Cheese Tortellini Alfredo Soup for Cook the Books Dec/Jan Pick: "Eat Joy" and Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

Today is the deadline for Cook the Books, our virtual food blogger book club. Once again, I am jumping in right under the deadline, even if I am the host! (See my announcement post here) My pick for December/January was the anthology Eat Joy; Stories & Comfort Food From 31 Celebrated Writers which inspired a comforting Cheese Tortellini Alfredo Soup.  

I picked this book because I wanted something to delve in and out of with the busy holiday season and busy work January facing me. Also with all that has gone on over the past year, I find myself wanting to cook and eat comfort food and finding solace in the kitchen. 

It's all about making it through the difficult times as 30 authors talk about what comfort food they make and what inspires them in the kitchen. These literary essays are broken down into Growing Pains, Loss, Healing, and Homecoming, and the authors vary from Lev Grossman to Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche to Anthony Doerr and Claire Messud. Probably one of my favorite essays was from Diana Abu-Jabar, a favorite author of mine, and one we have hosted on Cook the Books which made me want to put Za'atar on everything like my eggs, and the lebeneh she mentions. Mira Jacob's Chai recipe sounded wonderful for a cold day. Lev Grossman of The Magicians Trilogy makes General Tso's Tofu that I will try one of these days.The essays ranged from making me smile to bringing a tear to my eye. Not every essay or recipe is a winner but especially if you like to take little dips into lives and see what people eat, it's a great avenue. 

So, I really wanted to have a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for Carmen Maria Machado's "You-Are-Ten-and-Tender-and-Can-Only-Make-This-One-Thing and Cheese recipe. But it seemed a bit basic. I actually thought that I took my recipe inspiration from her essay, Meals of My Twenties where she was first out on her own and learned to cook Alfredo sauce from scratch from her friend. I could relate, as my twenties were when I learned from a good friend, that cooking was more than easy ways to put food on the table. In the essay, her friend Sarah made tortellini soup and since I was craving a pasta soup, I put the two together because soup is always my love language and my go-to comfort food. (Added Update: Come to find out this soup living in my brain was actually due to the fact my brain had seen it a couple weeks earlier, when Amy of Amy's Kitchen Adventures made a Chicken Tortellini Alfredo Soup! Yikes! Friends, I blame a crazy amount of book and blog commitments and a crazy work month for me not remembering Amy's post. I only realized what I did when I was tyoing up the Cook the Books recap, three days later. How embarrassing! I apologize to Amy for piggybacking on her idea. It truly was an accident. You can see her delicious Chicken Tortellini Alfredo Soup here.) 

My soup is meat free but It still has plenty of butter, cheese and coconut milk in place of cream--just as rich, less saturated fat. I made a simple Alfredo sauce (sans nutmeg as I'm not a fan) and stirred it in, but you can fill in with store-bought, just like the cheese tortellini. 

Cheese Tortellini Alfredo Soup

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen Inspired by Amy's Cooking Adventures

(Makes 5-6 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped 

1 large carrot, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp ground oregano 

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup all purpose flour

3 cups veggie stock

sea salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 cups cream or coconut milk

2 Cups Homemade Alfredo Sauce (see recipe below) or good jarred Alfredo

1 lb fresh cheese tortellini

2 cups baby spinach, packed 

Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves to serve

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion, carrot and celery. Saute until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and spices and cook another couple of minutes. Sprinkle the four over the vegetables and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to remove floury taste. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook about 10 minutes, until broth thickens. 

Add the coconut milk or cream, and the Homemade Alfredo Sauce. Bring to a simmer and stir in the tortellini and spinach. Cook for 5-7 minutes until tortellini is al dente. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Ladle into bowls and serve with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Enjoy.

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Homemade Alfredo Sauce

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen 

(Makes about 2 Cups)

2 cups cream or coconut milk

1/4 cup butter sliced into pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and black pepper to taste

Combine cream and butter in a large pan and heat over medium heat. Heat until butter melts and cream is hot but not boiling. Add Parmesan and mix well, cooking over low heat until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Set aside to use in soup

Notes/Results: Creamy and rich and very satisfying, a soup for the stomach and the soul. I won't argue that its the healthiest soup out there but it is certainly worth the indulgence. If you don't want to make the Alfredo sauce, a good store-bought one from the refrigerated section on your local grocery will work. Either way, it's an easy soup that tastes great and I would happily make it again. Note: If you missed it above, I just realized that this soup idea must have stuck in my head from the Chicken Tortellini Alfredo Soup submitted by Amy's Cooking Adventures earlier in the month.

