The List: January 2014

As 2014 was being rung in and new year wishes were zig-zagging across the globe, I got an e-mail from a very dear friend; she wished me a year "where not too many extraordinary things happen but the usual everyday things bring a lot of joy and comfort". Isn't that a lovely sentiment?

Gratifyingly, January was just that kind of month for me, where life chugged along pleasantly. After the busy social calendar of December, I found time to spend cozy evenings with a pile of books. 

Reading

I finally got my hands on a cookbook that I have wanted to read and cook from since it came out in 2006- Cooking with Pedatha by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain, traditional vegetarian Andhra cuisine. A few months ago when I finally got around to looking for this cookbook in our public library system, it was not in their collection. I was about to say "oh well" and click away when I realized that I could request for the book to be added to the library's collection. And sure enough, they had a form on their website where I could fill in some details and send in a request in a matter of minutes. And they bought a copy and reserved it for me! I've said it before and I will say it again: public libraries are awesome. From now on, I'll be happily requesting books that I don't find in the library catalog. 

January was a month of graphic memoirs. Like every other kid I knew, I grew up on a steady diet of comic books- Archie and his teen drama, Marvel comics with the superheroes, and homegrown ones with mythological stories like Amar Chitra Katha. But comics, poor things, were always rather looked down upon. You resorted to hiding comics inside textbooks while reading them to dodge the disapproving looks of grown-ups. They were the snack food of the reading world, quick and easy to consume; nothing but empty calories. So I put down comics in middle school and never picked one up again until last year. That's when a couple of brilliant graphic novels spurred my interest again and reminded me that there can be tremendous depth to stories told with line drawings and few words.

This month I read two incredible graphic memoirs.

Image: Goodreads

Relish by Lucy Knisley is a story of childhood and young adulthood told through memories of food, by someone who has been a "foodie" from her toddler years. A funny, warm and joyful memoir that will make you very hungry. I promise you won't regret reading this one.

Image: Goodreads

Calling Dr. Laura by Nicole J. Georges is also a graphic memoir but with the much more difficult subject matter of a dysfunctional family and unstable childhood, but written/drawn with a lot of heart. And I adored the multitude of dogs featured in nearly every panel.

The other rollicking good read this month was a work of non-fiction, Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer. The lives of parasites are facts stranger than fiction and this book nearly left me breathless.

Finally, I read another non-fiction work in the true crime genre that was a difficult but gripping and very thought-provoking read, People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry.

Making

Fabric covered computer mouse-pads using this tutorial from Gen X Quilters. You really can sew a sheet of cork- amazing.









Mittens for Lila. These are sturdy enough to survive being dragged through the playground.





Supporting a campaign to empower women in India by helping them take charge of their own safety. While I live my pleasant and uneventful life, I do know that there are millions of women who face violence and injustice as part of their everyday life. A reader named Gayatri reached out to me and told me about a campaign she's working with- to provide tools and self-defense classes to women in India. Gayatri describes the campaign on her blog and here is the link to the fundraiser. Please take a minute and read about this.

So what have you been eating, reading, making, watching this January? 

Indian Chinese Sweet Corn Soup

Last week brought us weather that was positively soupy- as wet and foggy as can be. The grocery store- a mere 2 miles away- seemed like such a trek; I stayed warm and dry indoors and rummaged through the pantry for something to make for dinner. And there they were- 2 cans of cream style sweet corn. I have no memory of buying these, but everyone knows that ingredients do tend to jump into one's grocery cart when you're not looking.

Holding the cans of cream style corn led to immediate memories of the many bowls of sweet corn soup I've eaten in Indian-Chinese restaurants in India. So I made some corn soup right that minute, with bits of veggies from the crisper and the freezer.

The flavor of homemade soups can be amped up by using stock or broth instead of water. Over the years, I've tried a few different kinds of stock and settled upon using a commercial stock concentrate. It worked nicely but was definitely too salty and pretty expensive. Recently, I've started using nutritional yeast instead of stock to add savory flavor to soups.

Nutritional yeast- dry, yellow, flaky- looks more like fish food than human food. Don't confuse it with baker's yeast that is used in bread-making. The two are not interchangeable in the least. Nutritional yeast is packed with micro-nutrients and has a rich, savory, umami taste from the amino acids in the yeast. It is an acquired taste but one that we've managed to acquire very quickly. I buy nutritional yeast from the bulk bins of the local health food store.

Here's the recipe in a few simple steps; it makes 4-6 good sized servings.

Indo-Chinese Sweet Corn Soup

1. Saute:
2 tsp. oil
1/2 onion, cut in small dice
When onion is translucent, add 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste.

2. Add veggies:
1 carrot, cut in small dice
2 cups thinly shredded cabbage
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Stir for a couple of minutes on medium-high heat.

3. Make broth:
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast, stir.
2 cans cream-style corn
2 cans water
Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

4. Season:
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. vegetarian mushroom "oyster" sauce
1/2 tsp. white pepper

5. [Optional step]
Into the simmering soup, stir in 1 or 2 beaten eggs.

5. Garnish:
Minced cilantro or green onions
Sriracha sauce or chili sauce (optional)

Serve hot!

* * *

I've been reading an inspiring book this past week: The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, an articulate and impassioned message to read aloud to children. I'm a lifelong book lover and V and I have been reading aloud to our child every day since she was 6 weeks old, so clearly I'm already sold on the concept. But this was still an eye-opening book for me.

Although I was told stories as a child, I was never read to (that I can remember). I just learned to read and then I read to myself. This book has wonderful, practical tips for reading aloud. Some of the things I learned:

• You don't stop reading to a child once a child learns to read.
• It is perfectly fine to "censor" or adapt the book to meet the needs of the child. Shorten long passages, skip boring ones, change swear words as you want to.
• Read a book ahead of time. Gauge the emotional level and the intellectual level and make sure it fits the child.
• Read slowly to allow the listener time to build mental pictures. I have to learn how to read aloud because my reading speed is faster than my talking speed. In general, I don't prefer to read aloud but I'm excited to do so with my little one.
• Read funny stories, sad stories, scary stories to explore the universe of human emotions. Just enjoy the story, there is no need to interpret it, quiz the child on it, or to discuss the morals.
• A good story is a good story. Stirring words and gorgeous pictures appeal at any age. I have to agree with it; I read and enjoy middle grade literature regularly.

I enjoyed the heart-warming stories of lives that were changed by the simple act of reading to a child, of teachers who start the day by reading aloud and find it a way to connect with the most difficult students.

