The Hungry Bookworm
reading + eating
I requested this story from NetGalley when I was in a very "I need an easy read" mood. Amy E. Reichert's latest novel, The Kindred Spirits Supper Club, has a touch of magical realism, a lot of food, and a quirky rom com love story.
We received Sometimes I Like to Curl Up Into a Ball second-hand. I didn’t realize it’s part of a Little Wombat series and is quite popular! Either way, it is quickly becoming popular in our house. Henry will often grab it and bring it over to have it read to him, and with the fun story and cute pictures, we are more than happy to oblige.
In it, a wombat takes children through his day, where he plays with his friends — all sorts of animals including a koala, turtle and rabbit. He likes to make funny faces, jump as high as he can, play in the mud, and of course, sometimes, he likes to curl up in a ball.
I drew inspiration from the page where the little wombat plays in the mud with his friends:
“Sometimes I like to get in a real mess,
with mud on my feet and my hands and my chest.”
In the illustration, he is sitting in the middle of a garden with his friends a rabbit, frog and a worm. He is completely covered in mud and smiling.
It reminded me of a dessert I made once as a kid — we called it a dirt cup. It was actually pudding with crushed Oreos on top and some gummy worms too.
I found a recipe that required no cooking or hot ingredients, so Henry could help me make it.
First, I made the pudding, which I did by whisking 2 cups of cold milk into a packet of instant pudding and allowing it to thicken for 5 minutes. Then, I combined it with the thawed Cool Whip. (This is where I let Henry help, though I gave him his own small bowl and spatula.)
He also, of course, wanted to help me mix the big bowl of pudding.
Once the pudding and Cool Whip were mixed, I scooped it into clear cups.
I topped it with crushed Oreos, which I crushed by breaking them up in a large Ziploc bag. (This could be a great activity for older kids, or more interested toddlers — I tried to have Henry help but he wasn’t very into it.)
Then, I added a couple of gummy worms to make it look like the messy scene in the book.
Not only was this an easy-to-make snack, it was delicious too. A perfect pairing for this charming children’s story.
Like so many hyped books before it, The Midnight Library excited me and gave me pause. I was immediately drawn to it from the description — a story about multiple lives lived and making right on past regrets — but the over-enthusiasm I saw everywhere pushed me away. I was, of course, afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype. Ultimately, though, I knew I would regret not picking it up, and so I did. It was amazing.
Matt Haig created a novel about a library in which every book contains another life Nora Seed could’ve lived. She is free to explore as many lives as she chooses, until she finds one that suits her, where she’s fulfilled, and then she will stay. In one life, Nora is famous; in another, a scientist; and in another, she just eats toast. In some lives, she is married or single, a mother or not. Family and friends who have died are now alive, and sometimes those who were living have passed on. When picking a regret to correct, Nora never quite knows what will happen in the new story of her life — she must open the book and live it.
I loved the concept. I loved the execution. Of course, I also loved that inside every book was a different life to live. And that Nora had a wonderful librarian to guide her in her journey. I was absolutely riveted and finished the entire novel within 24 hours. It made me think and feel… lots and lots of emotions.
“Librarians have knowledge. They guide you to the right books. The right worlds. They find the best places. Like soul-enhanced search engines.”
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
The life where Nora eats toast is literally one line in the novel — "In one life she only ate toast." — but it stood out to me in a story where food wasn’t paid much attention.
The other exception being a life in which Nora has a husband who "tended to put a whole bulb of garlic in every meal he created." (Sounds like an excellent husband to me!) In that same life, she enjoys "a great garlicky pasta-and-broccoli meal." Together, these things brought me to my recipe: Broccoli and Garlic-Ricotta Toasts.
If you love roasted garlic and roasted broccoli and snackables, you will love this recipe. I couldn’t get enough and was really sad when they were gone. Thankfully, making them was easy; I fully plan to make them again.
First, I toasted the baguette slices and roasted the broccoli and garlic. I sliced the baguette into thin (half inch) cuts on the bias and made sure the broccoli was cut into smallish florets so they would fit on the toasts later.
Once the bread was golden, I took it out of the oven and let the broccoli continue roasting.
When the broccoli and garlic were done — a little brown on the edges — I pulled the pan out and let it cool enough to handle the garlic. While it cooled, I quickly mixed together the drizzle, which was just honey, white wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. Then, when it was cool enough, I squished the garlic out of the peel and into a bowl.
I mixed the garlic with ricotta cheese to make the spread for the toast.
Then, I assembled the toasts. I spread each piece generously with the garlic-ricotta mixture, placed 2-3 pieces of broccoli on each, and then arranged them on a tray, drizzling them with the hot honey sauce before serving.
I know if I ever lived a life where all I ate was toast, this would be the one I want. I could eat this forever and ever.
This post contains affiliate links. This does not increase the price you pay, but I may receive a small commission for any products you choose to buy. Purchases made through affiliate links help to cover my blogging costs. Thank you for helping to support The Hungry Bookworm! Full disclosure here.
Mango and Peppercorns is a memoir told collaboratively from three perspectives — that of Tung Ngyuen, a Vietnamese immigrant; of Kathy Manning, an American who sponsored Tung; and Lyn, Tung’s daughter, born in Miami, where Tung and Kathy lived. It is a memoir not only of the immigrant experience (from both sides) but of food and family as well. Together, Tung and Kathy opened a successful, award-winning restaurant.
This memoir is a great reminder of the opportunities that American can provide and the successes immigrants can realize when given the right support. The alternating points of view made the story whole and demonstrated that all relationships — even those that are long-lasting and loving — have their conflicts.