I'll be rounding up the entries for Cook the Books on the website in a day or two. If you missed this round and you like books and food and foodie books, join us for our Feb/March pick, Where I Come From: Life Lessons from a Latino Chef by Aaron Sanchez, hosted by Claudia of Honey from Rock. 

Let's see who is in the Souper Sundays Kitchen this week:

Crafty Gardener is here with Yummy Beef Casserole. She says, "This can be cooked in the crockpot or the oven. Today I just made enough for one meal so the crockpot is my choice. The kitchen will be filled with delicious smells of the cooking stew and I can say it took me all day to cook this meal!"

Debra of Eliot's Eats brings Alice Hoffman's Potato Soup this week, made from another book edited by Natalie Garret that she read by mistake--or maybe happy coincidence! She says, "I added the bacon and milk to the recipe. ...based on Alice Hoffman's 'My Grandmother's Recipe for Life." ... If you want to continue waxing poetic and embracing nostalgia, then I would send you over to my own family’s potato soup recipe: Okie Peasant Potato Soup.

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen shared a salad of Lemon Orzo with Broccoli Florets, saying "This Lemon Orzo with Broccoli was made early this week for lunch in between work and I am glad for days, when lunch is prepped and ready to go.   The citrus piquancy that had infused the orzo and the  broccoli was appreciated by D as he does like lemons.  There's also a little sweetness from the sundried tomatoes and a scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds."

Thank you to everyone for joining me this week!

 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy, healthy week!

 

Caldinho de Feijão – Brazilian Creamy Black Bean Soup for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I'm taking part in #FoodandLit on my favorite book site, Litsy. Each month we read books from a different country, try foods, cook foods and do other things that immerse us into the culture. This month it's Brazil! I have a few different Brazilian-inspired recipes on this blog, including a couple of soups. This Sunday I wanted black bean soup so I found a recipe for Caldinho de Feijão – Brazilian Creamy Black Bean Soup.

I got the recipe from Brazilian Kitchen Abroad, where the blog author has lots of recipes I'd like to make for various dishes and components with a Brazilian flair. She gives the option of making seasoned black beans for the soup or for pepping up canned black beans if you are lazy like me. 

She says, "I grew up eating this soup, and it’s been one of my favorite bean dishes since I was a kid. But, this creamy black bean soup, or caldinho de feijão how we call it in Portuguese, is such a popular dish that it’s also a common appetizer in bars and at winter parties, where it’s often served in mugs or little shooter glasses"

Sounds good to me! I made this mostly to the recipe, opting out on the bacon and adding a touch of liquid smoke and a little extra cumin for smokiness. I had been seeing other Littens trying BraziBread, a Brazilian-style cheese bread and I found a locally made version to serve with the soup.

Caldinho de Feijão – Brazilian Creamy Black Bean Soup

Very Slightly Adapted from Alina at Brazilian Kitchen Abroad

(Makes 4 large or 6 small servings)

 

2 Tbsp olive oil + more for serving if desired

1 small onion diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups of cooked black beans with liquid or 2 cans (I used 3 cans)

(I added 1 tsp liquid smoke)

(I added 1 tsp ground cumin)

(I added 2 bay leaves) 

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (I used 1 tsp)

sea salt and black pepper

lime juice, optional

 

Toppings: lime wedges, jalapeno slices, cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce

In a large sauce pan or soup pot heat up olive oil, add the onion and saute until onion turns translucent 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes until fragrant Add in the beans, plus 2 cups of water or broth, the liquid smoke, cumin, bay leaves,white wine vinegar, the smoked paprika, Worcestershire, sauce, and salt and black pepper to taste. Bring soup to a gentle boil. Cook soup about 15 minutes to blend flavors and turn off the heat.  Let the soup cool a few minutes, then, blend it until creamy with a blender, or immersion blender. Taste and add more seasoning as needed. I added the juice of one lime.  Serve in mugs or bowls, topped with your favorite toppings. and enjoy!   

