Adventures in French Cooking

One of my favorite cooking shows on cable is Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. She's so pretty and the colors in the background of her kitchen match the mood of whatever she is cooking and she decorates the table so adorably; and best of all, she creates wonderful food by cutting corners without sacrificing flavor. She saves us time by showing us what we should do for ourselves and what can be 'borrowed' from other sources. It's like Martha Steward for real women.

As you know from my previous adventures in French cooking, Julia Child doesn't cook semi-anything. She is down and dirty, food flung all over the kitchen, 3 sinks full of dirty dishes, and hunker down 'cause it's gonna be a long ride. In the end the food is usually really good but I am learning where corners may be cut that would not make any difference to the food. I am going by the advice of first do it the right way, then adjust it to suit your needs.

What I need is for Sandra Lee to come out with a book based on Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I haven't cooked a full meal in a couple of weeks because of a readathon and a flu followed by a cold but I did try to squeeze in this little dish because asparagus was in sale:

Asperges au Naturel avec Sauce Hollandaise

In case it is not completely obvious, that's boiled asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. I was surprised when I read through the recipe. First, she tells you how to peel the asparagus. I have never peeled an asparagus before. I had no idea it needed to be peeled. But, as I said, first do it the right way. Second, Hollandaise sauce is essentially egg yokes blended with two cups of butter. That's it?

Guess how long it takes to peel two dozen or more thin asparagus? Guess! Forty five minutes!! You can't just use a potato peeler either. I'm grateful that Julia tells us that up front. Once they are peeled and placed in the boiling water I was ready to start the Hollandaise sauce.

The process for the sauce looks something like this: whisk, dribble in melted butter, whisk whisk, dribble, whisk whisk whisk, dribble dribble, whisk some more. Fifteen minutes later I realized that I would be using the electric mixer with the whisk attachment next time. I also realized that my hand had a major cramp going on. French cooking is a contact sport.

So pour the sauce over the boiled spears and there you have it. It tasted just like when I boil my spears and add a big dollop of butter. An hour for this? Oh well. I like asparagus and I like butter. But I will never peel an asparagus again.

Next on the menu:

Râpée Morv Andelle

Gratin of shredded potatoes with ham and eggs and onions. OH EM GEE! This was the best recipe so far. It was easy to make and tasted like heaven in my mouth. Can you see the foamy bubbles around the edge of the dish? That's what butter looks like when it has been baked into a gratin.

Real men may not eat quiche but they DO eat gratin. And they ask for more. You can't tell from the photo but this is a smaller sized casserole dish. It makes about six smallish portions. When we all realized how little gratin there was we almost cried. So I made it again the next week, doubling the recipe and cooking it in a regular sized casserole dish but it didn't turn out as yummy as the first one. I will just have to buy another smaller casserole dish. Yes, I would spend money on another dish just for this gratin. It's worth it.

Hey, I thought of something that Sandra and Julia have in common: they both suggest the appropriate type of alcohol to go with any meal. No wonder I love them both so much.

You can read more of my Adventures in French Cooking here.

Missing You

Poor blog. All neglected and alone. Rejected and dejected. But I have returned to free you of the dust and boredom that have o'ertaken you. I am here at last. I am the prodigal blogger.

Dear dear blog. You don't know what it's like to read and blog for 24 hours straight. It makes one not want to read or blog again for many long days. Or weeks even. Not to mention the cooties. I've had oh so many mucus cooties. They have run amuck (and I do mean a-muck) in my head and chest. I couldn't let them infect the keyboard. That would just be gross.

But I can't stay beauteous blog. I only stopped by for a moment to tell you that I am abysmally busy this month. Did I not tell you? Why, I am writing a book. There is nothing like writing your own book to cure you of Read-a-thon-itis. Applied for one month it will leave me fresh and clean, ready to take on the lofty responsibilities of blog care. So hold on just a wee bit longer most beloved blog. I will returned anew sometime in December to guide you in the way you should go. And if you're really patient maybe I can make a brief appearance a couple of times between now and then.


It is NaNoWriMo time again. It seems like some kind of sick joke that it comes so close on the heels of the readathon. As if writing blog posts once an hour weren't enough, now I have to write 1667 words a day on a novel that I didn't have time to plan or research because I was too busy reading for pleasure. What's a girl to do?

For those keeping score (there are NaNo spies everywhere) I am at about 4100 words in five days. That's half par. But we fear not. We have the weekend to write until our fingers are bloody. And when we are done we will have one poorly written, piece o crap novel to show for it. So there!

It's Tuesday...Where are you?

Has a book ever transported you to a new land or experience? Share where your reading has taken you this week. Visit An Adventure in Reading for more details.

I have just run away from my problems to Metamorphosis, Greece. There is an archaeological dig near by that I am trying to get on to take my mind off my failed marriage.

The Hidden by Tobias Hill

Review: Green Angel

Green Angel
by Alice Hoffman

This little book has been lounging on the kids' bookshelf for a while. I bought it second-hand mainly for the cover. I could not find a pic of the back of the cover which is too bad because it is just as emotionally evocative but contrasted. Where Green, the protagonist, is lonely and searching on the front, she is transformed into Ash, someone untrusting and full of pain.

Green is the only survivor in her family of some kind of terrorist attack in a nearby town. Her world is left starkly empty and covered in ashes. Her beloved garden can yield nothing under these conditions. In self preservation Green changes her name to Ash and embodies her pain in her appearance; she shaves her head, sews rose thorns into her clothes, hammers nails into her boots and tattoos black roses with thorns and crows all over her body. Gone is the patient nurturer, drowning in her pain. But changes take place in her heart and her body as she slowly reaches out and tends to the pain of others without the strength to take care of themselves.

I thought this story a beautiful one. Green wears her pain on her sleeve literally. She desires to be someone else but, though for a little while she can pretend, she can never fully get rid of who she always was before her life was turned upside down.

I believe that this novel is written for a YA audience. The imagery, while raw and sympathetic, was laid on pretty thickly. There is no mistaking Hoffman's meaning. But for me this made no difference. I still loved it.

I can't decide if this is an allegory for the common struggles of teenage hood or if it's about the reactions everybody goes through with a traumatic experience. Green is suddenly left without her parents and she is sorely missing her sister who visits her in her dreams, a girl full of life and spirit. Could the sister represent childhood? A past self? Or maybe happiness? I suppose this is where the reader contributes to the story. For me, trauma leaves me feeling alone and self protecting, even hurting others to protect myself from being hurt again. But eventually the pain subsides and the essential person returns, worse for wear but the same in her being. This book encapsulates the transformation of innocence into experience with all it's agony. Those struggling with depression will see themselves within the pages and recognise the hope that is offered at the end.

Have you read anything by Alice Hoffman? Is her adult work similar to this? I'm hoping that it shares the same richness but adds some sophistication. Which of her books would you recommend I read next because I am most definitely reading more of her work.

With a Little Help from My Friends

So I have this friend named Cid. She's very personable and loves to share her positive outlook on life. She's one of the few people I know that is in a great mood consistently. She simply loves being happy. She has an opportunity to be a paid "Good Mood Blogger". Can you imagine that? But she needs my help and yours too. Visit this site, read she snippet about herself and vote for her. You can give one vote per day up until Nov. 6nd. I know how much she would appreciate the votes. I'll let you know if she gets the job.


Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Review: Confessions of a Slacker Wife

Confessions of a Slacker Wife
by Muffy Mead-Ferro

It's kinda funny how I came to read Slacker Wife. It was at DogEar Diary that I heard about Mead-Ferro's book Confessions of a Slacker Mom. Jeane made it sound like a book that would affirm, in part, what I try to do with my family. It was so appealing that I went straight to my library's website and reserved a copy. But when I picked it up, the cover was slightly different. It took me a couple of days before I realized this was not Slacker Mom but Slacker Wife. Oops! No biggie. I'll read this one while I wait for Slacker Mom to come in. But when I went back to the library website to request it it said that I already had a copy of Slacker Mom, not a copy of Slacker Wife. It's a clerical error. It was their mistake, not mine.

Okay, so maybe you had to be there.

Anyway, my household runs rather traditional. He brings home the bacon and I fry it. For the most part I like it that way. So I was a little nervous that this would be a treatise on women's liberation from housework or something like that. "Let him wash his own damn underwear," and all that but it wasn't. I'd call Mead-Ferro an equalist, if that's a word. She does challenge the traditionally held ideals but only in the sense that they often go unquestioned. Don't just do things this way because mom did; do it because it works for you. She admits that in her marriage she does the laundry while he does the minor home repair but it's because that's where their talents lay. I like that idea.

Slacker Wife reads like Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman, sort of. It's like a collection of Mead-Ferro's thinking processes about various issues that relate to marriage. Everything from body image to child rearing to s*x is discussed. It doesn't come across as a woman holding herself up as some kind of expert out to teach the women of the world how to chill. It's more like chatting with a friend and learning a few things based on her experiences that are different than my own.

I do disagree with one part of her book. I think showering ought to be a daily activity for all people. I don't care if other countries aren't as hung up on cleanliness as the US is. It's not the germs I care about. I'm not overly occupied by antibacterial disinfectants. I eat food that's fallen on the floor. Shoot, I used to chew my mom's ABC gum(already been chewed). I'm not the Queen of Lysol. But a daily shower is a necessity, for me and for you too please. When I've had a shower I feel better and you don't have to find subtle ways to plug your nose in my presence. Seriously, consider those around you. Shower. Daily.

So the book was fun. Nothing really new but a nice reminder to give yourself a break. Everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. In fact, it never will be. I think that Slacker Mom will be even better. If only I can figure out how to get the right one from the library. Maybe I should request Slacker Wife and see what shows up.

Review: The Persian Pickle Club

The Persian Pickle Club
by Sandra Dallas

I was having a hard time putting my impressions down about this book. I thought Payers for Sale by Dallas was beautifully told and entertaining. This one was more conventional, nothing extraordinary. The characters were still good, if too many to keep track of. I've heard complaints about the names (Queenie Bean, Ella Crook, Cheed Root, Prosper, Skillet) but I think they are fun, especially when the subject matter is serious or dull. They add humor and character.

But I decided that rather than write a boring old review about a book that was nice but nothing special, instead I'd use this opportunity to fulfill a leg of the Take a Chance Challenge and write my review in poetic form. Enjoy.

Haiku
Small town quilting bee
New girl solves a mystery
Happy endings abound

Limerick
There was a young lady named Bean
Who at a quilting bee was seen
She made a new friend
With a mystery to attend
In the end everyone did come clean

Free Form
Tough times
Heat and drought
Everyone struggles

Pressure mounts
Innocence doubted
Comfort not to be found
Keeping secrets kept
Loyalty is sacred
Everlasting support