I have read more books since March 16 (and the start of my safer at home experience) than I had in the previous six months.
What have you been reading? I hope that you’ve been doing more than binging on Tiger King. 
Welcome to the latest stop on the TLC book tour and my latest read: Resurrecting Rain by Patricia Averbach. (I received a free reader’s copy for an honest review.)
About the book:
About the author:
Patricia Averbach, a Cleveland native, is the former director of the Chautauqua Writers’ Center in Chautauqua, New York.
Averbach’s second novel, Resurrecting Rain, the contemporary story of a woman who loses her house but finds her home, was released by Golden Antelope Press in 2020.
Her first novel, Painting Bridges, was described in a Cleveland Plain Dealer review as “introspective, intelligent and moving.” Her poetry chapbook, Missing Persons, received the London based Lumen/Camden award in 2013 and was selected by the Times of London Literary Supplement (Nov. 2014) as one of the best short collections of the year.
Previous work includes a memoir about her early career as Anzia Yezierska’s sixteen year old literary assistant and an article about the Jewish community in a virtual world called, Second Life. Her work has appeared in Lilith Magazine, Margie, The Muse, and The Blue Angel Review.
What I thought…
There might be some minor spoilers here so be aware.
Resurrecting Rain has a lot going on in it—a bankruptcy, a disruption of a marriage, a major con and artifact robbery, cross country travel, generations re-connecting, a search for self…
The onset reminded me a great deal of Barbara Kingsolver’s latest, Unsheltered, due to the dire financial situation of the family. I connected with Deena and empathized with her plight, set in motion by a failed investment scheme of her husband. Deena still tries to make things normal for her son, a senior in high school, as the family more than downsizes. A dashing and handsome professor shows up and as Deena’s husband falls into a deep depression, she sets off on a dalliance that will be her demise.
No spoiler alert needed here, but the middle part of the book was not my favorite. In fact, I had little hopes that I would like the book. But, when Deena flees to Florida and the aforementioned professor is finally out of the way, I began to like Deena again. She truly is reborn through fire. Her employment and friendship with Raisa, her elderly employer, saves her life in more than one way.
As she reconnects with her past and travels back to New Moon, I began reading quicker. The final part of the book was perhaps my favorite.
Can I just say that Martin, Deena’s husband, was not a character I could connect with at all? As the marriage fails, he takes off on a European bike tour. What? With money being so tight?
Please check out the other reviews from this TLC Book Tour.
The Food…
Obviously, this is not a food-centric book, but people have to eat. The first food mentioned was the dinner Deena prepares as they tell their son about the family’s financial straits. She made tacos, his favorite food, “to soften the blow.” She later makes requested pancakes for her prodigal daughter, Lauren.
Deena makes another meal to basically try to seduce her husband with lobster bisque, honey bourbon salmon, asparagus risotto, and limoncello mousse.
Matcha is mentioned often as that is Deena’s morning ritual.
The other food runs the gamut of comfort food to grocery lists, food from the secretive dinners, Santa Fe Farmers Market fare to an authentic Southwest feast.
I, of course, was drawn to the food from the New Mexico setting of the plot.
- An old pecan orchard
- Red beans and rice, cornbread and stuffed peppers
- Three-bean chili on cornbread
- Baskets of peppers, squash, apples, onions, tomatillos, corn, cilantro, goat cheese, and mozarella
- Unshelled almonds
- Mexican wedding cake
- Salsa and guacamole
- Margaritas
- Challah, apple cakes with honey, matzah ball soup, chili relenos, enchiladas, sopaipillas
Since Cinco de Mayo was coming up and there was lots of good food found in the New Moon portion of the book, I decided to focus on that. We always celebrate the holiday here with a Southwest feast and with the book ending with two of these (when Deena returns to her roots and with the seder that she makes), that’s where I headed for inspiration. I pulled out my Santa Fe Cooking School Cookbook for guidance.
Black Beans with Garlic and Chipotle
According to the cookbook: “This recipe is part of the Southwest Vegetarian class developed by Todd Sanson. These beans make a great side dish, or they can be used as a filling for burritos.”
I used the leftovers for chili.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. black beans (2 cups), picked over for stones
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 c. chopped yellow onion
- 2 t. minced garlic
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 t. Mexican oregano
- 1/2 t. coriander seeds, crushed (The original recipe calls for 2 t. dried epazote.)
- 1 chipotle in adobe, chopped (The original recipe calls for 3 dried chiptle chiles.)
- 4-5 qts. water
- 4 T. apple cider vinegar, to taste
- 1-2 t. salt, to taste
- 2 T. Sherry
- cilantro to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the beans in water to cover overnight. (Or use the quick soak method found here.)
- Heat oil in a large pot and saute the onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves, oregano, coriander, and saute for 1 minute. Add the chipotle, drained beans, and 3 quarts water. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 hours, or until the bearns are soft. Add the remaining water as needed during cooking.
- Add the vinegar and salt and continue to cook slowly for 30 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Stir in the sherry before serving. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
Yield: 6-8
I can certainly see this being whipped up in the New Moon kitchen by Rain or Casey. (The rest of our Cinco de Mayo feast consisted of these black beans on the side, along with homemade tamales with a NM chile sauce, and rice. More about the rest of the meal later.)
I love this cookbook and I would like to think I would love it if it didn’t have “Santa Fe” on the cover. Because of my hoard of cookbooks, I sometimes forget about this one. In fact, it was stuck away with my “regular” books, not on my cookbok shelves. I am so glad that Resurrecting Rain gave me the excuse to dig it out. (Another favorite recipe from this book is Green Chile and Sausage Soup.)
Thanks for introducing me another interesting author, Deb. The black bean dish looks filling and very satisfying.
It was an interesting book, Angie.
I am always drawn to Mexican too. One of our favorites in this household,
It’s a go-to cuisine here.
Good review, thanks! I would definitely add that cookbook to my hoard of cookbooks! Love the bean dish!
It’s pretty darn good, Pam. I do need to use it more.
I love your honest reviews of a book. I have such a long wish list right now, that I’m being picky. I might have to let this one slide since the subject matter isn’t really what I’m in the mood for. However, I do LOVE the black bean dish!!!!
I’m reading books I have stashed in the oddes places. It’s like shopping in a bookstore sometimes. 🙂 I sometimes wonder if the book didn’t have the NM slant if I would have reviewed it as high as I did.
Sounds like a yummy recipe!
Do NOT forget to add the vinegar and sherry (which I did initially). 🙂 That acid makes the dish.
That sounds like a very multi-ethnic novel — maybe even a little confused! I enjoyed your review, though it didn’t draw me into reading it. Black beans, though — I could get into that.
be well…mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Sorry ’bout that. There was a stretch in the book when I thought, “Seriously. What else can happen to this woman.” Talk about rebirth and self-discovery for survival.
Love the cover of that cookbook. So colourful!
I would love to transfer that design to a T-shirt.
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I really enjoyed this one too but yes SO MUCH happened. I’m glad I stayed with it though. Your black beans look delicious. I almost went the Mexican food route too. Thanks also for sharing them with Souper Sundays this week. 😉