Little House in the Big Woods report

We had a lovely time talking about the Little House books this week. Most in the group had read the books (and we had a few very devoted fans), but one person never had! Most everyone enjoyed the book immensely, though not very much seemed to happen in the first book. It was remarked upon how surprising it was that nothing bad happened in LHitBW, and some readers really held their breath over this, or were disappointed by the lack of drama. But a real sense of comfort seems to be drawn from the books, so perhaps they are calming in their lack of excitement?

As our icebreaker, we discussed childhood book memories of food. Favorites included:

Bread and Jam for Francis
Little House books (DJ went so far as to heat potatoes to carry to school in cold weather)
Turkish delight from the Narnia books
The Lunchbox Tree from the Oz books (including sliced tongue, an apple and a ham sandwich)
The Giant Jam Sandwich
Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls - especially the Butterscotch Brownies
Blueberries for Sal

Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of all the delicious food! We had a nice spread though:

Dawn - pickled beets and veg mix (made by Prema)
Leann - Salad
DJ - Meatballs
Katie - roasted chicken, stuffing and gravy and tiny Snickers bars (because that is what her and her sister fantasized bringing to the Wilders if they could time travel back).
Heather - homemade pork and beans
Julie - pork chops marinated in Makers Mark.
Sheri – smoked trout and salmon (both fish she caught herself, too!) and crackers
Karen – homemade ricotta cheesecake and dried apple and honey dip
Katie - Hoecakes (some wheat, some corn) and maple syrup

Folks shared Little House related books:
The Little house cookbook : frontier foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic stories
The Laura Ingalls Wilder country cookbook by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little house in the Ozarks : a Laura Ingalls Wilder sampler : the rediscovered writings

A couple of recent Little House projects came up:

Beyond Little House America's most comprehensive site dedicated to the life, literature, and many homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
The Wilder Life: my adventures in the lost world of Little house on the prairie by Wendy McClure

Also recently there have been a huge number of memoirs from actresses in the series:
Prairie tale : a memoir by Melissa Gilbert
The way I see it : a look back at my life on Little house by Melissa Sue Anderson
Confessions of a prairie bitch : how I survived Nellie Oleson and learned to love being hated by Alison Arngrim


And because someone mentioned it, here is a YouTube video of the destruction of Walnut Grove (mixed together with other LHotP intense images)!

Omnivore's Dilemma report

Despite the frequently unappetizing and disheartening nature of this month's book, we were still able to have a delicious potluck along with our thoughtful discussion of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. Not everyone finished the book due to the dense writing and gloomy subject matter. One person recommended trying the young reader's edition instead, The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat. Personally, I really enjoyed the audiobook of the original.

Most of us found we ate closest to Pollan's industrial organic model, but were very interested in either raising our own food or supporting local farmer's markets. Some of us avoid certain foods (I don't eat octopus, because it is so smart), but most of us still eat pretty broadly.

A dvd that was recommended was Woody Harrelson's Go Further, where he learns how much pus and blood is in non-organic milk!

For our potluck we decided to eat either corn related items (oh, the irony!) and try out different types of beef sliders, cooked on some Foreman grills.

Dawn – yard raised organic deviled eggs

Denene – mini buns

Katie - oven roasted asparagus with sesame oil




Heather - corn on the cob slathered with butter, salt and pepper, plus Dried Apple Spice Cake with Sherry.



Karen - homemade buns and a delicious corn casserole (containing corn starch, corn meal, creamed corn, canned corn and corn bread mix!)

Julie - Maurice the organic, free range ground beef (with spices added)

Katie – regular ground beef, Rachel's Asparagus, Pea and Basil salad

Everyone brought a variety of burger toppings :)




My favorite discovery of the evening was Katie's cousin's yummy salad recipe:

Rachel’s Asparagus Pea and Basil Salad

• ¼ - 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots (about 1 large)
• 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 ½ - 2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Handful of torn basil leaves (about 3/4 cup)

Melt butter over medium heat. Sauté shallots until soft but not brown. Add asparagus and stir until just warmed and tender, not mushy. Season with salt and pepper. Add peas and basil. Stir and cover. Turn off heat. Let cool and serve at room temperature.

Next month we go back to pioneer days and revisit everyone's childhood favorites, The Little House on the Prairie series! Who can forget all that salt pork and biscuits? To make it a easy on the group, everyone is going to read Little House in the Big Woods, but you are welcomed to re-read them all!

Fortune Cookie Chronicles report

This month was especially tasty!

Fortune Cookie Chronicles turned out to be a fascinating book, giving a great history of American style Chinese food, dishes unique to America and where they might have come from, the debate over who created the fortune cookie (the Japanese, as it turns out), and much insight into the struggles people go through to run a Chinese restaurant in order to make a better life for their children.

Inspired by the book, we created variations on American style Chinese food:

Dawn – store bought fortune cookies + Fried Rice

Karen – General Tso’s Chicken

Debbie - deep fried salmon stuffed wonton
Katie - Ginger Garlic Chicken and Beef and Broccoli

Julie – beef and duck on rice

Tanya – humbow and mango coconut jellies.

Heather – sautéed vegetables and sticky rice, iced green tea


For those who want to know more, and see some crazy variations on Chinese food, check out the author’s blog.

