Birthday Swiss Roll

It was one of my co-worker's birthday and for some reason when I was trying to decide what to make to bring him I decided on a Swiss Roll.  Usually I wouldn't bring something to share with people that I haven't tested before hand but I took the risk this time.  Even though the only other time I tried to make a roll it did not go well.  Spoiler Alert! This time I had much better luck.

I found the recipe on The Kitchenthusiast.  You can find it here.  It is a KitchenAid blog so there is some product placement in the recipe but I'm sure you don't actually have to use a KitchenAid mixer to make this.

You need a jelly roll pan, some parchment paper and a cooling rack.

None of the various pieces are hard to make. It did not seem like I had enough cake batter to spread over the entire pan but I spread it thin and managed it.  The edges were not as thick as the middle and I had to cook it longer than the recipe said so the edges got a little crunchy but I was still able to roll it up without much problem.  But then you have to wait.





You can make the filling while it cools but I was done with the filling before the cake was cool enough to frost.  You add some heavy cream right at the end and beat it a lot.  I did have to add a little extra powered sugar because it was too soupy.  But once I did it turned into a light and fluffy delicious filling.  I wanted to eat it by the spoonful. When I rolled it back up after putting in the filling the edges were not exactly lined up and since the edges were thinner it didn't look that neat on the ends.  Next time I think I will trim the edges just to make it look a little nicer.  But I was just happy that I got it rolled up without it cracking up on me.

When I made the chocolate glaze it seemed way to runny so I put it in the fridge for a while before I tried to put it on the cake.  It was a messy process.  There was chocolate dripping everywhere.  I only ended up putting about half of the glaze on the cake because by that point it was all dripping off and it seemed to have a nice coating anyway.  Then back in the fridge to set everything up.

The finished product was seriously good.  The recipe says to use dark chocolate for the glaze, so I did, even though I'm not really a fan of dark chocolate.  And I'm glad I did.  The filling is really sweet and if I had used a sweeter chocolate I think it would have been too much.

I was a little disappointed because it did not come out round.  As you can see it was oval.  The cake could not support its own weight and ended up slouching.  I don't know why.  I wonder if I did something wrong.  But I didn't worry about it for long.  Because it didn't affect the taste.  Which was awesome.  Just the right balance of everything.  Nice moist fluffy cake and creamy filling.  All the guys at worked loved it.  And I already have a request to make this for another birthday.  This one is a keeper.  It is a little time consuming but it is worth it.

Weekend Cooking is sponsored by Beth Fish Reads.  See the other posts here.

Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Jan. 20)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.

Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader. All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it. Check out the other posts here.





My book this week is The Omen by David Seltzer.  When a man is told that his child has died moments after his birth he agrees to take a motherless infant in his place.  Unfortunately this foundling child turns out to be the Antichrist.  

Book Beginnings:

It happened in a millisecond.  A movement in the galaxies that should have taken eons occurred in the blinking of an eye.

Friday 56:

He was afraid.  For Katherine, for Damien, and for himself; yet he didn't know why.  There was uncertainty in the air, a feeling that life was suddenly fragile.

This is an unusual pick for me.  I don't think I would have ever picked it up if I hadn't joined a reading challenge to read books published the year I was born.  But I like it more than I thought I would.  Seltzer does a good job of keeping the tension high.  It reads quickly and it is easy to get caught up in the turmoil of the characters.  

Grillfish Review

When I told my friends I was going to Washington D.C. one of them suggested GrillFish.  And it turned out not to be far from my hotel so it worked out really well.  It was a cute place but I don’t know that I would have noticed it if I hadn’t been looking for it.  Inside is open and bright.  I was glad to see it was well lit after all the dim and dark restaurants I’ve been in.  It was warm and inviting.
 

With the complimentary bread you get a thyme, rosemary and sage butter.  I usually want my butter to be just butter but I found I liked the fresh herb flavor here.  And there wasn’t so much rosemary that it overcame everything else.  I got a nice cocktail that was just sweet enough.  I can’t remember the name but I liked it enough to get another one later.  And it came with an ice cube with a cherry frozen inside.  

