Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen"

Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen" (Japanese: ちびねこ亭の思い出ごはん 黒猫と初恋サンドイッチ/Chibinekoteino omoidegohan kuronekoto hatsukoisandoitchi) (Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen #1) - 2020

This is an interesting story. I am sure we all have wanted to have one last conversation with a deceased loved one. Now, the Chibineko Kitchen makes this possible. You go there and order a Remembrance Meal. Then, when it is served, the person in question appears and you can have one very last talk with them until the food gets cold.

Sounds desirable, right? The story is heartwarming, it might even help some of us to get over the loss of a loved one.

And there are quite a few nice Japanese recipies in the book.

From the back cover:

"Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they'll be expecting you.

These are the directions Kotoko has been given. She arrives at the tiny restaurant, perched right by the water, early in the morning. Still reeling from the sudden death of her brother, she's been promised that the food served there will bring him back to her, for one last time.

Taking a seat in the small, wood-panelled room, she waits as Kai, the restaurant's young chef, brings out steaming bowls of simmered fish, rice and miso soup. Though she hadn't ordered anything, Kai had somehow known the exact dish her brother always used to cook for her. And as she takes her first delicious bite, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy . . .

Soul-nourishing and comforting, The Chibineko Kitchen will help you remember what matters most in life."

Guiliano, Mireille "French Women Don’t Get Fat"

Guiliano, Mireille "French Women Don’t Get Fat" - 2004

I'm not a fan of self-help books. I didn't think this was one, I thought it was a sort of funny one but that wasn't the fact. It was a self-help book as most of them are: Only the author knows what's best and the rest of the world, or in this case, the American woman, has no idea.

I'm not American and I know a lot of Americans have weight problems, as do many Germans. But the way the author talks about Americans and American women was quite denigrating. I didn't care for that at all. You can give advice without being uppish. I love France and I have French friends and they are all really nice. And I always met lovely people in France. But this one sounded like she just wanted to confirm the prejudice that all French people are unfriendly. What a pity.

I must admit, though, that some of her advice certainly is not wrong, just the way she pronounced it.

From the back cover:

"Irresistible, chic, convincing, funny, wise, and very timely, this is the ultimate non-diet book, which nonetheless could radically change the way we think and live - showing us how to eat with balance, control and above all pleasure. Packed with wonderful recipes, this charming memoir teaches us how to enjoy our meals, like a French woman, without putting on weight."

Sponge, Miss Victoria "Scone with the Wind"

Sponge, Miss Victoria "Scone with the Wind: Cakes and Bakes with a Literary Twist" - 2015

This book was a present from my son who said he feels he can't go wrong with literary gifts for me. And he is right. And this one is even a combination of two things I really like: reading and baking.

The author's name catches your eyes right away: Miss Victoria Sponge. I have no idea who came up with that idea and who really is behind that pseudonym but I love it.

I haven't baked any of the bakes in this book, yet, though I have made similar cakes and cookies. Now, where do I begin? I am tempted by the "Mansfield Tart" (with raspberry and vanilla custard), the "Woman in Black Forest Gâteau" or "The Three Mousse-keteers", some of my favourites or "Life of Pecan Pie" or "James and the Giant Peach Cobbler" and "War & … Piece of Cheesecake" which I know will go down well with my guys. I just see a lot of baking ahead of me in the near future. 75 in all!

Whether you like baking or just the idea of cake, this is a good book. The recipes are sorted by different genres of literature, starting with Romance & Comedy and ending with Plays. There are some drawings in the book, no pictures like there are in other cook books.

I love that you can look in the index for the authors, the books, the bakes and the ingredients. Brilliant.

From the back cover:

"Bake your way through the classics from Jane Éclair to Tart of Darkness, Banana Karenina and On the Rocky Road, Flapjack and the Beanstalk, Nineteen-eighty Petit Fours and many more!

Enjoy biscuits and cakes, puddings and pies, from romance and comedy through to horror and science fiction, and discover fun, edible versions of your favourite novels.

The ultimate treat for book (and cake) lovers!

The most novel way to get to grips with the classics, Scone with the Wind features 75 delicious literary inspired recipes."

Further description:

"Arranged by genre, enjoy biscuits and cakes, puddings and pies from romance and comedy through to horror and science fiction, and discover fun, edible versions of your favourite books.

Includes witty introductions and amusing illustrations throughout, baking essentials and themed menus for book clubs, parties and afternoon teas.

