Tidbits:

Movies/TV

• Chuy from Star Wars, I knew I always loved you. 
• If we ever see the Selection on any sort of screen other than my imagination, I will be delighted. (And some other adaptations I've not heard of)
• Divergent is filming already.  I am beyond beyond excited.  

Books

• Even better, the last book in the Divergent trilogy will be titled Allegiant (meh) and will be out in October!
• Here be a cover, another bumped back release date, and an interview with Diana Gabaldon regarding the slightly melodramatically titled Written In My Hearts Own Blood.  Bad that I forgot Jem has been trapped in a mine since like...2009? I just want to read it already!
• A first look at Patrick Ness' new YA book!
• Ugh, the messes the Nazi's are still being sorted out, even in the antique books world. 
• Please meet my new favorite thing: Literarily Drunk.
• Curiouser and curiouser: Jason Segal is writing a YA novel.  Dubious about the whole celebauthor train, but not as dubious in this case?  If that's not enough for you, pour yourself a Game of Thrones Cocktail! I'm all in for a Vodka Implet.

Design

• Bookshelf and home design mixed?  Oh, hello, feeling of nirvana.  (Incidentally, that little boy is such a snatchable little minx!)  But seriously, I want this. 
• Bonus round: a really cool library design, and it's an international library!

Dinner Train: The House of Mirth Arsenic and Old Lace Cookies

A fair warning: I’m going to spoil the end of The House of Mirth in describing why I chose to make these cookies, so if you don’t want to be spoiled and only care about the recipe, scroll down to the recipe, which contains no spoilers, just recipe.  You’ve been fairly warned!

Arsenic?  Or sugar?

As those of us who have read The House of Mirth are well aware, it doesn’t exactly end well for our girl, Lily Bart.  While there’s some controversy as to whether she meant to overdose on sleeping pills or if it was accidental, she tragically does, right before George Selden comes to propose.   Ice cold, Edith Wharton.  (But as I note in my review, I doubt it would have made difference to Lily anyways; I believe she was just done.)  Needless to say, short of like, tea and finger sandwiches, I wasn’t quite sure what to make for this that wouldn’t be kind of expected or appropriate to the book and time, or that was something I’d kind of already done (see the ladies tea party/picnic menu for The Anne of Green Gables).  There is so much opulent elegance that I initially thought I’d do something like Madeleines, but that just also seemed too obvious.  And then it struck me: Lace cookies.  These ladies love them some lace!  And this is an old book!  Even better, I could be inappropriate and make them a little trite, and go all out for The House of Mirth by filling them with “arsenic,” and call them Arsenic and Old Lace Cookies.  It’s a little tongue in cheek, but you know you liked it. 

Bashing the bejesus out of sugar cubes: strangely satisfying.

My secret ingredient: arsenic.  MWAHA. 

 There are a ton of recipes out there for Lace Cookies; they seem to tend to be primarily comprised of butter, sugar, and some sort of oatmeal/flower starch to bind the sugars.  I set my stomach on this one, and then, as per, went a little off the rails.  I chose to use almond extract to give mine a little bit of flavor that struck me as ladies who tea appropriate.  In order to channel the arsenic, I knew I needed a white crunchy sugar.

These Arsenic and Old Lace cookies are ready for a hot date with the oven.

I mean, I think…having never actually seen arsenic in the flesh.  I’d heard of this magical sugar called Pearl Sugar; it allegedly holds both its shape and opacity as it cooks, giving whatever it is added to a nice white crunch.  I went to three grocery stores to attempt to get the mythical pearl sugar I’d heard of, and struck out three times.  When I realized I was up a creek without a paddle, I decided to go rogue and use lightly crushed sugar cubes to get the same effect.  I cut the sugar in the recipe, and used the same amount to be stirred in as arsenic chunks.  It turned out mostly okay, but I may have been a little over zealous in my crushing efforts, so the chunks didn’t hold as well as I’d envisioned.   I’d still recommend the pearl sugar, which I have since learned can be ordered online.   SIGH.  Anyways, give these plenty of time to dry out, cool, and crisp up, and enjoy them with a nice cup of tea.  I think Lily Bart would agree that they’re kind of addictive (too soon?).

