The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "You and Me and Us" by Alison Hammer, Served with a Basil Arnold Palmer (Made with Ina's Fresh Lemonade)

It's Friday! Isn't it odd how much the days run together with the whole social distancing/stay home thing? And I say that as someone who is dividing my days being at the office and working from home. If I didn't have a couple of set days where I venture to work (in my mask of course), I feel like I'd have no idea if it was Friday or Tuesday or Saturday. But Friday it is, and I'm happy to be celebrating it by being today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for You and Me and Us by Alison Hammer. Accompanying my review is a refreshing Basil Arnold Palmer (made with Ina Garten's Fresh Lemonade) inspired by my reading.

Publisher's Notes: 

The heartbreaking, yet hopeful, story of a mother and daughter struggling to be a family without the one person who holds them together—a perfect summer read for fans of Jojo Moyes and Marisa de los Santos.

Alexis Gold knows how to put the “work” in working mom. It’s the “mom” part that she’s been struggling with lately. Since opening her own advertising agency three years ago, Alexis has all but given up on finding a good work/life balance. Instead, she’s handed over the household reins to her supportive, loving partner, Tommy. While he’s quick to say they divide and conquer, Alexis knows that Tommy does most of the heavy lifting—especially when it comes to their teenage daughter, CeCe.

Their world changes in an instant when Tommy receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, and Alexis realizes everything she’s worked relentlessly for doesn’t matter without him. So Alexis does what Tommy has done for her almost every day since they were twelve-year-old kids in Destin, Florida—she puts him first. And when the only thing Tommy wants is to spend one last summer together at “their” beach, she puts her career on hold to make it happen…even if it means putting her family within striking distance of Tommy’s ex, an actress CeCe idolizes.

But Alexis and Tommy aren’t the only ones whose lives have been turned inside out. In addition to dealing with the normal ups and downs that come with being a teenager, CeCe is also forced to confront her feelings about Tommy’s illness—and what will happen when the one person who’s always been there for her is gone. When the magic of first love brings a bright spot to her summer, CeCe is determined not to let her mother ruin that for her, too.

As CeCe’s behavior becomes more rebellious, Alexis realizes the only thing harder for her than losing Tommy will be convincing CeCe to give her one more chance.

You and Me and Us is a beautifully written novel that examines the unexpected ways loss teaches us how to love.

Hardcover: 432 pages

Publisher: William Morrow (April 7, 2020)

My Review: 

I get to select my review books months in advance which is good and bad. It's bad because when I picked books back in December, the Coronavirus was not yet a thing and I didn't know that by March, I wouldn't want to read sad books. It's good because if I had banned sad books from my life, I would have missed You and Me and Us and that would have been a shame because it is an excellent book with some tear-jerking moments, but also plenty of hope and some humor too.  Even before you get to the back cover blurb, you know things aren't going to go well for the characters with the tagline "One Family. One Last Summer."  As the book begins we meet Alexis Gold, who is a better business owner and executive than she is a mother to her 14-year-old Cecilia (CeCe). The parenting is done by Lexie's husband Tommy, a psychologist who works from home and is there for CeCe when Lexie isn't. Lexie has been too busy to notice how bad Tommy's cough has gotten and is a bit blindsided when he tells her he has terminal lung cancer and rather than prolong the suffering for him and his family, he wants to forgo treatment and make the most of the time they have left by heading to their beach house in Destin, Florida. The place has special meaning as it's when Tommy and Lexie first met during the summers she spent with her grandmother, and it's where Lexie's best friend Jill still lives. Unfortunately, Tommie's ex-wife is also there for the summer filming a television series and CeCe is obsessed with becoming an actress and Lexie wants the woman far away from her family. The summer unfolds from the perspectives of Lexie and CeCe mostly, and their already strained relationship is in danger of fracturing more as they deal with their grief and Tommy worsens. 

OK, I made it sound like a downer, but it really isn't, instead it is a touching and beautifully written debut novel with very real characters and relatable family drama. Did I tear up? Yes, several times. Did I ugly cry? Maybe once and it was actually cathartic. Did I smile or laugh? Yes, often. Did I end up happy I read it even during a pandemic? Most definitely. The pages flew by and I was sorry to see it end as I wanted more time with this family and their friends. I really enjoyed You and Me and Us and would love to read a follow up and will look forward to more books by Alison Hammer.