We decided on the schedule for the rest of the year, in case you want to get reading early (I know there is a limited number of August and October’s books):

May 9 – Omnivore’s Dilemma

June 13 – Little House in the Big Woods

July 11 - Heat: an amateur's adventures as kitchen slave

August 8 - A Thousand Days in Venice

September 12 - Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

October 10- Five Quarters of the Orange

November 14 – Pie Month – Life of Pi

December 12 - Sweet Revenge

Looking forward to discussing Omnivore’s Dilemma with you next month, and seeing what you decide to cook!

Pomegranate Soup Report

We had a great meeting this week! Overall folks liked Pomegranate Soup quite well, though two people found it too dull to keep them awake at night. Everyone loved the food descriptions, and the slight touch of magical realism. Many were reminded of Like Water for Chocolate and also the book Five Quarters of the Orange.

Fresh pomegranates were out of season, but a few folks had luck finding them frozen. Some of us were wondering where one could get rosewater nearby, and apparently JDs Market in Lynnwood is a good source, along with other middle eastern foodie supplies.

For folks interested in finding out more about the lives of women living in Iran during the revolution, I highly recommend the graphic novel Persepolis (and the animated movie is quite good too!)

I'm sorry to report I completely forgot to take photos of all the delicious food. But what a delightful spread we had!

Karen - dolma
Sheri - apple pomegranate crisp
Tania – fesenjoon (chicken and walnut dish from book)
Julie – chelow
Sonja - lentil soup
Deborah - Spinach Pomegranate Salad
Denene - salad with pomegranate
Katie - Lavash bread
Dawn - dugh yogurt drink and Mast-o-Khiar
Denene – pomegranate salad with pomegranate dressing, sparkling pomegranate juice, and chocolate covered pomegranate!
Katie S. – Persian zucchini and tomato dish:

3 T or so canola oil

1.5 lbs zucchini or zucchini - eggplant combo

1/2 cup (about 1 small) onion, minced

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 t each salt and pepper, more to taste

1 T turmeric, more to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Slice the zucchini about 1/4 of an inch thick. Heat oil to medium high, and fry zucchini until golden on each side, working in batches. Arrange zucchini in a baking dish as you go. In the same pan, fry the onions, stirring so they don't burn. Add can of tomatoes and the salt pepper and turmeric. Taste, and add more if needed. Top zucchini with tomato mixture and bake about 10 or 15 minutes, until flavors are melded.

Someone mentioned a great Persian lima bean and rice dish they had once. Could it be Baghali Polo?

Also…Sonja mentioned some Frosted Irish Cream Brownies that people wanted the link to (they look awfully good!)

Looking forward to discussing The Fortune Cookie Chronicles with you next month on Monday April 11th, 2011.

February 2011 meeting: Mexican cookbooks

This month we explored and shared Mexican cookbooks and some very tasty food!


Everyone attending had been to Mexico at one time or another (alas, mine was the shortest trip, having only been to Tijuana for an afternoon). Some of our favorite Mexican foods include Shrimp Mojo de Ajo,

Here are the dishes everyone brought:

Sheri - Shrimp & Pork Tacos with Creamed Avocado
Deborah S. - cornbread
Teresa - shrimp ceviche
Katie - Flan and Marinated Tomatillo salad.
Dawn – Tuna Ceviche with Lime, Roasted Chipotle Acorn Squash


Cookbooks we shared were:
Chevys & Rio Bravo Fresh Mex Cookbook
Salsas and Tacos by the Santa Fe School of Cooking
Ceviche! Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist by Guillermo Pernot & Aliza Green
The Sunset Mexican Cookbook (and old favorite...2 different versions showed up!)
The Book of Mexican Food
The Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy (the Julia Child of Mexican food)
Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor by Marcela Valladolid

Overall it was a really delicious meeting, both the discussion and the foods!

Here are our upcoming books:

March – Pomegranate Soup
April – Fortune Cookie Chronicles
May – Omnivore’s Dilemma
June – Little House in the Big Wood

Invite your friends...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.

January report and February date change

Last month we had a delightful meeting talking about Farm City by Novella Carpenter. A lot of people are really interested in raising some of their own food. We talked about what we have been most excited to grow. Artichokes, potatoes, mushrooms, raspberries and other foodstuff was very popular. Some of us are happy with a few containers of tomatoes, but others have loftier ambitions and want chickens, bees and full herb gardens. What do you hope to grow or raise?

Our feast included:
Turkey and squash, plus peach cobbler, and salami and cheese from Heather.
Greens with ham from Katie.
Homemade corn muffins made from scratch by me.
Bacon and egg quiche by Karen.
Salad with custom dressing from Debby.
Wild duck (freshly hunted by her husband!) and orzo from Julie.
Potatoes wrapped in bacon by Sonja.

This last dish came from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, which Sonja got from her mother as a present. We passed it around and admired how it was both practical, tasty looking and unpretentious. I know I'll be checking this magazine (and the book) out from the library, and exploring the website, too!

Our February meeting was scheduled on Valentines Day, but apparently people have plans that night? So by popular demand, we will be having our next meeting on Tuesday February 15th, 2011, 6:30-8:30. The theme is Mexican Cookbooks. Bring your favorites, or check out a few from the library to explore, then cook a dish to share. We will discuss what we feel works best in these cookbooks, special features to look for, etc...

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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.