Charlie and the Chocolate Factory report

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay in reporting, and the brief report (I did not take notes at the meeting).  I'm still in a sling for a few more weeks, which makes everything more complicated!

This month we discussed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, as we so enjoyed James and the Giant Peach from a few summers back.  Once again we were surprised by how dark Dahl's writing could be, and how truly crazy some of his characters could be.  We discussed how the book compared to both movies, and how children would perceive this book differently than adults.  While it certainly is an interesting and creative read, it took forever for Charlie to get to the chocolate factory, and once he arrived, everything moved with dizzying speed.

For food, we had far less chocolate than I might have anticipated, leaning instead on the German food favored by Augustus Gloop.

Heather made delicious Pork Ribs and Sauerkraut from The Encyclopedia of Creative Cooking, that was super tasty.

















Katie made a chocolately chicken mole and brought a great looking cookbook from the library called Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate by Alice Medrich that looks well worth checking out.  And also some bright colorful lollipops to insure we had enough candy!

Karen brought yummy cabbage and mashed potatoes to go with the pork, and I believe she also brought the yummy strawberry dessert too?

I brought chocolate zuchinni bread, and my pal and driver Rita brought some delicious fizzy lifting beverage (ginger beer).

Next month's book is Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet by Alisa Smith.  There is one copy available in the Sno-Isle catalog right now, but I also have five copies sitting on my desk at Mountlake Terrace Library...just ask someone at the front desk to grab one for you.  Our next meeting is Wednesday August 8th at 6:30 in the basement of the Bethesda Lutheran Church (2 blocks from the library).

Hope to see you there, where we can share food made with produce from our gardens and local farmers markets!