The last portion is a list of books that are ideal for reading aloud. The edition I read is from 1985- quite out of date but there are many recent editions which would provide good lists as starting points. If you can get a hold of this book, please read it!

Were you read to as a child? If you have kids, do you read aloud to them? And are you enjoying any soup today? :)

Enchilada dip

The last post in Enchilada Week is a dip- all the flavors of an enchilada in the avatar of an appetizer. I made it over and over this holiday season- once 3 times in two days for various festive potlucks and it was very well-received so it is making an appearance here.

This recipe belongs in the genre of layered Tex-Mex dips- I think it is practically illegal to have a casual gathering here in the US without a 7 layer dip and a huge bag of tortilla chips. Most of the recipes are assembly-style, using prepared ingredients, for instance, they will call for layering canned refried beans, bagged shredded Mexican-blend cheese, sour cream, canned olives, jarred salsa, and so on. I think we can do better than that without too much more effort.

Enchilada Dip
Just take a serving dish and assemble as follows.

Layer 1 is 2 cups cooked pinto beans and 1 cup enchilada sauce stirred together. Your favorite salsa will work in place of the enchilada sauce.

Layer 2 is 1/2 cup plain yogurt + 1/2 cup sour cream stirred together.

Layer 3 is 1 cup shredded red/green cabbage + 1 red pepper cut into thin strips.

Layer 4 is 1 cup (loosely packed) shredded cheese: Pepper Jack or Cheddar would be my choice.

Layer 5 is a handful of minced cilantro and green onions.




Cover and chill. Serve with tortilla chips.

And that, my friends, concludes The Whole Enchilada. See you next Tuesday with a favorite soup recipe. Because it is soup weather out here!

Egg Enchiladas

My toddler is blessed with amazing teachers at daycare- they are liberal with their hugs and kind words, they keep the kids busy and happy with everything from finger-painting to music and playground games, and never resort to yelling- ahem. It truly takes a special person to be a good daycare teacher (or any kind of teacher at all). After a few hours of running around after one solitary child, I collapse on the couch, while the teachers wrangle a bunch of crying babies and willful toddlers all day long- do they have superpowers?

Anyway, as a small gesture of appreciation this holiday season, I thought of organizing a festive potluck breakfast for all the teachers in Lila's school. When I e-mailed the parents of Lila's classmates, several of them responded enthusiastically. We chose a Monday morning in early December. That would give the parents the weekend to shop/prep. Each family dropped off one dish that Monday morning when they brought in their child. Another mother and I did the set-up and clean up.

We ended up with an appetizing spread: One family brought in flaky biscuits, butter and preserves from a very popular local restaurant. Another came with homemade egg casseroles- one with ham and one with veggies. Others brought in fruit salad, yogurt parfaits, granola, bagels and scones. The table was loaded with food and the teachers seemed to enjoy this little treat.

My contribution to the potluck was breakfast enchiladas. (Yes, you've diagnosed it by now- I suffered a serious enchilada obsession this December.) There's nothing to stop me from eating regular enchiladas as early as 6 in the morning. But with eggs, these are a more conventional breakfast food.

I modified this recipe to make it meatless and to ramp up the amount of vegetables. Basically, you take tortillas and roll them up with your favorite enchilada or omelet fillings. I chose lots of vegetables, some beans and a little cheese. Then you cover the filled tortillas with an egg custard. The casserole can be baked right away or- get this- you can do all of it the night before and just leave it in the fridge overnight. Then you just top with a bit of cheese and bake it- the egg filling gets into the tortillas (magic!) and you essentially have tortilla-wrapped omelets all ready to serve to a crowd.

Egg Enchiladas

(Adapted from this recipe on Inspired Taste)

1. Make the enchilada filling: Saute vegetables- 1 onion, 1 pepper, 2 zucchini/summer squash. Other veggies like mushrooms, spinach or broccoli could also be added. Season with salt, cumin, oregano and garlic.

To the cooled veggies, add 1 can beans (or 1.5 cups cooked beans) and 1/2 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or cheddar is what I usually use).

2. For egg custard, whisk together

• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup cream (half and half or whole milk will do as well)
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste

3. Assemble: Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Roll tortillas with the filling and place them seam side down in the baking dish. Pour the custard over the tortillas. At this point you can cover the dish with foil and refrigerate overnight, or bake right away.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Scatter 1/2 cheese on the casserole. Bake covered at 350 F for 40 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more. 

5. Garnish with cilantro or green onions. I wanted to make the dish festive in red and green so I chose a garnish of green onions and halved cherry tomatoes.

6. Serve warm with salsa or enchilada sauce.

The last post in this series is an enchilada dip, coming up tomorrow.

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Red Sauce

With a batch of red enchilada sauce in hand, it is time to build an inviting enchilada platter and that involves lots of possibilities. For instance, you can stuff the enchiladas with veggies, serving beans and rice on the side. You can stuff 'em with beans and serve veggies, raw or cooked, on the side. You get to choose the format. Here's how I like making mine: I use a mixture of cheese and beans as the filling for the enchiladas and serve lots of vegetables (and sometimes rice) on the side.

For the tortillas, you can use either corn or wheat tortillas or any of the multigrain, gluten-free versions out there. Trader Joe's has corn-and-wheat tortillas (designed for indecisive cooks, perhaps?) and I love how they work in these enchiladas. They come 8 to a pack and all of them fit in neatly in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

The filling: There's no real recipe for the filling. Just cook pinto or black beans or used canned beans. Into the beans, stir in shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Cheddar cheese. The enchilada sauce has so much flavor that I don't bother adding too much seasoning to the filling. But you could certainly add some cumin, garlic, oregano here if desired.

Just to illustrate how I arrange
the tortillas-
8 of them fit snugly
into the baking dish

Assemble the enchiladas: In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish, ladle 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and spread it around.

Pour some enchilada sauce into a rimmed plate. Dip each tortilla into this sauce to coat it on both sides, then place 1/4 cup of filling in the middle of the tortilla and roll it. I don't bother tucking in the ends; just place the filled tortilla seam side down in the baking dish. If you have larger tortillas, you may need to tuck in the ends.

After all the tortillas are filled and arranged in the baking dish, ladle the rest of the sauce on them. Sprinkle with more shredded cheese. Cover the dish with foil.

Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.

We love our enchiladas with these three sides:

1. A crisp raw salad: I'll often make shredded green or red cabbage (or a mix) with diced avocados, dressed only with a few drops of hot sauce. Another option: shredded cabbage and carrots with a dressing of mayo and hot sauce. Your favorite salad will do!

