Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Not sure if it's because the first of my close friends just turned fifty, or what, but  Excuse Me While I Disappear: Tales of Midlife Mayhem by  Laurie Notaro landed on my reading list and I happily indulged. I'll admit that, despite her being a New York Times bestselling author, I was completely unfamiliar with her. Now I have avidly lined up her entire collection, including: There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble , The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life , Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood , and It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy . On the Page Notaro's commentary is biting, irreverent, and hilarious. Just read a few clips: "Aren’t you proud that you know how to use a dial phone? That you lived a whole, full life without a digital device in your pocket? You remember who Gillig...

I will write another post about the difference between Aperol and Campari soon. But, inspired by the novel The Italian Escape by Catherine Mangan, I wanted to shared a little bit of 'orange happiness'. If you have been following my blog recently, you'll know that, ever since our summer vacation to Hawaii, I have been reading tons of books set on the Hawaiian islands. Now, it seems I'm back to my usual: any and all books set in Italy. Ha! The Italian Escape  tells the story of Niamh (pronounced 'Nee-uv. Yes, really. Where's the 'm' in that? I have no idea!), an Irish gal wh ose boyfriend - and boss - broke up with her. She heads to Italy with her sister, Grace, fully embraces la dolce vita , and ends up buying a café...and finding love.  I'm not going to say anything else and spoil the fun. If you are looking for a fun diversion set in Italy, pick this one up! As with most books that are set in Italy, there is plenty of food inspiration on these page...

I have been doing a lot of reading. A. Lot. And I have been on a Marie Benedict streak recently. I first read one of her books back in 2020 when I made Sarma (Serbian Cabbage Rolls) after reading The Other Einstein. Benedict writes historical fiction that shines the spotlight on women whose stories you may not know. Honestly, you might not even know their names! Obviously I knew who Winston Churchill was. But I had never heard the name Clementine Churchill nor did I know the role she played in her husband's career and government. Lady Clementine  by Marie Benedict is her story. I already admitted that I didn’t know anything about Clementine Churchill. Benedict portrays her as strong, independent, and fiercely intelligent woman who serves as confidant and advisor to her husband. While she bolsters him in private and in public, she is also required to play the traditional role of wife and mother. Churchill demands that of her and minimizes her influence to others much to her dismay....

  This month for our online Lit Happens book group, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm picked The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell. This isn't a cook-from-the-book kinda group, but most everything I read or watch sends me into the kitchen anyway. This book was no exception. In fact, since the protagonist is the butler as well as the de facto chauffeur and cook, there is quite a lot of food in the book.  The Wizard's Butler  tells the story of former Army medic Roger Mulligan who is hired to be the butler for a man who believes himself a wizard. For five thousand dollars and a million dollar bonus if Joseph Perry Shackleford survives the year, Roger doesn't really care if Shackleford is a wizard. And, in fact, Shackleford is a wizard and has pixies who clean his house and fairies who tend the garden! To me, the most interesting part of the book isn't the magic, really, it's the growth and transformation that Roger undergoes as he embraces his new role and ...

After some heavy reads that I will get to soon, I picked up The Car Share by Zoe Brisby. This was a quick, breezy read though the characters themselves were not particularly fluffy. Alex (male) picks up Max (female) as part of a ride share. I indicated genders there, because both thought they were meeting the same gender as themselves! In any case, Alex is depressed and is looking for something to take his mind off of his troubled life while Max is headed to a country that allows assisted suicide. And so their car share adventures begin. Maxine is a hoot. She doesn't understand how to order coffee at a fancy cafe. "'I’d like a coffee.' The barista looked puzzled and waited for the rest. Seeing that nothing more was forthcoming, he was obliged to ask, 'What sort of coffee? A latte? Mochaccino? Cappuccino? Frappuccino? Macchiato? With caramel? Vanilla? Soymilk?' Maxine turned to Alex. 'When did it become so complicated to order coffee? What’s all this gibber...

If you follow my blog regularly, or my social media, you'll know that we spent some time on the Hawaiian island of Oahu this summer - for our first family vacation since 2018. And you would also know that I like to read books that take place wherever I happen to be vacationing. I shared that I read all fifteen books of A Murder on Maui  series in my post Fifteen Books of Poe and a Shave Ice Addiction ; I had read the first four while we were on the island and on the plane ride home. On the plane ride there, I read the four books in J.E. Trent's Hawaii Adventure  series. Jessica Kealoha, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, hails from Hawaii where her father's side of the family is in law enforcement and her mother's side is in the Japanese Yakuza (organized crime). After her father dies under mysterious circumstances, Jessica returns to the Big Island to support one sister who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer and another sister who manages the f...

Last month, my family and I spent a week on Oahu. I hadn't been to the Hawaiian islands in far too long and it had been even longer since I visited Oahu where my dad lived after leaving the Philippines and before his family moved to the Monterey Peninsula. But regardless of the time and distance, it feels like home.  To get myself in the Hawaiian frame of mind, I downloaded a ridiculous number of books set in Hawaii, including the fifteen A Murder on Maui books in the series by Robert W. Stephens. Yes, fifteen. I only read four while we were there. Then I read the other eleven after we got home. I'll be honest: it's not great literature. But they were entertaining and I breezed though the set that features Edgar Allen Rutherford, nickname Poe, as a private investigator who is married to a Maui detective Alana Hu. Poe also owns a bar with his childhood best friend, Foxx, who is also the father of a daughter with Alana's sister, Hani. Poe narrates as if in a conversation ...

I am finally catching my breath and getting on top of my blogging deadlines! Oh, it has been a crazy time. I have cooked things for events and just didn't get around to writing it up. I hate that. I wasn't missing out on this book though because I adore him as an actor and recently discovered his travel documentary Searching for Italy. For the April-May selection of Cook the Books , Deb from Kahakai Kitchen invited the group to read Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci. Read her invitation and join the fun, if you wish, because you still have a month before the deadline. On the Page Stanley Tucci is an Italian-American actor who has shared the magic of his family meals in The Tucci Cookbook  and The Tucci Table . And, as I already mentioned, he has a travel documentary series called Searching for Italy .  Taste: My Life Through Food  is a memoir whose tone reminds me of others I have devoured. Think Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth ...