Dinner from Cooking for Mr. Latte

A few weeks ago, I finished reading Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser, a gem of a book that my sister and i found browsing through a bookstore in Eastwood City one lazy Sunday afternoon. The author is a food writer for the New York Times, and the book is a memoir about her love story with Mr. Latte, which is inextricably intertwined with her love story with food. Each chapter of her story was tied to a memorable meal, with the recipes given at the end of the chapter.

I really enjoyed the author’s witty, honest, down-to-earth storytelling. I loved how she showed how much food plays a part in everyday life, whether it be at a gathering of friends at the table, or a romantic dinner with that special someone, or a solo meal enjoyed just for the sheer pleasure of the food itself. Food brings people together; it nourishes and comforts; it can make you smile or laugh or cry.

I made this rule a few months back, that whenever i bought a cookbook or a cooking magazine, i would have to make at least one dish from that book/magazine. So for dinner tonight, i decided to make lamb chops from chapter 14 of Hesser’s book, Dinner When No One Wanted to be Alone.

I chose the recipe not because i particularly craved for company tonight, but because i wanted to make something a bit more special than our usual dinners but at the same time was really easy to prepare. I coated the chops in a mixture of rosemary, garlic, and olive oil and left them in the fridge for about a day. I added salt and pepper before broiling them in the oven for about 3 minutes each side.

The chops came out nearly perfect, brown on the outside and pinkish on the inside, and really flavorful. The olive oil and the fat from the chops gave the dish a creamy texture. Both my sister and i thought that the chops needed more salt, but that was probably my fault, as i’ve never been good at estimating how much salt or pepper to sprinkle over anything. In the end, it was still a really good, satisfying meal that my sister and i thoroughly enjoyed chomping down

Booklist!

My version of the book review, one on a book that i’m currently reading, and two on my all-time favorite books.

Current read

Right now i’m halfway through A Year in High Heels by Camilla Morton. It’s really a book on everything—a collection of interesting vignettes on fashion, music, literature, and pop culture. There’s a chapter for each month of the year, and each month features a book review, a muse of the month (a short bio on a woman who rocked the world), and a shoe of the month (to boost your fashion IQ!). Camilla also offers advice on everything from how to write a proper thank you note to how to buy a house to how to be A-list for the Oscars.

Vogue calls this book “The must-have guide to year-round fabulousness,” so read it if you want to be fabulous, or already are.

Favorite reads

Anything i’ve read more than once earns a spot in this category, and in recent years, there have only been two. Lots of books have served as good entertainment, but these are my comfort reads, the ones i pick up when i need to feel good, or be inspired:

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I love this book because it’s like a fairytale, but for grownups, or for those who should but aren’t quite ready to grow up yet. Stardust is set in the 1800s in the tiny village of Wall, so named because of the wall at the edge of the town which separates it from a whole other world, a world of magic and strangeness. No one is allowed to pass through the wall, except once in nine years, when people from the other side come to sell strange and exotic goods at the village fair.

Stardust tells the story of Tristran Thorn, son of a farmer and a mother whom he never met, who left him on his father’s doorstep shortly after he was born. Tristran is in love with Victoria, who of course happens to the prettiest girl in the village. To win her heart, he promises to bring her back the falling star they both saw fall on the other side of the wall.

So Tristran goes on this reckless journey on the other side of the wall, and in the process, he finds out that what he thinks he wants isn’t what he really wants.

Stardust is a coming of age story, a story of a boy who discovers that he’s more than a farmer’s son and that he’s destined for more than just the prettiest girl in town. Read it if you’re a hopeless romantic, shamelessly, like i am Or if you want to try out one of Gaiman’s lighter novels.

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

This is the third of seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, the author’s only works written for children. Coincidentally (or not), this is another coming of age story. It’s about Shasta, a fisherman’s son, and Bree, his talking horse, who both run away to escape a life of slavery. On the way, they meet Aravis, a rich girl, also running away to escape an arranged marriage. In the end, a scared boy discovers that he’s meant for greatness, but not before he learns courage and how to take responsibility for himself and for those around him. A spoiled brat learns to think of people other than herself.

Read it if…you’re just about anyone. I’d actually recommend the whole Chronicles of Narnia series to anyone. It’s classic, imaginative storytelling.