Weekend Cooking: It Was a SkinnyTaste Kind of Week

Today's Weekend Cooking is all about enjoying being in my own kitchen and having control over my own cooking. I love being with my family, and I really like cooking in my mother's kitchen (especially knowing that those days are soon to end), but there's something to be said about being in your own space and cooking your own way.

Last week my meal plan focused on SkinnyTaste recipes. I know I was slow to get on the SkinnyTaste bandwagon, but once I found a seat, I was there for good. I swear everything I've ever made from the SkinnyTaste website or cookbooks has been a success, and I'm now a die-hard fan for life.

Here are three recipes we made and loved this week. The photos come from the SkinnyTaste website and the links will take you right to the recipes.

Chickpea Salad with Cucumbers and Tomatoes. I made this easy and tasty salad to have on hand for lunches and to supplement dinners. Instead of a diced tomato (which I would have used in the summer), I went with a mix of heirloom cherry tomatoes I found at the grocery. The colors were pretty, and cherry and grape tomatoes generally taste pretty good all year long. For the cukes, I used the little Persian cucumbers, because I like the flavor. I also added an orange bell pepper--both for flavor and color. I'd absolutely make this again, especially because it held up well for several days, even with the dressing. Next time I might add feta or avocado.

The Best Chicken Enchilada Recipe, was--if not the best--really, really good and super easy to make. I poached two large chicken breasts and used 8-inch whole grain tortillas. I surprised myself and followed this recipe to the tee. We both really loved the homemade enchilada sauce, the flavor of the shredded chicken and the completed dish. We used chopped heirloom cherry tomatoes, diced avocado, jarred jalapeno pepper slices, and scallions for our toppings. The recipe says eight servings, but for us, it made two dinners and a lunch, so I'd say more like six servings. I was surprised at how quickly this dish came together, and it was stress free, even on a weeknight.

The third SkinnyTaste recipe was Spinach Tortellini en Brodo, which was another winner. We had a cold snap this week and a hearty soup was just the ticket. I know this calls for chicken broth (which I used), but I still think of this as a vegetarian dinner. I couldn't find spinach and cheese tortellinis, so I used spinach and cheese raviolis instead. I had a red bell pepper to use up, so I threw that into the soup, and I added more fresh baby spinach than was called for. I seasoned the soup as directed, but added a few good shakes of hot pepper flakes just because I could. Again, the recipe said eight servings but I would count only six. We got two dinners and a lunch, which is perfect for our needs.

We rounded out the week with two big favorites: spice-rubbed grilled salmon with a roasted vegetable (I used broccoli this week) and red beans and rice (healthy, hearty, and yummy).

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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Off the Shelf; Or What's New in My Corner of the World 9

Hurray for March (technically still two days away, I know) and all it brings. I'm looking forward to better weather, Daylight Savings Time, spring, gardening, and the promise of more outdoor life.

Getting Organized

About six months ago, I admitted total defeat to keeping a bullet journal, although I liked the idea of having a single place to keep track of both my work and personal lives. After researching paper planners, I ended up with one of the popular (and slightly costly) brands because it seemed to offer everything I needed, including the lack of time slots.

After a half a year, I can say I'm more organized than ever. I love seeing everything I have to do for the week all in one place. The layout of the planner I picked provides four (un-timed) sections for each day. I use one for my editing work, one for my writing gigs, and one for personal things. I use the small fourth block for tasks I don't want to forget about but aren't of immediate concern; for example, today I've made a note to start looking for flower seeds at the stores.

I use the weekly sidebar for meal planning and to track my exercise. The monthly dashboard, calendar, and notes pages are handy for brain dumping, making note of library books, planning travel, and keeping an eye on the bigger picture. I love being in a single paper planner.

Do you use a paper planner or have you gone totally digital? Do you have a single calendar or multiples? Do you share your calendar with your family?

More on eBooks

One of my goals for 2020 is to try to increase the percent of books I read digitally. I've decided there are two issues holding me back. The first is how I pick the next book to read. I know I'm so last century, but when I'm looking for a book, I browse my shelves, I look at the covers, I take note of the spine's thickness, and I flip through and read a few pages. Plus I like to see the titles neatly lined up on the shelf.

When I go to pick a digital book, I have to go to my office, wake up the computer, and open a spread sheet or program (I use Calibre) to see what I own. Right there, I'm often halted -- usually out of pure laziness and sometimes because I just don't want to go back to my office and sit at my desk before I can start new book. It often seems easier to stick with print.

How do you keep track of your digital books? Am I the only one who finds the extra steps to be stumbling blocks? I need an easy-to-use system!

