Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Since when did young adult fiction get so intense? I don't remember books being this consuming when I was a teenager (wow, writing that just made me feel so old). It took just one page, and I found myself wrapped up in all the emotions and angst of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver.

Set in Minnesota, Shiver is about a teenage girl named Grace and "her" wolves. Of course, she has one wolf in particular, and he happens to be a werewolf named Sam. As their love unfolds, so does the uncertainty of his future--neither of them knows when Sam will change back into a wolf, forever.

The only thing I can think of at this point is, "Sigh."

I sigh because Ms. Stiefvater has successfully captured all the swirling, topsy-turvy, stomach-knotting feelings of first love. I wonder what the next installment will be like.

Yes, this is a trilogy. The second book, Linger, comes out in July.

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Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
When I read, I want to be transported to another world. Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge took me to the real world.

The book was just too "real-life" for me, but it certainly is a well-written book. Comprised of a collection of short stories, the reader gets to know Olive as her life intersects with the lives of other people in the town of Crosby in Maine. I almost with Ms. Strout elaborated further on the other characters in the story, as their lives were quite interesting as well.

All-in-all, this was a good read, but just too depressing for my taste. I don't even know how many times my heart ached for Olive, her family, friends and acquaintances. So, it turns out that Olive Kitteridge did take me to another world; it was just her "real" world.

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Blueberry Mint Lemonade

My non-alcoholic drink of choice is usually an Arnold Palmer, but about a month ago I had my first blueberry mint lemonade. It was an incredibly refreshing drink to have on a warm day.

Last night I finally remembered to look for a recipe online, and I found one on The Cooking Photographer blog. I blame my memory lapse on the cooler-than-usual-temperatures for May and June. It took the warm humidity of this weekend for me to remember that I needed to figure out how to make a blueberry mint lemonade at home.

The Cooking Photographer's recipe is delicious, and she also points out that this makes a tasty mojito.

Blueberry Mint Lemonade
by The Cooking Photographer

Simple syrup (recipe follows)
1 1/2 C fresh lemon juice (or lime)*
1 lemon sliced (or lime)
1/2 C frozen blueberries
20 small or 10 large mint leaves
5 1/2 to 6 1/2 C water to taste

Combine all ingredients together in a pitcher and stir. Chill until ready to serve.

Simple Syrup
1 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 C water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Boil until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside.

*I didn't have enough lemons for the lemon juice, so I added two limes.

Legendary

One of my favorite moments during a UCLA basketball game is when the camera pans over to a corner of Pauley Pavilion and finds Coach John Wooden, sitting and watching the Bruins. I am sad to say that the 2009-2010 season is the end of these favorite moments. At the age of 99, he passed away on Friday, June 4, 2010 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Coach Wooden would have celebrated his 100th birthday on October 14, 2010.

It is amazing to watch and read how all kinds of people remember Coach Wooden. In particular, I enjoyed William Nack's tribute on ESPN.



From the stories about Coach Wooden and his wife Nell to the importance Coach placed on character, to his favorite maxims, it is stunning to see how much positive influence John Wooden had in his 99 years. His legacy truly reaches beyond Westwood and basketball.

When it comes to men’s NCAA basketball, I don’t think there will ever be another coach like him. He won 10 championships, seven of them in a row. In winning seven consecutive championships, he won 38 consecutive tournament games and had four undefeated seasons. Between 1971 and 1974, Coach Wooden’s Bruins won 88 games in a row. I think these winning records in men's college basketball will stand in the years to come.

But Coach Wooden was concerned with more than winning basketball games. He valued character and education. He lived by a Seven Point Creed and developed the "Pyramid of Success"to be used as a teaching tool. His maxims are useful words for anyone to keep in mind as they go about their lives.

Here are my favorites:

Be quick, but don’t hurry.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.

It’s about what is correct, not who is correct.

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

I hope I will remember Coach Wooden’s creed as I live my life. They served him well, and I think it would be the best way to remember him.

Ribollita

This week it's all about soup, because I haven't been feeling all that great. The second soup of the week was Giada's Ribollita. Yum.

Seth also enjoyed it. So much that he suggested that I lose my Minestrone recipe and only make Ribollita. He actually didn't know about Ribollita, and neither did I, so I Googled. It turns out that it's a Tuscan soup traditionally made of leftovers and stale bread.

Ribollita is an easy soup to make, and the pancetta adds a flavor that's quite nice. If you like Minestrone, try this soup!

Ribollita
by Giada De Laurentiis

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus some for the bread
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped*
4 oz. pancetta, chopped
2 cloves garlic, 1 minced and 1 whole
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 T tomato pste
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1-pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1-15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
1 T Herbs de Provence
3 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 Parmesan rind
4 to 6 ciabatta rolls, halved lengthwise or 1 loaf, sliced
Grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, pancetta, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is golden brown and the pancetta is crisp, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir until dissolved. Add tomatoes and stir, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the spinach, beans, herbs, stock, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Drizzle the ciabatta halves with olive oil. Toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the top of the toasts with the whole garlic clove. Place the toasts in the serving bowls and ladle the soup over the toasts.* Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve immediately.

*Carrots: I used two, instead of one.