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Author Notes: Founder of the Every Damn Day Writers, Alison Hammer has been spinning words to tell stories since she learned how to talk. A graduate of the University of Florida and the Creative Circus in Atlanta, she lived in nine cities before settling down in Chicago, where she works as a VP creative director at an advertising agency. You & Me & Us is her first novel.

Find out more about Alison at her website, and connect with her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Food Inspiration: 

There is a good amount of food in You and Me and Us as CeCe is a budding chef and Lexie's friend Jill owns a cafe/bakery. Mentions included a dinner of white fish, sauteed spinach and tiny roasted purple potatoes, sliced baguette with fresh mozzarella, Roma tomatoes and torn pieces of basil, Cheetos, onion rings, barbecue sauce, curry, Arnold Palmers, cream cheese eggs, ice cream, fried green tomatoes topped with lump crab meat, white wine, cheddar and caramel popcorn (Chicago mix), chocolate chip cookies, iced vanilla latte, cheese Danish, popcorn with fresh butter, rose wine, grilled chicken breasts marinated in olive oil, lemon, thyme, rosemary, garlic and black pepper, potatoes, pita, grape popsicles, souffle, Tropical Chicken Salad, crab cakes, cheeseburger, chips and candy, Fla-Vor-Ice pops, chocolate wedding cake with caramel icing,  string cheese, pizza, Bloody Marys, cheesecake brownies, deli platters, tea, coffee, Long Island iced tea, champagne and sparkling grape juice.

For my bookish dish, I had to go with recreating CeCe's Arnold Palmer that she "elevates" from the artificial lemonade and black tea mixes that Lexie's grandmother used by using sun tea, fresh lemonade and muddling fresh basil. The Arnold Palmer (half iced tea & half lemonade) never fails to put a smile on my face because I have a good friend who loves them and orders them frequently. The smile is because we went out to lunch at a new restaurant in Waikiki a few years ago and he ordered one--only to be informed by the waitress that they were not on the menu. He (nicely) pointed out that they had both lemonade and iced tea on the menu and requested that she ask the bartender to mix the two, and she replied that they couldn't deviate from the menu as they wouldn't be able to ring it up correctly in the register. I would have given up but he calmly ordered an ice tea and a lemonade and a glass of ice and mixed his own. We still laugh about it.

For my version of CeCe's drink, I used a basic black English Breakfast tea and for the lemonade, rather than stirring it together I used Ina Garten's blender recipe that I made and posted about two years ago (here). It's great when you don't want to make a simple syrup or bother with stirring the sugar until it dissolves and the blender pulverizes the ice so that it is nice and icy cold. I "muddled" fresh basil in a glass (Using my wooden muddler) and poured the liquid on top (mixed half-and-half). If you don't have basil, CeCe also considered rosemary and mint which would also be delicious.

Fresh Lemonade
By Ina Garten via Barefoot Contessa at FoodNetwork.com
(Yield 1 1/2 Quarts)

1 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
1/2 to 3/4 cup superfine sugar 
1 cup crushed ice
4 cups very cold water

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until completely smooth. Serve over ice.

Notes/Results:  It's so good! I know it looks like beer in the glass because I needed to grab the natural light for the photos and didn't let my blender-made lemonade settle before I took pictures--so you can see the foam. I love the addition of the basil and it does elevate this classic drink with it's sharp herbal kick. It also brings out the toasty notes of the black tea and works well with the sweet-tart lemonade. I am happy to have a pitcher of these for the weekend. (I will "muddle my basil as I go to keep it fresh) and I think this will be my summer drink (the nonalcoholic one at least!) ;-)

Linking up with I Heart Cooking Clubs where April is a month-long Needs Must theme--cooking the ingredients we have or can get using the recipes from our 20 featured chefs. 

I'm also sharing it at the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "You and Me and Us" was provided to me by the author and the publisher Harper Collins 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 stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.
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Spiced Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup with Toasted Israeli Couscous Topping for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

It's Easter Sunday and I should probably be making a spring soup or carrot soup or something that has an Easter-ish vibe. But these are strange times and I like many others am limiting grocery runs and cooking foods from my pantry like this Spiced Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup with Toasted Israeli Couscous Topping.  

I work for a food distributor and they periodically give us assorted food items that are overstock or near expiration. I grabbed a large can of fire-roasted red peppers the other day and of course I was going to turn it into soup. When I started, I wasn't exactly sure what form the soup would take, but I added cans of fire-roasted tomatoes and coconut milk from my pantry, an onion, carrots and some limp cilantro from my veggie drawer, and assorted spices from my spice rack. The couscous topping was an afterthought as I remembered this Italian Vegetable Fagioli with Toasted Couscous I made a few years ago. Since I happened to have a box of Israeli couscous in my cupboard, I thought it would be a fun way to add texture to a creamy pureed soup.

