A month or so ago my mom sent me some cookbooks, among them this pamphlet from 1988 of recipes using Thomas' English Muffins.
It's an effective marketing tool. I about rushed out to buy myself some English muffins after taking a look, and truly it's an unique item--half bread, half bun. A flexible gustatory instument. And lots of these recipes look pretty good, in a stuff on a muff sort of way. Vanilla yogurt, some granola and sliced stawberries--it's an "Earthly Delight." Lot of hamburger variations on a muffin. The Shrimp Louis Muffin is elegant party fare.
It's when the recipe calls for you to pervert the simple muffin in such a fashion as to turn it into a "souffle" that it becomes ridiculous. And the height of absurdity is the "Thomas' Baked Alaska," which calls for a raisin(!) muffin topped with ice cream, meringue, and baked at high heat. It's the raisin muffin that gets me. Thomas' doesn't make anything else that could substitute for a piece of cake?
It strikes me that a "This Is What I Can Do With An English Muffin" would be an excellent idea for a party. The company's already done the contest.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
CSA, Week 9--The Good Stuff Pours In!
A wee baby watermelon! That was what was in my CSA share. Just right for me.
I also got basil (blah), corn, beets (a different, lighter, more fuschia type), a zucchini, a pepper, broccoli, cucumber, yellow beans, and tomatoes. i made BLTs today and will make corn chowder tomorrow.
Julie Powell's love of the baked cucumbers? Yeah, I don't get it. They tasted okay, just not worth having again. Very odd idea, I must say.
I also got basil (blah), corn, beets (a different, lighter, more fuschia type), a zucchini, a pepper, broccoli, cucumber, yellow beans, and tomatoes. i made BLTs today and will make corn chowder tomorrow.
Julie Powell's love of the baked cucumbers? Yeah, I don't get it. They tasted okay, just not worth having again. Very odd idea, I must say.
Breaking Rank--Kristin D. Randle
This book really tries to be The Outsiders, but fails. It's got an intriguing kernel of an idea though.
In an unnamed, dreary, anywhere city there's a group of boys labeled The Clan. They wear all black, they don't participate in school, are all tracked into special ed classes. They skulk around in groups on the outskirts of middle class society, being poor, looking intimidating, sticking to themselves, and ignored.
One of the high school teachers decides to break up The Clan by targeting one Thomas Fairbairn, aka Baby, sending him to the honors track and pairing him with Casey, a combination tutor/guide to the system. It's an awakening for both of them--The Clan turns out to be an organized group started by Baby's older brother and two friends, devoted to Waldenesque ideals of self-education and apprenticeship and Baby has an active mind hidden behind his exterior. Casey's intrigued by him, and Baby's fascinated by her loving middle class family and values. However, this situation threatens and unnverves various other people leading to the classic YA exploration of self vs. group, nonconformity, and that agonizing rite of passage called figuring out who you are and what you want independent of everyone else.
Randle's ham-handed with her deus ex machina points, like the teacher's ability to arrange college plans for Baby and a too easy ending. On the whole, it hampers her narrative and character development, but I love the idea of a boy cult devoted to self education, intellectualism and high ideals.
Book connections: I was very much reminded of the original Hopeless Savages graphic novel, to which I had this same intrigued but disturbed reaction due to its theme of the pressures of family conformity in the guise of nonconformity. And I was also reminded of my current favorite song, Billy Bragg's "To Have And Have Not" with its theme of self-reliance and confidence in the face of low expectations and economic odds. It gives me succor as I think about my job hunt. it also reminds me how much I just flat out like teenage boys.
In an unnamed, dreary, anywhere city there's a group of boys labeled The Clan. They wear all black, they don't participate in school, are all tracked into special ed classes. They skulk around in groups on the outskirts of middle class society, being poor, looking intimidating, sticking to themselves, and ignored.
One of the high school teachers decides to break up The Clan by targeting one Thomas Fairbairn, aka Baby, sending him to the honors track and pairing him with Casey, a combination tutor/guide to the system. It's an awakening for both of them--The Clan turns out to be an organized group started by Baby's older brother and two friends, devoted to Waldenesque ideals of self-education and apprenticeship and Baby has an active mind hidden behind his exterior. Casey's intrigued by him, and Baby's fascinated by her loving middle class family and values. However, this situation threatens and unnverves various other people leading to the classic YA exploration of self vs. group, nonconformity, and that agonizing rite of passage called figuring out who you are and what you want independent of everyone else.
Randle's ham-handed with her deus ex machina points, like the teacher's ability to arrange college plans for Baby and a too easy ending. On the whole, it hampers her narrative and character development, but I love the idea of a boy cult devoted to self education, intellectualism and high ideals.