Recipes include:
Breakfast at Tiffins,
Whoopie Pies and Prejudice,
Key Lime and Punishment,
Captain Corelli's Madeleines,
To Kill a Battenberg,
Finnegan's Cake,
Vanity Fairy Cakes,
Middlemarshmallows,
Eton Mess of the D’Urbervilles,
Life of Pecan Pie,
Alone in Berliner,
Lord of the Mille-feuilles,
The War of the Viennese Whirls,
James and the Giant Peach Cobbler,
Much Ado About Muffins,
The Cherry Pie Orchard,
Scone with the Wind and more!"

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Top Ten Books with Food on their Covers

      

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish". It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is Halloween Freebie

I have done a Halloween TTT before (see here).
So, I'm going down the "Freebie" line.

Don't you think about food in the colder months? I know most people eat a lot more once the sun isn't there all the time and families gather for celebrations.

So, this is my topic this week. Books with food on their cover.

Collister, Linda; Berry, Mary; Hollywood, Paul "Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets" - 2011

Eggels, Elle "The House of the Seven Sisters" (Dutch: Het Huis van de Zeven Zusters) - 1998

Grass, Günter "Peeling the Onion" (German: Beim Häuten der Zwiebel) - 2006

Harris, Joanne "Five Quarters of the Orange" - 2001

Johnson, Dr. Spencer "Who moved my cheese?" - 1998

Lanchester, John "The Debt to Pleasure" - 1996

Nicoletti, Cara "Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books" - 2015

Prelutsky, Jack "A Pizza the Size of the Sun" - 1996

Şafak, Elif "Araf aka The Saint of Incipient Insanities" (Turkish: Araf) - 2004

Wodehouse, P.G. "The World of Jeeves" (Jeeves #2-4: The Inimitable Jeeves #2, Carry On, Jeeves #3, Very Good, Jeeves! #4) - 1923/1925/1930

This looks like an international feast, after all, there are British, American, Turkish, Dutch and German books. "Guten Appetit", as we say in German.

I'm looking forward to seeing what others come up with. Do you have other books with food on the cover?

Happy Thanksgiving

🍁 It's a special day in the United States. As on every fourth Thursday in November, they celebrate Thanksgiving, a feast originally giving thanks for a good harvest (as is still done all around the world) but nowadays often thought as a commemoration of the first feast the Pilgrims had with the native Americans.

🍁 In Germany, we celebrate our Harvest Festival (German: Erntedankfest) on the first Sunday in October. But it is more a church tradition than a family celebration. The churches are decorated with harvest crops and there usually is a collection for local charities. In the United Kingdom, where we lived a couple of years, they have a similar practice, only they also donate food to be given to local food banks.

🍁 As I mentioned in my post about my Non-Bookish Hobbies, we have lived among and worked with Americans for decades and have adapted their way of Thanksgiving for our German friends and family who love this glimpse of a different culture. We've done this every year (with one exception) since 2006. Unfortunately, we might not be able to share it this year, either. Therefore, just a little reminder to all of us to enjoy what we can and start doing the other things once we get the "all clear" from our governments again.

🍁 Our dishes vary from time to time, depending on who comes and whose favourite food it is but, so far, we have served:
🦃 Turkey, pulled pork; cranberry sauce, gravy; cornbread, corn pudding, macaroni & cheese; bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes; baked beans, cauliflower, corn on the cob, green bean casserole, spiced carrots; apple pie, blueberry pie, lemon meringue pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie.

🦃 My artist niece and her father (one of my brothers) made a Turkey for us from an old pottery chicken my parents had in their house. They called him "Henry" and has been a member of our group ever since. It's almost as if my parents still participated. (picture with the compliments of my hubby)

🍁 One other part that belongs to our Thanksgiving just as much as the turkey and all the other stuff is a movie by one of my favourite directors, Gurinder Chadha. Her parents are Indian, she was born in Kenya and grew up in the UK. Add to that her husband who is American with Japanese and Basque ancestry, the couple combines almost all the continents among them. Gurinder Chadha mainly makes films about Indian lives in the UK (Bend it Like Beckham is probably her most famous though one of my favourites is Bride & Prejudice).

