A Few Good Books

It is Sunday and I finally have a minute to update some book reviews.  This week I completed two books.  The first book, titled Breaking Bread, by Lynne Christy Anderson was a great book, especially if you enjoy reading about food. Ms Anderson is an adjunct professor at Boston College and she also teaches English as a second language.  In her earlier years, she had worked as a chef.  At some point she got the bright idea to interview her immigrant students about the foods of their country.  She asked them to teach her about a special recipe from their homeland.  So in addition to their stories about success in America and missing the country from whence they came, you also received a recipe from them.  I will not say much more than that, except that I highly recommend the book.

The other book I finished this week was actually a book on tape titled Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese.  This was actually a great book to listen to on tape.  The actor who did the reading was wonderful.  This is a story, simply put.  It is a story about 2 twin boys and begins with their birth and takes you through their lives, as narrated by one of them. I don't want to say too much other than I recommend the book-on-tape version.

I have not tried many new dishes in the past few weeks.  With Joe away I stuck to staples, eg scrambled eggs with garlic scapes (from my own herb garden) and greens and beans.  I did try a couple of new cherry dishes because the cherries were in season.  I made a clafouti one week and a cold cherry soup the next week.  I would make both of them again and both of them came from Martha Rose Schulman who write the healthy food section in the NY Times.

It is going to be a busy 4 weeks coming up.  Maybe I'll report on something around Labor Day!  Enjoy the rest of your summer.

MEM