Zucchini Fritters for the End of Summer

It’s that time of year for an abundance of zucchini. Last year, I made these zucchini fritters on repeat for lunches with my daughter. I started using chia seeds instead of egg – first because I ran out of eggs one day, and then because I loved the texture of these fritters even better than the original version! I didn’t plant a garden this year, but I still ended up with some zucchini from friends and made these (and zoodles! and ratatouille! and an inedible scarpaccia that Joe and I ended up throwing away!) for the family.

Zucchini Fritters – adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
1 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus extra to taste
1/4 onion, chopped small ( or 2 scallions)
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying

Shred the zucchini: Trim the ends off your zucchini and grate it on the large holes of a box grater. In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes.

Prep your chia seeds: While the zucchini is draining, mix 1 tablespoon seeds with 3 tablespoons water, stir briefly, then let them sit.

Wring out the zucchini: Wrap the zucchini shreds up in a clean dishtowel or piece of cheese cloth and wring it out tightly over the sink – you will get a lot of water!

Make the batter: Return zucchini shreds to bowl. Add a dash of salt if desired. Stir in onion/scallions, chia mixture, and some freshly ground black pepper. Separately in a tiny dish, whisk together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter.

Cook the fritters: In a large heavy skillet heat 2 glugs of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don’t become crowded and lightly pat them with the back of your spatula to slightly flatten. Cook the fritters over moderately high heat until the edges underneath are golden, about 5 minutes. If you find this happening too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Flip the fritters and fry them on the other side until browned underneath again, about 5 minutes more.

Drain: Set the fritters briefly on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Serve warm on their own or with a dipping sauce

Do ahead: These fritters keep well, either chilled in the fridge for the better part of a week and or frozen in a well-sealed package for months. When you’re ready to use them, simply spread them out on a tray in a 325 degree oven until they’re hot and crisp again.

Lactation Cookies Aren’t Just For Moms

Do I feel a little silly posting a recipe for “lactation cookies”? Yes. Are these cookies utterly devourable? Also yes. It’s not just me eating them, either – my whole family can’t get enough of them. They’re made with whole grain flour, flax seed, and brewer’s yeast for a nutty, malty-tasting mouthful. Do they work for people who are breastfeeding to improve milk supply? Eh, who knows… But nursing a baby requires about 500 additional calories a day so I’ve been eating non-stop and these are a tasty way to get what I need.

Lactation Cookies adapted from How Sweet Eats

Yield: 24 to 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 5 tablespoons brewers yeast
• 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups cane sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks

Instructions

• 1) In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, yeast, flaxseed, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt.
• 2) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add in the sugar and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add in the egg and egg yolk, beating until combined, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract and beat until combined again. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined and mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula until they are evenly dispersed.
• 3) Scoop the dough into balls and place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the bottoms are just golden. Let cool completely before storing in a sealed container.

20 Questions Book Tag

I picked up this tag from Shawnerly at She’s Reading Now. Go check out her answers, too! I will continue my habit of doing book tags when I am feeling sick.

1. HOW MANY BOOKS IS TOO MANY BOOKS IN A SERIES? On the one hand, I want to say “keep it in the single digits!” On the other hand, I have read approximately 20 Vorkosigan books, so…
   
   
2. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CLIFFHANGERS? I tend to dislike them. They feel manipulative to me and often the book feels incomplete.
   
   
3.  HARDBACK OR PAPERBACK? Paperback. I collect some hard cover copies of my favorite books, but I prefer the feeling of holding a paperback.
   
   
4. FAVORITE BOOK? The Lord of the Rings. Or The Left Hand of Darkness. Probably The Lord of the Rings, even though I would say LeGuin is my favorite author.
   
   
5. LEAST FAVORITE BOOK? I can’t say I really have one. Maybe Anthem by Ayn Rand. Ugh, don’t get me started…
   
   
6. LOVE TRIANGLES: YES OR NO? It depends on how it’s written, what relation it has to the book as a whole, and so on.
   
   
7. THE MOST RECENT BOOK YOU JUST COULDN’T FINISH? I’m a completionist, BUT several years ago I gave up on Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson 7/8 of the way through. I just couldn’t do it anymore.
   