Book connections: I was very much reminded of the original Hopeless Savages graphic novel, to which I had this same intrigued but disturbed reaction due to its theme of the pressures of family conformity in the guise of nonconformity. And I was also reminded of my current favorite song, Billy Bragg's "To Have And Have Not" with its theme of self-reliance and confidence in the face of low expectations and economic odds. It gives me succor as I think about my job hunt. it also reminds me how much I just flat out like teenage boys.
Come To A Clambake! Save Some Cats!
Heads up! Rainbow Connection is hosting a clambake October 13th to benefit the kitties. I adopted my boys from them, and they have found homes for Gimlet & her kittens, Calcutta and Bombay, and will help Marbles and Specs. They're no-kill, no-declaw, and do a lot to help cats find loving homes, keep the feral population down, and support cat ownerships.
Think about coming to the clambake. You're helping a good cause, and you can meet me and eat my vegan chili and drink my donated wine. It's a tax-deductible donation too.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Here At the Scenic-Vu Motel--Thelma Hatch Wyss
Here's a dirty secret about libraries--they throw away books. Even though I am immune to the sight of books in a dumpster due to the Great Law Firm Purge of '01, the idea of public libraries weeding out and tossing good books, books that I read and loved, makes me cry.
So sometimes I try to give them a little more life by taking out books I've read before and liked. This YA novel from 1988 is a good read but slight. It's the diary of Jake Callahan, who along with 6 other high schoolers is boarded at the Scenic-Vu Motel in Pine Flats, ID. They all come from a hippie family settlement up the mountain 90 minutes away, and the school board will not pay to run bus service up there for a handful of high school students, preferring to pay to board them in town.
Jake's a senior, which mean's he's the defacto leader of the bunch, keeps them on the honor roll and out of trouble with two rules-- "Work Hard" and "Have Fun." His journal details his attempts to come to grips with his unusual family, deal with the burden of being the grownup for the other 6 kids, and attempts to get a social life and some fun out of his last year of school. They all bond with the motel's owner, Mrs. Metz.
Wyss has an engaging voice, but the plot and characters are slim. Not an emotionally gripping tale, but when I was a kid way back when it was an enjoyable read.
So sometimes I try to give them a little more life by taking out books I've read before and liked. This YA novel from 1988 is a good read but slight. It's the diary of Jake Callahan, who along with 6 other high schoolers is boarded at the Scenic-Vu Motel in Pine Flats, ID. They all come from a hippie family settlement up the mountain 90 minutes away, and the school board will not pay to run bus service up there for a handful of high school students, preferring to pay to board them in town.
Jake's a senior, which mean's he's the defacto leader of the bunch, keeps them on the honor roll and out of trouble with two rules-- "Work Hard" and "Have Fun." His journal details his attempts to come to grips with his unusual family, deal with the burden of being the grownup for the other 6 kids, and attempts to get a social life and some fun out of his last year of school. They all bond with the motel's owner, Mrs. Metz.
Wyss has an engaging voice, but the plot and characters are slim. Not an emotionally gripping tale, but when I was a kid way back when it was an enjoyable read.
Book News
Okay, so I was reading Publisher's Weekly at the Ref Desk last month and saw that the American Girls series has a new character--Julie, a girl growing up in 1976 San Franscisco. I about died and felt so very old that the 1970's are now historical, even thought I was a toddler in 1976. Miss G., who's a bit older than me, was charmed and wants the whole set. She has the Little Miss G(s) to think of.
Logically, I know I'm in my thirties, but I so do not want to believe it.
The JT Leroy scandal ends and we should all feel so very sorry for its fucked up perpetrator. Um, no. It was fraud--it's one thing to have an alias and a writing persona, but it crosses the line when the character of the author and the spectacle she creates and uses to sell the books eclipses the quality of the writing.
Slate's take on the Alvarez book is much like mine, but a little harsher.
And no one reads. The few of us who do read, read a lot, in order to make up for the rest of you. Isn't there a WPA-like program for that, subsidizing us great readers so we can benefit the rest of you?
Logically, I know I'm in my thirties, but I so do not want to believe it.
The JT Leroy scandal ends and we should all feel so very sorry for its fucked up perpetrator. Um, no. It was fraud--it's one thing to have an alias and a writing persona, but it crosses the line when the character of the author and the spectacle she creates and uses to sell the books eclipses the quality of the writing.
Slate's take on the Alvarez book is much like mine, but a little harsher.
And no one reads. The few of us who do read, read a lot, in order to make up for the rest of you. Isn't there a WPA-like program for that, subsidizing us great readers so we can benefit the rest of you?
Librarian Links Roundup
Shelf Check is a hilarious look at the library world.
