Currently enjoying Kitchen Yarns Notes on Life, Love and Food by Ann Hood. This author has taken the essential premise of eatprayreadlife.com and effortlessly written a book around it. Part memoir, part cookbook, Kitchen Yarns is an Italian American girl’s story from a tiny Rhode Island kitchen, to a career as a world traveling flight attendant, through two marriages, motherhood and lots and lots of cooking of comfort food in between.
Thanks to Jan O for this little gem. My own New York Irish mom learned well from her Italian friends and family to make her own spaghetti sauce (we didn’t call it gravy), similar to ‘Gogo’s Sauce’ page 151. This book’s table of contents will have your mouth watering, so don’t read while hungry!
The Collected Stories of Colette, edited by Robert Phelps
A quick review of a collection of short stories seems fitting. Spoiler: I only scratched the surface of this 600 page collection. I see it as a refreshing dip into Colette’s intimate, detailed and uniquely lovely look at life and love. Thirty-one of the 100 little tales appear in this volume translated into English for the first time.
The Colette, Sidonie–Gabrielle Colette keeps company with other talented artists who have no need for a second name. Think Austen, Hemingway, Moliere.
I was enchanted and entertained by these richly simple vignettes. Just consider some of the titles, ‘Cheri’, “The Pearls,’ ‘My Goddaughter’, ‘The Saleswoman’, ‘In the Boudoir’, ‘What Must We Look Like?’, ‘Sleepless Nights’
Colette masterfully employs a rare writing style of Dialogues for One Voice. Seven little gems of conversation written and revealed to the reader through only one side. Par exemple from ‘My Goddaughter’.
"Is it you who's calling me, Godmother? I'm here, under the stairs."
"...?"
"No, Godmother, I'm not sulking."
"...?"
"No, Godmother, I'm not crying anymore. I'm done now. But I'm very discouraged."
"...?"
"Oh, its always the same thing, for a change. I'm mad at Mama. And she's mad at me, too."
"...?"
"Why 'naturally'? No, not 'naturally' at all! There are times when she's mad without me being mad back -it depends on if she's right."
"...!"
This dialogue style makes the brain work differently, but when it is so naturally written it takes little effort to understand the unwritten voice in the conversation.
Colette is perhaps most famous for authoring ‘Gigi and the Cat‘, which served as the inspiration for Lerner & Loewe’s musical adaptation of another singular named work, ‘Gigi‘. With an all French cast, the film feels authentic to the author’s vision and to the era. It is a warm and colorful romp through Paris following the many intricacies of love, love affairs and the stages of love through the eyes of the old and the very young.
‘Fire in the Belly’ is the title. Van Morrison is the poet composer. I discovered this version on an inspired CD called, “Duets: Reworking the Catalog”, where Van pairs up with a different talented artist on each selection from his vast library of compositions. A new, soulful spin is assured on each track. In the rework of ‘Fire in the Belly’ he records with the esteemed Steve Winwood.
His lyrics speak of ‘spring in my heart’, and references to laughter, stars and clouds. All good and even a little giddy in tone, and it serves to remind that each month is unique and beauty can be found whenever we look. That said, I find myself leaning on the mantra hidden in the refrain.
‘Gotta get through January. Gotta get through February’
Call of the wildest, it’s got the best of you Fire in my heart, fire in my belly too Got a heart and a mind and a fire inside And I’m crazy about you You, you on your high flying cloud You, you when you’re laughing out loud You, you with your hidden surprise You
Stoke up my engine, bring me my driving wheel Once I get started you’ll see just how I feel And I’m crazy about you And I’m crazy about you And I’m crazy about you You, you on your high flying cloud You, you when you’re laughing out loud You, you with your hidden surprise You
Gotta get through January Gotta get through February Gotta get through January Gotta get through February Gotta get through January Gotta get through February Gotta get through January
Spring in my heart, fire in my belly too I come apart, I don’t know just what to do Got a heart and a mind and a fire inside And I’m crazy about you You, you on your high flying cloud You, you with the laugh in your eyes You, you with your hidden surprise You
Gotta get through January Gotta get through February Gotta get through January Gotta get through February Gotta get through January Gotta get through February Gotta get through January
Spring in my heart, fire in my belly too I come apart, I don’t know just what to do Got a heart and a mind and a fire inside And I’m crazy about you You, you on your high flying cloud You, you with the laugh in your eyes You, you with your hidden surprise You
Talkin’ ’bout you Talkin’ ’bout you Talkin’ ’bout you Talkin’ ’bout you Talkin’ ’bout you Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you) Talkin’ ’bout you (fire in the belly too)Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you) Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you) Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you) Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you) Talkin’ ’bout you (talkin’ ’bout you) Talkin’ ’bout you
This book was published in 1998 as a memoir of author Bill Bryson’s decision to hike the Appalachian Trail. He subtitles the story, ‘Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail’, and he manages to interject a fair amount of information about the US Forest Service history, geologic and mining history and lamentations on environmental destruction due to mining and acid rain.