   
8. A BOOK YOU’RE CURRENTLY READING? Buddhist Reflections on Everyday Life by Parmananda
   
   
9. THE LAST BOOK YOU RECOMMENDED TO SOMEONE? Believe it or not, I usually hesitate to give book recommendations. There are too many books out there for me to assume someone else *must* read the same books as me. I did buy a copy of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasii for my friend Morgan though, so I guess that counts as a recommendation.
   
   
10. OLDEST BOOK YOU’VE READ BY PUBLICATION DATE? Does “The Epic of Gilgamesh” count? Some Plato in college? Le Morte D’Arthur? A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Pride and Prejudice? Depends on what you consider the “publication date”.
    
    
11. NEWEST BOOK YOU’VE READ BY PUBLICATION DATE? An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
    
    
12. FAVORITE AUTHOR? Ursula K. LeGuin. Hands down.
    
    
13. BUYING BOOKS OR BORROWING BOOKS? Love your local library!!
    
    
14. A BOOK THAT YOU DISLIKE THAT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO LOVE? The Poppy War. I have complaints.
    
    
15. BOOKMARKS OR DOG-EARS? I would say bookmarks, but my toddler tends to steal them from among the pages of the books I’m reading, so that renders them pretty pointless.
    
    
16. A BOOK YOU CAN ALWAYS REREAD? The Lord of the Rings. Sometimes I’ll even pick it up and start reading randomly from the middle. Just because.
    
    
17. CAN YOU READ WHILE HEARING MUSIC? Nope. Unless it’s lofi girl. IYKYK
    
    
18. ONE OR MULTIPLE POVS? It really depends on the book and what it’s trying to convey. I do love me some multi-generational stories, though.
    
    
19. DO YOU READ A BOOK IN ONE SITTING OR OVER MULTIPLE DAYS? Lol, like my toddler or 6 month old would let me sit still long enough to read an entire book at once!
    
    
20. A BOOK YOU’VE READ BECAUSE OF THE COVER? The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Dinner with Friends: Chickpeas, Orzo, and Vegetables in Tuscan Sauce

I am always browsing for new recipes. I usually save far more than I cook (on an order of about 200:1 – this drives Joe crazy!) but this is a recipe saved on one of the many, many open tabs on my phone that I actually cooked. I added broccoli to fill out the dish with more vegetables and we felt it added the perfect variety of texture and flavor. And then I made it again. And then Joe asked for the recipe and made it… and made it again.

One night, we spontaneously invited our neighbors over for dinner – they brought the sausage stuffed peppers they had planned on having and we shared in all the food together while sitting outside in the bright summer evening. It was a perfect night.

Chickpeas, Orzo, and Vegetables in Tuscan Sauce – adapted from Gimme Some Oven   
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small head of broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1/2 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup roughly-chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly-ground black pepper

1. Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Simmer. Add the chickpeas, broccoli, vegetable broth, orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, and Italian seasoning and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low, or whatever temperature is needed to maintain a low simmer. Then continue simmering, stirring frequently, until the orzo is just shy of al dente. 
3. Add the remaining ingredients. Add heavy cream, spinach, Parmesan, basil and stir to combine. Continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the spinach is wilted and the orzo is al dente.
4. Season. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
5. Serve. Serve warm, garnished with an additional twist of black pepper, and enjoy!

Nut and Date Balls

Last winter, during the last few weeks of pregnancy, I was eating a lot of dates. (Did you know that there is good evidence that eating dates during the 3rd trimester shortens labor? Now you know.) After my little girl arrived, I still had a lot of dates left over. I put together this recipe, cobbled together from a handful of other recipes online, to get just what I wanted – a delicious, nutrient-packed snack to easily eat while feeding my baby. These were so good, they did not last very long.

Nut and Date Balls
15-20 dates, chopped (I used about 18)
1 cup chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoon flax
1/2 cup almond butter
1-3 Tablespoons water
coconut flakes (optional)

1. Pulse oats in food processor.
2. Add everything except almond butter and water and pulse until mixed.
3. Add almond butter then water, a little at a time, and pulse until mixed to a moldable consistency.
4. Roll into balls. (If desired, roll the balls in the coconut flakes.) Lay the balls on a tray in the refrigerator to set before moving to a container. Keep refrigerated.

Dungeons and Dragons Book Tag

I found this D&D book tag at Peat Long’s Blog, originally from Witty and Sarcastic Book Club. It’s been a while since I’ve had time to play D&D, but I have had some good times and grown to love some memorable characters in the past. This book tag uses the character classes from D&D as a prompt. Even if you aren’t familiar with the game, you may be familiar with the archetypes used.