Numbers 26, 27, 37, 38 and 47 are especially funny, but I howled through the whole thing. It's the dog days of summer--the library world goes nuts.
Library Career Romances is a bit of historical pop culture ripe for feminist analysis. My favorite is The Loveliest Librarian, as I have also found beauty to be an asset in library work. Face it, the patrons will stalk you even if you are plain--you might as well dress up and enjoy yourself.
Bookhunter is an amusing graphic novel set in 1973 about the theft of a rare book. A little long, but well grounded in that early 1970's cinema style--it reminds me of Bullitt.
Numbers 26, 27, 37, 38 and 47 are especially funny, but I howled through the whole thing. It's the dog days of summer--the library world goes nuts.
Library Career Romances is a bit of historical pop culture ripe for feminist analysis. My favorite is The Loveliest Librarian, as I have also found beauty to be an asset in library work. Face it, the patrons will stalk you even if you are plain--you might as well dress up and enjoy yourself.
Bookhunter is an amusing graphic novel set in 1973 about the theft of a rare book. A little long, but well grounded in that early 1970's cinema style--it reminds me of Bullitt.
You Know You Want This Job
Archivist Internship
Jerry Bruckheimer Inc. has an unpaid internship in its Santa Monica office for a library archive student. The ideal candidate has strong organization and communication skills. Must be a proactive self-starter with proven time management skills and the ability to multi-task. Must have a working knowledge of PC and networking technologies.
This is a great opportunity to obtain hands on practical experience in the archival profession while working for one of the most reputable entertainment companies in the industry.
Assist Archivist with the following responsibilities:
-Researching and procuring periodicals pertaining to Jerry Bruckheimer
and all Jerry Bruckheimer business entities, including Film and Television
-Scanning and cataloguing articles into searchable database
-Preserving and storing originals
-Recalling and printing articles for staff members
Qualifications:
Education:
Must currently be enrolled in an accredited college or university with the ability to receive academic credit . Students that are enrolled in a Masters of Library Sciences program are highly preferred
Associate or 4 year degree a plus, preferably with an emphasis in archiving or library science.
Skills/Competencies Required/Desired:
-Competent and demonstrated ability to work with various
industry-standard publishing software applications such as Photoshop, Acrobat, and MS office
-Demonstrated exceptional organizational skills
-Good written and verbal communication skills
-Patience and strong interpersonal and customer service skills
-An understanding and appreciation for the importance of protecting the company's image and legacy
Please send a cover letter and resume to: jbinterns@yahoo.com with "Archival Internship" in the Subject line.
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER!
Jerry Bruckheimer Inc. has an unpaid internship in its Santa Monica office for a library archive student. The ideal candidate has strong organization and communication skills. Must be a proactive self-starter with proven time management skills and the ability to multi-task. Must have a working knowledge of PC and networking technologies.
This is a great opportunity to obtain hands on practical experience in the archival profession while working for one of the most reputable entertainment companies in the industry.
Assist Archivist with the following responsibilities:
-Researching and procuring periodicals pertaining to Jerry Bruckheimer
and all Jerry Bruckheimer business entities, including Film and Television
-Scanning and cataloguing articles into searchable database
-Preserving and storing originals
-Recalling and printing articles for staff members
Qualifications:
Education:
Must currently be enrolled in an accredited college or university with the ability to receive academic credit . Students that are enrolled in a Masters of Library Sciences program are highly preferred
Associate or 4 year degree a plus, preferably with an emphasis in archiving or library science.
Skills/Competencies Required/Desired:
-Competent and demonstrated ability to work with various
industry-standard publishing software applications such as Photoshop, Acrobat, and MS office
-Demonstrated exceptional organizational skills
-Good written and verbal communication skills
-Patience and strong interpersonal and customer service skills
-An understanding and appreciation for the importance of protecting the company's image and legacy
Please send a cover letter and resume to: jbinterns@yahoo.com with "Archival Internship" in the Subject line.
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Another A+ Week In Library Science!
The good overwhelmed the bad this week:
1) I explained to our 14 year old Children's Room page what a card catalog was. She thought it must have been a real pain to use. I laughed gently, because we have Sirsi.
2) I had a teaching moment when a patron asked about my scar. It evolved into why you should always wear a seatbelt, and pulling out the encyclopedia to show the humerus and explain what happened. A really good conversation!
3) I was working Children's alone one night this week, and had an awesome night. First I set a boy up with the USA puzzle and got to give Miss Kerry's Persistence Pep Talk when he gave up on it. Then an adult patron who heard it said I had a nice way of talking to the kids and asked about my schedule so she could bring her kids back.
