Category Archives: Weekly Round Up

Final Roundup: My Life in France

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The end of My Life in France was certainly poignant.  It was bittersweet to read about Julia and Paul’s declining years, and the winding up of their affairs.  I suppose a little sadness when it comes time to say good-bye is the price one pays for most good things in life, and I often experience a little sigh of homesickness at the end of a really good book.  So I’m going to try to take a page out of Julia’s book, and look forward, not back: “I’ve always felt that when I’m done with something I just walk away from it—fin!”

But before we walk away, here are some of the highlights from January:

A final housekeeping note before we move on: A few people tweeted that they were “behind” on their reading during January.  Please remember that this isn’t college, and the reading schedule is mostly intended to prevent spoilers–but certainly not meant to induce guilt or Twitter silence!  If you’re behind the schedule, Tweet away about wherever you are at in the book and jump into the conversation.  We know life gets busy, and we still enjoy hearing your thoughts!

Our Next Book

February’s book selection is The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister.  We’re transitioning from memoir to fiction, and looking forward to diving into this novel about the students at a cooking class.

February 1st-7th: Discuss Chapters Prologue-Claire

We’re once again building a Spotify playlist to go with this month’s book selection.  Check out our The School of Essential Ingredients playlist, and please share any suggestions you have for songs that belong on the playlist.

Find us on Twitter @ediblebookclub and don’t forget to use the #ediblebooks hashtag.

If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

 

Weekly Round Up: Week Three, My Life in France by Julia Child

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It’s been a busy week for Edible Books, between the Twitter conversation about the book, and a surprising number of excellent book nominations for next month.

In chapters five and six of My Life in France, Julia starts to see some real success, between sales of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her TV show, The French Chef.

What I kept coming back to over and over again this week as I read was Julia’s character.  Maybe to some extent she was a representative of her times—they were called The Greatest Generation, after all.  She rolled up her sleeves and worked tirelessly, with focus and determination.  She was clear-eyed but compassionate about her own limitations and those of her friends.  She was grateful for what she had and truly enjoyed life.  When things went wrong she didn’t waste time lamenting (or apologizing for a bad meal!), but said ‘eh bien, tant pis’, laughed, and soldiered on.

My admiration for Julia Child keeps growing as I read, and I find that she is a real role model.

Bonne Lecture!~Christina

January 22nd-31st: This week we will read Chapter 7-Epilogue, wrapping up My Life in France.

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If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

Weekly Round Up: Week Two, My Life in France by Julia Child

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Just before I round up our week I would like to touch on a point from chapter two. In 1949 when Julia Child arrived at the École du Cordon Bleu in Paris the cost of the course was $450, almost $4500 (£2800) in today’s money which would have been a significant financial commitment but it was one that she discussed with Paul who agreed that it would be “essential to her well-being” for her to continue. It is just another in a long line of demonstrations of Paul’s love for Julia that he would be prepared to spend so much money to make her happy. And, at that point they had no idea what path this course would take Julia on.

But, by 1952, just four years after Julia arrived in France with barely the ability to boil and egg she opened her cookery school with her future Mastering The Art of French Cooking collaborators Simone Beck Fischbacher and Louisette Bertholle. Julia’s path was well and truly on its way to being laid.

These latest chapters have shown us more of Julia’s determination, Paul’s talents and his declining health, introduced us to Simone (SImca) and Louisette and tantalised our taste buds with yet more descriptions of delicious French cuisine but it is these few short sentences that have stood out from anything else for me this week.

“For Simca and Jean [Fischbacher], the subject of food was a precious and meaningful thing. During the war, they had faced terrible deprivations: Jean has been captured by the Nazis, and Simca sent him messages sewn inside prunes that were delivered to the prison camp…he [Jean] had nicknamed his wife Simca after the little Renault model she drove. He thought it funny that such a big woman could fit in  such a tiny car”

These words give the impression of people who are so grateful for the good fortune that they now have the wonderful life they do and the expression of love in prune encased letters is beautiful while the origin of her nickname is both hilarious and yet such a tender example of another couple so in love.

This week January 15th-21st we will continue reading Chapter 5-Chapter 6.

Have a good week everyone – Natalie. 

Find us on Twitter @ediblebookclub #ediblebooks

If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

Weekly Round Up: Week One, My Life in France by Julia Child

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Well, it is the end of the first week of our first book of 2013. Firstly, happy new year to you all. Secondly, how are you enjoying our choice for January?

For me the book choice could not have kicked the year off more perfectly. I have been berating myself for letting my home culinary adventures slip slightly but the injection of French cuisine has certainly got me thinking about heading back into the kitchen.

There is a strong sense of love in this book. From the outset the love that Julia Child had for France and the food she discovered (and subsequently learned to cook) oozes through the page and into the imagination making your senses tingle and mouth water. But the love she had for her husband, Paul, shines through. She was clearly as devoted to him as he was to her; something that should never be taken lightly.

