Greetings, book and treat people! It rained for much of the weekend here in Western Mass, and I jealously watched on social media as my friends in the midwest got a blizzard. Is it time for me to move to far northern Minnesota or Iceland? Maybe, except that I love my little corner of Massachusetts with my whole being. Even in these weird and unsettling days of climate change, where it floods in December and rains in January. Happily, it is snowing on Tuesday morning as I write this, so all is not lost.
I'll recommend my own book. I'm a lesbian poet, and "I Eat My Words" by Sandra de Helen is both poetry and family recipes. Everything from soup to dessert -- all vegetarian. Available at any of your favorite online bookshops. I'll be baking my lime-glazed cream cheese poundcake, my easy coconut cake, and my favorite chocolate cake for my birthday party this weekend.
My favourite cookbook to recommend is Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi. Each recipe follows the same basic process and bakes in the same tin, and they are uniformly delicious and a bit different. I wrote my first ever Substack essay about the book, and baking cakes just because I damn felt like it!
I have been cooking a lot of focaccia recently. It is such a low stakes high reward bake. As a birthday present in December my friends bought me a sourdough kit (with a live starter and everything you could possibly need to make sourdough). I am grateful and intimidated. I have feed the starter (because I don’t want it to die) but I haven’t plucked up the courage to try yet. The instructions are FOUR PAGES long. I know sourdough is a labour of love but all I can think of right now is the labour... I guess I also have a fear I’ll get it wrong. That and alongside the effort you need to put in I’m feeling deterred. Have you made Sourdough before?
I’d really like a review of The Unfortunates! That sounds really good - and vaguely similar to A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt?? I say that because of the thesis & academic backdrop vibe. Maybe I’m wrong though. But I did LOVE a minor chorus.
I’m glad you got your snow. It looks unbelievably beautiful. I am envious - the UK right now is just pure grey.
I'll recommend my own book. I'm a lesbian poet, and "I Eat My Words" by Sandra de Helen is both poetry and family recipes. Everything from soup to dessert -- all vegetarian. Available at any of your favorite online bookshops. I'll be baking my lime-glazed cream cheese poundcake, my easy coconut cake, and my favorite chocolate cake for my birthday party this weekend.
My favourite cookbook to recommend is Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi. Each recipe follows the same basic process and bakes in the same tin, and they are uniformly delicious and a bit different. I wrote my first ever Substack essay about the book, and baking cakes just because I damn felt like it!
(P.S. Here's the post if you'd like to read: https://clareegan.substack.com/p/on-snacking-cakes-disordered-eating)
I'm so glad you enjoyed Otto!
I have been cooking a lot of focaccia recently. It is such a low stakes high reward bake. As a birthday present in December my friends bought me a sourdough kit (with a live starter and everything you could possibly need to make sourdough). I am grateful and intimidated. I have feed the starter (because I don’t want it to die) but I haven’t plucked up the courage to try yet. The instructions are FOUR PAGES long. I know sourdough is a labour of love but all I can think of right now is the labour... I guess I also have a fear I’ll get it wrong. That and alongside the effort you need to put in I’m feeling deterred. Have you made Sourdough before?
I’d really like a review of The Unfortunates! That sounds really good - and vaguely similar to A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt?? I say that because of the thesis & academic backdrop vibe. Maybe I’m wrong though. But I did LOVE a minor chorus.
I’m glad you got your snow. It looks unbelievably beautiful. I am envious - the UK right now is just pure grey.