Books and Food

Fried Spaghetti

Yesterday afternoon I finished  the book Dead Irish by John Lescroart.  It was not my favorite.  I read it because, I like mystery or suspense series with recurring characters and my friend Barb suggested this author and this series. She really likes the main character, Dismas Hardy.  I didn't dislike him, but the book didn't keep my interest all that much.  To be fair, tho, I will give the 2nd book in the series a try.  Maybe it's like someone you meet and you're not sure you really like them and then once you get to know them, they turn out to be your best friend.
So, yes, I'll give John Lescroart a 2nd try.  I'll let you know how that one goes---when I get to it.
And now I'm in the beginning of Jodi Picoult's "Sing You Home."   I know it's had mixed reviews, but I'm enjoying the beginning.  I love the idea of music therapy.  I love the line--Every life has a soundtrack--because I've always believed that.

So, you know what I'm reading, now what am I eating?

My cousin Linda makes a dish she calls Fried Spaghetti.  It is different from most friend spaghetti recipes I've seen tho.   She fries bacon and onions and peppers  to add to the spaghetti.  Kind of like a pasta primevera but with crispy fried bacon added.  And sometimes I add zucchini and mushrooms too.
It's really quite good. We like the bacon ---I mean a person can add bacon to anything and it's instantly better, right?
Bacon and eggs tho---they go together like Barbie and Ken.  Like Anthony and Cleopatra.  Like  Bonnie and Clyde.  (I could go on...... but I won't)

I have a Cooks Illustrated magazine from last fall (2010) called Italian Favorites and in it there is a recipe for  Spaghetti with Fried Eggs.

Are you following me?  I thought....why couldn't I combine the two and make Fried Spaghetti with Fried Eggs.
It made sense in my mind, so I tried it.
The Handyman liked it a lot.  I did too.   I think you should try it sometime to see if you do too.
I might make the original recipe sometime to see if it's just as good---and I'm sure it is, as it's known as a Salerno-style pasta dish, and is very common in Naples, Italy.
But for my rendition we really liked the warm egg yolk dripping down into the pasta.

Fried Spaghetti with Egg

1/2 pound spaghetti
1/2 pound bacon --chopped
1/2 lg onion-- chopped
1/2 green bell pepper--chopped
1/2 red bell pepper--chopped
1 cup mushrooms--sliced
minced garlic --optional
red pepper flakes--optional
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
4 fried eggs

Cook spaghetti as usual, drain, set aside.  (save pasta water)

Fry bacon in large skillet for a few minutes, add other ingredients  (except Parmesan cheese) and cook until bacon is crisp. Drain off grease. 
Put spaghetti into the skillet with other ingredients, stir and cook for 3-4 minutes.  (add pasta water if you think the spaghetti is too dry)

Take a skillet and heat. Add 2 Tbs oil and swirl to coat pan. Crack two eggs each into 2 separate bowls, then add eggs to pan, sliding then into hot skillet simultaneously from opposite sides of the pan  (so your white dont' spread too much)  Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny--2 to 3 minutes.  Uncover and remove from heat.

Put the spaghetti onto individual serving plates and top with a fried egg or two.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

It's Monday What are you Reading? and Musing Mondays

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

This week, I read Room by Emma Donoghue. 
I really enjoyed the book.  It wasn't a read for a book club, so I didn't really get anyone's take on it, except my daughter-in-law, who read it for her on-line book club.  She said that  people in her book club had some issues with the character, Ma.  They thought she was selfish and horrible--especially after they escaped  (sorry, spoiler alert)  She and I both found that interesting as that wasn't what we got out of it. 

My daughter in law said "  I however thought they were missing the point that this was a woman who had been locked up and raped almost nightly for 7 years. She held it all together for a long time and then I think she reached her breaking point after the interview and the questions about if she was selfish keeping her son."

and

"I was just surprised at how shallow and surface level they were being about the realities as presented in the book. They seemed to forget that a "ma" was more than a mom and prior to becoming a mom by her rapist she was kidnapped raped, beat, lost a child etc. "

I think maybe because we heard the story thru Jack's voice, people did tend to forget all those horrific things Ma must have gone thru daily.

I'm interested in what YOU think if you read the book?  Were you or others you know  bothered by Ma's actions outside of "Room?"

I also started and finished  "Dead as A Doornail", a Sookie Stackhouse book by Charlaine Harris.  It was the 5th book in the series.   They are just a nice light read for me.  Although in this book,  not 5, but 6 men all lusted after Sookie. 
You know...that happens so much in my life, that it gets old in books.  (that was sarcasm)  It seemed a bit over the top.  But for the most part I love to pass the day away with a Sookie Stackhouse book.








