Weekend Cooking: Sheet Pan Suppers by Molly Gilbert

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We've already had one review of Molly Gilbert's Sheet Pan Suppers on Weekend Cooking and I bet we'll see even more as time goes on. That's because this is a great little cookbook with many ideas for busy people who like to cook but don't necessarily like all the fuss or cleanup.

The first thing you have to know about Sheet Pan Suppers is that the book also includes snacks and brunch and even dessert, so you'll put your sheet pan (rimmed baking sheet) to good use throughout the day. All you need is a good-quality pan (though a discount store brand works too) and some parchment or cooking spray.

Even before I started studying the recipes, I found a lot to like about this cookbook. The colorful boxes containing all kinds of useful tips caught my eye right away. Gilbert gives us information about ingredients (what exactly is Maldon salt?), provides helpful cooking tips (how to bake the best biscuits), and offers variations on a theme (focaccia flavors). I really love the "DYI or Buy" boxes, which help you decide whether it's worth it to make your own, say, blue cheese dressing.

But the heart of any cookbook is, of course, the recipes, and you'll be happy to know pretty much all of the dishes are accessible to the everyday home cook. The bulk of the work is in preparing the ingredients for the oven. Sometimes that means simply chopping and seasoning; other times that means mixing a sauce or forming patties or burgers. A few recipes, like an appetizer tart, require some fancier footwork in the slicing department, but there is nothing out-of-bounds difficult.

One of the best compliments I can give a general cookbook is to praise the range of flavors it incorporates. Sheet Pan Suppers helps us open our kitchens to global tastes, with Mideast falafels, Southwest enchiladas, All-American chicken, Asian-spiced pork, and Italian-inspired fish. There are meat dishes and vegetarian dishes and healthful fruit desserts as well as sinful indulgences.

A few notes: (1) Although there are plenty of options for busy weeknights in Sheet Pan Suppers, I think it has a kind of lazy weekend feel to it. (2) I'm glad that not all the recipes involve roasting: Some dishes cook under a broiler, and others are baked covered or in parchment pockets. (3) The scan (at the right) is of the Greek Stuffed Roly-Poly Squash (all rights remain with Gilbert), which is on my list to try.

One of the dinners I made was Philly Chicken Sausage & Peppers with Basil-Garlic Bread, although I substituted spicy Italian (pork) sausages. This was a quick meal to put together and perfect for a weeknight. We both loved it, and I know we'll have it again.

If you're looking for easy yet nutritious and flavorful dinners, snacks, and desserts pick up Molly Gilbert's Sheet Pan Suppers. You're sure to discover some new go-to dishes that will fit your busy schedule. And what could be less stressful for a casual company dinner than to pull out a baking pan of colorful deliciousness?

Instead of sharing a recipe, I've included the following short video in which Gilbert makes a simple salmon dish from her book.

Published by Workman, 2015
ISBN-13: 9780761178422
Source: Review (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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Review: Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum

Prepare yourself. You're going to be hearing quite a bit of buzz about Jill Alexander Essbaum's Hausfrau, and everything good you hear will be true. This complex, disturbing tale of a thirty-something ex-pat will get under your skin. There are so many layers and ways to think about the novel that it begs to be discussed and savored.

Anna Benz has lived in Zürich for nine years with her Swiss husband, Bruno, and their three children. Although Anna shops, takes the kids to school, and explores the city, she has found it difficult to connect with Switzerland, her in-laws, and the other ex-pats she meets.

Finally fed up with Anna's loneliness and unhappiness, Bruno insists she see a therapist ("Go fix yourself," he tells her), and on her therapist's advice, Anna begins taking German lessons. As far as most people know, this is exactly how Anna spends her time: seeing the Frau Doktor and attending her language classes.

What Anna really does is another thing altogether. She has multiple secret lives, hiding parts of herself from her children, her husband, her therapist, her few acquaintances, her lover, her teacher. And as the many sides of Anna start to clash and then peel apart, she finds herself at an unexpected crossroad.

Although I know Hausfrau would be fantastic in print, I can't say enough wonderful things about the unabridged audiobook, read by Mozhan Marnò, whose performance is virtually flawless. I was impressed with how smoothly she switched among the accents and inflections needed for the cosmopolitan cast of characters. Marnò's challenge, however, went beyond rendering, say, a Scottish accent; she also had to capture different levels of butchered English spoken by the native Swiss and then render all those voices consistently throughout the audiobook.

One of the most brilliant and intriguing aspects of Hausfrau is the way Essbaum used Anna's therapy sessions and language lessons as signposts for Anna's life. Here too, Marnò's narration shone. Subtle pauses give the listener the space to absorb what the author intends: What does the good Doktor mean when she explains the difference between want and need? How do those irregular German verbs describe Anna's behavior?

