September Bread and Beyond the Book
The start of September did not bring the cooler weather I was hoping for! So that means no long walks outside while listening to an audiobook. I still got some good ones in though!
Our virtual book club book this month was Dungeon Crawler Crawl by Matt Dinniman. Someone recommended it to me months ago and I just never got it. My brother Ian, who is always one of my favorite people to talk books with, is already almost done with all the ones that have been published so far. It was funny, he said even though it’s not the strongest literature, he can’t put it down. He equated it to so many people watching The Bachelor or Bachelorette. You know it’s not always great but you still need to know what happens next! The wait at the library was a million weeks long (not really, but 26 weeks or something) and so I decided to splurge and buy it. I got the combination with the audiobook and so I had something fun to listen to. It’s giving me a lot of joy right now and I’ve already started listening to book three.
I made whipped cream pound cake again this month. I don’t use a lot of heavy cream so when I found some extra in the fridge, I thought I better use it up! I was able to do it on a night that one of my friends was coming over and she absolutely loves it. It always makes me happy to be able to bake something for people that they love. One thing people love about this cake is the crust and I have never met anyone who says otherwise. Some people love it so much they even just eat that part off and leave the rest… I’m looking at you, Mom! When I came home from work, my piece had the top crust eaten right off!
Alison Espach’s The Wedding People was a book I was not expecting. I figured it was a cute romcom or friendship book since my cousin gave it to me when she asked me to be her bridesmaid. Alas! It is nothing of the sort. It’s a book about a woman who goes to a very fancy hotel with the intention of killing herself and finds herself in the middle of an extravagant and dramatic wedding weekend. I ended up really enjoying it and I liked how the main character decides to be her true authentic self and does it with fervor. I have a lot of respect for that. And a little envy as well, because I think it’s very hard to do.
I’ve been sleeping on this recipe all summer but I had so much fun making and eating our family’s famous Grasshopper Pie. It’s an Oreo crust with marshmallow/whipped cream topping. The green comes from the splash of Creme De Menthe that gets added in. And it gives it a yummy mint flavor too.
When I started Fredrick Backman’s My Friends at the beginning of the month, I wasn’t sold on how it was written. The voice felt off somehow and I have struggled with some of his books in the past. However, this one really surprised me. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought and the story is engaging.
I finally made an excellent loaf of bread in September! I was one of those people who started sourdough during Covid and I have actually kept up with it. There are a few failures but some good successes too. I finally got a recipe I wanted to try right and it was super delicious. It’s an extra tangy sourdough that doesn’t have any yeast so it requires some serious kneading and lots of rising time. It takes two days because you actually refrigerate the dough overnight. And the politics of the author aside (they’re bad, I know), I do really enjoy using this Harry Potter Le Creuset that I got from my siblings quite a few years ago. It makes the book nerd in me smile and is a fun crossover between my two favorite hobbies.
Big book things happened in September! My mom, grandma, and I went to see Jodi Piccoult speak on her Chapters Tour, celebrating her 30th novel, Hollow Bones. I haven’t read it yet but I did get a beautiful signed copy that I’m almost afraid to crack the spine on! It was very interesting and enjoyable to hear Jodi share some of her stories and the background behind some of her novels. She is also doing amazing work when it comes to fighting book bans. She has such a great voice and platform and she uses it for such good. Her humour is infectious and her passion genuine. I feel so lucky that we went to see her and that she was willing to meet everyone and take a picture. She loved hearing that she had three generations of readers with her! I think My Sister’s Keeper is the first book of hers that I remember reading. But to this day my favorite might be Plain Truth. It’s a novel about an Amish community where a dead baby is found and the mother turns out to be an unmarried young woman. It’s as sad as it sounds but it’s a really powerful story.
I always say that lemon poppyseed is one of my favorite flavor profiles and people often laugh. But it’s true! Another gem of a recipe from TheCakeBlog.com is the lemon poppyseed cake recipe. It has cream cheese frosting! Whoever thought that up really deserves a prize. I could eat it straight. One thing I always think is weird is how crazy rancid old poppyseeds are. It’s similar to eggs, when it’s bad, it’s super obvious. I don’t always buy a lot for this reason and so luckily I had just enough in the pantry this time!
The other huge book news from September is that my friend Hannah and I announced our podcast, Beyond The Book! We have had so much fun making plans, recording episodes, laughing about how many times we say “umm,” and more. Our first episode dropped on October 10th and I’ve been enjoying hearing from the people I know how much they like it! I don’t expect it to go viral or anything but I do hope that people listen to and enjoy it! Our first mini episode comes out on the 24th where people will get to hear more from Hannah and I about how we met, what we do, whether or not we hated Beloved, and more. Thanks to everyone who has been so encouraging and supportive through this process! We have lots more in the works so that’s exciting. I’m still trying to decide if we should tell people what we’re doing for the next book episode so then they could read and/or watch what we’re going to be talking about. Reach out to me if you have a preference! I would love to hear what the listeners think about that idea. This project means a lot more books have been added to my to be read list! It’s been interesting so far to see how I have been challenged as a reader and also encountered some things I haven’t before. I’m grateful to Hannah for being such an awesome cohost. I love how nerdy she is, how passionate she is, how honest she is, and how much we can laugh together. I'm looking forward to everything that comes next! Special thanks to my friend Katie who did the branding for us. I’m going to post on instagram the picture of my logo vision that I drew for her and she’s a miracle worker. She brought my vision to life in the best way and she didn’t laugh at my drawing even though I told her she could. Stay tuned for everything we have coming up!
I almost forgot that I also got to see Kristin Kobes Du Mez speak about her new book Live, Laugh, Love! The title certainly makes me laugh. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s a fascinating and horrific account of how white christian women have brought themselves to where they are today. The subtitle is “ The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made.” As a historian, Du Mez has absolutely amazing research and her book is anything but dry. She also famously wrote Jesus and John Wayne. I applaud her courage and power to talk about hard topics and make bold statements while providing all the information and data to back it up. I encourage everyone to check out her work.
