rainy weekend here. We do have a few outdoor events we need to suffer through, but I’m really looking forward to some cozy reading time. I also want to catch up on my planning for summer reading, and do some organizing of my shelves.

Have a great week!

Quote of the week

“I just sit where I’m put, composed
of stone and wishful thinking:
That the deity that kills for pleasure will also
heal,
That in the midst of your nightmare,
the final one, a kind lion will pick your soul
up gently
by the nape of the neck,
And caress you into darkness and paradise.”

— All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny

What I’m Reading This Week

On Kindle - The Clue In The Diary by Carolyn Keene - Some of us on Litsy have been re-reading these.

On Paper - Funny Story by Emily Henry - It’s not summer until Emily Henry publishes a new book!

On Audio- Happiness Falls by Angie Kim - I’m enjoying this so far, but heaven help us if the ending is unresolved I will go scorched earth!

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

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On My Nightstand April 28, 2024

I made it through the two weeks of constant activities and work. To celebrate I spent most of yesterday just puttering in my kitchen. I picked a bunch of fresh herbs from my garden, and listened to audiobooks, and daydreamed while I made a bunch of sauces for days when we’re busy again. The audiobook I was listening to was Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger by Lisa Donovan. It was a great choice for matching my book to my activity.

Last night we watched the Netflix version of Rebecca (based on the book by Daphne Du Maurier.) After just finishing the book on Friday I was disappointed. They took out all of the creepiness and added romance instead. Nothing wrong with romance, but it wasn’t the point of Rebecca.

Have a great week!

Quote of the week

“If nuns ran the world, things would get done. No questions asked.”

— If Nuns Ruled The World by Jo Piazza

What I’m Reading This Week

On Kindle - The Second by Carol Anderson - This book club book is giving me a lot to think about.

On Paper - Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani - This is a re-read for me, and it’s good timing that I’m reading it right after Demon Copperhead. They’re not related at all, but Big Cherry Holler takes place maybe ten years prior to Copperhead in the same area of the country.

On Audio- Fancy Bear Goes Phishing by Scott Shapiro - Another book for work. It does sound interesting.

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

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Cookbook Review: Zoe's Ghana Kitchen: An Introduction to New African Cuisine – From Ghana With Love

Now that the holidays are over, and we have our health under control (fingers crossed real hard) I am excited to break out of the struggle meals rut I had been in through most of last year.

#FoodAndLit is a challenge on the Litsy app that I love, so of course it was that challenge that sent me back to the cookbook aisle at my library. This month we’re reading and eating from Ghana, and I was thrilled to find Zoe's Ghana Kitchen: An Introduction to New African Cuisine – From Ghana With Love by Zoe Adjonyoh.

This whole book was a pleasure to read. The recipes were well laid out, and the pictures were vibrant. I really enjoyed my time with it.

I ended up making two recipes: mango & pineapple salad and veggie jollof rice. This is such a great combination! I loved the spice mix in the rice, and the salad was so refreshing on a cold winter’s afternoon. (Full disclosure I am somehow out of paprika so my spices were different from the original recipe.)

I packaged up the rice and the salad for my lunches this week. Is there anything better than a week of rice? Maybe two weeks of rice?

Give this cookbook a try! It’s a winner!

Note: links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

On My Nightstand December 3, 2023

Well this was supposed to be a really busy weekend filled with holiday fun, but then I got Covid. I’ve been hiding from the world in my basement for a couple of days now sending emails backing out of all of the commitments I made. It’s sad to miss out on things, but at least I could see fireworks last night from my porch. I am scheduled to give two presentations next week at work, and I’m really hope I’m up for that because I’ve been preparing for months and I want them done.

Quote of the Week

“I’ve always imagined paradise as something like a library.”

— March by Geraldine Brooks

What I’m Reading This Week

On Kindle- March by Geraldine Brooks
This is Little Women told by Mr. March, one of my least favorite men in classic literature. So far this book is well written, but I still don’t like Mr. March.

On Audio- Homecoming by Kate Morton
For the Author A Month challenge on Litsy. Her books are hit or miss for me. I hope this is a hit!

Physical Book- Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat
I had been trying to cook through this book earlier this year but got distracted. I was excited when a bookclub I’m in picked it for their December read.

Have a great week!

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

Salt

The first chapter in Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat is all about salt. Nosrat says In almost every case, anything you cook for yourself at home is more nutritious, and lower in sodium, than processed, prepared, or restaurant food.” and I like this book already.

This chapter was like a very delicious chemistry lesson. I loved the reminder that salt isn’t just what’s in the shaker. It’s also cheese, capers, and anchovies. Yum. I’ve been a vegetarian for a bit now, but I’m not ready to give up anchovy paste yet.

This chapter didn’t have any recipes in it, but it did make me hungry for a Cesar salad. So, that will be my experiment tomorrow. (I assumed making Cesar dressing from scratch would break my money and time budgets, but it doesn’t sound too bad. In theory. We’ll see.)

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat

Last year when my cooking felt stagnant I went back to basics and cooked from The New York Times Cookbook. I was feeling bored in the kitchen again lately so I decided to read and cook through a book I got as a gift a few years ago- Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat.

