"Bread & Wine" by Shauna Niequist

I'm reading a new book by one of my favorite current authors.  The author is Shauna Niequist.  She has written two other books that I have already talked about on caringbridge posts or earlier blog posts.  "Cold Tangerines" was her first, then "Bittersweet", and her new book is "Bread & Wine:  A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes".  I love this woman.  I love her writing, I love her genuineness, I love her perspective, I love her humor, I love her love of food.  We have nothing in common, and yet we have everything in common.  (hard to explain)  I highly recommend this book. 

This book is full of Shauna's life and learning experiences, and also recipes that are tied to those memories.   The funny thing is, I have always said that I really don't enjoy cooking.  Then why is it that I love to READ about cooking, and since Sara's illness, have also developed a love of cooking shows like Chopped or Cupcake Wars?   I remember when my kids were all young and I was reading some novel about a pioneer family.  I don't even remember what it was.  At some point in the novel, the mom was making applesauce cookies with her kids. . .big golden brown cookies the size of your palm, soft and warm from the oven, fragrant with the fresh Fall scent of apples and cinnamon, bursting with plump, juicy raisins.  I think I stopped right there, went to find my Betty Crocker cook book, and found the closest thing I could find to a recipe for applesauce cookies.  (this was before google)  Brown sugar drops sounded close, substituting applesauce and butter for vegetable oil and shortening, adding liberal spoonfuls of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. . . .and of course substituting chocolate chips for the raisins (even though plump, juicy raisins sounded good in print. . . I knew that oooey, gooey chocolate chips would taste much better).   The cookies were a huge hit with my family, and actually permanently displaced Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies in our household from then on. 

Anyway, all that to say, there is just something to reading about delicious foods and the art of putting them together, the words that make your mouth water until you imagine that you can actually taste the sweet or savory creation. . .the words that can actually make someone like me want to get up and go to the kitchen. . . amazing!  If you know me, or paid any attention to all the "substitutions" I listed above, you know that I'm not great at following a recipe when I cook.  I can't seem to help myself when it comes to leaving out things that don't sound good to me, adding extra ingredients, or just adding more of the things that DO sound good.  So, you can imagine my elation when reading through a certain chapter in Shauna's book where she said. . . "Following a recipe is like playing scales, but COOKING is like playing jazz."  I LOVE it!! 

The concepts Shauna puts forth in her book are so much deeper than just food and cooking.  I know I am going to go back and re-read this book when I'm done, to mull it all over and let it sink in.  But it has been fun to have an immediate connection through some of my recent cooking experiences.  Because I continue to have such a hard time sleeping at night, I have been browsing for ideas about healthy foods to eat in the evening that might help with that problem.  I found a recipe for "lullaby muffins" that includes several ingredients said to induce a good's night's rest.  Mashed bananas, applesauce, whole wheat flour, almonds, oats, milk, and honey are the ingredients I remember.  Sounds like it could be a winner, right?  Definitely not!!  I actually did follow the recipe (except for adding several shakes of cinnamon, which just needs to be included in anything with applesauce), but I wouldn't really even call the result a muffin.  The next recipe I tried was for some healthy cookies (because I am also trying very hard to lose some weight, but struggle with the craving for something sweet - and baked).  These also included mashed bananas, applesauce, and oats (and I added chocolate chips since I believe they should be included in most every cookie).  These did not taste like, or even resemble anything close to a cookie!  As I thought over those two baking disasters, I asked myself why I even tried those recipes, when I don't really like, and rarely eat bananas.  ??   During my later browsings, I read that one of the foods you should never eat if you want to lose weight is a banana.  Done and done!

Before I close, I do want to share two recipes that have been successes in the past couple of weeks. 
The first is a kale salad, a recipe I got from Heidi.  Notice that I don't give measures.  Sorry, that is one of my big culinary flaws.  (or, just the way I play jazz)  :)

Chopped kale
Carrot matchsticks
Toasted slivered almonds
Craisins
Shredded parmesan cheese
Grilled chicken
Dressing:  Olive oil, lemon juice & zest, crushed red pepper, garlic, salt & pepper

This was delicious.  Woody even liked it.  The other recipe is one I made up as a result of reading that black beans are good for keeping your body from storing fat.  I call it chicken & black bean nachos.  I'm thinking the "not storing fat" part probably only works if you eat one SMALL helping.

Cut chicken breasts in small pieces, place in baking dish, and cover with taco sauce or salsa
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes
Add black beans, chopped green onions, chopped sweet peppers, chopped cilantro
Top with shredded cheddar cheese and bake 10-15 more minutes
Eat with your favorite tortilla chips

I'm ashamed to say Woody and I didn't have any leftovers.  We probably stored a little fat!