Cats getting in the way of D&D…

Barbarian – Barbarians are fighters whose anger can give them a berserker state of mind: think an overdose of adrenalin allowing someone to do the nigh impossible. Name a character with a temper: Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë – Heathcliff and Cathy are deeply unhappy people, failing to escape the shackles of a rigid social class. Heathcliff’s anger at everyone around him for his mistreatment on account of his station haunts multiple generations.

Bard – Bards use music and song to either help or hinder. Music is massively important to them, and can give them power. Name a book/character for which music is important: Katrina Nguyen in Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki – Katrina’s relationship with her violin was my favorite part of this book.

Cleric – from the D&D Players Handbook: “A priestly champion who wields divine magic in service of a higher power”. Name a book/character for which religion plays a large role: Tenar in The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin – Tenar was taken from her parents at the age of 5 to be dedicated to the Nameless Ones and become One Priestess of the Tombs. Her life is shaped by her role as priestess, even after the arrival of a certain Wizard of Earthsea…

Druid – Druids are representative of nature. They get their power- healing, magical spells, etc.- from either the land itself or from a nature deity. Name a Book where nature plays an important role: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer – Kimmerer is a botanist and member of the Potowatomi who discusses the vital importance of plant life and her deep connection with the plant world in this collection of essays. It is among my all-time favorite books.

Fighter – Fighters rely on physical skill. They are often good with a weapon and can function as a pretty good meat shield. Name a book with great fight scenes: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay – I am really not one for fight scenes, but there is one particular fight scene in this book that stands out to me over the years. If you know, you know. “And so, at the last, from far away, against the red and failing light, she saw a good man raise his sword and she saw a good man fall.”

Magic users – Dungeons and Dragons features Warlocks, Wizards, and Sorcerers. Each is different, but here they’re lumped together for the purposes of this tag. Each class uses magic in a unique way. Name a book or character with cool magic: Uprooted by Naomi Novik – I don’t usually care much about magic systems, preferring them to be a little vague and mystical rather than laboriously over explained… but I greatly enjoyed the description of magic in Uprooted. It has a fairy-tale-like quality that I found enchanting.

Paladin – A holy warrior. Name a character with strong convictions: Tetley Abednego in The Past is Red by Catherynne Valente – Tetley is universally hated for destroying the hope of the inhabitants of Garbagetown in an action which she refuses to regret…

Ranger – Hunters, wilderness survivors, and protectors, rangers are often what stand between civilization and the monsters that live in the wild. Name a character that is in tune with the wild. Liet Kynes in Dune by Frank Herbert – Kynes is an imperial planetologist “gone native” among the Fremen of the desert planet Arrakis. Really, I could name any Fremen here for their lifestyle which is intimately bound up in the ecology of Dune.

Rogue – Rogues use stealth and cunning to defeat their foes or prevail in a situation. Name a book or character with cunning: Zhu Chongba in She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan – Zhu Chongba must be tireless and ongoing with their cunning in order to escape her fate, take her brother’s fate, and summon the Mandate of Heaven…

Homemade Granola

My mom often made granola at home when I was growing up. I believe she used a recipe from a cookbook of my father’s from the 70s. Later, when my siblings and I came home from college for breaks, she would often make a triple batch to send us each back with a large container of granola. Mine was labeled “Marie -no raisins”. To this day, this granola is my favorite – not too sweet, full of crunchy goodness, and a perfect topping for yogurt with some seasonal fruit as a breakfast or snack. My 2 year old loves it, too, although she has a hard time pronouncing “granola”.

Granola

6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup flax meal (or wheat germ)
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup (or honey)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in large bowl.

Stir oil, syrup, vanilla, and salt* in saucepan over medium-low heat until combined.

Add sauce to dry ingredients in the bowl and stir well to combine.

Spread ingredients evenly over 2 baking sheets.

Bake for 25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and swapping top/bottom tray to ensure even baking.

Cool slightly before adding optional dried fruit.

Cool completely before transferring to airtight container for storage.

* The original recipe also calls for 1/4 cup brown sugar, to be combined on the stove at the same time as the oil and honey. I feel the recipe is plenty sweet without this and do not include it.

Cheater’s Book Oscars

Last year I awarded “Oscars” to books I had read in 2022. I had fun putting it together, so in 2023 I kept a running list of my favorites in each category.

