Books and food

I have 6 days off for the christmas holidays and I chose two books with winter themes to enjoy during my time off.  I picked "The Snow Child" by Eowyn Ivey and "August Frost" by Monique Roffey.   I heard about "The Snow Child" from an episode of The Readers podcast and I read a brief baldness-focused synopsis of Roffey's "Sun Dog" (the original title of the book) in "The Novel Cure" by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin.

In "The Snow Child", Mabel and Jack are a childless couple living in the wilderness of 1920s Alaska.  The descriptions of Mabel's life in their homestead made me feel grateful for my own skills with cooking and baking.  Reading about the pioneer experience in this book made me want so much to go off and bake my own bread.

The main character, August, in "August Frost" works in a London deli.  Descriptions of the varieties of cheese, meats, salads, and condiments in the deli and of August's forays in the local food market make me want to go discover new foods.  I had never heard of such a thing as coconut marmalade until I read it in this book.  Perhaps I will try making my own.

I like cookbooks that include a personal story.  I bought myself a copy of "The Healthy Gluten-Free Life" by Tammy Credicott, not only because I want to try almost every recipe in the book but also because of the personal notes that are included with each recipe and the story of their gluten-free home business, The Celiac Maniac.  I am thinking about also getting a copy of her "Make-Ahead Paleo".  Also on my TBR are "Life Is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days" by James Salter, "Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal" by Jennifer McLagen and "Cooking With Jamie" by Jamie Oliver.

Read (and eat) on,
Paula