I get the impression from the few pages we have read so far that Julia thought of herself as an awkward person but knew how to use that to her advantage and make herself appeal to others. It is easy to build up a picture of a person from a book but I am finding myself heavily influenced by Meryl Streep’s portrayal of her in the film, Julie and Julia. I can see her tall stature, curled brown hair and shrill voice. I am not familiar with the real Julia from television but would be interested to know who else is reading this book and hearing her in their mind like I do.

What are your first impressions of Julia? Have you cooked anything from Mastering the Art of French Cooking? Let us know.

Have a great week everyone – Natalie

Are you new to Edible Books? Find us on Twitter @ediblebookclub #ediblebooks and join our delicious debate.

If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

Final Roundup: Toast by Nigel Slater

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My final thoughts on Toast by Nigel Slater?  The conclusion I’m left with as we finish this book is that memoir is a very tricky business.

There’s the issue of truthfulness–a memoir is meant to be a true account of a part of the writer’s life, but truth is a very subjective matter and an author writing his or her own story necessarily has a biased point of view.

Then there’s the matter of kindness.  Decisions about what to write, what to leave out, how to portray family members–these are all choices that have to be made, and they can destroy relationships.

And finally, I’ve been musing over what it means to be the narrator and protagonist of one’s own story.

Toast was ultimately a very sad book, at times infuriating, occasionally sweet and funny–but I guess real life is like that–we can tweak the details here and there in our own retelling of events, but none of us gets to be the hero of every scene of our own story.

Our Next Book

January’s book choice is My Life in France. Start the New Year with Julia Child and Edible Books!

January 1st-7th: Discuss Intro-Chapter 2

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If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

Weekly Round Up – Week 3 of Toast by Nigel Slater

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It’s that time of the week again where we do a bit of a round up.

Now, if you have been following our discussion on Twitter then you will probably know that I am slightly behind in my reading. This is not through the pressures of work or family; it is because I am just not enjoying the book.

I find it disappointing when I open a new book (or click on my Kindle) and begin reading with anticipation that this book will keep me entertained from the first to the last pages and it fails to deliver.

This week we have been discussing chapters Smoked Haddock to Coffee and Walnut Cake and while I have yet to gel with any of the characters, I have found a certain amount of empathy for Nigel’s (now deceased) mother. She clearly adored her son and her loss was very much felt through the household but I still cannot understand why her inability to cook was mentioned on so many occasions. Was it to make her the butt of a joke or just to fill some pages?  Maybe she couldn’t cook but at least she put something on the table each night for her family to eat. Quite a large part of our discussion has been about our dislike of how the family have been portrayed in the book and it is something that Christina and I have discussed away from Twitter also. What are your thoughts?

As with the previous chapters we have discussed, the food Nigel talks about is like a walk down memory lane. The sweets, the canned beans and sausage and banana custard are all foods that I remember from my childhood (some good, some really not very good) and hold a real sense of happiness. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for Nigel.

Thanks as always to all of you who have been keeping the discussion going this week. As we move into our final week of discussion – chapters Candyfloss-Toast 3 – I will bid you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. On Friday we will announce the shortlist for our January read and then open the polls for you to vote, the polls will remain open until 26 December and then we will announce the book choice for our first read of 2013.

Have a great final week everyone and don’t forget the #ediblebooks hashtag on your Tweets so we can find them easily.

-          Natalie

Weekly Roundup: Toast, Week 2

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As we’ve continued discussing Toast by Nigel Slater this week, we’ve gone from reading about various kinds of sweets to darker subjects including child abuse and the death of young Nigel’s mother.  I find myself going back and forth between moments of delight at descriptions of food and frustration with the characters in this sad memoir.

I’ll be honest–I’m not enjoying every moment of this book.  But I’ve learned over the years that the best book club discussions are often about a book that not everyone liked.  I’m forced to think more about what’s working for me, what isn’t, and why.  That leads to a much richer debate.

So I’m hanging in there with Toast, and looking forward to more stimulating conversation with all of you about the ups, the downs, or whatever pops into your head as you continue reading.

~Christina

December 15th-21st:  Discuss Chapters Smoked Haddock-Coffee and Walnut Cake (pp. 110-159)

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If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

Weekly Round Up: Toast by Nigel Slater

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Here we are again, at the end of our first week of reading. How are you enjoying our December book selection?

I am finding it a fairly easy but enjoyable read. It’s full of food which comes as no surprise and is like a trip down memory lane. The little plates of cucumber and tomato in vinegar, tinned ham and canned puddings, Angel Delight and so many sweets I have lost count.

I had a suspicion when I started reading Toast that our US readers may have trouble with some of the food so I am going to try to sort that out!

