‪Pork Kebabs with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce #‎thebookclubcookbookCC

Here we are at the final #thebookclubcookbookCC event. Final. Can you believe it??

It's hard to fathom that our year-long journey to explore - and cook from - The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp* is drawing to a close. Judy, Vicki, and their publisher, Tarcher-Penguin, provided the hosting bloggers with copies of the book plus copies to giveaway each month of the project. We are so grateful for their generosity over the past year.

For the last month we celebrated with a Greek feast for Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres.  This is a new to me novel. Sadly I still haven't gotten a chance to read it.  It is on my bed stand just waiting for me next trip.  

The synopsis sounds good and I am pretty confident I will enjoy the novel.  It's a love story during WWII but this story takes place on a small Greek Island, not the typical France or Germany. Hence the Greek feast. Corelli and his Italian soldiers occupy the island. Corelli takes up residence with Dr. Iannis and his daughter Pelagia. Although unwelcome Corelli is charming.  The novel starts at the invasion of the island and spans through the effects after war. 

It has been horribly hot and humid around Connecticut.  We don't have A/C so I had the hardest time thinking of a Greek recipe.  Or to be more accurate all of the recipes I wanted to make required oven time and that was not going to happen. Finally I saw this recipe for kebabs. Meant to be made under the broiler but we made the pork kebabs or souvlaki on the grill.  Topped with a yogurt mint sauce these were a delicious dinner.
Want to join in the fun? Read all about this month's book selection from our host and leader Camilla in her invite post.

Here's how to participate in The Book Club Cookbook Cooking Crew #thebookclubcookbookCC:

1. Draw inspiration from the chosen recipe.
2. Blog about it! It doesn't have to be a lengthy post. Just share your dish.
3. Include a link back to the hosting blog somewhere in your post.
4. Your post must be current to June. Of course,we don't mind if your post is linked to other events. The more, the merrier!
5. Send your entries to Camilla at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com, and please be including:
     ~Your name
     ~Your blog's name and URL
     ~The name of your dish and the permalink to the specific post you'resubmitting
     ~Attach a photo of any size (or just give me permission to"pull" one from your post) 
     ~Indicate #thebookclubcookbookCC, especially if you post to other social media

Deadline for submission is: July 29, 2016
*watch for the roundup to be posted shortly after this deadline! 

Pork Kebabs with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus time to marin

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: grill Greek

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Ingredients (serves 4)

For the Kebabs

• 2 cups red wine
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1 ½" cubes
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the Yogurt Sauce:

• 1 cucumber (about 12-oz.)
• 1 1⁄2 cups yogurt
• 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin sesame oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 4 pita breads, warmed

Instructions

Make the pork kebabs:Whisk together the wine, oregano, cumin, salt, thyme, cinnamon, and garlic in a large bowl. Add the cubes of pork and toss well to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to let marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove the pork from the marinade (reserve marinade), thread the cubes onto 4 metal or wooden skewers, and arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet. (If using wooden skewers, make sure to cover the ends completely with the pork cubes, to prevent the skewers from burning.)

Grill the kebabs on medium high heat until browned on all sides and cooked through, 20-25 minutes.

Make the yogurt sauce: Trim the ends off the cucumber and peel it. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, scrape out and discard the seeds from each half. Finely chop the cucumber and transfer it to a medium bowl. Stir in the yogurt, mint, oil, and garlic, and season with salt. Cover the sauce with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. (The sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 1 week.)

Arrange the skewers on a platter and scatter the scallions and parsley over them. Serve with the yogurt sauce and the pita.

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Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating as well!

A Day in the Life on the Farm
Adventures in All Things Food
Cheese Curd In Paradise
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Life on Food
Mostly Food and Crafts
The Pajama Chef
The Spiffy Cookie
Things I Make (for Dinner)
Tortillas and Honey
ZooeySuff

Giveaway

This month Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla, this month's host, is giving away two copies of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook!

TWO of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from July 1st till July 31st at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Disclosure: Camilla received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give two copies away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches #‎thebookclubcookbookCC

I have chocolate for you all today. Not just chocolate but little sandwiches made of chocolate and peanut butter and graham crackers. It truly is heaven in your mouth. This beauties came about for the June posting of #‎thebookclubcookbookCC and honoring the book Chocolat. I was a fan of the book and the movie before June. It was fun to reread the book. Being a fan of chocolate and France, well it was a good time. 

Not familiar with the #thebookclubcookbookCC?  Well it's a group of 11 bloggers where each month we pick a book, to read or not is up to you, and then make a recipe either from The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp or something inspired by the book. If you are interested in joining see this post from Camilla, our leader or Sarah's invitation for June.

There is a giveaway at the bottom of this post for  two copies of The Book Club Cook Book so keep reading. 

The recipes for this month were hot chocolate and chocolate fondue. Both super tempting. Hot chocolate or chocolat chaude is a prominent feature in the book but given it is June and the temps are creeping up I didn't think it would timely to post a hot chocolate recipe. 

There are many themes to Chocolat intertwined between the characters of a small French town: good vs. evil, love and dogma.
For me their there was a sense of doing good for one's soul, a necessity to such. And like the novel I am a big fan of indulgence through food, mainly chocolate. 

