Eat Drink Man Woman

Hello Again,

At our last meeting Jenny suggested the movie "Eat Drink Man Woman." As you all know I Google almost everything we talk about. Here is a little clip of the movie. It looks like a really good story. Can you say movie night?!? :)

Addicted to Knives

I had a wonderful time with all of your last night. I am glad our secret Santa exchange allowed us to get to know each other little more.

After our discussion about Damascus knives, I thought it would be fun to check out Bob Kramer's website. I found a wonderful video and like Doug mentioned he can cut through rope, water bottles, and bolts with his knives. I would definitely take a peak at this video.

I am hoping that we will all love and adore My Life from Scratch. I am sorry about How to Cook a Dragon, but if you are still interested in Chinese cuisine I would highly recommend reading The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones.

Hangzhou Dongpo Pork

Good Morning!

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! Book club is tomorrow and I have been prolonging the annoucement of our demonstration. I was hoping to build hype and suspense :)

Doug and I met last week to discuss our demonstration and we decided on Hangzhou dongpo Pork. Dongpo pork is a Haungzhou dish which is made by pan-frying and then red cooking pork belly. The pork is cut to around 2 inches square in dimensions, consisting of half fat and half lean meat.

According our dear friend Wikipedia, "Su Dongo was banished to Huangzhou, in a life of poverty, he made an improvement of the traditional process. He first braised the pork, added Chinese fermented wine and made red-braised pork, then slowly stewed it on a low heat. This dish was first launched in Huangzhou, then spread to Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, flourished, and then became one of Huangzhou's most famous dishes." Please keep in mind that Wikipedia is not always 100% accurate, but it was the best history I could find to offer you. I am sure Doug will offer additional insight and history for you. I personally got to sample some braised pork from Forza and it was truly mouthwatering. In addition to braised pork, Doug will be demonstrating stir-fry and how to fry cucumbers.

Also, please remember to bring your secret Santa gift. Thank you for everyone who was wiling to be involved.

Recipes!

Hello Again,

Teresa and Madison sent me two wonderful recipes that I think we all should try! Teresa's recipe is for Alabama sweet potatoes and Madison's recipe is nut Fudge. Enjoy!

ALABAMA SWEET POTATOES

1 lg. can of Bruce’s Canned yams – (open, drain and mash)

¾ cup melted butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs beaten

½ cup milk

Mix well. Spread in 9X13 baking dish

Spread with the following topping before baking.

1-1/2 cup brown sugar

½ cup of flour

½ cup butter melted

1 to 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix well. Sprinkle on sweet potatoes and bake at 350 degrees

For 25 to 30 minutes – make sure they are bubbling.

Jacques Grandma's Nut fudge

1. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan mix 2 1/4 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 16 regular sized marshmallows, 1/4 teasp. salt and 1 cup evaporated milk. (not condensed)

2. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils and is bubbly all over top. Boil and stir over medium heat for 6 minutes more. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup Nestles semi sweet chocolate morsels until melted. Stir in 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans. Spread in a buttered 8 x 8 inch square pan. Let cool. Cut when firm. (30 pieces)

Christmas=Food

Hello Everyone,

5 days until Christmas! Are slaving over the oven? If you have any pictures of your culinary masterpieces I would love to see them! Or if you have a favorite family recipe that you would like to share I would be thrilled to post it here. We could turn our blog into a holiday expose :) In fact, I am looking for the perfect holiday baking recipe...do you have any suggestions?

Secret Santa

Hello Everyone,

I have revealed your secret Santa to you! Check your e-mail :) We will be exchanging gifts at our December 29th meeting. Remember $10 is the limit and it doesn't have to be anything extravagant. If anything it should be super easy because we all love food :) If you have any questions about your secret Santa such as likes and dislikes, etc let me know :)

Blog That Will Make Your Mouth Water

Hi Again,

I missed blogging so I thought I would write another post for you right away. I visited Gesine Bullock-Prado blog today and oh man is it jam packaged with recipes! I am seriously glad I picked this book!

If you have a minute I would visit her Blog. She has another book coming out in April called Sugar Baby. Here is a link where you can preview parts of the book. Everything looks so delicious and beautiful!

