Late in the summer of 1877, a flock of purple-and-white hoopoes suddenly appears over the town of Constanta on the Black Sea, and Eleonora Cohen is ushered into the world by a mysterious pair of Tartar midwives who arrive just minutes before her birth. “They had read the signs, they said: a sea of horses, a conference of birds, the North Star in alignment with the moon. It was a prophecy that their last king had given on his deathwatch.” But joy is mixed with tragedy, for Eleonora’s mother dies soon after the birth.
Raised by her doting father, Yakob, a carpet merchant, and her stern, resentful stepmother, Ruxandra, Eleonora spends her early years daydreaming and doing housework—until the moment she teaches herself to read, and her father recognizes that she is an extraordinarily gifted child, a prodigy.
When Yakob sets off by boat for Stamboul on business, eight-year-old Eleonora, unable to bear the separation, stows away in one of his trunks. On the shores of the Bosporus, in the house of her father’s business partner, Moncef Bey, a new life awaits. Books, backgammon, beautiful dresses and shoes, markets swarming with color and life—the imperial capital overflows with elegance, and mystery. For in the narrow streets of Stamboul—a city at the crossroads of the world—intrigue and gossip are currency, and people are not always what they seem. Eleonora’s tutor, an American minister and educator, may be a spy. The kindly though elusive Moncef Bey has a past history of secret societies and political maneuvering. And what is to be made of the eccentric, charming Sultan Abdulhamid II himself, beleaguered by friend and foe alike as his unwieldy, multiethnic empire crumbles?
A book that arrives wrapped like this... what could be inside?
I do not normally give the synopsis you can read on line word for word like that, but I thought it was written so well and covered the basics of the book that I knew I could not do it justice trying to write my own. And oh a little historical fiction fix! Just what I needed! 😀 As if the beautiful packaging this book arrived in wasn’t enough – I need not worry, the beauty of this book was not only package deep – but deep within the words themselves came beauty.
Breathtaking and imaginative.. visually fulfilling… the descriptions of the time the place… and even Eleonora. Eleonora is not like the other children, brilliant in mind, logic, and figuring out facts, she is something to be marveled at and feared as she is different and there is no hiding her abilities. I enjoyed getting to know this character and how the story vined around her.
This book brought forth memories of wonderful stories from my child hood, there was something about the descriptive pages that brought images to mind much as I think I would remember them as a child – big and powerful and oh so real. I can not recall a book even bringing memories like these out of me before this one.
I felt for most of the book I was in the story and I held on tight as though putting it down would break the charm… always a fan of unique writing that breaks out of the traditional cookie cutter book molds, I have to say I enjoyed this book thoroughly. While the ending was not quite as strong as I would have hoped and imagined it would be after being carried through the majority of the pages as though I was on a magic carpet ride – I still am left feeling a sense of….
satisfaction.
I am excited to see that this author, Michael David Lucas comes up with next.
Here are a few others that are posting their thoughts on this book on the tour:
Good morning all! Let’s get up and go go go!!!! WOO HOO!!!! I have been up all of ten minutes and ready to start a great day! (Oh…. I sound a little like Richard Simmonds… I will tone it down a bit….)
Hmmm… maybe I will tone it down A LOT.
Anyway… we had snow over the weekend and that is just depressing when I am sitting here waiting patiently for spring…. signs of spring (IE. grass, sun, flowers, and certainly no snow!) And with our weekend snow (so annoying…) came poor road conditions. Yesterday morning as I left my driveway, directly across the road was a truck with a plow and a cop car that didn’t look like a cop car other than he had a flashing light in his window. As I sat there wondering what was the proper way to pull out of a driveway when a cop is right across the road (do I stay in the wrong lane until I am beyond him, etc….) I noticed why they were really pulled over. A little to the left of my driveway was this:
Close up of the rolled over vehicle
No one was hurt, the driver (you can see his head behind the vehicle in the above picture) had just jogged back to his vehicle and was originally standing next to the guy with the truck and plow who I suspect pulled over when he seen what happened. Yup… even in March roads in Minnesota can be no fun….
did I mention I am waiting for spring?