Thinking Ahead

I can't wait to set up my deck for the summer, and I'm hoping this year brings better weather than last. I remember summer of 2019 as being windy and wet and not all that inviting for outdoor living. Here are some of the things I'm dreaming about:

• A new dinning set (table and chairs) for the deck. Our current furniture is about 8 years old and is definitely starting to show its age.
• Cleaning up the gardens and planting new perennials.
• Finally getting around to painting and stenciling the wooden bench that sits on the porch.
• Plotting out new places or routes for my outdoor walks.
• New walking / running shoes!
• Planning some weekend outdoor adventures that Mr. BFR and I can do together.

What are you looking forward to doing this summer?

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: I'm Reading Again

Okay, I admit it. I need a total reset, not a weekly reset. If you're a regular or semi-regular reader of Beth Fish Reads, then you know that I'm primarily about two things. I write about the books I've read and I write about the books coming out in the current month that caught my attention or that I think you all would be interested in.

Because of various family issues, I have hardly touched let alone written about January or February books. I've decided to cut my losses and shed the nagging sense of responsibility. March is going to be a new beginning, a clean slate. And I'm going to pretend that March starts today.

Of course, I still need to catch up with work and take care of duties related to my mother's estate, but I'm also going to remember the things that bring me joy and nourish my soul. That means reading, cooking, and textile arts. It also means getting back to my daily walks and paying attention to what I eat. Here's to fresh start!

I finished the fifth book in Michael J. Sullivan's Legends of the First Empire series. Age of Death (Grim Oak Press, Feb. 11) continues the story of the battle between the elves and the humans and takes place in two planes: the earthly and the land of the dead. I've written about all three of Sullivan's series and really can't stop praising his ability to create believable characters and a complex universe. Some of the things I love about his books: characters grow and change, characters make mistakes, it isn't always clear who is good and who is evil, people can die, the rules are consistent, and the balance of action and character study or history is spot-on. If you like epic fantasy, you'll love these books. Did I mention that Sullivan doesn't start publishing a series until the whole thing is written? Yes! No more waiting years between installments. Another thing: if you're audiobook fan, you must listen to Tim Gerard Reynolds's performances. I truly can't say enough good things about his characterizations, pacing, expression, and consistency across dozens of books. Go forth and read or listen. (audio and print editions from my personal collection)

I'm halfway through the very long but totally absorbing Greenwood by Michael Christie. (I wrote about the book earlier this month). I started out reading the book in print but have now switched to audio, which is read by Kimberly Farr (Penguin Audio; 18 hr, 37 min). I love this book! Although it has dystopian elements (the story starts in 2038 after climate change has clearly taken hold), Greenwood is mostly a family saga that stretches back to the early 20th century, complete with secrets and complex family relationships. It's also a commentary on environmental issues, especially forests and trees. I love the structure of the book, which mimics the rings of a tree as you move across the diameter: modern times, back through time, and then a return to today. This novel should appeal to a wide range of readers, especially because the dystopian elements are small yet absolutely believable (and a bit scary). Farr's performance is absorbing, and she handles the needed accents well. She hasn't created hugely divergent voices for the characters, but the differences are enough to keep us listeners on track. (Thanks to the publisher for the print ARC; audio provided for a freelance assignment)

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Weekend Cooking: Cookbooks on My Mother's Shelves

One of the more difficult tasks that children face after their last parent dies is cleaning out their house. My mother was still living in the same four-bedroom, two-story house that we moved to in 1964. Although neither she nor my father was a hoarder, there are still quite a number of personal items that my brothers and I need to look through.

Among my mother's things were dozens of cookbooks. Only one of my brothers is a dedicated cook, so the two of us went through the books, picking out the ones we wanted to take home. Many evoked fond memories and prompted stories about holidays or special occasions, which made our job a little bit lighter.

I ended up taking only seven cookbooks, and that's what's today's Weekend Cooking post is all about.

Lee Bailey

The first four I knew I wanted to find on my mom's shelves were all by Lee Bailey (the food writer, not the attorney). Bailey had a down-to-earth attitude about cooking and used to write a monthly column for Food & Wine magazine. As I said in a post I wrote in 2012:

Bailey's books are known for their beautiful photography, not only of the food but of the table settings, rooms, people, and natural surroundings. I love that his cookbooks are arranged by complete menus. Depending on the book and recipes, he also writes about wine choices, the inspiration behind the meal, the right occasion to serve the meal, and so on.

I'm pretty sure his books are currently out of print, which is why I was happy to find four on my mother's bookshelves. I had a really hard time finding cover images for his books; thus the fuzzy photos below.