Spiced Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup with Toasted Israeli Couscous Topping
By Deb, Khaki Kitchen
(Makes 6 Servings)

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried cilanto
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper or other hot pepper
1 large can (28 oz) fire-roasted red peppers, drained & chopped (or about 3 large roasted red peppers)
1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes and their juices
2 cups vegetable broth or stock
sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 tsp brown sugar or other sweetener to taste 
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
prepared couscous and chopped cilantro for garnish

Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and all spices and cook another 2 minutes.

Add the peppers, tomatoes and juice, and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Meanwhile toast couscous and cook according to package instruction and set aside.

Use an immersion blender or carefully puree soup in a blender until smooth. Taste and add sea salt, black pepper, and brown sugar as needed to balance flavor. Stir in coconut milk and heat through. Taste again and adjust seasoning as desired. 

Serve in bowls with a scoop of the prepared couscous and chopped cilantro on top. Enjoy!

Notes/Results: I love a good creamy red pepper and tomato soup and this one is very good. Because I was adding the couscous topping, I leaned my spices to the Moroccan side of things and wasn't disappointed--they are warm and toasty and delicious. The soup is just spicy enough for me with the hot smoked paprika and the Aleppo pepper, but you could of course make it hotter. I would happily make it again. 

Let's see who is in the Souper Sundays kitchen! 

Vicki of I'd Rather Be At The Beach shared Instant Pot Freezer Fix Chili and said, "It tasted VERY different than any chili we’ve ever had before. I love all the spices in the recipe but the flavor was way too strong for us. If I ever try it again I’ll use less of each spice and maybe add a bit of sugar, since I always add it to my personal chili recipe."

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen shared Red Yellow Green Macaroni Pasta Salad and says, "The macaroni pasta is combined with colourful peppers, spring onions, black olives and then smothered in a Dijon Mayonnaise.  It really was one of the easiest lunches to put together and eat.  I served up and took my bowl outside to eat out in the sun, and I am not even a sun person. I am coming to appreciate my outdoor space a lot more than I have done so in the past."

Thank you to Vicki and Shaheen 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 and be well!

A Mixed Berry Clafoutis to Welcome Julia Child to IHCC

We had already decided to select Julia Child as the next featured chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs before the Coronavirus made it more of a challenge to get particular ingredients for recipes. So for at least the next month, we have adpoted a "Needs, Must" theme at IHCC--meaning that you can cook any recipe from any of our past and present featured chefs (20 with Julia) and modify the recipe and ingredients as needed to accommodate what you have available.

I still wanted to make a welcoming dish for Julia and picked something easy, her Clafoutis recipe. If you aren't familiar, (according to Wikipedia) "Clafoutis, sometimes spelled clafouti in Anglophone countries, is a baked French dessert of fruit, traditionally black cherries, arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm, sometimes with cream."

I have posted two on this blog: 

Blueberry & Elderflower Clafoutis: 

Cherry Clafoutis:

I didn't have fresh cherries so I used blueberries and a few sliced strawberries I had on hand for my fruit. I also had just brown sugar on hand and no powdered sugar. Finally, I don't thnk this is my finet effort as I was distracted by a work call while I was making it. Luckily, a clafoutis is a very forgiving dessert and it was delicious, especially with a generous drizzle of cream.   

The New York Times says, "This recipe is for a delicately sweet dessert whose elegance should not distract from its ease (it can be made while the rest of dinner is in the oven). Make sure you have fresh berries, and serve the result warm. We call for blueberries or blackberries here, but feel free to try it with whatever seasonal fruit catches your eye."

Julia Child's Berry Clafoutis 
Slightly Adapted from TheNewYorkTimes
(Yield 6 to 8 Servings)

butter for pan
1 1/4 cups whole or 2% milk
2/3 cups granulated sugar, divided (I used brown sugar)
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour
1 pint (2 generous cups) blackberries or blueberries, rinsed & well-drained (I used blueberries & strawberries)
powdered sugar in a shaker (I did not have)
cream to serve, optional
 
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a medium-size flameproof baking dish at least 1 1/2 inches deep.

Place the milk, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour in a blender. Blend at top speed until smooth and frothy, about 1 minute.