On a different and more soothing note, the Singapore Coffee recipe that author Cheryl Lu-Lein Tan sent my way and I posted over the weekend was….
YUM.
Smooth and creamy and I am sure not a healthy beverage with the sweetened condensed milk weighing in at 130 calories alone for 2 teaspoons… but definitely treat worthy.
The straining of the ground coffee through cheese cloth was a bit messy as you can see by the look of the sides of my cup… I should have prepped it better to make it more picture worthy 😉
Tonight is book club at my house and we are discussing the book Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez…. you can pop in later this week to read about the book, the review, and the food we brought to enjoy with it. 😀
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.
I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling me how many you visited. You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.
Another week has flown by. Did this week seem fast to anyone else? I can not even believe it is Sunday afternoon here and I am once again typing up the Monday What Are You reading post. Last weeks post was so incredibly annoying as my laptop chose to go in a coma while I was prepping the post. I then moved on to my hubby’s lap top which is set up for Internet Explorer and I struggled for hours with the post, the pictures, and the links – to the point that for the first time since I took over this meme (over a year ago now) that I was unable to post until Monday morning central standard time.
Since then, my laptop came back to life Tuesday afternoon (so weird…) and now again today – has gone on to other worlds. GAH! I am back on hubby’s laptop hoping that I can get this up at a decent hour with little to no (*fingers crossed*) trouble.
Yes – I am looking into purchasing a new laptop but had false hope when my previous one came back to life with no signs of future trouble….
Ok… enough grumbling about laptops. 😛
Here is what happened here last week:
LISTEN by Rene Gutteridge (I really enjoyed this book and found the message about how we use our words to be a pretty good one)
Have you seen this book around? I have wanted to read it so badly and seen it on so many other blogs. When it was offered to me for review it was with a huge YES that I responded. 😀
In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal. Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Last weekend ago I read and LOVED LISTEN by this same author. Having checked out several of her books from the library (which are bcoming dangerously close to being overdue…) I want to read at least one more of hers before they go back.
Convinced he has a greater chance to die–of boredom–at his desk job than he ever faced in narcotics, Las Vegas police sergeant Ron Yeager agrees to slip off the retirement track long enough to head up an undercover task force designed to combat the recent surge in auto thefts.
Then he meets his inexperienced team of officers, most of whom seem completely incapable of infiltrating the seamy underbelly of Sin City. In particular, Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard’s determination to wear her faith like a badge threatens to send Yeager’s blood pressure skyrocketing. And then there’s maverick Jesse Lunden, who thinks he’s learned all he needs to know in his three years of undercover work.
As Yeager gambles his reputation on transforming this group of egos and eccentrics into a force to be reckoned with, he stumbles onto a much bigger scheme than anyone expected. This could be the showstopper of their careers–if his back doesn’t give out first.
I do not even recall how this one got on my radar. It is in the pile of library books i checked out but I can not recall now if I seen this somewhere, heard about it – or just thought it looked interesting…. (I feel much like my computer that maybe my own brain is being fried as well and I too am not loading up properly :razz:)
Welcome to Bluford High. This widely acclaimed teen series set in an urban high school features engaging, accessible writing and appealing, contemporary storylines.
A new life. An new school. A new bully. That’s what Darrell Mercer faces when he and his mother move from Philadelphia to California. After spending months living in fear, Darrell is faced with a big decision. He can either keep running from this bully–or find some way to fight back.
I have been fascinated with these books since I first heard of them but have never taken the time to try them. I picked this one up on sale at audible.com and started listening to it a but this morning.
What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the source of the family’s power was hidden around the world, in the form of 39 Clues? What if you were given a choice – take a million dollars and walk away…or get the first Clue? If you’re Amy and Dan Cahill, you take the Clue – and begin a very dangerous race.
I also need to finish the Michael Sullivan series this week and I will be in need of a new audio book too, just need to see what comes in from the library. 😀
Last week with all the computer “opportunities” it became near impossible to visit all the posts but I do hope this week will be much different and I will get around to visiting all of you – it really is a favorite part of my week and I pick up such good reads from you who love books just as much as I do.
