Fall 2011 Books I'm Really Looking Forward to Reading

Okay, this picture has nothing to do with new books, but it does represent Fall! This is Stella's lion costume from last year...but she's so darn cute, how can I not use it???

Wow, the list of books coming out over the next few weeks is impressive. I'm anxiously awaiting these books:

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides on October 11th

Zone One by Colson Whitehead on October 18th

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami on October 25th


Blue Nights by Joan Didion on November 1st

It's time to get in line at your local library, fire up the ebook reader, or buy from your local bookstore or Amazon. Happy reading!

UPDATE! I totally forgot to add Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Kaling is Kelly Kapur on The Office. Her twitter stream (@mindykaling) is highly addictive...go follow her...now. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Get!

The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson

I enjoyed this book about a Midwestern family set in the 1970's to the present, but I really wanted to love it. I found the characters interesting, but I didn't find myself caring for them. The leaps in time between chapters made this novel feel more like a collection of short stories. I don't say that as a bad thing (Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout is one of my favorites books). The chapters can stand alone. They might even be more powerful as individual stories.

The story spans three decades. We watch siblings Anita, Ryan, and Torrie struggle with emotional and financial stability at various stages of their lives. Anita marries a banker only to discover marriage and motherhood is way more difficult then she imagined. Ryan wants something more than Iowa can give him, but he's never quite sure what he needs. He moves to Chicago and ultimately lands in technology after trying to become a professor. We meet three women who influence the trajectory of his life. Torrie is the youngest who suffers a catastrophic brain injury. She accidentally discovers photography which leads to a chance to express her inner demons. I wanted to know more about Torrie.

Chip is the lost cousin who returns from Vietnam early in the novel. We follow Chip on various journeys to the Northwest, Mexico, and back to Iowa. Thompson provides varying degrees of information on Chip's journey. I found Chip to be the most compelling character. The return of his almost, but not quite, step son at the end of the novel is a welcome distraction. I would love to read a sequel about the step son's relationship with Torrie.

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Set in 1938, this book is about Kate Kontent, a smart, confident, woman who is mostly alone except for her friendship with Eve. They meet Tinker Grey at a jazz club on New Year's Eve. Tinker is drawn to Kate, but he is thrown into a relationship with Eve after she suffers major injuries when the roadster Tinker's driving crashes into a milk truck.

As guilt-ridden Tinker tries to make amends to Eve, Kate thrives in the New York of 1938. She starts as a secretary at a law firm, then moves on to the publishing world. She reads Walden, visits museums and clubs, and hangs out with a host of new friends while Eve and Tinker live in the world of the upper class. My favorite scene is when Kate quits her job, buys a lovely new dress, then takes herself to a fancy restaurant to spend the last of her money. It's heartbreaking to watch such a fun scene turn into a cathartic resurrection of sorts. Kate is a character you won't easily forget.

Towles is an intelligent writer, but his style is breezy rather than erudite. Tinker reminded me of Gatsby. The novel rides the chasm between classes which reminds you of today while echoing the past.

Club BAKED: Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

This is the latest installment of Club BAKED. I'm really glad this recipe landed on a Saturday! What better way to start the weekend then with a cheesy, salty, slightly sweet muffin? Thanks to Billie who chose this delightful recipe. It's a great way to welcome Fall!

This recipe mixes together very easily and uses ingredients that are were already in my pantry and refrigerator (except for the pumpkin seeds). I omitted the seeds, but I can totally appreciate how they would add another layer of flavor and texture. I used muffin liners which stuck a little to the muffin, but next time I will skip those and just butter the heck out of my muffin trays. I love the mix of spices. The cayenne pepper and black pepper tingle on your tongue, but not too spicy. You could serve these cheesy muffins with chili or soup to brighten a cold winter evening.

I prefer to bake from a recipe that uses weight measurements because I think it's way more precise than measuring by volume. My wish for the third cookbook from BAKED is that they add weight measurements. I'm buying farm fresh eggs from a co-worker. The eggs are in a variety of sizes so I can't go by the generic "use 2 large eggs". I researched how much one large egg weighs and discovered that it should equal about 50 grams. I used 3 eggs which weighed a little more than 100 grams. Please BAKED guys, add weight measurements!