• City Food (Clarkson Potter, 1984) has menus with such great titles as "On a Ferry," "A Swell, Swell Dinner," "On a Rooftop Terrace," and "In a Painter's Loft." Yet, in true Bailey fashion, the menus are quite accessible. Here's one: Grill tuna with Creole sauce, string beans and mushrooms, oven-baked potato chips, coconut flan, wine, and coffee.
• Cooking for Friends (Clarkson Potter, 1992) compiles menus from around the world, including the Florida Keys, Gascony, New York City, and Tuscany. One of the Greek menus goes like this: pistachio-coated fish with cucumber sauce, orzo with onions and black olives, baked honey-mint tomatoes, and peach bread pudding with brandy jam sauce.
• Country Desserts (Clarkson Potter, 1988) breaks from Bailey's signature menus to give us tons of recipes for down-home cakes, cobbles, cookies, ice cream, and pies. The kids' desserts are hardly just for kids and the pound cakes, muffins, tarts, and bread puddings will make your mouth water.
• Good Parties (Clarkson Potter, 1986) covers the seasons from lazy summer lunches to city birthday parties, warming Sunday roasts, and winter getaways. A Sunday pasta dinner consists of vegetarian pasta with tomatoes and peppers, a lettuce and cheese salad, crusty bread, a peach cake, and wine and coffee.

If you ever see any of Lee Bailey's cookbooks at a yard sale or used book store, don't pass them by. Some of the ideas/meals may be dated, but all his recipes are pretty much guaranteed to succeed.

Thoughts for . . .

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Houghton Mifflin published three cookbooks: Thoughts for Food, Thoughts for Buffets, and Thoughts for Festive Foods (maybe not in that order). My mother used the latter two so much that they no longer have covers, so I had to search the internet for images (which you see to the right). So many of our long-time family favorite dishes came from these cookbooks that I had to have my mother's copies. I love that she wrote in the books and that they are so beaten up. I'm not sure how much I'll cook from these books, but I'm going smile every time I see them on my bookshelf. One puzzle though: Why didn't she own the first cookbook? Hummm.

Knopf Cooks American

Back in 2011, I wrote about the cookbook series Knopf Cooks American, which was published in the 1980s and 1990s (I think) and covered all kinds of cuisines and regional cooking found in United States, from the Deep South to the Pacific Northwest. I bought at least six books in the series and so was happy to see that my mom had one of the titles I didn't own.

Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America was first published in 1994 and encompasses quite a broad range of flavors and traditions. The subtitle pretty much tells you all you need to know about this cookbook: "A splendid feast of over 300 Kosher recipes, old and new. With stories from Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews who settled throughout this country." The book is also full of black-and-white family photos that document family meals, celebrations, menus, and restaurants. It doesn't look like my mother ever cooked out of this book, but I did find some recipe clippings tucked in its pages.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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5 Ways to Catch a Serial Killer: New Crime Fiction

If you read a lot of crime fiction, you'd think a serial killer lived on every block of every town or city in the world. I do read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, but I'm pretty sure I don't live next door to the new Ted Bundy.

The common thread of the books I feature today is that they all involve multiple murders and in all but one case the killer is yet to be identified or caught. The protagonists range from ordinary citizens to FBI agents, each one determined to find the villain before he (or she?) strikes again.

The Third to Die by Allison Brennan (Mira, Feb. 4), stars an LAPD detective and an FBI special agent who are tasked with tracking down the "Triple Killer" before he strikes again. Every three years, starting on March 3, the killer murders three people, three days apart, and then disappears for three years before starting the cycle over. After Detective Kara Quinn finds the body of a nurse, Special Agent Mattias Costa and his forensic psychologist are sent to help investigate. The trio has three days to stop the next murder and only six days until the killer goes into hiding for three more years. Reviews have been mixed, but I'm all in, especially because this may be the start of a new series.

Never Forget by Martin Michaud (Dundurn, Feb. 11) is set in Montreal and stars police detective Victor Lessard and his partner, Jacinthe Taillon. The mystery starts out with several seemingly unrelated events: a murder, a suicide, and a missing person. Lessard and Taillon, however, soon discover the possible links among the current cases as well as some evidence that the crimes may be related to a political assassination that occurred decades earlier. The pressure is on to solve the cases before anyone else is killed. Political intrigue, conspiracy theories, and lure of revenge all play a part in this twisty mystery. This is the third in a series, but the first one to be published in English.

The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo (Ecco, Feb. 11) features an FBI-trained criminal psychologist who is in Seoul to interview a serial killer who insists he'll tell his story to no one else. While Seonkyeong is doing her work, her husband is moving his estranged 11-year-old daughter into their house. The girl lived with her mother and then her maternal grandparents; now that all three have died, her father has taken her in. The girl is difficult, to say the least, but more disturbing, Seonkyeong is finding a surprising number of similarities between the convicted murderer and her stepdaughter. Are Seonkyeong's suspicions legit or is she just having trouble dealing with an adolescent?

Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little (Viking, Feb. 25) takes place on an island off the coast of Delaware where a movie about an unsolved murder is being filmed. When Marissa Dahl takes over the film editing duties, she discovers that the movie is based on a real-life cold case that took place on that very island decades earlier; she also quickly learns that the movie set is fraught with tension and an unhappy cast and crew. After she discovers a body, Marissa suspects that the original killer may still live on the island. With the help of some local teens and her own curiosity, she sets out to expose the villain before he can strike again. The novel includes details about how movies are made as well as a little bit of romance.

Ten Days Gone by Beverly Long (Mira, Feb. 18) stars Wisconsin police detectives A.L. McKittridge and Rena Morgan who are tasked with investigating the murders of four women, who were killed  days apart in the small town of Baywood. The killer has been striking every 10 days for more than a month, leaving very few clues behind. In this first installment in a new series, we learn as much about A.L.'s and Rena's personal lives as we do about the crimes, as the detectives race to end the killing spree, overcome obstacles, and do their best to protect the woman they think could be next victim. Good character development with a nod to larger issues (such as marriage and parenthood) round out this thriller.

Which serial killer novel is calling to you? I'm equally interested in The Only Child and Pretty as a Picture.

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Today's Read: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

What if a girl from your high school disappeared without a trace, and her Indian American boyfriend was accused of her murder, despite the fact that her body was never found? Would you believe the local accusations if the boy ended up killing himself? Pippa Fitz-Amobi always had fond memories of Salil Singh and just can't fully believe the stories that implicated him in Andrea Bell's murder. Several years later, Pip decides her senior project is going to involve taking a closer look into what really happened to Andie and Sal.

Here's how the first narrative chapter starts (see scan below for a look at the first graphic page):

Pip knew where they lived.

Everyone in Fairview knew where they lived.

Their home was like the town’s own haunted house; people’s footsteps quickened as they walked by, and their words strangled and died in their throats. Shrieking children would gather on their walk home from school, daring one another to run up and touch the front gate.

But it wasn’t haunted by ghosts, just three sad people trying to live their lives as before.

—A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (Delacorte Press, Feb. 4, ARC)

Quick Facts

• Setting: Fairview, Connecticut (a fictional small town)
• Circumstances: Several years earlier, a popular girl was supposedly murdered by her boyfriend, who later killed himself. Many in Fairview were happy to blame Sal and continue to harass and shun his family. Pip, however, has never really believed that Sal was a killer. The more she looks into those horrible events, the more secrets she discovers. But can she clear Sal's name, find out what happened to Andie, and avoid getting killed—all before her senior project is due?
• Genre & themes: murder mystery, thriller; young adult audience
• Gleaned from reviews: twisty plotting, well constructed, hard to put down
• Why I want to read this: Jackson has set the book up to be narrative text mixed with interviews, school forms, and other media (see screen shot below). I like a good thriller and this one has been compared to the podcast Serial and the documentary Making a Murderer (both of which I loved) because all three involve a small community that is convinced they have the answers to a murder, even if the so-called evidence is shaky at best. Plus I love books that use a variety of graphics and non-narrative storytelling.
• Audiobook: I may decide to listen to this one because the all-star cast includes many greats, including Michael Crouch, Robert Fass, Marisa Calin, and Gopan Divan. (From Listening Library: 10 hr, 53 min)
• Acknowledgments: Thanks to the publisher for the review copy of Holly Jackon's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.
• Scan: from the opening page of the digital advanced readers copy (click to enlarge if necessary).

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Weekend Cooking: Cook Something by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

Are you familiar with Canal House? It's a cooking, publishing, and design company founded by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, two women who celebrate everyday, home cooking using fresh ingredients.

I've been a fan of theirs for many years, and I love their philosophy, which is all about the pleasures of cooking, especially for ourselves and those we love. Their newest cookbook, Cook Something: Recipes to Rely on (Voracious, 2019), is all about encouraging cooks of all abilities to master a few techniques and then expand on them, giving us the tools and confidence to make home-cooked meals every day.

I love the layout of the book and, of course, the beautiful photography (one of the things Hirsheimer and Hamilton are known for). For example, take the soup chapter. It starts out with several recipes for homemade stocks and broths. What follows is combination of traditional recipes--with measured ingredients and full instructions (minestrone is one of these)--and what I'm calling "ideas"--with suggested flavor pairings (beans in broth is an example).