Next day I'm working with Miss M and we had a group of older boys in, all of whom were interested in an afternoon of walking the line between boy and rowdy. At one point, just when I was about to interject again, Miss M comes up with "Calm down. If I have to talk to you again, there's going to be consequences. I'm not all nice like Miss Kerry."
Which made me feel bad, but not for long because she turned and said sotto voice, "Actually, you do well with them. You're firm but nice."
Which is good to know--firm but nice is my goal. And I love it that we can do good cop/bad cop on the kids. Excellent working relationship.
4)Other library job is going to start soon. So they say. Plus I'm being encouraged to apply for the position I'm not sure I want or could do. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
1) I explained to our 14 year old Children's Room page what a card catalog was. She thought it must have been a real pain to use. I laughed gently, because we have Sirsi.
2) I had a teaching moment when a patron asked about my scar. It evolved into why you should always wear a seatbelt, and pulling out the encyclopedia to show the humerus and explain what happened. A really good conversation!
3) I was working Children's alone one night this week, and had an awesome night. First I set a boy up with the USA puzzle and got to give Miss Kerry's Persistence Pep Talk when he gave up on it. Then an adult patron who heard it said I had a nice way of talking to the kids and asked about my schedule so she could bring her kids back.
Next day I'm working with Miss M and we had a group of older boys in, all of whom were interested in an afternoon of walking the line between boy and rowdy. At one point, just when I was about to interject again, Miss M comes up with "Calm down. If I have to talk to you again, there's going to be consequences. I'm not all nice like Miss Kerry."
Which made me feel bad, but not for long because she turned and said sotto voice, "Actually, you do well with them. You're firm but nice."
Which is good to know--firm but nice is my goal. And I love it that we can do good cop/bad cop on the kids. Excellent working relationship.
4)Other library job is going to start soon. So they say. Plus I'm being encouraged to apply for the position I'm not sure I want or could do. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
You Know What Makes Me Want To Slit My Wrists?
Online job applications.
I just finished one and it took forever. There was no option to save it and come back later. Hell, I tell you. Hell.
I just finished one and it took forever. There was no option to save it and come back later. Hell, I tell you. Hell.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
What My Life Is Like Right Now
A catch-up post:
If I sound a little down and/or overwhelmed right now, to be frank, I am and I know it.
Mencken is still missing. I contacted Rainbow Connection and they loaned me a trap. In the two weeks I've been setting it out, I've caught 1 raccoon, 1 possum, and 3 cats. None of the cats was Mencken. One was the quite clearly feral Brown Kitty, and I let him go. One was a very sweet tuxedo girl, declawed and spayed, who has a healing bite on her ass. She's a love muffin, and I can't decide if her name is Garland or Marbles. She's in the Tuscan Nightmare room. The other is the gray cat Jackass Neighbor told me about a few months ago that Isadora and I have caught sight of before and Isadora thinks is pregnant. She's in the bathroom until Monday. No, I am not keeping them. And Isadora doesn't blame me for his escape and says accidents happen and that she's only ever really lost 1 kitty. But still, I miss him and I am sorry and my heart hurts.
One of my managers at work is driving me nuts. I also just got her voice out of my head. Ay yi yi. Thankfully, I don't have to work until Tuesday. We have an enormous weeding project that I am not looking forward to participating in.
Freecycle people keep flaking on me.
I have to break in my hiking boots, find a cat sitter, find some clothes, and prepare to go to hiking/weight loss camp with my mom.
I am obsessing over a guy I knew in college who I last spoke to 10 years ago. I know why I am obsessing over him to the point of Google-stalking--he represents a road not taken and even if that road was clearly marked "Teenage Alcoholic--Danger Ahead" and needed not to be taken by me, it distracts me from the fact that I need to be looking ahead now and making some plans.
On the plus side, I do have a car now (thank you, Mom!), one of my dad's station wagons. So at least I am not at the mercy of Cleveland RTA and its notions of "on time" and customer service. We're not talking Nordstom's level of service here. And my mom and I had a lovely visit last weekend, and I had a great time with family I never see, talking story and all that. For all intents and purposes, I have graduated, even if I didn't walk and won't believe it until a diploma shows up. And other standard blessings apply.
I need to move forward, and I need to keep rolling. Time is running out.
If I sound a little down and/or overwhelmed right now, to be frank, I am and I know it.
Mencken is still missing. I contacted Rainbow Connection and they loaned me a trap. In the two weeks I've been setting it out, I've caught 1 raccoon, 1 possum, and 3 cats. None of the cats was Mencken. One was the quite clearly feral Brown Kitty, and I let him go. One was a very sweet tuxedo girl, declawed and spayed, who has a healing bite on her ass. She's a love muffin, and I can't decide if her name is Garland or Marbles. She's in the Tuscan Nightmare room. The other is the gray cat Jackass Neighbor told me about a few months ago that Isadora and I have caught sight of before and Isadora thinks is pregnant. She's in the bathroom until Monday. No, I am not keeping them. And Isadora doesn't blame me for his escape and says accidents happen and that she's only ever really lost 1 kitty. But still, I miss him and I am sorry and my heart hurts.
