Kevin and I took off for a wonderful 4 day weekend up in Bellingham to take care of Adam and Erin's dog and cat, and we had such a great time! A much needed break from our life and work, and some awesome snow time to boot! I picked up a copy of Muriel Barberry's second novel before taking off, remembering I read the first one on a similar trip to Bellingham!
This novel is very unique, in that there isn't really a driving plot so much, other than the main character, who is a renowned food critic, has learned he is dying from heart failure and has but 2 days to live. He, being a gourmand, has a flavor that is haunting his memory, and takes us on a journey through his life to discover what this taste is before he is gone. Interspersed throughout are vignettes of sorts from various people in his life; from his children who view him as a tyrant who never loved them; to his wife who never loved her children as much a she loved her husband and yearned for anytime with him; to the statue of Venus in his study and his cat and dog. Each one with a slice of their view of him, not many of which are particularly nice views!
While it was difficult to wrap my head around at times as the style of writing doesn't immediately tell the reader who is narrating, the prose is singularly beautiful. There are passages about tomatoes that I had to read out loud, several times, to different people because I couldn't get enough of how gorgeously Barberry captures the essence of eating a garden tomato. Another passage reflects on the critic's summers with his grandparents, and eating grilled sardines and never getting enough of them, or trips with his mother to Morocco where the highlight was always the bread the family shared after a day of playing in the sunshine. Each of the memories brings him a step closer to the mysterious flavor.
Admittedly, I was surprised greatly by the final chapter where he reveals his desire. I won't spoil it, but it really wasn't what I was expecting, and was a slight disappointment. However, it was a gorgeous book and I highly recommend it, especially foodies!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Broccoli Curry Udon
Mmmmmm, now that was a goooooooooood dinner! I have been slightly obsessed with udon noodles of late, and was excited to find this recipe, and that broccoli was on sale at Central Market! I did something I try not to do too often, which was to adapt the recipe the first time I made it, but I knew what I wanted tonight.
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I adapted this from a recipe on Post Punk Kitchen. Mostly I just added more veggies and a lot more noodles since we wanted to eat this for a couple of days. It makes 4-6 servings.
Broccoli Curry Udon:
32 oz fresh udon noodles
Olive or canola oil for sauteeing
1 pound broccoli florettes (6 cups)
Medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
4-6 mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
Big pinch red pepper flakes
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth mixed with 3 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk
Bring 6 quarts water to boil in a large pot, add noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes, drained and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil, add broccoli and a little water, cover, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Remove lid, add bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms, and cook until veggies are tender but still crisp, about 3 more minutes. Remove to a large bowl.
In the same skillet, add garlic and ginger to a small amount of oil, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes, then the broth and cornstarch mixture, curry powder, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and stir until the sauce has thickened a little. Add coconut milk and heat through.
Add the noodles back into the sauce, and stir until coated and the noodles are heated back through, then add the veggies back and stir until well combined. Serve in large pasta bowls, top with sesame seeds and sambal.
Note, in the future I will make more sauce for this amount of noodles, but it was rather tasty as is! I just like a lot of sauce! Yum yum!
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Broccoli Curry Udon:
32 oz fresh udon noodles
Olive or canola oil for sauteeing
1 pound broccoli florettes (6 cups)
Medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
4-6 mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
Big pinch red pepper flakes
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth mixed with 3 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk
Bring 6 quarts water to boil in a large pot, add noodles and cook for 3-4 minutes, drained and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil, add broccoli and a little water, cover, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Remove lid, add bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms, and cook until veggies are tender but still crisp, about 3 more minutes. Remove to a large bowl.
In the same skillet, add garlic and ginger to a small amount of oil, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes, then the broth and cornstarch mixture, curry powder, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and stir until the sauce has thickened a little. Add coconut milk and heat through.
Add the noodles back into the sauce, and stir until coated and the noodles are heated back through, then add the veggies back and stir until well combined. Serve in large pasta bowls, top with sesame seeds and sambal.
Note, in the future I will make more sauce for this amount of noodles, but it was rather tasty as is! I just like a lot of sauce! Yum yum!
