The Beach Club Book Club Reads Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front

It was time for the annual Beach Club Book Club summer book discussion. We couldn't go to the beach this year, so we discussed Jennifer Ryan's WWII novel, The Kitchen Front at the home of one of our members.

Mary Beth went all out with the theme of life in the small town outside of London during WWII. Four women compete in a cooking contest with the prize of cohosting on the BBC radio show, The Kitchen Front.

As we entered the kitchen, the island was set with the book surrounded by authentic posters from the era, and a recipe that Mary Beth made from the book- Audrey's Eggless Apple and Honey Cake (which was tasty). We were all glad that nothing with whale meat was served.

Susie made a family recipe that was handed down, potato and flour cakes fried in flour, because butter was in short supply in England in WWII.

Kerry made Victory Garden Brownies that were decorated like Audrey's garden.

Kathy put her own spin on "ration boxes", filled with wonderful appetizers. including mini wheels of brie, which made an appearance in the book. These were so cute, everyone wanted to steal the idea for their own parties.

Our discussion was insightful. We talked about the growth of the characters, particularly Lady Gwendoline, who began as a self-centered woman, but grew to become a strong, caring woman. Nell came out of her shell and showed her true accomplishments as a cook to honor Mrs. Quince, her mentor and friend. Many of us most identifed with Audrey, the widow raising her two sons, perhaps because many of us in the room have children.

We wondered if people today would be as stalwart when it came to handling the deprevations of wartime life- rationing food, growing our vegetables, raising animals (the Pig Club was interesting). The comparisons to the COVID lockdowns were commented on, and someone brought up the saying that during WWII people were asked to go to war, and during COVID we were just asked to sit on our couch and watch television,and some people found that too difficult.

Favorite scenes in the book were discussed, with the final competition scene with all the women marching into the room together receiving many comments. We liked the happy ending to the book, and hoped that perhaps the end of this book could lead into a sequel. We want to know what happens to these women once the war is over.

The Kitchen Front was big hit with the Beach Club Book Club, and if you like novels about female empowerment and friendship and the WWII British setting, you'd enjoy it too.

After a delicious and filling lunch of sandwiches, salad, quiche, and so many desserts, Kerry handed out gift bags she made for everyone. She included a bee bookmark, recipe cards, and pins and tiny ration cards. Mary Beth won the grand prize of a can of Spam. (My dad would have loved that, fried up in a pan.)

Posing with our books and aprons

The Beach Club Book Club

Friday 5ive- July 23, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  We went to a restaurant with friends in Harrison on Saturday, Emilio Ristorante. The food was fabulous, starting with my so-very-thinly-sliced eggplant parmesan appetizer on to my cingale (wild boar) ravioli entree. We've only had cingale in Italy, and this was so tasty. Our party of six drank a lot of great wine, and we had a lot of laughs with the affable owner, Sergio. There was also much
commiserating from the Mets fans at the table, who are fervently hoping for a World Series appearance this year. We'll see.... 

 Photo from Emilio's Instagram account

2) I finished another virtual ride, this one was Tahoe to Malibu, a 700 mile ride. I started it on May 1st and finished it on July 11th. On to my next challenge, Route 66, a 2200 mile ride, which should take me almost a year to complete. 

3) Walking to get my hair cut, I saw this ad in a window on 3rd Ave. for Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, a terrific summer read from Elyssa Friedland. I get so excited when I see book ads in the wild.  This delightful novel is for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Dirty Dancing, and Schitt's Creek.

4)  We watched Dr. Death, a limited series on Peacock, based on a popular podcast. Joshua Jackson stars as a Texas surgeon who maimed and killed several of his patients before he was stopped by two doctors, played by Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin. The doctor moved from hospital to hospital, and the big question became was he just incompetent or a sociopath? The medical powers-that-be are indicted in this true crime story because they covered up his actions and let him move on to another facility with impunity. The acting is very good, but I would have preferred that the story was told in chronological order. True crime podcast fans will like this one. 

