A lovely evening at Ann’s first bookclub hosting and our last bookclub of 2017! Everyone made it except Laura who is retiring December 12th and whose co-workers chose this evening to give her a leaving party… We are all very happy for Laura, but she was missed!!

Aside from Jeanne arriving late with the wine the evening the evening proceeded smoothly and with the usual animated discussions. The sandwiches (on amazing focaccia breads) with assorted mustard’s, homemade pickles and sweet potato fries were delicious and certainly provided sustenance for lively discussions.

This post will be added to as Ann is going to send some of the links for sites that she used when reading this book with her class.

From R.J. Palacio’s blog here are Mr. Brown’s Precepts:

SEPTEMBER

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”  —Dr. Wayne Dyer

OCTOBER

“Your deeds are your monuments.”—Inscription on an Egyptian tomb

NOVEMBER

“Have no friends not equal to yourself.” —Confucious

DECEMBER

“Fortune favors the bold.” —Virgil

JANUARY

“No man is an island, entire of itself.” —John Donne

FEBRUARY

“It is better to know some of the questions than al of the answers.” —James Thurber

MARCH

“Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.” —Blaise Pascal

APRIL

“What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful.” —Sappho

MAY

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.” —John Wesley’s Rule

JUNE

“Just follow the day and reach for the sun!” —The Polyphonic Spree

A lovely fall evening at Erin’s discussing Maya Angelou and her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Erin used recipes from Maya Angelou’s cookbook and made us a southern feast:

Roasted chicken, salad, sweet potatoes and buttermilk biscuits to die for followed by an over the top amazing caramel cake with extra caramel sauce to drizzle on top!!!

This “morning after” message from Karen expresses the evening and the powerful storytelling of Maya Angelou:

Good Morning All, Firstly I want to thank Erin for suggesting our book and introducing me to Maya Angelou.  I think we can all agree on the power of her storytelling, her ability to take us into her world, a world that is both joyous and painful and most of all keenly felt.  A remarkable woman whose work I may not have read if it wasn’t for our beloved book club.

And thanks Erin for hosting such a delicious evening (please pass along those recipes).  Your home is so comfortable and welcoming (thanks also to Dexter!).  All in all a very special night.

By the way, you may remember I mentioned that Maya had appeared on Charlie Rose.  I found this 13 minute compilation of his favourite interviews.  It is worth watching as it includes a visit to Stamp and the infamous walk from the pond to the railroad tracks and the white side of town.

https://charlierose.com/videos/17765

From Bev:

And may I add my thanks to you, Erin for a wonderful evening. And thank you for suggesting such a wonderful book and author. It is truly amazing in a  world that seems to have gone mad to hear this eloquent, quiet voice who frames her experiences with words so beautifully crafted and so powerful.  A gem.

After the book discussion we discussed the next cycle book list. Ann’s bookclub December 7th is the last for this cycle. The book is Wonder by R. J. Palacio.

Karen was prepared enough to bring her choices (and it was a very difficult decision to choose!!)

Recipes

http://greatideas.people.com/2014/05/28/maya-angelou-cookbook-buttermilk-biscuit-recipe/

Maya Angelou’s Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe – Great Ideas … greatideas.people.com Rob Schoenbaum/AP. Since her death on Wednesday at age 86, Maya Angelou has been hailed as an award-winning poet, best-selling author and fearless civil …

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=13528375

Maya Angelou’s Sweet Potatoes McMillan abcnews.go.com Maya Angelou prepares sweet potatoes McMillan from her cookbook “Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart.”

http://www.oprah.com/food/maya-angelous-caramel-cake-recipe

Maya Angelou’s Caramel Cake Recipe – Oprah.com www.oprah.com Get the recipe for Caramel Cake from Dr. Maya Angelou’s cookbook ‘Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes.’

Moira hosted our first book after the summer. Starting with an outstanding charcuterie board in her lovely basement we watched a video of the Coppermine area. (Link should be attached here soon)

Dinner (not raw fish to the relief of all) was a delicious pot roast, roasted vegetables and a peach crisp with ice cream for dessert.

A couple reviews about book Coppermine:

“Part epic adventure, part romance, and part true-crime thriller, Coppermine is a dramatic, compelling, character-driven story set in 1917 in the extremes of Canada’s far north and the boom town of Edmonton.