2. Roasted vegetables: A large tray of sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, zucchini and summer squash, green beans and whatever's in season (or on sale at the supermarket) works nicely. Sometimes I just make sweet potato fries.

3. Mexican rice. There are many ways to make this. Here's how I made quick tangy cilantro rice this weekend: Cook basmati rice with salt. Just when it is cooked, stir in a handful of minced cilantro, 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast (for flavor), 1 tbsp. olive oil and some lemon or lime juice.

Other than these, a dollop of sour cream or yogurt can be a nice touch and a cooling contrast to the enchiladas.

If I'm serving enchiladas to a crowd, I'll make all 3 sides. If it is for just the family or a smaller group, just 1 or 2 sides is enough.

Continuing with enchilada week here on One Hot Stove, I'll be back tomorrow with some breakfast enchiladas.

Red Enchilada Sauce from Scratch

I'm a lover of hearty and spicy food and therefore a frequent patron of local Mexican restaurants for casual dining out. I'll usually opt for the red enchilada platter- which arrives as two or three corn enchiladas stuffed with some cheese and smothered in a flavorful red sauce, and with lettuce, beans and rice on the side.

The sauce is fiery red yet it tastes nothing like tomato sauce. It always hits the spot and of course it was only a matter of time before I started looking up a recipe so I could replicate it at home. A bit of research revealed the secret to authentic red enchilada sauce- dried Mexican chili peppers. They give it that wonderful smoky flavor and also the beautiful brick red color. The recipes that I used as starting points are here, here and here. Some recipes include a bit of tomato, most don't. I chose to use a little bit because it adds a bit of tang and sweetness and rounds out the flavor. After several trials, here's my version of red enchilada sauce and it is truly the best thing I made in 2013.

Pictured with a quarter dollar to give
an idea of size

Let's talk about the dried peppers that feature most prominently in this recipe. The first is the guajillo chile (guajillo is approximately pronounced "gwa-hi-yo"). It is a large and flat pepper with a shiny, deep red smooth skin. The flavor is mild and fruity.

The second is the ancho chile. Have you ever seen or used the fresh green poblano peppers from the produce section? The ancho chili is simply the dried version of poblano peppers. They are large and have a deep red-black color and wrinkled skin. The heat level is mild to medium with a sweet-smoky taste.

If you live in the US, your best source for these dried peppers would be the local Hispanic grocery store (or a store that sells international foods). I went in search of one in our little town. Our local Hispanic grocery looked like a forbidding place from the outside, with barred windows. I hesitated at the door a little, but when I stepped inside, I was immediately delighted with aisles and aisles of Hispanic groceries and happily purchased large bags of guajillo and ancho peppers for around $5 each. The quality of the peppers was excellent- dried but still soft; not desiccated. And I also bought large bags of dried pinto and black beans, and fresh tomatillos and cilantro at very reasonable prices.

As an aside- "Ethnic" grocery stores are such wonderful places for the home cook. They are usually worth seeking out even if they tend to be cramped and located in not-so-posh neighborhoods. I'm always urging my non-Indian friends to go to the local Indian store to look for spices (and other ingredients like lentils, rice and flours) that are fresher and cost a fraction of what they do in the gourmet markets. Similarly, I've enjoyed exploring Mid-Eastern, Italian, Asian markets etc. for well-priced and authentic (and often mysterious when I can't read the labels) ingredients from those regions.

Before I get to the recipe, a quick reminder- When working with dried peppers, remember to wash pepper residue off your hands and avoid touching your face or eyes. Wear gloves if you like. Dried peppers can vary in their level of heat, and what's mild to me may be too spicy for you, so make and taste the sauce once and then vary the number of peppers as you wish.

Red Enchilada Sauce

A One Hot Stove creation; inspired by several recipes that I found online

(Makes 2-3 cups; enough for a 9 x 13 tray of enchiladas)

4 dried guajillo peppers
4 dried ancho peppers

2 tbsp. + 1 tsp. oil
1 heaped tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato puree or diced fire-roasted tomatoes
Salt to taste
A pinch or two of sugar (optional)

1. Let's start with the dried peppers. Tear off the stem from all the dried peppers and shake out and discard most of the seeds. With a knife (or more easily with a pair of kitchen scissors), cut each pepper into 3 or 4 pieces.
2. In a small pan, heat 1 tsp. oil and toast the pepper pieces for a few seconds to toast them. Set them aside.

3. For the sauce, heat 2 tbsp. oil in a saucepan.
4. Whisk in the flour and saute until toasty.
5. Add the garlic and toasted peppers and saute for a few seconds.
6. Add the tomatoes, salt to taste and 2.5 cups water.
7. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Blend the mixture to a fine sauce using a regular or immersion blender. If the sauce feels too thick, adjust the consistency with water.
9. Taste the sauce and add a pinch of sugar if needed to round out the flavor.

I've bought canned enchilada sauce once or twice before, and this homemade version is thicker and more flavorful than any I've tried. The enchilada sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to three days. Other people report success with freezing it but I have not tried that for myself.

Developing this recipe led me to discover some new ingredients and a new store in my town and the enchilada sauce has led to many successful meals. Color me happy! Over the next few days, I'll post the different ways in which I use this sauce.

The only downside to all this is that next time I'm at a Mexican restaurant, I'll probably annoy my dining companions by saying, "Well, I could make a better version of this at home"!

Coming up tomorrow: Let's make enchiladas.

The List: December 2013

December is rolling to an end, and, incredible as it seems, 2013 is on its way out. What a ridiculous month this was. Too many chips, dips, cookies, casseroles and parties altogether. Here's some of the highlights of this month.

A sampler of our Baking Day products

Baking Day: I got together with two friends one Sunday for a big baking day. From noon until 4 PM, we baked non-stop. Dozens and dozens of cookies including cranberry chocolate chip cookies, fruit and nut shortbread, almond biscotti, mini elephant ears. One person mixed, another scooped while a third manned the oven. V was given the job of shooing the kid and the dog away from the cooling cookies. We also made samosa style puffs to snack on.What an excellent way to spend a chilly afternoon.

I took some of the cookies to a neighborhood cookie exchange and got to meet some new neighbors over wine and appetizers before swapping boxes of cookies with them. It was a lot of fun but I've realized that I like baking cookies more than I like eating them. Or more accurately, I only like eating cookies that have been made by myself or by Trader Joe's!

