Saturday Reads

Despite all my crafty projects, I have been managing to get in some reading time. 

One which has been occupying a lot of my time is Jefferson's Daughters by Catherine Kerrison. 

My primary interest in this book was to see just how close I am related to Thomas Jefferson. I have known for several years, the Randolph family (my maiden name) was connected to Jefferson. After reading this book, I am a bit glad I am related, but a step to the side - not a direct connection. It also reinforces my hope when I do my Ancestry DNA it leans toward the Hemmings side. 

After reading the book, while I appreciate many of the contributions Jefferson made to the country in its early years and the details he wrote down and left us, I feel he was more than a bit of a jerk. Therefore, it took me a while to wade through the details. 

But a couple of books I have whipped through and found I need to read more of is the manga series What Did You Eat Yesterday by Fumi Yoshinaga.

Normally I don't read a manga, I leave that to Savvy. But the title caught my attention and I actually picked it up to see if she wanted to read it. However, she is juggling two jobs right now and doesn't have time, so I opened one up. The series follows a couple in their early 40's in Japan and the meals Shiro prepares every evening. Shiro is a lawyer and his partner is a hair stylist.

Some of the situations they find themselves in are a bit humorous and some are a little thought-provoking, but the food Shiro prepares is absolutely mouth-watering. Makes me even want to try tofu. And what makes it even more fun is he is obsessed with staying under budget and using what's on sale at the market.

Now I just have to lay my hands on the other dozen or so books in the series.

Another 'new to me' author is Jeff Wheeler. I had picked up his book, Storm Glass at the library and really like the world he has created.

The wealthy and privileged live on islands, floating above the Fells, which contains the poor. Their homes are held aloft by the Mysteries. Sera, who is destined to become Empress and Cettie, rescued from the Fells, are fated to come together, despite their differences. Now I have to go back and read some of his other works while I await the release of other books in the Harbinger Series.

BUT MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE is The Perfect Scoop (Revised) by David Lebovitz.

I have read three other books by Lebovitz, mainly about his life as an American in Paris. This is the first cookbook of his I have really read. And I don't want to turn it back into the library. I am going to have to get my own copy of this book.

I made it as far as the first couple of recipes before I had to make White Chocolate Ice Cream and pair it with Candied Cherries (also in the book). Can you say "lay on the floor and roll around" good!

I have a real tie to ice cream to start with. I was a teen before I realized it was possible to go to bed in the evening without having ice cream. Secondly, it was a given, once summer hit, we would have homemade ice cream almost every Sunday afternoon. Mom would make a custard-like base and maybe add in seasonal fruit on Saturday night and Dad would put it in the ice cream freezer on Sunday after church. So I am hooked on ice cream which starts off with a cooked base and Lebovitz does.

Of course, him calling it "French Custard" does make it sound even richer!

The book doesn't just stop at making ice cream. He gives recipes for all sorts of toppings (like the Candied Cherries) and tells how to mix in the extra ingredients to come up with 'the perfect scoop' of ice cream.

I have to say, and Savvy concurred, you only need a spoonful to get your sweet tooth satisfied. This isn't the kind of ice cream where you have a huge bowl heaped to the brim. It makes me feel "French" with a tiny scoop and savoring the silky white chocolate and the pop of cherries.

Now to decide what the next ice cream I make will be and put a smaller ice cream maker on my wish list.