Reto Cookbooks - Are You Hungry Tonight?

A couple of weekends ago I was visiting my folks, I had the ultimate lazy Sunday and stayed in my PJs and glutinously watched The Food Network all day, to watch a Nigella Lawson marathon. I am a huge fan of her kitsch wonderfulness and I was in retro overload when she cracked out a recipe from "Elvis' Favourite Recipes, Are You Hungry Tonight?" The recipe she made was a Fried Banana and Peanut Butter Sandwich. I think it possibly had a gajillion calories in it, but it did look super yummy!  

I love this recipe book! The cheesy pictures of Elvis surpass all the cheese that is needed for the recipes in this book. My favourite picture has to be Elvis with his guitar with the lady covered in bananas, you just don't get entertainment like that anymore. The last recipe in the book takes up 9 pages! And if you follow those 9 pages you will create The Royal Wedding Cake, this was the cake that was created for Elvis and Priscilla when they got hitched. This is apparently the exact recipe that their wedding cake was made to, so if you have a spare 20 pounds of flour and 500 hungry mouths to feed you could try to recreate this 6 tiered beast. 

Inside this book there were some random recipe cards. I thought the first one was funny, how to make a 'Layered Fruit Salad', the recipe instructions basically tell you to chop fruit up and layer it, then serve. The Lasagne recipe card is fabulously dated, I especially love the bottle of wine in its veneered cover. 

I can't wait to try out some of these recipes! 

Happy Retro Cooking!
Much Love
Kirst

Feminist Book Club - The Whole Woman.

Well Germaine wasn’t kidding when she said “The time has come to get angry again!”, The Whole Woman is 330 pages of angry! I was really excited to read this book, I hadn’t heard of it before but I thought it was definitely time to read some Greer. I was bitterly disappointed. All I found in this book was rage, topics that were talked around in circles and prejudice, not only towards men but minority groups such as transsexuals as well. So here are a few examples of the topics that annoyed me the most (it was very difficult to only choose a couple of them as well).

“No one ever asked women if they recognised sex-change males as belonging to their sex or considered whether being obliged to accept MTF transsexuals as women was at all damaging to their identity or self esteem.” 

Well if being born a female in a female’s body gives me a VIP pass into the feminist club then I am happy to lend it to MTF transsexuals, if they want to join the lady party then they are very welcome! All the atrocities that happen to women all over the world and ink was wasted on these ignorant, hateful words. I would like to state right now that MTF transsexuals have never been ‘damaging’ to my identity or self esteem thank you very much.

Then there was the chapter on Daughters, wasn’t that a jamboree of sadistic stereotypes. Based on some very dated Freudian archetypes, Germaine decided that fathers harbour all these sick, sordid feelings towards their young daughters. My favourite bit of absolute craziness was where she said:

“Daddy may respond by bouncing her on his leg. It did not need Freud to point out the similarity between this activity and sexual intercourse.”

Germaine are you actually kidding!? I remember this being done to me when I was young by lovely, caring men who I adored. There are millions of wonderful dad’s out there who would move heaven and earth for their children. My dad is one of those wonderful people, so I do not appreciate this horrible, bleak, perverted look on one of the most amazing things that can happen on this planet, the father, daughter relationship.

Now there were some interesting, informative parts of this book, but for me it was like searching for diamonds in a stinky bog of man hate. Some of her views are absolutely shameful, especially in this day and age (and I know the book is a little dated, but it isn’t THAT old).  Germaine ends the book by saying:

“The second wave of feminism, rather than having crashed on the shore, is still far out to sea,”

I just don’t accept this statement, feminism is progressing every single day, it’s all those small things that we do as well as the large. Women have come such a long way and it will continue to get better if we just keep promoting, thinking and discussing. If feminism was ‘far out to sea’, surely we wouldn’t be in a Feminist Book Club, would we?

I just don’t believe that such anger driven, hateful elitism will progress us further as women. Germaine talks like we are about to go into battle and I just feel she is trying to use patriarchal devices to try and beat the men down. I think we will continue forward at a much greater pace if men and women work together. It isn’t about being the best sex or the most important sex, it is about utilising each other’s unique abilities to create a better world for everyone to live in.

The next book to read in the Feminist Book Club is Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn, I am really looking forward to getting my hands on this book, it can't be anywhere near as difficult to read as The Whole Woman. 

Much feministic love.

xkx

My Three Favourite Cook Books.