Be sure to add your link to your Monday What Are You reading post below where it says click here. See you out on the blogs! 😀
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“What is the worst thing anyone has ever done?” the killer muses to himself early in the narrative. “Am I capable of doing it? Do I have what it takes?” Answering his own question, he embarks on a murderous spree that takes him from the bridal suite in a Nob Hill hotel to a honeymoon destination in the Napa Valley and thence to a wedding reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Dispatching his victims on the happiest day of their lives, he purposefully leaves enough clues for his distaff trackers to discover his identity and put him behind bars. But just when the women think they’ve got the case all wrapped up, the killer turns the tables on them in a bloody denouement that even the most discerning reader won’t see coming.
In a word…
“oh-oh.”
I have always wanted to try this series but as in most LARGE series, if I didn’t grab on to the reads from the get go, I tend to look at the large amount of books i would have to catch up on to be current and then decide I don’t want to commit. In this case, I found this audio on sale at audible.com for $4, and thought why not give it a try.
Well… I will tell you right now why not…
Because Sheila, what if you like it? What is the whole Woman’s Murder Club turns out to be an awesome series? What is you enjoy the characters and the mystery and figuring it out like you are part of the club? What are you going to do then? Huh? Huh? Huh?
(I am pretty cruel to myself…)
Well…. since that IS what happened. And I DID really enjoy this read. I guess I am going to have to move on to the next in the series… 2nd Chance.
Honestly, this surprises me as I have not always liked some of Patterson’s older works… but here I am thinking Lindsey is awesome and the rest of the women in the club too! What do you get when you have a Homicide Inspector (Lindsey), a medical examiner (Claire), an assistant D.A. (Jill), and a reporter (Cindy)? You get an awesome kick butt group of women who are tough and protective of their friendship, will share a bottle of wine along with lunch, and go to bat for one another in the blink of a well made up eye.
The crimes… newly weds are being murdered – and the evidence is closing in on a well-known author who not only writes murder mysteries, but appears to have written this one as well! As Lindsey works with her partner Chris (on duty and off), the pieces come together shockingly fast… but is it too fast? Is it all just a little too simple?
I enjoyed Lindsey as the main character and I really liked puzzling out the “who did it” and loved that in the end – even though I thought I knew, I didn’t know… and that was a bonus “ooh!!!!” to the read.
Yes, I joke as much as the next person about James Patterson’s short chapters, but this sweet 20,000 chapter book…. (kidding, it was more like 112), was a huge enjoyment for the mystery lover in me.
I would smile and let you in but right now my body is telling me “Oh no you did not!”
Well…. check off another new adventure from the to try list.
Yesterday morning I took my first ever Yoga class. I figured how hard could it be right? It’s just a lot of sitting around and stretching a little bit right?
Well let’s just say I feel it. Ow!
Are my bones suppose to make a creaking noise when I move? 😯
For giggles…. I looked up Yoga this morning to see what the history is.
Yoga (Sanskrit, Pāli: योगyóga) refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines that originated in India.[1] The word is associated with meditative practices in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[2][3][4] Within Hinduism, it refers to one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy, and to the goal towards which that school directs its practices.[5][6] In Jainism, yoga is the sum total of all activities — mental, verbal and physical.
The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings,[11] and is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj,” meaning “to control,” “to yoke” or “to unite.”[12] Translations include “joining,” “uniting,” “union,” “conjunction,” and “means.”[13][14][15] It is also possible that the word yoga derives from “yujir samadhau,” which means “contemplation” or “absorption.”[16] This translation fits better with the dualist Raja Yoga because it is through contemplation that discrimination between prakrti (nature) and purusha (pure consciousness) occurs.
Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy to a high level of attainment is called a yogi or yogini
~Wikipedia
Ok then.
Let’s just say that I not going to be a Yogi. 😛
Statue of Lord Shiva in Bangalore, India, performing yogic meditation in the Padmasana posture. Let's me clear... no meditation was going on in class, I was too busy watching the instructor for the next directions. 😀
Overall thoughts: It was interesting and I was better at all the bendy stuff then I thought I would be for a first timer. My balance is pretty good and I think I would do it again. Friends tell me that while it seems to be very slow and paced (so not me….) it is surprisingly a good toning workout.
