Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart celebrating the Spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.

I am so happy to.

Welcome back Ashley Martin.

Thank you for having me.

I'm so good that you opened your house again to our crew and to Dinner and a Book.

Of course.

And I think we're going to have a great meal.

And it's a good, great book.

It's the Paris Library.

And the woman who wrote it is an American, and she actually worked there for several years.

So if you've never gone to the Paris Library in Paris, I recommend you put that on your tour, on your walking tour.

It's a great place and it's very famous.

So let's talk about first what we're going to be making.

What are you doing today?

I am making potato leek soup.

So I have the potatoes cut up already.

Going to chop up the leeks.

Really important with the leeks, make sure you wash them because they can be a little gritty.

So you definitely want to make sure you get that out before you start making the soup.

And what are you making?

Oh, what am I making?

I'm making a French chicken dish with fig orange and balsamic sauce with a little broccoli and marble potatoes.

And I'm actually going to put it together and put it in your oven.

I have orange juice and I have balsamic vinegar.

I have a little olive oil.

Where it will We'll start with the olive oil on the chicken.

So make sure it will be crispy and that the--potatoes too.

I like to do that.

These little marble potatoes have become so popular.

I actually like them better than the big ones.

But it's a personal--it's a personal taste.

A little sea salt on the chicken, just a little and on the broccoli and a little pepper.

So we will pop this in the oven and this will cook until the last 15 minutes and we'll add the figs at that time.

They're kind of soaking over here.

So right now I'm going to pop this into the oven.

I'm going to backup.

And here we go.

We're going to talk about the Paris Library.

Like it was said, it was it's a library in Paris, and I'm actually going to Paris in October and I've never been to the library, so I'll have to make it a stop.

I think that's a great idea.

It is.

And there are pictures of some of the characters in this book, in that library.

Oh, really?

That's wonderful.

I'll definitely now have to because I--there are three real characters in this book.

Yes.

The director, Mrs. Ritter.

And then there was a Russian man.

Russian-French.

Yeah.

Boris.

Yes.

And the third one was, oh, an American woman from Ohio that went to Paris and met a French count and she became the countess to Qamar.

Isn't that exciting?

Very fancy.

I like it.

And so they were real characters in the book.

There are a lot of other very interesting characters, but the author who, as I said, worked at the American Library, she added them because they added such a touch to the story and they represent a kind of every person that was in this era--era and this time frame.

You know, there was Margaret.

Remember Margaret?

Yeah.

How would you describe her?

The English woman?

She's English, but she came from a little bit different background, so she wasn't maybe as proper as you would think for an English person of that period of time.

Yes.

She was pretty, pretty cheeky.

Yes.

Very fun.

Someone you want to be around?

Yes.

Yes.

And she didn't get along very well with her husband.

He was gone quite a bit.

And she was a volunteer at the library.

And she was precious.

I mean, she came in and helped and she ran into some difficulties during this story, come back and haunt her.

During the war, she takes on a German lover.

A Nazi lover.

And that leads to not very pleasant things after the war.

Right.

But she's Odile's, you know, the main character's best friend.

And it definitely all comes to a head at the end, right?

That's--.

Oh, my gosh.

It does.

Yes.

Her friend, Odile's friend, Margaret.

Yes.

She--she is punished by the French for collaborating with this Nazi.

And these stories are true.

They happened all the time after the war.

But it's very--it just hit you in the face because you're there when this all happens.

And Boris.

I liked Boris.

I did, too.

Well, he was a great character.

And, you know, he gets shot in the book.

And that's apparently true, that he survived being shot by a Nazi.

He--in the lungs.

He had two bullet wounds and he was the one that was smuggling books to the Jewish people.

The Nazis came in and said, 'You cannot let any of those people into the library'.

And of course, they went--they delivered books to the Nazi apartments, to the--I mean, to the Jewish apartments.

And--and so that these people could--.

Still read and be a part of the library.

And it was their way of resisting, you know, Nazi power.

They didn't believe what was going on was right.

And it was their way to say we still support, you know, these subscribers to our library.

Well, it was pretty exciting getting used to this.

They also had the German book inspector.

Yes.

Dr. Fuchs.

Fuchs came in and told them, 'Ah, you have to really book criticizing the Germans', and they--he made them take them all out.

Yeah.

But he didn't make them destroy them.

Yeah that's true.

Yeah.

Well he would come in and they were used to him.

But the--Mrs. Ritter, at the--after the start of the war, she developed a service for soldiers in England, in France.

And the--well, the Americans weren't in the war yet, and the Czechs and sent books from the library so these soldiers could read.

I mean, they had a lot going on and--.