Thanks for all of your quick replies about Secret Santa. It should be fun! No gag gifts! :)

My Life from Scratch

Hello All,

I decided to change the pick for the month of January. The author of The Sharper the Knife the Less You Cry is only available to visit in the Spring so we are bumping it back to late Spring. As a replacement I choose My Life From Scratch by Gesine Bullock-Prado. Way back when we voted for Fall titles it came in 2nd place. We haven't read a book soley dedicated to baking so I thought it would be fun! My stomach is growling just thinking of the possible pastries Doug could whip up :)

The book will be available for purchase at our next meeting. In the meantime I hope you are enjoying How to Cook a Dragon! Let me know what you think so far.

Apples in Soup?

Happy Veteran's Day!

As the title suggests apples can be used in soup and it is quite good! Doug will be demonstrating how to make curried apple soup. Our thought process is Fall is one of the best times for apples and those cold Fall evenings are the best times to curl up with a cup of warm soup. Great logic right?!?

Apples in soup is something I have never had before so I thought why not?!? We had eel and craw fish in the last two months so why not keep an open mind. I am sure it will be very delicious, as is everything Doug has ever made for us.

As an extra Doug will also be showing us how to make a quick and easy dessert that is sure to amaze your taste buds. Greek yogurt with candied pecans! Who knows you could fall in love with how great it tastes and serve it with your Thanksgiving dinner.

Please note the change in date for our meeting. Instead of meeting on Wednesday November 24th we will be meeting on Wednesday November 17th at 6:30pm.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Looking forward to seeing you all again!

Botany of Desire

Good Morning,

Did you know that Botany of Desire was made into a PBS program?

I believe we will be watching some highlights at our meeting! In the meantime, here is a link to the PBS website http://www.pbs.org/thebotanyofdesire/. There are some really interesting features that will enhance your reading experience

Also below are some really great videos that are definitely worth your while

http://video.pbs.org/video/1283863020

http://video.pbs.org/video/1283858908

Don't Play with Your Food

Hello Everyone,

Tomorrow is book club! After reading much of Cooking Dirty I can see it is very raunchy, in your face, and brutally honest. I hope you understand that this is the writers way of telling his story. I apologize if anyone was offended by his language or colorful way of describing things :) I am very interested to hear what you all have to say!

In the meantime, I would love to announce what Doug will be demonstrating for us this month! Doug will be telling us a little bit about his own story by cooking Ralph's Mushroom Mantua. It is a sherry cream sauce with button mushrooms. The kicker is the sauce will also have craw fish in it. Also Doug will be flambe the dish. Fire! Have no fear about the craw fish! Doug assured me that craw fish tastes like shrimp. The unagi was good last month so I have an open mind! If you did not know this already, Doug draws a lot of his inspiration from Louisiana and Illinois. It should be a great cultural dinner!

Looking forward to seeing you all again!

Interview with Jason Sheehan

Hi Everyone!

Our next book club meeting is fast approaching! I am meeting with Doug this afternoon to discuss what he will be demonstrating. Stay tuned for updates. Another bit of good news is I am receiving a lot of e-mails from people who are interested in joining. The more the merrier!

I found a great interview with Jason Sheehan. I hope you enjoy!

Interview with Jason Sheehan, author of Cooking Dirty

Friday, August 7th, 2009

By Chris Teja

“The idea that if you can do one thing well—cooking—nothing else really needed to matter. Kitchens were a saving grace for a lot of guys I knew who didn’t really have much else good going on in their lives. And, you know, there was also the drugs and the waitresses and all that, too. One shouldn’t discount the lure of perpetual immaturity.”

In his debut memoir, Cooking Dirty, Denver food critic Jason Sheehan makes his point abundantly clear: Normal, emotionally well-adjusted people do not cook for a living. Throughout the fifteen years or so that the book covers, Sheehan works alongside every possible breed of misfit in every kind of kitchen—from French to Italian to a brief stint at the Waffle House while making his way as a writer. He’s been cut, set on fire, and physically attacked in the name of food—and he loved every minute of it.

For anyone who’s ever worked in a restaurant, Cooking Dirty will bring back painfully familiar memories of dinner rushes gone wrong, near death experiences, and hours spent washing dishes. The amazing and surprising part is that Jason’s infectious enthusiasm will actually leave you feeling nostalgic for these horrible experiences.

Chris Teja: Well I wanted to start by saying that I really loved the book and completely related to it as a guy who grew up working more food service jobs than I care to remember. Was it difficult for you to piece together that much of your life and career from memory?