There are a few mental ground rules I’ve had to set for myself when I do something like this:

1. No pricey one time use ingredients

2. Adaptable for vegetarians

3. Can’t take hours to cook

I can’t wait!

On My Nightstand October 30, 2022

Thank you all for your well wishes last week. It was a long week of funerals and ceremonies, but I’m glad my friend had such a fitting send off.

This weekend is Confirmation for my son, and then early Thanksgiving since everyone will be together. We’re looking forward to that!

In between I plan on sneaking off to read. I need to re-charge somehow! Here’s what’s on my nightstand this week.

No Exit by Taylor Adams - I’m about halfway through this one, and I love the creepiness factor,

Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan - I’ve enjoyed other books by Corrigan, and am looking forward to this one.

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

On My Nightstand October 23, 2022

This week didn’t turn out like I had planned. Very sadly, one of my best friends passed away last week. I am still reading, but soon I will need to stop and regroup. For now, here’s what’s on my nightstand this week.

What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J A Chancy - The #FoodandLit club on Litsy is reading and eating from Haiti this month. I’ll admit I picked this one based on the title and cover alone.

On the Slab Pie by P.D. Workman -- Another cozy mystery for my work book club. I hope after this we’re done with these for a while.

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny -- Slowly re-reading this series before the new one comes out in November!

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

On My Nightstand October 16, 2022

I way underestimated the available hours in my schedule last week, so I’m playing catch up this morning (and maybe working a little ahead?)

I was in the office four days, my son has homecoming plus two cross country races, and my daughter had soccer and extra dance classes. I guess we’re all trying to fit what we can in while there’s still some sunshine and daylight to be had!

Here’s what I have on my nightstand this week. A lot of it is leftovers from last week, which I never posted about because I lost track of time then too. That’s October!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Joanne Fluke - I’m about a chapter in on this one. So far it’s a typical cozy mystery involving baking and death. (This one is free for Amazon Prime members.)

What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J A Chancy - The #FoodandLit club on Litsy is reading and eating from Haiti this month. I’ll admit I picked this one based on the title and cover alone.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins - I finished Jane Eyre last week, so this was the natural next read. I have a hardcover version of this, but I noticed it’s also available on Kindle Unlimited.

Horseman by Christina Henry - Reading this for a book club, and it’s a little more yuck than I prefer, but it’s not terrible.

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

On My Nightstand October 2, 2022

October is here! I am so excited. I pulled all of my decorations and flannel PJs out of the attic last night. I had planned on reading for a good chunk of the time yesterday, but then I fell asleep. Now that I’m caught up on rest I’ll try again today!

A few of the challenges I’m participating in the month are:

• #Scarathlon on Litsy

• Fraterfest 2022

• Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon

Who ever said reading wasn’t a team sport??

I also have my very own October Bucket List that I’m trying to complete.

Happy reading this week! Here’s what’s on my nightstand:

All the Queen's Men by SJ Bennett - I loved the first book in this series about Queen Elizabeth solving mysteries, and turned to the second after watching so much news coverage of her amazing life last month. You really can believe that she solved mysteries in her spare time.

Cooking The Books by Chelsea Thomas - I’ve read a few from this series featuring murders at an upstate New York apple orchard. They’re good for fun, easy reads.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - The latest chapter a day read with the Pemberlittens on Litsy. This is one of my favorite Austen books, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

COOKBOOK REVIEW: Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

So glad my library has a good collection of cookbooks!

In July we did France for #FoodAndLit on Litsy. I didn’t even have to think about it- I was finally going to cook from Mastering The Art of French Cooking. Despite being a devoted fan of the Julia and Julie project back in the 00’s I’ve never cracked the spine of the book that inspired that brief national obsession.

Tomatoes from a stranger’s garden

I expected this to be hard to cook from, but it was actually really approachable. I marked several recipes that I had stuff on hand to try, but ended up going with Sauce Tomate because of the big bag of beautiful tomatoes someone gave us. I’ve never before put bacon in my tomato sauce, but it sounded amazing.

It was! I cooked the sauce down all day and then froze it with some beef strips. I reheated the whole thing yesterday in my crockpot. This will be a repeater!

For the Lit part of this #FoodAndLit challenge I ended up with two books. I re-read All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (holds up), and and in the middle of Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi (gripping so far.)

Next month we’re on to Japan!

Back To The Library: The Essential New York Times Cookbook

I’ve had so much fun taking a deep dive into this book, but alas it’s due back at the library this week. I never even got to desserts! That’s a sure sign I should buy my own copy at some point.

All in all I made 14 recipes from this book. None, except for the mint julep, were terrible, but there are three that I really can’t wait to make again:

1. Yette’s Garden Platter

2. Boston Baked Beans

3. Elizabeth Frink’s Roast Lemon Chicken

Elizabeth Frink’s Roast Lemon Chicken

My love of recipes from the New York Times remains strong!

Next month I’m Mastering The Art of French Cooking!