*Toasts: I neglected to toast the ciabatta and use it at the bottom of the soup bowl. Even without the toast, we very much enjoyed the soup, but next time we will be trying this with toast or some stale bread.

Soupe et salade

I know I said I needed to take a break from la cuisine française, but I just had to try Julia's Soupe á l'Alil aux Pommes de Terre, or saffron-flavored garlic soup with potatoes.

The recipe for Aїgo Bouїdo was the first recipe that caught my eye in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and it sounded simple enough; until I got to the part when Julia says "Beat the egg yolks in the soup tureen for a minute...Drop by drop, beat in the olive oil as for making a mayonnaise." No, it was not the word "mayonnaise" that deterred me, it was the instruction to "drop by drop beat in the olive oil."

Luckily, one of the beautiful things about this cookbook is that Mrs. Child provides a "basic" recipe, and then some variations. A variation of Aїgo Bouїdo is Soupe á l'Alil aux Pommes de Terre. Garlic soup is supposed to "be very good for the liver, blood circulation, general physical tone and spiritual health."

The soup is different, and is a nice change from the tomato-based soups I normally make. To go with the soup, I made a Baby Spinach Salad from the Food Network.

Overall, dinner was quite nice. It wasn't a heavy meal, but it was tasty. I forgot to say that the garlic soup, is not garlicky, and you can't really tell that it is the recipe's main ingredient.

Soupe á l'Ail aux Pommes de Terre
by Julia Child

INGREDIENTS
1 separated head or about 16 cloves of garlic (whole, unpeeled)
2 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
2 cloves*
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 bay leaf
4 parsley sprigs*
3 T olive oil
3 cups diced potatoes
Pinch of saffron

DIRECTIONS
Drop garlic cloves in boiling water, and boil 30 seconds. Drain, run cold water over them, and peel.

Place the garlic and the salt, pepper, cloves, sage, thyme, bay leaf, parsley and olive oil in 2 quarts of water. Boil slowly for 30 minutes.

After the soup has simmered for 30 minutes, strain it. Press the juice out of the garlic.* Return the strained soup to the pot. Simmer the potatoes in the soup with the saffron for about 20 minutes or until tender. Add seasoning to taste.

*The recipe calls for 2 cloves, but I only had ground cloves, so I used 1/8 tsp of the ground cloves.
*I can't seem to figure out if "parsley" means regular parsley or Italian parsley. I settled on regular parsley.
*Before I actually made the soup, I wasn't sure what to do with the garlic cloves once I "pressed the juice" out. It turns out that there isn't much left after you press the garlic in the strainer. Some of it falls back into the soup.




Baby Spinach Salad with Roasted Red Onions, Pecans, Dried Cranberries, Crumbled Goat Cheese, and Citrus Dressing
from The Food Network

INGREDIENTS
1 medium red onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Citrus Dressing, recipe follows
8 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped*
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/2 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the onion into thin wedges, through the root end. Toss with the olive oil, season with salt, to taste, and spread out on a baking sheet. Roast until just soft and brown, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Put the spinach and onions in a large bowl. Drizzle with some of the dressing and toss. Add more dressing as needed; spinach should just be lightly coated. Divide salad among 4 chilled plates. Top with pecans, goat cheese, and dried cranberries. Serve immediately.

CITRUS DRESSING
1 tsp lemon zest
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T freshly squeezed orange juice
1 T Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp fine salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, orange juice, Dijon, honey, thyme, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Gradually whisk in the oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream, to make a smooth, slightly thick dressing.*

*I made a mistake with the dressing and added everything to the olive oil, rather than the other way around. It turned out just fine. Seth actually liked the salad; which is saying something since he always chooses to get Caesar Salad at restaurants.

Please Hold the Mayo

Some people love their mayonnaise. I tolerate it.

While I recognize the necessity for mayo in certain recipes, I tend to avoid it. There's just something about the smell and look of mayo that is completely unappetizing for me. I will eat potato salad, and I will overlook the use of mayo in spinach artichoke dip, but I steer clear of tuna sandwiches and secret sauce on hamburgers.

Sometimes, it's impossible to dodge this necessary evil. Last night I made Real Simple's Artichoke and Spinach Relish. Up until I added the mayonnaise, it sounded like addition to crackers. As I stirred the mayo in, I found myself suddenly disgusted by the relish. Then I started to panic a little and wondered if it would taste good. I knew I just couldn't make myself taste it, so I read the comments online, and they seemed positive, so I decided to bring the relish to the party I attended earlier today.

My cousin Mr. T. was the guinea pig, and he liked it. So, I bit the bullet and had a taste. Surprisingly, it was tasty. I'm not sure that I would make this again, but it's good and easy enough to make.

Artichoke and Spinach Relish
by Real Simple

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup walnuts
1 13.75-ounce can artichoke hearts, rinsed and chopped
1 cup baby spinach, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (about 1 ounce)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 t kosher salt
1/8 t black pepper
crackers and cut-up vegetables, for serving

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 400º F.

Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool, then roughly chop.*

In a small bowl, combine the artichoke hearts, spinach, Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon juice, walnuts, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Serve with the crackers and vegetables.

*I used pre-chopped walnuts, so I toasted mine on the stove-top.