 Notes/Results: Creamy, smoky and savory, this is a simple and tasty soup. I liked the brightness and acidity the vinegar and lime give the earthy beans and the cheese bread was a good dipper. I need to look up the Brazilian cheese bread and see if it was just my local version that has taro root/mochi in it. An easy lunch or dinner, I would happily make it again. 

 

We've got a lot of friends in the Souper Sundays kitchen today, let's see who is here:

The Crafty Gardener shared Potato & Pasta Soup saying, "My latest soup, potato & pasta, should be called the whatever soup as it turned into whatever was available to add from the cupboard, fridge and freezer. Cook until all veggies are soft. Usually I partially puree my soups but this one was left just as is. If you want a creamier soup you can add a bit more milk. Delicious!"

 

Kim of Stirring the Pot made Split Pea Soup with Crisp Kielbasa and says, "I have to say we were not overly impressed. Don't get me wrong, the soup is good and if you love split pea soup then you would love this recipe! The crispy kielbasa is really great and the soup is A LOT better the second day, but it's just not something that we crave or feel we need to eat on a regular basis. So, if split pea soup is your jam, then you'd probably love this recipe..."

Debra of Eliot's Eats is here with a Fennel Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Blue Cheese she created for Food 'N Flix saying, "The toasted walnuts add more crunch to this fennel salad and the blue cheese just adds the right amount of creaminess (and tang). ... I would definitely slice my fennel thinner next time and use a mandoline. This salad was just as good or better the next day for lunch."

 

Judee of Gluten Free A- Z Blog teaches us How to Make a Great Salad on her blog this week, she says "I only make salad twice a week, but I make enough salad for the entire 7 days! To minimize mess and clean up, I make enough salad for 4 days. I place some of it in a bowl for our dinner and then divide the remainder of the salad into 3 Mason jars. ... Our salad was crisp and crunchy and the dressing just put it over the top. I like salad plain, but I love salad with dressing-especially Avocado dressing. I like the creamy texture and fresh mild taste that avocado add to a dressing."

Finally Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen brought Sweet Potato Cumin Soup and said, "Ideally I would liked to have put some fresh coriander to the soup as I think it would have cut through some of the sweetness, a little like lemon.  But i cannot remember the last time we had fresh coriander at home; and I will confess its one soft herb, I struggle to grow at home.  Nevertheless, it was still a good soup to eat with homemade bread, albeit from the bread machine."

Thank you to everyone for joining me this week!

 

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Have a happy healthy week!

 

Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup: Chesy Comfort for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

OK, so this soup may have a bit of an identity crisis. It's not vegan but has some dairy-free ingredients, mainly because I used what I had on hand and what I like to do to keep the amount of dairy down. So, if you want it one way or the other, sub in all dairy or replace the dairy with non-dairy ingredients. It's all good! The nutritional yeast is optional but I like the extra nuttiness and layer of rich cheesy flavor it adds.

I did go with a Panera vibe for this soup. We don't have Panera in Hawaii so making a similar version at home is a good option. Also, I do blend up almost all of my broccoli soup because oddly enough, it's the only way broccoli agrees with my stomach. You can leave more un-blended if you want a chunkier soup. 

Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup

By Deb, Kahakai KItchen with a nod to Panera

(Makes About 6 Servings)

2 Tbsp butter

about 1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped (I used these frozen caramelized ones) 

1 large carrot, diced or grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 cup flour

2 cups coconut milk or half-and-half

2 cups veggie stock (I used not chicken bouillon)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast, optional

4 cups broccoli florets, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used frozen) 

8 oz freshly-grated sharp cheddar cheese, separated

sea salt and black pepper

bread bowl to serve, optional

 

In a large soup pot, melt the butter and sautee the onions and carrot until soft and onions are turning golden. Add the garlic celery salt, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper and saute another minute or two. 

Sprinkle the flour over the mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the coconut milk and chicken stock and whisk until flour is blended in. 

 

Stir in the nutritional yeast if using, add broccoli and cook over low heat, about 20-25 minutes until broccoli and carrots are tender. 

Blend soup as desired--from a ladle or two to coarsely blending it all as I did. Return soup to low heat and stir in about 6-oz of the cheddar cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve in bread bowls if desired, with a genrous sprinkle of the reserved cheese on top. Enjoy! 