 Bubba, my waiter, suggested I get the fish chowder to start.  So I gave it a shot and I’m glad I did.  It was nice and creamy and had large chunks of fish and lots of them.  It was delicious and not too heavy so it was just enough to start off the meal and still have room to finish it.  For my entrée I got the arctic char which came with rice and I chose the coconut red curry sauce (which was another Bubba suggestion that I’m glad I took because that sauce was great.)  The fish was moist and flaky and the delicious curry sauce was a wonderful compliment to it.

For dessert I got the mango key lime pie.  I like both of those flavors but had never had them together before but would love to try them again.  It was tart and creamy and I just wanted to keep eating it even though I was full.

The service was good as well.  Bubba was friendly and gave me some very good suggestions without being pushy about anything.  He was there when I needed him but he did not hang around when I didn’t.  So my water glass was always full and I was never sitting too long with an empty plate but I didn’t feel like he was hovering.  Which I hate.

I was pleased with the whole experience.  I would go back if I am ever in D.C. again and suggest you go if you are in the area and in the mood for fish.

The Road of the Dead Review

The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks

(from the back of the book)

When Ruben’s sister Rachel is murdered, he can sense it.  Even though he’s miles away.  Even though he can’t explain it.  He feels her fear.  He feels pain.  And then – her death.

Ruben’s older brother Cole is different from him: darker, harsher, more direct.  As soon as he finds out about Rachel’s death, he has a plan.  Three days later, the two brothers set out to reclaim their sister’s body and uncover the cold truth behind her killing.  It’s a long road that requires a hard and violent journey…with a brutal mystery at its end.

Ruben and Cole go on a quest to find out what happened to their sister.  And it turns into a dark and violent journey.  The brothers set out to bring peace to the family by putting their sister to rest but the story is about much more than that.  There is an interesting relationship between the brothers that is intensified by the tension they are under and I like the way Ruben reacts to his brother, always backing him up even when he’s not sure he likes what he is doing.  There is love between them that has to remain unsaid but is evident in the way they are together.  The family’s whole past gets mixed into the events as they begin to unfold and Ruben has to face some unpleasant truths and figure out what to do about them.  There are parts of the mystery of the murder of their sister that become evident early on but the details and how everything will turn out remain unknown until the end.  There is a lot of violence that is graphic at times and is intense enough that it almost makes you uneasy reading it. Cole is written well so that you want to be on his side but at the same time you are scared of him and what he might do.   There is a tension and suspense to a lot of the story that keeps the reader engaged and eager to keep reading.  And I like that the subjects of justice, motives, revenge and closure are presented as muddled and confusing instead of black and white.  But Ruben’s ability to feel what other people are feeling, interesting at first, starts to go a little too far.  It ends up being a way that Ruben can keep the first person narrative going even when he isn’t where the action is.  And it changes the nature of the nature of his ability at random depending on what the author needs it to do at the moment.  And that makes everything harder to believe.  And maybe after everything it wraps up a little suddenly with a few little holes about what will happen next but the story is strong enough that it doesn’t really matter.  And I like the way the book handles the fields of justice, revenge, motives and closure.  

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Jan. 13)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.

Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader. All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it. Check out the other posts here.

My book this week is QB VII by Leon Uris.  Abraham Cady finds himself on trial for libel when his book about the Holocaust accuses Dr. Kelno for horrible acts during the war.

Book Beginnings:

The corporal cadet stepped out of the guard hut and squinted out over the field.  A shadowy figure ran through the knee-high grass toward him.

The Friday 56:

The little olive-skinned man looked up to the doctor with begging eyes.  How to explain that the chief's son would be a hopeless idiot?

I was uncertain if a 426 page book about a trial could hold my attention.  But this one did.  It starts off giving a glimpse into the life of first the plaintiff and then the defendant.  So the whole book does not take place in the courtroom.  But even after we get there it is a tense suspenseful story.  I'm almost done with it now but I'm still not sure how everything will work out.  But I am really interested to find out.

Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge

I'm joining the Wild Goose Chase reading challenge.  It's hosted by The Bookshelf Gargoyle.  The goal is to read one book from each of seven catagories.  To find out all the rules and to sign up yourself go to the Wild Goose Chase post.