I've also discovered that I don't really like to take a lot of pictures during the baking process. It kind of ruins the zen-like baking experience I enjoy.

Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

I love all things peanut butter. I love the salty sweet taste of a Reese's peanut butter cup so much, that I follow them on Facebook! A few years ago, I switched to natural peanut butter. The ingredients are peanuts and salt. Nice and simple. It makes an awesome PB&J, but I do not use it to bake. I bake with Peter Pan. I needed a quick, tasty cookie to make for a Chief's football party.

Enter Dorie Greenspan's Peanut Butter Crisscrosses. This is the first recipe I've baked from Baking: From my home to yours. I've been reading this cookbook for the better part of 2011. Reading it is like talking to a good friend who knows everything about baking.

This peanut butter cookie does not disappoint. I've been searching for a peanut butter cookie recipe for many years. Often, I find peanut butter cookies kind of oily and kind of tacky. These cookies are sandy without being dry. The peanut flavor is strong. I used Planter's Sweet & Crunchy peanuts because that's what I had in the cabinet. The recipe calls for the dough to be rolled into balls, then rolled in sugar before being flattened with the tines of a fork. I added about 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt to the sugar which added a nice kick of salt when you bite into the cookie.

The recipe says it makes 40 cookies. I made about 56 cookies about 2 1/2". The cookies were a huge hit at the Chief's party (sadly, the Chiefs tanked).

Play Like a Toddler

It's awesome to be Stella's Mom. She's 2 1/2 which is a fun time filled with exploration and learning. The real cool thing is I get to play, too. I'll admit that sometimes I'm not necessarily in the mood to color, but after I join Stella, it always lifts my mood. We build tall towers with blocks. We empty the coins from the piggy bank and separate them by size. Quarters are "big money" and dimes are "teensies". We read books like Where the Wild Things Are, Pinkalicious, and I Spy With My Little Eye (the art work is amazing). We draw and color monsters and birds and airplanes and elephants.

The other day I told Paul that I can't wait until we can start making crafts with construction paper and glitter and glue. Stella will soon be able to wield children's scissors, but what am I waiting for? Why not buy the supplies now and get our craft on?

Need proof that playing is good for the soul? Check out this article from Tiny Buddha.

Club: BAKED: Boston Cream Pie Cake

This is the latest installment for Club: BAKED. Brooke is our hostess this week. Be sure to check out her creation.

I must say a smile spread across my face when I learned that we were making Boston Cream Pie Cake! I made Nigella Lawson's version a few years ago when we hosted my in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner (see How to Be a Domestic Goddess, p. 21). Looking back, it was pretty brave/crazy to select a dessert that I'd never made before. Nigella's version is only 2-layers, but it was a perfect ending to a perfect holiday celebration.

Then reality set in and I found myself with not enough time and a too-short serrated knife. But you know what? This pie cake is very forgiving. In fact, it's so forgiving that I promise to make it again after I eliminate the time crunch and buy a longer knife. I baked the cake on Saturday and froze it to make it easier to slice as suggested by the authors. I cooked the yummy custard too fast (or whisked too slowly?) which made one lumpy vanilla custard. The cake and custard languished in the freezer and fridge while life kept moving until Tuesday night.

After putting Stella to bed and relaxing for a few minutes with Paul, I decided to assemble the cake pie around 11:00pm. The chocolate ganache is perfect. I sliced the layers with my too-short serrated knife. I slathered on the lumpy vanilla custard. In my excitement, I quickly poured the chocolate ganache over the cake which made a chocolate landslide on one side of the cake. Paul exclaimed that it was a beauty as I despaired over what went wrong as I begrudgingly slid it into the refrigerator. It was too late to even taste it.


Finally, on Wednesday, we ate this cake. Well, not the entire cake, but we each enjoyed a slice. I love the classic flavors. I love the 4 layers. I love the custard. Yum, I will definitely make you again, Boston Cream Pie Cake!