The story begins when two missionaries disappear in the remote Arctic region known as the Coppermine. North West Mounted Police officer Jack Creed and Angituk, a young Copper Inuit interpreter, are sent on a year-long odyssey to investigate the fate of the lost priests. On the shores of the Arctic Ocean near the mouth of the Coppermine River, they discover their dismembered remains. Two Inuit hunters are tracked and apprehended, and the four begin an arduous journey to Edmonton, to bring the accused to justice.”

Goodreads

May 25th was a cold spring night, and we got cozy in Jill’s living room to watch a 2015 CBC interview with Shad and Margaret Atwood talking about the book. Many lively spin off discussions ensued, both during the interview and throughout the dinner. I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed but I think each successive book is leading us deeper into the rabbit hole of current political, environmental and social issues.

Everyone was there except Karen who was celebrating with Craig his 65th birthday! The menu started with tapenade and bruschetta (recipe below) while watching the interview. The meal was Butter Chicken (in honour of Stan’s job in prison with the chickens. Dessert was Frozen Lemon Mousse (with blueberries) super yummy:-) (recipe below)

Here is the Goodreads synopsis of the book which I will start including so forgetful people like me can get a memory jog when we look back at these posts.

The Heart Goes Last: “Living in their car, surviving on tips, Charmaine and Stan are in a desperate state. So, when they see an advertisement for Consilience, a ‘social experiment’ offering stable jobs and a home of their own, they sign up immediately. All they have to do in return for suburban paradise is give up their freedom every second month – swapping their home for a prison cell. At first, all is well. But then, unknown to each other, Stan and Charmaine develop passionate obsessions with their ‘Alternates,’ the couple that occupy their house when they are in prison. Soon the pressures of conformity, mistrust, guilt and sexual desire begin to take over.”

RECIPES

Jill: “I call it Nicole’s bruschetta as she gave the recipe to me, passed on by her Italian grandmother.”

Preheat oven on broiler mode.

Combine Roma tomatoes, approx 7, chopped.
1/2 cup of sundried tomatoes,
3 cloves of chopped garlic, (or according to size and taste. I usually use a little more garlic)
1/4 cup of olive oil.
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
1/4 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper.
1/4 cup of fresh basil.
Let mixture stand in bowl for at least 10 minutes, can be made ahead and kept in fridge overnight.

Cut Italian loaf into slices and put on baking sheet.
Broil until bread is golden brown ( 1-2 minutes)
Cool, then spread mixture evenly on top of bread slices.
Add shredded mozzarella cheese or thinly cut Brie on top.
Broil until cheese is melted, (4-5 minutes).

(I have used a large slice of Italian loaf, and spread mixture over, with a salad for a lunch dish)

Frozen Lemon Mousse.

2-3 tablespoons of ground almonds.
4 egg yolks.
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice.
1/4 cup sugar.
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest.
4 egg whites.
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.
3/4 cup sugar.
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped.
Lightly butter bottom and sides of ramekins or large serving dish, for choice of individual servings or one large dish, as mine was.
Sprinkle with ground almonds and shake to cover bottom and sides.
Combine egg yolks, lemon juice, 1/4 cup of sugar and lemon zest in large bowl. Mix well. Set aside.
Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the 3/4 cup of sugar, beating until the egg whites are glossy and stand in tall peaks.
Gently fold the egg whites and whipped cream into the yolk mixture.
Pour into serving dishes, cover with tin foil and freeze for at least 8 hours. May be made up to two weeks ahead. Keep in freezer until about 20 minutes before serving time and put in fridge.
Decorate with choice of fruit, toasted almonds, lemons etc.

Bev served us a Russian feast including her homemade Gravlax, pickled beets, cabbage rolls, meatballs, and apple cake:-)

The book was a complete departure from other books written by Julian Barnes and its subject, a very famous 20th century Russian composer, was previously unknown to all of us except Jill who wrote; “It was a poignant evening for me, as Shostakovich was one of my mother’s favourite composers, she played his symphonies often and spoke highly of him. How she would have enjoyed the discussion.”

I’m not certain how many of us actually enjoyed the book, but it generated great discussion and enlightened us a little about what it was like to live in Russia during  Stalin’s regime. As with all the books we have discussed recently this one was timely in subject and provoked discussions of the current state of the world, with Trump and Putin’ governments in power and the pendulum swing away from tolerance and moderation to control, divisiveness and fear.