Well, it helped to take their mind off, you know, everything that was going on if they were in the hospital or had gotten injured.

So it was a wonderful program.

But also so they could get news and see what was happening in other places in the world.

I remember one of the people specifically asked for National Geographic.

That was what they wanted to read.

Well, yes, it's really good.

Well, we're putting our finishing touches on what we're going to take to the stove.

And I'm going to--oh, look how pretty this is.

Yeah, doesn't it look gorgeous?

It's so French, the copper pot.

So are you going to bring the pot with you?

Yes, I am.

Let's go.

And you're coming.

And I tell you what I'm going to do.

I'm going to pour this sauce on my chicken and I have to get a cloth here.

You see, this has to be done.

Oh, you have such a clean stove here.

Oh, my gosh.

Look at this oven.

It's just made to get dirty by cooking, right.

We need to get it dirty.

Needs to be used.

And we're in the soup kitchen here at Ashley's.

What are you doing over here?

Yes.

So I have added the butter and the flour to start the brew, and ths--'ll just take about a minute and then we'll add more things as we go.

But we're here to talk about the Paris Library.

Yes, we're talking about the Paris Library.

And it's written by an American who worked there.

And the story is true, which I find amazing.

I think it's wonderful that so many people were actually alive and part of it.

And--and that made it into the book and made it come alive much more.

And it shows the importance of the librarians at a time of stress, what they did for the people in France and the soldiers from several other countries.

I just was impressed by their care.

In fact, the one lady who was the director, she slept in the basement of the library to protect everything during the war.

Mrs. Reeder had a little cot in the basement.

Yeah.

And then the other directories.

She spent the night there, too, to protect people as well.

And so it makes you think where they really hiding, you know, other things than just books.

Just protecting books?

Were they hiding people?

So are you going to check this and see what's going on?.

We're going to stir this up a little bit?

So the butter is melting.

So it looks good in here.Yeah.

And then are you adding your onions?

Yeah.

Then we're going to add some onions.

Always have to have onions.

Oh, and look how nicely chopped they are there.

That's great.

You know, when I use onions in the kitchen, I just get so sad.

I cry, and it's just awful.

That's why we had to chop those off camera.

A few minutes to go here.

You're getting it all together?

Yep.

And we're going to add the leeks and potatoes now into the soup.

Look at that.

This is going to serve many.

Yes, it's big portions.

Yes.

So you have potatoes, chopped leeks, onion and a sort of a white sauce.

And then we're going to add some vegetable broth here to help get this going.

Great.

It adds a golden color to it, too, you know, that vegetable broth has that golden--golden touch.

Yes.

And then just add some spices, however much you like.

Salt and pepper.

Just want to make sure it gets in there in the beginning so it really can soak in while it's cooking for twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes.

All right.

You've all got your pencil and paper.

You're taking notes.

That's great.

That's just great.

So you do about a medium heat.

Is that what you have?

Yep.

About a medium heat.

And put the lid on.

So I'm just going to turn this up a little bit.

To number four.

Yes.

Good.

And then it sits there for about twenty minutes.

Okay.

We've got that set.

We've got the chicken and the broccoli and the potatoes in the oven.

All I have to do a little later on is add the figs and we'll have our meal.

But the second segment, we're going to make a special drink called The Sidecar, so don't go away.

All right.

You know what?

We're going to take a little break.

We want to show you the outside of the picture of the outside of the American Library in Paris.

And stay with us.

Join us and come back to Paris with us for the next segment.

We'll be right back.

And we're back.

And our book is The Paris Library, and we are in the home of Ashley Martin and cooking up a storm.

I am going to just take a moment to walk over and put the figs in my chicken dish.

All right.

Well, I'm going to start the chocolate mousse.

So I have my semi-sweet chocolate chips in here and some warm, heavy cream.

So I'll put those together and let that sit for a couple minutes while it melts the chocolate chips.

And I was able to finish my soup earlier.

I put in the heavy cream and then put it into a blender.

You could also use an emulsifier if you have one of those.

So it's nice and creamy and all ready to go now.

For the rest of the chocolate mousse, then we add the cold, heavy cream.

And the powdered sugar.

I like to use Mexican vanilla extract, giving it a little something different mood and a little bit of powdered espresso.

Give it a little kick there, too.

Wow.

This is quite a production.

This is just not like opening a package and adding milk.

No.

It is more difficult.

It's lovely, what you're doing.

Yes.

This is one of my favorite desserts.

Absolutely.

I just love it.

Chocolate mousse.

There are so many ways to do it.

You can't do it wrong.

Correct.

Yes, it is.

It does take a little bit if you do it the French way, which I'm trying to come as close as I can.

