food for thought :: a book club

we're officially rolling! if you would like to join Food For Thought Book Club, let me know.

November's selection is :: Waiter Rant. (Waiter has a blog, too)
Posting date :: november 30th (include a recipe you made from the book if there are any or make something up inspired by the book--optional)

soon to come Food For Thought FAQ page including all the details and blogroll.

pull up a cuppa somethin' hot and join us!

Food For Thought :: Book Club FAQs and Blogroll

if you have made it to this post, then you're thinking of joining up with Food For Thought. we'd love to have you, of course! faq's below.

here is our current blogroll:

melody of my trap door
tami of tami's kitchen table talk
jacque of daisy lane cakes
jessica of mango missives
arika of my yumy life
belle of muse in the kitchen
michelle of culinography
kerri of k&k's baking
sharon of view from my treehouse
guiltless glutton of glutire
jen of piccante dolce

here's the list of who will be picking books when:

december/january 2008/9 - tami of tami's kitchen table talk
february 2009 - melody of my trap door
march 2009 -
april 2009 -
may 2009 -

FAQ's

:: every month we read a book (sometimes we might take 2 months to do 1 book). on the chosen date, we all post our thoughts on the book. if there are recipes, we choose one to do. or we create a dish inspired by the book.

:: books are chosen by voting. each month a member offers 2 books for us to vote on as well as the posting date for that book.

:: on this page i will keep the blogroll as well as the list of who is picking books for which month.

:: to get on board, just comment here or email me (kate AT the clean plate club DOT net) and i'll add you to the blogroll. that's it! happy reading!

foodie bookclub?

i may have mentioned before that i'm not an avid reader. i read mostly magazines (and blogs, of course). i love Gourmet and Real Simple and Fine Cooking when i can shell the cash to buy it.

much to my chagrin, i've just never really been a fiction reader. sure, i've read some novels, but not many and they are few and far between. i'm much more a reader of real-life. i've wondered for many years why this is. what is it that draws me to the biography or true tales? i'm not sure. i guess i just like to connect with people who are really out there in the world. i like to hear about life. real life and what people have been through or reasearched.

in a recent issue of Real Simple there was an article written by Steve Almond (yes, a GUY actually wrote for RS!) and it just cracked me up totally. i read nearly the whole thing aloud to hubby because i could not stop laughing. so, of course, i googled him. and i found a book he wrote called Candy Freak.

yes.

this was right up my alley.

i am now about 3-quarters of the way through it and it's just awesome. i admit to being a tad disappointed when it turned from memoir-of-childhood-candy-obsession to history-lesson-and-tour-of-regional-candy-makers, but i stuck with it and am glad i did. his writing is loose, but not careless. it's funny and sarcastic and spot-on. i love his style and maverick (o yes i did) sensibility.

i encourage you all to check it out.

and this got me thinking about reading and how much i loved Ruth Reichl's books (Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, & Garlic and Sapphires) and how much i want to read other food-related books like The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.

would a foodie bookclub be of interest to anyone out there!? all i need is a couple of buddies and i'm in!

anyone?