The Snow Child and Maple Walnut Pie

Eowyn Ivey's wintery The Snow Child is a perfect book for the middle of January.  Set in the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920's, the book tells the story of a late middle aged couple, Jack and Mabel,  who are childless and have moved to Alaska late in life to try to build a farm and a life away from everything and everyone they know.  What drives Jack and Mabel to Alaska is their grief over losing a child in infancy and never having a child after that.  The couple is ill equipped for the Alaska wilderness - Jack is in his 50's and has only farmed on fertile, temperate land in Pennsylvania.  Mabel is a tightly wound upper middle class woman who knows a lot about books, but not much about how work outside or how to make a home far away from civilization.  When we meet Jack and Mabel they distant from each other, just doing what they can to get by, and they are about to head into their first Alaskan winter without enough food or money to get them through.  At the first snow, Jack and Mabel make a child out of the snow and shortly thereafter they spot a little blond girl running around the forest outside their home.  It is this that changes everything, and sets the story in motion.  As with the book, this Maple Walnut Pie is also perfect for the middle of January.  It is the type of humble pie that you make when you don't have fancy or freshly picked ingredients around.  It was inspired by the walnut pies that Mabel would make to sell in town, in an effort to make some money until the farm was up and running.  I added the maple to make it a little more interesting.

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Pickled Shrimp and Black Water Rising

I have wanted to make pickled shrimp for a while now, so when I was perusing the amazing cookbook Texas Eats to find inspiration for something to make inspired by Houston, Texas, these shrimp jumped out at me.  Pickled shrimp are not mentioned in Attica Locke's Black Water Rising, but they seemed somewhat appropriate since the book is set in Houston and the gulf and bayous of the city are a strong presence in the story.   The book is about Jay Porter, a young struggling attorney, and the mess he gets himself into by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  On the night of his anniversary, Jay takes his pregnant wife Bernadine on a boat ride on the Houston bayou that was a half-hearted attempt at romance.  The couple and their boat captain run into trouble when they hear screaming and gun shots, and then pick up a woman in the bayou who is fully dressed and shoeless.  By rescuing the woman and not reporting what happened to the police, Jay sets off on a path that will cause him immense stress and put his family in danger.  Neither Jay nor the reader knows what happened that night on the bayou or how the woman he rescued is involved, and it is the quest for answers to these questions that drives the plot forward.  This novel felt like a departure from what I usually read - it felt like a Grisham novel with more depth and less law.   I didn't love this book, but do plan on trying one of Attica Locke's other novels.  More about the book and shrimp after the jump.

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Happy New Year: Pear and Ginger Sparkler

 

One last cocktail for 2012, a simple pear and ginger cocktail with the sparkling wine of your choice 0 champagne, cava, prosecco, sparkling grape juice - whatever works for you.  I went with prosecco.  I love champagne, but when I am mixing it with something else, I think cheaper alternatives make sense, and I think a decent prosecco is way better than a cheap champagne - I am a sucker for the good stuff.  I think pear and ginger are a great combination, and perfectly seasonal for a winter cocktail.  The recipe below makes 1 cup of ginger syrup - more than you will need for a few of these cocktails, but it is very versatile and would be great in other cocktails, drizzled in tea of stirred into yogurt.  However you are celebrating, I wish all of you a happy and healthy new year!

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Cocktail Hour: Coconut Eggnog

One last gasp before Christmas, an easy lighter version of eggnog, made with light coconut milk instead of milk.  I say lighter, cause this version is still full of egg yolks, but I really liked what the coconut milk brought to the party - instant flavoring and a great combo with the dark rum.  This came together quickly and could be a real wow if you are still looking for a wow to serve guests during the holiday.  It also is the perfect treat for just you, even a treat you could indulge in after Christmas, especially as, at least for me here in Boston, a long winter stretches out before you.  For those of you that celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful holiday.  For those of you that don't, I hope you have restful day off and some delicious Chinese food!

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