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Musing Mondays is brought to us by Miz B at Should be Reading.

This week’s musing asks…



What book(s) are you most excited about right now? (it can either be something you’re currently reading, or something you just bought, or a book/books that are soon to be published).


Well, I'm very excited to read Jodi Picoult's new book,  "Sing You Home" for lots of different reasons. I just started  it tonight.  And then a book called "Dead Irish" which is an older book (1989) by John Lescroart.  It's a  mystery/suspense, and the beginning of a character series.  The Handyman (my husband)  and I are going to read it at the same time.
The bad part about that?  I'll be done in 2-3 days and it will take him 2-3 weeks.  I want to discuss it with him--so maybe I'll let him start.

Peanut Salsa for Cookbook Sundays

Yes, you read that correct--Peanut Salsa---DON'T click off this post just because you think it sounds funny.
Trust me.

I found this recipe in an annual Taste of Home cookbook.  The Taste of Home recipes have been tried and tested and found worthy before they are printed and sent to me.  So, if you don't trust me....if the sound of Peanut Salsa turns you off....at least trust Taste of  Home.

Okay.  Are  we good now?

Last week I was going to a little wine tasting party.  We participate in this once a month and it's always a  lot of fun.  If you attend, you bring a bottle of wine and an appetizer.  Believe it or not, sometimes the appetizer is harder to choose than the wine.  I knew it was getting close to the monthly Cookbook Sundays hosted by Brenda's Canadian Kitchen, so I grabbed one of my seldom used (and never for Cookbook Sundays or my own  Cookbook Countdown ) cookbooks and started looking for a good and unique appetizer.
I found it in--Peanut Salsa.  The second recommendation  (the first being in a Taste of Home) was that not 1, not 2, but 3 people asked me for this recipe.  I think that means it's a hit.
It had a really unique flavor, we liked it very much.

Before you go on to read the recipe, just let me tell you one more thing...which is that in a Plains (Georgia) Peanut Festival, former President Jimmy Carter gave first place to this salsa.  That's right--FIRST PLACE.
So, just try it.  You'll like it.


Georgia Peanut Salsa
from the  2008 Taste of Home Annual Recipes
Lane McCloud-Siloam Springs, Arkansas

3 plum tomatoes seeded and chopped
1 jar (8oz ) picante sauce  (I doubled this)
1 can white corn, drained
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
4 green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups salted roasted peanuts OR boiled peanuts  (I used salted-roasted)
hot pepper sauce -optional
Tortilla chips

In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
Just before serving, stir in peanuts and pepper sauce if desired. 
Serve with tortilla chips.

It's really quite good!

Snapshot Saturday

I live in the high desert, in Nevada.

Here's the thing about  the desert....it's really different than people think it is.
It's not just flat and sand. If you are driving thru the state, you probably think...'oh my gosh...it's so....dry and barren and... (say it--I won't get mad.) ugly'.
But it's not.  One just has to get off the beaten path  (or interstate 80 as the case may be)  and there are so many surprises to be found.  There is beauty in the desert.  You just have to have the eyes to look for it. 

A few weeks ago,  I did  a Snapshot Saturday of  a dry lake bed here, which is maybe what people think of when they think of a desert,  but if you head in a different direction, just a few miles you can see this....

Of course a few miles in the west is different than a few miles in the east.
This is probably  60-70 miles --as the crow flies---from the dry lake bed.

I am joining up with  Alyce from At Home With Books for her fabulous Snapshot Saturday!

Fear

March is Women's History Month!  And for that reason I thought I'd share something about women, written by a woman.
I guess I could say I have a guest blogger...my daughter-in-law, Sadie.
I stole this post from her blog--I asked her first of course, but I liked the theme of her post.  Women and fear.  Are you ever afraid? 

I use to walk a lot.  I walked early in the morning, sometimes alone and sometimes with another female friend.  I always comforted myself with the thought that  'bad guys' were not awake at 5:30am in residential neighborhoods.  And I live in a small town.

I know I am deceiving myself.

My daughter-in-law Sadie Stone is the Director of Children and Youth Ministry at the First Methodist Church in Reno, NV
Here was her 'thought' the other day.....

One of the thing that constantly strikes me is the level of innate fear present in the majority of women that men never think twice about. (Stick with me I have a point). On Tuesday nights I have youth group with my middle school and high school students. We end officially at 8:30 but sometimes due to talking, cleaning up etc. We all leave closer to nine. Add to the equation that we are a downtown church in the middle of casinos, bars, homelessness etc. Being out at night can sometimes be unnerving.



