Wordless Wednesday 103

Field Corn, Fall 2010

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Today's Read: Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesdays. Here's how it works: Grab your current read; let the book fall open to a random page; and share 2 “teaser” sentences from that page. For more teasers, click on through to MizB's blog.

Here's mine:

It was a hot, sticky August day, the kind where you'd break into a sweat merely by thinking about moving. The neighborhood dogs lay flat in patches of shade like dead things, and even the crows searching for scraps on the lawn seemed listless and out of sorts. Ruby thought the blank blue-gray sky itself must be perishing of thirst.

Mama called it sickness weather. (p. 19)

—From Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace (Touchstone, 2010)

Diamond Ruby at an Indie

Diamond Ruby at Powell's

Diamond Ruby at Book Depository
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Thankfully Reading Weekend: 2010

Last year a few of us decided that the best way to spend Thanksgiving weekend was to sneak in as much reading time as possible. After all, meals are mostly leftovers, the television screen is displaying football, and the rest of the country is shopping.

The 2009 Thankfully Reading Weekend was so much fun, Jenn (of Jenn's Bookshelves), Jen of Devourer of Books, and I decided to host the event again.

So what is Thankfully Reading Weekend? First let me assure you that you don't need to be from the USA to set aside a weekend to read--so don't be shy join right in.

There are no rules to the weekend and no prizes (well, except one!); we're simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for 2010. We thought it'd be fun if we cheered each other on a bit.

If you think you can join in, head on over to Jenn's Bookshelves, grab the button, and sign on to Mr. Linky (available starting today). If you don't have a blog, use the comments!

The dates for reading heaven (aka Thankfully Reading Weekend) are Friday November 26 to Sunday November 28. On that Friday, stop by Jenn's Bookshelves where you'll find a Mr. Linky. Feel free to link as many posts as you'd like. On Sunday we'll will put up another Mr. Linky (at Jenn's) for your wrap-up post.

The idea is just to see what everyone is reading and to have fun talking about books. Read as much or as little as you want. Remember: There are no rules! You can participate in the weekend even if you have time to read only 50 pages.

One small change is that we're going to host one giveaway: It's a fun and easy meme and will be open worldwide. You'll have to come back here (Beth Fish Reads) on Friday (Nov. 26) for information.

We hope you'll start making plans to take an hour, a day, or three days to join in Thankfully Reading Weekend.

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Weekend Cooking: Review: Flour by Joanne Chang (and Bonus)

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

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Yesterday morning when I should have been doing many other things, I got the urge to bake. The first thing I did was get going on making soft wheat rolls to go with a pumpkin curry soup I was having for dinner. I'll share the bread recipe next week, if there's interest (the soup is being made by a friend), but here is my adventure in photos:

Since there is plenty of sitting around time when it comes to baking bread (waiting for the dough to rise), I thought I'd use my time wisely by baking a treat. I chose a recipe from the fabulous cookbook Flour by Joanne Chang. There are many reasons to want to live in the Boston area, but if the recipes in this restaurant cookbook are any small indication, I want to live in Boston so I can frequent the Flour Bakery + Cafe.

The recipes in this book are for some of the many of the goodies one can buy at the bakery run and owned by Chang. So often, cookbooks written by professional chefs fall flat when taken into a personal kitchen that is equipped with basic appliances and cookware. Not so with Flour.

As with any good cookbook, the first few chapters are all about techniques, equipment, and ingredients. But Chang also includes her 12 tips for successful baking. I love them, especially the last rule: "Have fun and relax." That is exactly what I do when I putter around the kitchen.

The chapters cover breakfast, cookies, cakes, pies, other sweets, and breads. The recipes use common ingredients and the directions are well written and non-intimidating. There are ample beautiful photographs throughout the book (though not every recipe has a photo). Recipes I want to try are Ginger Molasses Cookies; Lemon-Raspberry Cake; Country Ham, Cheddar, and Tomato Quiche; and Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding. Yummmm.

What I made yesterday morning were the following yummy rustic scones.