An idea I tried is Udon Noodle Soup:

We simmered 2 pieces of beef shank in some homemade chicken stock (pages 84-87), along with 1 peeled parsnip, 1 peeled carrot, 1 peeled shallot, some parsley stems, and 3 star anise. The resulting broth was lip-smackingly sticky and rich with flavor. To the strained hot broth, we added some sliced peeled carrots and a tangle of udon, the Japanese wheat noodles. Slurp!

I, however, sliced the parsnip and carrot, later shredded the beef and returned it to the pot, used 5-spice powder instead of the anise, and served it with soba noodles. Hey, a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. Regardless, it was delicious and super-easy to make.

Other categories of recipes in Cook Something are eggs, snacks and nibbles, salads, pastas, fish, chicken, braises, ground meats, grilling, vegetables, and desserts. Among the recipes I've tried are cheese toasts, sardine and lemon melba toasts, chicken tomato broth with raviolini, lentils with roasted beets, and the very delicious ragu bolognese.

If you're looking for new ideas for weeknight and family cooking, this is a great book for you. If you're an experienced cook who needs a push to get out of a rut, Cook Something will offer just the nudge you're looking for. If you wish you were more skilled in the kitchen, Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton will be your new best friends.

I feel confident recommending this cookbook as a buy. If you're vegetarian or vegan, however, you'll want to look before purchasing. You'll find plenty of great ideas, but many of the recipes include meat and fish.

For more on Hirsheimer and Hamilton, see this article in Food & Wine about their new restaurant. To see some more of their photography, visit their site Life at Canal House. For my review of their Spaghetti: Pronto! cookbook, click on through.

Thanks to Voracious Books for the review copy of Cook Something. The scan and recipe come from the cookbook and are used here in the context of a review. All rights remain with the original copyright holders.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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6 True Stories to Read in February

It's no secret, I love nonfiction. Give me biography, history, nature and travel writing, science and space, and everything else. The true stories that caught my eye this month cover a variety of topics, from the past to the present. Let's take a look.

Troubled History

1774: The Long Year of Revolution by Mary Beth Norton (Knopf, Feb. 11): Written by a respected historian, this is a focused look the critical months of the birth of new nation: "from the Boston Tea Party and the first Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord." Norton relies on much firsthand sources and introduces us to figures who don't often appear in school history texts to show that American colonists felt their independence long before the formal declaration was finally signed. First lines:

During the stormy early morning hours of December 11, 1773, a vessel carrying tea and other cargo to Boston wrecked about two miles southeast of Race Point, the northern tip of Cape Cod. On board the William were fifty-eight chests of East India Company tea, fifty-five of which were successfully salvaged. The three damaged chests, each containing about 350 pounds of Bohea (black) tea, remained on the Cape when the other chests were transported later in the month to the safety of the British headquarters at Castle William, an island in Boston harbor. Responding to the sudden arrival of approximately 1,000 pounds of tea on their shores, Cape residents worked to earn it, bought and sold it, argued and fought over it, and destroyed some of it.

Audiobook: Read by Kimberly Farr (Random House Audio; 16 hr, 26 min)

Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag by Monika Zgustova, translated by Julie Jones (Other Press; Feb. 4): This volume collects the memories of nine women who were sent to the Soviet labor camps (one to a psych ward) because they or their families were accused of anti-government crimes. The stories are moving, provide eye-witness accounts, and fill some of the gaps in a history that could easily be lost to time. Among the women interviewed is the daughter of Olga Ivinskaya, the woman behind the character of Lara in Doctor Zhivago. The book includes an insert with black-and-white photos. First lines (from introduction):

When the liberation movement known as the Prague Spring ended in August 1968, suppressed by Soviet tanks, and Czechoslovakia was once again under the aegis of the Soviet Union, Soviet authorities began to persecute by father, an eminent linguist, for having participated in the protests in his native Prague. It was then that my parents started to think about fleeing and settling in the US. It wasn't an easy task, because under communism it was illegal to leave the country.

Audiobook: no information

Forensics

18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics, by Bruce Goldfarb (Sourcebooks, Feb. 4). Written by an investigative journalist who currently works for the chief medical examiner of the state of Maryland, this book introduces us to the woman who, though born in the decade after the Civil War, developed a revolutionary method for investigating crime scenes. Lee, a daughter of Chicago's high society, discovered her passion late in life when she met a medical examiner who told her stories of criminal deaths and bemoaned the fact that most men in his profession were political appointees instead of trained scientists. The book includes photographs. First lines:

Seventeen pathologists and medical examiners, all dressed in dark suits and neckties, sat around a long table in a wood-paneled conference room on the third floor of Building E-1 of Harvard Medical School. It was the autumn of 1944. Thousands of miles away, war ravaged Europe and the Pacific islands. The men had gathered at Harvard to attend a seminar on legal medicine, a field that would later be known as forensic science—the application of medicine to matters of law and justice.