Notes/Results: This soup is just what I wanted for this slightly gray and mellow Sunday. It totally hit the spot. Rich and just cheesy enough without being cloying. I like the creaminess of the mostly blended soup but the great thing about soups like this is that you can really just change it up the way you like and you'll have something delicious. I will happily make this again.

Let's take a look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here:

Simona of briciole is here with a creamy Romanesco Broccoli Soup (my soup's cooler, more sophisticated cousin!) ;-) that she made for this round of Cook the Books. She says, "The main ingredient of my current favorite soup is one of my favorite vegetables: Romanesco broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica). It's impossible not to be fascinated by this vegetable's shape, its geometric beauty. And it is not just pretty, it has also a great flavor, a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, and slightly nutty."

 

Crafty Gardener made Sausage and Bean Soup, saying "There is nothing like comfort food on a really cold day and this ‘Soup’er recipe is just that. It really isn’t all homemade but it is made at home! Most of the ingredients come right from the can and just get all mixed in and cooked together.  But sometimes you just need a quick hearty meal to make."

Thank you for joining me this week, Simona and Crafty Gardener!

 
(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here.
 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up to Souper Sundays in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and add a link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to this post or my blog on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (completely optional).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 Have a happy, healthy week!

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Until We Are Lost" by Leslie Archer, Served with a Recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar, Cumin & Capers

Happy Aloha Friday! I'm happy to be bringing another review this week as I am a stop on today's TLC Book Tour of Until We Are Lost by Leslie Archer. Along with my review, there's a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar, Cumin & Capers inspired by my reading.

Publisher's Blurb:

When Tara Peary’s twin sister Sophie goes missing, Tara dives into New York’s underbelly to find her. Sophie is the one person who’s ever truly understood her, and Tara knows her sister isn’t the only one who needs help.

Tara is also on the run emotionally from her complicated childhood. Her memories are threatening to overwhelm her emotions and derail the hunt for Sophie. A psychotherapist keeps her afloat, but when Tara begins dating her therapist’s young tech-millionaire neighbor, she risks losing the only lifelines she has left.

The more Tara uncovers about her sister’s disappearance and the dark side of the rich elite, the less certain of the truth she becomes. As Tara reaches the center of the mystery, spanning from her childhood home in Georgia to a Southern California beach, she has to decide whether the truth is a price she’s willing to pay.

Hardcover: 414 Pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (February 2, 2021)

My Review:  

This is one of those books that is difficult to review as I don't want to give away any of the twisty turning plot, so this review will be short and very vague. It wasn't what I expected and it's a bit bonkers in terms of the story. It also has a lot of dark subjects; sexual abuse and assault, family dysfunction, drugs, to name some of them. None of these subjects are glorified, and they are part of the story as the main character works through her past and PTSD with her therapist, but they can be triggers for some readers. At first I had a hard time connecting with the main character, Tara, who is fighting a lot of trauma and inner demons, but eventually I was rooting for her to find out the truth about her sister and hoping she could get to a good place. Not a light read but well written and it definitely kept me riveted and turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next, so it's a pick for me. This psychological thriller won't be for everyone but if you like a darker book with lots of unexpected turns, you should give Until We Are Lost a go.

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Author Notes:  Leslie Archer is the nom de plume of a New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels.

Connect with Leslie on her website. 

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Food Inspiration:

There was food in Until We Are Lost, mentions included cafe au lait, chocolate croissant, lunch at an Israeli restaurant with falafel sandwiches, beer, sushi, fried cod, yogurt, Chinese food, brown rice, pickles, buttered toast, a soup of slippery noodles and a dozen kinds of vegetables, champagne and tapas, brandy, Coke, espresso, coffee and Oreos, donuts, tacos, pastrami, corned beef, latkes, bagels and lox, coleslaw, sour pickles, chocolate egg cream, mezcal, tequila, caviar-filled puff pastry, smoked salmon on butter-slicked squares of black bread, minishrimp cocktails, steak, bourbon, Oolong tea, French toast and bacon, orange juice, raspberry jam, omelets with onions, mushroom and scallions, vodka martini, penne arrrabbiata, chocolate gelato, carciofi primavera salad, soda pop and funnel cakes, cold chicken, baked beans, and pastrami and rye.