Did you try anything new this week?
Oh and if you have a moment, Sweet Cheryl over at CMash Loves To Read featured me today on her Sunday’s Shining Star.
In this fourth memoir by Pulitzer Prize-nominated Frederich Buechner, we as readers are led through the authors library that he refers to as the “Magic Kingdom.” This library serves as the gateway to Buechner’s mind and heart as he recaps how his life was shaped by those within it – family, friends, mentors… from the moments of great joy, to the depths of the events that still seem to reach out and grab a part of him such as the suicide of his father.
I had mentioned earlier this year that I used to read a lot more Christian fiction and Christian genre reads. Last year when I was looking through my books that I had read in 2010 I seen a noticeable decline in this type of read from previous years. I had decided to make it a point in 2011 to actively seek out Christian authors I had not read and work at finding my niche for this genre once again. This is what brought me to this book.
When Amy from My Friend Amy wrote a post about doing a read a long for The Eyes Of The Heart, I jumped at the chance to experience this author who has written many incredible books, none of which I have read.
Thus begins my journey into Buechner…
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.”
Ephesians 1:18
For a person who enjoys seeing beyond the cover of my books that I store in my own library, this book was a visual treat fro the mind. I love how the book opens with Frederick Buechner describing this library saying that when people enter this room he expects them to tremble with excitement, but few of them do as they do not know or care enough about books to have any idea as to what they are seeing. Buechner then goes on to describe the collections he holds within this room from his early childhood reads, to many first publishing’s such as A Christmas Carol from 1843. (I mention this one as I am a collector of the different writings/editions of A Christmas Carol and this book alone would have caused me to tremble with excitement.)
I thought the book to be a brilliant look into this authors deepest soul from where he wavers, to where he is strong. I like the thought of pulling up the people from our past, those who have passed on, and asking them the questions that lay on many of our hearts…. what is out there? Who is waiting?
I wish I could do this book justice when I describe it as breathtaking… when Buechner speaks of his grandson coming into the world, and grasping on how soon he feels he himself will leave it – I was teary eyed. I admit I have never really been moved by poetry, but to me this book read in parts like a poem that I much savored and took my time reading through passages again.
My only wish is that I had read some of his earlier works so as to have a better picture of who this man was before he became who he is in this book. Beautifully written, deeply detailed, this is a book I will keep in my “Magic Kingdom” for years to come. This will not be my last adventure in reading with Frederick Buechner.
It is normally a no- work zone, a free pass, a WHATEVER day.
Man… I do like whatever days!
Here is this whatever days plan:
Currently coffee. Big cups and straight black just the way I like it… but later… I will be trying the Singapore recipe from Cheryl (see recipe at the end of this post)
Next up: Book review for this afternoon and a bit o’ blog hopping…. still so behind….
Get ready for YMCA – Zumba class at 10 am followed by 30 minutes of Yoga sounds like a good way to kick off the day
Brainerd Library…. think I am going to go and sit in it. I know, right? I never do that… but thought Laptop and I might go in and see what happens in the library (I bet there is reading!)
Stopping at store for dinner items for Al and I tonight and for the makings of the above mentioned Singapore Coffee for the below recipe of Singapore Coffee. 😛
Home until 4:30 when I do the pick up for the homeless program and then after orientation with my new overnighters I am home for dinner prep while listening to audio because honestly… I have to get the audio back to the library 😀
I am lovin’ this Saturday! And because I love love love seeing the yummy foody connections over at Beth Fish Reads for Weekend Cooking, I had to include the coffee recipe that I am so excited to try!
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar • 1.5 tablespoons condensed milk • 1.5 tablespoons evaporated milk • 1.5 tablespoons ground coffee • 3/4 cup hot water
Place sugar, condensed milk, and evaporated milk in a coffee cup, and the ground coffee in a cloth sock. Run hot water through the sock and into the cup. Serve immediately.