Audiobook: Read by Nan McNamara (Recorded Books, 8 hr, 35 min)

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI, by Kate Winkler Dawson (Putnam, Feb. 11): Written by a producer of documentaries, this biography-history mashup tells the story of Edward Oscar Heinrich, who earned the moniker of "the American Sherlock" from his reputation for solving thousand of crimes in the first half of the last century. Based on primary sources, Dawson describes Heinrich's inventions, attention to detail, and "uncanny knack for finding clues." First lines:

His upper jawbone was massive—a long, curved bone with nine tiny holes meant to hold his teeth. The remainder of his skeleton was blackened by a fairly large fire ignited by an anonymous killer. Lifting up the jawbone, I examined the small blades of grass that adhered to its exterior—organic evidence from his hillside grave in El Cerrito in Northern California.

Audiobook: Read by the author (Penguin Audio; 10 hr, 43 min)

Our Feathered Friends

The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 11): Who knew that the illegal practice of stealing birds' eggs was a thing? This is the true story of Jeffrey Lendrum, who devoted his life to smuggling falcons and falcon eggs from all over the world to sell to the rich, especially in the Mideast. It's also the story of Andy McWilliam from the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, who was determined to put an end to Lendrum's career. First lines:

The man had been in there far too long, John Struczynski thought. Twenty minutes had elapsed since he had entered the shower facility in the Emirates Lounge for business and first class passengers at Birmingham International Airport, in the West Midlands region of England, 113 miles north of London. Now Struczynski stood in the corridor outside the shower room, a stack of fresh towels in the cart beside him, a mop, a pail, and a pair of caution wet floor signs at his feet. The janitor was impatient to clean the place.

Audiobook: Read by Matthew Lloyd Davies (Simon & Schuster Audio, 8 hr, 23 min)

White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows by Bernd Heinrich (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Feb. 18): Written by a naturalist, this book starts with a simple question: Why do the  tree swallows in the author's yard line their nests exclusively with white feathers, even though they're not abundant near his New England home? This led to years of observations and non-intrusive experiments into tree swallow nesting behavior. The book contains photos and drawings and looks perfect for those of us who are curious about birds, animal behavior, and nature. First lines:

There is arguably no bird in the world that combines graceful flight, beauty of feathers, pleasing song, and accessibility, plus tameness and abundance, more than the tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). And just by putting up a nest-box made in minutes from some scrap board and placed on a pole, I had a pair nesting by my door. In early May 2008, I happened to peek into the nest-box and saw five snow-white eggs in a bed of long white feathers. I had peeked into nest-boxes before and seen nest linings of various commonly available materials, but never anything like this. It was no fluke—such white feathers are rare, and it had cost the swallows deliberate effort to search for and acquire them.

Audiobook: Ready by Rick Adamson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 7 hr, 10 min)

*All books (digital, print, and/or audio) provided by the publishers. Descriptive quotes taken from the publisher's summaries; descriptions derived from the publishers, skimming the books, and reading reviews. Some first lines taken from advanced reader copies.

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Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: A Major Reset

Hello, friends. Now that I'm attempting to engage in real life again, I'm ready to start talking books. I've missed you, and I've missed reading.

January was the slowest reading month I've had in a very long time. I managed to finish only two audiobooks and start another (I'm almost done with it). I have a stack of print books and a list of ebooks from late December through to the end of January that I never got to.

I still have to sort through the book mail from the last few weeks (see below) and to organize the digital ARCs I have for this month's releases. I'll get to both during this coming week. I'm sure February will be another slow reading month, because I still have a lot of odds and ends to take care of and several long weekends of travel ahead.

What I Listened To

Here's what I listened to in January. The theme of "retellings" was totally unplanned and coincidental. All books were provided by the publisher.

