Recipe Recommendations

I have tried a few recipes from other bloggers and website and they turned out so good I have to share them!
1. Pickles from Elana's Pantry. I do not have all of the equipment to can, but this recipe brines the cucumbers so processing them is not necessary. Great!
2. Sweet corn pancakes from Smitten Kitchen. At the farmer's market last week, a seller talked me into buying 6 ears of corn for $2.50. That is a lot of corn for us to go through, so I gave this recipe a try and it was pretty good. I liked them best with fresh blueberries and maple syrup.
3. Zucchini Tian from The Splendid Table. I listen to this radio show every week while running and when I heard this recipe I knew I had to try it. It is great for using up that extra zucchini, yellow squash, or eggplant. I have actually made this recipe twice this past week because it was so good. I literally could have eaten the whole pan if my stomach would have let me! Delicious! I just used left-over brown rice and a blend of shredded Italian cheese that I had instead of Gruyere. The second time I didn't have any breadcrumbs and it still turned out fine.
Enjoy!

Heathy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I have been experimenting with breads lately. I was appalled one day by the price of French bread in the grocery store- over $4.00! This book is great for a beginner bread baker like me or for an experienced bread baker. There is an amazing variety of breads in it and I am looking forward to trying everything from whole wheat sandwich bread, to whole wheat doughnuts, to Indian flatbreads.

Keeping the Feast

 
This past week I finished reading Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini. I can not remember how I first learned of this book, but I requested it at the library because I was intrigued  by the subtitle- "One couple's story of love, food and healing in Italy." I like love stories, I enjoy food and I especially love Italy! This book while very honest and real, was not what I was expecting. It is the story of Paula's life and how after her husband is tragically shot, they retreat to Italy for him to recover from life- paralyzing deep depression. Yes, it is depressing to read at times! What I did especially like were Paula's stories from her life that all related to food. She starts each chapter with a memory of her childhood- eating at her grandparents, holiday meals, her dad cooking polenta, or her mom making stew. She relates those memories and foods into her adult life and how she approaches foods and the importance of keeping the feast. I love how the food that we grow up with shapes the adults we become and then later shape our children's lives. This shows how important food really is in making us who we are and how we experience life. Besides the Italian food, much of the book takes place in Rome where Paula describes food shopping in the markets and the various neighborhoods they lived in. This is a very real life story that I think many people will appreciate.

Lunch in Paris

As we already know, I am a sucker for anything about Paris. This book was an especially delightful treat. I literally read it in about one weekend. I was so caught up in the story of Elizabeth and how she not only falls in love with a Frenchman but also in love with Paris and it's food. After each chapter there are recipes and each one sounded so good that I added this book to my birthday list so I can try them. I can almost picture myself as Elizabeth going to the market to buy food and then trying new dishes. I wish I could do that now everyday. This book is just a simple story of a girl and her newly wed life. I think most of us could and should write something similar. We all have our stories and life's recipes that should be shared. Everyone loves a good love story! After reading this book though I do wish my own story was not taking place in North Dakota. Somehow that does not have quite the same appeal as Paris! She writes about chocolate souffles and tangines and I would have to write about chocolate chip cookies and chili! Well, "Paris is always a good idea" (Sabrina Fairchild in Sabrina), so this book is a good idea too.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

This book was suggested to be by a new friend (Daphne Fowler). It is the story of a family who decides that for one year they will only eat foods they grow or can by locally. This means eating fresh, seasonal food all year long. Quite the undertaking! I love the concept of eating locally, but when living in a place like North Dakota that would make at least 6 to 9 months of year pretty sparse unless one canned and preserved foods from the summer months. What I like about this book is that finding food becomes an adventure and not just something mindlessly purchased and devoured quickly. When one only eats foods in season, those foods are savored and prepared with care. This is a very interesting read!

Gluten Free Girl

I started reading Gluten Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern after stumbling upon the glutenfreegirl blog site. She has beautiful pictures, heart warming stories and healthy recipes. I recently started teaching the Celiac Disease classes at work, something I really did not know much about but needed to find out about quickly (and that is how I found Shauna's site). I knew Celiac Disease involved a gluten free diet but I had no idea how involved avoiding gluten can be. I started reading this book not really expecting much except to hear about one person's experience with Celiac Disease (I actually expected it to be a dismal story to be honest). I was totally amazed and completely surprised by this book. It is really not the story of a Celiac Disease sufferer but actually the story of someone who almost looses her life due to a car accident and health problems, only to regain her life by falling completely in love with food. Real food. Healthy, fresh, flavorable, enjoyable food. For her this also involved learning how to avoid gluten, but really this book is about finding the joy in food and treating your body well through preparing healthy food. It is an excellent book for anyone who loves food or wants to begin loving food, loves the Seattle area (as that is where much of the book is set), loves true stories about real people, and of course for anyone who has Celiac Disease. I highly recommend this book and if you are not much of a book reader then check out the blog because it is equally good!

My Life in France

My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme. I just started reading this last week and it is excellent. I really did not know the history of Julia Child, and now I am excited to see the movie. If you like food or France, you will love this book!