Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup with Swiss Steak

I was looking for something to pair with Wegman's Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup, and then I saw Michael Symon's 5 Minute Swiss Steak, which he made on ABC's The Chew this week.

My family enjoys the Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup, and one year we served it with Prime Rib at our holiday dinner party. It tasted great, so when I saw Michael Symon's Swiss Steak, I thought they might work well together.

They did work well together, and I like that you can make the Swiss Steak in less than ten minutes. It's a quick, tasty main dish.

Wegman's Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup with Michael Symon's Swiss Steak

Wegman's Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp Wegmans Butter 
1 pkg (8 oz) Food You Feel Good About Cleaned & Cut Mirepoix 
1 tsp chopped Food You Feel Good About Peeled Garlic 
3/4 cup Wegmans All-Purpose Flour 
2 cartons (32 oz each) Food You Feel Good About Chicken Culinary Stock 
1 bottle (12 oz) Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale (Your favorite beer will do)
1 pkg (16 oz) Wegmans Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Dairy Dept) 
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard 
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
1 tsp Wegmans Horseradish Sauce (Seafood Dept) 
1/2 cup Wegmans Fresh Heavy Cream 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

1. Melt butter in stockpot on MEDIUM. Add mirepoix; cook, stirring, 4-5 min, until softened. Add garlic; cook about 1 min, until soft but not brown. Remove from heat. Add flour, stirring to coat vegetables. Return to heat. Cook, stirring,4-5 min, until flour turns golden.
    
2. Add stock gradually, whisking until well blended. Heat to boiling on HIGH. Reduce heat to MEDIUM; simmer 15-20 min, stirring occasionally.
    
3. Remove from heat. Stir in beer. Add cheese, a little at a time, stirring after each addition. Stir in dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and horseradish sauce. Stir in heavy cream. Heat gently on LOW, stirring occasionally, 4-5 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Option(s):
Top with crumbled bacon and chopped fresh chives.

Michael Symon's Swiss Steak

Ingredients:

1 lb. cube steak (I used pepper steak)

1/4 cup red wine

1 lb. arugula, dressed with olive oil

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion, chopped

2 sprigs thyme

1 clove garlic, minced

flour for dredging

1 Tbsp. butter

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Liberally salt and pepper each piece of steak and dredge in flour. Brown in skillet, 2 minutes, flip 2 more minutes.

Add thyme, onion, garlic and mushrooms to pan, session with salt and saute.

Add wine to deglaze the pan, reduce by half. Whisk in butter, remove from heat.

In mixing bowl, lightly drizzle olive oil over arugula.

To serve, plate steak with mushroom, onions an sauce on top. Serve arugula on the side.

I really miss Wegmans! They are the best grocery store, with excellent customer service and reasonable prices.

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!

Books make great Christmas gifts!

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The Sisters by Nancy Jensen

The Sisters by Nancy Jensen
Published by St. Martin's Press ISBN 978-0312542702
Hardcover $24.99

This novel covers a lot of ground, telling the story of the Fischer sisters, Mabel and Bertie, beginning in 1927, and ending in 2007. It is a tragic story, full of violence, sacrifice, good intentions and misunderstandings. Mabel does her best to protect her younger sister Bertie from their abusive stepfather after their mother dies in childbirth. Things don't go as planned, and Mabel and Bertie end up estranged.

What follows are their individual stories: marriages, pregnancies, raising children, building careers. Mabel and Bertie's stories are interesting, but I do wish we had seen more of Mabel and her daughter Daisy's lives. They seem to have gotten shorter shrift than Bertie and her daughters and granddaughters. Bertie becomes closed-off after believing her sister abandoned her, and although she finds the love of a good man, she is never really happy. Her character is reminiscent of Elizabeth's Stout's Olive Kitteridge, and fans of that book will like The Sisters.