Cooking for lots of friends, old and new. A highlight of the month, no, this year, was last week, when old friends of ours drove 12+ hours to come spend a few days with us. We were 11 of us crammed into the house- 6 adults, 4 kids under five, and 1 dog in the middle of it all. Can I just say how wonderful it is to cook for foodies who are not picky and who eat with gusto? We just lazed around the house and cooked and ate and laughed the whole time.

On the menu were some of our favorite meals- dosa, waffles, misal, sev puri, enchiladas, lasagna, biryani. I baked elephant ear cookies with the 5 year old- they somehow vanished in minutes off the baking sheet, even before I could transfer them to the cooling rack. We made several loaves of buttermilk bread from the New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day - this bread was a huge hit with the crowd. Also a big hit were these mandelbrot or almond biscotti- I've made many batches this holiday season and everyone has raved about them.

One friend whipped up Kentucky Sours- whiskey cocktails that are a quick and tasty way to get tipsy fast! He shared the recipe: 1 part egg whites, 1 part simple syrup, 1 part lime juice and 2 parts whiskey. Or something like that, I was too buzzed to pay attention ;) Another friend made fluffy omelets for breakfast- funny how something as simple as omelets can be different when made by someone else. It was a food festival all the way.

The kids all enjoyed their 72+ hour play date. I got matching pajamas for all four kids and it was super cute to see them prancing around in excitement looking all matchy matchy. They all got stuffed stockings and presents on Christmas morning, just for fun. Even Duncan had his own stocking with toys and treats. He amiably played the role of a one-dog petting zoo and deserved some pampering. We would put the kids to bed and then watch stand-up comedians on Netflix. Our roaring laughter kept waking up the littlest baby, much to his mamma's consternation.

All in all, it was a treat to get to bond all over again with old friends, and they were the nicest house guests possible- jumping in to do the dishes, happily eating leftovers every few meals, meaning that we had lots of fun while not wasting any food.

Then- another surprise, a visit by Mandira of Ahaar and her sweet family- it was great fun to chat in person over a cup of chai while our kids played together. She's even sweeter than I imagined her to be!

Making

Mini stockings as gift card holders for Lila's teachers. I used this pattern- it was quick and easy. Sewing curves was the only slightly difficult part, but it is a gift card holder and not a garment- it does not have to be perfect. I sewed the ribbon loops by hand.


For a friend's daughter's third birthday, our gift was a fleece blanket paired with a
book. When this child comes over to play, she always snuggles with the quilts I have in the living room, which is why I thought she might like this. I made this by putting together two different 1.25 yard pieces of fleece and sewing them together with a blanket stitch on the edge. The book is Press Here by Herve Tullet- Lila got this as a gift from my friend Cathy and it is so delightful that I bought more to give as gifts.

And I've been knitting small gifts- a giraffe hat for a giraffe-collecting co-worker who is expecting her first grandchild.

And

mini sweater ornaments for a couple of quilter friends.


Reading took a backseat this month. But I read Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth, continuing her memoirs of being a midwife in the East End of London. Again, this book is beautifully narrated and worth reading even though there are portions that are almost unbearable. Also, this month, I read one of Agatha Christie's most famous books that somehow I had not read until now- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. And I re-read a book that I read and loved as a child: Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott. It is a sweet and sentimental story- an orphan girl, a wise and dashing uncle, 7 boisterous boy cousins, aunts galore- and a great read if you're looking for something light this holiday season.

Watching  holiday movies, which is a first for me. I very rarely watch movies and almost never the holiday classics. Too many people kept gushing about Love, Actually so I finally watched it. They call it a feel-good movie but it seemed rather bittersweet to me and with too many story lines- certainly there were many cute moments, but they were sprinkled in among plenty of ludicrous ones. And for some reason, men (the PM and the writer) kept falling in love with women who served them tea. What gives? But I enjoyed the soundtrack very much. Have you seen this movie? Am I over-analyzing it? :D

It's A Wonderful Life was showing on some channel as I surfed through and I'm glad I finally watched this classic. As I was knitting holiday gifts, I also watched and thoroughly enjoyed some episodes of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, set in 1920s Australia.

So what have you been cooking, baking, eating, reading, watching this month? Did you get any exciting holiday gifts?

I wish you all a wonderful 2014. Via One Hot Stove, I hope to continue sharing my favorite recipes and books and crafts with you in the coming year. Cheers!

Vegetable-Heavy Potluck Casseroles

I always think of myself as a cook rather than a baker, but in fact my oven gets fired up almost every day, and that's especially true during these cold months when the warmth and aroma of baking feels like an extra special hug.

When we moved into this home over a year ago, I had to make friends with a new-to-me oven that had been put into the kitchen by the previous home-owners. For one thing, this cooking range has an electric range rather than the gas range that I was used to in St. Louis. This made my heart sink a little bit, I'll admit. But I have come to love how energy-efficient this range is- a big pot of water for pasta comes to a boil in mere minutes, and the surface holds heat so well that I can turn off the heat and let food simmer just in the residual heat.

This oven is quite a bit fancier than any I've used and one of the features is the convection baking mode. As it understand it, convection baking utilizes fans inside the oven to circulate the air, cooking food more evenly and efficiently. But the airflow also tends to dry out the food more than a normal (conventional) oven would.


For almost a year, I ignored this feature- not wanting to risk a dish not coming out right. Then I remembered that I've used a convection oven in the Campus Kitchen where I volunteered once upon a time. It roasted vegetables in record time. That's just it- I would try the convection setting for roasting trays of veggies. It is hard to mess that up! It worked like a dream; a large half-sheet of sweet potatoes, say, are tender and browned in about 15-20 minutes as against the usual 40-45.

I am convinced that roasting converts vegetables to candy- I can barely stop eating them right off the baking sheet. We enjoy them as a side dish and in the last 2 weeks, I also use them in three casseroles that were my contributions to various holiday potluck gatherings. These are ideas rather than strict recipes!

Lentil Sweet Potato Pilaf

This was inspired by a surplus of sweet potatoes bought on sale after Thanksgiving and the need to use them up fast. Lentils and sweet potatoes are a wonderful combination and as comforting as you can get.

There are 4 components to this dish:
1. Cook Basmati rice in the rice cooker until it is tender and fluffy.

2. Roast cubes of sweet potato tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper in a 375F oven until tender and slightly browned.

3. Make a lentil curry: Saute onions, ginger and garlic. Add soaked brown lentils (whole masoor), salt, turmeric, red chili powder, biryani masala/garam masala, tomato (optional) and cook until the lentils are tender. You don't want this curry to be as thin as dal but not too dry either.