But more than anything listeners will remember, as I wrote for AudioFile magazine, Marnò's ability to manifest the fog of Anna's depression and then sweep it away cleanly during her moments of hope and resolve. The emotional depth of Marnò's performance matches the complexity of Anna's conflicting needs, connecting listeners solidly with her pain and confusion.

The combination of Mozhan Marnò's sensitive performance and Jill Alexander Essbaum's unforgettable story of a woman's struggle to understand herself and her place in the world make Hausfrau one of the year's best audiobooks.

For a sample of the audiobook, hit the play button below (note: not for family listening).

Print: Random House, March 17, 2015
ISBN-13: 9780812997538
Audio: Random House Audio; 9 hr, 43 min
Source: Review (audio) (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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Wordless Wednesday 331

Flower Study, 2015

Click image to enlarge. For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

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Today's Read & Giveaway: The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene

I'm doing a little something different this week by featuring a book that I loved and reviewed last year. The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene has just come out in paperback, and I'm celebrating by sharing the opening sentences and by holding a giveaway.

He arrives at the park by walking down Central Park West and then entering through the opening at West Seventy-seventh Street. This is in the winter. It is early morning, and the sun is a little more than an orangey haze behind heavy clouds in the east. Light snow flurries fill the air. There are not many people out, a few runners and women bundled against the cold pushing strollers.

He walks down the asphalt drive and when he reaches a path with a smal wooden footbridge he stops for a moment, and it is there somewhere, a snatch of memory, but he cannot reach it.

—The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christoper Greene (Picador, 2015, p. 3 [paperpack])

Quick Facts

• Snapshot blurb: A beautifully written look into a man's soul and how he copes with an increasingly cold marriage, a life-changing event, and the almost inevitable loss of the small, safe world he's hidden in.
• Review: See my bullet review from last year.
• Extra: You must watch this incredibly moving video from the author (warning: grab some tissues)

Giveaway

Thanks to Picador, I'm happy to be able to spread the word about The Headmaster's Wife by offering two of my readers with a U.S. or Canada mailing address a copy of the newly released paperback. All you have to do to be entered for a chance to win is to fill out the form. I'll pick a name using a random number generator on March 11. Once the winners have been confirmed, I'll erase all personal information from my computer. Good luck!

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Review: Super Team (Fables 16) by Bill Willingham

If you're into comics then you probably already know that the long-running Fables series is coming to end this summer. There is a collected volume coming out sometime this spring and then the last one will be published in June (I think).

I'm determined to be caught up with the series before the last volume hits the bookstores, so you can expect several Fables reviews in the coming weeks.

As always with long series, there is no way not to spoil the earlier plot lines, but I won't give away anything in this volume: Fables: Super Team, Volume 16.

Short take: Oh how I loved this installment. Super Team reminded me of just how funny Willingham can be.

The main story line of volume 16 is Pinocchio's hair-brained scheme to hand-select a group of Fables characters and redefine them as superheros (to be known as the F-Men, although women are included). He's even come up with caped costumes and a series of identifying symbols. In the scan at the right (from near the beginning of the book), Ozma has just tried on her costume for the first time, and Pinocchio is telling her how the superhero universe works.

Of course, the ultimate plan for Pinocchio and all the Fables characters is to find a way to defeat Mr. Dark once and for all. Some of the action in this book takes us to Dark's new headquarters in Darkland, where he's developed an interesting relationship with Mrs. Sprat. Meanwhile, sideline stories focus on Beauty and the Beast; Bufkin and the Magic Mirror; and Snow, Bigby, and their family.

Super Team has everything you want out of a Fables issue: jokes, action, plot twists, and a satisfying end with a hint of what we can expect in the next volume. An added bonus is that the bulk of the book was drawn by (or at least under the direction of) Mark Buckingham. He may be my favorite of the various Fables artists because I so easily relate to his interpretations of the characters.

Super Team ends with a short story titled "Waking Beauty," which is illustrated by Terry Moore. The artistic style of the story is a departure from the main book, but is very appealing. Some of the panels (like the one shown at the left) have incredible details. Willingham didn't forget the humor here either -- check out the sign with instructions for the princes who hope to rouse Beauty from her sleep.

Before moving on to volume 17, I'll be taking a detour by reading Werewolves in the Heartland, which is a Bigby-centric story. I thank Kelly from The Written World for writing what I consider the definitive guide to reading the Fables books and the spin-offs. Check out her "So You Want to Read Fables" post.

Note on the images: All rights remain with the original copyright holder. Click the images to see them full size.

Published by DC Comics / Vertigo, 2011
ISBN-13: 9781401233068
Source: Bought (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)

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