Hello, Paleo!

Hello, Paleo!
There's a misconception that Paleo is just meat.  Now, I love meat, and as anyone that has seen my comedic show Chinese Girls Don't Show -- my family came to America for the meat.

When a chef friend and I agreed to go Paleo for an entire month, we wanted to see what would happen to our bodies, our health, our energy levels if we cut out processed foods.  Thirty days may sould like nothing in the long run, but in the short run, it caused friction and stress with family and friends.  Every month has moments to cherish and celebrate which means there was no escape from comments like these at the dinner table:  

What do you mean you're not taking a bite?  I made this.  Homemade.  I spent hours.

No rice?  Stick a needle in your ancestor's eye.

No happy hour either?  You make me not happy.

I joke that I may have lost more friends than weight that month.  So when Pete Evans, host of FineCookingTv.com's Moveable Feast, penned Paleo Chef, I was excited to see his approach to a healthy, flavorful life.

The photographs are stunning, and most of the recipes are easy to follow, easy to make.  Many people fear eating healthier takes a lot more time, this book debunks that myth.   Evan's flavor profiles are global -- from Vietnamese chicken wings, jerk chicken, shrimp laska -- so you can taste the world one Paleo dish at a time.


"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

I teach success!

Raves from students!

I love teaching and love it when students rave about me to me, my boss, their friends.   

"She's an incredibly effective tutor, guiding + motivating and at the same time critical in the fairest, gentlest, most constructive manner possible."

Another student said, I should stop saying I teach creative writing.

She says my answer should be, "I teach success."

Well, there you have it.  I teach success!

This present is from another talented student.  

In Her Kitchen

IN HER KITCHEN
Stories and recipes frm Grandmas Around the World
by Gabriele Galimberti

Food is our culture, our history, our family.   This is a great gift for anyone who loves to eat, to travel and learn.

Shelley Harwayne prepares cholent, a traditional Jewish stew that cooks overnight and can be served hot on the Sabbath because you can leave the stove on overnight.  Maria Luz Fedric makes a Honduran Iguana with rice and beans.   Regina Lifumbo makes caterpillars in tomato sauce.  Roasted spiced chicken, wild Tuscan boar stew, twice cooked pork, chicken tagine, swiss chard and ricotta ravioli with meat sauce -- you can travel the around the world with the dishes you'd never make, dishes you'd love to sample, dishes that take hours of love.  This book is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and evoke warm and fuzzy feelings as these celebrate women, our roots and the room everybody loves the best, the kitchen.

The photographs are stunning.  Each grandmother is photographed with the ingredients comprising her dish, and the finished dish is also beautifully photographed.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review

Livestrong, Readstrong 2015!

Writers tend to be avid readers. 
And I'd like to think the best writers read the most.

Instead of trying to remember all the books I read, or half-read in 2014, I thought I'd start a running list of books read at the beginning of this year and then keep adding as I read more.  Not going to include cookbooks here.

My former high school English teacher (now retired) often sends me books he thinks I'd enjoy.  He often explains why he thought I'd love a certain book on a Post-It notes.  I treasure his thoughtful Post-It notes, sometimes more than the novel itself.

Since he is retired and reads nearly full-time, I cannot read nearly as much as he does.  Now and then I find a book he hasn't read and is interested in reading.  For example, last year, he thanked me for introducing him to authors Don Lee, Ben Fountain, Jumpha Lahiri, Ruth Ozeki.  These moments are rare, but ones I enjoy fully.  Helping someone discover a new voice is a thrilling moment.

Always kick off the year strong.  Livestrong, Readstrong!

1 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

2 AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED by Khaled Hosseini

3 DEPARTMENT OF SPECULATION by Jenny Offill

4 DISGRACED by Ayad Akhtar

5 DISOBEDIENCE by Naomi Alderman

6 ENGLISH TEACHER by Lily King

7 EUPHORIA by Lily King

8 FAMILY LIFE by Akhil Sharma

9 FATES & FURIES by Lauren Groff

10 FINDING JAKE by Bryan Reardon

11 FOURTH OF JULY CREEK by Smith Henderson

12 GIRL ON THE TRAIN By Paula Hawkins

13 HEADING OUT TO WONDERFUL By Robert Goolrick

14 JULIA MORGAN By Sara Holmes Boutelle

15 JULIA MORGAN By Ginger Wadsworth

16 LIAR'S GOSPEL by Naomi Alderman

17 THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo

18 MARION DAVIES, a biography by Fred Lawrence Guiles

19 MEDIUM RAW, Anthony Bourdain

20 THE MOUNTAINTOP, a play by Katori Hall

21 OUTCASTS UNITED by Warren St. John

22 OUT ON THE WIRE by Jessica Abel

23 PLEASING HOUR by Lily King

24 POWER OF HABIT by Charles Duhigg

25 ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion

26 S IS FOR SILENCE by Sue Grafton

27 STARTER FOR TEN by David Nicholls

28 TIMES WE HAD by Marion Davies

29 US by David Nicholls

30 W IS FOR WASTED by Sue Grafton

31 WRIGHT BROTHERS by David McCullough
   

Moosewood Cookbook

Moosewood Cookbook

Feels Like Home

I have the Sundays at Moosewood Cafe cookbook, so I was looking foward to my copy of the 40th Anniversary edition of the Moosewood Cookbook Collective.  Soon as you open the cover, the handwriting invites you in.  You feel like you're reading a dear friend's or dear relative's secret stash of delicious recipes.

The dishes are not exactly high-end gourmet, the kind of dishes you'd find at French Laundry, Bistro LQ, Melisse -- but they are the foods we eat and can enjoy everyday.  Foods like guacamole, ginger carrot soup, pesto.  This cookbook is great for anyone new to cooking, especially healthy cooking.  I like the updates to lower fat and calorie content.  There are no drop-dead gorgeous photographs, no food porn here.   Homey reminder you it's about the food and sometimes the simpler, the better.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."