Weekend Cooking: The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath

 

Erin can't believe that she has made such a major oversight. As a seasoned traveller, she should know the expiry date of her passport and so it is embarrassing when she can't board the plane on her latest trip. Now she needs to apply for a new passport, so she needs somewhere to stay for as long as that will take.

When her aunt lines up a housesitting gig with her friend Marie, who is off on a four-month cruise, Erin says yes, knowing full well (and disclosing) that she probably won't stay for the whole time. Once she has her passport, she will be off again. Marie has only a couple of requests. Erin will need to care for her dog, Bella, and keep an eye on her section of the community allotment. Oh, and she needs to continue to host the Thursday Night Slow Cooker Supper Club.

Not long before Marie's husband passed away, he bought her a slow cooker. It sat in the cupboard for a while but one day Marie decided she would use it and invite her neighbours in the Station Cottages to join her, and the Thursday Night Slow Cooker Supper Club was born. 

The club became a weekly highlight for all the neighbours. There is Eva, the elderly but still feisty and nosy neighbour. There are Phil (as in Philomena) and Johh who both have suffered losses and then newcomer Danny, who is recovering from a breakup and trying to decide what direction he wants to take in his career. Together they forge friendships and a sense of community that sees them working together

When Marie goes on her cruise, they are going to miss her, but they are also keen to get to know Erin. Erin doesn't necessarily want them to get to know her. She has been moving from one place to another for years and so doesn't really form friendships, but it doesn't take long before she feels part of the little community. The longer she stays, the more settled she feels.

She is a bit daunted by the supper club as she isn't much of a cook, but with the direction of the local butcher, she is soon able to rustle up a dish and bring some of her own experiences to the table. 

However, there are reasons why Erin has made some of the decisions she has made, and staying in one place and growing friendships with her neighbours has her reexamining her life and maybe thinking about reaching out to her family. The one person she doesn't need to reexamine her relationship with is her ex, Tim. Will Tim get in the way of her growing friendship with Danny?

As you would expect with a book set in a supper club, there are plenty of mentions of food ranging from Poulet Breton to ox tail stew, pulled pork and bread and butter pudding I did think that food would be more central to the story, and would love to have seen a recipe or two at the end of the book 

This is my third book by Sue Heath. I absolutely adored The Secret Ingredient and loved The Storytellers. This one, I liked a lot, but if I had to rank them, then this would be the third on the list. Interestingly, Sue Heath also writes romances under the name Zara Stoneley

What each of the books by Sue Heath has in common is the coming together of a group of people to form a found family, but she does it in a way that feels quite organic and not contrived at all! Whenever I finish one of her books I am already looking forward to the next one, and this time is no exception!

We love our pressure cooker/slow cooker combo appliance. Maybe this week we will pull it out of the cupboard and use it. It has been a while. 

I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and with the New Release Challenge hosed at The Chocolate Lady's Book Blog

Rating 4/5

Weekly meals

Saturday -  Nothing
Sunday - Out for dinner
Monday - Pasta Alfredo
Tuesday - Chicken Stir fry and rice
Wednesday - Italian Meatballs
Thursday - Steak, egg and chips
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend in the comments. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: The Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous

 

When Claire's husband of 19 years gives her a set of smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary she is livid. And then when he decides to use the table that she cleared for their special dinner to fix the door she has been nagging about for months, she hits the roof! Meanwhile Mark is absolutely stumped. She had been saying she wanted the door fixed and a set of smart scales, so he just doesn't get why she is upset 

When they first got together, Claire and Mark were madly in love. Now, they are two people who care for each other and live in the same house but that's about it and Claire has had enough, especially on top of the fact that she is feeling the effects of menopause, she's been made redundant and their only son, Aidan, has left home.

Mark is shocked by Claire's declaration. He still loves her and doesn't quite understand why she is so upset. So, he suggests that he goes to live at his sister's while he has a big work project, but that they go on a number of dates over the coming months to see if they can revive their flagging marriage. Claire agrees, although she doesn't have much hope. 

The dates range from very personal to challenging in many ways. In the meantime, both of them need to work on themselves. 

