Midnight at the Dragon Café report

Heather was kind enough to write up this month's meeting for us:

"Hello readers, "Midnight at the Dragon Cafe" by Judy Fong Bates, was our read for the month of January.

 It was billed as fiction, but we suspect there was a lot of her life in the tome, a coming of age tale of Annie, our young female protagonist growing up in a small Canadian town. As the only child in the only Chinese family in town who of course run the only Chinese restaurant around, she keenly feels the cultural divide between her and the other girls. The book chronicles the difficult, sometimes unbearable living arrangements meant to be endured by her parents, herself and her older half brother who arrives to help in the restaurant.

Some of us were remembering "The Fortune Cookies Chronicles" and how that book set the stage of understanding and intertwined with this one concerning the underground railroad of people who staff these ubiquitous establishments so prevalent there is at least one in every town in America. Enjoyable were the passages of Annie's playmates, their family structures so different from hers, what they ate and how they lived. We also liked the time period the 60's; simple, elegant, a little surreal. We felt bad for the mother, trapped in a loveless, sexless union and agonized over how she dealt with it. Our sympathies went out to the young, innocent mail-order bride who entered the picture to late to save her future in that family unit. Everyone generally liked the book as the writing was memorable.

A bit of grumbling about "no Chinese recipes" and about how sometimes her storyline was anti-climatic and strange, some dialog confusing. Some gross sidebars on odd customs like eating monkey brains while the beast still lives, but it didn't spoil our appetites much, as we happily munched on the awesome homemade Chinese dishes brought by all."

Laura - Boston Cream Pie + egg rolls

Julie - Chinese short ribs

 Katie W. - Chinese Almond Cookies

Dawn - BBQ pork (store-bought, alas), egg flower soup

Heather - stir fried veggies

 Katie S. - General Tso's Chicken

Next month's book is Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard.   Here is an author interview. There are currently 4 copies available from Sno-Isle that you can place holds on, plus cds and ebooks.

We will be meeting on Wednesday February 13th at 6:30pm.

Look forward to seeing you then!

The Language Baklava report

This month we discussed  The Language Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber.  Most of us found the book fairly enjoyable, though a few folks couldn't get into it.

What we loved best about it was how it wove together the themes of food and family.  We discussed how much we loved Bud's complicated relationship with his family, which lead to a very animated discussion about our own families, and the food we share.    Foods that have powerful connections to our childhoods included coddled eggs, grandma's egg sandwich, bread pudding, kielbasa, homemade spaghetti sauce, and piroshki.  This also brought up the quote "Everyone's mom makes the best potato salad".

Humor also played a good part in this book, and we talked about how food and humor go together...and that really both of them are things that make family bearable.  Which is part of why we felt Bud's rich uncle was so appalling.  Greedy and miserly, there was no humor (and very little food) to be found in that house.

Some of our other favorite parts of the book were the trip with her grandmother to the Chinese restaurant (though it was painfully mortifying to read) and the chapter where she moved to Jordan as a child...striking in how easy it was for her, but so sad for the young British boy.

We had quite the feast this week.  Overall healthier than our usual fair, until you count the fabulous cookie exchange we had at the end!

Dawn
Subsistence Tabbouleh

 

Katie S.  Homecoming Fatteh 

 Heather McN

Cumin Roasted Chicken Legs and Brownies with Almonds

  

Julie D. 

Bud's Royal Mjeddrah

 

and

Distract the Neighbors Chicken

Katie W. -  Fattoush - Bread Salad

Sonja K-G –  Mona Lisa Cream Puffs

Vernetta S. – "Start the Party " Hummus and vegetables







And for the cookie exchange:
Dawn – Coconut Meringues

Heather McN – Peanut Butter Raisin Cookies (from Creative Cookbook - only 4 ingredients!)

Julie D. – Cake Balls (my favorite!)

Katie W. –  Peanut Blossoms

and Melting Snowmen

Katie S.- Spritz Cookies

Sonja K-G – Chocolate Crumb bars








Next month's book is Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates. Here you can find a little information about the book's background.   Here is an author interview. There are currently 4 copies behind the desk at the Mountlake Terrace Library waiting for Foodie Book Group members.  

We will be meeting on Wednesday January 9th at 6:30pm.

Look forward to seeing you then!

Garlic and Sapphires report

This month we discussed Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl.  A few of us had read Comfort Me With Apples a few years back in the early months of the group, and were pleased to revisit Ms. Reichl.  While the food writing was very good (it was fun to hear the stories, then read the related review), it was the disguises that were the real fun of this book.  We loved all the wigs, and the way she developed an individual persona for each costume, and how her kid saying "mommy is a secret food spy" helped her get into it. She took this secret reviewer thing so seriously!  But while it was interesting to see how restaurants treated anonymous diners vs. a known food critic, what was even more interesting was how Ruth was treated so differently depending on if she was dressed up as a blond hottie, or an old lady.  Does that cloak of invisibility await us as old ladies, too?  In the end, Reichl got a bit too much into the costumes, and started acting like a jerk, so we were glad to see her get called out on the carpet for her poor behavior.  On the positive side, she really helps raise awareness of what we eat..."don't settle for crap!"

On the negative side, some of us were very uneasy with her going out on a date in her blond persona.  There were some incredibly rude people in the book (an exaggerated view of New Yorkers?  Most of us have had very pleasant experiences there). And the recipes included in the book didn't really feel that connected with the story...though happily when we made them they came out pretty darn tasty!

Heather brought a delicious roast chicken and some tasty mashed potatoes.

Julie D. made the hash browns, and though they came out yummy, she is convinced Reichl never made them herself.



Katie S. made some very tasty roasted Brussels sprouts.




Vernetta made a tasty kale/chard/spinach salad with pecan dressing (not from the book, but great!)






Dawn made super creamy scalloped potatoes.

Laura made a tasty risotto for the first time.




Karen made the spaghetti carbonara.





Next month's book is The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber.  There are a few extra copies behind the desk at the Mountlake Terrace Library for Foodie Book Group members. We will be meeting on Wednesday December 12, 2012 at 6:30pm at the Bethesda Lutheran Church.

Little Heathens report

For October we read Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish.

We all seemed to enjoy this book, though it was unclear how much of it was facts, and how much was just the romantic memories of an elderly lady.  We were very impressed by how much re-purposing of materials was done on the farm...everything seemed to have multiple uses until it was worn down to nothing!  It made some of us feel a bit shameful for how much we have and take for granted, and how easy our lives are by comparison.  The most fascinating parts were things we had never heard of, such as bumblebee honey and using egg whites to remove splinters.

Our spread was quite delish:

Heather McN – Apple Candy Pie with cream, greens with sour cream









Karen T. – carrot/orange marmalade and the Apple Candy Pie with nuts










Katie W. - carrot marmalade & homemade bread





Katie S. –fried chicken, tomatoes, homemade hot sauce

Laura – Homemade marshmallows, coffee, porcupines.







 Julie D. – grits

Dawn – corn on the cob with butter dipper

Next month's book is Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl. There are extra copies behind the desk at the Mountlake Terrace Library for Foodie Book Group members. You may remember, we did one of Ms. Reichl's other books a few years ago about her early life: Comfort Me With Apples. This book takes place much later in her life, when she is living in NYC working as a restaurant critic for the New York Times! Should be able to have some real fun with this one. Maybe everyone should wear wigs? We will be meeting on Wednesday November 14, 2012 at 6:30pm at the Bethesda Lutheran Church.