Book Review: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
This novel had been recommended to me a number of times by various friends, and I nabbed it at the library a couple weeks ago. I hadn't had a lot of interest in it, as I erroneously assumed a lot about the plot without ever reading the synopsis. My friend Sarah gave me the scoop at Book Group a couple weeks ago that I would love this book, and I pretty much never doubt a suggestion from her!
The story is about a young woman in Ireland in 1951 who moves to Brooklyn, a move that is orchestrated entirely by her older sister Rose, a woman who knows exactly what she wanted out of life, and tries to make those things happen for Eilis. She moves into a boarding house with several other young Irish women, works at a clothing shop, and eventually meets a young Italian man named Tony who falls deeply in love with her. She is living a successful life, and blossoming into a certain, sure-minded woman. But when a tragedy at home forces her back to Ireland, she is faced with a desperate longing to stay in Ireland with the familiar, and that knowledge that she has an obligation to Tony to return.
Despite all the growth she seems to make throughout the novel, I was struck by the fact that she never really makes a decision about her life on her own. Others seem to arrange just about everything for her, while she silently internalizes how she would like to do things differently. While I loved the style of Toibin's writing, a very plain narrative with little in the way of dialogue, I was ultimately dissatisfied with Eilis's journey. I never felt terribly attached to her, perhaps owing to the fact that she doesn't really ever open herself up. It's certainly not that I didn't like the novel, because in fact I couldn't put it down, but that I wanted more for Eilis. I think it almost read like a very long short story, where it felt like it could end at any moment and I wouldn't have felt any differently. I am the first to admit my disliking of short stories, and so this certainly influences how I read the book. I am torn! I wanted to love this book as my friends seemed to, but I can't say that I did.
What I did really love was thinking about how I would have loved to have read this book when I was in college. I wrote my senior thesis on Irish diaspora, and this book is just ripe with it! Finding your way as an Irish person in a different country, then the return to Ireland as someone who is now Americanized and other, oh my I would have delved into this novel so deeply!
I definitely would recommend this book to anyone, it was a sweet story, and I really loved the writing and look forward to reading more by Toibin. It is not gritty and deep, but rather a nice journey with Eilis as she comes of age and discovers herself, and is a great look into at least a slice of Irish life in the 1950's.
The story is about a young woman in Ireland in 1951 who moves to Brooklyn, a move that is orchestrated entirely by her older sister Rose, a woman who knows exactly what she wanted out of life, and tries to make those things happen for Eilis. She moves into a boarding house with several other young Irish women, works at a clothing shop, and eventually meets a young Italian man named Tony who falls deeply in love with her. She is living a successful life, and blossoming into a certain, sure-minded woman. But when a tragedy at home forces her back to Ireland, she is faced with a desperate longing to stay in Ireland with the familiar, and that knowledge that she has an obligation to Tony to return.
Despite all the growth she seems to make throughout the novel, I was struck by the fact that she never really makes a decision about her life on her own. Others seem to arrange just about everything for her, while she silently internalizes how she would like to do things differently. While I loved the style of Toibin's writing, a very plain narrative with little in the way of dialogue, I was ultimately dissatisfied with Eilis's journey. I never felt terribly attached to her, perhaps owing to the fact that she doesn't really ever open herself up. It's certainly not that I didn't like the novel, because in fact I couldn't put it down, but that I wanted more for Eilis. I think it almost read like a very long short story, where it felt like it could end at any moment and I wouldn't have felt any differently. I am the first to admit my disliking of short stories, and so this certainly influences how I read the book. I am torn! I wanted to love this book as my friends seemed to, but I can't say that I did.
What I did really love was thinking about how I would have loved to have read this book when I was in college. I wrote my senior thesis on Irish diaspora, and this book is just ripe with it! Finding your way as an Irish person in a different country, then the return to Ireland as someone who is now Americanized and other, oh my I would have delved into this novel so deeply!
I definitely would recommend this book to anyone, it was a sweet story, and I really loved the writing and look forward to reading more by Toibin. It is not gritty and deep, but rather a nice journey with Eilis as she comes of age and discovers herself, and is a great look into at least a slice of Irish life in the 1950's.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
More Running!