One of my managers at work is driving me nuts. I also just got her voice out of my head. Ay yi yi. Thankfully, I don't have to work until Tuesday. We have an enormous weeding project that I am not looking forward to participating in.
Freecycle people keep flaking on me.
I have to break in my hiking boots, find a cat sitter, find some clothes, and prepare to go to hiking/weight loss camp with my mom.
I am obsessing over a guy I knew in college who I last spoke to 10 years ago. I know why I am obsessing over him to the point of Google-stalking--he represents a road not taken and even if that road was clearly marked "Teenage Alcoholic--Danger Ahead" and needed not to be taken by me, it distracts me from the fact that I need to be looking ahead now and making some plans.
On the plus side, I do have a car now (thank you, Mom!), one of my dad's station wagons. So at least I am not at the mercy of Cleveland RTA and its notions of "on time" and customer service. We're not talking Nordstom's level of service here. And my mom and I had a lovely visit last weekend, and I had a great time with family I never see, talking story and all that. For all intents and purposes, I have graduated, even if I didn't walk and won't believe it until a diploma shows up. And other standard blessings apply.
I need to move forward, and I need to keep rolling. Time is running out.
Carlotta's Kittens And The Club of Mysteries--Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
I am so glad I pulled this off the shelves down in Children's. It's a wonderful book. I've been mostly disappointed in our offerings--and face it, everyone just wants the crack cocaine of internet games, WWE, Disney Channel, Bratz, et al. But still, it's hard to push books on them when what we've got are dull series books for easy readers. If Cam Jansen were my kid, I'd beat the photographic memory right out of her--she's so annoying.
This is a wonderful chapter book, featuring excellent characterization and an easy to follow storyline, and elegant prose. It's a good bedtime read aloud book.
The Club of Mysteries is a group of cats lead by the old, battered tom Texas Jake and composed of brothers Marco (the smart one) and Polo (the dumb one), Boots, and Elvis. And the beautiful calico Carlotta, who has gone off to have kittens. The boy cats are awaiting her return, because they all want to play daddy to Carlotta's kittens and win her favor. But the club realizes they have a very serious task at hand helping to raise these little kittens and keep them safe from all the dangers of the neighborhood.
(Okay, let's remember we're reading a children's book about anthropomorphized animals, and forget what activities lead to kittens and what Carlotta did. There's no neck biting and mounting in this book! The Club of Mysteries is composed of perfect gentleman bachelor kitties.)
Naylor's strengths are her characterization--she really gets the cat viewpoint of the world down--and gentle humor. I much enjoyed this soothing read.
This is a wonderful chapter book, featuring excellent characterization and an easy to follow storyline, and elegant prose. It's a good bedtime read aloud book.
The Club of Mysteries is a group of cats lead by the old, battered tom Texas Jake and composed of brothers Marco (the smart one) and Polo (the dumb one), Boots, and Elvis. And the beautiful calico Carlotta, who has gone off to have kittens. The boy cats are awaiting her return, because they all want to play daddy to Carlotta's kittens and win her favor. But the club realizes they have a very serious task at hand helping to raise these little kittens and keep them safe from all the dangers of the neighborhood.
(Okay, let's remember we're reading a children's book about anthropomorphized animals, and forget what activities lead to kittens and what Carlotta did. There's no neck biting and mounting in this book! The Club of Mysteries is composed of perfect gentleman bachelor kitties.)
Naylor's strengths are her characterization--she really gets the cat viewpoint of the world down--and gentle humor. I much enjoyed this soothing read.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Once Upon A Quinceanera--Julia Alvarez
So how did I come to buy this hardcover and read it? Blame my family. I went to NJ last weekend, and by coincidence the Texas contingent was in town for a wedding, and Sunday morning found us over at the Windsor Diner talking about weddings and other insanity, and this book was mentioned. Probably by me. No, certainly by me. And one thing lead to another, and I was in a bookstore that afternoon and it was purchased. You can get people to buy and read all sorts of books if only you get the idea on front of them. Oh, and deprive them of the computer too.
Anyway, so Julia Alvarez spent a year researching the modern day insanity of the quinceanera, the "traditional" ceremony in which a Hispanic girl celebrates her 15th birthday and sort of symbolically becomes an adult and/or marriageable. Here's the thing--the quinceanera or "quince" is on the cusp of hitting the mainstream/crossing over to Middle America as a ritual for various reasons stemming from the rise of the Hispanic culture, the lack of such formal rituals in the US, television mega party coverage and shopping culture.