Why is it the “cheater’s” book Oscars? 1) this post is late because I was busy having a baby, 2) it was written on my phone while holding said baby snoozing snuggly in the other arm, 3) a couple of the categories may be a bit of a stretch. Hopefully, there are still some titles to pique your interest and some fun discussion to be had.

Actor in a Leading Role (Best Male Main Character): Ender Wiggen in Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. Ender has grown up a lot since his last appearance in Ender’s Game I was surprised at his insight throughout the book and appreciated his empathy. A beautiful follow up.

Actor in a Supporting Role (Best Male Side Character): Chicken George in Roots by Alex Haley. There isn’t really one main character in Alex Haley’s Roots, which follows multiple generations from Gambia, through slavery, and into the present. Chicken George, however, was a vibrant character who stuck with me for a while after reading this book.

Actress in a Leading Role (Best Female Main Character): Tenar in Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin. Like Ender, Tenar has also grown up since her first appearance in The Tombs of Atuan. Although she has lived a simple life that belies her origins, she continues to impress.

Actress in a Supporting Role (Best Female Side Character): Moss in Tehanu. Moss felt so real to me – as though she was someone I actually knew. She may have been frustrating at times, but ultimately was someone I was glad to have around.

Add a Category! – Best Non-Binary Character: Sibling Dex in A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. Dex is still trying to figure out life, and we are too, right alongside them.

Animated Feature Film (Graphic Novel): Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet. There was not a lot of competition for this spot – I only read 2 comic books in the last year! But Bea Wolf was charming and clever in just the right way. This book has been nominated for this year’s upcoming Hugo awards.

Cinematography (Setting): Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. Although my praise of Lopez’s book was mixed, it can’t be denied that the picture he paints of the far North is arrestingly beautiful.

Costume Design (Best Cover Art): A Prayer for the Crown Shy. The cover by Feifei Ruan, design by Christine Foltzer matches the tone of the solar punk book: calm, meditative, and optimistic.

Directing (Favorite Author): Matthew Desmond for Evicted. Desmond actually lived in the communities he researched during the 2007-8 financial crisis, and the experience affected him deeply. I am in awe of his dedication, and also of the masterpiece he wrote, which shows evictions “as a cause, not just a condition, of poverty”.

Documentary Feature Film (Best Nonfiction Book): Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Immersive, harrowing, and unforgettable; a look at the Troubles in Ireland through the eyes of two different families and an unsolved murder.

Documentary Short Film (Best Essay Collection): “The Journey That Matters” – a series of six short videos from Arwen Curry about the iconic author, Ursula K LeGuin. 1) About her illegal abortion in 1950, 2) on writing fantasy as a young girl, 3) on creating the world of Earthsea, 4) on writing characters of color, 5) on her writing process, 6) on writing and parenting with her husband, Charles

Film Editing (Editor of a Collection or Magazine): Heidi Murkoff for the “What to Expect…” series. I’ve read and reread a lot of What to Expect books over the last couple years and opened the app nearly daily. It’s not my favorite book (That would be Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: A Complete Guide by Penny Simpkin et al) but by sheer page count alone I have ended up spending a lot of time reading the work that Murkoff has curated.

International Feature Film (Book in Translation): The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington. Ok so – the only book in translation I read last year was Elegance of the Hedgehog, which I did not like enough to give an award. The Hearing Trumpet was first published in French, but originally written in English. So really, there was no translation involved in the version I read. This was quite possibly the most surreal book I have ever read in my life.

Makeup and Hairstyling (Best Mystery/Thriller/or Horror Book): Monk’s Hood by Ellis Peters. Last year, I recieved a full set of Cafael Mysteries from my Dad, who was downsizing his collection. Reading one a month, I got through about half the series last year. I enjoyed Monk’s Hood for the glimpse at Brother Cadfael’s pre-Abbey days, and reconciliation with his present life.

Music (Best Book-Related Social Media): I have since deleted my twitter/x account, but when I used to still check it, I enjoyed Owl! at the Library for “fairy-tales, beauty, wholesome whimsy”. Full of cozy vibes and book tweets.

Best Picture (Best “Literary” Fiction Book):  Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have read two books by Ishiguro so far and have been utterly blown away both times. Honorable Mention: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. This book follows the lineages of two sisters in Ghana, one who remains in Africa and one who is sold into slavery. Each lineage has horrors to deal with, whether in fire and self-destruction or in water and a theft of the self. It has stuck with me for a while since reading and I would love to go back a reread it someday.