I knew this book was going to work for me right from the first chapter. After the smart scales debacle, Claire is in the kitchen mashing the potatoes furiously and there's a line that says "There's nothing like marital strife to help achieve a perfect mashed potato." Meanwhile, Mark is in the other room and notes "Claire takes ages over the mash, getting it just right. Frankly, he'd be happy with the lumps." It made me laugh and perfectly illustrates how different their point of views are.

These are two people who either never really knew or have forgotten how to communicate. They both have things that they do that impact the other person. It's not just Mark who needs to look at what he says and does.  Hopefully over the course of the dates, they can reconnect and practice not taking each other for granted, or maybe it really is the end. 

I loved Claire's circle of friends who somehow managed to find out what is going on and offer her support in many ways. I also liked that both of them had some childhood issues that they needed to deal with to help them with their current circumstances. It wasn't a one-sided thing.

This is Ko Porteous' second book but I haven't read the first one...yet! But I will because I enjoyed this one very much. Sometimes it can be a bit of a risk trying a new author. In this case it paid off.

Claire and Mark have twenty dates to find their way back to each other. It isn't smooth sailing, but they each grow and experience new things, both together and apart.

I am sharing this review with New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. Thanks to the publisher and Random Things Tours for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the blog tour below.

Rating 4/5

About the Book

The Twenty Dates

The kids have left, assuming love endures. But can yours?

Book #2 in The Empty Nesters Series

Claire’s marriage is in (total!) crisis. Her husband, Mark, is distracted, presumptuous, and utterly clueless - smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary? Really? Perhaps she'd be better off alone. At least there'd be less laundry.

When Claire suggests separating, Mark panics. He asks for one last chance: twenty dates, one for each year of their marriage, to prove they're better off together than apart.

What follows is a series of adventures Claire never saw coming - some mortifying, some exhilarating, and some that make her question everything she thought she knew. About Mark. About marriage. And about the woman she's quietly become while she wasn't paying attention.

As the dates tick down, Claire must decide: is the spark still there - or has their marriage simply run its course?

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twenty-Dates-Empty-Nesters-Book-ebook/dp/B0H5G54FXK/

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Dates-Empty-Nesters-Book-ebook/dp/B0H5G54FXK/

About the Author

Ko Porteous lived in a tiny fishing village in the north of Scotland before moving to Edinburgh aged 10.  

Ko loves meeting people with interesting stories to tell and is constantly on the lookout for knotty story themes, particularly involving women navigating the messiness of mid-life. She has worked as a Research Chemist, Assistant Chef, Teacher and School Leader.  

As well as writing, Ko works as a Business Manager and a Funeral Celebrant.  

In her free time Ko loves to run, meditate and travel; preferably all on the same day.   

Ko has been married for 25 years, has 2 children of her own and is now navigating her own empty nest.  

The Twenty Dates is Ko’s second novel and the second book in ‘The Empty Nesters’ series.  

Social Media Links –

Instagram: @koporteousauthor

Facebook: Ko Porteous Author

Top Ten Tuesday: Opposites

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Book Covers Featuring Autumnal Colors (submitted by Wordy Witterings)

Because I live in Australia I could be doing spring colours, but I actually did a spring colours post a couple of weeks ago (inspired by my nail polish), so was thinking about what else I could do. My twist this week is to do opposites because we are in spring and not autumn. And all my choices are related to being in the opposite hemisphere!

Spring/Autumn 

Spring Clean for a Peach Queen by Sasha Wasley - Spring and Autumn seemed like an obvious place to start given that this is related to the actual theme. (review)

It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas - I am so pleased to see that Lisa Kleypas is coming out with a new book soon! (review)

Winter/Summer

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - never miss an opportunity to mention this book (review)

The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick - I love the way Elizabeth Chadwick brings the medieval world to life

North/South

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I am cheating a little bit by having both words in both titles, but oh well! Just thinking about watching the BBC adaptation of this book. (review)

North and South by John Jakes - I first heard about John Jakes from the miniseries which starred a very young Patrick Swayze as well as plenty of other big names.

East /West

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson - I am moving from the northern and southern hemisphere to the eastern and western hemisphere. The East in question here is India! (review)

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge - This book has been on my TBR for a long time. One day I will read it!