Pour a 1/4-inch layer of batter in the baking dish. Turn on a stove burner to low and set dish on top for a minute or two, until a film of batter has set in the bottom of the dish. Remove from heat.

Spread berries over the batter and sprinkle on the remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter and smooth with the back of a spoon. Place in the center of the oven and bake about 50 minutes, until top is puffed and browned and a tester plunged into its center comes out clean.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving. (Clafoutis need not be served hot, but should still be warm. It will sink slightly as it cools.)

Notes/Results: I probably should have used a little less fruit for the size of ceramic casserole I used but this was delicious and really hit the spot as I have been craving something sweet and baked this week. Because I'm not a baker, I love clafoutis because they really are low fuss and effort desserts. I liked the tartness of the blueberries I used with the mellower strawberries even though the more traditional cherry clafoutis will always be my favorite. I will hapily make this again. 

Linking up to Bon Appétit, Julia! at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

 
I'm also sharing it at the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

 

Mark Bittman's Creamy Potato Soup with Rustic Chive Pesto for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

If you are stuck at home with limited trips to the store or grocery deliveries, it definitely helps to have a Mark Bittman cookbook or two. Between the number of recipes, plus the variations of those recipes, you can pretty much put in an ingredient and come up with countless ways to cook it.

I wanted potato soup and in How To Cook Everything Fast, I quickly found a variation of parsnip soup with parsley pesto that would makes the most of a few Yukon Golds from my 5lb bag AND use up a bunch of chives in my veggie drawer and pine nuts stored in my freezer.

Bittman says, "Vegetables that will be pureed need to be cooked until very soft. If you cut them into chunks, getting there can take 20 minutes, even longer. But grated, they're ready in a flash." (Deb's Note: I was;t that concerned about time and wanted a partially pureed soup, so I cut mine into small chunks.)

Creamy Potato Soup with Rustic Chive Pesto
How To Cook Everything Fast by Mark Bittman
(Serves 4)

2 Tbsp butter 
1 medium onion
4 large-ish potatoes (about 2 lbs) (I used Yukon Gold potatoes)
salt and pepper (I used celery salt)
6 cups stock or water (I used non-chicken stock)

Pesto: 
1 bunch fresh chives
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 Tbsp olive oil

Put 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Trim, peel, and chop the onion.

When the butter starts to foam, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until it softens , 10 to 15 minutes. Peel potatoes and if grating, cut them into chunks that will fit in a food processor, or grate them by hand with a box grater. (I cut mine into 3/4-inch cubes.)

Raise the heat to high and add the potatoes, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and the 6 cups stock or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so that it bubbles gently but steadily and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20-minutes. . 

Meanwhile make pesto by chopping 1 cup of chives, mincing the garlic clove and roughly chopping the pine nuts. Combine them with 3 tablespoons olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Mash and stir with a fork against the sides of the bowl until the pesto becomes a loose paste. 

Turn the heat under the soup and run an immersion blender through the pot, or working in batches, transfer it to an upright blender and carefully puree. (I pureed about half of the soup.)

Reheat the soup for 1 to 2 minutes if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Divide the soup among 4 bowls, spoon the pesto over the top, and serve.

Notes/Results: A simple and tasty potato soup that goes up a level when the chunky, rustic pesto is added to the top. It's creamy without the cream and if you swap in olive oil or use vegan butter, you can take it from vegetarian to vegan. I will happily make it again.

Last week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we were supposed to pick our favorite from our 19 featured chefs and I didn't get an opportunity to post. Although I have several I am fond of, for many of the reasons mentioned above, I choose Mark Bittman. So many great, simple recipes, so many variation and his recipes are done in such a way that they are a great jumping off point to add my own twists and ideas. 

Here are five of my favorites. 

Spanish Tortilla from the New York Times: 

Simplest and Best Shrimp from How To Cook Everything (I used them in shrimp tacos):

Spaghetti with Fried Eggs from The New York Times:

Beans, Shrimp and Fennel from the VB6 Cookbook:

Spanish-Style Pasta e Fagioli from How To Cook Everything Fast:

And as a bonus...The Creamy Potato Soup with Chive Pesto that I just realized that I made before back in 2016! Have I mentioned that there are almost 600 soups posted here. Sometimes I goof and have a repeat! ;-) Oh, well... it is REALLY good!

