A cup of tea and a bit of book chat - September with The Conductor and Yoghurt Banana Muffins

Every quite often it seems a New Zealand author writes a book that I love so much that I can't stop talking about it. In the last few years there was Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, then Mr Pip, and this time it is.....The Conductor by Sarah Quigley.

The Conductor by Sarah Quigley

It's cold, it's spare and it's very stark, but Sarah Quigley has created something powerfully beautiful in this book that follows the story of the composition and first performance of Shostakovich's 7th symphony amidst the seige on Leningrad by the Nazi's in 1941.

Based around the story of Shostakovich’s single-minded endeavour to write his 7^th Symphony, and see it performed, the book shows the lengths that an artist will go to to express himself. While most people are fleeing the city, and others starving and dying, Shostakovich determinedly writes his piece of music, and it falls upon conductor Karl Eliasberg to rise above his own starvation and grief to bring together those who remain of his second-rate Radio Orchestra to perform it.

It's a book to be taken slowly, appreciating the flaws and weaknesses of human nature, absorbing the vivid, steely imagery, feeling the pervasive cold and hunger, and hearing the layers of story in the music.

And if, after all that, you need a bit of comfort food here is my current favourite; a healthy, wholesome muffin recipe. Hope you like them.

Banana Yoghurt Muffins

Wholesome Banana Yoghurt Muffins

1 cup flour
1/2 oatmeal (or just make this amount up with flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
200g yoghurt
1/2 cup milk

Sift all the dry ingredients together, and in a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring lightly till just combined. Spoon into muffin tins, and bake at 200 C for 12-15 minutes.

So yum, and no butter in sight!