Hmmm….. I think I am going to have to buy a sock too….. 😛
Oh and one last thing… I love Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot and mostly enjoy plucking through old pictures that seem to speak to me….. well, you know I am sooooooo tired of winter so had to go this way today:
This is the Spring 2010 group that participated in the MS Allianz Ride... how nice we look...
Of course.... once on the ride where we feel there are no witnesses... that's another story 🙂
Stop by and see Alyce At Home With Books and add your own Saturday Snapshot! I can’t wait to start riding again! 😀
Betta Nolan, 55, has been a widow now in Boston for several months after her beloved husband John died of liver cancer. Per his wishes, she moves out to the Midwest to fulfill their dream and start a new life. Betta who is an author of children’s book, sells the home she and John had lived together in and moves into an oversized Victorian home in Stewart Illinois.
While trying to piece together this new life for herself, Betta tracks down her three college roommates, Lorraine, Maddy, and Susanna. When they hear of the loss of Betta’s husband they are all very sympathetic and agree to come to her home for a weekend and rekindle their friendship of all those years ago.
As Betta starts to mold into this new life she meets a few people in town, a handyman names Matthew, his horrific girlfriend, and Matt’s roommate Giovanni. She also meets an interesting older man, closer to her age named Tom Bartlett. While all these changes in her life seem good and positive, Betta questions her move and wonders if perhaps she shouldn’t go back to Boston and try to recapture her old life.
Betta's Brownstone style home in Boston
Betta's Victorian style home in Illinois
Sound a little familiar? I recently listened to and reviewed Elizabeth Berg’s Home Safe... about a widow, who was an author, who had an opportunity to move… listening to these so close together… was at times confusing as I would mix them in my head.
Beyond that, the storyline is quite different. For one, Betta is a strong woman unlike Home Safe’s Helen. Betta also has friends where Helen seemed to lean almost completely on her 27-year-old daughter.
Oh but here is another thing that the two main characters had in common for me…. Betta, bugged me.
I know, I know… I should be tarred and feathered! I really have enjoyed Elizabeth Berg’s books for the most part and fully plan to continue reading her works through 2011, but these widowed women characters…. GAH! Not that this storyline isn’t a wonderful one to work with, it’s just that Helen was too unsure of herself… and Betta…. Betta moved to fast into the “relationship” department for my liking.
There I said it. I mean… she had not even been a widow for that long….. and the book gave every impression that the marriage was a good one. And I know… that is just my opinion.
Moving on… I think my favorite part of the book was Betta reconnecting with her College friends. I wish that storyline would have been larger. While their friendship does become a big part of the book, I did not find these characters to be developed enough for me to really know who they were that leads to what happens in the end of the book.
As long as I seem to be dishing out opinions here: I loved the character of Giovanni, found Matthew to be wishy-washy, Tom was … well Tom, and just because I feel like saying it, I think the mailman’s shorts were too tight. (Ok… ok, I made that up…. I do not even recall meeting a mailman in this book…. :razz:)
Seriously though, again this did not fall into a favorite of mine for Berg but I am glad I had the opportunity to listen to it. Elizabeth works with a great array of characters that I have enjoyed meeting along the way, if I befriend them or not.
I am heading to the gym this morning and happy about it. (Surely that must be a sign of Spring?) Then I am hanging out with my friend Wendy for catching up and girl time. In girl code that is manicures and pedicures and maybe we will grab a salad after that…. this is something I rarely do so it just sounds fun 😀
I may then take a walk through Best Buy and look at my options on laptops for when the day comes that I need to make that purchase. Yes, I am still on my original one… odd but it is working just fine now.
Later tonight hubby is talking me out for seafood buffet and I am super excited – we both love seafood and while it is about a 30 minute drive to get there – it is worth it.
I have a lot of reading to catch up on this weekend… I need to finish Wench for Tuesdays book club, and I really want to finish The Eyes Of The Heart today or tomorrow…. I was hoping to have it done by now but this week I feel like I have been tired…. and I don’t know why… I just have been and going to bed early which is usually prime time reading for me.
Ok – I am out… hope to get some “blog reading” time this weekend too… I am so behind. 😀
A few weeks back I had a wonderful experience reading the book A Tiger In The Kitchen. I loved the book, I loved the imagery, and oh yeah.… I loved the food.