The catagories are:

1. A book with a word of phrase relating to wildness in the title:
The Marshal and the Madwoman by Magdalen Nabb (review)

2. A book with a species of bird (or the word “bird”) in the title:
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (review)

3. A book with an exotic or far-flung location in the title

4. A book with an object you might hunt for in the title

5. A book with a synonym for chase in the title

6. A book with a means of transport in the title

7. A book with an object you might take on a search or hunt in the title:
A Guidebook to Learning by Mortimer J. Adler (review)

Birth Year Reading Challenge

I'm joining the Birth Year Reading Challenge.  It is hosted by Hotchpot Cafe.  The point is to find books published in the year you were born and read them.  Well, probably not all of them.  But there are prizes.  And the one who reads the most books will win the grand prize.  So you should get reading right away.  To find out the particulars and to sign up yourself visit the Birth Year Reading Challenge.  You can change your list at any time.  Which is good.  Since I already know that I'm not going to stick to this list.  And maybe even manage to read a few more than this. 

As of right now this is my list:

Original Plan:

Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut - DONE

The Deep by Peter Benchley - DONE

Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater - DONE

Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart

Promised Land by Robert Parker - DONE

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

They Came Before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima

The Boys From Brazil by Ira Levin

The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Emma Bombeck - DONE

Raise the Titanic by Clive Cussler - DONE

Roots by Alex Haley - DONE

Deus Irae by Philip Dick - DONE

What I actually read:

1. Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut (review)

2. Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie

3. Omen by David Seltzer (review)

4. In the Frame by Dick Francis

5. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (review)

6. Roots by Alex Haley (review)

7. Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick

8. Man Plus by Frederik Pohl

9. The Deep by Peter Benchley

10. The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett

11. The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck

12. Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler

13.Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater

14. Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman

15. My Name is Legion by Roger Zelazny

16. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor

17. The Lifeship by Harry Harrison and Gordon R. Dickson

18. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

19. Promised Land by Robert B. Parker

20. Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson

Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

I'm joining the 2017 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge.  It is hosted by Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book.  If you would like to join too you can check out the post here.  The challenge is to read a book that has a title that starts with each letter of the alphabet.  (Excluding a, an, and the.)  No reviews needed.  No blog needed.  You can either make a list in advance or just add them as you go along.  For more info or to join up yourself check out the 2017 Alphabet Reading Challenge!  

A. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen

B.
C.
D. Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick
E. Etta by Gerald Kolpan
F.
G. The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny
H. Holding My Breath by Sidura Ludwig
I. In The Frame by Dick Francis
J.
K.
L. The Lifeship by Harry Harrison and Gordon R. Dickson
M. The Marshal and the Madwoman by Magdalen Nabb (review)
N. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
O. Omen by David Seltzer (review)
P. Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
Q. QB VII by Leon Uris
R. Roots by Alex Haley (review)
S. Straight Man by Richard Russo
T. To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy
U. The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss
V. Vettius and His Friends by David Drake
W. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (review)
X. X-Wing: Isard's Revenge by Michael A. Stackpole
Y. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
Z. The Zork Chronicles by George Alec Effinger

Books Read in 2017

1. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen - 406
2. Straight Man by Richard Russo - 391
3. QB VII by Leon Uris - 426
4. Etta by Gerald Kolpan - 316
5. Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut - 274
6. Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie - 296
7. Omen by David Seltzer - 202
8. The Marshal and the Madwoman by Magdalen Nabb - 224
9. In the Frame by Dick Francis - 230
10. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm - 254
11. The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss - 179
12. The Zork Chronicles by George Alec Effinger - 290
13. Roots by Alex Haley - 587
14. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny - 175
15. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis - 252
16. X-Wing: Isard's Revenge bu Michael A. Stackpole - 336
17. Vettius and His Friends by David Drake - 304
18. The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny - 223
19. Deus Irae by Philip K. Dick - 182
20. The Children's Classic Poetry Collection by Nicola Baxter - 90
21. The Spy in the Ointment by Donald Westlake - 207
22. The Windfall by Diksha Basu - 292
23. The Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny - 192
24. The Last Man by Mary Shelley - 432
25. Man Plus by Frederik Pohl - 215
26. The Deep by Peter Benchley - 290
27. The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett - 159
28. The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck - 175
29. Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler - 373
30. To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy - 274
31. A Guidebook to Learning by Mortimer J. Adler - 163
32. The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson - 279

Island Creek Oyster Bar Review

I spend a lot of time browsing menus online.  And it is often the dessert menu that interests me the most.  As was the case when I was looking at the menu for Island Creek Oyster Bar.  An oyster bar is not something that I would normally be interested but I saw something called banoffee pie on the menu and was instantly interested.  It is a pie that is mostly dulce de leche and whipped cream with a few bananas thrown in.  I needed to try it.  And since they had a good looking selection of seafood that I was also interested in I decided to actually go this time instead of saying I was going to remember the restaurant for later and then not doing any thing of the sort.  Which is what I usually do when I browse menus.  And since I have a friend that loves seafood of all sorts I decided to invite him along.