Jason Sheehan: I’m glad you liked it. And if you did time in food service growing up before finding a better way to make a living, then it was written just for you. As to the difficulty of piecing it all together, I’d say no. My gig now—writing about food in Denver—has been pretty autobiographical from the start, so I’ve had a lot of practice. That said, there are some nights (and weeks, and the occasional year…) that remain kinda fuzzy.

Chris: Haha. Well I’m happy you were able to get it all down on paper. You describe many of your fellow cooks and chefs as being relatively unstable and, I know you talk about this in the book, but what do you think it is about the job that attracts that particular type of person?

Jason: For me, it was (believe it or not) the quiet that came from all that pressure; the idea of being able to focus on just one thing for hours at a time. I didn’t have to think about my bills, I didn’t have to think about my girlfriend or my crappy car or anything else. Even when my entire life was falling down around me, I could just spend hours every night focusing on this piece of fish, slicing that bulb of garlic.

And for a lot of the guys I worked with, it was the same. The idea that if you can do one thing well—cooking—nothing else really needed to matter. Kitchens were a saving grace for a lot of guys I knew who didn’t really have much else good going on in their lives. And, you know, there was also the drugs and the waitresses and all that, too. One shouldn’t discount the lure of perpetual immaturity.

Chris: Definitely. I also thought it was interesting how you talked about chefs sharing a love of war stories and movies such as Apocalypse Now. Why do you think so many of you make that connection between war and life in the kitchen?

Jason: Something to do with the camaraderie, something to do with the pressure. Something more to do with no one who wasn’t there ever being able to get it right. The language was so heavily influenced by military jargon and the heavy macho trip that some of the guys were on was so reminiscent of the better war stories. Ultimately, though, I think what it came down to was that cooks love telling stories. It’s what we did whenever there wasn’t cooking or prep to be done. It’s what we did when we showed up in the morning, what we did over drinks at night.

And so many kitchen stories play out like war stories (the fort under siege, the last-minute rescue…) that I think a cook just naturally gravitates to them. I know I did.

Chris: That makes perfect sense, and I think the book does a great job of describing the insane feeling of being in the kitchen during the middle of a dinner rush. I particularly enjoyed the part where you talk about your first job and how you slowly and painfully mastered the art of scraping pans at a local pizza place.

Jason: Love at first sight, baby. I knew I was done from the minute I walked into that joint…

Chris: Wow. Was it really that clear from the beginning, or do you remember a particular moment when it really hit you that food was going to be more than just a job for you?

Jason: From the first moment, I knew I was on to something. I knew that this was a job where I’d never be bored, where there would always be some action going on. The food? That came later, and sort of piecemeal. I absolutely fell for the environment first.

Chris: During the fifteen years or so that the book covers you lead a pretty chaotic life of working in many different restaurants in a number of different cities. Was it that things became boring once they became too stable or is that just part of life as a chef?

Jason: It was a little bit of both, but it was also because I considered myself an apprentice for a lot of that time—just a guy who was trying to learn all he could. True, I would leave once I grew bored or thought I’d learned all there was to learn from that position. Or if there was another, better job down the block. But you’re right—some of it was also just the nature of the job. It wasn’t like any of us were going to be making a career out of the kinds of places we were working in, so we would just do whatever we were doing until something better came along.

Funny story: that’s actually a pretty good definition of the book’s title. Cooking Dirty is a bit of cook’s slang from when I was working in upstate NY, and it basically meant a well-trained guy doing low-rent work just for the money. Usually it meant doing diner work or flipping steaks while you were between “real” jobs just to pay the rent and keep the lights on, but I essentially spent about a decade cooking dirty.

Chris: Do you include your stint at Waffle House in that, or does that not count because it was just for fun?

Jason: No, the Waffle House definitely counted. I mean, I was working as a restaurant critic, but making virtually no money, so I had to do something. The Waffle House was right there, walking distance from my house, and I was going there every night anyway. So I took the job, was glad for the paycheck, had a lot of fun, and became what I have to believe was the only French-trained chef and working food writer ever employed to cook through the night shift at a Waffle House.

Chris: Now that is just plain awesome. In the book you mention that as a teenager you read a lot of food magazines and that you wrote stories to entertain your friends. Did you ever imagine those two interests intersecting the way they have or was becoming a food critic a complete surprise?

Jason: A complete, total, mind-bending surprise. Swear to god, I never saw this coming in a million years, and the way I fell into it was so strange and accidental that I wouldn’t be able to repeat it if I tried.

Chris: What do you think you would be doing today if writing didn’t work out?

