Book Club-Her

I decided to include a Book Club section to my blog because we have an amazing group that makes delicious goodies, picks mostly great books and puts together a lovely presentation. We meet on an average of every six weeks and gather at our homes and sometimes we even go to beautiful vacation spots, so I thought it would be fun to chronicle the books, recipes, and fun destinations we visit.

Her: A Memoir, by Christa Parravani, was a poignant story about identical twins.  Christa and her twin, Cara are bonded from childhood.  Cara faces a devastating tragedy and her life unravels, leaving Christa to face her own downward spiral…

Our host selects the book, prepares a few snacks, including something of substance since this is our dinner, and provides a specialty cocktail.  She leads the book discussion with questions and sometimes a hand tailored quiz.  At this particular meeting, Kimberly passed around a glass bowl with questions she had selected and we all answered the queries that we drew, leading to a discussion that was full of stories of our own digressions, the layered realities of our own relationships and the grief we have gone through with death.  I would recommend this as a book that spawned meaningful conversations.

My lettuce wraps are always a hit, here is the recipe:

Pam’s Lettuce Cups

1 1/2 lb Ground Turkey Breast or Ground Chicken Meat
1 Red Bell Pepper 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced thinly for garnish
1 Red Onion-chopped
Cilantro-add some chopped to meat and leaves for garnish
2 cloves garlic – minced
2 t. Fresh Ginger- grated
Chopped Nuts for garnish-preferably cashews or pistachios
Scallion Onion- chopped for garnish
Salt, Pepper and Red Chili Flakes

In a wok, heat  2 tbs. oil and fry red onion and red bell pepper for a few minutes, add ginger and garlic and cook until just starting to soften and remove, about 1 minute.  Fry meat until cooked through and add the vegetables to meat.  Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and red chili flakes.  Add about a half cup of the sweet chili sauce and freshly chopped cilantro and mix.

Serve with either iceberg or butter lettuce cups and condiments.  I usually use peanuts or cashews but I tried pistachios this night that I roasted in a saute pan with pink salt.

Follow