I'm a bit of a foodie, well that is the posh way of saying that I love food and eating. I can't say I am one of those people who read cook books in bed at night but then again I do own quite a few. I would love to build up a collection of old cookery books, especially ones from the 70s because they are so bad that they are good! I also have my eye on the Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management that resides on my mum's bookshelf. When I moved to Nottingham I tried to hide it in a box of books I was taking, she knew me too well and before I went she rummaged through and repossessed it. So anyway these are my three favourite cook books at the moment: Gok Cooks Chinese by Gok Wan, The Vintage Tea Party Year by Angel Adoree and The Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal. 

My affections for these books are all very different. Gok Cooks Chinese is full of mouthwatering pictures of dishes that I would have been far too scared to attempt. I have a couple of other chinese recipe books and I look at the tasty pictures then look at the humongous list of ingredients and give up. But Gok's book is very different, his recipes are based on a meagre larder of Chinese essentials and if you follow the instructions the food looks just as delectable as the pictures and tastes better than any takeaway! Ed cooked salt and pepper pork from this book the other night and it was out of this world good. 

Now where to start on The Vintage Tea Party Year, its just perfect in my opinion. The content is superb, the layout is beautiful, the illustrations are treats for the eyes. Angel Adoree will aid you through everything you need to know to pull of an exquisite vintage gathering from decor to hair to cocktails, oh and the recipes are pretty amazing too! I own the Vintage Tea Party book too and I just love every page these books have to offer. If you love vintage and you don't own this book you are seriously missing out!

I will probably never be able to cook anything out of The Fat Duck Cookbook, not to its full extent of deliciousness anyway. I would like to have a go at the chilli in there one day though. I have wanted to eat at The Fat Duck restaurant for years, but it is a serious investment to go there, it being a couple of hundred pounds for a tasting menu. But a girl can dream and this book is the perfect aid for that. 

What cook books are your favourite? 

Feminist Book Club - The Awakening.

I really didn't know what to expect of The Awakening, I was very pleased to see that it was a free download on the Kindle store though! Usually when I am about to read a book I have at least read the blurb so I know what I am in for. But with this one I saw it on the Feminist Book Club and just decided to give it a go. This book was first published in 1899 and I can really see how it was ahead of its time but I found it a little disappointing after it being tagged with the 'feminist' label.  

I did like this book, to some degree and it did hold my attention. The Awakening is about the main character, Edna Pontellier's journey towards self actualising to find her real potential in the world. After reading some reviews online some people say that it is far from self actualisation and that she just shows herself as a selfish, egocentric, sex kitten who doesn't really know what she wants. But that is part of self actualisation. In humanistic counselling theory if someone is in therapy and they start to move from a place of subservience towards self actualisation it is usually the case where people close to the client won't understand the reasons why they are acting the way they are, or think that they are selfish. This is just because the client will usually swing too far into their ego for a while, until they find their balance. I really believe that Edna had just started along this road and that if she would have decided not to end her life maybe she would have eventually reached a place where she truly knew herself. 

I love all the different women that were around her and how they all seemed to be the embodiment of female stereotypes in society, my two favourites were Mademoiselle Reisz who was unmarried and childless and devoted her life to her beloved music. To me she really seemed to be a linchpin when it came to Edna's steps towards self actualisation. Then there was Adele Ratignolle who symbolises the Victorian female ideal, whose whole world revolves around her children and husband. I really enjoyed the way that Edna's life seemed to pinball against these two characters and I think they were sometimes unfortunately overshadowed by Robert and Arobin. Which is where my feminist hackles start to rise. Why should the male roles be the obvious pivotal roles for Edna changing? I found the ending a little disappointing if I'm honest, but maybe taking in account the time it was written it was the only metaphor to end such a controversial novel.    

I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the Feminist Book Club which is The Whole Woman by Germaine Greer.

xkx

Audio Book Review - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Well I have to say that I have had a super lucky audio book month this month! Both books I downloaded I have given 5 stars. I had seen this book reviewed on a couple of blogs I had meandered on a few weeks ago. So when I had my last credit of the month to spend I saw I had scribbled the title of this on my notepad and went for it. And oh my, am I pleased I did! 

I have a kind of quirky little belief that sometimes a book that finds you when you most need it and this little book found me when I most needed it. This is a really beautiful book, the characters are like flowers that bloom and wilt in front of your very eyes. It is bold and John Green is not afraid to be honest about the challenging topics of teen cancer, but he entwines this with a heart wrenching love story that would make Shakespeare envious. The plot is quite pacey, which I really enjoyed, but also dripping with meaning and thought provoking gifts. 