I ultimately made the dish that sounded best to me and what I wanted to eat for my bookish recipe. Tara meets Figgy while lurking across the street from her therapist's house and when she first visits his plac, the air is "perfumed" by food, that she doesn't recognize with "exotic spices." "Cauliflower and pine nuts with cumin and za'atar," Figgy says. I love roasted cauliflower, and cumin, and za'atar, so that's what i wanted. I thought I had pine nuts in my freezer but I did not so I decided to add capers to the mix instead. 

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If you don't know za'atar, it's a Middle Eastern herb blend. Bon Appetit says, "Za'atar is so multifaceted and dynamic because it's a blend of so many different flavors, textures, and fragrances. Even though it varies greatly depending on where you are in the Middle East (specific recipes are sometimes closely-guarded secrets!), za'atar is generally a combination of dried oregano, thyme, and/or marjoram (woodsy and floral), with sumac (tangy and acidic) and toasted sesame seeds (nutty and rich). And, as if that weren't enough, za'atar sometimes contains salt, dried orange zest, dried dill, or the wild herb za'atar (also called hyssop, it grows throughout the Levant and is the mixture's namesake)."

Roasted Cauliflower with Za'atar, Cumin & Capers

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Serves 2 as Main, 4 as a Side)

1 medium cauliflower (about 2-ish lbs) cut into florets

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp za'atar

2 tsp ground cumin

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 heaping Tbsp capers, drained (optional)

zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 of the lemon 

 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place the oil, za'atar, cumin, salt and pepper into a large bowl and whisk until well-combined. Add the cauliflower and toss well. 

Transfer cauliflower to a large baking sheet and place in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cauliflower over and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender and browned on the edges. Stir the capers, lemon juice and lemon zest into the warm cauliflower mixture, serve, and enjoy!

Notes/Results:  I think I could eat this every day/night. I love thethe combination of the cumin and za'atar combined with the brightness of the lemon and briny capers. It's exotic comfort food. Pine nuts would have been nice but I would still put the capers in the mix. I ate two small bowls of this for dinner and practically licked them clean. I will happily make it again.

I'm sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's a link to this week's post.

Note: A review copy of "Until We Are Lost" was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for my review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 
 
You can see the other stops for this TLC Book Tour and what other bloggers thought of the book here.

 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake and a Book Review for the #BigLiesinaSmallTownParty

I am very excited to be taking part in the #BigLiesinaSmallTownParty this week, celebrating the paperback release of Big Lies in a Small Town, a novel by Diane Chamberlain and sponsored by The Book Club Cookbook!

For this recipe party, we were tasked to read the book and make a recipe inspired by it. Although I'll discuss some of the food in the book below, there was one recipe I knew I had to make given the correlation to the state I call my home, Hawaii; Pineapple Upside Down Cake!  

But first, let's talk about this book, full of secrets and lies in a small southern town. 

Here's the cover blurb: 

North Carolina, 2018:
Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, her dream of a career in art is put on hold—until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will get her released from prison immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to be free, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

North Carolina, 1940:
Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and in great need of work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?

Publisher : St. Martin's Press (January 14, 2020)
Publication date : January 14, 2020

My Review: 

I can't believe this is my first book by Diane Chamberlain! I have a couple of her novels on my Kindle but time and massive TBR piles keep getting in my way. I was drawn to this book right off the bat as historical fiction is my jam, and I love dual narratives and timelines. I also love art and stories about artists and their process, so I enjoyed how vividly those aspects were captured both in Anna painting the post office mural as part of the New Deal Public Works of Art Project, and in Morgan's restoration of Anna's work decades later. I am impressed with the research that the author did on these subjects, as well as the local history of the very real Edenton, North Carolina. I always say that the best historical fiction has me Googling the historical events surrounding it, and Chamberlain had me reading all sorts of extra information.

Character-wise, she pulled me into these two young women's lives immediately, both are lost and at a crossroads, and both have tragedy in their pasts. I found myself happy to flip back and forth in the chapter perspectives, equally interested in both story lines. There was enough tension built in wondering what happened to Anna that I sped through the book and didn't want to stop reading it, but I wanted to savor it too. I also liked how well Diane Chamberlain tied the stories together, particularly at the end of the book. My only very minor complaint is that the ending and epilogue had me wanting even more of both women's stories. That's testament to how much I enjoyed Big Lies in a Small Town. I would recommend it to any fans of historical fiction, southern-set fiction, art, and mystery fans. I am going to be investigating Chamberlain's The Silent Sister next as, it's on my Kindle and ready to go.