Production Design (Best Publisher): Graywolf Press for their Graywolf Press African Fiction Prize. The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber was a mind-opening read this year, which was published via winning the prize. I hope someday to read the other winners, as well.

Short Film (Animated) (Best Children’s Book): Joint winners Rah Rah Radishes: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre and Good Night Veggies by Diana Murray and Zachariah O’Hora. My green-thumbed sister bought both of these for my oldest daughter. “One for when you need to get her going and one for when you need to lay her down,” she said. (“Oh no!” said Joe, “what if she mixes her upper and downer veggies? That’s how John Belushi died.”)

Short Film (Live Action) (Best Short Story): Rabbit Test by Samantha Mills. A year and a half ago while at World Con I had a premonition about the type of story that would win a Hugo award this year. (I -laughably- set out to write it and got nowhere. Mills was way ahead of me.) “Rabbit Test” won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, although she declined the Hugo due to last year’s controversy in Chengdu.

Sound (Best Poetry): Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet. My intake of poetry was very low this year, but Bea Wolf is fun enough to take the cake

Visual Effects (Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novel): Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. I read this book at just the right time – just before Christmas when the weather was dark and wet to match the setting, and just far enough removed from the pandemic that a time-travel novel centered around the Black Death and a mysterious flu outbreak in London seemed familiar, yet not in such a way that I was already sick of it. I was utterly engrossed, staying up late at night to read it; and impressed at Willis’s knowledge and insight into both the past and the future.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Best Book Adaptation): “Dungeons &Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” This movie was a surprising delight and incorporated the best parts of D&D: silly hijinks, stupid names that the DM clearly came up with at the last second (Jarnathan?), fight sequences in which the bard successfully uses Vicious Mockery… I felt like I could feel the players behind the characters having fun with their backstory and more. I felt it to be a touching story about found family – which is all the more appropriate because that is what the best D&D campaigns turn into as we sit around the table together each week.

Writing (Original Screenplay) (Best Prose): Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro manages to gradually unfold a story in such a way that by the end, you feel like you knew it all along, and yet are astounded at the same time.

From the Garden: Ratatouille

There comes a time each summer, when the craving for foods made from garden-fresh produce will not abate. Currently the zucchini and tomatoes are growing as fast as we can pick them and the basil is burgeoning. Ratatouille demands to be made. I have tried several different ratatouille recipes before, but none of them really knocked me out of the park. This one is simple to make and so delicious, I literally said “wow!” after I took my first bite… and second… and third. I also had fun making this in my kitchen. I sent a short video of sprinkling basil into the bubbling Dutch oven to a friend of mine. “Food is magic!” She said. Yes, it is.

Ratatouille – adapted from https://cookieandkate.com/best-ratatouille-recipe/

4 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds ripe red tomatoes (6 medium or 4 large)
1 medium eggplant (1 pound), diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large red, orange, or yellow bell pepper (about 8 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch squares
1 medium-to-large zucchini (about 8 ounces), diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large yellow squash (about 8 ounces), diced into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, more to taste
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with one rack in the middle of the oven and one in the upper third of the oven. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper for easy clean-up, if desired.

2) To prepare your tomatoes, remove any woody cores with a paring knife. Then, grate them on the large holes of a box grater into a bowl (this is easiest if you hold the tomato at a diagonal), and chop any remaining tomato skin. Or, blitz the tomatoes in a food processor until they are broken into a frothy pulp. Set aside.

3) On one baking sheet, toss the diced eggplant with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until lightly coated. Arrange the eggplant in a single layer across the pan, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and set aside.

4) On the other baking sheet, toss the bell pepper, zucchini and yellow squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer. Place the eggplant pan on the middle rack and the other vegetables on the top rack. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

5) Meanwhile, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and caramelizing on the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes.

6) Add the garlic, stir, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, and use a wooden spoon or sturdy silicone spatula to stir any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan into the mixture. Reduce the heat to medium-low, or as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.

7) Once 15 minutes are up, remove both pans from the oven, stir, and redistribute the contents of each evenly across the pans. This time, place the eggplant on the top rack and other vegetables on the middle rack.