The theme of the book is that you really don't know what has happened in someone's life that makes her the person she becomes. Bertie says, "Something can happen to change your life so sudden, you can't ever get over it fast enough. And so you do things that you wouldn't have ever thought of doing. Maybe hurt other people. And that changes things for them, too, all in a line". Bertie compares what happened to her as the same thing as going through a war. What she doesn't know is that Mabel ended up becoming famous for photographing soldiers before going to war and upon their return, so the war theme applies to both of them.

I do think that this book makes you empathetic to people in your life; you realize that you don't know everything that has happened to a person that affects her. Many people who read this book may come to the conclusion that their parents did the best job they could, as children in the book eventually learn. Mothers hurt their children, unintentionally or not, and they in turn hurt their children. I think the author believes that it is time to forgive and move on to break the chain of hurt.

The Sisters is sad book, and I find violence against children and women hard to read. There are a few scenes that will cause you to gasp.  If you are depressed, this book may make that worse, but if you want to learn about the human condition, this is an emotionally cathartic novel.

rating 3.5 of 5 stars

Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway

The hottest ticket on Broadway is Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway. I can't say that I'm a huge Jackman fan, but I did like his performances hosting the Tonys and the Oscars. (I regrettably never saw him as Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz.)


I really wanted to see what the big deal was, and when I sat down, the woman next to me was raving about the show; it was her second time. She was going on and on about how wonderful he is and I thought, oh boy.

Then Jackman took the stage, singing "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'" from Oklahoma, a show in which he played the role of Curley. From the moment he takes the stage in a white shirt and black pants, he owns it. His singing voice is good, not great, but Jackman is an incredible performer.

He calls the show "karaoke where I don't have to share the microphone", and he tells his life story throughout.  A picture of a very skinny 14-year-old Jackman in his rugby uniform drew laughs from the audience, as he tolds how he would rush home from rugby practice to watch old movie musicals on TV.

The best part of the show for me was when Jackman sang and danced to songs from these classic movies with his lovely dancers. "Singing in the Rain", "Easter Parade", "Guys & Dolls"- they were all represented, and Jackman took everyone back to a nostalgic place with a new energy. I loved it!

Everyone loves Jackman. When he pulled a woman up on stage to dance with him because it was her birthday, half the audience gasped, just wishing it were them up on that stage. I really thought some of them might faint, including Grace, the birthday girl.

The show is fast paced, and Jackman's love of musical theater is represented with a powerful "Soliliquy" from Carousel. After intermission, he shows up dressed as Peter Allen in gold lame. This section of the show gets everyone crazy as he remains in flamboyant character to sing Allen's most famous songs and joke with men in the front row. He has such an easy rapport with the audience, joking and teasing in a self-deprecating manner.

He ended this raucous section with a lovely ballad, "Tenterfield Saddler", a song about Allen's father and grandfather that is well-known in Australia, but not here.

Jackman also paid tribute to his homeland with a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", with digeridoos and two Aborigine singers. He put an interesting twist on a song that has been frankly overused lately.

He gave a shout-out to his movie career, singing a love song while a video of his most romantic movie roles, including an early career scene with his wife Deborrah.

He tells a beautiful story about how proud his dad was when he found out Hugh was going to perform at Carnegie Hall. His dad flew from Australia to NYC, and Hugh had told him it was black tie. It was actually not black tie, but his dad wore it anyway, because "My son is playing Carnegie Hall. It's black tie for me!" It was very sweet.

At the end of the show, Jackman participated in raising money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He auctioned off his sweaty t-shirt, and two women got into a bidding war, one of the women being Kathie Lee Gifford. When Kathie Lee gave up at $13,000, Jackman pulled another t-shirt that he wore during Act I, and told them if they each gave him $12,500, they could each have one, and go backstage and get photos with him.

Then he said that if anyone wanted to donate $2500, they could get a photo with him. My husband and sons were very pleased to hear that I had left our checkbook at home, otherwise I may have gotten into BIG trouble.