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Author Notes:  Diane Chamberlain is the New York Times and international bestselling author of The Stolen Marriage, The Dream Daughter, and Big Lies in a Small Town. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her sheltie.

You can connect with Diane on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Connect with St. Martin's Press at @stmartinspress on all social media

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Food Mentions: 

For food in the book, there was a variety mentioned from both decades including soft-boiled eggs and sausage in a flat patty, grits, sweet tea, coconut cookies, Cheerios, Nabs (a peanut sandwich cookie), burgers, chocolate-iced sheet cake, pastries, Yankee Pot Roast, a ham sandwich, butter cookies, a chicken wrap, BLT, and chef's salad, a dinner of fried chicken, whipped potatoes, collard greens, corn and canned tomatoes, Moscow Mules, beer, a lunch plate of chicken salad, tuna salad, a bit of candied apple, and a slice of American cheese, chicken and dumplings, biscuits, pad Thai, cold leftover stew, ginger cookies, eggs and melons, blueberry muffins, pizza, and Hunan chicken and egg rolls.  

There were a few things I was tempted to make like the collard greens, the Moscow Mule (mainly because I bought a copper mug on Zulily) ;-) or the coconut cookies, but it was a scene where Anna meets her landlady Miss Myrtle, when she first arrives in Edenton that sealed my dish pick. 

"They sat down to a snack of tea and squares of pineapple upside down cake baked by Miss Myrtle's maid, Freda, who offered Anna a warm smile but didn't speak."

Pineapples are a sign of hospitality in the South, and since I live in the land of pineapples and Aloha, I wanted to make this dessert classic. If you know and visit this blog, you hear me say time and again that I AM NOT A BAKER!  This is true and why I pulled in a boxed cake mix to simplify it (and it's much cheaper than buying a bunch of baking ingredients that I seldom use). A can of Dole pineapple rings and their juices, a jar of maraschino cherries, brown sugar and butter rounded out the mix to make it partially homemade. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Courtesy of Duncan Hines

(Makes about 8-10 servings, depending on pan used)

 

non-stick cooking spray

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1 1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large can Dole Pineapple Slices in 100% Pineapple Juice (rings + reserved juice)

7 maraschino cherries, or more depending on size of pan

1 box Duncan Hines Signature Perfectly Moist Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix (or yellow cake mix of choice)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

whipped cream to serve, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the sides of pan (I used a large round pan) pan with cooking spray. Place the stick butter into the pan and place in the oven while it is pre-heating, making sure to pull it out once the butter is melted and bubbling. 

 

While the butter is melting, combine the cake mix, liquid (use the pineapple juice from draining your can of rings as the majority of the 1 cup water called for in the cake mix recipe (I got about 3/4 cup of juice) and use water to make up the rest of the called for amount), vegetable oil, and egg. Mix for about 2 minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer.

 

Sprinkle the pan melted butter heavily and evenly with the brown sugar. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries on top of the brown sugar. And gently pour the cake batter on top of the pineapple slices and cherries. (I give the pan a couple of light taps on the counter to evenly settle the batter.)

 

Bake cake about 35 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer comes out clean when poked into the center of the cake. Let the cake cool on a rack for about 10 minutes then run a knife on around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Place your serving platter on top of the cake and carefully flip it over so your pineapples are now on top.  Pour any remaining juices in the pan all over the cake.

 

I like to serve it warm with whipped cream on the side--although it is perfectly delicious cooled as well. Enjoy!  

 

Notes/Results: What's not to like about pineapple upside down cake? It brings back childhood memories for me as my mom baked them sometimes when I was growing up. The pineapple juice and the pineapple cake mix give it an extra pineapple punch and the cherries, while not required, make it pretty and give it that retro vibe. It's just an easy-to-make, sunny, happy-vibe, and overall delicious cake that I will certainly make again.

 

Check out this link for the #BigLiesinaSmallTownParty at The Book Club Cookbook to see the other bloggers taking part and their delicious recipes!

Mahalo to St. Martin's Press and The Book Club Cookbook for the review copies of the book and for hosting this fun event. I received no compensation for my participation and, as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own. 

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Sharing this post with the Weekend Cooking event hosted by Marg at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader. It's a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Here's a link to this week's post.