I think one of the things that will keep me motivated to keep up on running and exercising is to post about my achievements. It feels good to say I went for a 3 mile run, or that I ran for a longer time than I had the week before. I've found my friends and coworkers see these updates, and they ask me about how the running is going, and it keeps me accountable to my goals. Hopefully it doesn't annoy anyone, but it is definitely helping me stay focused.
Yesterday was an absolutely stunning day, the weather warmed up to the low 60's, the sun was shining, and I had the whole day ahead of me to do whatever I wanted. With Kevin studying for the Professional Engineering exam in April, I've found getting out of the house is a good way for me to now bug him! So I figured I would push myself and see how long I could jog without taking a break. Earlier this week I used an iPhone app to track my normal route's distance, and found that I was going almost 3 miles, at about 10 minutes a mile. I am really glad I checked, as I thought I had been going a bit farther than that, and it also gives me a good baseline to track my progress from.
So I got going at a nice easy pace, and did my normal route in about 3 minutes less than I did on Thursday. I was pretty excited about that, since I was still a little sore from my last jog! I wasn't that worn out, so I decided to do my route in reverse, and see how far I could go. I managed to keep jogging for another 15 minutes, so my total jog time was 45 minutes! I think that is the longest I have jogged without stopping since I was in high school! I was really proud of myself for pushing through to a new distance, it's so easy to do the normal route and not really push. Then I did another 45 minute walk around the neighborhood from there, since the sun was shining I didn't want to go back right away.
Last night we went to friend's house for a Reuben sandwich party! Adam, the host, has been craving them and decided he might as well throw a party, because who doesn't love a Reuben? Well, Kevin and I came to the conclusion that neither of us had ever actually had one before, and turns out, they are stupendously good! I definitely took advantage of the fact that I'd run 4.5 miles that day to stuff my face silly with them! It got me thinking about what other kinds of funny parties we could have, since I am terrible about ever actually throwing parties! So in addition to running, I hereby declare 2012 to be the year of gatherings at our house!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Book Review: Paper Towns by John Greene
Sweet, I finished 4 books in January! Off to a good start, and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them so far. Paper Towns is a young adult novel that has been on my list for quite some time, and came highly recommended by a number of coworkers. As luck would have it, I found a copy hanging out at my library last week, and I nabbed it up along with about 5 other books I am excited to dive into!
This is a great coming of age novel about a senior high school boy who has always had a thing for his mysterious next door neighbor, who happens to rule the school. Quentin, or "Q" as his friends call him, is a fringe player on the high school stage, he has friends but isn't popular, and is smart and quiet and ready to go to college and grow up. Margo, meanwhile, is the most popular girl in school, with a propensity for disappearing for days at a time, leaving "clues" to her whereabout that her parents never were able to interpret.
One night, Margo shows up at Q's window, demanding that he come with her on a night of adventure and intrigue. Though hesitant, Q can't resist the idea of a whole night with Margo, and ultimately has one of the best nights of his life.
Margo promptly disappears. What follows is the story of Q and his friends trying to track her down by a series of clues she has left in her wake, and what happens when you stop thinking about someone for the way the project themselves to be, and really step in their shoes. Q has to stop putting Margo on a pedestal to find her, and has to challenge how he interacts with all the people in his life.
It is a good read, though I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more several years ago when I was closer in age to the characters. I really liked how Greene lets his characters face very real problems and situations with candidness and realism, rather than anything terribly over the top and fraught. It is very true to life.
This is a great coming of age novel about a senior high school boy who has always had a thing for his mysterious next door neighbor, who happens to rule the school. Quentin, or "Q" as his friends call him, is a fringe player on the high school stage, he has friends but isn't popular, and is smart and quiet and ready to go to college and grow up. Margo, meanwhile, is the most popular girl in school, with a propensity for disappearing for days at a time, leaving "clues" to her whereabout that her parents never were able to interpret.
One night, Margo shows up at Q's window, demanding that he come with her on a night of adventure and intrigue. Though hesitant, Q can't resist the idea of a whole night with Margo, and ultimately has one of the best nights of his life.
Margo promptly disappears. What follows is the story of Q and his friends trying to track her down by a series of clues she has left in her wake, and what happens when you stop thinking about someone for the way the project themselves to be, and really step in their shoes. Q has to stop putting Margo on a pedestal to find her, and has to challenge how he interacts with all the people in his life.