It is an average size space but it is open and bright and that gives it a feeling of having lots of room.  We were seated in a booth right in the front window that was meant to seat three people so we had plenty of room and were very comfortable.  We decided to get a bottle of wine.  I can't really tell you if it was a good wine list but it was rather extensive and since my wine knowledge is minimal at best I let my friend and the waiter work out the selection between them.  The waiter was very patient and helpful as they found something that we would enjoy and could also afford.  We ended up with a half bottle of something, I never knew what, but it was white and I enjoyed it.  And when we had finished that our waiter brought us each a glass of another white wine on the house that I also enjoyed.  And not just because it was free.  I remembered this fondly when it came time to figure out the tip.

For appetizers we got the tuna tartare and some crispy oyster sliders.  The tuna was served with house made potato chips and the fish was fresh and tasted delightfully of sesame.  The oyster sliders were good as well.  I think this had a lot to do with the very buttery toasted bun that they came on.  We only got one each but I would have gladly eaten several more.

For our entrees he got the lobster roll which came with cole slaw and French fries (he had the choice between them and chips) and the roll was packed full.  I didn't taste anything on his plate but he seemed to enjoy it.  I got the skate wing with lentils.  I had never had skate before and really had no idea what to expect.  When the waiter told me it was really good I was glad to hear it but was only slightly relieved.  Because what else is he going to say?  But I was pleased when it arrived.  It is not flaky like a white fish but it has a similar taste.  It was moist and delicious.  And the portion was generous without being stupid big.  

And then of course it was time for dessert.  He got the chocolate tart.  Again he seemed pleased but I didn't try it.  (I should probably let you know that I have no faith in his opinion of food so I rarely ask him what he thought of anything.  I have found it to be a pointless exercise.)  And of course I got the banoffee pie.  I like whipped cream and dulce de leche so I found it delicious.  The bruled bananas on top were a nice touch too.  It was a nice big piece as well.  Probably bigger than I should have eaten since I'm trying to watch my calorie intake but I couldn't stop eating it.

It was a nice dinner all around and I would definitely suggest it to anyone who likes seafood.  After eating here I find myself in the same dilemma that I find myself in after eating in any restaurant I enjoy.  I want to go back.  But I also like to try new places.  And for budget reasons, both monetary and calorie, I can't go out to eat nearly as often as I would like.  So how do I decide?  Oddly this time I don't think my decision will have anything to do with dessert.  Because as I sit here writing this I find myself thinking about that buttery oyster slider.  And I can see myself going back to sit at the bar with a cocktail and about eight of them.  

Weekend Cooking is sponsored by Beth Fish Reads.  Be sure to check out the other posts here.

Five Horses Tavern Review

Five Horses Tavern

I was there on a Thursday at 5:30 with a group of nine. The place isn't very big, and it was kind of busy so I think that if we didn't have a reservation it would have been hard to get all of us seated. It is a cozy place but I did not feel crowded or cramped even with the large party. The service was great. Everyone was friendly and attentive. The food got mixed reviews. A few people ordered the ribs and shared some around, I didn't try them myself but, all six people who did said that they were too salty. No one was able to finish the whole plate of them. Most of the food was fine but nothing special. But there were a few exceptions. Everyone liked the haus pretzel. And the corn bread was a big hit. We were all talking about how good it was the next day. The phrase 'best corn bread I've ever had' was used more than once. I think the secret is butter. If you go, definitely get some. I don't think I would go back here for dinner but it would be a good place to go for drinks and appetizers with friends.

The Big, Bad Book of Beasts Review

The Big, Bad Book of Beasts by Michael Largo

Largo has created a modern day bestiary.  It is an encyclopedia of animals both real and legend.  It is full of fascinating, fun facts about animals of all kinds.