Arsenic and Old Lace Cookies and a 1905 illustrated copy of the book
Dinner Train Book Club recipe for The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton

Arsenic and Old Lace Cookies

(makes about 2-3 dozen)

Dinner Train Book Club: The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton

My illustrated 1905 library discard copy of
The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
and some Arsenic and Old Lace cookies

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1905

Lily Bart is a Guilded Age socialite; though her bankrupt parents have died leaving her only a small inheritance, she has a wealthy elderly aunt who gives her an allowance and provides her with the wardrobe she needs to fit in with the right set.  Lily spends most of her time as women of her time do; vacationing at the country mansions of her friends, taking tea, and paying social visits., and her aunt is not growing younger.  At age “nine and twenty,” Lily’s own funds are running out, her aunt is not getting any younger, and she is growing desperate to shed the miss title and become a misses.  She begins to gamble, both literally and socially to maintain her lifestyle and appearances. After a chance meeting leads to taking tea with journalist George Selden, a favorite of her set, Lily finds herself conflicted for the first time, realizing that what her heart and brain want might not add up.  She wants the easy, comfortable, socialite life to which she is accustomed, but is fast realizing the price she will pay as the unquestioning wife of the man who provides her with it may not be worth it.   

Buddies, this won’t be short.  I suggest you grab yourself a freshly made Arsenic and Old Lace cookie, make a cup of George Selden’s caravan tea (whatever that is), and get settled in.

Recipe 10: Minted Roasted Cauliflower and Pea Soup with Lemon

Minted Roasted Cauliflower and
Pea Soup with Lemon

Spring is finally hitting New England with the same glee as the snowstorms seemed to show allllll winter long.   One of my favorite things in spring?  Green.  It's everywhere (or will be, soon), especially in the produce.  Asparagus, peas, spinach...you name it, I want to dress it up with some bright lemon juice and gorge myself on it!  Since starting this project, nigh on a million years ago, I've had some recipes for soups with cauliflower I'd done nothing with, and was waiting for an opportunity to try.  While on my London trip, I had an excellent lamb roast dinner with some mint sauce and delicious peas...which made me think that if I combined the cauliflower, peas, mint, and lemon, I might, just maybe, be on the cusp of the spring soup I've been dreaming of.

It is, indeed, pretty great.  I had googled the idea when I had it, and as far as I know only one other person has been enough of a genius to try!  I took mine in a slightly different direction by roasting the cauliflower and lightly caramelizing the onions first; I love roasted cauliflower and wanted to try to get soem of that flavor into the soup.   I made mine entirely vegetarian, but you can easily use a chicken stock if you prefer.  You can even keep it vegan by eschewing the dairy mix-ins at the end!  If you do, you can dress it up with the roasted nuts of your choice, and maybe some avocado.  If not, I tried it with Greek yogurt, parmesan  and goat cheese, and there was no clear winner.  I wound up using both the yogurt and parmesan when I served it, and think it was a solid choice.   Serve it with some nice crisp white wine (a Vinho Verde would be awesome) and a crispy, crunch piece of warm bread!  

With their powers combined...

Topping taste test in progress!

Minted Roasted Cauliflower and Pea Soup with Lemon

Quintana of Charyn, by Melina Marchetta: Can't we all just get along? Call me, maybe?

Quintana of Charyn (The Lumatere Chronicles)
Melina Marchetta
Candlewick: Somerville, 2013. 
ISBN: 9780763658359 (ARC reviewed)
Available in the USA/Canada April 23, 2013. 

When last we left them, the titular characters in Melina Marchetta’s Chronicles of Lumatere trilogy had left their readers on the edge of a gravina (aka a cliff). Not literally – it was just the bestworst kind of cliffhanger.  What a way to leave the readers hanging, with our two favorite nations, Charyn and Lumatere, on the verge of letting misunderstanding and deep-seeded grudges steer them in a course of hasty war!   We pick up where we left off, and though the action thankfully shifts, there are several dozen pages of will or won’t they agony, coupled with the fear of the survival of both Froi and Quintana.  All these important questions, plus some you didn’t even realize you had, are summed up in Marchetta’s presumptive finale to the series.  Characters travel great distances, searching for answers and for each other, and prejudices and fears must be tested and unlearned.  Politics, family, forgiveness, and love are the powerful and pensive themes in this title.  Though the course is agonizing, and to go into detail would be to spoil SO many of the myraid plot points, Quintana of Charyn is a deeply satisfying read.  Deep breathing technique practice is optional, yet encouraged.  It is a strongly recommended book for older teens and adult readers, and for all libraries with a vested interest in smart, well-crafted fantasy.  If you own the first two and are reconsidering, what are you, monsters?