Jason: Standing a post on a line somewhere, just waiting for the first dinner rush to roll in.

Chris: Somehow that’s not surprising. Do you ever miss that feeling?

Jason: Just about every day. After spending so long in that position and milking it for every ounce of fun I could have, I don’t think I’m ever going to stop missing it. Lucky me I get to spend my time writing about it all now. Double lucky that there’s so many people who seem interested in knowing just what it felt like.

Chris: Definitely. I knew when I read the book that anyone who has ever worked in a kitchen would love it just as much as I did.

Jason: That’s who it was for, man. I mean, fantastic if there are civilians out there who dig it, but really? I was talking straight to all the cooks and dishwashers, the floormen and bartenders, mercenary prep specialists, crazy night bakers, jacked-up execs and miserable station chefs—my people. I wanted to write a story for them, about them, and in their language.

Chris: Mission accomplished. I think you might even accidentally get a few of the sane ones that managed to make it through life without ever having to step foot in a kitchen.

Jason Sheehan

Good Morning,

I hope you all are enjoying Cooking Dirty. The content of the book really lives up to the title doesn't it! I do hope you are embracing the raunchiness of the book. It is all apart of the experience right?

Jason Sheehan writes a column in the Seattle Weekly. Isn't that cool? I would peruse his articles if you have time. They are just as fun and vivacious as Cooking Dirty. http://www.seattleweekly.com/authors/jason-sheehan/

See you soon!

Novel Live is Alive!

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at Novel Live and I just thought I would give you a report. When I left yesterday evening they were working on Chapter 11 which was in graphic novel form! There will be 36 chapters in all, one for each author.

I was there to see Matthew Amster-Burton write his chapter and of course it was about food! If you have a quick minute I would take some time to see how the story has developed so far. It is so interesting to see the tone change from each author. The tone from chapter 1 to 2 is really jarring!
http://www.thenovellive.org/novel/index.php?novel_part=1

The Novel Live

36 Authors. 6 Days. 1 Blockbuster novel!

As promised I found all the Novel Live information for you. Below is the link to Novel Live's website. There are several fun videos that explain the event more. There is also a schedule posted on their website so you can see which authors will be writing when. http://www.thenovellive.org/index.php

If you can make it I think it would be a lot of fun! I will be there on Tuesday October 12th and Thursday October 14th from 3pm-8pm.

Fall and Winter Titles!

This is our Fall and Winter lineup! Sorry if it is a little small. I will be handing out flyers tonight, but I wanted to give you a sneak peak.

Out of Your Comfort Zone?

It's the week of book club!

This month's cooking demonstration will be sure to surprise and delight you. At first you might feel cautious and anxious. However, Doug assured us that it will not only be fun, interactive, but also very delicious!

We will be making temaki rolls with unagi and fried tofu. The special part is we will be hand rolling our temaki rolls. It is supposed to be the easiest form of sushi you can make on your own. No special tools needed. As for the unagi.....does anyone know what that is ;)

Remember the author will be there! See you Wednesday at 6:30pm.

Food For Thought and Social Media?

Good Morning,

Our meeting seems so far from now, so I thought write yet another entry. I hope you are enjoying Hungry Monkey. Doug, Lindy, and I will be meeting next week to discuss what he will demonstrating! Stay tuned for a new blog entry about it!

I have recently created a Twitter account for our book club. I do not know how much any of you have embraced the ever growing phenomenon called Twitter, but if you do have an account please follow us. I have also set up the blog's header to show my "tweets." Believe me, I have plenty of reasons to say Twitter is stupid, but from a businesses perspective it is a good tool to generate a conversation with customers. It seemed a great way to communicate with more frequently then a long blog entry once or twice a week. Come on by and check out what I have to say about Hungry Monkey so far:https://twitter.com/Food4thoughtbk If I get enough followers from you...I might just reveal what books we have chosen for our Fall lineup ;)

Roots and Grubs

Hello All!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to post another blog entry. Things are in full swing here at the store due to school starting. However, I have not forgotten about my beloved book club!

I am enjoying reading Hungry Monkey so far. It makes me laugh out loud several times a chapter. Below is the link to his blog Roots and Grub:

http://www.rootsandgrubs.com/

His blog is just as entertaining as his book. You can catch up on what him and Iris are doing lately.

Does anyone have a favorite part of Hungry Monkey that you would like to share? What about the moms in our group...what was your child's first solid food?

The Book Club Has Spoken

Good Afternoon!

