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Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

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Posted in Fish, Pasta, on April 5th, 2008.

shrimp and pasta a la pizzaiola
This recipe requires the telling of a travel-related story. Some years ago (I’m guessing it was about 15) my DH and I went on a white-water rafting trip in Idaho. My DH was quite surprised when I mentioned the trip to him. What, he said? You WANT to go camping in the remote wilderness? I said, well, yes, because the guides do all the work, all the cooking, and we’re just there to immerse ourselves in the scenery and enjoy the food. The relaxation. The clean air.

I have fond memories of my childhood when my parents and I went camping in the High Sierras (the inland ridge of mountains that divide, almost, California from Nevada). My dad loved to fish; my mom not so much, but she enjoyed lazy days in the camp, reading magazines, a book, playing games of Scrabble (which I still love to this day). Sometimes I went fishing with my dad, but usually got bored after awhile. I had my own pole, usually a hand-me-down from my dad. We fished for trout in those cold, crisp mountain streams, seeking out the deep pools of water, near rocks, where the trout loved to hide. We tent camped, but my parents did 99% of the work, so I didn’t realize until I was an adult about how much effort was involved in setting up the camp, or cooking meals. Or doing dishes. Or laundry. Or even the packing that went on at home for a couple of weeks before the trip.

Since those days I haven’t camped much, and would prefer to do it in a camper or trailer if the option were to come up. My DH, however, has no interest in camping, even in a luxury vehicle. He likes water. The ocean, mostly. (We have a sailboat, and that’s HIS idea of camping.) But when I suggested the Idaho river-rafting trip, maybe it was the water that intrigued him. At any rate, we went, and signed up for a trip that was not only a “gourmet” trip, but a wine-tasting trip as well. Salmon River Outfitters had been written up in Gourmet. That’s all the mattered to me – if Gourmet thought it was a great trip with great food, surely we would too. And indeed we did. SRO has new owners, but I’d suspect they would have continued the tradition.

I could write up an entire post about the week-long trip itself (the wildlife, the hikes, the campsites, the conviviality of the small group, the thrill of the rapids, and even getting to the imbarkation point too) but for now I’ll just talk about the food. To say I was amazed at the food is an understatement. Here we were, out in the middle of nowhere (on the Salmon River, the South Fork, with nothing but ice chests of food and camping gear – no roads – no civilization whatsoever – no supply boat or car to deliver food to us) and the group of guides (four on our trip). We rafted the river for a couple or three hours in the mornings, then they’d spy a favorite sandy bank and our three rafts would pull in. They’d set up comfy chairs right at the riverside, bring in the potty box (which went with us on the trip from beginning to end) and set up a small secluded toilet for the group, then they’d start preparing lunch. Lunch was usually cold food – salads, sandwiches, and maybe brownies, fruit and cookies, hot coffee in thermoses from breakfast, soft drinks. We stopped long enough to enjoy more of the scenery and let our lunches settle, then we’d pile back into the rafts and off we’d go for the afternoon run. Another couple or three hours on the river, more rapids perhaps, maybe a hike into an abandoned gold rush era village, and we’d stop again for the day. They had their favorite spots. There are a few other river outfitters plying the same waters (the state mandates a limited number of rafts on the river at any time), so everyone jockeys for their favorite sites. (And, incidentally, every single minute amount of detritus we had on this trip – dirty tissues, paper towels, wrappers, was all taken along on the trip and disposed of properly – nothing, absolutely nothing – was left on the river or in campsites.)

The weather was unseasonably cold the year we went (in July), and we were very, VERY limited in what we could take with us (they had mailed us a small waterproof cloth duffle bag and everything, absolutely everything we took had to fit into this bag). We slept in sleeping bags they provided with a small 2-man tent that goes up in nothing flat. We were required to set up our own tents and if rain threatened, we needed to dig small drainage ditches around the tent. We did have rain a couple of times, so it was a good thing we dug the ditches. A couple went along on that trip from Granite Springs winery (in California gold country, and now part of Latcham winery), and every night they provided some delightful wines for all of us to enjoy before and during dinner. The meals the guides prepared were positively amazing. I don’t remember now what all they made, but they were outstanding. The guides set up a couple of small camping prep tables and two kerosene stoves, and from those limited resources, they prepared meals you’d think were from a gourmet restaurant.

So, one night, they made this pasta dish. And everyone just adored it, me included. Toward the end of the trip they told us they had a “book” they’d sell us for a fee. It contained the story of Salmon River Outfitters and some, but not all of the recipes, but the most popular ones, this pasta dish one of them. So, of course, I had to buy the book. And I’ve made this pasta numerous times since, and never fail to remember the fun we had on that river rafting trip, and how scrumptious this tasted as we sat by the burbling river, listening to the hawks, the birds, the bees, spotting eagles soaring at high elevations too.
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Shrimp & Pasta a la Pizzaiola

Recipe: Salmon River Outfitters, Idaho
Servings: 8
Cook’s Notes: this dish does take some moderate amount of prep. Lots of cutting and chopping, but once done, the dish comes together quickly. I added a little bit of chicken broth to the sauce just to give a bit more fluid to it. If you end up mixing up the two parts of the sauce, don’t worry – I’ve done it myself, and it doesn’t seem to matter. Be sure to use both Feta and Romano cheese (don’t skip, because the Feta is an important component).

2 pounds medium shrimp — raw
1 teaspoon pickling spice
2 pounds pasta [my choice is linguine]
MUSHROOM SAUCE:
1/4 pound mushrooms — fresh, sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil — sliced
1/4 cup fresh parsley — minced
1 clove garlic — minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons capers
PIZZAIOLA SAUCE:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic — minced
1/2 whole red bell pepper — thinly sliced
3 whole tomatoes — chopped
1 teaspoon fresh oregano — minced
1 dash salt
1 dash pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup dry red wine
TOPPINGS:
3 1/2 ounces Feta cheese — crumbled
1/3 cup Romano cheese — or Parmegiano, shredded
3 tablespoons basil leaves — sliced

1. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil and add pickling spice and shrimp. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until shrimp turns pink and curls. Cool under cold running water, peel and devein.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add basil and parsley, then shrimp and lemon juice, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add Piazzaiola Sauce and heat through.
3. In a large kettle, bring a large quantity of water to a boil and add the pasta of your choice and cook until al dente. Rinse in hot water, drain briefly, then toss with shrimp/sauce mixture. Add Feta, capers and cherry tomatoes, then sprinkle with Romano and serve immediately.
4. PIZZAIOLA SAUCE: In a large kettle heat olive oil until a light haze forms over it. Remove from heat and add garlic and bell peppers. Stir while it cooks, off the flame. Peel, seed and chop the tomatoes. Add oregano, salt, pepper, basil, sugar and red wine. Add to mushroom mixture.
Per Serving: 679 Calories; 14g Fat (19.2% calories from fat); 42g Protein; 92g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 188mg Cholesterol; 436mg Sodium.

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