As such I always inquire where my high schoolers parked and then if necessary accompany them to their vehicles. When I ask my male high school seniors, they roll their eyes and often respond with a sarcastic tone, "I'm fine I'm a big boy." Where as when I ask my girls they automatically understand and appreciate my concern and respond, "We parked right out front, we drove with each other so we've got each others back." They get it. As females their concern is different and it's heightened.


On Tuesday night as I accompanied two of my senior high girls to their car there was a homeless man standing right at the entrance of our church. He tried to approach the girls and started talking to them, but they both quickly kept walking and got into their car. I then headed back to the building (behind locked doors) and asked the man if he needed something. He claimed he didn't and I went back in to finish shutting of the lights and gathering my belongings.


Then I faced my own dilemma. How did I get to my car safely? I peaked through the window and saw that he was still standing there. So I waited several minutes hoping he would leave, and looked again. He was still there. At one point I stuck my head out the door and said, "hello" and then popped back inside. (I was hoping he was gone).


At this point I called Marcus and asked him if he thought I was being a baby because I was going to call the non-emergency police line and have them escort the man off the property/escort me to my car. Marcus told me to do what I needed to do so I punched the number in my cell phone and as I was headed out I ran into one of our custodians who lives upstairs in the church's apartment.


I was hugely relieved and asked if he would stand at the door as I walked to my car. He was thoroughly confused by my request not understanding what the issue was. It's not as though I expected him to do anything per say but often just the presence of another person will deter someone.


In the end all was well, but it got me thinking once again about a conversation I had with Marcus after I returned home from my summer studying in Spain.


I simply asked him, "When you walk down the street, or are in a parking lot by yourself to you feel afraid. Do you fear for your safety?" His response was a simple shrug and, "not really."


I then explained to him that I, and most of the women I have had this conversation with do. When I walk outside alone, mostly at night I have an overlying level of fear. In Spain this was one of the most challenging aspects. We were placed with host families in various neighborhoods in the city of Seville. Therefore, we were spread all over the city.


I lived in the same neighborhood as two of my closest friends in Spain and so we always walked each other home. The issue was that I lived the farthest away. The other two never arrived at their apartments alone, but as I dropped them off I was left to walk the remaining four blocks by myself and it was deeply unsettling, and my friends felt the same way. We always departed with the simple request, "Text me when you get home."


It was an unspoken understanding and we wanted confirmation about ones safety. It was late often past 10 (this is the nature of Spanish culture). I was alone and we were in residential neighborhoods far away from where any large groups of people would be. During these four blocks home I walked as swiftly as I could, I intentionally carried little with me, if I saw a couple or even better a family I awkwardly tagged along with them, and I often crossed back and forth across the street depending on who was on the other side. Often a single male walking alone triggered a need to cross the street (not always some were more menacing than others). Keep in mind this is also the same city where men frequently whistled, grabbed, made comments, and one guy even ran up and licked my face (although that was not the norm clearly) all in the daylight so at night I felt even more vulnerable.


On one of our last nights in Spain a group of us went to the Bull Fights which ended a little after midnight. We then all went our ways to our various neighborhoods. This evening there was a group of about 6 of us walking in the same direction and finally it was just me and one other guy from the program. He lived a couple blocks away from me.


I was grateful that for once I would have someone accompany me all the way home, especially since it was later than usual. Yet, we reached the road where he turned left and I turned right and he looked at me and said, "see you tomorrow" and walked away.


He obviously had none of the same concerns about walking home alone at night and he seemed oblivious to the fact that walking two extra blocks to get me home would have eased a great deal of tension.


As an adult male he simply wasn't concerned and it didn't occur to him that I might be. Much like Marcus had never really thought about it. After explaining all of this to Marcus I made him promise that should he ever be in a situation where he can walk someone a few extra blocks home (especially a female) just do it.


It sucks that so many women exist with an overarching sense of fear. A fear that my friends and I didn't even have to communicate with each other we simply felt it and knew.


There's a really incredible monologue that's part of Eve Ensler's collection A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and a Prayer that so fully speaks to this fear. (I'll have to look it up when I get the chance).


I think I'll be having a larger discussion with the youth group about this very thing. Especially since so many of them are off to college next year. A talk about safety, a talk with the guys who roll their eyes at my concern, and a talk about why we feel this way and what we can do to combat it. Women should not have to exist with fear.
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Thanks Sadie for letting me steal your post!

Are there times when you might feel afraid in a situation because of your sex?