4. The extras: fried onions (freshly pan-fried or store-bought), minced cilantro.

In a greased casserole, layer these 4 components, biryani-style. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Serve warm.

The next two recipes use white sauce/ bechamel sauce. To make white sauce:

1. Heat 2 tbsp. butter in a heavy pan. 
2. When it foams, add 2 tbsp. all purpose flour and stir it around to a paste.
3. Let the flour bubble gently getting a little toasty but not too dark.
4. Whisk in 2 cups hot milk, stir, bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Off the heat, stir in 1 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. 

PS: I edited the white sauce on Dec. 21, 2013. I'd forgotten to include the cheese!

Vegetable Gratin

My mother made baked vegetables all the time when we were growing up- it would be the special "continental dish" at her parties and very popular with the family friends.

I made my version by roasting 1 tray of cauliflower florets and pepper slices with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper: Carrot, broccoli, green beans, and corn and peas would be nice additions as well. I scraped the roasted veggies into a baking dish and poured in the white sauce. Then I scattered a topping of breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan. Broiled the dish until the top was blackened browned and you're done. Note that you have to watch the broiler like a hawk. Being distracted by toddlers leads to what you see in that picture up there. Still delicious, once you pick off the carbonized breadcrumbs.

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

This is a great way to lighten up mac and cheese a little while also making it tastier, in my opinion. I used caulflower here but one could also use broccoli- the added advantage of using broccoli is that the florets look like little trees and you can call the dish "macaroni and trees" to the delight of your pun-loving friends.

Here, I cooked a box of tri-color rotini (any short pasta will do). Then I tossed it with a tray of roasted cauliflower and the white sauce. Pour it into a baking dish or two, top and broil as above and viola. Kids are all over this dish, by the way.

All three of these potluck dishes were crowd-pleasers and I'm sure to make them again and again, especially now that roasting vegetables is so quick.

I'm usually careful not to over-schedule myself but I've really blown it this week with 1 holiday dinner, 2 potluck parties, 1 cookie exchange/neighborhood party, 1 ballet to attend. Also,1 meeting and 1 presentation at work, 1 vet check-up and 1 pediatrician check-up. Not a moment to lose! We have friends coming over to spend the holidays with us and I can barely contain my excitement.

I'll be back at the end of the month with The List for December 2013. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, friends. 

A Little Giveaway

I've been at the receiving end of much generosity lately and I have a chance to give back a little with Giveaway Day hosted today on Sew Mama Sew.

This is the season for giving, and a bottle of wine is a popular host gift- popular but, you know, just a little boring. You know what your chilled wine needs? A hat and a scarf. Sometimes you need a little whimsy and frivolity in life, right?

These dressed up bottles of wine always result in smiles and chuckles. Today, I have four sets of chilled wine garb to give away- for you to give away or to keep for yourself.

• I'm only giving away the wine garb- you'll have to buy your own bottle of wine to dress up! 
• This giveaway is open to US participants only.
• To put your name in the hat, tell me in the comments: What gifts are you excited to give this holiday season? 
• Please leave your e-mail address in the comment so I can contact you if you win, or link to your website and make sure your e-mail address is easily accessible there. 
• I'll draw 4 winners on December 13th and e-mail them for their shipping address.

Pattern credit: If you are a knitter and want to make these yourself, here is the free pattern generously shared by Lisa Valentino.

Visit all the giveaways here and here on Sew Mama Sew to put your name in the hat for lots of fun prizes. Good luck and thanks for playing along!

And the winners are lesleyjean, Amanda, EightPP and Mandira. All winners have been e-mailed for their address.

Note: So many people who commented failed to include their e-mail address and did not have a link to one either. They lost their chance to win, unfortunately. When you enter a giveaway, please make sure you can be contacted if you win.

The List: November 2013

This is a new tradition on One Hot Stove- at the end of the month, I do a round up of the highlights of that month, and invite you to do the same in the comments. Here are the lists for September and October.

Eating

Pie!

A Thanksgiving meal, of course. We were invited to a small Thanksgiving dinner at the home of a senior colleague and her husband. They made a traditional meal but went out of their way to get a Trader Joe's vegan turkey-less stuffed roast for the vegetarians, so it was my very first Thanksgiving with a turkey stand-in! It was delicious, accompanied by the many sides like cranberry relish, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and mushrooms and buttery rolls with honey. It was so nice to spend Thanksgiving day catching up on chores around the house/yard and then to just show up for a nice feast.

My contribution to the meal was a chocolate pecan pie. This time I used a frozen pie crust from Trader Joe's and I wasn't happy with this pie crust at all. I should have made my own like I usually do or perhaps bought another brand.

Cooking and Baking a few DIY experiments this month.

Naked apple pie with
salted caramel sauce

Salted caramel sauce: Our neighbors invited us for dinner, and I made dessert to take along, continuing the apple baking fest with a naked apple-vanilla pie. At the last minute, I decided to make a salted caramel sauce to drizzle on the pie. I used this recipe, and my only change was to double the amount of heavy cream to a cup. It was amazingly easy to make. I've made caramel many times before and I find it easy to rely on the color of the caramel rather than using a candy thermometer. The resulting sauce is rich and decadent with a distinctly grown-up and gourmet taste thanks to the salt. This sauce takes mere minutes to make, and a few inexpensive ingredients, and would be a lovely holiday gift (it can be enjoyed on ice cream, pancakes, fruit)- just remind the lucky recipient to store it in the fridge.


Chocolate syrup: We were visiting someone's home, and Lila wanted a cup of warm milk. On a whim, I stirred in a bit of chocolate syrup that I found in their fridge- you know, the ubiquitous brown plastic bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup. Well, that was enough for the kiddo to fall in love with "chocolate duddu". A bit of searching revealed that chocolate syrup is nothing but cocoa powder, sugar and water.

DIY chocolate syrup

I made Lila her very own chocolate syrup: Mix 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan (these proportions are flexible). Bring to a boil, whisking often to dissolve the cocoa powder. Simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Let the syrup cool and store it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. This is a simple chocolate syrup that is great for stirring up a cup of chocolate milk, also nice for drizzling on waffles and pancakes.

Pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds

Pumpkins: We went pumpkin picking with Lila and got home a couple of small pie pumpkins. October turned to November and I knew I had to use up the pumpkins fast and not relegate them to the compost heap. Cutting up pumpkins and other winter squashes seems like such a bother, I always feel like I'm risking my fingers as I hack away at them. This fabulous tip was just what I needed: baking  the whole pumpkins at 300F for about 30 minutes got the skin a bit soft and easier to cut and the whole process was almost fun. The only disappointment was that the pumpkin tasted so very bland.

I rinsed and roasted the pumpkin seeds- it is too easy to over-roast and burn the pumpkin seeds and unfortunately mine were a bit over-done. But pumpkin seeds are so crunchy and tasty- you just eat them shell and all.

Reading 

Image: Goodreads

Brain on Fire: A Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan, a memoir of a young woman who is gripped by a sudden and severe psychosis which turns out to be a rare autoimmune disease. It is an engrossing read (although I felt it could have been better as a long magazine article and not necessarily a whole book) and made me reflect on the stigma of mental illness and how little we understand its physiological causes.

I'm also continuing to follow the adventures of Bertie, the child prodigy and Cyril, the dog with a gold tooth and Domenica, the freelance anthropologist in The Unbearable Lightness of Scones and The Importance of Being Seven, both of the 44 Scotland Street series.

I read many glowing reviews of a cozy mystery called Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, a novel in which a herd of sheep solve the murder of their shepherd, but unlike all the people who loved this book, I did not enjoy it much and gave up a third of the way into the story.

But the best thing I read all month wasn't in a book but on a blog: Kamini's funny, warm, delightful essays on everyday life in Madras- The Twelve Days of Convalescence and Shopping for Liquid Gold.

Watching 

I watched the first two seasons of Downton Abbey earlier this year- and the combination of family drama and glamor and social commentary sucked me right in, of course. This month I stumbled on a blog where, to my amazement, I found complete episodes of Seasons 3 and 4 of Downton Abbey- after spending many happy evenings experiencing emotional upheavals with the Crawleys while knitting holiday presents, I'm all caught up.

To drown my disappointment at having no more episodes to watch, I've now turned to another historical British mystery drama, The Bletchley Circle which I found on Netflix.

The best thing I watched this month was not on a screen, though. We got a babysitter (after what seems like months) and went to see a live performance of improv comedy: The Two Man Group of Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood- the guys are regulars on the TV improv show Whose Line is It Anyway which I used to love. They are ridiculously clever and funny.

Making

Our Thanksgiving hosts are avid and knowledgeable birdwatchers. I found fabric with winter birds and made them a pair of potholders as a small hostess gift. Potholders are touted as a beginner-friendly sewing project but I personally find it a bit of a pain to sew those thick multiple layers together.

At my daughter's preschool, they put up wish lists from local families who find themselves unable to afford Christmas gifts for their children. One six year old girl wished for art supplies- the note said she likes Hello Kitty. Well, I found some Hello Kitty fabric and made her an art tote bag (using this very easy pattern) that I filled with coloring books and drawing pads. It has 6 pockets stuffed with little treasures like erasers, stickers, markers and stamps. I hope she likes it.

Happy Birthday, Duncan!

According to the adoption papers, today is Duncan's first birthday. This enormous puppy with the big and gentle heart is the best thing that happened to us this year. Every single person who meets him falls in love with him. This weekend alone, he "converted" a little girl who was visiting us- she is terrified of dogs, but after an evening with Duncan, she was cuddling with him on the sofa and giving him kisses.

Duncan makes our hearts melt every day. Even if he does get in trouble quite often with his puppyish goofiness. His biggest misadventure this month: he was snooping under my sewing table, got his foot entangled in the sewing machine power cord, and when he walked away, he pulled the sewing machine which came crashing on the floor with the most appalling crash. Duncan was terrified and fled. I was furious and yelled at the top of my lungs. By some miracle, the sewing machine has a large crack but it still works fine! Toddlers and puppies- no matter what exasperating thing they do, you can't stay angry with them for long. I mean, just look at that face.

Looking forward to...

...a month of fun and festivities- my calendar is happily packed with events like The Nutcracker ballet and a cookie exchange and a potluck breakfast. I'm also looking forward to participating in Giveaway Day next Monday- so come back next week for a chance to win something I've made.

Happy December, friends! Let's make the best of what's left of 2013. But before then, I've love to hear about how November treated you: What have you been cooking, eating, reading, watching, making and planning? What are you looking forward to in December?

12 Tips for Simpler Entertaining

Does the word "entertaining" conjure up visions of pristine tablecloths and sparkling silverware, cocktails and canapes? Well, in our home we entertain almost every weekend, and you'll see none of those things, ever. The only thing we guarantee is a warm and welcoming home and plenty of food on the table.

When I was talking about cures for life's big and little ailments last week, Anu asked,

"Between working full time and managing a preschooler and a baby, I feel the last thing I want to do is cook for people on weekends. But, I want to have people over too, any tips on how to get over this mental block? Is there a book to cure this? :)"

While I can't think of a suitable book about the warm fuzzy feeling of cooking for friends (if you think of one, leave a comment, please), I do have a lot to say on the subject and thought of writing this post instead of writing the world's longest comment.

I have people over for meals because I like to feed people. Also, I'm a homebody and I'd rather have my fun at home than go out on weekends. Beyond the simple pleasure of sharing food, it is how casual acquaintances grow to become close friends, when the small talk continues to deeper conversations about our hopes and dreams and fears. This is especially important for expats who live far, far away from family. Our friends become the family we choose. Over the years, we have realized that formal entertaining is not our style, but that casual meals fit in well into our lifestyle. This beautiful meditation on formality echoes my thoughts on the matter.

I truly believe that entertaining is not just for socialites. However, with all the juggling that people are required to do- working full time, caring for kids and other family members- it also should not become one more thing that adds to your burdens. So here are my top 12 tips for simpler entertaining, a pep talk of sorts. There's nothing new here, but sometimes it helps to be reminded. It requires a mindset of being at peace with yourself and embracing your own entertaining style, never comparing yourself to anyone else, of knowing that your goal is not to impress anyone but to build a happy community around yourself and share your home and bounty with others. 

From a memorable lunch that I was
invited to

1. Think beyond "dinner" parties. Hosting a full-fledged dinner can seem daunting. A great way to start small is to invite friends over for tea, cocoa or lemonade in the afternoon. Serve some cake, sandwiches, or snacks and you have yourself a party. Other ideas for not-dinner parties could be an ice-cream social on a hot summer afternoon, a wine & cheese party for grown-ups and a cookie party during the holidays.