By the end of the show, I was a convert. I certainly hope that HBO or someone else tapes this fantastic show because the entire world should get to see this amazing man at the peak of his performing career. I rank him up there with great stage entertainers like Bette Midler and even Liza Minelli.

Tickets are impossible to come by, and the show closes in early January, but if you somehow can get a ticket, GO. It's a once-in-a-lifetime theater experience.

Meatball and Macaroni Soup

My husband decided that for lunch today he wanted Meatball and Macaroni Soup, or as most people call it, Italian Wedding Soup.

I made a batch a few weeks ago and it was delicious, and I had enough leftovers for lunch for the next few days. I've made this for a few years, since I found the recipe in Rachael Ray's book, Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2.  My copy of the book is filled with sticky notes and food stains, so you know I've used it frequently.

Other recipes in it that my family has enjoyed include Marinated Beef, Chicken, Pork or Portobello Mushrooms, which is a simple marinade with a basic pan gravy that anyone can whip up quickly, Cheesy Orzo, a versatile side dish, and Sausage Calzones.


The recipe is below:
 Rachael Ray's Meatball & Macaroni Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, a couple of handfuls
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
• 6 cups chicken stock or broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups dried pasta, rings, broken fettuccini or ditalini
• 1 pound triple washed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 
  

Directions

In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook veggies 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the veggies cook, combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Uncover your soup pot and add broth and water to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot. You are making meat dumplings that will cook in the broth. When you are done rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10 minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach in batches. When spinach has wilted into the soup, the soup is done and ready to serve. Adjust your seasonings. Serve soup with crusty bread or grilled 4 cheese sandwiches.

I use Whole Foods Organic Chicken Broth, it really has the best flavor. I also add the spinach to each bowl individually. If you add directly the soup pot, the wilted spinach gets too stringy in the leftover soup.

Soup's on!

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!

Still eating turkey? Try this recipe

If you still have turkey leftover from Thanksgiving, try using it in this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.
I made it using rotisserie chicken a few weeks ago, but it would taste just as good with turkey.
This recipe came from the Food Network website: 

Chicken & Orzo Fritatta:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup orzo pasta

6 eggs

1/3 cup whole milk ricotta

1/4 cup creme fraiche

2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed (about 2 cups) or use leftover turkey

4 scallions, chopped

1/4 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1/3 cup diced roasted red bell peppers

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

In a large bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, and creme fraiche and stir until the eggs are beaten and the ingredients are combined. Add the cooked orzo, chicken, scallions, parsley, red bell peppers, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn on the broiler. Place the pan under the broiler until golden on top, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let set for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve with a side salad.

I would add a little more sea salt and pepper, I felt it lacked a little seasoning. I baked a loaf of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread (from a mix- so good!), added a salad and dinner was ready. My husband pronounced it a keeper.

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
Published by Ecco ISBN 978-0062021021
Hardcover, $26.99

I had heard good things about this book, but wasn't sure I'd be interested in the coming-of-age story of straight edge teens in the late 1980s New York City. Boy, was I wrong.

Henderson has such compassion for her characters- Jude, the drug-using boy in love with a girl who slept with his best friend Teddy, Eliza, the lost rich girl with a secret, Johnny, Teddy's straight edge musician brother hiding from himself- that you feel like you know these people and care deeply about what happens to them. Even Teddy, who only exists for 72 pages yet whose presence influences all of the main characters, is so vivid, I felt I knew him well.

The minor characters are well drawn too; I particularly liked Jude's estranged father who left his family behind years ago, and although he faithfully sent support checks, checked out of his son and daughter's emotional life. Henderson has created this world that I had no idea about, the straight edge world of young people living in poverty on the Lower East Side of New York City in the late 1980s. It was a much different world there than it is today. They live with the homeless, violence and drug dealers in Tompkins Park, and with the fear and ignorance spawned by the AIDS epidemic.