🍁 Anyway, through her husband, she got to know Thanksgiving and she mentioned that most families have one thing in common, the turkey, but the rest of the food depends very much on their origin. So, for her film What's Cooking? she created four families with different cultural backgrounds (Latino, Asian, African and Jewish) and shows their Thanksgiving. Gurinder Chadha received several awards for it, well deserved. It's a wonderful movie with a fantastic cast and if you haven't seen it, please, please, watch it this year. It's our "Groundhog Day" moment of the year (although we do watch that one, as well, on the 2nd of February).

🍁I wish all my US American friends and anyone else who celebrates
a very happy Thanksgiving. 🍁

🍁 🦃 🥧 🎉 🍁

Collister, Linda et al. "Great British Bake Off: How to Bake"

Collister, Linda; Berry, Mary; Hollywood, Paul "Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets" - 2011

A while ago, we had a TTT topic "Books that made me hungry". This brought up the discussion that we should probably post a few cookbooks from time to time.

It just so happens that one of my favourite shows has started again this week: The Great British Bake-Off. I love everything about it, the people most of all, the humour that they bring, the cakes that are all so wonderful, even the ones that seem a disaster.

The book is just as great. I already have a cookbook from Mary Berry (might review it another time) but here she - together with Linda Collister and her sidekick, Mr. Hollywood - gives more hints and tips to perfect baking. Like, how to make the perfect shortcrust. There is everything from sweet cakes, great pies, perfect bread. Everything is explained in a simple and easy way to copy, the pictures give an added bonus, so you can see what it should look like. I haven't counted the recipes but I am sure you can bake something new every day for a whole year and not repeat yourself.

There are chapters about cakes, biscuits and teatime treats, bread, pies and savoury pastry, tarts and sweet pastry, patisserie, puddings and desserts, celebration cakes along with a whole page of conversion charts.

Of course, I also have some other GBBO books but this was my first one and is giving some great beginner's tips.

If you haven't seen the series, yet, and can watch it, give it a go, even if you don't bake. And if you love it, like I do, and want to see more, there's always "An Extra Slice" by the fabulous Jo Brand. Every Friday.

From the back cover:

"This delightful cookbook takes you through the baking challenges from the second series of the Great British Bake Off and shows you how to achieve baking perfection. Throughout the book, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood are on hand with practical tips to help you bake perfect cakes, biscuits, breads, pastries, pies and teatime treats every time, as well as showing you how to tackle their 'technical challenges', as seen on the show.

There are more than 120 baking recipes in this book, including traditional British bakes and imaginative twists using classic ingredients, as well as the best contestant recipes from the series. There is plenty to challenge keen bakers here, from brandy snaps to elaborate pastries, pavlovas to iced celebration cakes, and with a sensuous and yet practical design and full-colour, step-by-step photography, this really will become the baking book that you will turn to for years to come."

Top Ten Tuesday - Books that Make Me Hungry

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish".

It is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

 Books that Make Me Hungry 

(They could have food items on the cover, foods in the title, be about foodies or have food as a main plot point… they could be cookbooks or memoirs, etc.) 

 

First I thought, oh dear, I won't have any links to books I read about food. My house is full of cookbooks and I use them all the time to find new interesting recipes for both baking and cooking but I never reviewed any of them … maybe I should start doing that. We'll see.

However, I have read a few books where they talk about food, where food is a big part of the book and where it's fun to see how people in different areas and different times integrate food into their lives.

So, this is my selection this week:

Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Series", "The Olive Harvest"
Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books"
Khorsandi, Shappi "A Beginner's Guide to Acting English"
Mayle, Peter "A Year in Provence"
Pool, Daniel "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew"
Nicoletti, Cara "Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books"
Numeroff, Laura "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"
Scott, Mary Susan and Larry Series: "Breakfast at Six", "Dinner Doesn’t Matter", "Tea and Biscuits", "A Change from Mutton", "Turkey at Twelve", "Shepherd's Pie", "Strangers for Tea", "Board, but no Breakfast"

 

P.S. The picture shows some of my favourite food. Strawberries!!!

Khorsandi, Shappi "A Beginner's Guide to Acting English"

Khorsandi, Shappi "A Beginner's Guide to Acting English" - 2009

Since I don't live in England anymore, I can't go and see stand-up comedians live. But there are panel shows and quiz shows and other shows where they appear as hosts etc. So, this is how I got to know Shappi Khorsandi. She comes across as a lovely person, very funny, very comical. When I learned that she had written a book about coming to England as a three-year-old, I was very interested. I imagined it to be just as nice and funny as the author herself.