These little sandwiches were pure indulgence.  Chocolate, graham crackers, peanut butter and more chocolate. One little one was enough to transport me to a feeling of calmness after a long hectic day. The ability to stop and forget everything else for just one moment to enjoy this chocolate treat. 

Want to join in the fun? Here's how to participate in The Book Club Cookbook Cooking Crew #thebookclubcookbookCC:

1. Draw inspiration from the chosen recipe.
2. Blog about it! It doesn't have to be a lengthy post. Just share your dish.
3. Include a linkback to the hosting blog somewhere in your post.
4. Your post must be current to June. Of course,we don't mind if your post is linked to other events. The more, the merrier!
5. Send your entries to Sarah at sstratton0325 (at) yahoo (dot) ca, and please be including:
     ~Your name
     ~Your blog's name and URL
     ~The name of your dish and the permalink to the specific post you'resubmitting
     ~Attach a photo of any size (or just give me permission to"pull" one from your post) 
     ~Indicate #thebookclubcookbookCC, especially if you post to other social media

Deadline for submission is: June 30, 2016
*watch for the roundup to be posted shortly after this deadline! 

Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating as well!

A Day in the Life on the Farm
Adventures in All Things Food
Cheese Curd In Paradise
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Life on Food
Mostly Food and Crafts
The Pajama Chef
The Spiffy Cookie
Things I Make (for Dinner)
Tortillas and Honey
ZooeySuff

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwiches

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 30 minutes, plus chill time

Keywords: no bake chocolate peanut butter

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Ingredients (12 sandwiches)

• 6 graham cracker sheets, broken in half
• 3 cups milk chocolate chips, divided
• 1 Tbsp butter, divided
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.

Melt 1½ cups of the chocolate chips and 1 Tbsp of butter in a microwave safe bowl or big glass measuring cup. Stirring at every 20 second intervals until fully melted and smooth.

Dip each graham cracker half into the chocolate, tapping or gently scraping off the excess chocolate. The graham cracker should be totally covered.

Set each chocolate covered graham cracker on the cookie sheet and place in the freezer to set up quickly.

While the chocolate covered graham crackers are setting up, make the peanut butter filling by mixing the peanut butter and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy. Roll into 12 equal dough balls and chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Pull out the chilled chocolate covered graham crackers and peanut butter balls. Gently flatten the peanut butter balls to the size of the graham cracker and place it on the chocolate graham. Gently spread it to the edges so it's evenly distributed. Be careful not to break the graham cracker pieces.

Melt the other 1½ cups of chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp of butter. Stirring until smooth. Gently spoon chocolate over the peanut butter layer and spread around with a spoon covering the top and sides. Put back in the freezer to set up (about 15 - 20 minutes).

If you want to be fancy, pull out and drizzle left over chocolate over the top of each graham cracker.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.

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Giveaway

This month Sarah at Thing I Make (for Dinner), this month's host, is giving away two copies of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

TWO of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from June 1st till June 30th at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: Sarah received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

Griet's Vegetable Soup ‪#‎thebookclubcookbookCC

Due to my Savannah trip I had ample time to get in a good read this month.  I spent the time indulging in the Girl with the Pearl Earring for the March April selection of #‎thebookclubcookbookCC.  

Not familiar with the #thebookclubcookbookCC?  Well it's a group of 11 bloggers where each month we pick a book, to read or not is up to you, and then make a recipe either from The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp or something inspired by the book. If you are interested in joining see this post from Camilla, our leader or Sarah's invitation for April.

There is a giveaway at the bottom of this post for The Book Club Cook Book so keep reading. 

The Girl with the Pearl Earring is a coming of age story about Griet who moves in with the artist Vermeer's family due to an unfortunate accident rendering her father unable to work. Vermeer needs a maid who can clean his studio. He is instantly taken with Griet when he meets her in the kitchen chopping vegetables for soup.  Her vegetables are neatly arranged by color on the cutting board.  Her natural artistic instinct is clear and she starts her new life with Vermeer's family. 

The recipe highlighted in The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors is a vegetable soup to pay homage to this scene. 

Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating as well!

A Day in the Life on the Farm
Adventures in All Things Food
Cheese Curd In Paradise
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Life on Food
Mostly Food and Crafts
The Pajama Chef
The Spiffy Cookie
Things I Make (for Dinner)
Tortillas and Honey
ZooeySuff

Griet's Vegetable Soup

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Keywords: saute soup/stew carrot

6078100

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 2 large leeks
• 8 oz lean slab bacon, cut into 1/2" dice, or 2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
• 2 medium onions, finely diced
• 2 c finely diced green cabbage
• 2 c finely diced peeled chopped carrots
• 1 c finely diced peeled turnip
• 10 c beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c red cabbage, cut into paper-thin slices
• 1/2 c fresh parsley, finely minced

Instructions

Rinse the leeks well and soak in cool water for 15 minutes to remove all grit. Halve leeks lengthwise and cut into fine dice.