Throughout the book, recipes were included. The one I chose to include may seem like an odd choice, but I loved that it embodied the combination of Vietnamese heritage and American culture shared throughout the book. This macaroni and cheese is one that Tung made for Lyn, who as a younger girl preferred American food over her mother’s traditional Vietnamese cooking — yes, the cooking that made Tung an acclaimed chef. But, as Lyn realizes in retrospect, sometimes children don’t always appreciate what’s in front of them until it’s no longer there.
Anyway, Tung tried to bring some Vietnamese flavors to a very traditional American dish, primarily by adding fish sauce and Accent flavoring. I didn’t end up including Accent flavoring because my local supermarket didn’t have any and I didn’t have time to run to the Asian market, so that may have affected my experience with the recipe.
It was really easy to make: start by boiling macaroni. Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt some butter, brown onions and garlic and add ground beef, cooking until browned. To that, add fish sauce and salt (and Accent flavoring).
Once the macaroni is finished, drain and rinse in cold water. Add the ground beef mixture and stir to mix. Pour it into a 9x13 pan — I found deep dish was best — and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover in foil and bake until the cheese is melted.
I really loved the idea of this macaroni more than the finished product. I didn’t think the fish sauce was enough to bring out that flavor. I also didn’t like how the cheese was just melted on the top and not incorporated throughout. (I prefer a creamy macaroni and cheese myself.) To me, the dish honestly tasted like ground beef with noodles and some cheese.
That said, I’m sure the Accent flavoring would’ve made a huge difference! I may experiment again with more fish sauce and creating more of a cheese sauce than just sprinkling it on top before baking.
I sort of wish I had chosen one of the many many more traditional Vietnamese recipes Tung serves at the restaurant, but honestly, a lot of them had ingredients that are hard to find here. They all sounded absolutely mouth-watering though!
*I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This post contains affiliate links. This does not increase the price you pay, but I may receive a small commission for any products you choose to buy. Purchases made through affiliate links help to cover my blogging costs. Thank you for helping to support The Hungry Bookworm! Full disclosure here.
It’s well-documented over my years blogging here that short stories aren’t for me… usually. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of short story collections I’ve truly enjoyed. That being said, Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is one such collection. And I didn’t just like it — I loved it. It was my first 5-star read of the year and my first 5-star short story collection ever.
It’s a slim volume, so I expected to get through it quickly but it ended up going even faster than I thought — I finished it the same day I started. I couldn’t put it down, which is unusual for me with a short story collection since it has several natural "take a break" points. The stories in Church Ladies focus on Black women and their varied relationships. They are told with insight and nuance, each word chosen with precision. Each story quickly drew me in, kept me engaged and then ended without leaving me wanting.
The best part of this collection is that there was a clear food tie-in, which meant I got to write a review-recipe pairing for it! That food? Peach cobbler. There is, in fact, a story titled for the dessert in which it plays a feature role, and it’s mentioned in at least one other story too. It was possibly my favorite story, though I loved so many of them, it’s hard to pick a true favorite.
Anyway, "Peach Cobbler" starts as such:
My mother’s peach cobbler was so good it made God himself cheat on his wife.
The main character watches her mother making the cobbler covertly, longing "to perfect the sweetness and textures" of her mother’s recipe. She also describes eating it:
I grabbed a handful of the cobbler and shoved it all in my mouth at once. The sugary juice dribbled over the corner of my mouth down to my chin as I chewed. I savored the peaches and the soft bits of crust soaked through with the syrup.
Now, if that doesn’t make you want to gobble down your own peach cobbler, I don’t know what will. But I absolutely had to have some. I googled around to see if Philyaw herself shared a recipe somewhere, since she wrote about the "best cobbler in the world" with some authority, but I couldn’t find one. So, I settled for a Southern peach cobbler recipe that the creator says she spent an entire summer perfecting.
I can’t help but agree that it is very delicious, even though I had to use canned peaches because fresh aren’t in season right now. (In the story, the mother uses fresh, except when not in season and is described as taking great care to drain the canned peaches, so I felt okay doing the same. But I can’t wait to try making it with fresh fruit this summer!)
As I mentioned before, I started with canned peaches. I used 5 cans, or what ended up being just over 6 cups. I drained 3 of the cans and used the juice from the other two, as the recipe creator recommended using about half the juice when using canned peaches. I cut them into bite-size chunks, except when the slices were already small or thin.
I tossed them with lemon juice, white and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch. Then, I poured them into a 9x13 glass baking dish.
I baked the peaches for 10 minutes in a 425-degree oven. Meanwhile, I made the topping.
I grated cold butter using my food processor.
Then I combined the dry ingredients — flour, white and brown sugars again, salt and baking powder. To them, I added the grated butter and then a half cup of boiling water, stirring it all together until just combined.
I used a small spoon to drop the crust in dollops onto the peaches.
I sprinkled the whole thing with cinnamon sugar and then slipped the dish back into the oven to bake for just under a half hour, until the crust was baked through and golden.
It was a mouthwatering pairing for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies — one that I will absolutely be making again.
This post contains affiliate links. This does not increase the price you pay, but I may receive a small commission for any products you choose to buy. Purchases made through affiliate links help to cover my blogging costs. Thank you for helping to support The Hungry Bookworm! Full disclosure here.
I’m shocked to report that I’ve already read 20 books this year! At this rate, I should probably up my 2021 reading goal, but I’m kind of loving that it can give me the luxury of finally checking out some of those reallllllly long books that have been sitting on my TBR forever — so for now I’m leaving it. This last month also gave me my first AND second 5-star reads of the year, which is awesome. Let’s dive into what I read and see if there’s any you’d like to check out.