I could not recommend this book highly enough, it is just beautiful and enlightening and even though it was written for the young adult audience I think that it has something for everyone. I really wish that I could listen to this book for a first time all over again.   

Audio Book Review - Fifty Shades of Grey.

There are no spoilers in this review and no references to any naughtiness, so you are safe to read this if you are having your dinner.

Okay so I have to admit, I totally jumped on the bandwagon with this one. I wasn't going to give in and read it but when my Audible credits came through I found my mouse finger betraying me! This is a very adult book so it is not to be read by those with a delicate disposition or in fact anyone who enjoys a well written, saucy story. I only gave this book 1/2 star out of 5. The half star is for the little glint of interest I had in the exploration of a flawed relationship, but it got smothered by the author's need to pack as many adult scenes in this book as possible.  

I'm not sure even where to start with this book, I had read reviews that said how badly written it was and they certainly weren't lying. The language is bland and unimaginative, the author seems to use the same words and phrases over and over again. This made it difficult for me to really connect my senses to the book and it certainly didn't help me to connect to Mr Grey. Now there has certainly been a lot of hype about Mr Grey and how alluring he is, I was kind of excited about this prospect because in my books I love a troubled man. Heathcliff out of Wuthering Heights has to be my all time favourite swoon-some character. But what I found reading over Mr Grey was a man who liked to control, stalk and own his woman. And part of me wondered what Ana would have thought of Mr Grey if he had not been a millionaire and was just a weird guy living in a run down, rented apartment with a garage filled with strange apparatus and no designer underwear to his name.   

I found this book so disappointing and depressing. I don't find it attractive to read a girl telling her boyfriend to not hit her and him forcing his choice of contraception onto her. There are basic rights that a woman should have! But many women have completely fallen for these books so maybe it just isn't for me.

Book Review - The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.

I picked up this book in a wonderful little bookstore that stocked an eclectic mix of sic-fi, fantasy and graphic novels in Edinburgh. it was up a little cobbled street and the book shop owner was very quiet and book-wormish, I am a confessed bibliophile so I rationed myself to just one book! After a couple of laps around this little shop this caught my eye. I love anything to do with fairies and when I spied that the introduction was my Neil Gaiman my excitement grew. The deal was clinched when I read on the back that "It is a book for every girl with home-dyed hair and fairy wings...". Well for anyone who doesn't know I have fairy wings tattooed on my back and well this may be a shock but I am not a natural red head.

I picked up this book this morning and didn't put it down until I had finished it this afternoon. This book is a real gem, it characters are a mix of fairies and humans that are loveably flawed. The book is set in New York to a backdrop of run down apartments and the main human characters trying to make ends meet. I loved the juxtaposition of the grimy surroundings and the touching goodness of the fairies, even though the kindness is very well hidden at times under lashings of whiskey and bad language. I really enjoyed the hint of dark smut that was sprinkled throughout the pages as well as it gave it a real delicious edge. 

I am going to give this book 4 stars out of 5. This is because I loved this book and I thought the little details that helped to thread the plot together were really well thought out. The Fairies of New York is a surprising book and at times I was left thinking that Martin Millar must have had help from the fairies to manage to entwine all of the characters and events together in such a satisfying and diverse way. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because, even though I enjoyed all the characters and their relationships I didn't feel too sad to leave them behind, when I closed the last page of that book. But maybe that is down to Martin Millar tying everything up beautifully. So you'll just have to read it and decide for yourself.

Audio Book of the Month - The Somnambulist.

I had looked at the hard copy of this book a few times, especially after seeing it featured on telly on 'The TV Book Club'. But something always held me back from buying it. When my Audible credit came up and this book took my eye again I decided to take the plunge. And wow am I glad I did! And don't worry there are no spoilers in this review.  

The Somnambulist is a Victorian, Gothic mystery that sees the heroine, Phoebe Turner, navigate her way through a plot that has many deliciously satisfying twists and turns. The book is set in Victorian London and Hereford in Shropshire (which coincidently is near where I grew up). Both locations are so rich and the writer, Essie Fox, stimulates all the senses. My favourite example of this is how she uses a scent by Penhaligons, who have been London's finest perfumers since 1870, like glue to bond memories, people and events together. 

I loved listening to every second of this audio book! I undulated with the good times and the turbulent times that Phoebe went through and rooted for her the whole way through. The ending made me very content like I had just eaten a three course meal and had finished some lovely wine. I would recommend this book to anyone who is captured by the Victorian allure and enjoys a novel that keeps you pondering the whole way to the end. This book definitely deserves 5 out of 5 stars.