RCE Book Club Updates & Sept/Oct Selections!

Well, I finally managed to snag myself a copy of our book of the month, Garlic and Sapphires, and finished it this morning while the boyfriend was off flying around Canada for work. Drinking my coffee, listening to Dave Brubeck and contemplating what to eat for breakfast (I ended up at 11 having leftover orrecchiette with Mario Batali's Bolognese sauce from last night's dinner) put me in just the right New York state of mind to finish the story.

For those who haven't yet gotten down to reading it, I urge you to dive right on in. Its a fast read and can be easily digested in commuting time hits. I'm going to save my review for a later time but let's just say that I enjoyed it.

Okay, so I've got my first submission of a recipe review from Connie (thanks!) and I'm going to start posting them on August 1st - first come, first served. Remember we all wanna hear about the recipe AND how we liked the book. There's a few things that came up for me in reading it that I'd love to hear how other people felt...

1. One can imagine why she became food obsessed (I've not read her other books so don't spoil it for me if she actually writes about it outside of this book, ok?) and ultimately a food critic - but what were YOUR foodie moments? What brought you to seek out other like-minded food people?
2. If you could pick one restaurant in your experience that deserves four stars what would it be and why?
3. What would the restaurant of your dreams look like? Sound like? Feel like? Smell like? Where would it be located and what kind of food would it serve?

Okay, now that that's done - we have our September and October books to announce. I've decided to announce these WAY early so that we can all either a) save up to purchase them or b) order them from the library or c) borrow them from friends wherever we can. Please don't feel as though one needs to be rich and able to buy these books on a whim - cookbooks (particularly hardcover ones) can be expensive - and I'd hate for anyone to not be able to participate because of it. So, here we go!

September
This is an interesting month, because I'm going to surprise you and make it a DOUBLE PLUS GOOD month! We're going to read TWO books! There's just too much out there that we all want to read (based on your comments and emails) so we're going to do another memoir month - but this time, I want a recipe that you're inspired to make or create based on either one (or both) of these books. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to READ both - pick one or the other and go with it! So, we're going to read Heat by Bill Buford (an interesting review can be found on Amazon's page by our second author of the month) AND The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain. I'm really looking forward to both - and can't wait to see what we come up with for recipes!
Heat @ Amazon.com
Heat @ Amazon.ca
Heat @ Indigo

The Nasty Bits @ Amazon.com
The Nasty Bits @ Amazon.ca
The Nasty Bits @ Indigo

October
This month is going to be all about seasonality of Autumn. When I was thinking about what I'd like to be reading in October I wanted something big and comforting and ORANGE. So, we're going to be reading Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin. Its all about the season, but considering that the recipes in this amazing book (it won a James Beard Cookbook award for pete's sake!) are a bit more challenging, a bit complicated at times and a bit time consuming - just the thing for the colder weekends some of us will be starting to experience in October. So, pick a recipe from the Autumnal section of the book and let me know what you're into making!
Sunday Suppers at Lucques @ Amazon.com
Sunday Suppers at Lucques @ Amazon.ca
Indigo


Again, don't feel too much pressure about getting the feedback to me straight away, I won't be publishing anything more on the September and October selections until the end of August so you have plenty of time to go check them all out. Looking forward to it already!