book review: Murder on Thin Ice by Laurie Cass

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 4/5

Thank you Crooked Lane Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

I've been trying out different cozy mysteries in an effort to find a series to carry me through the long winter ahead. Murder on Thin Ice is book fourteen in A Bookmobile Cat Mystery. And it just may fit the bill. 

Librarian Minnie and her cat, Eddie, make connections in their small town, solving mysteries along the way. In this particular installment, Minnie happens upon one of her bookmobile customers who has fallen through the lake ice. It has been deemed an accident. Yet Minnie doesn't think that is the case so she begins a hunt to find out the truth. True to cozy mysteries, there are other fun additions to the storyline. In this, there is a second interwoven case as well as Minnie learning how to cook and find a gift for her new husband. I found the characters very relatable and enjoyable. And the snowy town setting in Michigan is comforting to me as a Minnesotan. I can see myself picking up more books from this series during the Winter when I just want a low-stress simple story I can get lost in.

book review: An Inconvenient Woman - The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, The Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America by Keri Leigh Merritt

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 4/5 

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

I had not heard of Lillian Smith before reading this book. Some of this may be because her writings and activism occurred in the 1930s and 1940s—well before the peak of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, which we more often learn about. However, reading this also laid bare that I need to make a more concerted effort to dig up a true account of the Civil War and Reconstruction. This book not only provided a full background of Smith’s life’s work, but it also introduced many other authors from this era whose firsthand accounts I now want to read.

Smith was a cultured and privileged White Southern woman who spent her life speaking up about racism, fighting for integration, and championing social equality for all. She was very frank when speaking to other White people, promoting an open dialogue. She didn’t just say things were wrong and that everyone was suffering because of it; instead, she championed real-world, non-violent solutions.

She was well ahead of her time, doing things that often resulted in her being stigmatized, ostracized, and placed in physical danger. When she took over her father’s summer camp, she ensured it expanded its offerings to drama, writing, art, and modern dance. She also provided a progressive education by discussing and answering questions about racism, hypocrisy, and White supremacy. Lillian knew these topics were never broached with children, and she believed that without open and honest dialogue, hatred would prevail unchallenged.

Throughout the years, Lillian and her partner, Paula Snelling, held bi-racial gatherings at the camp on Old Screamer Mountain. This was one of the actions that made them most vulnerable to White rage, but like everything, Smith refused to back down from her beliefs. These parties and dinners were crucial in fostering racial reconciliation. They served as a safe place to talk, share ideas about strategy, and organize, bringing together some of the most brilliant Americans of the time.

Additionally, she and Paula founded a nationally known literary magazine that featured everything from poetry and essays to short stories and interviews, tackling topics ignored by mainstream journalism. With subscriptions peaking near 10,000, the magazine reached people throughout the U.S. to spark vital discussions. It was the only White-owned Southern magazine at the time to include writing by Black authors, as well as reviews by Black critics of White writing. They were also among the few publications actively seeking out and giving a platform to women writers. To build this community, she and Paula traveled throughout the region, talking to thousands of people whose stories ultimately made it into the magazine. Smith also wrote a number of books, including Strange Fruit, Killers of the Dream, and The Journey. While they were well-received, they also created intense turmoil and bans.

It’s sad to me how little has changed. Had a reader not known when this all took place, they might be surprised to learn it happened nearly 100 years ago. Some of the quotes could be peeled directly from today’s news pages:

“Every time poor Whites made even the modest of gains elite whites used censorship, oppression, violence, and fear to harden the racist color line. Whenever elite Whites worried about remaining in complete control, they simply had to portray to Black Americans as people who took things away.” 

And:

“We shall not be believed abroad while we daily kill the dream at home.” (From Vincent Sheean's review of Killers of the Dream, which was reprinted by Eleanor Roosevelt in her newspaper column).