I have no idea how Largo picked the animals that he put in the book.  It runs from ants and bears to extinct animals like the dodo and the tyrannosaurus rex, there are myths and legends like the phoenix and trolls and cryptids like the chupacabra and the Jersey devil.  There is a little bit of everything.  There are animals I am familiar with and ones I have never heard of before.  I learned a lot of new things even about the animals I thought I knew well.  You get from a few paragraphs to a few pages about each animal.  There is information like life span and habitat and more specific information like how many times a woodpecker will bang his head against a tree in one day.  He explores were myths about animals (even real ones) started and what animal might have been misidentified to start rumors of nonexistent animals.  If you are doing some kind of research I don’t know how much this would help you.  But if you just like to learn about animals it is a great book to visit off and on and read an entry or two.

Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Nov. 11)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.

Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader. All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it. Check out the other posts here.

My book this week is The Double Game by Dan Fesperman.  A lover of spy novels all of a sudden finds himself in the middle of spy mystery straight out of the cold war.

Book Beginnings:

The Great Man himself was waiting for me on the phone.

The Friday 56:

The transaction is blessedly simple: Purchase one cup of coffee - pricey, but only if you intend to gulp it down and leave - and in exchange you may linger as long as you like.  Your waiter, dressed in a dinner jacket, won't even give you a dirty look, but he will attend to your every need without complaint.  Tip him generously and he probably won't even remember you were there to begin with, in case the authorities ask later.

Makes me want to go to Vienna.

I wasn't sure where this was going at first but it quickly got going.  Early on there are mysterious messages dropped in his mail slot and strangers approaching him on the street.  And then builds from what seems like a game onto something far more serious.  It is filled with interesting characters whose loyalty is unknown and lots of suspense.  It would probably be more fun to read if I knew more about spy novels as they are referenced a lot.  But it does make you want to follow the puzzle along with our hero to figure out what is going on.

Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Oct. 21)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.

Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader. All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it. Check out the other posts here.

My book this week is The Butcher Bird by S.D. Sykes.  Oswald is the new Lord of Somershill Manor and having trouble with his new position.  And then a baby is found dead in a thorn bush and the people are blaming a huge bird.  Oswald does not believe the bird exists and tries to find out who the real killer is.

Book Beginnings:

It was the tail end of the morning when the charges were laid before me and I would tell you I was tempted to laugh at first, for the story was nonsense.

Friday 56:

"I can't ride."  He then smiled.  A toothy and lopsided expression that was entirely disconcerting.  "My legs are too wide apart," he said, pointing at his groin.  "See. I can't grip the barrel of the beast.  I keep sliding off."

This is the second book in the series and I have not read the first one (Plague Land) so they keep talking about things that I don't know about.  I think it would help to understand the characters more if I had read the other book but the plot is not hard to follow.  I like it but I don't think I'll run out and get the first one.  By now I'm a little annoyed with Oswald.  They keep saying he is a great investigator but every time something suspicious happens he doesn't ask any questions about it.  

The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Oct. 14)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.




Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader. All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it. Check out the other posts here.

My book this week is The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.  One day, after over a century of use, a bridge breaks causing the death of five people.  Brother Juniper, who witnessed the incident, sets out to prove that there was divine design even in this by finding out all he can about the people who died on the bridge.

Book Beginnings:

On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below.

I think this is a pretty good first sentence.  Because now I want to know who they were and why he's telling me this.  And isn't that the point?  To get people to want to read on.  

Friday 56:

What relationship is it in which few words are exchanged, and those only about the details of food, clothing, and occupation; in which the two persons have a curious reluctance even to glance at one another; and in which there is a tacit arrangement not to appear together in the city and to go on the same errand by different streets?  And yet side by side with this there existed a need of one another so terrible that it produces miracles as naturally as the charged air of a sultry day produces lighting.

This passage also makes me curious.  I want to know all about these people he's talking about.  I'm liking this one so far.  Each part is about a different person that was on the bridge when it broke.  So it kind of has a short story feel to it but all the stories end the same way.

Consider the Fork Review

Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson

(from the book jacket)

Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious – or at least edible.  Tools shape what we eat, but they have also transformed food.  Technology in the kitchen does not just mean the Pacojets and sous-vide of the modernist kitchen.  It can also mean the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks.

