When we weren't hiking, kayaking, or playing poker during our 10-day camping trip last week, I found myself in the hammock, enjoying my books. It was the perfect opportunity to get through more books for my Foodie Reads Challenge. I finished four books and started a fifth. It was a good vacation!
Today, I'm sharing Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale* which is not a foodie book per se. But it was a book that I read long into the evening by flashlight after everyone else had snuggled into sleeping bags. And, since the main character is a baker and owns a café, I'm counting it!
Right there, on the first page, I was riveted. Aimee is in a church on her wedding day. Except, instead of wearing her wedding dress and marrying her childhood sweetheart, she's clad in black and there for her fiancé's funeral.
Everything We Keep is rife with plot twists and turns as well as love, pain, and healing. I rarely chatter about the books I'm reading with my family, but I rattled on and on about this book during breakfast on the eastern side of the Sierras.
Jake said, "Didn't you just start that book yesterday?"
Yep, and I finished it last night.
"That good, huh?"
Yes!
After a year, Aimee is pushed by her friends to at least start working on a life
without James. She opens a specialty café with awesome coffee and gourmet baked goods. But, convinced that James might still be alive, she takes off for Mexico.
I'm not going to give away anything else. Just know that this was an excellent novel that kept me up to find out
how it ends. And I have the sequel on my nightstand, too. Will report back on that soon.
On the Plate
There several things I considered making for this book: lemonade (they met as children when James stopped a bully from ruining her lemonade stand); coffee drinks (Ian, the new man, is an extraordinary photographer and barista extraordinaire); and various baked goods (Aimee has been baking for as long as she can remember).
But, in the end, I was inspired to make chilaquiles. I imagine this could easily have been part of a comforting breakfast in Mexico when all came tumbling down around her.
It's funny for me to think that before Fathers' Day - just last month - I had never heard of chilaquiles. Jake mentioned it as something one of his co-workers loved to make; and our friend Mike was over for dinner. "Oh, we used to make chilaquiles all the time." Then he described how his grandmother and mother used to make them. Now, I probably make them once a week. We always seem to have leftover corn tortillas and it's a quick meal. I don't always make the eggs like this; sometimes I pour in beaten eggs and it's more like a cheesy tortilla scramble.
But, in the end, I was inspired to make chilaquiles. I imagine this could easily have been part of a comforting breakfast in Mexico when all came tumbling down around her.
It's funny for me to think that before Fathers' Day - just last month - I had never heard of chilaquiles. Jake mentioned it as something one of his co-workers loved to make; and our friend Mike was over for dinner. "Oh, we used to make chilaquiles all the time." Then he described how his grandmother and mother used to make them. Now, I probably make them once a week. We always seem to have leftover corn tortillas and it's a quick meal. I don't always make the eggs like this; sometimes I pour in beaten eggs and it's more like a cheesy tortilla scramble.
Derived from the
Nahuatl word chīlāquilitl, this traditional Mexican
dish is an easy and filling way to start the day. As with many Mexican dishes, regional and family variations are common. I never make them the same way twice. But that's the beauty of them. This is a use-what-you-have kinda dish.
Ingredients serves 4
- 4 to 6 leftover corn tortillas (depending on how many you have!)
- 1 T butter
- 1 T olive oil
- 4 to 6 eggs (depending on appetites)
- 1/4 C shredded cheese
- 1/2 C cooked black beans
- homemade salsa for serving (for this, I used my watermelon pico de gallo)
Procedure
In a large skillet with a lid, melt the butter in olive oil. Cut the corn tortillas into eighths and brown them in the butter-olive oil until they are browned and crisped. Spoon the beans over the crisped tortillas and top with cheese. Break the eggs over the top and cover with a lid. Cook until desired doneness. We like the whites firm but the yolks still runny. Let diners serve themselves and add salsa to taste.
*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.
Here's what everyone else read in July 2017: here.
Perfect for those bits of beans and extra tortillas. Good morning comfort food!
ReplyDeleteI am ordering this book up. We love chilaquilles here.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw this on TLC or Blogging for Books and thought it looked good. I love what you were inspired to make.
ReplyDelete