  • Parma Violets – tiny round violet coloured sweets in a paper tube. Smelled a bit like soap powder, didn’t taste much better.
  • Sherbert Fountain – a firework shaped paper tube full of white sherbert. Sticking out of the top was a liquorice stick to dip in it. The liquorice was soft and the sherbert not that fiery.
  • Refreshers – multicoloured round chalky sweets that fizzled and frothed in your mouth.
  • Love Hearts – a bit like refreshers but with a heart imprint on them. They used to have little messages on each one such as “shy boy” or “be mine” but they have moved on and it’s all “text me” or “IM me” now.
  • Sherbert Lemons – lemon flavoured boiled sweets with a fizzy centre.
  • Thorntons Toffee – the best, in my opinion, toffee you can get. Its hard and sweet and makes you dribble if you put too much in your mouth. Not sure that you still get a toffee hammer with your box though.
  • Cream Soda – we never had cream soda but we did get Dandelion and Burdock which was a dark brown fizzy pop (soda) that tasted earthy yet very synthetic.
  • Cadburys Smash – instant potato.
  • Fry’s Chocolate Creams – a delicious mint fondant covered with milk or dark chocolate. You can still get them today and they are lovely.
  • Milky Way – a soft brown fluffy nougat sort of thing wrapped in milk chocolate.
  • Sweet Cigarettes – thin hard sticks of white candy with a little red end. You can’t get these anymore, unsurprisingly!
  • Chocolate Cigarettes – sticks of thin chocolate wrapped in white paper so they looked like actual cigarettes. I am laughing while I write this as I can remember having these at my granny’s kitchen table while she sat and had a proper cigarette. How times change.
  • Swiss Roll – a rolled up sponge layered with jam (and cream if you were posh)
  • Cadburys Mini Roll – tiny little chocolate swiss rolls covered in a layer of milk chocolate.
  • The Fray Bentos Pie – you will have to wait until next week for that culinary delight!

In week two we will discuss Chapters: Jelly 2-Fray Bentos Steak & Kidney Pie (approx pp. 58-109)

Have a good week and keep Tweeting (don’t forget the #ediblebooks hash tag).

Natalie

Final Roundup: White Truffles in Winter by N.M. Kelby

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What a month of discussion it has been!  We have spent November immersed in turn of the 20th century London, Paris and Monte Carlo getting to know Escoffier, his wife Delphine, Sarah Bernhardt, and a cast of other characters who cook, eat, love, and are all too fallible—which is what makes them come alive in the pages of this book.

White Truffles in Winter is a lush book, full of phrases so beautiful that I had to stop reading for a moment and just savor them.  And the food!  Many crustaceans lost their lives in this story, but the descriptions of the food, from aligot (mashed potatoes with cheese) to Cherries Jubilee are truly mouthwatering.  I look forward to trying a few of Escoffier’s recipes soon.

Of course, having the author’s participation added extra sparkle to the Twitter discussion in November.  There were many other participants who offered thoughtful, insightful, or just plain funny Tweets as well.  Amongst my favorites: our attempt to enumerate the six hundred ways Escoffier could cook an egg (we barely came up with a dozen), and the Silence of the Lambs tangent.  It’s a pleasure reading and discussing with all of you!

~Christina

Our Next Book

December’s book choice is Toast by Nigel Slater. This book is very different from White Truffles in Winter, but we think it will be just as much fun to read and discuss.

December 1st-7th: Discuss Chapters Toast 1-Jelly 1 (pp 1-57)

Find us on Twitter @ediblebookclub and don’t forget to use the #ediblebooks hashtag.

If you need more information about Edible Books, please read the participation guidelines here.

Weekly Round Up: White Truffles in Winter, Chapters 17-24

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These chapters have brought us no less excitement, provocation and, of course, delicious food than the previous. The conversation has really heated up and has brought frustration with Sarah, exasperation at Escoffier and the hope of a blossoming relationship between Sabine and Bobo. And, the introduction of Rosa, a formidable cook, student of Escoffier and wearer of trademark black boots.

I am finding myself more and more frustrated with Sarah (and Escoffier) as the book progresses. We find her heartbroken at the death of her unfaithful husband from a narcotics overdose, jealous at Escoffier’s relationship with his student Rosa and indifferent to the news of the return of Delphine (now pregnant) and Escoffier’s children. She is self absorbed, no stranger to adultery herself and lives her life as one continuous play rehearsal. The attempt on her own life towards the end of chapter 20 forces me to think; was it an attempt or just another theatrical production?

After Sarah’s suicide bid, Escoffier once again lets his wife and family down by leaving them standing at the station after they had travelled to be with him. Cries of “get yourself off the floor Escoffier” and “go and be with your family” echoed around Twitter. I think that we are all feeling the frustration with the hold these women have over the Chef and how his obsession with them and his food are pushing those who should be in the forefront of his thoughts away. It has been said that he adored Delphine. I, personally am not seeing it.

Last week on BBC4, chef Michel Roux jnr. presented a programme on Escoffier. It is a great insight into how he revolutionised eating out and how is deceptions became his downfall. If you have been following the book with us there are many parts of the programme and landmarks featured that you will recognise. It is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 23 November.

This week we will be putting up the book nominations received for December. To make sure the book you want to read is chosen then vote for it in our poll and encourage friends and family to do the same.

I know what I will be voting for. Have a great final week everyone – Natalie.

Next week: November 22nd-30th: Discuss Chapters 25-31