I was not disappointed. This book doesn't just tell us how it is to grow up in a strange country, it tells us a lot about Iran, as well. And not just about the politics but about the ordinary family life. How they lived under the Shah, how they lived after the revolution. And with her hints about how her parents were different from English parents, I also learned a lot about Iranian culture.

It's not a hilarious book but you can see where Shappi Khorsandi gets her sense of humour. It certainly is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. You get to know both the author and her entire family very well, you get to fear with them and mourn with them, laugh with them and love with them.

I also had the chance to compare how the Khorsandi family lived in England as foreigners and how we lived in England as foreigners. Two very different worlds. Granted, it was not exactly the same place and some twenty years later but we never really felt "foreign" or weren't treated as such. Someone told me that's because we spoke English and "fitted in" but I'm sure there are some more reasons behind that. In any case, I'm happy that the Khorsandis could make England their home and that their daughter became such a great comedian.

I loved this so much, I've already ordered her next book "Nina is not okay".

From the back cover:

"When you're young just growing up seems hard enough. But if you've been shipped to a news country, away from all your beloved aunts and uncles, where you can't understand anyone it's even harder. And if the Ayatollah wants you and your family dead, then that's when it gets really tricky …

This is a story of growing up a stranger in a strange land with fish fingers and kiss chase and milk and biscuits. But it's also a story about exile, survival, and families - wherever they are."

Mayle, Peter "A Year in Provence"

Mayle, Peter "A Year in Provence" - 1989

I have read several books of people who left their country (mainly England) in order to settle elsewhere (mainly Southern Europe, France, Spain, Italy).

My favourites there: The Olive Series by Carol Drinkwater and "Driving Over Lemons" by Chris Stewart.

But I had also read some not so good ones and over time, they get a little repetitive. But a friend told me she had read all of Peter Mayle's books about his settling in Provence and they were hilarious, so I decided I'll give it a try.

I liked that book but not as much as the ones mentioned above. The author has a nice sense of humour, his stories about his French neighbours, the handymen, the food, everything is quite interesting. If you like this type of book, read it. He has written more about his life in Provence but, as I've already read so many, I won't accompany him and his wife on their journey.

From the back cover:

"Peter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only imagine doing when they made their long-cherished dream of a life abroad a reality: throwing caution to the wind, they bought a glorious two hundred year-old farmhouse in the Lubéron Valley and began a new life.

In a year that begins with a marathon lunch and continues with a host of gastronomic delights, they also survive the unexpected and often hilarious curiosities of rural life. From mastering the local accent and enduring invasion by bumbling builders, to discovering the finer points of boules and goat-racing, all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life are conjured up in this enchanting portrait."

Nicoletti, Cara "Voracious"

Nicoletti, Cara "Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books" - 2015

This is such a lovely book. If you like recipes, you might want to read it just for the recipes. But if, like me, you love reading, you will love to read it for the parts in the books you loved. Who doesn't remember Mr. Woodhouse (in "Emma") tell everyone at their dinner about the perfectly boiled egg? Makes me laugh every time I boil eggs.

And the other recipes are just as nice, great reminders about some wonderful books. Even if you don't like cooking or would never cook any of those recipes.

Here are the recipes with links to the books I reviewed:

Austen, Jane "Emma" - Perfectly boiled egg
Austen, Jane "Pride and Prejudice" - White Garlic Soup *
Banks, Lynne Reid "The Indian in the Cupboard" - Grilled Roast Beef
Burnett, Frances Hodgson "The Secret Garden" - Currant Buns
Capote, Truman "In Cold Blood" - Cherry Pie
Cunningham, Michael "The Hours" - Birthday Cake
Dahl, Roald "The Witches" - Mussel, Shrimp, and Cod Stew
Dickens, Charles "Great Expectations" - Pork Pie
Didion, Joan "Goodbye to All That" - Grilled Peaches with Homemade Ricotta
Eugenides, Jeffrey "Middlesex" - Olive Oil Yogurt Cake
Flynn, Gillian "Gone Girl" - Brown Butter Crepes
Franzen, Jonathan "The Corrections" - Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
French, Tana "In the Woods" - Chocolate-Covered Digestive Biscuits
Golding, William "Lord of the Flies" - Porchetta di Testa
Grimm, Jacob + Wilhelm "Hansel and Gretel" - Gingerbread Cake with Blood Orange Syrup
Harris, Thomas "The Silence of the Lambs" - Crostini with Fava Bean and Chicken Liver Mousses
Heller, Peter "The Dog Stars" - Whole Roasted Trout
Homer "The Odyssey" - Red Wine-Rosemary Bread
Houston, Pam "Waltzing the Cat" (incl."The Best Girlfriend You Never Had") - Red Flannel Hash
Hugo, Victor "Les Misérables" - Black Rye Bread
Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House in the Big Woods" - Breakfast Sausage
Irving, Washington "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Buckwheat Pancakes
Keene, Carolyn "Nancy Drew" - Double Chocolate Walnut Sundae
Kesey, Ken "Sometimes a Great Notion" - Blackberry-Hazelnut Coffee Cake
Lee, Harper "To Kill a Mockingbird" - Biscuits with Molasses Butter
Lindgren, Astrid "Pippi Longstocking" - Buttermilk Pancakes
Maurier, Daphne du "Rebecca" - Blood Orange Marmalade
Melville, Herman "Moby Dick" - Clam Chowder
McCloskey, Robert "Homer Price" - Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts
Montgomery, L.M. "Anne of Green Gables" - Salted Chocolate Caramels
Morrison, Toni "The Bluest Eye" - Concord Grape Sorbet
Numeroff, Laura Joffe "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" - Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Orwell, George "Down and Out in Paris and London" - Rib-Eye Steak
Paola, Tomie de "Strega Nona" - Black Pepper-Parmesan Pasta
Plath, Sylvia "The Bell Jar" - Crab-Stuffed Avocados
Poe, Edgar Allen "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" - Goat Cheese Pumpkin Pie
Rawls, Wilson "Where the Red Fern Grows" - Skillet Cornbread with Honey Butter
Roth, Philip "American Pastoral" - Hot Cheese Sandwich
Salinger, J.D. "The Catcher in the Rye" - Malted Milk Ice Cream
Sendak, Maurice "In the Night Kitchen" - Scalded and Malted Milk Cake
Singer, Isaac Bashevis "Gimpel the Fool" - Challah
Tartt, Donna "The Little Friend" - Peppermint Stick Ice Cream
Tartt, Donna "The Secret History" - Wine-Braised Leg of Lamb with Wild Mushrooms
Tolstoi, Leo "Anna Karenina" - Oysters and Cucumber Mignonette
Toole, John Kennedy "A Confederacy of Dunces" - Jelly Donuts
Virgil "The Aeneid" - Honey-Poppy Seed Cake
Warner, Gertrude Chandler "The Boxcar Children" - Chocolate Pudding
Waugh, Evelyn "Brideshead Revisited" - Blinis with Caviar
White, E.B. "Charlotte's Web" - Pea and Bacon Soup
Wilder, Laura Ingalls "Little House in the Big Woods" - Breakfast Sausage
Woolf, Virginia "Mrs. Dalloway" - Chocolate Éclairs

* Here, I would have chosen the "excellent boiled potatoes" that are served in a "superbly featured room". As we all know, it's been many years since Mr. Collins had had "such an exemplary vegetable".

From the back cover:

"An Irresistible Literary Feast

Stories and recipes inspired by the world's great books

As a young bookworm reading in her grandfather's butcher shop, Cara Nicoletti saw how books and food bring people to life. Now a butcher, cook, and talented writer, she serves up stories and recipes inspired by beloved books and the food that gives their characters depth and personality.

From the breakfast sausage in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods to chocolate cupcakes with peppermint buttercream from Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, these books and the tasty treats in them put her on the road to happiness.

Cooking through the books that changed her life, Nicoletti shares fifty recipes, including:
* The perfect soft-boiled egg in Jane Austen's Emma
* Grilled peaches with homemade ricotta in tribute to Joan Didion's "Goodbye to All That"
* New England clam chowder inspired by Herman Melville's Moby-Dick
* Fava bean and chicken liver mousse crostini (with a nice Chianti) after Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs
* Brown butter crêpes from Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl

Beautifully illustrated, clever, and full of heart, Voracious will satisfy anyone who loves a fantastic meal with family and friends-or curling up with a great novel for dessert."

And I just had to add both English book titles since they combine books and food so well.

Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Harvest"

Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Harvest" - 2006

Years ago, I read the first two books of the "Olive Series", "The Olive Farm" and "The Olive Season". Now I read the third one in the trilogy, "Olive Harvest". Another intriguing story about a couple who decides to buy an olive farm in the South of France and not just use it as a holiday home - that as well - but also grow olives and other vegetables there.