After reading the book I made quick time of contacting author Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan to tell her how amazing I thought her book was and if she would like to stop by Book Journey and share with my readers a little about herself, the book, and what may be next.
I was thrilled when she said yes.
Please welcome author, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan!
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Cheryl, as a coffee lover, I have to know how you take yours?
Cheryl: My favorite coffee is Singapore-style coffee — in old-school kopitiams (or coffeeshops) there, the beans are wok-fried with lard or butter and corn kernels to give it a buttery, nutty flavor. The coffee “uncle” will then add condensed milk and sugar to the brew — it’s incredibly delicious. I also like “yin yang,” which is a cup of coffee and tea combined in equal amounts with condensed milk and sugar added to the concoction. I’m a big tea lover, too, so yin yang is the ultimate morning beverage for me.
Now I want to try that coffee! 😛 Growing up in Singapore, were you a reader? (If so I would love to hear what books captured your attention!)
Cheryl: I read voraciously as a child — I remember my mother taking me to Singapore’s national library every Saturday to check out nine books a week. I could have read more but that was the maximum number of books we could take out, even after combining my family members’ library cards! Enid Blyton was the author who first captured my imagination as a child — she was a very prolific British children’s author who wrote several series involving plucky children going on all sorts of adventures. I adored the Secret Seven, Famous Five and Malory Towers, about a girls’ boarding school, series. Most of all, I loved The Faraway Tree, which was about a group of city kids who move to the English countryside and are totally unhappy and bored until they discover an enchanted tree inhabited by fairies and other magical creatures. I later moved on to Judy Blume, Anne Tyler, Ernest Hemingway and more but the creativity in Enid Blyton’s books were truly an early inspiration.
When did your interest in journalism start?
Cheryl: I knew as a child that I wanted to write for a living and when it came time to apply to colleges, journalism seemed like a way to be able to make a living doing it so I interned at The Straits Times, Singapore’s national newspaper, right after high school. During my internship, I wrote an expose of an illegal dog farm in which these poor dogs were kept in deplorable conditions — tiny, dirty cages etc. — that resulted in the Singaporean officials immediately swooping in and fining the owners. After seeing the power of the press and its ability to right wrongs, I was hooked.
Oh that is amazing! I have always loved the power of words! Your move from Singapore to Illinois had to be one of excitement and a little fear too…. can you share a little bit what that was like?
Cheryl: I moved from Singapore to Evanston, Illinois, to study journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. It was a terribly exciting time but also terrifying, naturally. I’d traveled widely before but moving all by myself halfway across the world at age 18 was something else entirely. I loved learning about American culture (Friends! Seinfeld!) through my new friends and dorm-mates but it was also trying sometimes — Singapore is near the equator so it’s sweltering hot all year round. The first winter I was at Northwestern, which is on a lakefront, there was a day when the windchill was minus 70. That was dismal. I also missed Singaporean food desperately — back then it was impossible to find good versions of the curries and fried noodles I grew up eating anywhere near me.
How long a flight is that from New York to Singapore?
Cheryl: There is a direct flight from the New York area to Singapore that takes 18 hours but usually, most flights (with connections and all) will take you close to 24 hours.
Oh wow! 24 hours! You mention the fried noodles and the curry that you miss and even thinking about it makes my mouth water. I still can picture that scene of the pineapple tarts, when you walked into the kitchen to discover that you were about to make 3,000 tarts. How long did it take the 5 of you to complete that project?
Cheryl: That was quite a scene! It was a two-day process to make all those tarts — but along the way we made a variety of other cookies, as well. On the first day, we prepped the pineapples — skinning them, gouging out the eyes, chopping them up into small chunks, running them through a juicer — and made the jam. The jam then has to cool overnight before we make the butter cookie base the next day, brush those cookies with beaten egg, top them with jam and then bake them. It sounds like a lot of work but it’s so very worth it. Pineapple tarts are out of this world.
The bonding of family cooking together puts an amazing picture in my head. Can you describe what that was like with your family? When you talk about missing out on that time with your Grandmother and learning her secrets and talents in the kitchen, do you feel that you accomplished that goal through the family members who did teach you?