Linking up this Mark Bittmen soup with I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck this week. Actually due to the difficulty in readily finding some ingredients and making due with what you have, we at IHCC are making all of our themes in April (after we welcome our newest featured chef Julia Child next week) a "Needs, Must" theme. Just like a month of Potlucks--any recipe from any of the 20 featured chefs (some are pictured below) making due with what you have in your pantry to cook with. Stop in and join us!

Now let's look into the Souper Sundays kitchen this week:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared her thoughts on how the world has changed this month and shared a classic soup and sandwich combo saying, "We have been able to eat outside the kitchen quite a bit as the weather has been very nice. Here is another patio meal with grilled cheese on sourdough and tomato soup. Can't beat that combo."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Bog brought Instant Pot Vegan Potato Salad and said, "My husband loves potato salad and especially his grandmother's recipe that goes way back to his childhood growing up in the Middle East. I was delighted to convert the recipe to making it in the Instant Pot. I saved time and the mess of boiling a large amount of potatoes. … This interesting vegan recipe is made using lemon juice and oil as opposed to mayonnaise."

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen offers up a hearty soup saying, "This Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup was a well flavoured soup, not just from the sweetness from the sweet potatoes, but also hints from the other herbs, namely the sage. I haven't had blackeye beans for a little while, so the soft nuttiness added both flavour and melt in the mouth texture. On the last day of eating and reheating the soup, the sweet potatoes disintegrated completely."

Thank you to Tina, Judy and Shaheen 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 and stay safe and well.
 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Served with a Recipe for Peas and Potatoes Cooked in a Bihari Style

I'm so happy to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda as she has become a favorite author of mine. Accompanying my review is a recipe for a  simple and tasty Peas and Potatoes Cooked in a Bihari Style by Madhur Jaffrey, inspired by my reading.

Publisher's Blurb:

The Olander family embodies the modern American Dream in a globalized world. Jaya, the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat and Keith, an ambitious banker from middle-class Philadelphia, meet in a London pub in 1988 and make a life together in suburban California. Their strong marriage is built on shared beliefs and love for their two children: headstrong teenager Karina and young son Prem, the light of their home.

But love and prosperity cannot protect them from sudden, unspeakable tragedy, and the family’s foundation cracks as each member struggles to seek a way forward. Jaya finds solace in spirituality. Keith wagers on his high-powered career. Karina focuses relentlessly on her future and independence. And Prem watches helplessly as his once close-knit family drifts apart.

When Karina heads off to college for a fresh start, her search for identity and belonging leads her down a dark path, forcing her and her family to reckon with the past, the secrets they’ve held and the weight of their choices.

The Shape of Family is an intimate portrayal of four individuals as they grapple with what it means to be a family and how to move from a painful past into a hopeful future. It is a profoundly moving exploration of the ways we all seek belonging—in our families, our communities and ultimately, within ourselves.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (March 17, 2020)

My Review:

Shilpi Somaya Gowda writes books that are about family in all of its complexities, joys, and sorrows, and tells stories that tug at the heart. I picked up her first book, The Secret Daughter and loved it, and was equally as fond of her second book, The Golden Son (see my book tour review here). Her books are smart, poignant without being maudlin, and so easy to get absorbed in. The Shape of Family tells of the Olanders, parents Jaya and Keith and their children Karina and Prem. Jaya grew up around the world with a diplomat father and a dancer mother, and Keith, an investment banker, was raised in Philadelphia. They now live in California with their two children; Karina is your typical teenager, and Prem a precocious young boy. We meet them before a tragedy strikes and when it does, this seemingly close family breaks apart from each other in their grief. Jaya finds comfort in the religious teachings of a Guru while Keith focuses on his work and the couple separates. Karina goes to college but has trouble feeling like she fits in the world and struggles with her guilt and pain, while Prem is there to watch each of them spin off and away from each other. The book is about grief and loss, and the choices made by each of the characters in absorbing an unthinkable tragedy and trying to move on. The story is beautifully and compassionately written, and it made me care about this family completely. We spend the most time with Karina, which means we get less of the other family members but I was most interested in her story, so that worked for me. I don't want to give too much away but there is a touch of magical realism that may connect with some readers more than others, but that I found gave the story a strong feeling of peace and hope. The Shape of Family touched me and I look forward to reading Gowda's next book.   

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Author Notes: Shilpi Somaya Gowda was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Her previous novels, Secret Daughter and The Golden Son became international bestsellers, selling over one million copies worldwide. She holds an MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain scholar. She lives in California with her husband and children.


