(Dolen Perkins-Valdez, hardback). From the title you might think this is a book about the s-x word. It’s not. By a long shot. But the story, set in about 1852, is about a black slave woman, and her somewhat misguided “love” for her master. About the children she bore him, under the eagle eye of the master’s wife. But it’s all tied together with a yearly journey made to a place called Tawawa House, a rural inn of sorts in southern Ohio (a free State), that for some years allowed white slave owners to stay at the resort in rustic cottages with their black slaves, as couples. This place existed, according to the author’s afterword, and finally closed because some of the regulars (white couples who stayed in the main house) didn’t fancy this concubine business going on out in the woods. It’s about Lizzie’s relationships with the other slave women, about their desire to run to safety through the local underground, about them secretly meeting some free blacks, finding out more about abolition, and about the hardships all these black mistresses endured, and how little their lives were valued. A real stunning book. (I was sent this book as a perk from Harper Collins – because I had mentioned The Help. No strings attached – I could choose to mention this book, or not, here on my blog. I’m glad to because it’s a very good read.)
(Jamie Ford, on my Kindle). A poignant story about a Chinese-American, growing up in Seattle at the beginning of World War II. Henry falls in love with a young Japanese girl before her family is interned in a relocation camp. It a very secretive relationship because his parents would highly disapprove. The story goes back to the 40’s and forward to the 1980’s when Henry is in his 50’s and his wife (not the Japanese woman) has just died of cancer. The story pulls you in from the first page, especially when some artifacts are found in the basement of an old hotel which contain personal belongings from several Japanese families who were suddenly taken away back in 1942. You can see where it’s going, can’t you? I heard criticism of this book that it was just a little bit contrived. Halfway through I’m enjoying it very much.
(Kathryn Stockett on my Kindle, an excellent read); 
by Jetta Carleton (Kindle edition, eh); 
by Susan Richards (Kindle edition, good book); 
by Sally Gunning (Kindle edition, very good read)
; 
; 
(Mario Batali & Gweneth Paltrow); 
; 
.
If you’re anything like I am, you take zucchini for granted. It’s available almost year ‘round, and it’s a very easy and quick go-to vegetable. Today’s post is another installment in my series about fruits and veggies, based on Russ Parsons’ book, How to Pick a Peach. I buy a lot of zucchini and yellow crookneck squash every month of the year. I avoid the baby squashes and scalloped squash because I think they’re bitter. The baby varieties are very bitter to me. The scalloped squash not as much.
What I Learned:
- Grown all over the world, zucchini and the other summer squashes account for 6 million TONS of product a year.
- Consumption of squash in general has increased 33% in the last decade! 40% of zucchini sold in the U.S. comes from Mexico.
- Zucchini is actually a fairly modern invention – the first mention of it is from a 1900 Italian seed catalog. It probably made its way to the U.S. after World War I, brought by Italian immigrants to California.
- There are drawings and paintings of a zucchini-like squash from prior to 1900, but they’re two other breeds of summer squash: Cocozelle, an Italian forebear of today’s common zucchini (Cocozelle are thinner and longer than zucchini with a small bulb at one end. They’re richer in flavor and are generally about 8-9 inches long); Marrow squash (paler/greener and tapered in shape, are denser, so work well/better in soups/stews).
- More than a hundred varieties of zucchini are grown today.
- Most commonly known squashes besides zucchini are crookneck (yellow, with narrow bent necks and bulbous bodies), straightneck squash (like crooknecks but with straight bodies), and scalloped squash, which can be either yellow or green and in a flattened shape with scalloped edges.
- Golden zucchini, introduced in 1973, is also becoming more popular. At some farmer’s markets you may find round varieties (Tondo and Provencal Ronde de Nice), but they’re not actually squash but a pumpkin variety.
- Don’t forget to try squash flowers – oh so delicate – must be eaten the same day – chopped up or battered, stuffed and fried.
How to Choose & Store:
- Choose firm squash, free of wrinkles and nicks.
- Really fresh squash will bristle with tiny hairs
- Cook them within a week.
- Seal in plastic bags to keep them moist but not wet.
- Do not wash until just before preparing them.
Recipes included in the book: Zucchini frittata, and Garlic-and-herb-stuffed tomatoes and zucchini.
Here are the zucchini recipes I’ve posted so far:
Ina Garten’s Zucchini Gratin - a real favorite
Shepherd’s Pie with a Latin Twist
Calabacitas con Crema - a real favorite
Adobe Stew - a delish winter soup, but with a bit of zucchini
Sopa de Calabacitas (Mexican Zucchini Soup)
Zucchini Ribbons
Chilled Zucchini Soup
0 Comments