Sour Beef: are you a fan or not?

I am a suggestive eater.  Wait....that doesn't sound quite right.  Let me try again...... I'm a suggestive cooker?  No, not that either, altho, I do have the cookbook Cooking in the Nude by Debbie and Steve Cornwell.  I've never actually used it.  It was a gift from someone.  Possibly the Handyman.
......I am often swayed, by books I've read, to make certain food dishes.  Food dishes?  Recipes?

Last week, when I read  The Sugar House by Laura Lippman, a Tess Monaghan book,  the characters went to a festival and had Sour Beef.    They were all looking forward to it.  Tess was even going to ask for an extra dumpling!

Most of the Tess Monaghan books take place in Baltimore, Maryland.  I love learning about Baltimore thru the Tess Monaghan books.  I am wondering tho,   is Sour Beef a local favorite of Baltimorians?  (or however you refer to yourselves). Or perhaps a favorite of author Laura Lippman, so she incorporated it into her book?

I couldn't get it out of my mind.  Sour Beef.   Sour Beef.

All the characters LOVED it.    I Googled it. 

It's pretty much another name for Sauerbraten, the German pot roast which is marinated in vinegars and spices, and some recipes use gingersnap cookies in them.


Since I couldn't get it out of my mind, I  knew I had to make it.  (this happens quite often when I am reading a book, just ask my family.  Sometimes it turns out great!  Sometimes not)
It was our Sunday dinner.  Mmmmm...Sour Beef.   We would be enjoying it just as Tess and Crow had in the  Sugar House.
Except for one thing.  We didn't  enjoy it.

Please, please don't take offense all you from Baltimore  (I still love Baltimore), it's just that this recipe was ----well, it was REALLY sour.  And it kind of ruined the roast for us.  Maybe it's an acquired taste.
To be fair, I would try Sour Beef or  Sauerbraten again--at a festival or restaurant where their specialty is German food, but I'll never make it again at home.  It just wasn't good.  At least how it turned out for me.

WAIT--I might have spoke too soon.  I just remembered a German Pot Roast recipe that my grandfather wrote down for me.  And I just went and looked it up.   Ooohhhhh.....I should do a contrast and compare between the two.
This one is different tho, it only has 3 T. of vinegar and the sour beef had cups.  CUPS of vinegar--red wine vinegar--but still.....
I'll get back to you on that one.

But for now.....just in case I am wrong  (it's been known to happen)

Baltimore-Style Sour Beef and Dumplings
adapted from Coconut and Lime, a food blog.

Marinade
1 3/4 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 onions sliced
2 carrots sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp mustard seeds
3 whole cloves
2 tbsp  black peppercorns
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt

3 1/2 pound beef round roast

24 hours before your meal,  make the marinade in a non-reactive bowl and place the roast in it.
The next day:
remove roast from marinade and pour the marinade into a slow cooker.  In a large skillet, quickly brown all sides of the meat in  canola oil. Add the meat to the slow cooker and turn on low for about 8 hours.

Potato Dumplings

4 cups plain mashed potatoes made from peeled red potatoes.
flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  In a bowl combine the cooled mashed potatoes, salt and egg. Stir in the baking powder and add the flour in 1/2 cup increments until it resembles a dough and the mixture holds its shape when molded  (roughly 3 cups).  Form into 2 to 4" balls.  Drop them into the water.  They should sink, then rise to the surface when cooked through. Set aside.

During the  last 1/2 hour of cooking time, skim off any visible fat that may have risen to the top of the slow cooker.
Add 8 crushed gingersnaps and turn the heat to high.
After the time is up, shred the meat with a fork or break it into pieces.

Serve hot with dumplings on the side.

(sigh) for the sake of full disclosure....I had no red wine vinegar, so I used white wine vinegar and red wine mixed together. I didn't think there could be that much difference, but maybe there was. According to ask.com it says I can interchange them if...if...if I want to die!

Food.com says that white wine vinegar is more tangy. Maybe that was my problem. I shouldn't have substituted.
As I said....to be fair, I would try Sour Beef again--made from a qualified Sour Beef maker!

Buying Books.

Yesterday, the Handyman and I drove to Reno--he had to pick up some works supplies and I had a gift card.

I had a $25 gift card for Borders.  I went into the store fully intending to stay within my budget, but sadly,  I spent another $50 of my own money.  And still, my receipt said I saved  $6.92.     So, if I hadn't used my gift card or my members card I would have ended up spending  $81.92 of my own.  See Handyman!!   I still ended up saving  money!!   (and you say I have a hard time doing that.....phffftt! )

It was a good day.