The Help report

This month's book was The Help by Kathryn Stockett (the movie of which is also now out on dvd). The group was very excited about this book, and put together a wonderful potluck full of Southern comfort foods. 

Our first impressions of the book were:

• loved it!
• surprised I laughed so much.
• Ending was dark, and a little disappointing, but realistic.

We discussed:

• How cliques and social systems help satisfy the need to belong, but have a darker side also.
• How we are taught how we are supposed to behave around other people, and what a challenge it is to transcend this.  Cecilia is a great example of someone who didn't know how to behave and was punished for that.
• What it was like for those of the group who had "help" of some sort growing up.
• How dysfunctional relationships are at least relationship - today the help is often unseen and has no personal connection.
• How sad much of the parenting was in the book.  Elizabeth was a particularly depressing weak character in this area.
• Which characters we liked best (Abaleen brought out the best in kids, full of love, willing to take risks.  Skeeter went to college not to get a husband, but to learn.  Also unafraid to seek out the support she needed).
• The controversy around the book (which can be further explored at the blog A Critical Review of the novel The Help).

While our discussion was fantastic, the food was even better!:

Sonja K-G - chocolate pie (with REAL chocolate)


Dawn – collard greens (no photo?!)



Karen T. - fried chicken (fried in Crisco!)




Katie W. - caramel cake





Ashley P. - Red Beans and Rice



Vernetta S. - Curried chicken tea sandwiches (as well as curried tofu tea sandwiches.)






Julie D. - spicy shrimp + grits




Heather McN - macaroni salad, bean salad, and sweet iced tea

Brenna (Heather's daughter)– ambrosia salad


Katie S. – devilled eggs, green beans and strawberry cake 

And I'm sorry to admit, I don't remember who brought these delicious peanut cookies! [It was Laura!  Sorry about that.]

Next month's book is The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan.  There are 6 people waiting for this book right now, but we do have one copy left behind the desk just for the Foodie Book Group (as of now).  You can also order the cd from the library, or try your luck with the ebook or downloadable audiobook.  And if you are really having a tough time getting into the book, there is also a dvd based on it you can watch :)

I will be out of town, so Heather McN will be leading.  Please send me links to recipes you use, so I can put them in the blog.  And if someone could take photos of the food, that would be greatly appreciated!

ps...I also mentioned my favorite foodie book of the moment, Things Cooks Love: Implements, Ingredients, Recipes.  There are 6 copies in the library system (with 2 holds), but you can also get it surprisingly cheap from half.com.

Medium Raw report

This month's book was Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain.   We had a guest from Houston (hi David!) who found us through our Yelp posting!

Our response as a group was pretty mixed.  While there were a few die-hard fans of "Tony" in the group, most of us found the book inconsistent and sometimes annoying.  Many chapters were quite good (especially the one about the man who prepares fish for the fancy fish restaurant), but others were poorly written.

Negative responses:

• Didn't care.
• Whines too much.
• Hypocritical and dishonest feeling.
• Gratuitous bad language wears after a while.
• Didn't connect with much of what he was saying, until the end, when he wrote about the terror of debt.
• Talks too much about drugs.
• What was the point?

Positive:

• Introduced readers to some areas the were not familiar with.
• Enjoyed digs against television celebrities.
• Love the bit about dancing with his daughter, and finally growing up (in his 50s!)
• Liked his suggestion about requiring home ec in schools again.
• Makes lots of interesting points, just in little bursts.

Food was random, as the book didn't really inspiring easily attainable cooking for the most part.  So we just made what we like.

Vernetta: green salad with a homemade Almond Balsamic Vinaigrette:







Heather McN: french scalloped potatoes with ham








Julie D: saffron rice w/chicken






Dawn: shrimp salad stuffed tomato appetizer

Karen: Deviled eggs and yummy cookies

Carol: Mr. Bordaine's mushroom soup and salted peanut butter cookies

David from Houston: smoked salmon

Katie W: carrot cake

Laura: Chocolate Mousse

Next month we will be meeting on Monday March 12, 2012 from 6:30-8:30pm.  We will be discussing Kathryn Stockett's popular book The Help, which was recently made into a movie.