This is not just a place to go and relax, this is hard work. One really has to love this kind of work in order to do it. Carol Drinkwater does and so does her husband. Even though they have to go through many struggles, they carry on and survive yet another difficult season.

I am not a farmer, not even a great gardener but my father was, so I have quite a bit of passive knowledge. I did enjoy her description of the work and their life in Provence. I have been to their neighbouring province, Languedoc-Roussillon decades ago and I remember it to be absolutely beautiful. The author has revived those memories in a fantastic way, I really like her way of writing.

From the back cover:

"Carol and her husband Michel, home after long and separate absences, look forward to spending the summer together on their beloved olive farm Apassionata. But a shocking blow leaves Carol alone, and the future uncertain.

Feeling isolated and with no olives to harvest, Carol ventures beyond the farm to explore other aspects of Provencal life - from hunting to bee-keeping, the gypsies of the Camargue to the shepherds of the southern Alps, the ancient language to the ever-present demands of family and friends. And ultimately, Provence's generous diversity - and Carol's own persistence in sharing it with those she loves - pave a path to joy."

Numeroff, Laura "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Numeroff, Laura "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" - 1985

This is one of the many books that you read to your children, that they then read to themselves even though it is "only" a picture book and that you thoroughly enjoy because it reminds you so much of your own life. The mouse is like the little child that wants this and that and then something else. It teaches them about consequences.

Hilarious. Beautiful illustrations.

A happy book that I'm glad I found for my kids when they were little. A timeless classic.

From the back cover:

"If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie. If you give him a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. He'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and then he'll ask for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim....

The consequences of giving a cookie to this energetic mouse run the young host ragged, but young readers will come away smiling at the antics that tumble like dominoes through the pages of this delightful picture book."

Pool, Daniel "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew"

Pool, Daniel "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist - the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England" - 1993

Even though this book is a non-fiction one, the first part reads like a novel. If, like me, you love your English classics, especially Jane Austen, the Brontës, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins and similar authors, this is the book for you. It's not just about food but, as the second part of the title already suggests, about every important or not so important fact about life in the 19th century in England. If you always wanted to know how they play whist, what a Rear Admiral of the White is, why the ladies need all sorts of clothing that we are not aware of today and why Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice has to inherit the Bennett estate rather than the daughters of the family, this book gives you all the explanations.

The authors of that era wrote, same as most authors of any era, for their contemporaries. After all, they were the ones who would pay for their work. They didn't want to hear explanations about the food they ate or the celebrations they had, they already knew the background. Now you can, too. I have read a lot of that literature and about the background, so I had learnt a lot before I picked up this book but I never found a piece that was as explicit as this one. It has so many details.

Daniel Pool has done a lot of research and came up with a great book about that time of life in England. Even though he wrote this for Americans in the first place (and it does come up quite frequently), it is also interesting for the rest of us. While the first part is divided into chapters where everything from politics and public life up to customs and rituals are explained in a narrative form, the second part is a dictionary, a reference book that you can always go back to and check out the exact job description of a scullery maid or what the difference was between a physician and an apothecary. And is a baron more than a marquis or less (he is lower) and what on earth is the difference between a curate and a perpetual curate? You will find all the answers to those questions you never asked yourself in this book.

Any work about everyday life in Regency or Victorian England couldn't be more fascinating. A great companion to your English classics.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover: 

 

"For every frustrated reader of the great nineteenth-century English novels of Austen, Trollope, Dickens, or the Brontës who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell "Tally Ho!" at a fox hunt, or how one landed in "debtor's prison," here is a "delightful reader's companion that lights up the literary dark" (The New York Times). 

This fascinating, lively guide clarifies the sometimes bizarre maze of rules, regulations, and customs that governed everyday life in Victorian England. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the "plums" in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life -- both "upstairs" and "downstairs." 

An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from "ague" to "wainscoting," the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day."

Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Series"

Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Series" - 2001-2010

The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love and Olive Oil in the South of France - 2001
The Olive Season: Amour, a New Life and Olives Too - 2003
The Olive Harvest: A Memoir of Love, Life and Olives in the South of France - 2004
The Illustrated Olive Farm - 2005
The Olive Route: A Personal Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean - 2007
The Olive Tree: A Personal Journey Through Mediterranean Olive Groves - 2008
Return To the Olive Farm - 2010

I have only read the first three of the series but I really liked it. I might have happened upon the first one because the author looked familiar. Yes, she is Helen Herriot, James Herriot's wife in the television series "All Creatures Great and Small". She has a busy life as an actress but that did not seem enough. She married Michel, a French TV producer and together they bought an olive farm in the Provence. A lot of North Europeans have done this before and written about it, I particularly liked Chris Stewart's story "Driving over Lemons" but was not so much taken with Helen Stevenson's "Instruction for Vistors" or Frances Mayes' "Under the Tuscan Sun".

This, however, is a beautiful story where Carol Drinkwater talks about her love to her husband and their love to the olive farm, the work such an adventure encounters and the benefits. She has a wonderful way of describing both the landscape and its people as well as the activities going on. I'm not surprised she has published seven books in the series in the meantime. Reading her book seems like a holiday in the South of France. I loved it.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"The first in Carol Drinkwater's bestselling series set on a Provencal olive farm.
'All my life, I have dreamed of acquiring a crumbling, shabby-chic house overlooking the sea. In my mind's eye, I have pictured a corner of paradise where friends can gather to swim, relax, debate, eat fresh fruits picked directly from the garden and great steaming plates of food served from an al fresco kitchen and dished up on to a candlelit table the length of a railway sleeper...'

When Carol Drinkwater and her partner Michel have the opportunity to buy 10 acres of disused olive farm in Provence, the idea seems absurd. After all, they don't have a lot of money, and they've only been together a little while.

THE OLIVE FARM is the story of the highs and lows of purchasing the farm and life in Provence: the local customs and cuisine; the threats of fire and adoption of a menagerie of animals; the potential financial ruin and the thrill of harvesting their own olives - especially when they are discovered to produce the finest extra-virgin olive oil..."

Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books"

Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books" 1932-1971

Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
Farmer Boy (1933)
Little House on the Prairie (1935)
On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
The Long Winter (1940)
Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
These Happy Golden Years (1943)
On the Way Home (1962, published posthumously)
The First Four Years (1971)

"Laura Ingalls's story begins in 1871 in a little log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Four-year-old Laura lives in the little house with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their trusty dog, Jack.
Pioneer life is sometimes hard, since the family must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But it is also exciting as Laura and her folks celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and make their first trip into town. And every night they are safe and warm in their little house, with the happy sound of Pa's fiddle sending Laura and her sisters off to sleep.
And so begins Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story of a pioneer girl and her family. The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier past and a heartwarming, unforgettable story."

What can I say about the "Little House" stories that hasn't been said already? What a wonderful story (not only) for children about how it was growing up in the pioneer years. Laura and her sisters moved around North America from one unsettled piece of land to the next. We learn what it means to really stand on your own, having to produce all the food and shelter for your family. Amazing. In her later books, Laura tells us more about her struggles of her later years but the first ones seem all so happy.

My favourites among her novels, definitely "The Long Winter" and "Farmer Boy" about her husband's childhood on a farm in New York. But they are all great. All kids should read it and if you haven't done so as a kid, you should do so now. I read them as an adult because they were not very well known in Germany when I was little and they were among the first books I read in English (besides those I had to read when in school).

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Little House in the Big Woods
Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Little House on the Prairie
Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

Farmer Boy
While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to supper most days -- no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.

On the Banks of Plum Creek
Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready to harvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.

By the Shores of Silver Lake
Pa Ingalls heads west to the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota Territory. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. And Pa begins work on the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the shores of Silver Lake.

The Long Winter
The first terrible storm comes to the barren prairie in October. Then it snows almost without stopping until April. Snow has reached the rooftops, and no trains can get through with food or coal. The people of De Smet are starving, including Laura's family, who wonder how they're going to make it through this terrible winter. It is young Almanzo Wilder who finally understands what needs to be done. He must save the town, even if it means risking his own life.

Little Town on the Prairie
The long winter is over. With spring come socials, parties, and "Literaries." There is also work to be done. Laura spends many hours each day sewing shirts to help send Mary to a college for the blind. But in the evenings, Laura makes time for a new caller, Almanzo Wilder.

These Happy Golden Years
Laura is teaching school, and it's terrifying! Most of the students are taller than she is, and she must sleep away from home for the first time. Laura is miserable, but the money is needed to keep Mary in a college for the blind. And every Friday -- no matter what the weather -- Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. Laura and Almanzo are courting, and even though she's not yet sixteen, she knows that this is a time for new beginnings.