Bev sent us the following documentary about Hitler’s Siege of Leningrad and Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony.

https://vimeo.com/188663567

About the book:

“Barnes’s latest novel is a gripping fictionalized account of the composer’s life, and the anguished compromises he made under Stalin” The Guardian

“In 1936, Shostakovitch, just thirty, fears for his livelihood and his life. Stalin, hitherto a distant figure, has taken a sudden interest in his work and denounced his latest opera. Now, certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or, more likely, executed on the spot), Shostakovitch reflects on his predicament, his personal history, his parents, various women and wives, his children—and all who are still alive themselves hang in the balance of his fate. And though a stroke of luck prevents him from becoming yet another casualty of the Great Terror, for decades to come he will be held fast under the thumb of despotism: made to represent Soviet values at a cultural conference in New York City, forced into joining the Party and compelled, constantly, to weigh appeasing those in power against the integrity of his music.

Barnes elegantly guides us through the trajectory of Shostakovitch’s career, at the same time illuminating the tumultuous evolution of the Soviet Union. The result is both a stunning portrait of a relentlessly fascinating man and a brilliant exploration of the meaning of art and its place in society.” Goodreads.com

The feast!

A disturbing read! An Interesting author and another lovely evening!

The Little Red Chairs:

A woman discovers that the foreigner she thinks will redeem her life is a notorious war criminal.

Vlad, a stranger from Eastern Europe masquerading as a healer, settles in a small Irish village where the locals fall under his spell. One woman, Fidelma McBride, becomes so enamored that she begs him for a child. All that world is shattered when Vlad is arrested, and his identity as a war criminal is revealed.

Fidelma, disgraced, flees to England and seeks work among the other migrants displaced by wars and persecution. But it is not until she confronts him-her nemesis-at the tribunal in The Hague, that her physical and emotional journey reaches its breathtaking climax.

Edna O’Brien:

Edna O’Brien (b. 1930), an award-winning Irish author of novels, plays, and short stories, has been hailed as one of the greatest chroniclers of the female experience in the twentieth century. She is the 2011 recipient of the Frank O’Connor Prize, awarded for her short story collection Saints and Sinners. She has also received, among other honors, the Irish PEN Award for Literature, the Ulysses Medal from University College Dublin, and a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Literary Academy. Her 1960 debut novel, The Country Girl, was banned in her native Ireland for its groundbreaking depictions of female sexuality. Notable works also include August Is a Wicked Month (1965), A Pagan Place (1970), Lantern Slides (1990), and The Light of Evening (2006). O’Brien lives in London.

Both the above synopsis from Goodreads.com

An animated evening! Thank you Josee!!

Josee served us a Montreal feast with the best poutine ever (a healthy version with roasted potatoes) and Montreal smoked meat from the Beach Road Deli on Locke Street in Hamilton.

Loved the myriad discussions provoked by the themes of abandonment, white trash, culture and politics, with a hint of religion thrown into the mix just because it fit lol. It was a pleasure to have Ann join us for the first time, but too bad that Jill was unable to make it.

Laura wrote:

It was another great evening last night and I’m glad to have made it there for a portion of the evening. Dinner as always was most tasty, with my favourite being the eggplant and both sauces, so I hope to see the recipes on the blog. Thank you again for being a fabulous host, and thanks everyone for the lively conversation.

Politics being a family obsession I really appreciate your recommendation Karen of such an informative book. I thoroughly enjoyed learning the back story and understanding how each man had so much to lose by failing to come to an agreement. Unavoidably we ventured into the US election and Moira spoke about the Toronto Star reporter who has been a news item himself through his meticulous fact-checking. His name is Daniel Dale, and his posts are also on Twitter – the link below is for today’s posting. Additionally I’m sending along a link to a Globe and Mail article about how Canada could be affected by a Trump presidency. You may find this thought provoking as well, and feel free to comment further – is it all doom and gloom?

Jane wrote:

Thanks Karen for a wonderful evening and recommending (with a little help from John) such an informative and thought provoking book. I learned so many things reading this book and realized how little I know about fairly recent history.

The food was perfect and much appreciated. Recipes and sources are definitely required.

And from Josee:

Thank you Karen and all for a wonderful evening.

As I sit here and reflect on our evening, starting with when I arrived and seeing you all sitting outside on a most beautiful and open porch, Karen prepping dinner inside in a dream for kitchen, to our many diverse dialogues ranging from peace, children, grand children, food, our World, the beauty of diversity, amazing people and mind who have made differences and touched us, where we all fit in, being thankful for where we live…. oh my gosh, I could go on. Yes, we are so lucky and fortunate to live here in Canada….. May we continue to embrace each other and be grateful     lol 🙂