They had a recipe that had you separate eggs and beat them separately and then add them together with the chocolate.

So the mousse was really a foam, and that's what mousse means in French; foam.

And you're getting a foam right now.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying for.

Yes.

So we have our--our other dishes cooking and we are at this point going to introduce a French drink.

After you get your mousse together.

And I'm going to make a sidecar, which it was--.

That was great.

Well, have you ever had one?.

I've never had one.

Oh, good.

So you won't know what it tastes like.

Exactly.

Well, the sidecar was--was invented in Europe at the time when the motorcycles added that little sidecar to the motorcycle and two men or a man and a woman would rush up to a bar and would get off--obviously, get off their motorcycle and ask for this drink.

And so they called it a sidecar.

I'm going to be mixing up a little bit of Courvoisier and some Cointreau, which is a little sweeter with some orange juice.

We're going to shake it with some ice and pour it over some ice and we'll have a refreshing, relaxing drink.

So that's what's happening here.

And you've added now the chocolate.

Yeah.

And it's all melted and the heavy cream in there.

So it's all melted and looking good to go.

I think that's terrific.

Okay, I'm going to squeeze--I love using this thing.

The first time I used it, I had it upside down and nothing was coming out.

And somebody called me at home and said, You didn't do that right.

You'd be surprised what you hear sometimes.

Yes.

I'm going to add the chocolate part to the other ingredients that I have here in the bowl and going to whisk those together to try to get a frothy mousse, even though I did not use the eggs.

Good.

I always worried about that.

But the French, you know, they have desserts.

They don't cook the eggs always.

So I said, okay, not going to worry.

Oh, this is very nice.

It's turning into a nice mixture here.

Yes, very great.

Terrific, terrific.

And let's see, we have now I'm going to put the drink in here.

I'm going to put everything in here.

We're going to do a Courvoisier--Cointreau that's 2 to 1.

So this will be--and I'm going to make two in here.

So we're going to have a lot of liquid.

Oh, great.

I've got to try the right way here.

So two parts will be Cointreau to one part Courvoisier.

But you can do whatever you want, if you like, more Courvoisier.

There's no rule saying you have to have it 2 to 2.

But I liked it a little sweeter.

So we'll get two of these.

All right.

Well, it's funny you said two parts, and it reminded me of our book, The Paris Library, because it's kind of a dueling story.

Two parts.

Thank you.

You know, there's the story set in Paris, France, and then there's the story set in Montana.

And in the beginning, you're kind of like, how did she go from Paris to Montana?

And you don't find out until the very end what really happened and why--why she's in Montana, why Odile ended up there.

Yes, it's such a French woman, you know, and she married Paul, but found out that he had really attacked Margaret, one of her best friends after the war, actually broke her wrist and shaved her head because she had had a Nazi lover.

And he was, you know, mad about the war in general, but took it out on--on Margaret.

And when Odile found out, she was obviously horrified and felt like she had betrayed her friend and she wanted the best for her friend and she knew she needed the Paris Library.

And so that's why she felt like she had to leave.

She did leave.

And we don't hear about her until she's already in Montana.

And, you know, this big leap and we're in cowboy country and it's this dual theme, which sometimes I like, sometimes I don't.

And I just like the French part of it.

In Paris, I said, Oh, we don't need Montana.

But it was an important part, wasn't it?

It was.

And I guess I did like the dual parts.

I guess it kind of kept me interested.

Like, how do these two places relate to each other?

And it was nice, you know, when Lily was introduced into the story, the girl from Montana and how Odile had a relationship with her and how she helped her grow and--.

Yes.

And taught her French.

Exactly.

And they had one of those magical relationships of an older woman with a young girl.

And they both meshed and they--they needed each other.

And that was the nice part of that, I thought.

I did, too.

Yes.

And was able to teach her some lessons that Odile, unfortunately, had to learn the hard way.

Yes.

Nobody was telling her--well, her dad was always telling her 'You don't go out with boys.

No, you don't go out'.

And her mother said, 'You don't do this.

You don't do that'.

And I think that's why she kind of really ran off with this first husband.

And then she comes to America and she meets an American.

She met him someplace.

She met him at the hospital in Paris.

She went--she went there and was volunteering.

Right.

So many details.

Yes.

Because she was volunteering.

Because she didn't know what to do after she had hurt her friend and felt like she couldn't go back to her family because they didn't believe in divorce and--.

Oh, yes.

Right.

And so that's why she ultimately ran away with Duke.

But I think that was her American husband's name, right?

I don't even think--did she get divorced?

I don't.

I don't think so.

We don't worry about that because--.

Run away to a different country and got married somewhere else.