8) Bake until the eggplant is nice and golden on the edges, about 10 more minutes (the eggplant will be done sooner than the rest). Remove the eggplant from the oven, and carefully stir the eggplant into the simmering tomato sauce.

9) Let the squash and bell pepper pan continue to bake until the peppers are caramelized, about 5 to 10 more minutes. Then, transfer the contents of the pan into the simmering sauce. Continue simmering for 5 more minutes to give the flavors time to meld.

10) Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon olive oil, the fresh basil and red pepper flakes. Crumble the dried oregano between your fingers as you drop it into the pot. Season to taste with additional salt (I usually add 1/4 teaspoon more) and black pepper.

11) Serve in bowls, with a side of crusty bread, perhaps with a little drizzle of olive oil, additional chopped basil, Parmesan cheese, or black pepper on top (all optional). Like all stews, this ratatouille’s flavor improves as it cools, or reheated the next day.

Finding Hope, Love, and Purpose in “Finding the Mother Tree”

Can someone help me out? I don’t remember who recommended this book to me, but I want to thank them. Here’s the setting: myself and an intelligent woman I know are sitting at a wooden table across from each other, drinking beer. We are talking about books and she tells me about Finding the Mother Tree – how it’s about the ancient tree deep in old forests that shares information throughout the forest. The mother tree teaches younger trees and helps to raise them. I look at my friend with skepticism. “It’s a real thing!” she says, and tells how the author – originally from the logging industry – did decades of research to eventually learn this. The thing is, I do not remember who this woman was or where we were! At the Biergarten with Shelley? At the Public Market with Jess? At a pub with Jen? All three of them deny that they have read it. Regardless, I recently picked up the book by Suzanne Simard to learn what it was all about.

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest is part memoir and part history of Simard’s research on fungal networks in forests. It took me almost half the book to get used to the memoir part; I think I wasn’t expecting it, and initially it felt weirdly stilted and forced. Once it clicked, however, I realized how vital it was to the story as a whole…

Simard realized when she was working as a silviculturist that the young trees planted in clear-cut areas where the old growth had been removed were sickly and dying. She had a hunch about the fungus she saw growing at the base of healthy trees and embarked on research… eventually doing Master’s work, and Doctoral, and Post-Doc research. She learned how certain species of fungus help trees to share water and nutrients. How they can give and take depending on which trees are more in need at different times, or on the strengths and weaknesses of different species of trees. Trees can even share warnings about threats – helping to prevent deaths from oncoming insects and more. Reading about her research was exciting: the next piece of the sophisticated communication via the “wood wide web” already starting to come into view as the previous piece was placed. It was also hopeful: understanding the deep level of connectivity and symbiosis at play in nature was somehow comforting. The confirmation that forest life is just as vibrant and wise as you *feel* it is when you step into the woods feels… well, it feels like rediscovering religion in a way.

It is the trees that bring together Simard with her family and friends and lovers. It is the trees that teach Simard how to cope with the untimely death of her younger brother, mere months before his only child was born. It is the trees that teach Simard how to let go of her marriage when it was dying in order to put new life into her children and into other relationships where it was needed. It was the trees (yes, and her loved ones) that taught her how to rebuild after she battled cancer, and to maintain connections with a family spread across Canada and the US. When she first found a mother tree in an area of old growth, it was the trees that reaffirmed her role as a mother. Her life – *all* of our lives – reflects the life of the forest. They complement and help each other. And most hopeful of all, they show signs that we can adapt and grow in a changing world, by sharing ourselves. Nature has so much to offer us – if we are willing to open ourselves up to accept it.

This is a fascinating and important book for understanding forest ecosystems and the world at large. It is easy to compare this book to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer; both are a blend of memoir and science writing and reflections on growing things. Finding the Mother Tree has more of an overarching “plot”, whereas Kimmerer’s book is a collection of essays. For people who started to feel bogged down in the middle of Braiding Sweetgrass, tiring of the essays which started to feel too-similar after a while, Finding the Mother Tree may be more for you. Kimmerer is more of a poet and a better writer (which is more to my taste) and so I still think of Braiding Sweetgrass as my favorite between the two. Maybe picking favorites isn’t right… maybe they complement and support each other, like the Three Sisters. Kimmerer’s writing is sprinkled with Ojibwe words and Simard’s with French-Canadian sayings – these are the flowers growing over the moss, and their research is the fruiting bodies. And that is nourishing, body and heart, to those of us who open up to receive it.