The Distant Hours of My French Table...

Two very dissimilar books, reviewed in one swell foop. The first, a non-fiction, a cookbook, is by the legendary Dorie Greenspan. Around My French Table. This is a fantastic cookbook. I've already gotten some wonderful ideas from it. She has little notes alongside the recipes for: making ahead (which components can be), storage (and reheating), and then something (or sometimes more than one) called a Bonne Idee, or Good Idea, which is either a riff or reimagining of the recipe. I've got this cookbook on my to-buy list (it was a library checkout, already terribly overdue...) My one issue with it is as a celiac. There are a lot of recipes with flour. Things where the meat is dredged, but otherwise its free of flour... or its got 1/2 cup somewhere in it. And, of course, being Dorie, she has a lot of baked goods. But there are also a lot of recipes that can be modified to be completely gluten-free. Again, because the meat is only dredged in flour, one can skip that, or use cornstarch or a gluten-free blend. She also uses bouillion cubes. Other than that, most of the recipes are easily adaptable and sound wonderful! I'm looking forward to Vanilla vegetable salad or crab avocado "ravioli" (am I the only person in the world who ends up with too many avocadoes at once?).. and maybe finish with a citrus-berry terrine. The thing I love about this is not only the personal stories, but also the Bonne idees. Because these give you some different directions in which to play around...

The fiction book here is The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton. Wow. If you have ever read The Forgotten Garden, by the same author, you will also love this book. It is so richly layered, that even if you think you know the answer, it will surprise you by the end. She intersperses eras, people, generations... in a wonderful, satisfying story. I didn't recall any sour notes, although, just to warn you, there is a section, near the end, which was a little stomach-turning. I was completely engrossed in this book, which is a rarity for me these days.