Don’t forget about the giveaway I’m hosting for some food coupons and kitchen supplies. Click to read about it and leave a comment to enter! I’ll announce the winner on Friday morning. You have a really great chance if you enter.

I haven’t reviewed a book on the blog in a while! I guess this week I’m catching up on things I should be writing about. To view other books I’ve written about, click the tag cloud called “books.”

I just finished a book called Room by Emma Donoghue. I heard of this book a few months ago twice. Once I read that Jennifer Weiner said that this was one of the best books she’s read recently. I love Jennifer Weiner’s books, so I made a mental note. And then a day later, my sister had the book when I saw her in San Antonio. So I knew I needed to pick it up!

Room is about a 26-year-old woman and her 5-year-old son who are held captive in a man’s 11 foot x 11 foot backyard shed. The woman had been there for 7 years, kidnapped from her college, and her son was born in the shed to the captor “Old Nick.”

Jack is the boy, and he tells the story. He has never known life outside of Room, so his friends are things like Melty Spoon, Duvet, and Bed. It was really neat to read how he thinks of objects and proper nouns and gives them traits. (side note–while reading, I noticed that a yoga instructor I like also refers to body parts in the same way like “lift left foot in the air, place right hand on ground.”) Donoghue does an amazing job of telling the story through a child in a very eloquent way.

The parts of the book that took place in Room were most interesting to me. Jack’s mother taught him English, fed him, and they exercised by jumping, sprinting, and moving furniture. He never stepped foot in real daylight for his whole life. They got groceries and some toys or books from Old Nick on Sundays for “Sundaytreat.”

You’ll have to read the book to see if they escape and what happens. It was a great read.

Great review here by Dallas Morning News.

Recipe Experimenting:

I tried two new create-your-own-recipes together one night for dinner. I wanted to make a broccoli crunch that usually uses mayonnaise, and I wanted to try baking tofu with a homemade marinade. Usually I cook tofu on the stovetop so I wanted to try it in the oven.

I used plain Greek yogurt in place of mayo in the broccoli crunch, but it still tasted like tangy yogurt.

Do you have any tips to make yogurt taste like mayo?

Broccoli Crunch

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

• 1 head broccoli
• 3 T Plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 C pecans, chopped
• 2 T black raisins
• salt and pepper (about 1/4 tsp)

Instructions:

• Steam one head of broccoli in microwave in a bowl with shallow water.
• Drain and cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Place back in bowl.
• Add yogurt, raisins, pecans, salt and pepper and mix well.
• Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sweet and spicy baked tofu

Ingredients:

• 1 block Extra Firm tofu
• 3 T EVOO
• 3 T honey
• 1 T parsley
• 1 tsp sesame oil (I had it on hand, not necessary)
• 1/2 T black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• few shakes of red pepper flakes

Instructions:

• Remove tofu from package, cut in six strips, wrap in towel, lay under something heavy for 15 minutes to press out moisture.
• Combine all liquids in microwave safe bowl and zap for 35 seconds.
• Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay tofu on sheet. Spoon the mixture over the tofu on one side.

• Bake at 375* for 30 minutes. Flip once at 15 minutes.

This was actually better the next day I thought. It crisped up and the marinade sunk in better. Out of the oven it was a little flimsy but cooked, and it looked pretty. I could definitely taste the honey, but it wasn’t very spicy. I would probably add chili powder.

I had it alongside half a sweet potato with margarine and cinnamon.