Alvarez makes a lot of good socio-cultural points in this book and she does a good job of outlining and linking concepts like consumption, cultural mores surrounding money, tradition, class, immigration and assimilation, telegraphed messages of sexuality and melding of different cultures. The problem is that she crosses this sociological study with a memoir about her coming to America in late childhood and how she tried to find her way into adulthood. But then, it's a pretty slight book-she's got maybe 175 pages tops about quinces, and she needed to pad it out. It's all pretty interesting though, but I prefer the bits on the quinces and wish she'd pressed her subjects harder and dug up more detail. Because as she describes it, the whole quince thing is just fuzzy--even the people paying thousands of dollars for the celebration and the girls going through it can't really pinpoint what it all means, either individually or to the larger group. Alvarez has a lively style--her fiction writing chops show through--and it's a quick, interesting read.
So this book next goes to my mom, my Aunt Mary Jane, and then hopefully down to Texas to my other aunt and cousin. Anyone else want to read it? I paid full price for it and I feel everyone should get a chance at it. And by the way Genevieve, you will be happy to know that I pulled out the personal library kit you gave me a while back to record this book's journey.
Anyway, so Julia Alvarez spent a year researching the modern day insanity of the quinceanera, the "traditional" ceremony in which a Hispanic girl celebrates her 15th birthday and sort of symbolically becomes an adult and/or marriageable. Here's the thing--the quinceanera or "quince" is on the cusp of hitting the mainstream/crossing over to Middle America as a ritual for various reasons stemming from the rise of the Hispanic culture, the lack of such formal rituals in the US, television mega party coverage and shopping culture.
Alvarez makes a lot of good socio-cultural points in this book and she does a good job of outlining and linking concepts like consumption, cultural mores surrounding money, tradition, class, immigration and assimilation, telegraphed messages of sexuality and melding of different cultures. The problem is that she crosses this sociological study with a memoir about her coming to America in late childhood and how she tried to find her way into adulthood. But then, it's a pretty slight book-she's got maybe 175 pages tops about quinces, and she needed to pad it out. It's all pretty interesting though, but I prefer the bits on the quinces and wish she'd pressed her subjects harder and dug up more detail. Because as she describes it, the whole quince thing is just fuzzy--even the people paying thousands of dollars for the celebration and the girls going through it can't really pinpoint what it all means, either individually or to the larger group. Alvarez has a lively style--her fiction writing chops show through--and it's a quick, interesting read.
So this book next goes to my mom, my Aunt Mary Jane, and then hopefully down to Texas to my other aunt and cousin. Anyone else want to read it? I paid full price for it and I feel everyone should get a chance at it. And by the way Genevieve, you will be happy to know that I pulled out the personal library kit you gave me a while back to record this book's journey.
CSA--Week 8, Midterm Grades
This week's bag had:
garlic
beets
Pontiac Red potatoes
okra
pecans
white stuffing pepper
cubannelle pepper
poblano pepper
yellow beans
Judgements on past veg:
I joined the CSA for a bunch of reasons 1) I'm very lazy about grocery shopping, and the idea that there'd always be fresh farm veg appealed to me, 2) I know all about my crappy dietary practices, thank you, 3) I felt like supporting a family farm, and there's no farm stands here in Cleveland, 4) I know I have limited tastes and need to branch out a bit in what I eat, and it's better to do that with veg than meat based dishes and 5) I need to lose weight.
However, midway through the season, I have to say I don't think this is playing out well.
Part of it is me. I really need people to eat with and cook for. I am a pack animal. Dusie is right--we should pool our money and flummox some real estate agents and build a family compound of the non-polygamist variety. I can have the house on the corner and tend her turkeys and make dinner for everyone, and encourage my sisters to have babies so I can be Aunt Kerry. Or live in the same single girl apartment complex as Aces and make dinner with her. Problem is I don't have enough friends out her to have over to dinner every week to test myself. Add to this the fact that I work varied shifts, extra hours when I can get them, and don't even bother to eat dinner if I come home at 8:30pm, and don't have a/c--cooking may not happen here.
But the CSA also bears some blame. I'd like it if they told us what it looks like we'd be getting in the next few weeks, even if it's an approximation. I'd also like more variety--I don't need any more okra or popcorn or pecans, thank you! Or zucchini! Basil is overrated!
Some things have been awesome, some not. Worth detailing:
The lettuces have been great--really sturdy and delicious.
The peaches--Eh. Kinda watery. Not a lot of flavor at all. I like a really good peach, even with the fuzz, but these are just lackluster.