Night/Day

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - When it is night here it is day on the other side of the world!

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan - When it is late in the day it might be the early hours of the morning in other places!

This Week

I'm reading

My reading was somewhat back to normal this week. I finished reading Business Casual by B K Borison, and I also finished reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

I also finished reading The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath. My plan is to review this one on Saturday. I enjoyed this one but not as much as the earlier books she published under this name.

I also started reading Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous. I need to get a hurry on with this one as my review is due up on Wednesday! I then have three books I need to read in the next week!

I'm watching

No time for watching anything at the moment!

Life


My youngest stepdaughter is back from the UK on holidays with her partner, and the older one got engaged in July, so they decided to combine a celebration of the two events and so we had 17 people here for lunch on Saturday. Because most of the guests originally came from South Africa we had a South African flavoured barbecue, with boerewors, pap (pounded maize meal) and chakalaka and then milk tart and peppermint crisp for dessert. It was a really lovely afternoon, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves which is great.

The photo at the bottom left is my husband holding court at the barbecue with the two girl's partners, both of whom happen to be English.

The next day we took a bit of a road trip along the Great Ocean Road which is one of the great drives in the world. On Sunday we drove as far as Apollo Bay and then on Monday morning we went to the Twelve Apostles and then home again. Along the way we managed to see a koala and a wallaby (and not just the painted one at the Chocolaterie.

I go back to work tomorrow but they are here for a couple more days and then they drive up the east coast of Australia

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Happy!
Afternoon Tea Diaries: Native High Tea at the Westin



I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Native High Tea at the Westin

 It is time for another entry in The Afternoon Tea Diaries.

The last time we went to an afternoon tea it was quite a traditional afternoon tea experience. This time we went to the Westin Hotel in the city centre where they have an afternoon tea....with a twist. The twist is that all of the dishes have native ingredients included in them

It was quite a rainy day on the day that we visited but the location has floor to ceiling windows where you can sit and watch the city traffic go by!

Our experience started with a look at the tea list which had a lot of teas you would normally expect to see (like Earl Grey, Green Tea, Lemongrass and Giner) but it also had some more unusual choices like Berry Mad (elderberries, raspberries, blackcurrant and hibiscus). I ended up trying two teas. The first was called Bewitching Butterly Pea and the second was Coconut Truffle. The Coconut Truffle is described as "a decadent blend of creamy coconut, smooth white tea, vanilla and sweet carob" and it was delicious.

However, the Butterfuly Pea Tea was definitely the more bewitching. The description for this one was "A captivating butterfly pea infusion that transforms from deep blue to vibrant purple with a squeeze of lemon - pure visual delight." I would have described the transformation more from purple to pink, but it was super fun. And more importantly, it tasted amazing

The afternoon tea itself looked really lovely and was more along the traditional lines than some of the more artistic teas we have had but it was still very pretty.

Our food started with a really interesting first taste which was a Cinnamon Myrtle-Scented Warm Orange Soup. I wasn't sure at first that it appealed, but it was actually really delicious!

For the rest of the savoury dishes, there was a potato nest, an open sandwich, a finger sandwich and a pithivier. The potato nest was really, really crunchy and somewhat surprisingly it did really taste like potato still. The bread for the sandwich was super fresh, and the pithivier was lovely. I do love a pithivier at the best of times.

We didn't realise at first but somehow, we got the wrong open sandwich. The one on the menu said that we were going to be having yellowfin tuna with mountain pepperberry crust, fennel spiced cream cheese and finger lime. However, it turned out that we got a cured watermelon open sandwich instead. They bought over the right one, so we actually got have both. I only had a bit of the watermelon because I was curious about how the curing would impact the taste. I don't really like watermelon and this did not change my mind.

Then onto the desserts. Mille-Feuille tart, tea cake, a dessert inspired by a lamington but flavoured with mango and a Pannamisu featuring pistachio flavours. Everything was good, but if I had to pick a favourite it would be the mango lamington dish!

Finally, onto the scones. There was traditional vanilla scone and then a Muntries, Raisin and Blackcurrant Scone. No, I had no idea what muntries were either. They are "small, edible Australian native berries with a spicy apple flavour". The good thing was we got small pots of jam and cream but it was no trouble to get more.

