One Book One Valley The Estes Valley Library Partners With Bird & Jim

One Book One Valley

Estes Valley Library invites you to join us in reading The Mountains Sing by Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, chosen by Estes Valley readers as the 2022 One Book One Valley. You can watch a video greeting with the author, including her special message to Estes Valley residents. The Library invites readers to check out a copy of this winning book. It’s also available for download in eBook and eAudio formats. All you’ll need is your Library Card. Or you can visit or call Macdonald Book Shop to purchase a personal copy.

Bird & Jim’s Pairing Dish By Chef Thomas Newsted 

10% Off Bánh Xèo With Library Card 

Bánh xèo is a Vietnamese Crepe made with rice flour. The crepe(s) are cooked with pork belly, shrimp and designed to be rolled in leafy lettuce such as green or red leaf lettuce filled with herbs like mint, basil, ngo gai (an herb reminiscent of mint and cilantro). In our case, we will be using cilantro, thai basil, mint, and shiso.  Accompanied by a dipping sauce made up of; fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, shredded daikon, shredded carrot, and chili paste. We will serve 2 crepes per order with all of the fixings on the side. This can be enjoyed with a fork or knife, but traditionally handheld.  I wanted to highlight a dish that incorporates all the parts, that embraces my childhood, life experiences, and colonial French influence for a better part of a decade. My life started in Vietnam until the age of 7, where I arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi. After 1 year, I moved to Florida to live with my Father who is from Washington State, my second mother, Nancy who is from North Carolina, and here I am figuring out how everyone consumes different styles of food learning all of the differences that go along with that experience. Through life’s progress, hospitality became my career and life’s work, mainly through hotels and restaurants. Then I married my wife, Marisol who is from Acapulco, Mexico, continuing to dive into different cultures, expanding upon what had been a trend of experiences. So this dish through the cooking methods of pork belly, French influence with crepe making and by name, herbs, aromatics, presentation, and sharing experience, I felt was the best fit for a library event, highlighting Vietnam through all of its evolution and influences.