• Meg & Jo by Virginia Kantra (Penguin Audio; 13 hr, 46 min) is read by Shannon McManus and Karissa Vacker. I really enjoyed this retelling of the classic Little Women from the perspectives of the two older March sisters. Set in modern times and given a light tone, the story captures the essence of the original while adding new elements. McManus and Vacker did a great job conveying Meg and Jo's personalities and kept me engaged throughout. You don't have to have read Alcott's book to enjoy this one, but I think a lot of fun was seeing how Kantra worked familiar scenes into her retelling.
• The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greeley (HarperAudio; 6 hr, 17 min) is read by Susie Riddell. This audiobook is a spin off of Pride & Prejudice, following the fate of Elizabeth's friend Charlotte Lucas after she marries Mr. Collins and gains Lady Catherine de Bourgh as her patroness. Again, you don't have to be familiar with Austen's original to enjoy the story, but knowing the circumstances of Charlotte's marriage and her relationship with the Bennets will likely help you connect more strongly to the story. Riddell's expressive delivery brings the story alive.
• Wife after Wife by Olivia Hayfield (Penguin Audio; 14 hr, 57 min) is read by Steve West. This audiobook takes the story of Henry VIII and brings it into the 20th and 21 centuries. Henry Rose is a rich, handsome businessman who can't seem to hold onto his wives. Hayfield updated the names of the wives (for example, Kate and Anna are the first two) and nicely captured the scope of their lives and personalities. She even worked in details such as Henry's bad leg and his daughter Elizabeth's strong will. West's good pacing and distinct characterizations add to the enjoyment.

Book Mail

Here's the first stack. The Light in Hidden Places is a World War II story based on true events. Unreconciled is the fourth book in the Donovan series, set on a harsh planet (I love these books!). Ravenmaster is the paperback edition of a memoir of the man in charge of tending the ravens of the Tower of London. One Minute Out is a CIA thriller that's been getting a lot of buzz. The Love Story of Missy Carmichael is a contemporary story about friendship, self-acceptance, and community. Mazes of Power is the first in a new "sociological science fiction" series. The Infernal Battalion is the newest entry in the Shadow Campaigns series, epic fantasy with great characters and fast action. Dressed for a Dance in the Snow is one of my most anticipated books: true stories of women who had been imprisoned in the Russian gulag. The Sweet Indifference of the World is by one of my favorite authors in translation; this one is about memory, identity, and relationships. The Decent Inn of Death is the newest entry in the John Madden mystery series, set in England after World War II.

Here's the second stack: The Deadly Omens is the final entry in the Uncommoners trilogy, a middle grade fantasy / alternate history story that's won lots of praise. Fairy Unicorn Wishes is book 3 in Sophie Kinsella's Fairy Mom and Me series geared to young middle grade readers. Survival Instincts is a thriller set in a remote cabin in New Hampshire. The Unspoken Name is a debut epic fantasy that has garnered multiple starred reviews for its world building and tight plotting. Tombstone is the true story of how the Earp brothers and their friends found themselves at the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral. The Mother-in-Law is the paperback edition of a deadly kind of family story. Pretty as a Picture is crime fiction / mystery set in the world of the film industry. The Light after the War is based on the true story of what happened to two Jewish women in the decades after they together survived the Holocaust. A Silent Death is a new thriller from Peter May; this one is set in Spain but features a Glaswegian investigator. No True Believer is an #ownvoices story about a Muslim American teen who is framed for a crime she didn't commit. Beside Myself is a family saga spanning several generations and set in multiple countries, including the Soviet Union, Turkey, and Germany.

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Weekend Cooking: Simple Dishes for Winter Evenings

Let me just say that 2020 isn't starting quite the way I had been planning. Yet despite the sadness of my mother's death, there were also moments of incredible generosity from friends and family . . . often in the form of meals. We ate like royalty the week after my mother died: Lebanese food, deli, Italian, pizza, Mexican and more. We were also blessed with delicious cookies, cakes, and chocolates.

As much as I was incredibly moved by people's kindness, I was happy to spend this past week at home. We ate fairly simple foods and mostly vegetarian. Our bodies and our souls welcomed salads and fruits and quiet moments to regroup and get used to the new reality.

Here's what I cooked this past week:

• Apple Walnut, Cranberry & Brown Rice Salad (click for recipe)
• Sweet potato curry and quinoa
• Pasta with spinach pesto
• Grilled salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts
• Sheet pan pork with carrots and broccoli

All the dishes were easy to make and just what we were craving.

Over the last five weeks, I didn't spend any time reading blogs, and I deleted most of my non-essential email. I did, however, take time to read some of the food-related newsletters I subscribe to. Here are five recipes I pinned to my cooking Pinterest board.