Choose the best time of day for your schedule and serve some meal that fits that time. My personal favorite is to have friends over for brunch at 10 or 11 AM- I'm a morning bird and it is easier for me to put together a meal in the morning than in the evening. Brunch dishes are easy to make and almost everyone I know enjoys them. Then, host and guests get to have the rest of the day to do whatever they please.

Part food with help from the store:
crackers, fruit, cheese

2. The whole menu does not have to be cooked at home. You could order in food from a favorite restaurant. You can get pizza delivered and make a salad to go with it. Dessert can be a favorite store-bought ice cream or pie or simply a bowl of fresh seasonal fruit. In short, there are countless ways of filling in a menu with favorite store-bought or restaurant-bought foods. Once I really wanted to throw a birthday party for Neighbor Girl but couldn't do any cooking because it was a busy weekday, so we invited a bunch of friends and ordered in Thai take-out from our favorite restaurant. I made a birthday ice cream instead of cake where the recipe consisted of mixing a few things and pouring the mix into the ice cream maker. It was so much fun and very little work.

3. Accept a dish if it is offered. If your guest asks to bring  a dish, accept graciously. It is a win-win situation. It gives them a chance to contribute to the meal and they don't have to go looking for another hostess gift like wine or flowers. And one thing on the menu is taken care of.

In the same way, when I'm invited as a guest, I always offer to bring a dish. The key is to make a fairly specific offer: "May I bring over an appetizer or the dessert?" to which it is easy for the host to respond, "Dessert would be lovely, thanks" rather than the vague, "Can I bring something?" which invariably compels the host to say, "No, you don't need to bring anything".

Part of a taco bar

4. Try a "build your own" food bar. One of our best parties recently was a grilled cheese bar (some details in this post), and taco bars always go over well. I once attended a holiday party with a chili bar- big pots of meat and vegetarian chili with a bunch of fixings: cornbread, spaghetti, cheese, lettuce etc. The prep for these meals is fairly quick and it is a great way to cater to people with different dietary needs. Think of ways to simplify the menu.







5. Potlucks are popular for a good reason. They make it possible for large groups of people to get together while sharing the responsibility.

6. A quick tidying up is all you need. We live in a real home, not in the pages of Better Homes and Gardens, and there's no sense in pretending otherwise. Not to mention that a toddler and a dog call it home too. We just put out fresh towels, scoop up scattered toys into bins and vacuum the floor. 10 minutes and we're ready for company.

My philosophy is that the kind of home I want for my family is the same kind of home I want for my guests- reasonably tidy and clean. So there's no special cleaning for company. I will say that it helps tremendously that we don't have a lot of stuff- there is minimal furniture and no knick knacks whatsoever. If you have too many things which results in clutter and makes it hard to do a quick cleaning, you may want to subtract but perhaps that's a discussion for another time.

If you have a friend who peeks under the sofa looking for dust bunnies, I would recommend getting rid of the friend even before you get rid of the dust bunnies. Seriously, we need to surround ourselves with warm, gracious and forgiving friends, not mean-minded people who are looking for ways to bring us down.

7. Organize get-togethers outside the home: If you're still feeling stressed about inviting people into your home, consider meeting outside, perhaps for a picnic in the park when the weather is nice.

8. Make it a movie night or a game night. Sometimes it can help to move the focus of the party away from the food. How about a movie evening where you serve popcorn and snacks? Or a game night where you play scrabble or cards or antakshari and serve some chaat to nibble on.

I forgot to put sugar in the muffins.
We survived.

9. Mistakes, missteps and mishaps are a learning opportunity. Sometimes, you make too little food, or the entree burns or gets over-salted. Or maybe two guests get into a heated argument about politics. None of this is a crisis. None of your guests are at risk of starving to death. Take a deep breath and try again. Of all the things that can go wrong in life, these are the most insignificant ones.







10. Communicate. If you're wondering if friends are expecting a full-blown home-cooked meal of korma and biryani while you're planning to order in pizza, don't sit and wonder and worry. E-mail them or call them and say, "We found this great pizza place- how about coming over for some  take-out pizza and salad and ice cream on Sunday night?" and see what they say. If you're worried about the reaction to something that you're planning, just ask ahead of time so friends know what to expect.

11. Relax. Think about the times you've been invited to someone's home and what you've enjoyed, then you know what your guests will enjoy. Me- I love it when my hosts are happy and relaxed and let me feel at home. I like when I'm offered seconds but don't like when I am forced to eat more than I want to. I feel anxious when the host hovers and fusses over me. It is not fun when the host apologizes for every little thing and you are compelled to protest again and again, "No, no, everything is great, really". Just kick back and enjoy the moment and the company. The food and the venue is secondary.

12. Being a good host comes with practice, practice and practice. Start small, take baby steps, see what works and do it again. Note the missteps and try to avoid them. Having friends over is a chance to be creative and show someone a good time and the friendship you get out of it is worth the extra dishes you have to wash!

I'll leave you with a recipe for your next party: my version of sev-puri.

Simplifying is all very good but I fear that my recipe for quick sev-puri is a bit too simple and quick. Because I can assemble a plate of sev-puri in under 3 minutes using stuff I have on hand and that can lead to some disastrous snacking. Consider yourself warned.

Things you need to stock up on:
1. A bag of tortilla chips, I use these in place of the traditional flour puris simply because they are easier to source.
2. Buy plain sev, sold in Indian stores.
3. Keep a boiled potato or two in the fridge.
4. Make a large batch of date tamarind chutney and store in jars, one in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.

To make sev-puri at a moment's notice:
1. Mix diced boiled potato, minced onion (a very small amount) and lots of minced cilantro.
2. Spread tortilla chips in a platter.
3. Scoop a bit of the potato mixture on each.
4. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
5.  Add dollops of the sweet chutney.
6. Top with sev and enjoy right away.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the US- I hope you have a wonderful holiday! I'll be back next Monday with the list for November 2013.

Meanwhile, tell us in the comments: Do you enjoy having friends over in your home? Got any tips to share?

No-Knead Naan and the Need to Read

I'm been doing my part to popularize Indian food lately. We made new friends in the dog park and invited them over for an Indian brunch of dosa and egg burji and such. They enjoyed the food and asked if I would teach them to cook a few Indian dishes. Nothing would make me happier, of course, and our first lesson consisted of rajma, pulao with lots of vegetables and some hard-boiled eggs, and koshimbir. They practiced that meal a few times (texting me pictures- they got an A+ each time) and then they wanted another lesson.