The First Four Years
Laura and Almanzo Wilder have just been married! Their life on a small prairie homestead begins with high hopes. But each year seems to bring unexpected disasters -- storms, sickness, fire, and unpaid debts. These first four years call for courage, strength, and a great deal of determination. Always, though, there is love, especially for the newest member of the family -- baby Rose."

There are some wonderful pages on the web that are worth visiting:
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Frontier Girl
The Little House Book

If you like her stories, you might want to read the "sequel", based on her memoirs, as well:
"Old Town in the Green Groves: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Lost Little House Years" by Cynthia Rylant

If you want a more grown-up version, try "These is my words", "Sarah's Quilt" and "The Star Garden" by Nancy E. Turner. If you enjoyed the "Little House" stories, you will love these, too.

Mary Scott

Mary Scott writes about New Zealand

I'm sure every one of us has a book or a series of books they loved and adored when they were young. Mine led me to New Zealand, to the outbacks in the first half of the last century. The characters were mainly farmers with no money who struggled to build a life in the middle of nowhere. Mary Scott knew what she was writing about, the characters were modelled on herself and her family and friends. She got through all the hardships of a life like that with the help of her loving husband and some wonderful friends she met out there. Who wouldn't want to meet the people and the country they live in?

Her books were translated into German (therefore I could read them all at the time) and seem to have been most popular in Germany, even more than in her own country. Anybody I met or talked to from New Zealand doesn't seem to have ever heard about these lovely little books.

Susan and Larry Series:

"Breakfast at Six" (Frühstück um Sechs. Ich und Paul und Tausend Schafe) - 1953
"Dinner Doesn’t Matter" (Mitttagessen Nebensache) - 1957
"Tea and Biscuits" (Tee und Toast) - 1961
"A Change From Mutton" (Und abends etwas Liebe) - 1964
"Turkey at Twelve" (Truthahn um Zwölf) - 1968
"Shepherd's Pie" (Geliebtes Landleben) - 1972
"Strangers for Tea" (Fremde Gäste) - 1975
"Board, but no Breakfast" (Übernachtung - Frühstück ausgeschlossen) - 1978
Freddie-Trilogy:
"Families are Fun" (Fröhliche Ferien am Meer) - 1957
"No Sad Songs" (Kopf hoch, Freddie!) - 1960
"Freddie" (Wann heiraten wir, Freddie?) - 1965
Others:
"Yours to Oblige" (Na endlich, Liebling) - 1954
"Pippa in Paradise" (Es tut sich was im Paradies) - 1955
"One of the Family" (Onkel ist der Beste) - 1958
"The White Elephant" (Zum Weißen Elefanten) - 1959
"The Long Honeymoon" (Flitterwochen) - 1963
"It's Perfectly Easy" (Es ist ja so einfach) - 1963
"What Does It Matter" (Macht nichts, Darling) - 1966
"Yes, Darling" (Ja, Liebling) - 1967
"Strictly Speaking" (Das Teehaus im Grünen) - 1969
"Haven't We Met Before?" (Hilfe, ich bin berühmt!) - 1970
"If I Don't, Who Will?" (Oh, diese Verwandtschaft!) - 1971
"First Things First" (Verlieb dich nie in einen Tierarzt) - 1973
"It Was Meant" (Zärtliche Wildnis) - 1974
"Away From It All" (Das Jahr auf dem Lande) - 1977
Autobiography:
"Days That Have Been" (Das waren schöne Zeiten) - 1966
Books I didn't get to read:
"The Unwritten Book" 1957
Crime Novels written with Joyce West:
"Fatal Lady" (Tod auf der Koppel) (Inspector Wright #1) - 1960
"Such Nice People" (Lauter reizende Menschen) (Inspector Wright #2) - 1962
"The Mangrove Murder" (Das Geheimnis der Mangrovenbucht) (Inspector Wright #3) - 1964
"No Red Herrings" (Das Rätsel der Hibiskus-Brosche) (Inspector Wright #4) - 1964
"Who Put It There?" (Der Tote im Kofferraum) (Inspector Wright #5) - 1965 

Some information on Mary Scott, her life and her books.

Biography: Lydia Wevers. 'Scott, Mary Edith', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 30-Oct-2012 (Picture from this site)

The New Zealand Novel
I also found an excellent article with a lot of extra information here.


In the meantime, I have found some of her books in English and started a list here.

A list of all my reviews.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.