There is one scene, a fight scene, that echoes S.E. Hinton's classic book, "The Outsiders", and I loved her homage to that story about teens also on the outside of mainstream society. (One of the characters even mentions the book later in the story.) This book will appeal to all of us who grew up loving "The Outsiders".

Part of the story takes place in Vermont, and Henderson creates that world with as much care. I felt like I was dropped into this story, these worlds that I knew little about. Great fiction can open up your mind and heart to characters and new ideas, and "Ten Thousand Saints" is great fiction. It is one of the best books I have read this year, and I can't wait for more from Eleanor Henderson.

I read this book in two sittings, I just couldn't put it down. These characters manage to crawl inside your heart, and when they make bad decisions and mess things up, you just want to hug them and tell them it will be alright.


rating 5 of 5 stars

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
Published by Alfred A. Knopf ISBN 978-0307596857
Hardcover, $24.95

The characters in Girls in White Dresses are women on the verge of marriage. We meet Lauren, Mary and Isabella at college, and follow them through various vignettes as they meet and date guys- some good, some bad- on their way to adulthood and eventually, marriage and motherhood.

Their stories are told in alternating chapters, snapshots of their lives. Mary is a serious law student who, for some reason unbeknownst to her friends, only dates ugly guys. She graduates and works many hours at her job, crushing on her boss. 

Isabella is the baby of her family, looking for a job in publishing and a good guy to love. She has several semiserious relationships, but none that seem to give her what she wants. Is it her?

Lauren graduates from college, moves to New York, and ends up waitressing at a lousy restaurant, dating a scuzzy bartender. "This is not what Lauren went to college for. This was not where she was supposed to be. These were not the kind of people she was supposed to be around."

This book can be a bit of a downer. We see all of these women at their most vulnerable, emotional time in their 20s, when they are out in the cold world, trying to find a career, trying to find love. They work at lousy jobs, have tiny city apartments, and kiss a lot of frogs looking for a prince. They see their friends getting married, (one hilarious chapter deals with the many, many bridal showers they have to attend as bridesmaids for one of their friend's weddings) getting great jobs, moving to the suburbs, having children, and their journey to the same life seems fraught with trouble. One thing that sustains them is their friendship with each other.

At times there seemed to be too many extraneous characters, but when the author focused on her main characters, I felt compelled to keep turning the pages. Close really nails the confusion of young women, and most women who read this will identify with their lives, even if their 20s are in the rear view mirror.


rating 4 of 5 stars

Dr. Marie Pasinski's BEAUTIFUL BRAIN BEAUTIFUL YOU

My review of native Auburnian Dr. Marie Pasinski's BEAUTIFUL BRAIN BEAUTIFUL YOU from the Auburn Citizen share

Fun Food Day in NYC

It's been a long time since my sister-in-law Brigette came for a fun day in NYC. She is a big foodie and a fantastic cook, so I knew I could entice her to come when I got tickets to a taping of ABC's new talk show The Chew, with two of her favorite chefs, Mario Batali and Michael Symon.

The taping stars at 9am, so we had to be at the studio on 67th St. and Columbus Ave. at 7:30am. We were hoping for a good giveaway, and since it was publication day for Mario Batali's new cookbook, Molto Batali, we walked away with a free copy.

The show was fun, with host Clinton Kelly and executive producer Gordon Elliot putting on quite a show with their dance moves to 'bad 70's songs'.  Former Top Chef contestant Carla Hall, also a host on the show, showed off some goofy dance moves too.

Michael Symon and Brigette

On our way out, Brigette got to meet Michael Symon and tell him that her husband is a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan too.

The Live with Regis & Kelly set is right down the street, and they were looking for new audience members for their Eddie Murphy interview. I've been to Regis before when Bette Midler co-hosted with Kelly, but seeing Regis on his TV show is on my Bucket List, so I got to cross that off when we got in to see this. It was pretty cool to see Eddie Murphy too, he is one snappy dresser.

