The Days and Nights of Tiny Montgomery: November 2012

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Short Hiatus!

Soup season is officially underway...just in time for a bit of a Thanksgiving hiatus. I have a couple of really busy cooking weeks ahead of me and I don't want to compromise any quality by taking on too many cooking projects at once.

In the meantime you can get some of my food at all three days of the Rock n Roll Craft Show at Third Degree Glass Factory (Nov. 23-25). I will be there with sweets and savories including candies, empanadas, spinach/feta pie, scones, cakes, and more! RnRCS is a fantastic place to get locally made, handcrafted and totally cool stuff. The next weekend I will be baking what will seem to be zillions of cookies for The St. Louis Curio Shoppe and the Cherokee Street Cookie Walk (Dec. 1-2). It's a great time to check out all the vibrant businesses of the Cherokee's Antique Row.

After those events, soup should resume for a couple weeks, pause until Christmas, then resume again.

In addition, I am happy to do some of your Christmas baking for you! Just drop me a note to inquire! The information in this link from last year is still relevant!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Tuscan Chicken with White Bean

Who wants some soup?

The Soup of the Week is Tuscan Chicken and White Bean. I will be roasting chicken with lots of rosemary, thyme and garlic, in order to make a full-flavored, rich broth. Chunks of that roasted chicken will join plenty of plump white beans, and lots of good for you and just plain good vegetables like dark leafy greens (chard, kale, etc.), and the triumvirate of carrots, onions, and celery. Thick and rich and satisfying on a cold November day! It will also freeze like a dream if you want to put some away for later.

If I get enough orders (at least four quarts), I will also make a vegetarian version with a roasted vegetable stock and, obviously, no chicken. I will advise regarding the status once you order!

To accompany the soup, I'm baking small rosemary and walnut boules (small rustic bread loaf) (plain boule available upon request) for an additional $3 each.

Soup is priced as follows:

1 quart/$8 2 quarts/$15 3 quarts/$22 4 quarts/$28

I will take orders immediately and until Thursday (11/8) evening, and aim to have the soup ready for pickup/delivery starting Friday evening. Email me: cattmkitchen@gmail.com, clp772@gmail.com, message me on Facebook, or use whatever means you have to contact me! As always, I accept charge, cash, check, and Paypal.

What I'm Reading

Complicity by Iain Banks - Continuing my exploration of Banks and Scottish literature I delved into my third Banks novel, this one yet again completely different. The story of drug and drink addicted journo who gets inadvertently involved in a serial killer's revenge murders.
How to Be Good by Nick Hornby - It had its moments, but I got rather bored with it about 2/3 through. I'm not sure ole Nick ought to make his main characters female.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley - This book was recommended by the librarian who goes on NPR all the time and talks about summer books, etc. As it was about vampires, I had to try it anyway. And I kind of loved it. A completely new twist on vampires in a sort of alternate universe now. Unfortunately, the sex, while teased, wasn't what I hoped for. I thought I'd try some of her other titles, but the covers alone had me running away, screaming. Very florid, fantasy-type illustrations. Think I'll just stick with this one and the hoped-for sequel.
The Braindead Megaphone Essays by George Saunders - I'm only a few pages in but I've already belly laughed -- out loud while alone and at work! -- something I don't ususally do. I appreciate, very much, written humor, but it seldom makes me actually laugh out loud. George Saunders is so brilliant and so completely right on and so fucking funny. I love his surreal, absurdist fiction, but this book is so completely perfect.
The Business by Iain Banks - Completely unlike the Wasp Factory, but compelling nonetheless. The female main character doesn't always ring true, but the story turns out to be wotth it, despite my initial reservations.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt - Since she wrote a book I really loved, The Little Friend, I thought I should give this a try. I'm only a chapter or so in, so I'm withholding judgement for now.
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks -- Whoa. This debut novel is like nothing I've read before. I have been known to physically throw books that feature animal abuse across the room in disgust, but this book uses it to further the story in a very effective way. I couldn't put it down.
You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem. Since I originally said I was reading this, I've read it at least three more times. (What? You listen to a record you like more than once, don't you?). I still can't really articulate why I love this book so much. There is just something that really speaks to me. Lethem is to be commended for writing a female character so perfectly.