Legumes, Legumes, The Magical Fruit: The Essential New York Times Cookbook

The New York Times Essential Cookbook Five Bean Salad

We’re a bean eating family. Even the meat eaters expect some kind of bean and cornbread meal once a week. It’s just what we like. And then come to find out that Amanda Hesser has a whole chapter on Potatoes, Corn, and Legumes? Be still my carb loving heart.

We tried three recipes from this chapter. Italian Roasted Potatoes were a good, basic potato dish. My son put them together for us one night when we were having sausages and peppers. He didn’t complain so they were probably pretty easy to make. We ate the five bean salad with sandwiches. I think I liked it more than anyone else. I made it with the garlic scapes that my friend rejected from her crop share instead of the scallions the recipe called for. Last but not least was the Boston Baked Beans which we all loved! I made it half with meat and half veggie. There was not a complaint that night. These beans were so good, flavorful without being syrupy. These will be on repeat for the rest of the summer. We ate them with hot dogs and corn bread - a cheap meal if you’re feeling pain at the grocery store like I am!

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

My Salad Days - The New York Times Essential Cookbook

There’s nothing I love more in the summer than having a variety of salads in my fridge for packed lunches, but I admit I did get to this chapter and immediately wonder how much mayo this will involve.

Hesser defines salad as an adaptable composition of loosely related ingredients ( not necessarily vegetables) unified by a dressing.

I tried two salads from this chapter.

Spicy Orange Salad Moroccan-Style

This was a great food waste reducer when I made a different recipe that called for orange peels. I used the naked orange insides for this salad and really liked it. I ate it for lunch along with rosemary bread from another favorite cookbook Kneadlessly Simple. It called for fresh parsley, but my garden isn’t there yet so I used mint.

Spicy Cucumber Salad

I sent this in my daughter’s packed lunch, and unfortunately it got a thumbs down. She said the sesame taste was way too strong. Oh well!

Two salads, no mayo globs. Yay!

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

A New Way To Use Mint - Greek Lentil Soup : The Essential New York Times Cookbook

My trusty mini sow cooker

I bought this mini slow cooker for myself about six months back so I could cook oats overnight. I’ve cooked oats maybe once, but that’s only because I’ve found so many other uses for it. It came in really handy last week for Craig Clairborne’s 1977 recipe for Greek Lentil Soup.

I picked this one out of many that sounded good because it helped use up some of my flourishing mint plants from the back yard. I’ve never had mint in soup before, and I have to say it was nice. The fact that this was a vegetarian soup was a big plus too since my daughter is vegetarian, and I am halfway there. This would have been good with some crusty bread, but it was also fine with some cornbread from a box mix.

There were a bunch more good looking soup recipes I want to try, but it’s time to move on to salads.

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

Carefully Constructed Soup: The Essential New York Times Cookbook

Garden Minestrone from 1973 was the most fun soup to cook ever. You start by layering a huge pot full of tomatoes, zucchini, romaine lettuce (!), peas, beans, and herbs, and then browning the whole thing. Only then do you stir and it magically becomes a delicious stew. No broth added!

The recipe called for the whole thing to be done in a glass casserole dish so you can dump it out later, but I did it in my crockpot. The presentation sounds amazing, but it was a weeknight and we had 30 minutes to eat then get to 4 different places. I served this over polenta with chicken sausages just to bulk it up a little, but I would have been completely happy with just the veggies.

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

It's Soup Week! The Essential New York Times Cookbook

I had some terrible not-covid bug last week that had me not feeling like cooking at all. But now I’m back among the living recovering and what a great time to start soup week. Actually, it will be soup weeks because I’m behind so I’ll be cooking soup the rest of this week into the next. What great timing!

I’m excited for this chapter. Soup is my favorite meal since the days when my mom used to make me non stop Lipton cups of noodles. Hesser says soups have changed the most in 100 years, and I’m wondering if they’ve changed even more since 2010. I guess I’ll have to shell out for the updated cookbook if I want to know.

Some soups looked great but I had to take them off the list because there was just too much cream involved, but there were quite a few that I can’t wait to make. Soup week!

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

Passive Aggressive Quotation Marks: The Essential New York Times Cookbook

I knew my husband would like this 1970’s Chinese Meatball recipe. Hesser cracked me up by mentioning in the comments that they were more “Chinese” than Chinese. Ah, food of my youth!

The recipe in the book made about 100 of these so I only made 1/4 but kept the sauce recipe as is because we love sauce. Also it called for frying the meatballs and then cooking the sauce separately. Last week was over scheduled beyond my ability to cope so I just baked them and then cooked them with the sauce in my slow cooker. Big thumbs up from the fam, although I thought the sauce was a little too vinegary.

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

Who Wouldn't Make Something Called Eggs Suffragette? The Essential New York Times Cookbook

My first recipe from the snacks chapter was called Eggs Suffragette. I love this title from a 1909 article about eggs.

They weren’t bad to make and tasted pretty good. My kids won’t eat pre-cooked eggs so I made the batch for myself and ate them all week for breakfast or lunch. Then in the spirit of my eggs I made plans to vote because what the heck is going on? Thank you suffragettes for your sacrifices and your delicious stuffed eggs.

Note: This recipe is part of a long look at Amanda Hesser’s 2010 The Essential New York Times Cookbook. See all posts here. Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!