Eddie Murphy, Regis, Kelly

Regis talking to the audience

After that, we raced to get downtown to meet Josh from Sidewalk Tours of NY. The traffic was bad, and there are all kinds of security barricades up down there, so we got there in the nick of time. Josh was a great tour guide, and we only had two other people in our group, Tom & Diane, a married couple from New Jersey who were very nice.

Josh gave us a little history of the area, and then we visited five Food Trucks. There are a bunch of Food Trucks that park near Hanover Square and serve lunch to the hungry hordes of workers in the Financial District near Battery Park.

At the first truck we ate Korean tacos from Big D's Grub Truck. I had never had a Korean taco, and it was really tasty, with the crunch of cucumber and the heat of the spices adding a unique dimension.

Next we had souvlaki on a stick at Souvlaki GR, winner of Rookie of the Year last year at the Vendy Awards, and this year taking home the Customer Favorite award. We had the pork souvlaki, and it came with two small pita triangles and a tangy yogurt sauce. The pork just melted in your mouth, it was so tender.

We headed down the street to Jiannetto's for a grandma slice of authentic NYC pizza. The sauce was just perfect, as was the melted mozzarella and basil.

Our fourth stop was San Luis Tacos, which featured Mexican and Equidorian food. We tasted something like a quesadilla, with chicken, cheese and sauce that was heavenly, and my favorite of the day.

We finished with a mini Rocky Road cupcake from the Cupcake Crew, and it was one of the best cupcakes I have had in NYC, second only to Two Little Red Hens.

If you come to NYC and love to eat, check out the Sidewalk Tours of NYC. They have several different ones from which to choose. It was so much fun, and a great chance to try different foods. You'll never look at the food trucks in the same way. (Food Network also has a cool show called The Great Food Truck Race that features gourmet trucks like these)

Big D's Grub Truck

Cupcake Crew Truck

We ended the day at Eataly, the new Italian marketplace near Madison Square Park. It is owned by Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and her son, Joseph. I had been there before, but never eaten at any of the restaurants. I had the best pasta I have ever had anywhere; it was a spinach ravioli, with a lemon butter sauce topped with pistachios. Brigette has been to Italy, and says that this pasta dish rivaled the pasta from Italy.

It's a wonderful place to shop for Italian specialty groceries, and the gelato is melt-in-your-mouth delicious. This is a place you want to be able to spend a few hours in.

And so ended our Foodie Day, with full stomachs and aching feet. 

Death Takes a Holiday CD signing

I'm really sorry that I didn't get to see the Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of Death Takes a Holiday, particularly after being treated to a performance of seven (!) songs from the cast recording, now out on CD.

Barnes & Noble 86th St. store in NYC has become the place to see and hear Broadway's best, and that makes me very happy, as I live just a few blocks away.

Maury Weston, who wrote the music and lyrics and is a Broadway vet (Nine, Titanic- both of which won the Tony for best score and best musical) and Thomas Meehan, who wrote the book for Annie, The Producers and  co-wrote Hairspray,  were in attendance as well. Weston introduced the songs and the cast, giving the story behind each of the songs. This was very helpful for those few of us in the audience who did not see the now-closed show.

Kevin Earley & Jill Paice

Kevin Earley played Death, disguised as Prince Sirki, and he has such a powerful voice, on fine display as he sang "Centuries". His lovely co-star Jill Paice played his love interest Grazia, and she showed off her gorgeous voice on "How Will I Know".











Earley returned with Mara Davi as they sang a saucy "Shimmy Like They Do In Paree", which brought a little levity to the performance.

Mara Davi & Kevin Earley

Matt Cavenaugh performed "Roberto's Eyes", which told the story of his friend dying in battle in WWI. Rebecca Luker, one of Broadway' best singers played Roberto's mother, and her tender rendition of "Losing Roberto" was very moving, especially for any mother in attendance.

Matt Cavenaugh

Rebecca Luker

Earley returned for "I Thought That I Could Live" and the final song was an amazing duet from Earley and Pace on "More and More".

