(by Kate Morton, on my Kindle); several generations of women pepper this book with the story of their lives. It all revolves around a young girl who arrives on a pier in Australia in 1912 with no papers, no family. Nothing except a small white suitcase with little concrete information about her past. She’s four years old and keeps silent about what little she knows. Her story starts there, but then it jumps forward to 2005 when her granddaughter inherits a house in Cornwall (England), purchased by the grandmother and kept secret until after her death. There’s some secrecy going on with all the women. Then the story jumps back to 1975 when the grandmother is a middle-aged woman and you hear part of her story. Much of the book revolves around a walled garden at this house in Cornwall, and how it relates to the “big house” where the grandmother lived some of her early years. It’s quite a complex web of a family saga. I liked it, although each new chapter jumped to a different time, and it’s not until the last 10 pages or so that everything resolves. Good read.
(by Karen Harper, on my Kindle); this one is about a young girl from an impoverished family who is taken to Court and eventually becomes a playmate/governess to Elizabeth I (the story is based on fact, but is a novel). The two girls grow up together. It tells the story of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I’s mother) and others of the court at that time, the intrigues, the murders, the beheadings, and the perseverance of all of the potential kings and queens. Fascinating story, particularly since we visited Castle Howard where where a small part of Henry VIII’s story transpires.
(by Julie Orringer, on my Kindle) too; a riveting story about a young Hungarian Jew who goes to Paris to study architecture, just before the start of WW II. He manages to scrape together enough money to eat, but barely, falls in love with an older woman, yet his work comes to the attention of some of the school’s teachers. He’s one of only a handful of Jews at the school. Then the Nazis begin invading. And the story goes into plenty of detail about the hardships, the imprisonments and eventual deaths of many of his friends and family. I could hardly put it down, though. Heart-wrenching, however.
– by Alison Weir (paperback from Costco). I was expecting this book to be along the same genre as Philippa Gregory’s novels – honing in on a particular English royal woman – telling her story in novel form. This is not one of those types. It’s non-fiction, and tells the factual story of Katherine Swynford, who eventually became the Duchess of Lancaster. But her journey from young bride to Hugh Swynford (this takes place in the 1300′s) to the Duchess is bursting with intrigue as she was John of Gaunt’s mistress for some time (eventually he married her when she was 46 (certainly an advanced age for that century), which caused all kinds of royal scandal). In that period of history no one related to royalty married for love. It was all about family, bearing many children to inherit land and wealth, to fight for the king, to maintain title and fortune. The Duchess’ children eventually became the House of Tudor (King Henry VII). Katherine Swynford was both reviled (because of her immoral behavior) and loved (by nearly everyone who knew her). Alison Weir is obviously a stickler for research – the footnotes comprise over 40 pages of fine print. She paints a different picture of this woman than was done by Anya Seton in her world-famous novel 
, first published in 1954. I was infatuated with that novel – it was one of my all-time favorites. But it’s a romance, and apparently many of the supposed facts – well, aren’t. Life in those times were not romantic. This Alison Weir book is not exactly easy reading; it’s almost like reading a textbook. But it’s fascinating and I’m enjoying it very much.
– by Jack Finney (paperback); read for one of my book clubs. Written in the 1940′s it was a runaway hit back then. An early look at time travel. It’s about a U.S. government experiment in the 1960′s (this is fiction, remember), sending a selected few men back to the 1880′s in New York City. They were told to observe. Not to change anything. To be unnoticeable. Yet one of the young men, just couldn’t quite do that (of course, otherwise there wouldn’t be a story!). It’s his adventure you read. The writer is a master at description. The reader feels transported to that time. Our book club really enjoyed it. Generally I’m not into that kind of book at all, but I found the book fascinating. There is a sequel as well, called From Time to Time.
— autobiography by Laura Bush (hardback from Costco). What a delightful read. It’s not about politics. It’s about Laura’s journey from her young years growing up in Midland, Texas to loving parents, to college grad to school teacher, librarian, to meeting George, whom she barely knew even though they grew up in the same small town, then marrying him. She didn’t come naturally to being a public speaker, but did it, to help her husband. I enjoyed reading about her early years more than the years at the White House. Much of that part was about all the social events required of the President and First Lady. Still interesting, though. I enjoyed the book very much.
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Here it is, toward the end of summer, and after the nice Asian-influenced dinner the other night, I wanted to serve something with a slight Asian flavor. Ginger ice cream came to mind. Immediately I went to my favorite ice cream cookbook – The Perfect Scoop, by David Liebovitz. If you’re interested in other food blogs and want to read a very entertaining one, you might check out David’s blog. He’s an American, worked for some years at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters’ famous restaurant in Berkeley, California. Then he moved to Paris, and it’s from his small apartment there that he wrote this most recent ice cream cookbook.
This ice cream has more cooking steps than many – certainly more than my very favorite lemon velvet ice cream that I make now and then. And it took longer to make everything than I’d hoped. But in the big picture, it was worth the effort, to get that very smooth and subtle ginger flavor without adding the straight stuff into the custard.
After performing all the steps (blanching the ginger, steeping it in milk, thickening it up with the egg yolks to make a custard, chilling it in an ice bath, then freezing it in the ice cream machine) I thought it needed just another little boost of ginger flavor. It was not in Liebovitz’ recipe, but I added crystallized ginger to the finished product. Providing the crystallized ginger is minced into itty, bitty pieces, it freezes nicely, providing a little ginger burst. I also substituted some of Trader Joe’s fat-free half and half for the milk and cream. Not only does it lower the richness, but it makes the scooping of the hard-frozen ice cream easier. There must be something in that product that makes a softer finished product. I don’t know what it is, but every time I do that, it’s easier to scoop. Home made ice cream has that fault – if you will – that with using the pure, unadulterated cream and milk, when it’s frozen, it’s f-r-o-z-e-n. Hard. Normally I have to leave the container out for 10 minutes or so to even begin to scoop a serving.
When you serve this, don’t overwhelm it with other prominent flavors (like a chocolate chip cookie) as the ginger flavor really is very subtle. You want to savor it. Enjoy.
Ginger Ice Cream with Crystallized Ginger
Recipe: Adapted slightly from the book, The Perfect Scoop, by David Liebovitz
Servings: 10
3 ounces fresh ginger — unpeeled
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
5 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons crystallized ginger — very finely minced
1. Cut the ginger knob in half lengthwise (makes it more stable for slicing) and then cut into very thin slices. Place the ginger in a medium, nonreactive saucepan. Add enough water to cover the ginger by about 1/2 inch and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain, discarding the liquid.
2. Return the blanched ginger slices to the saucepan, then add the milk, 1 cup of the cream, sugar and salt. Warm the mixture, cover and remove from the heat. Let steep at room temperature for one hour.
3. Rewarm the milk mixture. Remove the ginger slices with a slotted spoon and discard. Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
5. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
6. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When completed stir in the crystallized ginger and transfer ice cream to a freezer container. Freeze thoroughly before serving.
NOTES: I substitute some fat-free half and half for both the cream and milk. About half the real stuff, half the fat-free.
Per Serving (assuming you use all cream and whole milk): 284 Calories; 21g Fat (65.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 175mg Cholesterol; 50mg Sodium.
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