Find out more about Shilpi at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Food Inspiration: 

There is so much food in The Shape of Family, it almost reads like a foodie novel. Mentions included: rice and vegetable curry, dosas, lamb curries, cabbage and kale, cake and ice cream, strawberries, garlic fries, beer, champagne, single malt whiskey, paan, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream sandwiches, cold cereal, hardboiled eggs seasoned with salt and red chili pepper, buttered wheat toast  and a sliced banana, chocolate chip pancakes and waffles, linguini with tomato sauce, ahi dipped in soy sauce, basil on a slice of buffalo mozzarella, aged balsamic on strawberries, slow simmered Bolognese, coq au vin, linguine with clams, Thai coconut curry and jasmine rice, heal tea, frozen yogurt, crackers, pizza, salad, ginger ale, popcorn, green beans, cheese toast, dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets dipped in ketchup, apples, pears, grapes, chapatis, dal, Chinese buffet, turkey or peanut butter sandwiches, a picnic of cheese, bread, grapes and wine, roasted tomatoes blended into a rice sauce, asparagus, rhubarb, romaine lettuce, rainbow chard, roots zucchini, poblanos and other veggies, creamy mashed potatoes with chives, port-wine gravy, haricots vets with toasted almonds, candy cane beets, an eclectic Thanksgiving meal with traditional and multi-cultural dishes, burritos, roasted chicken with lemon and thyme served with carrots, parsnips, turnips, and wild rice, soft scrambled eggs and toast, grilled lamb chops, guacamole and chips, Greek yogurt with homemade spicy cinnamon granola, carrot-ginger juice, jicama slaw, vanilla milkshake, Mexican-style corn, coconut water, pan-seared halibut with a lemon-herb crust, wilted greens, and French lentils, spinach and cheese omelets, salmon, apple pie, vegetarian meals: lentil stews, tofu curries and cauliflower steaks, pepperoni pizza, and mashed potatoes with mole. Whew--that wasn't even all of it!

For my bookish dish, I wanted a quick and simple recipe with ingredients I had at home due to the state of things and limited grocery runs. I found Madhur Jaffrey's Peas and Potatoes online. I thought it was a good example of a simple dish that Jaya might cook (although it did say in the book that she wasn't using garlic, chilies, and onion based on the teachings of the Guru she follows that "they are not good for her spiritual being.") Yikes! I think those things are very good for my spiritual being. ;-) I had a 5 lb bag of Yukon Gold potatoes in my pantry (potatoes are my love language), ginger, onion and a chili in my veggie drawer, and frozen peas in my pantry so I was all set to make it.

Peas and Potatoes Cooked in a Bihari Style

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey via NationalPost.com

(Serves 4)

2 tbsp olive, peanut or mustard oil
½ tsp whole cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp peeled, finely grated, fresh ginger root
1 to 3 fresh, hot green chilies, finely chopped (I used 1 jalapeño)
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
2-1/3 cups green peas, parboiled and drained if fresh, defrosted if frozen
1 medium waxy potato, boiled, peeled, diced (I used 2 large Yukon Gold Potatoes)
1 tsp salt or to taste
freshly ground pepper

In a medium non-stick frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle for 10 seconds. Add onions and stir and fry them for about five minutes, or until just softened.

Add ginger, green chilies, and turmeric and cook, stirring, for a minute. Then add peas, potatoes, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for two to three minutes. If mixture dries out, add a little water, heat and serve

Notes/Results: A very simple but tasty dish that I used for my main dish, but would also be great as a side. The bright colors and delicious flavors made me happy. I only had one jalapeño in my veggie drawer but I left in some of the seeds and it was a good level of spice for me. The recipe says it serves 4, but I used two potatoes and had two servings as a main course. You could serve it with rice or a salad to round it out more as a meal but I was content with a bowl for dinner and another bowl for breakfast/lunch. I will happily make this again.

Linking up this Madhur Jaffrey dish with I Heart Cooking Clubs where it is Potluck this week. Actually due to the difficulty in readily finding some ingredients and making due with what you have, we at IHCC are making all of our themes in April (after we welcome our newest featured chef Julia Child next week) a "Needs, Must" theme. Just like a month of Potlucks--any recipe from any of the 20 featured chefs (some are pictured below) making due with what you have in your pantry to cook with. Stop in and join us!

I'm also sharing it at the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "The Shape of Family" was provided to me by the author and the publisher Harper Collins 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 stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here
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