Heart Eyes, Vol. 264: Spicy Crushed Olives with Pistachios and Long Books for Winter
Friends! Hello. Happy Friday. Happy…new…year? Happy mid-January, anyway. I’m not going to pretend everything at the macro scale is going great so far—all of you in Los Angeles, we are thinking of you, and everyone, here are some ways you can help right this second—but I do believe there are bright spots, even here and now. For me, currently: I have a couple of exceptionally charming foster cats living in my guest room this week. I just got laundry up and running after ten days without it. I haven’t been for a Friday-evening run in ages, but I think today’s the day. And it’s a holiday weekend! Not bad for the middle of January, I think.
Whatever your weekend and your life look like, I hope there are bright spots, even here and now. I think you’re doing great.
Winter Reading: Long Books That Are Worth It
What are you doing with your long weekend? One of my goals is to make a run for the end of Middlemarch, which my book club has been slowly re-reading, in sections, since October. I’m not going to lie, I’m ready to be done. But I’ve also been enjoying it so much—it’s a slow saunter through a long story, and what better time is there for this kind of leisurely reading than the long evenings and gray weekends of deep winter? I’ve been trying to lean into comfort and a slow start to the year—wintering, as a verb—and although I can’t say January has been particularly cooperative, I do think a long and absorbing novel is a great way to get there.
Here are some long reads, both classic and “classic”, that I think are worth settling in with:
Middlemarch, by George Eliot
Published as a serial in 1870 and set in a small English town around 1830, Middlemarch is nearly 1000 pages of people just…being people. And it’s such a good read! Eliot (real name: Mary Ann Evans) has an incredible ear for humans, their aspirations and desires, the ways in which they work for or against their own interests, the pickles they get themselves into, the ways they grow or don’t. It’s a rich, absorbing book, and upon re-reading, both funnier and more feminist than I remembered.
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
Yes, it’s the poster child for giant books—someone once saw me reading my enormous library copy and said, as a joke, “what is that, War and Peace?” But hear me out: it’s also a genuinely excellent and enjoyable book, so much weirder and funnier and more readable than I expected. Tolstoy loves a strange detail! I loved it and I will definitely read it again (probably a different translation; people have feelings about this) someday.
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
Seriously, what a banger. If you want something that is very long and yet somehow contains more plot and intrigue than you’d think would fit into a thousand pages? The Count’s your guy. It’s all about vengeance and mercy and certainty and doubt, which sounds serious, but it’s such a page-turner—not boring even for a second.
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
This classic of speculative/alternative history is a blast, all about codebreaking in World War II; it might also make you feel smart about math, which I think is an underrated quality in a novel. I’ve read it several times! Maybe you should try it!
The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher
When you need something lush and luxurious, well-written and not all that taxing, with lots of beautiful gardens and effortless vintage clothes and probably a wartime affair or two, find yourself some Rosamunde Pilcher. The Shell Seekers has a perfectly compelling plot, but I would argue its joys are mostly about the vibes; it’s just such a pleasure. Highly recommend.
What to Assemble for a Party: Spicy Crushed Olives with Pistachios
If you know me well, your eyes might be bugging out a little at that recipe title—I am, somewhat to my dismay, a lifelong hater of olives. (I would so love to appreciate that briny flavor, and there are so many varieties to try! And yet.) Or rather, I was a lifelong hater of olives—until a formerly olive-hating colleague introduced me to her own gateway olive, the Castelvetrano, which is mild and buttery and doesn’t taste too much like, well, olives.
Since then, one of my favorite party tricks has been this chunky, savory dip waaaay at the back of Smitten Kitchen Keepers: the Spicy Crushed Olives with Pistachios. It’s a rustic relish of crushed Castelvetranos, chopped pistachios, minced rosemary, a bit of slivered orange peel, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and salt, and it’s been a hit everywhere I’ve taken it, piled onto crackers or potato chips. (I served it to friends last weekend and someone said “What is this? It tastes so fancy!”)
She was right, it does taste fancy—salty and spicy and a little fruity and a little herbal—but it’s a snap to put together, especially if you’re smart enough to buy pitted olives and maybe even shelled pistachios. (I am not always that smart, but I’m learning!) I tend to do my chopping for this by hand since it’s not that much, but I do think a few pulses in the food processor would get you to the same place—just don’t overdo it.
Take it to a party, even if that party is your own Friday-night dinner table, and watch it disappear.
Spicy Crushed Olives with Pistachios
By Deb Perelman in Smitten Kitchen Keepers
4 strips of orange zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
1/2 cup shelled roasted and salted pistachios
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 TBSP. finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 TBSP. olive oil
Flaky sea salt
2 cups large green olives, ideally Castelvetrano, pitted and crushed
On a cutting board, slice the orange zest into thin matchsticks. Chop the pistachios well; add zest and pistachios to serving bowl along with pepper flakes, rosemary, and olive oil. Stir to combine, seasoning well with salt. Add the olives and stir to coat evenly, adding more olive oil and/or salt to taste.
That’s it! Enjoy!