Cheryl: I had never cooked with my family before so throughout the year, I felt like I was connecting with them in a way that I never had before. When you’re in the kitchen with your family for hours, that’s when old stories and jokes are going to be shared. I learned a lot about various family members and my ancestors and that was a very special experience. It was also lovely to see the younger generation getting curious about the process as well — my 10-year-old cousin Matthew, for example, even set aside his iPhone games when he saw us cooking sometimes and joined in with the assembling of rolls. I’m a big proponent of passing down the recipes and stories of families so it was touching to see Matthew joining in. I feel fortunate to have had this experience — you do often take your family members for granted and it can be too late to ask them to teach you. My maternal grandmother was already starting to lose her memory when I was back for that year — if I had waited any longer, I’m not sure she would have remembered all the recipes that she was sharing with us.
This book came about as the result of being laid off from your job. That devastating event freed you up to be able to travel and spend the time with your family and learn the traditions. Do you look at that time now as a blessing?
Cheryl: I definitely do — after I’d gone back to learn how to make my late grandmother’s pineapple tarts, I wanted to take a year off and travel back to Singapore to learn more recipes but there was just no way that I could have asked for the time off to do it. Right when I was rather despondent about that, the Wall Street Journal decided to eliminate its fashion bureau. I was in shock at first but literally, by the time I got back to my desk from the meeting where they laid us all off, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I don’t think I would have had the courage to request a sabbatical to go on this journey if that hadn’t happened. I’m very thankful for that.
Do you have a favorite recipe either from the book, or personally that you enjoy making?
Cheryl: I have so many recipes I adore — it’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child! One of my favorite dishes is this dish called tau yew bak, which basically means soy sauce meat. My late grandmother used to make this with pork belly or duck and it’s basically meat braised for hours in a stew of dark soy sauce (which has the consistency of molasses and is rather sweet), cinnamon sticks, star anise, sugar and garlic. (I have a recipe for the duck version of this in the book.) My family also adds cubed tofu and hard-boiled eggs to this stew — you want to cook it long enough so that the tofu cubes are saturated with the gravy and the eggs are the color of milk chocolate. Now that I know how to make it, it is part of my regular rotation in New York — I don’t often make it with duck, though. (Putting my hand in the cavity of a duck is still not one of my favorite things.) I’ll do it with cubed pork loin, ground beef or pork and cubed tofu. People often think Southeast Asian cooking is daunting because the recipes sometimes have many steps and ingredients — I like to look at the recipe, try to understand the flavors of the dish, why they work together and figure out how I can simplify it for an easy weeknight meal. That’s what I’ve done with my grandmother’s tau yew bak.
Tau Yew Bak
What next for you? Another book? *fingers crossed*
Cheryl: I’ve started on my second book, which is about women in their thirties. I can’t say more about it right now — but I hope you enjoy it as much as you liked A Tiger in the Kitchen!
It is a tradition around here for me to ask each author I interview to share a little known fact about themselves. (Ie. a hobby, a funny or embarrassing memory), an unusual talent, a trip you have taken, an instrument you played in school, an award you once won…)
Cheryl: I once drove four hours across Sicily (and four hours back) just to have lunch at a restaurant. It was a place that I’d heard of and was terribly curious about but where we were staying (Palermo) was nowhere near it. It didn’t deter me, however — the group of us just piled into two cars and went on this zany, hours-long road trip across the island just to lunch at Ristorante Duomo in Ragusa. It felt a little like we were in The Cannonball Run — but with lunch as the reward. We got very lost on the way back and I remember it being incredibly late at night by the time we made it back to Palermo. But the lunch — so fresh, so inventive — was worth the crazy, exhausting road trip. A good meal, to me, is always worth the extra mile — or, hundreds of miles.
Oh that is a wonderful fact! Thanks so much Cheryl for joining me today! I am so excited about your next book too!
Readers: Please take time to check out Cheryl at her website. Her book A Tiger In The Kitchen was a delight to read and you can see the link to my review below.
Book Journey 