The Lifeboat - September 30th

Charlotte Rogan's novel, The LIfeboat gave our small but mighty group much to discuss. As I was preparing, I found loads of options for discussion questions but my favorite find was from ReadingGroupGuides.com.  Naturally there was discussion centered around each key character and the role they played in the demise of Mr. Hardy, but eventually, we landed in an area that seemed to be a passionate topic for many of us - the role of women; the perceptions and misperceptions of men and women, and how things have changed (and not changed) over time.  What an amazing group! 

I have to be completely honest here.....our discussion dominated the majority of our time together.  In a typical book club this would be ideal, right?  But, it is Beecher Book AND Bake so we needed to bake! By the time I realized time had slipped away, we had a couple bookers who needed to head out but that did not stop us.  Thankfully, the bake planned was SO fast and easy - and best of all:  total YUM. I have a cookbook called Genius Desserts published by Food52.  It is a fabulous resource for finding that unique, no fail recipe.  I found a recipe for strawberry shortcakes that I modified for our session. We used the shortcake recipe ingredients and added cheddar cheese, and withheld the sugar. Simply use 175 grams of self-rising flour and 175 grams of heavy cream. Add your cheese and a bit of salt (season as you like!) and give it a good mixy-mix. You'll have a very stiff and sticky dough. Scoop out 1/4 cup onto a sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven (450 degrees) for 10 - 13 minutes. You will have a tender, pillowy, cheesy biscuit....eight of them!

There were not many pictures taken during this session - which tells you how engaged we all were during the evening.  OK, add a very playful golden-doodle in the mix and you'll know the other reason I wasn't able to grab many pictures.  Our Henry wanted all of the attention and he is pretty hard to ignore!  I would like to share a little about the other food we had on hand in keeping with the idea of paring food with books.  Listen, sometimes, it is a stretch so just hear me out. Rogan's book is set mainly in the ocean, on a single lifeboat. So, of course I had to whip up some snacks that feature some seafood. I found a recipe from Martha Stewart called chickpea and tuna dip and I have to say, this was a favorite of mine. We also had some great bagels from NYC (thanks, QVC!) so I whipped up a smoked salmon/cream cheese concoction loaded with red onion and capers. Can't go wrong there!