In Consider the Fork, award winning food writer Bee Wilson provides a wonderful and witty tour of the evolution of cooking around the world, revealing the hidden history of everyday objects we often take for granted.  Knives – perhaps our most important gastronomic tool – predate the discovery of fire, whereas the fork endured centuries of ridicule before gaining widespread acceptance; pots and pans have been around for millennia, while plates are a relatively recent invention.  Many once-new technologies have become essential elements of any well-stocked kitchen – mortars and pestles, serrated knives, stainless steel pots, refrigerators.  Others have proved only passing fancies, or were supplanted by better technologies; one would be hard pressed now to find a water-powered egg whisk, a magnet-operated spit roaster, a cider owl, or a turnspit dog.  Although many tools have disappeared from the modern kitchen, they have left us with traditions, tastes, and even physical characteristics that we would never have possessed otherwise.

Blending history, science, and anthropology, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be, and how their influence has shaped modern food culture.  The story of how we have tamed fire and ice and wielded whisks, spoons, and graters, all for the sake of putting food in our mouths, Consider the Fork is truly a book to savor.

I like to read books about food, cooking and culinary science but this one is different from the others I’ve read.  This one focuses on the tools used to cook and eat the food.  Each chapter deals with a different technology; knife, grind, measure, eat, etc.  It’s interesting to see how the way food is cooked and eaten changes the culture of a people, and in some cases the people themselves.  It talks about how location made a difference in how people cooked and ate.  It goes into how as the cooking methods changed so did the diet of the people using it.  It shows why some things have endured the test of time while others have been lost to history.  There is science, history and anthropology all here.  I like all those things, and when you add the food angle it pushes this book over the top for me.  So I really enjoyed reading this one.  Wilson has an easy writing style that makes it a quick, engaging read.  You learn a lot without it feeling like you are reading a text book because there is a good balance between explanation and story.  And that makes this good for everyone regardless of previous knowledge.  It is a very approachable book for anyone who ever wondered how the fork came about or when knives lost the sharp edge and became butter knives.  There are a lot of questions answered that I hadn’t even thought to ask.  And it is a new look at a lot of things we find in our kitchen that we take for granted.

Weekend Cooking is sponsored by Beth Fish Reads. Be sure to check out the other posts here.

Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Oct. 7th)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.

Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader. All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it. Check out the other posts here.

My book this week is Queen of the Dark Chamber by Christiana Tsai.  It is the autobiography of Christiana Tsai who grew up in China and suffered great persecution when she became a Christian.

Book Beginnings:

It was the twelfth day of the second month, and all over China, people were celebrating the Birthday of the Flowers, by tying red strips of cloth on the trees and bushes.

This sounds like a happy beginning.  Somehow I knew it wasn't going to be all Birthday of Flower celebrations though.

Friday 56:

Rumors spread that the god of the locomotive demanded human sacrifices.

I'm just getting to the part where she is having to choose between the easy life she has been living and the new inner peace she has found. 

Outrun the Dark Review

Outrun the Dark by Cecilia Bartholomew

Billyjean’s little brother was killed by a blow to the head with a wrench.  Everyone said Billyjean did it, so she was put into a mental institution when she was only eight.  Thirteen years later they let her go home.  But she still doesn’t remember doing it.

Billiejean, a little eight year old girl is caught standing over the body of her little brother holding the wrench that killed him.  She spends the next thirteen years of her life in a mental hospital.  For those thirteen years she is told that she killed her little brother, Bubber, and she will have to face the reality of that and admit it before she will be well enough to go home.  The only problem is she doesn’t remember doing it.  And when she finally gets to go home there are people who tell her they don’t believe that she did.  In truth the mystery here isn’t much of a mystery.  Not to the reader anyway.  You can guess what happened pretty early on.  The book becomes not about what happened to Bubber but what is going to happen to Billiejean now.  She is both still eight years old and a woman of twenty-one.  You see the world through Billiejean’s eyes as she tries to navigate through her new world.  She is confused and scared and does not know how to behave.  She tries desperately to do what is expected of her so people will think she is normal and well but at the same time she does not believe it herself.  You also get to see how the characters around Billiejean deal with her coming home, her father is desperate as he tries to explain himself, her mother is worried what everyone thinks but wants to do right by Billiejean, and the neighbors don’t know what is best for Billiejean or how to help.  It is a story about the emotional and psychological responses of the whole neighborhood to this one event that engulfed and changed so many lives so profoundly.  Even though you feel like you know what happened to Bubber, Billiejean is still not sure herself and her search and what the outcome and consequences of it will be leave you with lots of doubts.  You want to know if Billiejean can pull through this whole.  You want to know if anyone will be there for her at the end.  I think it failed to make Bubber the mystery it had intended but it is still a tense and emotional story about Billiejean’s struggle to find her life again.