Oatmeal-Maple Scones
makes 8 rustic scones

• 1 1/4 cups (210 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups (125 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (50 g) pecan halves, toasted then chopped
• 1/2 cup (80 g) golden raisins
• 1/2 cup (1 stick 114 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8-10 pieces
• 1/2 cup (80 g) cold heavy cream
• 1/2 cup (160 g) maple syrup
• 1 cold egg
  

Glaze

• 1 cup (140 g) confectioner's sugar
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350F.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle (or handheld mixer), mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pecans, and raisins on low speed for 10 to 15 seconds, or until combined. Scatter the butter over the top and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until the butter is somewhat broken down and grape-size pieces are still visible.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cream, maple syrup, and egg. On low speed pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture and beat for 10-30 seconds, or just until the dough comes together. It will be fairly wet.

Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. With a rubber spatula, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure that all of the dry ingredients are mixed into the dough. Using a 1/3-cup dry-measuring cup, drop mounded scoops of the dough onto a baking sheet, forming 8 scones and spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

To make the glaze, mix the ingredients together, using enough of the water to make a smooth, pourable glaze. Pour over the cooled scones and serve.

Beth Fish's notes: I didn't have cream and used milk. They still tasted great. I made the glaze into more of an icing. Yummm.

Flour at an Indie

Flour at Powell's

Flour at Book Depository
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Published by Chronicle Books, October 2010
ISBN-13: 9780811869447
YTD: 99
Rating: B+
Source: Review (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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Featuring . . . The Truth about Delilah Blue by Trish Cohen

This Friday and every Friday for the next several months I'll be featuring a book in the Harper Perennial Imprint. Some were recently published, some will be released later this year, all are worth a closer look.

Today's novel, The Truth about Delilah Blue, is by veteran author Trish Cohen. The protagonist may be only twenty years old, but the issues she faces are more fundamental than those that concern the vast majority of her peers.

Here's how the publisher describes the novel:

Delilah Blue Lovett has always been a bit of an outsider, ever since her father moved her from Toronto to L.A. when she was eight, claiming Delilah's mother no longer wanted to be part of their family. Twenty now and broke, but determined to be an artist like her errant mom, Delilah attends art class for free—by modeling nude at the front of the room, a decision that lifts the veil from her once insular world. While she struggles to find her talent, her father, her only real companion, is beginning to exhibit telltale signs of early-onset Alzheimer's. And her mother, who Delilah always assumed had selfishly abandoned them, is about to reappear with a young daughter in tow . . . and a secret that will change everything. Delilah no longer knows which parent to trust—the only one she can really rely on is the most broken person of all: herself.

In a new novel as witty, sparkling, and poignant as her acclaimed Inside Out Girl, author Tish Cohen uncovers the humor and heart within the most dysfunctional of families.

It's no secret that I like books that make me think and that give me a new perspective on how I see the world. In this novel, Cohen takes the chaos that is common to dysfunctional families and lets us see the funny side while bringing out our compassion for a young girl who is caught in the middle.

The Truth about Delilah Blue was reviewed by a number of bloggers last summer. Here are three reviews that caught my attention (click on the links for the full reviews):

• Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves noted that Cohen writes "about strong, deep characters who must overcome some sort of battle. . . . I highly recommend reading The Truth about Delilah Blue. . . . It’s the perfect book club read.
• Jennifer of Crazy for Books said "Overall, this is a story about a fractured family attempting to come together again. . . . It's a wonderful character study and I enjoyed it immensely."
• ChefDruck at Chefdruck Musings thought that "The Truth about Delilah Blue is the perfect summer read with its intriguing plot and creative characters. . . . Cohen writes descriptively, really taking the reader into the moment using all the senses."

Oh, and I just had to share this fun book trailer for Delilah Blue. I don't think I'll be complaining about my so-called troubles after meeting Delilah.

Trish Cohen has a website where you can learn more about her and her work. Harper Perennial has a reading guide that can be used by book clubs or to help you gather your thoughts.

This book was featured as part of my Spotlight on the Harper Perennial imprint. For information about the imprint, please read Erica Barmash's welcome note posted here on June 18, 2010. I encourage you to add your reviews of Harper Perennial books to the review link-up page; it's a great way to discover Good Books for Cool People. See the alphabetized review index to see what others are saying. And don't miss the The Olive Reader, the Harper Perennial blog.

The Truth about Delilah Blue at an Indie

The Truth about Delilah Blue at Powell's

The Truth about Delilah Blue at Book Depository
These links lead to affiliate programs.

Published by HarperCollins / Harper Perennial, June 2010
ISBN-13: 9780061875977

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