5) I finished two books this week. The first was Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front, a novel set in WWII near London. Four women are recruited to enter a cooking contest, the prize is co-hosting a popular radio show on the BBC, called The Kitchen Front. Audrey is a widow struggling to provide for her two sons, and this would allow her to keep her home. Her sister, Lady Geraldine, is married to a powerful man in the town who rules over her with an iron fist. Zelda is a displaced rising London chef, now working as the head cook in  the local factory. Nell is a young cook working in Lady Geraldine's home. It's a good story of female friendship and resilience, and my book club is discussing it today.

Sara Ackerman's Radar Girls is also set in WWII, but in Hawaii, right after the Pearl Harbor attack. Local women are enlisted to work, learning how to read radar signals and assist the pilots fighting the Japanese. Fans of Kate Quinn's The Rose Code will find themselves drawn to this intriguing story. My full review publishes on July 26th. 

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy, and that you have gotten your vaccine if you are able. It will keep us all safe.

Friday 5ive- June 18, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week.

1) On Thursday night, my husband and I heard what we hoped was fireworks. We went out on our balcony and sure enough, there was barge in the East River shooting off fireworks. It was a few days too late for the Back to Normal celebration that New York State organized earlier in the week. Maybe it was practice for the Macys 4th of July Show?

2) My husband and I put together our new wine rack from Wine Enthusiast on Saturday. (Well, I held it together while my husband screwed in the 100 screws.) Thank goodness we had a cordless drill, we were able to finish in less than two hours. It's been awhile since we had to put furniture together.

3) I received the cutest invitation for our Beach Club Book Club meeting next month. The book is Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front, about a cooking contest in England during WWII. I can't wait to read and discuss the book, if it's half as much fun as the invitation, it will be a great time.

4) We watched the hugely popular French TV series, Lupin, on Netflix this week. It tells the story of a man, Assane Diop, who sets about to avenge the false imprisonment and death of his father. Assane is a "gentleman thief", inspired by the French literature character Arséne Lupin, and it's a combination of Ocean's Eleven  and Sherlock Holmes. Omar Sy winningly portrays Assane Diop, a big man with a charming smile. It's fun to try and put the puzzle together as to what is happening. I forsee future Lupin tours of Paris, similiar to the Sex and the City tours in NYC. 

5) I read two terrific books this week. I stayed up late to finish in one day Laura Lippman's latest mystery, Dream Girl. Lippman has recently paid homage to books she loved Wilde Lake  (To Kill A Mockingbird), Sunburn (the novels of James M. Cain) and now she salutes Stephen King's Misery in Dream Girl. When writer Gerry Andersen is seriously injured in a fall at his Baltimore condo, he is bedridden and dependent on his young assistant Victoria, and the nurses and therapists who come to his home. He begins to get threatening phone calls from a woman who claims to be the character of his most famous book. Are these calls real or a figment of his imagination? It's a twisty mystery that goes back and forth in time through Gerry's life, and he has to take a look at how he has lived his life. and treated others, particularly the women, in his life. It's a fantastic, meaty mystery.

Julie Metz's nonfiction Eva and Eve, looks at the life of her mother, who escaped from Vienna with her parents during WWII. Metz and her mother had difficulties, and Metz hopes by visiting Vienna and Italy, where her mother spent nine days before boarding the ship to America, she will better understand her mother. If you only know about Austria's history during WWII from The Sound of Music or the brief mention of the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria by Germany in your high school history book, you'll learn so much more about that important moment in history. It also has relevance in today's world if you look at what Russia is trying to do with the Ukraine and other neighboring countries. It's an enlightening book. My full review publishes June 28th. 

Our apartment building has lifted all mask requirements for vaccinated people, and it seems like teh whole world has changed for the better. I hope all is well in your part of the world as we get back to normal.