Cucumbers--all good.
Beets--yeah, I do like beets. I had forgotten that.
Okra--I know from descriptions that I don't like okra. Yes, I can say that without trying it--all my food aversions are based on texture, not taste. When people give you this look and say "It's slimy but less so if you fry it," I know I'm in trouble. So when in doubt, pickle some shit .
Green tomatoes are welcome for chutney.
I like potatoes (I'm Irish, you know) but it's the middle of summer! It's too hot to roast anything! Or boil! No, I'm not going to make soup!
Too many green beans. I never thought I'd say that, although they've all been good.
Basil--Why not rosemary? Or tarragon?
Genital wart squashes. That says it all.
Other things have gone bad before I've figured out how to use them or remembered their existance.
garlic
beets
Pontiac Red potatoes
okra
pecans
white stuffing pepper
cubannelle pepper
poblano pepper
yellow beans
Judgements on past veg:
I joined the CSA for a bunch of reasons 1) I'm very lazy about grocery shopping, and the idea that there'd always be fresh farm veg appealed to me, 2) I know all about my crappy dietary practices, thank you, 3) I felt like supporting a family farm, and there's no farm stands here in Cleveland, 4) I know I have limited tastes and need to branch out a bit in what I eat, and it's better to do that with veg than meat based dishes and 5) I need to lose weight.
However, midway through the season, I have to say I don't think this is playing out well.
Part of it is me. I really need people to eat with and cook for. I am a pack animal. Dusie is right--we should pool our money and flummox some real estate agents and build a family compound of the non-polygamist variety. I can have the house on the corner and tend her turkeys and make dinner for everyone, and encourage my sisters to have babies so I can be Aunt Kerry. Or live in the same single girl apartment complex as Aces and make dinner with her. Problem is I don't have enough friends out her to have over to dinner every week to test myself. Add to this the fact that I work varied shifts, extra hours when I can get them, and don't even bother to eat dinner if I come home at 8:30pm, and don't have a/c--cooking may not happen here.
But the CSA also bears some blame. I'd like it if they told us what it looks like we'd be getting in the next few weeks, even if it's an approximation. I'd also like more variety--I don't need any more okra or popcorn or pecans, thank you! Or zucchini! Basil is overrated!
Some things have been awesome, some not. Worth detailing:
The lettuces have been great--really sturdy and delicious.
The peaches--Eh. Kinda watery. Not a lot of flavor at all. I like a really good peach, even with the fuzz, but these are just lackluster.
Cucumbers--all good.
Beets--yeah, I do like beets. I had forgotten that.
Okra--I know from descriptions that I don't like okra. Yes, I can say that without trying it--all my food aversions are based on texture, not taste. When people give you this look and say "It's slimy but less so if you fry it," I know I'm in trouble. So when in doubt, pickle some shit .
Green tomatoes are welcome for chutney.
I like potatoes (I'm Irish, you know) but it's the middle of summer! It's too hot to roast anything! Or boil! No, I'm not going to make soup!
Too many green beans. I never thought I'd say that, although they've all been good.
Basil--Why not rosemary? Or tarragon?
Genital wart squashes. That says it all.
Other things have gone bad before I've figured out how to use them or remembered their existance.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Annoyances, Part 1
You know, I realize that complaining of the aroma of pot smoke in Lakewood is like complaining New York is crowded, Seattle is rainy, and it's humid south of the Mason-Dixon, but really--dear neighbors, the stink tonight is driving me nuts. Guess you're lucky that no one seems to be that interested in your house, huh? Because after 6 years of living next door to you, I think it's soaked into the carpet like the stink of your cats.
Oh, and don't let your guests park on my side of the drive. And when they do and the lot of you are sitting out on the porch, and a space in front of your house opens up on the street, you need to tell them to move their car before I get home because I will not be amused. I am not friendly. I fully realize that you all are of the "here's an opening, let me slither into it" school, and there's nothing that gives me more pleasure than laying the slap down on you.
I deal with the lack of home training in the EC all day (got called "big bitch" today and got the officer to throw some kids out upstairs AND down). I've got my librarian voice. Don't make me bring it on home.
Oh, and don't let your guests park on my side of the drive. And when they do and the lot of you are sitting out on the porch, and a space in front of your house opens up on the street, you need to tell them to move their car before I get home because I will not be amused. I am not friendly. I fully realize that you all are of the "here's an opening, let me slither into it" school, and there's nothing that gives me more pleasure than laying the slap down on you.
I deal with the lack of home training in the EC all day (got called "big bitch" today and got the officer to throw some kids out upstairs AND down). I've got my librarian voice. Don't make me bring it on home.
Friday, August 10, 2007
CSA, Week 7--It's Getting Scary!