The characters Bryson interacts with are all overshadowed by his colorful hiking buddy, Steven Katz. ‘Katz’, with his health issues, and overall approach to life feature prominently and Bryson has traveled and written about his adventures with Katz before in ‘Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe. Theirs is a weirdly symbiotic relationship on which Bryson burnishes the rough edges to softly here. Note: I strongly recommend against watching the movie version with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. It misfires again and again and I’m sorry Mr. Redford, but I’d like those two hours of my life back!
The book recounts Bryson’s quest from purchasing gear, to reading up on the many deadly dangers that hikers can, and have, encountered. Bears, and how to avoid being mauled to death, is a topic that comes up quite a few times. The book would have been richer if Bryson had included a better time frame from chapter to chapter, giving the reader an appreciation of the demands of the trail, section by section. The map at the beginning of the book is helpful, but no surprise, I would have liked to see more detailed maps and routes! Another of Bryson’s justified complaints is the lack of good maps for the hiker back in 1998. Access to a good map is always one of the keys to a good travel experience, whether on foot, wheels or from your armchair. Here’s an interactive example of how far we’ve come in 22 years courtesy of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) and National Park Service using ESRI’s Arc GIS Online mapping technology, and a big disclaimer: While useful, this map is for general reference purposes only and not intended to replace the more comprehensive and accurate A.T. printed hiking maps, available from the Ultimate Appalachian Trail Store.
If you are interested in the history of the AT, Bryson does a good job introducing the reader to the two men primarily responsible for bringing the trail into being. He introduces Benton MacKaye, a regional planner who first proposed the trail’s concept in 1920, to Myron Avery who worked to complete the project. Once again, The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is a good place to learn a lot more.
Only one in four who attempt to through-hike the trail succeed the 2190+ mile endeavor. It’s a hike I don’t have on my bucket list, but one that inspires me just the same.
I would venture to guess we all know an ‘Eeyore’, as in someone who embodies the soul of pessimistic living. I worked with one such fellow years ago, whom I nicknamed, ‘Stoner the Moaner.’ His worldview can be summed up by his thoughts on the Summer Solstice.
Solstice: Sunrises Around the Year Image Credit & Copyright:Zaid M. Al-Abbadi
On the day most of us celebrate warm, long sunny days with our gardens sprouting forth their early bounty, and creatures great and small filling our landscapes, my Mr. Eeyore saw things differently. And to be fair, he was absolutely, factually right. On the 21st of June, he could be heard saying, “Well now the days are getting shorter. I can almost feel the cold November chill in the air.”
So thank you ‘Stoner the Moaner’ and Eeyors everywhere. Tonight is the longest, darkest night of a long, dark year, and your perspective helps to remind myself that the days are getting longer and I can almost feel the warm June breeze in the air.
Go to this site at NASA for the Astronomy Picture of the Day daily dose of cosmic beauty! My wish is for clear skies for you tonight (not so lucky here), so you can view the closest passing of Jupiter and Saturn, known as ‘The Great Conjuction’. Technically, the closest pass happens on 21 December at 18:20 UTC, and not seen this close since the year 1623.
A sixteen year old boy from Kansas takes his fascination for birds to the highest level in his quest to locate and identify birds in the US and Mexico in the early 1970s. As Kaufman clarifies in the early pages of his memoir, he can’t accept what he does as ‘birdwatching’ because that has a passive connotation. Rather, his story describes the passionate, and in his case, relentless act of ‘birding’. Kaufman decides to attempt what is known as “A Big Year”, a competition to tally a staggering 600+ bird species in a single calendar year.