Magic Meets Custard

Magic 3 Layer Custard Cake (From One Batter)

I browse recipes online all the time, following links from one place to another, starting out looking at a recipe for snickerdoodles and ending up printing out a recipe for trout.  So I have no idea how I came across this recipe.  I certainly wasn’t looking for a Magic 3Layer Custard Cake since I had no idea it existed.  But I ended up on Recipe Tin Eats looking at this.  And it looked really cool and like I could pass it off as a lot of work even if it isn’t.  Besides, custard of all sorts is awesome.  If you want to try it go here.

After the whites are 'folded' in

Like all custards it is mostly milk and eggs.  You have to separate the eggs and beat the whites.  You set them aside and mix the rest of the ingredients together.  Starting with beating the yolks with the sugar and ending with the lukewarm milk.  This has to be done at a low speed to avoid splashing because basically what you have by this time is a bowl of milk.  Then you have to fold in the egg whites.  I have no idea how to fold egg whites into a liquid.  I did the best I could but ended up less folding it in than breaking up the clumps into smaller clumps.  So then I had a bowl of milk with egg whites floating on top.  It said not to worry if there were lumps of egg white so I decided to just go with it and see what happened.

it does not look yummy yet

much better after it's baked

In the pan and then in the oven it went.  About 50 minutes later out it came.  I let it cool.  I had a little more trouble getting it out of the pan than the recipe led me to believe that I would.  But it did come out and stayed in one piece and held its shape.  The consistency reminded me of a Jell-O Jiggler.  When it was cut you could clearly see the three layers.  The top, which had most of the egg whites, was airy.  The middle layer was like custard in a custard pie.  The bottom layer was tougher than the others, slightly chewy, and gave the impression of a crust even though there isn’t one. 

It was delicious.  It was very much like a custard pie but I didn’t have to mess with a pie crust (which is not my strong suit) so I was happy about that.  It’s easy to make (especially after making it once and knowing what to expect.)  And it can sit in the fridge for a couple of days and you don’t have to worry about the crust getting soggy.  It was a hit with my family.  And the three layers makes it look cool too.  I think I’ll be making this again.

Weekend Cooking is sponsored by Beth Fish Reads.  Be sure to check out the other posts here.

Friday 56 and Book Beginnings (Sept. 30)

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post in the Linky here. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It's that simple.

Book Beginning is hosted by Rose City Reader.  All you have to do is share the opening line of the book you're reading and what you think about it.  Check out the other posts here.

My book this week is The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.  It is about a man who leaves his family to paint and the toll his obsession takes on him and those around him.

Beginning:

I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary.

It sounds like no one did.  Maybe that's why he up and left.

Friday 56:

It was tantalizing to get no more than hints into a character that interested me so much.  It was like making one's way through a mutilated manuscript.  I received the impression of a life which was a bitter struggle against every sort of difficulty; but I realized that much which would have seemed horrible to most people did not in the least affect him.

I haven't actually gotten this far in the book yet but this does make me wonder what sort of horrible things he's talking about.  I've never read anything by Maugham before and this one hasn't really grabbed me yet.  I will stick with it and hope that this little snippet is a sign of good things to come.

Do Some Good

At Greater Good you can help out with just a click of the mouse.  Just click on the button on the top of the page to give to the cause mentioned there.  (As I write this it is trying to raise money to build a school for children in Senegal.)  Then make sure to click on the tabs for the other causes as well.  They will each have their own button for you to push.

If you want to give even more there are plenty of ways you can donate money directly or you can just shop.  Choose the site for the cause you would like to help and shop to your heart's content.  A portion of the money you spend will go to help out the cause you have chosen.

And if you need a new pair of shoes or a new coat make sure to check out the get one, give one section.  With your purchase of one of the selected items they will donate one to someone in need.

