Monday Mailbox is hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be at the Beach. This is a weekly event to share books we added to our collections.
The library came through for me with two books I have been wanting. As I had been caught up on the Vera Stanhope mysteries I needed the latest from Ann Cleeves to round out that series. Also a very cool book called Atlas of Abandoned Places.
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Food is my inspiration for this week in the Paris in July event hosted by Emma at Words and Peace. Palmiers were on my radar and that made me think about all the other recipes I have prepared from my Williams Sonoma Essentials of French Cooking.
Here are the Sun Dried Tomato and Tapenade Palmiers I made yesterday and the recipe many be found Here on my old food blog.
That made me think of all the other menus we have enjoyed, and continue to prepare, so I will post the links to our favorite recipes from this book. (recipes in the links)
Seared Tuna with Piperade from the Aquitaine region
Sea Scallops in Tangerine Sauce from the Pays-de-la-Loire region. Very tasty.
Steak au Poivre from Lyon - this is on the menu this upcoming week again. So easy.🥖
Here is one I make quite a bit - Chicken Chasseur
Sharing with Emma at Words and Peace. Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.
Eileen and Marty are Americans who dreamed of living in France. They bought a 400 year old farmhouse with a charming layout, purchasing it online. I am not that brave.
They begin renovating the old house to their taste, making it the home they always wished for. Oh, it’s full of issues here and there such as a bursting water heater that destroys all their furniture and carpets, electricity issues where it just goes out completely if more than two applicances are plugged in and of course a small language problem.
I’ll hand it to them, they did learn enough French to get by in restaurants and shopping, talking to neighbors and such. I always felt if we became ex-pats we would absolutely need to learn the language of the county.
There is French conversation sprinkled throughout the book and an interactive glossary embedded in the book. If your Kindle isn’t on airplane mode you can click on the French word and see the translations.
The book has many recipes, courtesy of Sara their chef daughter.
Goat Cheese souffle
Mussels with Almonds
Roasted Figs with Goat Cheese, wrapped in Pancetta
Tomato Peach Salad
Duck Burgers and Onion Jam
Besides the hiccups of rennovations and adjusting to a different culture, it seemed enough time was spent explaining how Marty “unwittingly” flirted with the carpet installer, Jaqueline, and how Eileen left him for a few weeks. This was clearly a major event in their lives/marriage. By the way, Jaqueline is described as looking like Marion Cotillard’s younger sexier sister. I had wondered if Marty and Eileen still lived between California and France.
There is yummy food inspiration mentioned in the book, especially the roasted figs. Instead I went with a French chef and recipe from Jacques Pépin. Here is Fettucine with summer vegetables. (previously posted this recipe on my defunct food blog).
When I saw this book by Lonely Planet titled Hidden Libraries I couldn't resist checking it out. There are 50 libraries here that would make a good international travel list for those of us who love books. Exotic locations and more.
"Book swap your latest read in a cool 1950s style fridge in New Zealand or hike through the ethereal woodlands of Eas Mor in Scotland where a hidden library in a small log cabin awaits. Each entry shares the library's mission and impact on the local community and offers fascinating stories from its resident caretaker."
Here is an excerpt from the Kenyan mobile library:
"Every morning the Kenyan Library Service prepare three camels for travel. The party consists of a librarian in charge, two assistants and a skilled camel herdsman who knew how to keep the moody beasts healthy and in check. One camel is tasked with carrying a whopping 400 books, another is packed with a tent, reading mat and chairs. The third just waits for one of the other two to fall apart so it could sub for it. They work Monday through Thursday and travel 7 miles in any direction from home base."
Nice photos accompany the stories and it's well worth a browse if you like books and travel. I particularly liked this one of a phone booth library. This one is in Somerset England and according to the book, Queen Camilla has been known to drop off books at these unique box libraries for others to enjoy. There are many other locations in the British Isles which would make a good U.K. travel vacation for a few weeks.
This book is shared with:
Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge. Category: Travel
Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
Vicki for Monday Mailbox
Joy for British Isles Friday
To listen click HERE and I think you'll love it.
Paris in July would be lovely. I visited many decades ago but it wasn't in July. So much to see, experience, taste and enjoy. I will be enjoying things French and particularly Parisian from home instead of in person, getting creative cooking, reading and visiting others for inspiration.
Paris in July is hosted by Emma at Words and Peace. Check out the info for joining in HERE.
Some things I have on tap are Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, a few French recipes, DeBussy's music for one of our listening evenings, and a couple of novels set in France.
If you are joining in let me know what titles or subjects you have in mind. This will be a fun activity for hot old July here :-)
Here we are into the first week of July. We've had a few big storms blow in this past week and had hail one evening. The winds were so strong that day my wind chimes blew sideways and stayed vertical for a bit. I thought they may blow into my neighbor's yard, yikes. Welcome to the hurricane season and the almost daily summer rains.
Loki has had his Heartgard and Nexgard meds and I need to get the next 6 months worth from the vet now. The time passes so quickly. He is settling in nicely in our new home, probably helpful that much of our furniture was moved with us so...familar items and scents. Here he is napping by the CD shelves.
Let us get to bookish chat // I finished my Classics Club Spin and read Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, review Here. I liked it and plan to find the version with the author's deleted final chapter.
Did a DNF on Niall Williams book The Time of the Child. Reviews are good for it and from the plot description I thought I'd love it. It was too lyrical and not enough dialogue for me. That said, I believe I am in the minority on not liking this one.
Currently reading The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck and enjoying it. This one I have not put down nor been distracted. I will look for more of his work.
Hello...(tapping on screen). I was posting regularly for a while but have been hibernating with some miserable allergies as well as some hea...
