OBSESSIONS

WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

Cook

“HALF-BAKED HARVEST: EVERY DAY” COOKBOOK

BY TIEGHAN GERARD

WHY DO WE LOVE IT? My husband and I have worked out a pretty good division of meal time labor over the years: I cook, he cleans up. It works great, but I hate deciding what to make for dinner. I try to make a plan and shop for at least a handful of meals at a time, but when I ask for suggestions from the family, I get nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. My son always replies with “fettuccine alfredo,” and my daughter says “Kraft Mac & Cheese.” Not helpful.

So I went on a mission to find some new dinner ideas and recipes. My soon-to-be sister-in-law is a great cook and suggested checking out the Food Network app, which is fantastic. I particularly love that you can search based on what you’ve got in the fridge, and it will make recipe suggestions from your random assortment of food.

Drink

LAVENDER CHAI LATTE FROM NEST

WHY DO WE LOVE IT? Walking around downtown Bangor with the flowers in bloom and a beverage in hand is one of my favorite parts of spring. My go-to morning or afternoon drink is a Lavender Chai Latte from Nest. I’ve ordered this even when winter slush was covering the sidewalk, because this latte makes me think of warmer weather and gets me excited for the new season. Whether you order it hot or iced, it’s a cozy, creamy, pick-me-up — that I like best with almond milk.

— MARISSA DONOVAN

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My absolute new favorite, however, is a cookbook I picked up called “Half-Baked Harvest: Every Day” by Tieghan Gerard. I just got it, and it’s already dog-earred and covered in post-it notes. Every recipe I’ve tried has been a hit. My son asked me to make the Spicy Pretzel Chicken Fingers again before he was even done eating. My husband raved about the Chipotle Cheddar Corn Chowder. And I’ve already made the Oatmeal Lace Cookies three times per my daughter’s request. Tonight, I’m going to try making perogies for the first time.

The photos are stunning, and the recipes are easy to follow and adjust based on your family’s tastes and preferences. There’s also a website at halfbakedharvest.com with tons of recipes and meal planning ideas. Exactly what I needed to get out of a meal-time slump!

— AMY ALLEN

PUB PRETZELS FROM BLACK BEAR BREWING

WHY DO WE LOVE IT? It’s de rigueur for breweries to have things like beer cheese and pretzels on their menus, and Black Bear Brewing on Exchange Street in Bangor is no exception. The difference with their pretzel is that it is almost comically enormous. Seriously, that thing is bigger than the width of your head. It’s also lightly crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and the best bar pretzel you’re going to get in Greater Bangor. Their beer cheese is also delightful — almost more of a queso dip rather than a spread. Black Bear’s in-house barbecue ain’t too shabby either. Don’t sleep on the small but tasty menu at Black Bear. Get a Gearhead to go with it, an amber ale they have been making for the better part of two decades, that’s as easy drinking a beer as you could ask for.

EMILY BURNHAM

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Listen

CELEBRITY BOOK CLUB PODCAST WITH CHELSEA DEVANTEZ

WHY DO WE LOVE IT? If you were ever curious about that one tellall by the actress you loved from the ’90s, and if their memoir was worth reading or not, chances are writer and comedian Chelsea Devantez has covered it on her podcast, Celebrity Book Club. Devantez and her weekly guest co-host select a celebrity memoir (Matthew Perry, Shania Twain, Cher, and more), then quickly highlight the key points of the book, the writing style, and parts of the narrative that captured their attention for better or for worse. Even if you haven’t read one of the many memoirs they’ve discussed on the podcast, you will still enjoy their commentary and connection to the book.

— MARISSA DONOVAN

Read

I love to read and have picked up some particularly good books recently. Here are a few I recommend.

“CARRIE SOTO IS BACK” BY TAYLOR JENKINS REID — If you love tennis, you’re guaranteed to love this book. It’s the story of an aging female tennis star who is breaking out of her retirement to defend her Grand Slam title record. There’s a mild love story and a very Williams-sisters-esque father/coach element that add to the drama, but at its core, it’s really all about tennis. Soto isn’t the most likable character out there, but she feels very real in her sacrifices and the attitude it takes to be a star athlete. I’m a huge fan of everything Taylor Jenkins Reid writes, and I appreciate the little crossover moments in her novels. (Carrie Soto also makes an appearance in “Malibu Rising.”) The writer’s ability to write in such different subject areas and times (“Daisy Jones & the Six” reads like a rock-and-roll documentary, while “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is all about Old Hollywood glam) with equal skill is mind-blowing. (FICTION)

“THE ROSE CODE” BY KATE QUINN — I loved Kate Quinn’s “The Alice Network,” but I think I loved “The Rose Code” even more. Three very different women get thrown together to break Nazi codes during World War II at England’s Bletchley Park, which is a very real place where Alan Turing cracked the German Enigma code machine to help end WWII. (If you haven’t watched “The Imitation Game” check it out. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Turing, and it’s all about Bletchley Park.) I rarely seek out historical fiction, but I always enjoy it and learn something new. I love falling down the Google rabbit hole to discover just how real the places and people and situations actually are, and Quinn is a master in layering fictional characters with real-life history. (HISTORICAL FICTION)