“In My Kitchen” May 2023

I feel like there’s less and less new things to highlight in my kitchen with each passing month.   I can’t just highlight the last farm bag no matter how great it was.  Honestly, The Hubs seems to be cooking more on his outdoor griddle than I am cooking in my kitchen.  (The griddle was highlighted last month.)

My sister gifted us with the most amazing and hilarious cookbook ever:  Feed These People by Jen Hatmaker.  Look for a review of this tomorrow or the next (or next week).  

Besides that, I’ve been doing some other foodie reading.  Most recently I finished Feast:  True Love In and Out of the Kitchen by Hannah Howard.

I started out really loving Howard’s voice and honesty but then I became a bit tired of her repeated behavior (and I’m not talking about her eating disorder because that would be insensitive).  Instead, I am referring to her serial “let’s date someone twice as old as me and see what happens.”  This happens at least four times in the book.  I did finish it and I had hopes that I might recommend it for one of my food-slanted book clubs.  I think not.

Most recently, I reread Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I read this book soon after it was published (2007) and rated it four stars on GoodReads. I pressed it along into friends’ hands as a must read. Fast forward 15+ years later and as I reread this memoir for a book club selection, I was less than enamored.

I found myself skimming whole sections of Gilbert’s philosophizing diatribes. I became totally annoyed at her whining. I also lost some respect as I learned that she did her year long journey from a $200,000 book advance for this same book.

It’s all a matter of perspective. Being older and wiser (and more judgmental), I guess.

I wanted more of her plot-line and less of her talking about cherry-picking one’s life experiences.

I am not recommending anymore. (I do say, however, that I extremely enjoy her novels, especially City of Girls.)   I did post a recipe, Olive Oil-Black Pepper Gelato, for the film version.  I did enjoy the film more too but it’s a “like” more than a “love.”  The gelato, however, is definitely a LOVE!

Finally, I’m reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus for the April/May round of Cook the Books.  (I’m hosting.)

I’m loving it so far!  Please consider joining in.

So, that’s it.  One cookbook and a few “foodie reads.”  Maybe I will have more to report for June.

IMK is hosted by Sherry’s Pickings.   Anyone can participate as we share what’s new in our kitchen (or in my case what’s new on the bookshelf.)