Yet, the book is also encouraging and inspiring. It teaches us to be uncompromising in our beliefs, to push back incessantly against foot-dragging and the excuse that societal change is slow, and to give back something equal to or better than what has been taken away when a racist identity is stripped from those who carry it. Readers can take many of Smith’s methods for making connections and enacting creative change and implement them in the current time. “We must remember that demagogues fatten on the poor man’s vote and his loneliness, that they use the psychotic to do their dirty work, but they exist because we liberals let them exist. It is our caution, our lack of energy, our moral impotence and our awful, if unconscious, snobbery that makes demagoguery unafraid of liberalism.”

An Inconvenient Woman contained a great analysis, pulled together a mass of excerpts, and gave a vivid picture of Smith’s life. The only issue I had was there was a lot of repetition. It may have been advantageous to report it in a chronological manner. Because the book jumped back and forth in time, many quotes and moments were repeated multiple times in varying degrees and ways. Other than this minor note, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about an individual who was so influential in many areas of education and equality, yet has been left out of the narrative. 

recipe: smoked whitefish brandade

The second recipe I tried from Gather Around My Table was a smoked whitefish brandade. Just like the cherry cornmeal torte, I would make this one again!

It did take some time for the different components. However, that was mainly because I made labneh from scratch from my homemade yogurt and I accidentally bought raw fresh cod instead of smoked cod so I had to poach the cod before I could start making this recipe. I was happy to have to do both these steps, though, because now I understand how to make labneh and poached cod! :)

Smoked Whitefish Brandade

Ingredients:

1 pound russet potatoes (2 medium), scrubbed

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup (4 ounces) labneh

1/2 cup whole milk

1 tbsp minced garlic

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

1/2 pound smoked whitefish, skin and pin bones discarded, fresh flaked (1 packed cup)

chopped fresh chives or scallions, for garnish

crusty bread or crackers, for serving

Instructions:

1) Heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and bake until cooked through and completely tender in the center, about 1 hour. Unwrap them and let cool until the potatoes are cool enough to handle. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the oil, the labneh, milk, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth.

3) Discard the potato skins and rice the potatoes through a food mill or ricer into a large bowl (I used a box grater). Add the labneh mixture, season with salt and pepper, and mix until well blended. Add the whitefish and fold until well incorporated. Transfer the mixture to an oven-safe 1-quart baking dish and drizzle over the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake until the brandade is lightly golden on top and hot in the center, about 15 minutes longer.

4) Garnish the brandade with chives or scallions. Serve warm with bread or crackers.

Notes: 

To make labneh, mix 1/4 tsp salt into 1 cup yogurt. Wet and ring out a flour sack towel and line a mesh colander over a bowl with the towel. Spoon the salted yogurt into the flour sack towel. Put in the fridge for 12-24 hours while the liquid whey drains out of the yogurt and into the bottom of the bowl. It can be ready at 12 hours, but 24 hours will lead to a thicker, creamier spread. I forgot to do this ahead of time and wanted to make my brandade today, so I attempted a quicker labneh method hanging my flour sack towel with the salted yogurt in it from a kitchen faucet to weigh it down and make the whey drip out of it quicker.

 

To mimic the flavor of smoked whitefish, when I poached my cod I added half milk/half water to cover the fish and dropped three smashed garlic cloves, a bay leaf, and 1/16 tsp pepper. I heated this over medium heat until it gently simmered and kept it at this heat for about 10 minutes until the fish was an opaque color and the inside temperature was at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. When I mixed up the labneh, oil, garlic I added 6 or so drops of Liquid Smoke with those ingredients at that time. 

I baked my brandade at least 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for, but I still could not get the top to brown. I troubleshooted online and it said if there is too much liquid or oil on the top then it will just boil instead of browning, which is what mine was doing. I sopped off some of the oil and then added a sprinkle of bread crumbs to the top and baked for another 10 minutes. It still wasn't browning at all, but at this point it had been in the oven almost an hour and I was hungry!! So I called it quits. It may have been because I only had my salted yogurt mixture draining for about 5 hours so it maybe still had quite a bit of liquid in it which caused the brandade to just bubble versus brown. Regardless, it was still delicious. I got some homemade artisan bread out of the freezer and went back for seconds it was so yummy! I would like to try this again, but getting actually smoked fish from the store. I also wonder if I could try it with potato flakes instead of baking and ricing potatoes. That would cut down on some of the steps.