My first meal in New Orleans was charbroiled oysters and fried chicken. I think I'm doing this right.
Happy Friday, all. This has been a long, sad week for many of us. In addition to the links I sent you last week about how to help the children and families at the border, here are a few other sources: this great Slate piece, with links to many charities that are helping and how, and other ideas of how to help; this Act Blue link, that gives to a bunch of the charities I listed last week; and this list compiled by my friend Catherine Shattuck. Other things that helped me this week: giving money to Democrats running for Congress to unseat Republicans. The only way through this is to take control of the government again, and it's going to be tough. I've given to Liz Watson in Indiana (a friend and former co-worker), Beto O'Rourke in Texas (running to unseat Ted Cruz), and Collin Allred, also in Texas. And finally, I saw this Twitter thread this week, right when I needed it: hope is a discipline.
As the subject line indicates, I am currently in New Orleans, one of the most fun cities in America. I'm here for the American Library Association's annual conference, where I'll be on a panel on Sunday morning at 10:30, and then signing advance copies of THE PROPOSAL, right afterward. If you're a librarian and you're here for the conference, please come see me and say hi! And then next week I'll be in New York for this awesome panel at the 92nd Street Y with Sarah MacLean, Alexis Daria, and Zoraida Cordova! Get your tickets now.
You guys, I have been reading some GREAT books over the past few weeks. I want to tell you about all of them right now, but I'm going to dole these book recs out one by one, like the jewels that they are. First up, INTERCEPTED, by Alexa Martin. I loved this book so much! It's about Marlee, a long term NFL girlfriend, who finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, just as an old fling comes to town as the hot new quarterback of the team. I have a very conflicted relationship with football; I've loved watching it my whole life, but the concussions and the abuse of women and the way the NFL clearly doesn't care about all of that has made it really hard for me to watch in the past few years. But that's what fiction is for: all the fun, none of the support for the NFL. INTERCEPTED doesn't ignore the bad stuff about the league, but it's all told through the eyes of hilarious, fun, loud, sympathetic Marlee, who I cheered for and raged for like she was a friend of mine. Not only is INTERCEPTED the best football romance I've ever read, it's the best sports romance I've ever read. I loved it so much I blurbed it, where I was only a little less long winded about my love for it than I was here. And that cover! It comes out September 11th, and I can't wait for you all to be able to read it. Preorder now!
I have something to tell you all that might surprise some of you: I don't like peanut butter. I know, it's all American, etc. but in sandwiches, or alone, I'm just not a fan, it's too sticky and sweet for me. But, I am a big fan of peanut sauce and peanut noodles, especially in the summer time. I made the peanut noodles below for some dear friends who recently had a baby, and the tastes of them I had while cooking were so good that I made a big batch for myself a few days later. These are good hot or cold, it's easy to make in the summer when you don't want too much heat in your kitchen (the only cooking you need to do is to boil the noodles) and they're easy to tinker with by adding more or fewer vegetables, shredded chicken to make it more hearty (that's what I did to bring it to my friends, but I bought a rotisserie chicken, because again, this is an easy hot weather dish), tofu to keep it vegetarian (or just if you like tofu, which I do), and is great to bring to a party.
Peanut Sesame Noodles
(I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but did some tinkering)
For peanut dressing:
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
a few drops of fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey (if you want this to be vegan, use a different sweetener)
a dollop or four of your hot sauce or chili paste of choice, depending on how much you like spicy food
For the noodles:
3/4 pound spaghetti or dried soba noodles (I used spaghetti both times)
6 scallions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into strips
a cucumber, thinly sliced (it's best to use one of the English seedless ones, but if you just have the regular grocery store ones, just cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds before you slice it)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (which I omitted this most recent time, but it is better with them)
Optional:
Shredded chicken
1 cup tofu cubed (I use the braised or smoked tofu, because it's firm and has a good flavor)
Cook the pasta. While it's cooking, toss all of the dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender and combine until smooth. Taste to see if you need more hot sauce or chili paste, then pour into a large bowl. Also while the pasta is cooking, chop all of the vegetables listed above. When the pasta is done, drain it, and throw it into the bowl with the dressing, and throw the vegetables, chicken or tofu if you're using it, and sesame seeds on top. Combine well, and serve immediately, or chill and eat for days when it's hot outside.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Jasmine
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