While this isn't a specifically foodie book, it is a wonderful read with lots of great Southern cooking (and one intentional disaster).  

This book is still in very high demand, so you won't be able to get it through our catalog anytime soon...but we do have a limited number of copies at the Mountlake Terrace Library just for Foodie Book Group members.  Just go to the front desk to pick up your copy today.  There are also some cookbooks on African American and Southern cooking available at the front desk if you need ideas!

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand report

What a lovely meeting we had this week!  We kept having to add more tables, as more and more folks kept arriving, and we ended up with 14 for the discussion. We had everything from meat pies to curries, and a lovely variety of tea sweets!

But first the book.  Pretty much everyone loved this one (as I predicted...I adore it!)   It was felt that it was SO English, playing both off stereotypes and familiar stories, but branching out in surprising new directions too.  The American characters didn't feel very realistic to the group.  But the setting and story felt real and really came to life for the readers.  As readers, we were charmed by the role reading played in the book.  As romantics, we loved the idea that one could find such a wonderful love later in life.  As foodies, we had a lot of fun making both English food and some spicier stuff to capture both sides of this cozy book filled with serious issues.

Heather Mc. - curried meatballs with saffron rice

Carol L. - Curried Chicken Salad+ Fried Won Ton Wraps with Hot Mustard










Julie D. – Meat pies






Karen T. - chickpeas and potatoes in a pomegranate molasses sauce.






Katie S. – chicken legs + carrots and peppers
    

Katie J. - Yorkshire pudding/popovers

Karen W. - gluten-free, Almond Flour Dark Chocolate Chip Scones

Carol J - English Sticky Toffee Pudding







Dawn – scones and homemade lemon curd







Laura H. - lemon cake with tea





Tania Z-G - Kendall Mintcake

Vernetta S. - toasted oat and raisin biscuits

Heather C. - punch

Nicole – newbie...hooray!




Next month we are reading Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain.  We've had lots of request to read one of Mr. Bourdain's books, and I'm glad we were finally able to get enough copies of one to make this work.  I'm very much looking forward to reading this, and discussing it with you!  Right now there are four copies left for checkout at the Mountlake Terrace Library front desk, and two copies of the downloadable audiobook available!

We will meet on Monday February 13th at 6:30pm.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sweet Revenge report

This month's book was Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson, the 14th book in the mystery series starring caterer Goldie Schulz.  Not many of us had read books from this series, and we had a variety of reactions.  Some folks found the book delightful...fast paced and fun entertainment.  Others found it annoying...especially the fast talking, obsessive, nosy, and redundant narrator.  Everyone seems to have enjoyed the food references, and folks felt her descriptions of the caterer life seemed right on the ball.

Sonja G - Got-a-Hot-Date Bars








Katie W – Pina Colada Muffins







 Madeleine - Prudent Potatoes au Gratin







 Tania Z-G - Chicken Divine








Dawn – Stylish Strawberry Salad







Laura H - Enchiladas







Carol L - Chicken Divan







Julie – Swedish Meatballs (from Chopping Spree)

Karen T. – mac and cheese casserole

We also did a terrific cookie exchange!

Sonja G - Chocolate-Peppermint Thumbprints
Katie W – Russian tea cakes + spritz
Heather McN - chocolate chip cookies
Karen T. – chocolate buttermilk bars and toffee bars
Madeleine - sugar cookies
Tania Z-G - ginger pumpkin cookies, candy cane cookies
Dawn – white chocolate topped gingerbread cookies
Laura H - coconut bon bons
Carol L - Sugar cookies + Brown sugar Shortbread cookies
Julie – cake balls + sugar cookie

Next month we are reading one of my favorite books of the last few years, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) leads a quiet life in the village of St. Mary, England, until his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But will their relationship survive in a society that considers Ali a foreigner?  

It is not so much a foodie book, as a great book that features a decent amount of food, but I think we will enjoy discussing and digesting its flavors.  See you on Monday January 9th at 6:30!