It is a good read, though I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more several years ago when I was closer in age to the characters. I really liked how Greene lets his characters face very real problems and situations with candidness and realism, rather than anything terribly over the top and fraught. It is very true to life.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A good reason to run
I'm glad I did, and ran for 30 solid minutes today and then walked another 30. On Tuesday, I am registering for my first 10k, taking place in August. I am really excited and glad to have something tangible I am going to be training for aside from overall health and well-being.
A girlfriend and I are going to be holding each other accountable as well. We went shopping together on Friday, and decided that we really wanted to get these great pencil skirts together, but not until we fit into the next size down. It's another good goal, and I really really want this skirt!
As I finished up my jogging and started walking, I passed by this big tree in the park near our house, and was glad that I'd decided to take a longer route today. It looked so cool with the clouds behind it, I had to stop and hipstamatic it!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
My first book group title review! Every month, a few of my girlfriends and I get together to chat about a book we all read, taking turns bringing selections each month. We've been meeting for nearly 2 years, and it has been one of the best ways of expanding my reading horizons. We all have pretty different tastes, so it's fun to try out a book that I wouldn't normally pick up.
Henrietta Lacks is a perfect example, a science book that I have looked at a lot but never really felt pulled toward it. I don't read much nonfiction, and particularly science titles since I often don't understand what the subject is about! However, the author Rebecca Skloot does a marvelous job of marrying the topic of cells and gene and human tissues as property with the story of the Lacks family. Henrietta Lacks was a Baltimore African American woman in the 1950's; mother of 5, generous, beautiful, and vivacious, who in her early 30's is stricken with a heinously aggressive form of cervical cancer. Her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells, without consent, and makes the world-altering discovery that her cells can grow outside of the body, something that hadn't been done before. The discovery leads to all kinds of advances in science in medicine, including a key role in the polio vaccine, and a multibillion dollar industry of cell production for research. Her family, meanwhile, has no idea of the role her cells, called Hela cells, have played, and struggle to even pay basic doctors fees for the myriad health issues that plague them. This is the story of how Skloot manages to gain the family's trust to tell the story of their mother after years of people either keeping them in the dark, or trying to take advantage of them.
Skloot manages to make the science portions of the book completely riveting and accessible, and the narrative of the Lacks family into one in which you have to root for them. You want everything to turn out well, they are such characters! Her children are all very interesting, each with their own struggles dealing with the whole situation that grew out the death of their mother when they were quite young. I highly recommend this book, and it will certainly make you question where your rights to your body tissues lie. It is a quick read despite its length. My whole book group really enjoyed reading this, it was nice to get together and discuss what feelings it brought up for each of us.
Henrietta Lacks is a perfect example, a science book that I have looked at a lot but never really felt pulled toward it. I don't read much nonfiction, and particularly science titles since I often don't understand what the subject is about! However, the author Rebecca Skloot does a marvelous job of marrying the topic of cells and gene and human tissues as property with the story of the Lacks family. Henrietta Lacks was a Baltimore African American woman in the 1950's; mother of 5, generous, beautiful, and vivacious, who in her early 30's is stricken with a heinously aggressive form of cervical cancer. Her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells, without consent, and makes the world-altering discovery that her cells can grow outside of the body, something that hadn't been done before. The discovery leads to all kinds of advances in science in medicine, including a key role in the polio vaccine, and a multibillion dollar industry of cell production for research. Her family, meanwhile, has no idea of the role her cells, called Hela cells, have played, and struggle to even pay basic doctors fees for the myriad health issues that plague them. This is the story of how Skloot manages to gain the family's trust to tell the story of their mother after years of people either keeping them in the dark, or trying to take advantage of them.
Skloot manages to make the science portions of the book completely riveting and accessible, and the narrative of the Lacks family into one in which you have to root for them. You want everything to turn out well, they are such characters! Her children are all very interesting, each with their own struggles dealing with the whole situation that grew out the death of their mother when they were quite young. I highly recommend this book, and it will certainly make you question where your rights to your body tissues lie. It is a quick read despite its length. My whole book group really enjoyed reading this, it was nice to get together and discuss what feelings it brought up for each of us.
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