Cook bacon gently in a Dutch oven or stockpot for 5 minutes. Add the leeks and onion and cook gently for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Drain off bacon fat.

Add the green cabbage, carrots, turnips and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat.

Simmer for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish individual servings with red cabbage slivers and parsley.

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Giveaway

This month Sarah at Thing I Make (for Dinner), this month's host, is giving away a copy of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

One of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from April 1st till April 30th at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: Sarah received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn Round Up ‪#‎thebookclubcookbookCC

The day has come for me to post about all of the lovely creations myself and the other members of  ‪#‎thebookclubcookbookCC made in March for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.  It seems like many of the others fell in love with the book too.

No one made the recipe for Chocolate Russe from the invite post. I am still hoping someone tries it out soon but for now I am pretty satisfied with all of the inspired recipes.  We had quite a feast. 

You might remember that I made Italian Sweet Rolls, a special treat for Francie and her brother as they ran errands for their mother.

Erin from A Spiffy Cookie made a Boozy Apple Cinnamon Bread Pudding.  She was inspired by taking stale bread and creating something amazing. 

Camilla, our fearless leader, from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, made a gluten free Cherry Chocolate Blossom Cupcake.  She took note of the passage when Francie was daydreaming of fancy treats she might someday be able to eat.  

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm, made something more practical with an Italian Vegetable Stew. This stew was packed full of veggies and bread. Although I am pretty sure Wendy didn't go to the store and ask for all of the old, wilted vegetables and stale bread for her recipe as the children did in the book. 

Sarah from Things I Make (for Dinner), whipped up some Crock Pot Baked Beans, hoping to feed us all something filling on the cheap and long lasting.  These beans certainly fit the bill for the food trend in the novel.

And finally Sarah, The Pajama Chef, made us some delicious coffee chocolate chip streusel mufffins.  She pointed out the significant indulgence of coffee the Nolans had on a daily basis. Even though the children didn't enjoy it they cherished their cup knowing it was a treat.

Thanks for joining me this month and be sure to check out next month's book choice with Sarah at Things I Make (for Dinner). 

Italian Sweet Rolls ‪#‎thebookclubcookbookCC

Are you ready for Easter?  I think I will be but right now I am no where close.  My post today doesn't have anything to do with Easter but it did help me with my Easter planning.

I am super excited for today's post. March was my hosting month for  #‎thebookclubcookbookCC.  You can read my invite post here. I choose A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith for the March book.

As you know, I and several other bloggers are cooking and  baking our way through The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp.  Each month the host picks a novel and recipe from the book.  You can read the novel or not and to join you make a recipe, either from the cookbook, or your own inspired recipe. 

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is all about Francis Nolan, her life growing up in Brooklyn at the turn of the century.  I picked this book somewhat ignorantly.  It's classic, at times controversial, but read widely in schools.  I had no idea and had never read it on my own or in school.  Luckily though I fell in love with the story and Francie.  The book was somewhat long and I was a afraid with my busy baby life I wouldn't have enough time finish within the month.  The book drew me in though as Francis grows up and explains the world around her.  There are so many details.  Too many to share. All I can say is I would highly recommend this novel. 

As for the food there are so many special and not so special moments that incorporate food. The Nolans were not rich and struggled to have enough food.  They were creative with the meals they did have, and dreamed out foods they didn't.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a Food rich book.  A special treat for Francis and her brother were sweet rolls. Although just a few pennies at the time it was still a stretch to buy, normally they waited for day old rolls to save a bit more. Sweet rolls were the destination of after work courting trip.

These rolls came about as I was looking for some roll recipes for our Easter meal.  The dough is rich from sugar and egg but comes together very easily. The smell will fill your house as you bake them off.  I quickly ate three before they cooled and completely understood how Francie adored the rolls as an escape from her tough world.

Be sure to check out the other bloggers participating this month.

A Day in the Life on the Farm
Adventures in All Things Food
Cheese Curd In Paradise
Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Life on Food
Mostly Food and Crafts
The Pajama Chef
The Spiffy Cookie
Things I Make (for Dinner)
Tortillas and Honey
ZooeySuff

Italian Sweet Rolls

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 25 minutes, plus rise time

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: bake bread Easter

6077720

Ingredients (24 Rolls)

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• Pinch of salt (about 1/16 teaspoon)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Instructions

Combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Warm just until the butter is completely melted and remove from the heat. Let cool until just warm.

Combine the yeast, salt, eggs and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the warm milk and half of the flour. Knead with the dough hook until combined. Add more flour gradually until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the mixer. Knead the dough about 3-5 minutes longer, or until completely smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and turn it over once to coat the top. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place, about 1 hour.

Gently deflate the dough with your hand. Turn it out onto a floured work surface and pat it down slightly so that the dough has an even thickness. Cut the dough into 24 even pieces. Roll each piece to form a ball. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let rise again for 1 hour, or until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the egg and 1 teaspoon water in a small condiment cup. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the loaves with the mixture.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the rolls are golden and fragrant. Let cool until warm.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or top with a glaze if desired.

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Giveaway

As this month's host, I, am giving away a copy of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

One of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from March 1st till March 31st at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.