August Plots And Pies
It still hasn’t gotten any cooler in North Carolina! We had so many days of real-feel over 100 degrees. Despite that, I still baked a good amount! It’s also a good excuse to sit in the air conditioning and enjoy reading.
August started with a trip to Vermont to see one of our dearest family friends get married. Her sister E is a life-long friend of mine and enjoys reading just as much as I do. We briefly discussed Yesteryear and decided we needed a whole debrief some other time. She joined my sister M and I’s virtual book club and she is an amazing addition! Our August book was The Sisterhood Of Ravensbruck by Lynne Olson. Our experience was overall positive but we also talked about how deeply sad and tragic it is. The book is an account of the all women’s camp in Northern Germany during WWII and was primarily inhabited by French women. The book details the work they did to continue resisting and all the horrors that the women experienced. I’ve probably said this a hundred times but I am always curious in other perspectives and in hearing the more unknown stories. There were a lot of interesting things, including more about the absolutely barbaric experience of Polish women than I originally knew, the amazing sisterhood that was founded at the camp and continued on after the war ended, and further emphasized how absolutely and unbelievably brave these women were. I learned that the women there wrote their own kind of musical, which later became Le Verfügbar aux Enfers, a show that played in France and was also translated into English and performed under the name In The Underworld in the United States. I am still trying to find a way to watch some, if not all of it.
One of my cousins from Holland came for 10 days at the beginning of August and since our other local Dutch friends came for dinner, I had to make the classic cake with fudge frosting from TheCakeBlog.com since it’s one of their favorites. I think I’ve made it at least once every month this summer! I already made it the first week in August because one of my sister’s best friends S came to visit with her mom P and son R. It was the first time R got to decorate a cake! It ended up being a reel on my Instagram because the first time I baked it, the cake did not turn out… I think if it were just me I might have eaten it, the flavor wasn’t bad. But when S told me she had seen all my baking on Instagram and didn’t care what I made, I knew I had to do it properly. Luckily the second time was perfect!
There is already a blog post about it, but I got to read an ARC copy of James Islington’s new book Scion which came out on September 1st. It wasn’t what I was expecting necessarily but I did enjoy it. It was fun to hear my brother I’s perspective when it came out. He always gives me a lot to think about! And it also made me think I liked it more than I originally thought.
Clearly I am stuck on a World War II theme. It’s been that way for almost a year or something. I’m not necessarily mad about it but it is sometimes a bit much! A couple weeks ago I decided to read something else and then both the books I randomly picked up had a WWII theme. Something about the universe has it in for me and WWII books I guess. I read the novel Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce. It was historical fiction but still shined a light on what people were doing on the home front to stay positive and work together. Of course it has darker moments due to the topic but there were some great moments of levity and I appreciated reading about those.
I haven’t made it all summer which is honestly kind of a travesty, but I made deep dish raspberry and peach slab pie in. I have the recipe printed out from 10 years ago or so and so I’ll have to look later who the recipe is from. It’s got a delicious crust, which I love because it’s not too sweet, and then is filled with peaches and raspberries and topped off with more crust. The recipe calls for it to cool completely before serving but I actually like it a little warm still with vanilla ice cream. It’s also pretty good the next day after being in the fridge. Even after it’s been in the fridge, if you warm it up in the microwave, it’s still amazing!
I finally finished John Fugelsang’s The Separation Of Church And Hate. I really appreciated all his direct bible quotes and the historical context he put a lot of the issues in. His research is extensive and his humor is fun! My only problem with the book is that it sometimes feels combative, suggesting topics or information that would be “fun” to share with conservative friends, family, etc. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with challenging people, especially when you have as much information as Fugelsang provides. But in a political, social, and cultural climate that is so full of discord already, it kind of bummed me out.
I baked some things to give to other people this month, including my grandma’s favorite lemon tart. It’s a recipe I have adapted because the first time I made it, I didn’t have limes so I substituted it with more lemon juice. And I’ve never gone back! I might have to try it sometime just to see. I also added more sugar to balance out the additional lemon juice. I never considered that limes may be a little sweeter than lemons so I would be curious to see what that tastes like. I also made my family’s famous Whipped Cream Pound Cake for one of my friend’s birthdays. I think it’s one of the weirdest recipes. 6 egg yolks! Turns out 6 egg whites for lunch after that isn’t super exciting. Luckily I had some cheese and bacon to add.
I finished Pierce Brown’s Red Rising and it did not disappoint. I loved listening to the audiobook and once I got used to the narrator’s accent, it felt very authentic. It’s interesting to me how similar it is to The Will Of The Many. I know there are quite a few more and I am forever wondering how I am going to have time to read all the things I want to!
My grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary was in August and so my mom hosted a big dinner party for them. We had fun going through old pictures to collect and print out and we laughed quite a bit trying to figure out what each of the menu items were based on the drawing we have. For the cake, my mom made a chocolate cake recipe that has been passed down from my grandma’s best friend from elementary school. My sister K and I had so much fun decorating it in buttercream frosting. And K taught me some new frosting techniques! I had never made buttercream roses before. It ended up looking and tasting great.
A couple days ago I finished Kirsten Miller’s The Change and it was phenomenal. I have told everyone I know that likes to read about it. It’s about three women going through menopause and discover they have magical powers. They set out to solve a murder and catch a serial killer. The twist at the end blew my mind. I had to text my mom in all capital letters about it. She also devoured the book earlier in August. There were times when I tried to talk to her while we were in the same area and she wouldn’t respond. When I looked over she had her headphones in and could barely be bothered! The book was recommended to us by my pseudo aunt and author Harper McDavid. She has never steered us wrong! I am looking forward to reading more of Kirsten Miller’s books in the future.
September is looking busy but fun. My mom and I are at my great aunt and uncle’s house to learn how to make jam. I just downloaded Dungeon Crawler Carl which is this month’s virtual book club pick. I started reading Fredrick Backman’s My Friends on the plane yesterday. I am still deciding if I like the voice and so I don’t know yet if I’m going to finish it. My mom, grandma, and I are going to see Jodi Picoult speak about her new book Hollow Bones which I’m about. And a project I have been working on for about a year is coming to fruition… I can’t wait to share with you all!
