The Sunday Salon: We Have a Fabulous Time in Chicago!

 

What a joy it was to be with our son, Ben, and his wife, Lisa, for Lisa's birthday last weekend in Chicago! We have missed seeing them so much over the course of the pandemic, and we eagerly spent our time together catching each other up on all the things we've been doing since we were last together. Chicago weather was fabulous, with just a hint of fall in the air, and we loved talking with Ben and Lisa and Lisa's parents, who live in Chicago, too, and we had a great time meeting Ben and Lisa's new puppy, Jordan. Fingers crossed will we get together again at Christmastime.

What I Read

The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask 

(Young Readers Edition) by Anton Treuer  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What I Am Reading

The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Nonfiction)

Saint Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton (Spirituality)

The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Nonfiction)

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (Classic)

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson (Fiction)

I posted my list of Books I Hope to Read This Fall. Happily, I've already read two of the books on my list. I am always glad to hear more recommendations, so please share away.

I read and reviewed The Hands On French Cookbook: Connect with French through Simple, Healthy Cooking also last week. The Hands On French Cookbook combines learning French with cooking French food. Pretty intriguing, right?

The 2021 Cybils judges have been announced!

Congratulations to all who were chosen to judge this year.

I hope you will all consider nominating your favorite children's and YA books from 2021.

Nominations open on October 1.

2021's Happiest States in America

Good Thing #1

Ben and Lisa in Chicago!

Good Thing #2

Their new puppy, Jordan.

Good Thing #3

All of us together in Chicago!

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

The Hands On French Cookbook

Elisabeth de Châtillon

on Tour September 20-October 1st with

The Hands On French Cookbook: 

Connect With French Through Simple, Healthy Cooking

(nonfiction: Healthy Bilingual French Cook Book and Language Book – French and English) 

 

Release date: 6/2/2021 

144 pages 

Hands on French Goodreads 📚📚📚

Buy It Here: Our Bookshop

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

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SYNOPSIS

If you think French food is complicated, decadent, and heavy, think again! If you think learning and exploring another language is difficult or boring, think again! And if you think cooking French food and learning French at the same time is impossible, teacher and home cook Elisabeth de Châtillon is here to prove you wrong. It might sound too good to be true, but THE HANDS ON FRENCH COOKBOOK is full of healthy, simple French recipes that you can make for friends and family while you learn not only the French language but also a little bit about French culture in a relaxed, fun, tasty way.

MY THOUGHTS

France is my happy place, so when I heard about a French cookbook, and I learned it's a French cookbook that helps you learn French...

Well, yes, please.

As an educator, I immediately saw the value of using cooking as a venue to learn a language. As Maria Montessori said, "What the hand does, the mind remembers."

Exactly.

The author notes, "This book is not about becoming a chef or a fluent French speaker." Instead, she invites us to simply "cook and explore French." 

Doesn't that sound delightful?

And that's exactly what I did.

So how does the cookbook/language lesson work?

The cookbook contains ten recipes, and the instructions are given in French, with translations for the uncommon words and phrases. As you work your way through the book, trying the recipes, more and more words become familiar to you in French, and the English translation of these disappears. 

You can't really judge the effectiveness (and, remember, we are simply cooking and exploring French, not becoming a chef or a fluent speaker of French) of this cookbook without trying a recipe. So I did.

QUICHE SANS PÂTE AUX ÉPINARDS ET À LA RICOTTA

(Crustless Quiche with Spinach and Ricotta)

It's crustless. Instead of a flour crust, you use spinach.

Mix the eggs with the cheeses and the milk.

Pour atop the spinach.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Voila!

Overall assessment: The Hands On Cookbook is a fun way of learning French and trying out some classic French recipes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elisabeth de Châtillon was born in France, has an MA in Education and Marketing, and has taught extensively in both the USA and Europe. She is also an accomplished home cook who enjoys sharing her love for French cooking by feeding her family and friends simple, good food. Her book, THE HANDS ON FRENCH COOKBOOK, was born from her combined love of teaching and cooking —and a desire to share that love and knowledge. When Elisabeth isn’t working or cooking, she likes stepping on her yoga mat, meditating, swimming in the ocean and lakes, walking in the beautiful outdoors, and traveling. She currently lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband, Ron, and Minou, her bilingual cat. To find our more, please visit her website. Follow her on Facebook, on Instagram, or on LinkedIn  

***

You can enter the global giveaway here or on any other book blog participating in this tour. Visit/Follow the participating blogs on Facebook/Twitter, as listed in the entry form below, and win more entry points!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form] Global giveaway open to US residents 2 winners will receive a print copy of this book

***

CLICK ON THE BANNER TO READ REVIEWS AND AN INTERVIEW

 

For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.

Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Books I Hope to Read This Fall

Oh William! by Elizabeth Stroud (fiction)

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (fiction)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zainer (memoir)

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (fiction)

Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard (fiction)

Strange Planet: The Sneaking, Hiding Vibrating Creature by Nathan W. Pyle (picture book)

The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (YA fiction)

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo (MG speculative fiction)

You & Me and the End of the World by Brianna Bourne (YA speculative fiction)

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (fiction)

See the Dog: Three Stories About a Cat by David LaRouchelle (easy reader)

Do you have any of these on your list?

P.S. And, if you are curious, here's my yearly reading planner, 

with the months written across the top of the page, 

and the categories down the left-hand column, and 

my planned reading penciled in.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.  

The Sunday Salon: A Small Hurricane and Now We're Off to Chicago!

 

Okay, we had a small hurricane come through our town and now we are in Chicago to visit our son and daughter-in-law. We had planned to drive, but it's 1111 miles and sixteen hours of driving one way, so we finally decided to mask up and take a plane. Covid canceled the trip we planned last summer, but we were determined to visit this year. We are relishing spending time with Ben and Lisa and their new puppy, Jordan. Pictures next week!

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley  ⭐⭐⭐

Grown-Up Pose by Sonya Lalli  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fatima's Great Outdoors by Ambreen Tariq  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hudson and Tallulah Take Sides by Anna Kang  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Nonfiction)

Saint Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton (Spirituality)

The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher (Food Nonfiction)

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (Classic)

Good Thing #1

Hurricane Nicholas pushed through our part of the world,

but only managed to knock down some tree limbs and part of a fence.

Good Thing #2

My first sourdough loaf!

Good Thing #3

We are seeing hummingbirds at our feeder.

I'm happy you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is a place to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. It's a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below. 

Wondrous Words: Happiness Found in Translation: A Glossary of Joy from Around the World

Did you know that I'm obsessed with happiness? That it makes me happy to read about happiness? 

I was delighted to find this book in a recent Daedalus Books order. I happily ordered it.

It's Happiness Found in Translation: A Glossary of Joy from Around the World. The author, Tim Lomas, has been studying words about happiness for many years. The book is an illustrated dictionary of Lomas' favorite one hundred words that relate to happiness from all around the globe. Lomas divides the happiness words into three basic categories: feelings, relationships, and personal development.

Here are my favorites.

Friluftsliv.

Norwegian - free-loofts-leev.

Engaging and living in tune with nature.

Sprezzatura.

Italian - spritz-uh-toor-uh.

Nonchalant effortlessness.

Hugfanginn.

Icelandic - hoo-fung-gin.

To be enchanted and enthralled by someone or something.

Eudaimonia. 

Greek - yoo-de-moe-nee-uh.

Cultivating and experiencing deep forms of well-being.

Kintsugi.

Japanese - kin-tsu-gee.

Metaphorically, finding value, meaning, and even beauty

in our vulnerability and flaws.

Dadirri.

Ngangiwumirr - duh-dir-rree.

A deep, spiritual act of reflective and respectful listening.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads. 

...1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10! Books with Numbers in the Title

I easily found books I have read with numbers in the title. During my research into books-I-have-read-with-numbers-in-the-title, I found other cool number-ish things:

Book with the Biggest Number in the Title:

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Book with the Smallest Number in the Title:

The Queen of Nothing

Book with a Date in the Title:

Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain

Book with a Time in the Title:

The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blondel

Book with a Percentage in the Title:

10% Happier by Dan Harris

Book with Money in the Title:

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream

Book with a Fraction in the Title:

9 1/2 Narrow

A Book with Just Numbers in the Title:

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster

A Book with a Street Address in the Title:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Book with the Most Numbers in the Title:

Queen of the Road:  The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own

Book with a Number Joke in the Title:

7 Ate 9 

Famous Books with Numbers in the Title:

1984, Catch-22, Fahrenheit 451

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.