• We love beans, and I usually make some kind of bean or legume dish every single week. Although my go-to is chili-spiced beans and rice, I'm always looking for fresh ideas. This Spanish Beans with Tomatoes dish from the Veggie Desserts blog looks very comforting. Note that this dish is vegan and gluten free.
• I absolutely love chili verde, which is bean-free and usually made with pork. This Chicken Chili Verde from one of my favorite online food sites, What's Gaby Cooking, looks so good and warming--and easy to make too. Perfect for a deary February evening.
• Mr. BFR grew up in the Philadelphia area, where there's a large Italian community. I credit his hometown for giving him his love for all things pasta. I found this Gnocchi with Spinach and Chicken Sausage on the Taste of Home website. One of the commenters subbed kale for the spinach, and I might do that too. I'm sure any kind of sausage (even a vegetarian version) would work well with this recipe.
• You already know that I love Eating Well magazine, so it's no surprise that at least one of their recipes would show up on my list. Their Caribbean Bowls feature pork, Jamaican jerk seasoning, citrus, and black beans. I think I'm going to have to put this on my dinner plan next week.
• Finally, I found another bean dish to try; this one from the New York Times. Creamy Braised White Beans look like the ultimate comfort food. All I'll have to do is bake a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the sauce, and we'll have a simple, satisfying vegetarian dinner. One of the reviewers noted that the recipe was success with almond milk instead of cow's milk, so it'd be good for vegans too.

I'm looking forward to finally being able to read all your Weekend Cooking posts. I owe a huge thank you to everyone for your patience and your very kind words during this difficult time. Friends (and family) can get you through everything. Thank you, again.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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Today's Read: Greenwood by Michael Christie

Imagine that you are living in the not very distant future after climate change has come at us with full force. What would you do to calm the public and to give hope? For Jacinda (Jake) Greenwood the choices are complicated, especially when she begins to to unravel the history of her family, secrets and all.

The book begins in 2038 with this prologue:

The Greenwood Arboreal Cathedral

They come for the trees.

To smell their needles. To caress their bark. To be regenerated in the humbling loom of their shadows. To stand mutely in their leafy churches and pray to their thousand-year-old souls.

From the world's dust-choked cities they venture to this exclusive arboreal resort—a remote forested island off the Pacific Rim of British Columbia—to be transformed, renewed, and reconnected. To be reminded that the Earth's once-thundering green heart has not flat-lined, that the soul of all living things has not come to dust and that it isn't too late and that all is not lost. They come here to the Greenwood Arboreal Cathedral to ingest this outrageous lie, and it's Jake Greenwood's job as Forest Guide to spoon-feed it to them.

—Greenwood by Michael Christie (Hogarth, Feb. 25, p. 3, ARC)

Quick Facts

• Setting: Canada, mostly British Columbia
• Circumstances: This family saga takes us from 1908 to 2038, introducing us to a range of characters from environmental protestors to maple syrup producers, carpenters, and dendrologists. Although generations of Greenwoods love the forests, not everyone makes choices that will ultimately protect them. This book promises to offer the best of family stories: long-buried secrets, generational strife, and self-destruction. The story is told from the future to the past and then back up through time, until we're reunited with Jake, now understanding how she came to be a tour guide for eco-tourists.
• Genre & themes: family saga, literary fiction, some dystopian elements
• Gleaned from reviews: This is a don't-miss, well-constructed story to get lost in.
• Thoughts so far: I opened the book thinking I'd read a few pages to get the flavor of the writing and found myself 30+ pages in before I looked up.
• Acknowledgments: Thanks to the publisher for the review copy of Michael Christie's Greenwood.

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Weekend Cooking: Eat for the Planet by Nil Zacharias and Gene Stone

One of the big surprises of the last few months is that two of my new favorite cookbooks from the #AbramsDinnerParty contain recipes for a plant-based diet. Eat for the Planet by Nil Zacharias and Gene Stone was released in January and is bursting with satisfying recipes, even for us omnivores.

Among the recipes I tried are a couple of pasta dishes--one with artichokes and one with spinach--an appetizer, an enchilada bake, a curry, and the soup I'm sharing below. Every recipe was really good and I would happily make it again.

Eat for the Planet contains several recipes that rely on soy-based meat substitutes. I'm not a fan of the fake meats, so I made one recipe with (don't tell!) real sausage. It was delicious.

I served the mushroom soup included here to my family when we were gathered to mourn my mother. It was warming and comforting and was enjoyed by the vegans, vegetarians, and meat-lovers alike. (The photo is my own.)

Mushroom, Bean, and Barley Soup
Serves 4 to 6

• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon concentrated vegetable base
• 8 ounce (225 g) white mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup (150 g) pearled barley
• 1 (15-ounce / 430-g) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1-1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup (30 g) raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour or overnight, soaking water reserved

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, celery, 1/4 cup (60 ml) water, and the vegetable base. Saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and saute until browned, about 4 minutes, pouring in more water as needed so the vegetables do not stick.

Add the barley and stir well, pouring in more water as needed. Add the beans, thyme, dill, bay leaf, and salt and pepper.

Pour in 7 cups (1.7 L) water, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered for about 30 minutes.

In a blender, puree the cashews with their soaking water until creamy and add to the soup. Continue to simmer until the barley is tender, about 25 minutes. Serve hot. Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
_______

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