I had the best time yesterday with all of you! I hope you enjoyed the treat bags, teacups, and seeing Forza, some of you for the first time. I really think the tea party was a special treat...I mean did you see the napkins?!? :)

As promised I have tallied up your votes and the results are below:
We actually had a 3-way tie for First Place:

• The Sharper the Knife the Less You Cry (4Votes)
  

• Cooking Dirty(4 Votes)
  

• How to Cook a Dragon (4 Votes)
  

Second Place:

• My Life From Scratch (3 Votes)

Third Place:

• Comfort Me With Apples (2 Votes)

• Farm City (2 Votes)

• Under the Table (2 Votes)

• I Loved, I Lost, and I made Spaghetti (2 Votes)

Fourth Place:

• Julie and Julia (1 Vote)

• Billionaire's Vinegar (1 Vote)

Because there were so many ties it is not going to make choosing titles any easier for Lindy and I :) Nonetheless, I am glad I got to see what you would like to read and what direction we should go in terms of themes, genre, food, etc.

If you have any book suggestions that you forgot to write down yesterday please leave a comment and let me know.

Attention: Jenny, Emily, Doug, Madison, and Brianne. I am really looking forward to going to Delancey with you. If I have not contacted you first, please contact me about ride arrangements.

You Are Royally Invited To...

A Tea Party!

I hope you are enjoying The History of the World in Six Glasses. Six Glasses really is an eye opening look into how influential food and drink can be for people, culture, history, economy, art, music, literature....anything really! I can tell our meeting will be a fun conversation about all the interesting facts we never knew we were missing out on.


We had a very hard time narrowing down a beverage to feature for our next meeting. The possibilities are endless! Lindy, Doug, and my conversation went like this:

Doug: We could do coffee....

Lindy: Oh yes I love coffee...

Me: But what about cucumber sandwiches and tea!

Doug and Lindy: ooooohhhhh...

Lindy:but COFFEE!!!!


This is the abridged version of course. Nonetheless, the choice was hard and I am sure we will revisit Doug's wonderful suggestion for Turkish coffee. We went with a tea party because we wanted to do something a little bit more swanky. Yes swanky!



We are inviting you to an official upscale tea party. You are invited to dress up and look sophisticated enough to sip tea like the English. One of the many traditions done at tea parties is wearing BIG CRAZY HATS! If you have a big hat in the back of your closest that you wouldn't dare wear in public, then please dust it off and bring it. Or, if you have a elegantly beautiful hat that has no practical place in your everyday life, then please come show it off. I would like to mention this is optional. This is just our idea of switching things up from our regular book club meetings. However, I know that dressing up is not for everyone so the bottom line is come in what is comfortable for you.










Another reason why this meeting is extra special is a surprise awaits you at the beginning of the evening. Also, there is a rumor floating around that there will be some wonderful take home gifts at our tea party. After all, what is a party without party favors.


Doug will be serving tea from a local tea company called Mad Hat. Doug will tell us all about their tea and company, but if you would like to here is their website: http://www.madhattea.com/

I Ate This

"In the unconscious mind, food equals love because food is our deepest and earliest connection with our caretakers. So it makes sense that people would want to capture, collect, catalog, brag about and show off their food."

Hello Fellow Foodies,

At our last meeting Linda gave me a great article about people who are just as crazy about food as we are. The article is titled Photo ops the Main Course for Serious Food Diarists. Essentially it is about people who take pictures of their food and post the pictures on the internet. It is not an uncommon thing, in fact it is very popular. It also is a glaringly truthful look into your eating habits and who you are as a person. After all, they say you are what you eat.

The article states that "the number of pictures tagged 'food' on the photo-sharing Web site Flickr has increased tenfold to more than 6 million in the last two years" and "'I Ate This' includes more than 300,00 photos that have been contributed by more than 19,000 members."

There are also a number of websites designed to fuel this type of photo diary phenomenon. Websites like http://www.foodspotting.com/, http://chowhound.chow.com/boards, and http://www.foodcandy.com/ are great resources if you would like to begin a food diary. Who knows I may look into it and begin posting our food pictures.

Thanks again Linda for the article! It is nice to see that there are people out there who love eating and sharing food as much as we do.

We're Going to Delancey

Hi Everyone,

Molly was very excited to hear that we are interested in coming to Delancey. She asked for possible dates so she can check the reservation availability.