This week's haul:
Broccoli. Sigh
1 large, rather attractively striped, zucchini. Its hide would make a lovely dress.
6 small Rock Haven peaches
Lettuce
1 pickling cucumber
3 green tomatoes
1 lb green beans
1 green pepper
1 cubannelle pepper. This wins the "what the hell am I going to do with that?" award for the week.
The Romance Heroine did make it over for dinner this week. We broke out the grill and had pork tenderloin, grilled corn, zucchini fritters, and blueberry gelato and cookies. We are both in bad sorts with lots of troubles. The food, while very good, did not fix anything.
What's up next: I'll report back on the Julie/Julia Project's baked cucumbers, make a batch of green tomato chutney, more zucchini fritters, and heaven knows what else.
Broccoli. Sigh
1 large, rather attractively striped, zucchini. Its hide would make a lovely dress.
6 small Rock Haven peaches
Lettuce
1 pickling cucumber
3 green tomatoes
1 lb green beans
1 green pepper
1 cubannelle pepper. This wins the "what the hell am I going to do with that?" award for the week.
The Romance Heroine did make it over for dinner this week. We broke out the grill and had pork tenderloin, grilled corn, zucchini fritters, and blueberry gelato and cookies. We are both in bad sorts with lots of troubles. The food, while very good, did not fix anything.
What's up next: I'll report back on the Julie/Julia Project's baked cucumbers, make a batch of green tomato chutney, more zucchini fritters, and heaven knows what else.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
CSA, Week 6
This is the week in which I have too much food. I did get my veggies last week, and SuperC picked up my share for this week. I now have way too much vegetable matter in my house. Complicating matters is the fact that I am still commuting by bus and train, so that sucks up a lot of time and isn't necessarily conducive to grocery shopping.
Also I think I want to grill since it's only in the 70s today, but it's raining and I have no matches. Also it might lure Mencken and the other neighborhood kitties.
What I've got (the last 2+ week's pickups):
1 pt blueberries (I don't understand why people like commercially grown blueberries, but I can get behind farm berries. I just don't know what to do with them.)
4 wart squashes
3 pickling cucumbers, which I just added to the brine I already used for the other pickles.
4 regular cukes (Wait! Inspiration has struck! Ever since reading Julie Powell's blog, I have wanted to try the Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe for baked cucumbers that Powell swears is awesome. Is this the week?)
6 corn (2 of which I am having for lunch with chicken and bbq sauce)
1 head garlic
more popcorn (I'll say this--every time I see the popcorn I remember how much weight I lost at Weight Watchers and that the Core Plan isn't that bad.)
2 bunches of basil, starting to turn
1 head of bok choy. (I'm a little afraid of the bok choy)
1 lb string beans
lots of red, white and Yukon Gold potatoes
3 zucchini
kale
2 very pretty green peppers
lettuce!
okra (i am both dismayed and afraid of the o-k-r-a)
broccoli (Let's not mention the broccoli.)
There's other stuff too, bought at the ( hushed voice) grocery store.
Off to consult Cooking Light and make a shoppng list! Thank heavens the Romance Heroine might be coming over for dinner this week.
Also I think I want to grill since it's only in the 70s today, but it's raining and I have no matches. Also it might lure Mencken and the other neighborhood kitties.
What I've got (the last 2+ week's pickups):
1 pt blueberries (I don't understand why people like commercially grown blueberries, but I can get behind farm berries. I just don't know what to do with them.)
4 wart squashes
3 pickling cucumbers, which I just added to the brine I already used for the other pickles.
4 regular cukes (Wait! Inspiration has struck! Ever since reading Julie Powell's blog, I have wanted to try the Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipe for baked cucumbers that Powell swears is awesome. Is this the week?)
6 corn (2 of which I am having for lunch with chicken and bbq sauce)
1 head garlic
more popcorn (I'll say this--every time I see the popcorn I remember how much weight I lost at Weight Watchers and that the Core Plan isn't that bad.)
2 bunches of basil, starting to turn
1 head of bok choy. (I'm a little afraid of the bok choy)
1 lb string beans
lots of red, white and Yukon Gold potatoes
3 zucchini
kale
2 very pretty green peppers
lettuce!
okra (i am both dismayed and afraid of the o-k-r-a)
broccoli (Let's not mention the broccoli.)
There's other stuff too, bought at the ( hushed voice) grocery store.
Off to consult Cooking Light and make a shoppng list! Thank heavens the Romance Heroine might be coming over for dinner this week.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
I Hate To Break It To You...
but we don't need to worry about terrorists blowing shit up. The Minnesota bridge collapse just illustrates a problem we've been ignoring for years.
Not a surprise.
Not a surprise.
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