Soon I Will Be Invincible Review

Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

(from the book jacket)

Doctor Impossible – evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator – languishes in a federal detention facility.  He’s lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress.

Over the years he’s tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind-control.  He’s traveled backward in time to change history, forward in time to escape it.  He’s commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies.  Fungus army.  Army of fish.  Of rodents.  Alien invasions.  All failures.  But not this time.  This time it’s going to be different…

Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world’s most famous superteam.  She’s a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare.  Filling the void left by a slain former member, Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, having to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.

Superheroes and supervillians.  I think this is very much a niche book.  If you aren’t already into the comic book thing than this is not for you.  The chapters switch back and forth between Doctor Impossible, the supervillian, and Fatale, the new member of the world’s greatest superhero team.  I like the change in perspective because it gives the story a well-rounded feel.  You get to see the story from both sides.  Unfortunately a lot of the characters are just not personable and failed to engender either my sympathy or concern and sometimes they couldn't even get my interest.  Especially the superheroes.  So I found myself more interested in the chapters about Doctor Impossible and looking forward to them while I was reading the others.  So instead of understanding both sides and having that wonderful conflict where you want both sides to win I was completely on Doctor Impossible’s side.  I did like that this is not an origin story.  The characters all have a long past and are established in the world that Grossman has created.  You get a sense of that history but the story is about what their lives are like after years of dealing with and living in the fight.  It’s a little uneven and some of the characters are annoying at times but it’s fun and exciting with world domination, super powers, epic battles, complicated gizmos and all that great comic book stuff.

D.C. eats - Birch and Barley

I went on a trip to Washington D.C. recently and Birch and Barley was just down the street from my hotel. For some reason it caught my eye and I decided to go there for dinner one night. I think this place might be too hip, or trendy (?) for me. I don't know the right word. But it is lots of wood and brick and glass globe oil lamps on the walls and clear plastic chairs. And it is very dark. Not just dim, but it's hard to see what I'm eating dark. But maybe I just felt a little uncomfortable because I got there right when they opened and there was no one else there. Which was a surprise to me. Because when I went to Open Table to make a reservation and tried to get a table at 6:00 I was told that I could only get a table at 5:30 as nothing else was available. So I expected it to be, if not full, at least busy. And I don't like really crowded restaurants. But I don't like to be the only one in a place either. I guess there is just no pleasing me. Other people did start to come in a little later which did make me feel less self-conscience. 

I was seated and handed quite a few menus. They have a huge beer list. I like beer but I don't know all that much about it to be honest. So I was happy to see that they had the beer broken out by taste (fruity, hops, malty) to give me some place to start.  The complimentary bread included a pretzel bread that came with a mustard spread. It was good (if you like pretzels) and I thought it was a nice touch to go with the beer heavy menu.

My waiter explained all the menus for me and recommended the nettle garganelli (which I figured out was some sort of pasta which I had never heard of) which came in two sizes so it could be either an appetizer or an entree. I would have never ordered anything with nettle in the name on my own. It just sounds like something I wouldn't want to put in my mouth. But I did end up getting it as an appetizer. It was good. The corn was a nice fresh sweet taste that helped temper the onion so it didn't overpower the dish and the pasta was cooked al dente so it still had a good bite to it which I enjoyed. The only problem is I'm still not sure what nettle taste like. With all the flavors in the dish I didn't know which was the nettle. So I don't know if I like nettle but the dish was still good so it can’t be too bad.

For my entrée I got the pork ribs with gochujang and green apple-daikon slaw. They were pretty good. Fall off the bone tender. The gochujang had a nice spicy kick and the cool, creamy slaw was a nice counter point to that. I found the plate a little small so it was a little tricky pulling the meat off the bone without pushing things off onto the table. But I managed and enjoyed them.

For dessert I couldn’t pass up the funnel cake. It was good. I mean, it was sugary deep fried dough, how could it not be. But it wasn’t anything special and felt like something I could get at the fair. The staff was friendly enough and my waiter was happy to help me work through the beer menu. Altogether I was left with a neutral reaction to the experience. There was nothing that I was particularly disappointed about but there was also nothing that would pull me back.

Weekend Cooking is sponsered by Beth Fish Reads. Be sure to visit the other posts. You can find them on the Linky here.