This was one of the best cast performances I have seen, not only did they sing seven songs, but every single performer was wonderful. They really gave the audience a true representation of the entire show, one I wish I hadn't missed. The CD itself is beautifully packaged, too with stunning photos.

Meehan, Weston, Greg Jarret (Accompanist), Cavenaugh, Davi, Luker, Paice, Earley

Meeting Kate Kerrigan, author of Ellis Island

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan
Published by Harper Collins, ISBN 9780062071538
Trade paperback, $13.99

Nicole, Kate Kerrigan, Diane LaRue, Cindy Thomson

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Irish author Kate Kerrigan at a luncheon hosted by Harper Collins. She was a delight, and  even baked Irish Soda Bread and Honey Bread for the luncheon, which were delicious. She shared the recipes with us, and you can find them on her blog here.

We met Kate in the lobby of the building, but I didn't recognize her because she looks so different from her author photo in Ellis Island. Her dark hair is now lighter, and it's very flattering. She warmly greeted myself, Nicole from Linus' Blanket and Cindy Thomson (and her husband) from Cindy's Writing in the lobby, and I liked her right away.

Kerrigan spoke warmly of her family in Ireland, and showed us some videos and audio tapes she made of her mother sharing family stories. We also saw her lovely writing cottage in her home in Ireland, where this book and the next two in the trilogy will be written.

I enjoyed talking with Kerrigan, and asking her questions about her novel, about Ellie Hogan, a young Irish woman who comes to America in 1920 to make money to send back to Ireland for an operation her husband needs.

Two key scenes take place on Ellis Island, in the huge building where immigrants were ushered through interviews and health inspections before being allowed into the United States. Anyone who has visited the  building, which is now a museum, will recognize these scenes that Kerrigan brings vividly to life as Ellie first comes to America.

There is a scene where one immigrant has to undergo an eye exam with a hook that lifts the eyelid. This hook is memorably on display in the museum, and if you do there, make sure to take the audio or docent tour to get the most out of your visit.

In a later scene, Ellie is waiting on the balcony looking down on the crowd to find her husband, and after standing there myself, I felt this scene was so well written. I remember wondering what it would feel like to be waiting for someone, and Kerrigan crystalizes that feeling through Ellie.

Another great scene is the one where Ellie has gotten off of Ellis Island, and is walking up Broadway to her new job. Kerrigan paints such a sensual picture of the streets of New York, all of your senses are aroused by her description, and you feel that you are walking this trip along with Ellie.

Ellie adjusts to life in New York, and betters herself by going to school and learning how to type. Although she misses her husband and faithfully sends him money, their letters become less frequent. Ellie likes her independence, and likes the niceties of New York (electricity, beautiful clothes, appliances and convenient foods).

When a tragedy forces Ellie to go back to Ireland, she is torn. She loves her family, but she has gotten used to the finer things, and now finds the poverty of Ireland nearly unbearable. Kerrigan described it as a conflict between monetary things, progress and love of family. Ellie's sense of identity is confused.

Although this story takes place in the 1920s, Ellie's story felt timeless to me. A young woman, making her way in the world, has to choose between her loyalties to her family and her wish for greater independence. Many women can relate to this.

The end of the story is surprising to me, and I can't wait to read the next two books in the trilogy, which Kerrigan said take place in New York in the 1930s and Los Angeles in the 1940s. If you liked Colm Toibin's Brooklyn, put Ellis Island on your list.

rating 4 of 5 stars

Robin Takes 5 by Robin Miller

Robin Takes 5 by Robin Miller
Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, ISBN 978144-408459
Paperback, $29.99

It's a common experience to get home from work and have to get dinner on the table pronto because someone has baseball practice, someone else has to go to work, someone has a meeting. Robin Miller, host of the Food Network's Quick Fix Meals, has a solution for us with her book
Robin Takes 5: 500 recipes, 5 ingredients or less, 500 calories or less, 5 nights a week at 5PM.