I must confess that I don't really cook with native ingredients, but this menu definitely reminded me that it is possible to eat really delicious, sophisticated food using native ingredients.

I was really impressed by the whole Westin experience and would definitely go back again at some point in the future! 

Weekly meals

Saturday - Sausages, chips, cheese and gravy (poutine style)
Sunday - 
Monday - Takeaway
Tuesday - Quick salmon tray bake (new)
Wednesday - Pork schnitzel, chips
Thursday - Baked Tuscan pasta
Friday - Take away

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend in the comments. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Top Ten Tuesday: Things that make me happy

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books that Conjure Up Happy Memories (Feel free to tell us about those memories if you’d like!). 

I was going to keeping it simple and share ten titles that have some variation of the word happy in the title. I had all the titles chosen and then I realised that I did the same thing two years ago and only two books would be different, so I had to think of something different. I am going to keep those two books in the list though!

So here are some bookish references to things that make me happy

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith- Whilst our street name isn't Zebra Drive, my good husband is from South Africa originally (review)

The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson - I love books and I love books about books, and this authors books about WWII librarians are right up there! They are so good.

The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin- Love travelling, and planning travel. Portugal is my next must visit destination. Reading books set in the destinations I want to visit do give me ideas of things to include in our itinerary (review)

The German Ward by Pip Williams - Love going to author events. I went to an event for this book last night!

You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson - Loving baking out of this book at the moment, or any of her books really

Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas - Set in France and foodie! To be fair I do like Jo Thomas's books wherever they are set. (review)

Mixed Signals by B K Borison - I am loving on B K Borison's books right now, although I am pretty much caught up on all of them. Just need to read her latest book.

The French Christmas Market by Gillian Harvey - For a long time I was a bit of a scrooge when it came to Christmas, or more precisely I was faking it until I made it, but over the last few years I have begun to love Christmas books. This one is the latest one I read and has a bonus element as it is set in France

The Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai - Japanese, foodie and it has the word Happiness in the title! (review)

Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering - I do enjoy Jane Lovering's books which are set predominantly in Yorkshire in England (review)

This week...

I'm reading

Well it finally happened. Things are so frantic and stressful at work that I didn't actually finish reading anything this week!

However, I did start reading another book because it makes perfect sense to do that when you already have three on the go, and two more that you say that you are desperate to read right?

The book that I started to read was Business Casual by B K Borison. It is a book that I have out of the library and some other patron had put a hold on it so I couldn't extend it. How rude!

It is time to look at my best reads on September. I only read 9 books this month, which is a bit less than usual. I had three 4.5 star reads, but I did one 5 star read which I reviewed here

Books let our imaginations travel where our feet cannot - Nora Nguyen

Every month I also like to look at where I travelled through the pages of the books I read! Here's where I travelled in September

US

South Carolina - Other Birds

Europe

England - Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame, The Way We Are Now (Yorkshire)
Scotland - Winter Magic at Hollybrae Castle
Ireland - The Pirate Queen 
France - The French Christmas Market

Asia

Japan - Before I Knew I Loved You, Matcha on Monday, Dreamers of the Full Moon Coffee Shop

I'm watching


Not much really

Life

Last weekend the weather where we were was beautiful. This weekend, we were back to winter weather! Melbourne is known for changeable weather most of the time though, so probably shouldn't be surprised! What was a surprise was that we had a pretty decent sized earthquake early on Saturday morning. There's no damage but it is unusual for us. 

Despite the rain, we had a lovely day on Saturday. We started by going to a Virtual Reality experience called Starstruck, which takes you exploring through the cosmos. After that we went to one of the fancy hotels in town and had a afternoon tea.  This was pretty traditional but with a twist - everything had native flavours in it! It was really delicious! One of the unusual things I tried was a butterfly pea tea which changed colour when you added lemon into it!

Then on Saturday night we went to an event to hear the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform the songs of Elton John! It was a really fun night!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Freebie!
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: October links
In My Kitchen: September
Six Degrees: Life of M to Champagne Widows




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings