Warm summer evening

In Jane's delightful garden under a blue moon, with a soft breeze from the lake we wiled away the evening sipping wine and chatting.   Many thanks to Jane for providing such a pleasant evening.

Several books were mentioned:

• Gellhorn by Caroline Moorehead
• Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• The Old Child and Other Stories by Jenny Erpenbeck
• A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories by Margaret Drabble
• Original Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant
• The Watercress Girl by H.E. Bates
• The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates
• The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of his Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O'Hagan
• Harry Hole mysteries by Jo Nesbo
• In the Orchard the Swallows by Peter Hobbs
• Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques
• The Absolutist by John Boyne
• The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
• Green Oranges on Lion Mountain by Emily Joy

We chose a book for next month, Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris.  It's a detective mystery that takes place in Saudi Arabia.  Here's a book trailer:

We will meet at Maureen's on Thursday, September  20th to talk about Finding Nouf.

Here's the recipe for Jane's excellent shortbread:

Beat 6 oz butter (reg salted) until very soft, I used a hand held beater.

Beat in 3 oz granulated sugar.

Beat in 3 oz semolina (cream of wheat) plus 6 oz sifted plain flour (Can use just 9 oz flour)

Work with fingers until it is all well combined, and leaves the bowl clean. Press firmly into a 7.5 inch pan with removable base, and flatten. Prick all over with a fork, to prevent it rising. Bake at 300 deg for about 70 minutes until firm and golden. Allow to cool a little, then cut into pieces. Sprinkle with extra sugar. Remove from pan when at room temperature, and store in an airtight tin.