Thinking About Urban Farming

I'm very excited about discussion Farm City at our next meeting, so I put up a display of related books of interests. Here are a few I am especially curious about:

My Empire of Dirt : How One Man Turned His Big-City Backyard into a Farm: A Cautionary Tale by Manny Howard. Looks to be a similar read to Farm City, except this one takes place in Brooklyn.

Fresh Food From Small Spaces : the Square Inch Gardener's Guide to Year-Round Growing, Fermenting, and Sprouting by R.J. Ruppenthal. I don't want a huge garden, I just want to make the best use of the space I have!

The Joy of Keeping Chickens by Jennifer Megyesi. I love the idea of keeping chickens. Fresh eggs, lovely little clucking noises, the soft feathers. How could it not be a joy?

The Backyard Beekeeper : an Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden by Kim Flottum. I'm curious about beekeeping, but not sure I have what it takes to be a beekeeper myself. But I do like fresh honey!

Lucid Food : Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life by Louisa Shafia. Beyond raising your own food, what and how you cook it can impact the world! Plus, these dishes just look YUMMY.

December 2010 meeting: My Life In France

This month we read My Life in France by Julia Child.

Our icebreaker for the day was “What food have you eaten while travelling that inspired you?” Some favorites were gelato in Italy, seafood paella and Jamon y Queso bocadillos in Spain, and fresh made guacamole in Mexico.

Here are the dishes everyone brought:

Dawn – Cassoulet
Mitchell - Le Marquis (Chocolate Spongecake)
Lisa – (brought Mitchell)
Katie - Galette des Rois (Kings’ Cake)
Sheri – Beef Bourguignon
Julie - Minestrone

We had a terrific time talking about Julia and how much we admired her enthusiasm for life, the great romance with her husband Paul, and how she started her great success in her late 30s. She is an inspiration! We also suspect she might have been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder if she was around today, but it certainly use well applied to her work.

We also discussed how we could promote our group further, as our numbers have been lagging a bit. Next month I will give everyone a few fliers to bring to foodie places of interest, including places that have cooking classes, culinary schools, foodie shops, other libraries, bookstores (Third Place, B&N, etc…) restaurant supply stores, and grocery stores (PCC, Thriftway, Whole Foods, DD, etc…). But we all felt the best way to advertise is word of mouth and will try to bring a friend in 2011 :)

Here is what we will be discussing in the first half of the year:

January – Farm City
February – Mexican cookbooks
March – Pomegranate Soup
April – Fortune Cookie Chronicles
May – Omnivore’s Dilemma
June – Little House in the Big Wood

Anyone can join! All we ask is that you make a good effort to finish the book (not required to get to the end if you hate it or are suddenly busy) and bring a dish from or inspired by the reading.

Welcome!

This is the blog for the Mountlake Terrace Library's Foodie Book Group. We meet the second Monday of each month from 6:30-8:30. Anyone is welcomed. All we ask is that you attempt to read the month's book and make a dish to share inspired by it!

Previous books we have shared are:

2009
October - Last Chinese Chef
November - your favorite cookbook
December - Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

2010
January 11 - I Like You by Amy Sedaris
February 8 - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
March 8 - favorite Northwest cookbooks
April 12 - Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
May 10 - Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
June 14 - Summer: salad, picnic & bbq cookbooks
July 12 - School of Essential Ingredients (with author Erica Bauermeister!)
August 9 - James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
September 13 - Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
October 18 - Your Favorite: Soups and Stews
November 15 - Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
December 10 - My Life in France by Julia Child

In 2011 we will be reading:

January 10 – Farm City
February 14 – cookbooks focused on Mexican food
March 14 – Pomegranate Soup
April 11– Fortune Cookie Chronicles
May 9 – Omnivore’s Dilemma
June 13 – Little House in the Big Wood

Check back here to see what we cooked, and what we thought! I'll be posting recipes and notes from previous meetings between now and our next meeting to fill you in on what you missed!