Think for a moment about the pre-cellphone, pre-Google maps era as people traveled great distances to follow the enigmatic patterns of migratory birds over the course of a year. Now, imagine being broke, no income, no car and no permanent place to call home and you begin to envision the determination this quest required. Aside from coordinated meetings with fellow birders at seasonal events and specific locations, Kaufman hitchhiked across the nation, and astoundingly even up into the farthest reaches of Alaska, to find and tally “his” birds. The weather alone proved challenging, not to mention finding reliable, safe rides. He spent countless hours standing on the roads of America watching cars and trucks pass him by.
With wonderfully descriptive chapter titles like; Finding the Road, California Influence, Strategy and Hard Weather, To the Promised Landfill, Dry Tortugas, A Thousand Miles of Gravel, The Edge of the World, Exhausting the Possibilities, and Border Patrol, the reader comes to appreciate the many decisive points along the journey. The inclusion of a map showing the route described in each chapter is invaluable as the saga unfolds. Of course, there are good illustrations of a handful of birds which are credited to Kenn Kaufman himself. Kaufman is also the author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America, a bible in the hands of those who know a little or a lot about birding.
Does the young guy achieve the highest tally of the year? No spoiler here, but as the quest wears him out, and still exhilarates him, the author learns a lifetime’s worth of sacrifice and reward.
A few notes from this chef’s kitchen. All of these recipes recommend tasting the melon before deciding how much sugar or honey you’ll want to use. Also, each recipe has you toss and then transfer the salad to a shallow bowl and then add the remaining portions of divided items. I made these table-side at picnics and found that step won’t be missed if you need to skip it.
Watermelon Salad with Cotija and Serrano Chiles
1/3 Cup lime juice (3 limes) 2 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced thin
Combine lime juice, scallion whites and serranos in large bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar, if using and salt. Add watermelon, 1/2 cup cotija, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1/4 cup pepitas, and scallion greens. Stir to combine.
Transfer to a shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle with remaining Cotija, cilantro and pepitas and serve.
1 cantaloupe, peeled, halved, seeded and cut into 11/2 inch chunks (6 cups)
5 TBS chopped fresh parsley, divided
5 TBS chopped fresh mint, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped pitted, oil cured olives, divided
Combine onion and lemon juice in a large bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in honey, if using, Aleppo pepper and salt. Add cantaloupe, 1/4 cup parsley, 1/4 cup mint and 3 TBS olives and stir to combine.
Transfer to shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle with remaining parsley, mint and olives and serve.
Serves 4 to 6 Prep time: 20 minutes
Honeydew Salad with Peanuts and Lime
1/3 cup lime juice (3 limes)
1 shallot, sliced thin
2 Thai chiles, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp table salt
1-2 TBS sugar (optional)
1 TBS fish sauce
1 honeydew melon, peeled, halved, seeded and cut into 1/12 inch chunks (6 cups)
Combine lime juice and shallot in large bowl. Using mortar and pestle (or cutting board using flat side of chef’s knife) mash Thai chiles, garlic and salt to a fine paste. Add chile paste, sugar (if using) and fish sauce to lime juice mixture and stir to combine. Add honeydew, 1/4 C cilantro, 1/4 C mint and 1/4 C peanuts and toss to combine.
Transfer to shallow serving bowl. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro, mint and peanuts and serve.
This true account of the author’s ancestors between 1871 and 2009 moves along slowly, almost serenely, and I believe with good reason. His focus from the beginning of this archival labor of love is an inherited 264 piece collection of Japanese netsuke.
Don’t know what those are? Neither did I, and I realize that while the author includes photos of people and places, maps and a family tree, I wish he would have included a photo or illustration of these treasures. I found this article in The Guardian which highlights just a few.
ne·tsu·ke/ˈnetso͝oˌkē,ˈnets(ə)ˌkā/
a small carved ornament, especially of ivory or wood, worn as part of Japanese traditional dress as a toggle by which an article may be attached to the sash of a kimono.
The Ephrussi family banking empire began in Odessa, and their wealth and prestige grew as they ultimately lived in Paris, Switzerland and Austria. The author takes his time describing the family members. They were art collectors, businessmen, ladies of society, lawyers, engineers, and they also happened to be Jewish at a dangerous time in history.
Anti-semitism compelled them to leave Paris, but nothing could help them avoid the night of March 11, 1938 when their slowly unraveling freedoms and peace came to a cataclysmic end in the Anchluss.
The netsuke collection’s amazing journey and survival give De Waal a rope to pull the story from letters, archives and interviews. It’s a testament to holding on to things and letting go as well. Perhaps they are simply too precious to him to share a photo with us, the readers of his story.