So we got together yesterday and made a big pot of matar paneer. Normally, I'd have put up some jeera rice to serve the curry with, but then I thought I'd try out a recipe for naan from a new bread book I'd been sent to review. I'm notoriously bad at making flatbreads and I've already shocked many readers by revealing in this post that I buy tortillas rather than rolling my own rotis. So this whole naan exercise was an experiment to say the least.

The book in which I found the naan recipe is the latest one by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François- they specialize in artisan bread in five minutes a day. The general idea is this: you mix the usual suspects- flour, water, yeast and salt without any kneading (just a quick mixing) and let the dough ferment for only a couple of hours or so on the counter top. Then cover the dough and stick it in the fridge. Later that day or over the next several days, you lop off a chunk of dough, let it rise again for a while and bake a fresh loaf. The process can be seen in this video.

This method making bread making accessible because there's very little effort involved in making the dough and when you have the dough ready, fresh bread can be made even on a weeknight, say. Hertzberg and François have adapted this general method to all sorts of doughs that in turn make a mind-boggling variety of breads. For instance, there is an olive oil dough that is perfect for pizza and focaccia, a rich eggy brioche dough for breakfast pastries and a 100% whole wheat dough for sandwich bread. I think I'm going to be baking my way through most of this book over the next few months!

The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book starts with a detailed description of the method and all sorts of tips for trouble-shooting. There is the basic master recipe which can be shaped into all kinds of artisan breads like baguette and ciabatta. Then there are chapters on flatbreads and pizza and enriched breads and pastries and a whole section devoted to gluten-free breads.

Let's circle back to the naan, which in my understanding is a flat bread that is usually made with white flour, leavened with yeast and cooked in a blazing tandoor oven, giving it puffy blistery spots and a smoky taste. In this recipe, I used the light wheat dough from The New Artisan Bread, which has a bit of whole wheat but still mostly white flour, and the naan is cooked on a hot cast iron tava, which is a very convenient way for a home cook to make it. I'm noting down the recipe as I made it, but the book has lots of details that I can't possibly cover in this post.

No-Knead Naan 

(Adapted from THE NEW ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, makes about 8 naan, serves 4-6)

1. Make the dough by mixing the following in a large bowl until the flour is incorporated:

• 1.5 cups lukewarm water
• 1/2 tbsp. granulated yeast
• 1/2 tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2. The dough will be very wet and sticky- that is OK. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours or until it rises and collapses.

3. Cover the bowl with a lid (not an airtight one) and store in the fridge. From this point, you can use the dough any time within a week. I left it in the fridge for only 6 hours or so.

4. Later when you want to make the naan, heat a cast iron griddle. Divide the dough into 8 portions, roll each one with floured hands into a round, and pan-fry with ghee. My addition was to press poppy seeds into the rolled-out naan- it makes them even tastier...and reminds me of naans served in restaurants.

The recipe suggests covering the pan to cook the inside of the naan, but I left it uncovered.

I clearly still need practice to roll out dough but the naan-making was a success. The fresh puffy naan was simply a delight to dunk into curry and savor while still hot. If you're scared of working with yeast, would be a simple recipe to dip your toes into the world of bread-making.

Disclaimer: I was sent a review copy of  THE NEW ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking at no charge. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

* * *

This next part of the post may result in lots of additions to your (probably already teetering) to-be-read pile, I'm just warning you.

Two book blogs- Regular Rumination and Sophisticated Dorkiness are hosting Nonfiction November, a month devoted to non-fiction books. I've been observing from the sidelines as several bloggers shared their favorite non-fiction reads in Week 1. Week 2 was "Be the Expert" as bloggers shared lists of books related to particular topics that interest them.

Week 3's assignment is a fairly challenging one: to pair a fiction book with a non-fiction book. As in, if you like this fiction book, then you should go and read this non-fiction book. I am recommending this pairing:

If you like Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, or any other
comics/graphic novels at all, you should read Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It is an absolutely brilliant look at the history of comics and the art of cartooning. I don't even like comics that much but McCloud's book is just so fascinating that I will be reading many more.



Also this week, I've been reading a book about books; a non-fiction book about fiction. It is called The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin. The writers are bibliotherapists- meaning that they prescribe novels to help a reader deal with the particular situation that they're facing. I can't for the life of me tell if this is an actual profession but it well could be- maybe there is a licensing exam and everything. 

The premise of the book is that while there are self-help manuals for all of life's problems, sometimes the pages of a novel can offer help in the form of a literary character facing a similar situation, or by simply transporting you to a different setting for a welcome respite. As gimmicky as the book is, I spent several hours flipping through it in delight.

Among their prescriptions, I found some books that I've read and liked and I agreed with their application, so to speak. In parentheses are quotes from the book.

Ailment- Resistance to change
Cure- Empire Falls by Richard Russo: "If..."surviving not thriving" is pretty much your MO, let Empire Falls suffuse you with a rueful understanding of the perils of inertia".

Ailment- Aging parents
Cure- Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry: "Family Matters is a wonderful example of how to look after one's aging parents with compassion- and how not to".

Ailment: Under pressure to have children
Cure- We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver: "If you are sick of justifying your childlessness...send them this novel for Christmas. They won't ask you about it again".

Ailment- Being different
Cure- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides: "Eugenides's generous expression of Cal's character shows how full and uncontainable the human personality is, how much it exceeds commonly assumed boundaries".

Ailment- Inability to express emotions
Cure- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel: "If you, too, find it difficult to say, "I love you", try saying it with food".

Ailment- Hypochondria
Cure- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: "Let this novel lure you from your bed to find your own secret garden".

There are 751 novels listed in this book, the vast majority of which I have not read, but the weird thing is that most of the descriptions sounded depressing, or just not very inviting for some reason or other and only a few novels made it onto my TBR list.

"The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna tackles head-on the varied nature of childbirth through four interweaving stories". This book is prescribed as a cure for childbirth. And here I thought there was only one cure for childbirth and that is to birth the child!

Prescribed as a cure for despair: "...Alone in Berlin teaches us that sticking tenaciously, proudly, defiantly to our sense of what is right and true is enough- and the only fail-safe cure for despair that there is". This book is written by Hans Fallada.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury is prescribed as a cure for dread. "...you are hooked. You have to know". Although Bradbury has a reputation for intensifying dread rather than alleviating it, but now I really have to read this book.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith is recommended as a cure for writer's block. I will read it and see if this cure works for me.

The book has a list of ten best novels for thirtysomethings, and I felt like I had to choose one to read: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.

Do you read much non-fiction? Got any favorites to share?