Beecher book and bake

The Book:

The complexities of Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale kept us on our toes and the discussion took several twists and turns as we navigated our way through this beautiful piece of writing.  One of my favorite things about talking with others about a book is how different perspectives can be so interesting and enlightening.  This was the case for the discussion of The Thirteenth Tale. We all agreed that this is a story to be devoured, and then slowly savored again (ahem, and again) in order to catch the complex clues left by Vida as she unveils her "thirteenth tale" to Margaret. When our time together came to a close, I marveled at how some of us had changed our minds about the fate of certain characters (no spoilers here!) while others remained undecided. One thing we all agreed upon was how beautifully descriptive and eloquent Setterfield's writing enhanced the reading experience.  If you have not read Diane Setterfield's novels, I recommend them.

Check out her profile from her website here, and then click around to learn more about her other works and her blog.

If you're interested in having a peek at documents we used to facilitate our conversation, scroll on down and click the discussion guide button.

The Bake:

Let's talk food for a bit, shall we?   

The Thirteenth Tale is set mostly in Yorkshire, England.  What better time to try our hands at making Yorkshire puddings!? Of course, I had to have a practice run or two, even though I've made these beauties in the past.  I'm glad I did because in the process of reading up on recipes, I learned that the puddings may also be made in one larger vessel.  This was news to me, and it reminded me of a Dutch baby-style pancake.  A buddy of mine from England did pipe in to say it was controversial but I decided let the fine folks across the pond duke it out - I'll eat both versions without prejudice. I read  information from a variety of websites but found the most informative (for me) was from a site called SeriousEats.  I ended up using the recipe from there, making both the individual Yorkshire puddings and one whole one in a cast iron skillet. It turns out that my dear friend, Theresa, made some over the New Year holiday and was kind enough to share her knowledge/experience with the group as well - hey, it takes a village, people!  Check out the pictures below of our tasty Yorkshire puddings and then head over the SeriousEats.com to give the recipe a try yourself. (NO, I am not affiliated with the website at ALL.)