(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); if you haven’t heard about this book, you should! It’s a novel written from the voice of the black servants and some of the people they work for, all residents of Jackson, Mississippi. In the 1950’s. The maids generally are disrespected, still have to ride in the back of the bus, and some are prevented from using the bathroom in the houses where they work. The story is about a young woman (daughter of one of the society ladies) who decides to write a book about the stories of the maids. Anonymously. But not quite, of course. So it’s not only the stories themselves, but about the society-ladies’ relationships, and about the stealth required to interview the maids and write the book. And the repercussions when it’s published. A fantastic read.
by Jetta Carleton (Kindle edition); 
by Susan Richards (Kindle edition); 
by Sally Gunning (Kindle edition)
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(Mario Batali & Gweneth Paltrow); 
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A couple of days ago I was reading Coffee and Cornbread’s blog. You should go look at Sue’s photos of fresh Swiss chard – beautiful. She wrote up a post about making Swiss chard with dried cranberries as part of her Thanksgiving dinner. I’d have never – ever – thought of putting cranberries with chard. And yet, something about it intrigued me. Nothing for it except to try it out.
To say it’s delicious is giving it short shrift. We l-0-v-e-d it. I had to keep my DH out of the pan on the stove – he kept scooping spoonsful before we sat down to dinner and I had to swiftly put them away afterwards, before he stood over the pan eating the remainder I wanted to serve for another dinner. (I will say, however, my DH really, really likes chard, or almost any greens.)
The recipe came from Rachel Ray at the Food Network. I made just a couple of changes to it – I used fewer cranberries and added a lot less chicken stock. I think this kind of briefly stewed vegetable is very forgiving, whatever you do with it. Try to have everything all ready to go when you start cooking as it takes no time at all to go from start to finish. That means washing and chopping all the chard (removing the ribs), etc. And slicing the onion, and the garlic. But make it you should. If you even remotely like greens, this one’s a real keeper. If you want the original, just click over to Rachel’s recipe. Sue at Coffee & Cornbread made a few changes to her version too. Here’s mine:
Dark Greens (Swiss Chard) with Cranberries
Recipe: From the Food Network via Coffee & Cornbread blog
Serving: 4
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup red wine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (you could use less)
4 slices bacon — chopped
1 medium red onion — thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 bunches swiss chard — red type chopped, ribs discarded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly ground nutmeg
1/3 cup chicken stock — or turkey stock
1. Soak cranberries in the red wine. (If you’re tight for time, put them in the microwave for 45 seconds to soften them.
2. Heat the oil in a very large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and crisp for 3-4 minutes. Add onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir for about one minute. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Add the chopped red chard and wilt it for about 2-4 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in the cranberries and wine. Cook for one minute then add the stock and simmer it for a few minutes just to combine the flavors. Serve piping hot.
Per Serving: 136 Calories; 10g Fat (72.3% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 5mg Cholesterol; 314mg Sodium.
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