I'm thinking that a weekend would be best...Saturday maybe? Would any of these dates work for you:

• Saturday August 14th

• Saturday August 28th

Please reply ASAP so I can get back to Molly. Also, any volunteers for carpool?

Looking forward to it!

The Best of Both Worlds

Hello All,

Doug must think we have been eating too many sweets and suguars because tomorrow he will be making us one of the most nutritional meals you can have. The best part is it as meal for both vegetarians, vegans, and can be altered for meat lovers. We will be having quinoa! Now if you anything like me, your probably thinking to yourself…what is that? I did a little research and it sounds like it should be both a delicious and nutritious meal!

What is Quinoa?!?

We usually think of quinoa as a grain, but it is actually the seed of a plant. These amino acid-rich seeds are not only very nutritious, but also very delicious. Cooked quinoa seeds are fluffy and creamy, yet slightly crunchy. They have a delicate, somewhat nutty flavor.

History

While relatively new to the United States, quinoa has been cultivated in the Andean mountain regions of Peru, Chile and Bolivia for over 5,000 years, and it has long been a staple food in the diets of the native Indians. The Incas considered it a sacred food and referred to it as the "mother seed."

Nutritional Value

Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Not only is quinoa's amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for vegans concerned about adequate protein intake, but quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. In addition to protein, quinoa features a host of other health-building nutrients. Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, this "grain" may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis.

All the information above and much much more can be found on the website below:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=142&tname=foodspice

Our Take on Quinoa

We will be making quinoa with bell peppers, onions, garlic, and to complete this perfect dish: goat cheese! For those of you who like to have a little meat with your meal we will be offering pork loin on the side.The pork loin should make an excellent contribution to the dish, if desired of course.

I hope this has made you excited for our meeting tomorrow. We will be meeting at 6:30pm.

Meat or Veggies?

Hello All,

It's a new month which means a new read! The author of The Butcher and the Vegetarian, Tara Austen Weaver, has a blog just like Molly. It is called Tea and Cookies (http://teaandcookies.blogspot.com/). If you have time I would definitely check her blog out. We unfortunately, could not get Weaver to visit us so reading her blog along with the book will give you a good insight into her voice and personality. There is also ALOT ALOT of recipes to check out.

Let me know what you think of the book so far!

What Summer Tastes Like

Hello Fellow Bakers,

Sorry for the delay in my writing. I know I promised baking results on Monday, but I was feeling sick and stayed home from work. However, I think the end results are worth the wait!

I had a very successful weekend of baking. I made a declaration last week that I would bake the blueberry-raspberry pound cake recipe found in A Homemade Life. I also asked for volunteers to join me in my baking endeavors. Luckily, Jenny, made a vow to bake as well. Thank you Jenny for participating in my idea. I really enjoy when the books we read bring club members closer.

What it is even more fun is Jenny and I had two different baking experiences. No cake is the same you know! I, being the control freak that I am, followed the recipe to a T, while Jenny exercised her creative side and improvised.

This recipe was fun for me because I learned so many new things. For example, I had no idea what Kirsch was, much less where to buy it. However, luckily Doug is always an e-mail away.
For those of you who also don't know what Kirsch is it is a: "unaged brandy distilled from a fermented produced esp. in Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace, France." (dictionary.com) However, the kirsch I bought was not produced in Europe, but Oregon. I also learned that in Washington state you can only find Kirsch in liquor stores. I recently turned 21 so my first trip to a liquor store was to get ingredients for cooking :)
I also have never heard of cake flour (pathetic...I know) . I had to buy my first bundt pan as well. I really enjoyed shopping and learning about these ingredients. I have to agree with Molly Wizenburg on this one, this cake really does taste like summer. The blue from the blueberries and the red from the raspberries created a beautiful celebration of summer's fruits. The blue and the red color combination really reminded me of the Fourth of July.

After spilling kirsch all over the counter, splattering batter all over my shirt( an apron is next on my to buy list), and scaring my dog with my cursing I produced my first beautiful, delicious, and perfect pound cake.

Jenny's improvisation skills also produced a delicious cake. She related to me that the store was out of red raspberries so she bought golden raspberries instead. "Same taste but not so pretty..." Jenny said. Her liquor cabinet didn't contain kirsch so she used 2 tsp of Amaretto as a substitute. Good thinking on your feet Jenny!

Below are the pictures from my and Jenny's baking experience. My cake is on the left and Jenny's is on the right. Hopefully, these pictures will inspire you to try your hand at baking this cake. PS it is on page 20 of A Homemade Life