And--and so Odile Souchet ends her days in America.

Lily grows up, I guess--I guess she goes to college.

And back in Paris, we don't know what happened to Paul or any of the other-- well, we do know the three main characters.

Yes, we know them.

And then we did find out at the end that Margaret did have a successful career and still had a relationship with her daughter, even though her husband had moved back to England with the daughter.

Well, you know, and he was really nasty.

He was.

After Margaret was beaten up by Paul and his group.

Her husband took pictures of her in that state to prove she was an unfit mother that ever went to court.

So there's so many streams in this book.

It's not just reading books, it's what actually happened to people.

What's happening to this mousse?

It's looking good.

It's thickening up.

And I'm going to put it in a couple bowls and I'll have to put it in the fridge for a little bit to really thicken up and get that mousse texture.

And we want to talk also a little bit about Montana and how it regarded newcomers a little bit like many areas in the United States, people were kind of leery of outsiders and--and they always looked at Odile like, what is she wearing now?

She always dressed up, didn't she?

She did.

Well, she's from Paris.

She liked fashion, and.

She wore high heels to Mass and she had a red belt.

She wore a perky little hat.

And all the other women, you know, are starting let themselves go.

And they look at her like, what?

What is she doing?

And so you have a little bit of all these sort of things going on in--in the book.

And it does expand it.

It grabs you at times and you wonder, you know, oh, what a time to be in Paris.

But did you have a favorite moment?

A favorite moment?

I think one of my favorites was in the early in the book when Margaret invites Odile over and she gets to wear the fancy dress and all dressed up and go to the diplomat dinner.

And she just had a fabulous time and got to wear the, what you think of as Parisian clothes, the fancy gown.

So I guess that was one of my favorite.

It was nice she had a chance to do it, but it also made her quite jealous of Margaret in her life.

But I think we should have a little toast.

Yeah, I think so, too.

To the American Library?

Yes, definitely.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Paris.

Let's see--Let's see if we have the right amount here.

You can add anything else you want.

Oh, I'm sure it's great.

This is a sidecar.

Rather refreshing, wouldn't you say?

Oh, that's wonderful.

I think it is, too.

So we are going to finish our dishes, set the table, and we have a nice dining room table set for you.

So come along and join us.

Pretend like we're in Paris.

And we'll be right back.

And here we are at our French dinner here in Ashley's beautiful house, and we have wonderful drinks.

And I think that gives us an idea about the veuve clicquot .

We have to have champagne if we're talking about France.

Yes, we do.

Let's have it.

Yes, we can--We can have some right alongside of our sidecar.

Exactly.

Here we are.

We're having quite a time.

It's a fabulous French meal.

It is.

It really is.

We have the chicken and figs and orange sauce and broccoli.

Everything's roasted.

Some French bread.

And we have this marvelous soup that probably has, what, 2000 calories?

Yes.

The heavy cream is not on the diet menu, but it tastes wonderful.

And everything is made from scratch.

Look at this dessert.

This is just divine.

I love it.

Yeah.

We're separating and stirring and melting, so it's the real thing.

It really is.

And I just want to say, I liked the book.

I could have said--I could have stayed in Paris for the whole time, but I'm glad they brought the American side in.

What do you think about that?

I did like seeing the French and American side and hearing kind of some of the different opinions about the war and how it was looked at when you were in it versus kind of outside it.

I thought that was interesting.

It really was.

And I bet, you know, I kind of grew up after the war, but I this was always in our family discussion and everything going on.

We didn't talk about champagne or--or soup with leeks, but what was going on in France.

So I think I'd like to have a toast with veuve clicquot to you.

Ashley, thank you very much.

Well, cheers to you.

Thank you for inviting me.

This has been wonderful.

And you're a great host as always.

You're a great guest and host as always.

Yes.

So I just wanted to say one of my--I'm going to taste this before I make a pithy statement.

This is veuve clicquot.

Very nice.

So good.

I have to say that one of my favorite parts was the way the women could outfox Mr. Fuchs, who was the Nazi overseer of libraries, and he would come in and look at things and they say, 'Oh, we'll remove that if you don't like it' and I don't know.

Not sure if they really did remove it.

But--and I liked the fact that they were giving books to people that couldn't come into the library.

What was your favorite part?

I really enjoyed--I also liked the part about Lily and hearing her story about growing up and how she got into French, and that Odile in the end gave her a ticket to Paris so she could go to the American Library in Paris.

That was so great.

That was such a great ending.

So thank you very much, Ashley, for having us here again.

Oh, you're welcome.

Had a great time.

And remember, good food, good friends, good books, good travels make for a very good life.

We'll see you next time.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and the Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart celebrating the Spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.