The book: Salt. A World History. by Mark Kurlansky
Jarby recommended we read this book. She said that she picked it up and found herself fascinated by the facts and the telling of them by the author. Only to find later on, she hated the book and did not finish it!
I felt all through reading the book that I was in a high school history class and would soon be quizzed on the finer history points of salt.
So, I felt it was very important for me as hostess to provide a "pop quiz" for those who showed up. The 25 question quiz + bonus question was a challenging and ultimately rewarding tool (some folks went home with kitchen gadgets! spices! a salt grinder!). Either way, it was fun to see what folks remembered from the book. And it was easy to tell who had actually read some of the book.
On the menu were:
Appetizers:
Vodka soaked tomatoes with 3 types of salt to roll them in.
Anchovy stuffed green olives
Jalapeno stuffed green olives
Spicy nuts and mixed nibbles
Drinks:
Salt Lick (vodka, grapefruit juice and squirt with lime and salt rimmed glasses)
the usual assortment of wine, plus Corona
Main Meal:
Caesar salad (with caesar anchovy dressing)
Black Bean Chili (hot, hot hot!)
Dessert:
Heard of the Peanut Buster Parfait from DQ? Well we made vanilla ice cream with peanuts and chocolate sauce. Salt does complement sweet!
We missed seeing Jarby and Sandy, who were off doing very important things. But, we were so very excited that our most tardy/skipping member did show up for the fun! Janet, it was so good to see you again! We also enjoyed the company of the lovely Jean (Rachel's mom) who was soon back off to the UK for the remainder of the year!
The fall (cool) weather and the night upon us (no more daylight savings time) made the night cozy and the chili sure kept us warm.
Looking forward to the next book club, where Amy will host in January....
See you soon!
Katie
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5 comments:
Katie, this is great! Thanks so much for picking up this ball and running with the thing. Cool. Sorry I missed the gathering -- especially since I recommended that lovely book. Talk about a "textbook." I'm back to reading it again -- I'm not going to let it beat me!
Jarby
Katie, this is fabulous! I can't wait for Mom to see the name of the blog ;0 I truly enjoyed the gather in at your house so it's especially nice to relive it through the review/summary. I'm currently reading "Love in the time of cholera" and I'm liking it a lot. I might even break down and see the movie after I've finished the book if I continue to enjoy it all the way to the end. Hope everyone gets their votes in for our next book because I'll need something new to pick up over the holidays; I'm taking some time off to hang out with the boys. Hope all is well with all of you! Again, Katie -- you rock!! I'm going to send Tony Copa a link to our blog so he can keep up with what we're doing and hopefully send some recommendations our way from his book club. He was the one who turned me on to Eat, Pray, Love.
Hey Katie, your post (with descriptions of your menu) gave me an idea. What if we had a section on the blog to post recipes from our gatherings? It seems I'm always wanting at least one recipe from our get-togethers and this way the host could post the recipe for anyone interested. For example, I LOVED your chili and would enjoy getting the recipe.
Marie,
That's a great idea! I will see if I can find a way to add something like that - or a link to a page I can set up like that.
For now I will post my chili recipe as a comment on that post.
Katie
Black Bean Chili
2 lbs. hamburger, browned
1 large onion, browned w/ hamb.
2 garlic cloves, minced & browned
salt & pepper the hamb. mix
When browned, add to crock pot with:
3 cans diced tomatoes (1 w/ green chiles, 2 with garlic, etc. - not plain)
2 cans rinsed black beans
1/2 - 3/4 bag frozen corn
1 cup picante sauce
3/4 cup water
salt to taste
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chile powder
Heat for 4 hours on low, stirring occasionally. Top with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped green onions and/or chopped black olives.
Credit: Carmen Schluter
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