Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Tea-infused Pasta Salad (and book)


Last night's supper was Chicken Pasta Salad with Creamy Chamomile Dressing. This was the recipe included with the "starter kit" I got for signing up for the Celestial Seasonings online book club. The dressing recipe calls for steeping three bags of their chamomile tea (also in the starter kit) in 1/4 cup of white vinegar, then mixing it with mayo and freshly-chopped tarragon. I used whole wheat pasta, and this ended up being a very light, tasty supper which my husband and I both enjoyed very much.

Now, about that strange little book they chose for their first book club selection ... Yesterday the local bookstore called to say my copy of "The End of the Alphabet" by CS Richardson had come in. (It's spelled that way, by the way: CS, not C.S.) Fortunately, it's a short book, just 119 tiny little pages, but I have to say I didn't care for it.

I didn't buy the character's name (Ambrose Zephyr? C'mon!). I didn't like the plot (English ad exec is suddenly diagnosed with unknown but definitely-definitely-definitely fatal disease, and he and his wife Zipper - ZIPPER! - are going to dash out to visit all these places, from A to Z, that Ambrose never visited). It's written rather stream-of-consciously, which I didn't care for. There was a bit of language of the sort I don't enjoy hearing or reading, and I never really cared for Ambrose or Zipper. Yes, there were a few mentions of tea in the book, but it's not at all the pleasant, thoughtful read I was expecting. I got through and thought, "What were they thinking? That we'd all enjoy relaxing with a nice book about a dying man?" Methinks Celestial Seasonings needs to find a more upbeat book next time. And feel free to disagree, as this is merely my opinion. Anyone else read this book? If so, what say you?

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the book review. It is one "tea book" I will not read. The salad looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete

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