Five hundred recipes is a lot, and many of them can be repetitive (and a good number of them use mustard for some reason), but I found several recipes that I will use. I'm trying to get more fiber in our diet, and Miller has some good recipes using all kinds of canned beans.

I know my college aged sons would enjoy Chicken Nacho Dinner, made by topping corn tortilla chips with a can of black beans, shredded chicken, shredded cheese and salsa and baking for 10 minutes. It also has 6g of fiber.  I love that there are so many recipes in this book that have lots of fiber, including Cheese Tortellini with Wild Mushroom Gravy (9g), Pasta Spirals with White Beans, Broccoli and Parmesan (9g) and Penne with Zucchini-Roasted Garlic Sauce (8g), and one that I have already tried, Tuscan Chicken with White Beans, Tomatoes and Oregano (5g) that was really tasty and reminded me of one of our favorite dinners at an Italian restaurant we frequent. Next time, I would cook the chicken breasts whole, instead of dicing them, but another good thing about this book is that it is easy to tweak recipes to your own liking.

The book is divided into eight chapters, like Soups, Stews & Chowders, Pasta, Risotto & Rice, Chicken & Turkey, Side Dishes and Desserts. Now that fall is here, I can't wait to try Carmelized Onion Soup with Melted Swiss & Croutons, Wild Mushroom Soup, and Corn Chowder with Shrimp.  


I made Chocolate Raspberry Sorbet, which was simply adding hot fudge sauce and mini chocolate chips to your favorite store bought raspberry sorbet and refreezing. It got rave reviews from two gentlemen who love gourmet foods, and had them fooled. One recipe I did make, Butterscotch Brownies, did not turn out as I hoped, but you can't win them all.


I like that the nutritional information for each recipe is located in a prominent box to the left of the recipe. It makes it so easy to compare and find what you're looking for, whether's it's calorie counts, carb counts or fiber content.

Robin Takes 5 is perfect for busy moms and dads, for people just learning how to cook, and college students. It has easy, clear-to-understand instructions and uses ingredients that most people already have in their pantry. If you want to make healthy, easy dinners for your family, instead of picking up fast food, pick up Robin Takes 5; your family will thank you.

rating 4 of 5

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman
Published by Spiegel & Grau ISBN 978-0812992717
Hardcover, $25

A look at WWII and its aftermath on three women who sent their men off to war, people who liked Sarah Blake's THE POSTMISTRESS will be drawn to this well-written novel. Feldman based this book on a small town in Virginia that lost 19 men in a population of 3000. From that true story, she imagines the effect of losing so many young men on such a small town.

Babe finds meaningful, if many times sorrowful, work at Western Union, relaying telegrams to waiting families. I found this section of the book haunting, particularly the days following DDay when the town lost many young men, men Babe knew well.

Babe's husband Claude comes home maimed physically and emotionally, but two of his friends didn't make it home. Grace and her baby daughter Amy suffer the loss of Charlie, loving husband and father, a loss that resonates deeply for a very long time for both of them. Millie and her baby Jack lose Pete, but Millie finds a new love, and her remarriage faces ugly anti-Semitism that effects them all in different ways.

The author makes you care about the characters, all of whom deal with war and death in their own way. Grace is so overwhelmed with sadness, it it something she feels she cannot escape. I felt so bad for Grace, even when she appears to overcome, it is a hollow victory. Babe is a character who shows the most depth and growth, and her relationship with Claude was realistic. Millie seemed the least well drawn to me, I found her son Jack's story more interesting.

The constant time changes in the story took awhile to get used to; I found it at times difficult to keep things straight. I also would have liked to heard more from Claude, and Mac, another war survivor and Pete's brother, but at heart this is the women's story. So many women lost the loves of their lives in WWII, and the ones that did come home were often different men than the ones with whom they fell in love. Feldman succeeds in recreating a time in our history with characters you feel deeply for and want to know more about.

rating 4 of 5