Thursday, December 27, 2007
New favorite thing.
I discovered a fantastic and unusual magazine today called Everywhere. All of the content comes from readers so after your trip, log on to everywheremag.com and upload your photos and text. Submissions are reviewed by the Everywhere community and then the final selections are curated by the magazine's editorial staff. So cool!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Variations on a theme.
Something occurred to me about Bel Canto last night (I'm about half way through). As the characters emerge further and the story progresses, I detect a similar construction as in Patchett's The Magician's Assistant. The opera singer is this incredible, strong person; a woman surrounded by men. In particular, two men--Mr. Hokosawa and Gen, the translator. The whole of the narrative revolves around her and she, in a really lovely subtle way, holds a lot of power over the others and makes things happen. She holds them all in thrall.
Sabine, the magician's assistant, is in a similar position. She has her two men--the magician, Parsifal, and his lover. They share a house, as do the characters in Bel Canto, though for very different reasons...perhaps. I guess one could argue there are many definitions of being held hostage.
To date I have only read the one and a half Ann Patchett novels so I am curious about this theme popping up elsewhere in her oeuvre. I do love writers who seem to have something "stuck in their craw" and try to work it out again and again, book after book. Murakami is one of these novelists, as is Kazuo Ishiguro. Both write with such musical tone and cadence.
I started to wonder if this musicality was a common characteristic of Japanese writers and find it an immensely interesting coincidence that the two men of Patchett's novel are Japanese. I also started to seek out more contemporary Japanese writers in an attempt to broaden my frame of reference even just a little and read Out: A Novel (Natsuo Kirino) last year. (Warning: not for the squeamish!) Such a different tone here and definitely more rough and edgy. It is about a female serial killer so that shouldn't have surprised me! Of course this helped not at all with my probably incredibly naive theory. It only raised innumerable questions about male v. female writers, the Japanese culture then and now, and translations.
Variations on a theme is also prevalent with film writers/directors. One of my favorites is John Dahl. He wrote and directed three films back-to-back, all with the same structure and basic story line, though they are all very different in every other way. Check out Kill Me Again (1989), Red Rock West (1992), and The Last Seduction (1994). All involve one woman, two men (one good, one bad) and a large sum of money. In each story a different one of the three ends up with the cash. I couldn't choose a favorite...they are all absolutely divine. Go get 'em!
Sabine, the magician's assistant, is in a similar position. She has her two men--the magician, Parsifal, and his lover. They share a house, as do the characters in Bel Canto, though for very different reasons...perhaps. I guess one could argue there are many definitions of being held hostage.
To date I have only read the one and a half Ann Patchett novels so I am curious about this theme popping up elsewhere in her oeuvre. I do love writers who seem to have something "stuck in their craw" and try to work it out again and again, book after book. Murakami is one of these novelists, as is Kazuo Ishiguro. Both write with such musical tone and cadence.
I started to wonder if this musicality was a common characteristic of Japanese writers and find it an immensely interesting coincidence that the two men of Patchett's novel are Japanese. I also started to seek out more contemporary Japanese writers in an attempt to broaden my frame of reference even just a little and read Out: A Novel (Natsuo Kirino) last year. (Warning: not for the squeamish!) Such a different tone here and definitely more rough and edgy. It is about a female serial killer so that shouldn't have surprised me! Of course this helped not at all with my probably incredibly naive theory. It only raised innumerable questions about male v. female writers, the Japanese culture then and now, and translations.
Variations on a theme is also prevalent with film writers/directors. One of my favorites is John Dahl. He wrote and directed three films back-to-back, all with the same structure and basic story line, though they are all very different in every other way. Check out Kill Me Again (1989), Red Rock West (1992), and The Last Seduction (1994). All involve one woman, two men (one good, one bad) and a large sum of money. In each story a different one of the three ends up with the cash. I couldn't choose a favorite...they are all absolutely divine. Go get 'em!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Italian Soul.
Most of my reading over this past weekend involved recipes. I dove once again into the Alice Waters and tried my hand at her polenta torte on Saturday. I wasn't thinking and instead of making four cups of soft polenta I made sixteen. Ah, yeah. I read "one cup of polenta to four cups of water" and multiplied the four by four instead of the one by four. Yow! I called a neighbor and offered the extra polenta for their dinner. After spreading about four cups out on a baking sheet and letting it cool and set; West had the brilliant idea of using Christmas cookie cutters and making shapes. Our friends were delighted with our snowman, tree, star and stocking polenta!
I made a simple tomato sauce with olive oil, lots of garlic, and canned crushed tomatoes; then layered the soft polenta with the sauce, fresh mozzerella and parmesan. The mozz was a little rubbery and none of the textures seemed to meld. Next time I would shred the cheese instead of using slices. But all in all not that exciting.
Sunday in the kitchen was far more successful. Started the morning with chocolate chip scones. Whole Foods has their house brand of wonderful dark chocolate mini chunks which look like tiny chocolate bars and they are perfect for baking. My scones are really getting quite good. I've finally learned to not over work the dough. The only way to make them come out perfectly crumbly and scone-y is to just dump the whole mess out onto the counter and sort of push it all together into a really rough circle. Just enough so that it holds together. The first few times I did this it just seemed so wrong. If you can divvie the circle into eight wedges and transfer them to a baking sheet you're golden. The messier the better.
After a warm scone and a second coffee I really hit my stride. Recipe number two was almond-anise biscotti and yes I did toast my own almonds; thank you very much. Some friends are coming for Sunday dinner and I have this in mind to go along with coffee. I also have some truffles on hand (again, Whole Foods house brand and dang are they yummy. They are actually made in France.)
I found an interesting cocktail recipe and so I make ginger-infused simple syrup and stick that in the fridge to chill. I also finely grind crystallized ginger and mix with sugar to dust the glass rims. The prosecco is sitting in the window sill keeping cold (old house!)
Ever since I read La Bella Cucina: How to Cook, Eat and Live an Italian (Viana La Place) I have wanted to institute sort of a standing Sunday dinner where a few close friends are always welcome. It's really tough to keep it going so if I can do it every six weeks or so I'm happy at this point. Maybe after the small fry is older and not so insanely needy. Did I mention through most of my cooking I have an 18-month-old saying "mama. mama. mama." endlessly? Or "watch. watch!" which means he wants to stand on the kitchen stool and "help." This sooo doesn't work for me. Lucky for him he's so cute.
For the last year I've been making my bolognese from a recipe I found in Saveur magazine. It's an article entitled "The Lasagna Lesson" and I guard it with my life. (Along with every other issue going back to January 1999 when I subscribed.) Like most Italian recipes this one begins with the "holy trinity"--onion, carrot, celery. It's not long before the house smells absolutely incredible.
I've got several hours of simmering now so I clean the house ("mama. mama. mama!") and generally straighten up. Throw in a load of laundry, make hot dogs for a late lunch, and swing through the kitchen periodically to stir the sauce. In between I stop to read the Christmas books I brought out of storage today to the boys. This is one of my favorite things about the holidays: since West was born he has gotten Christmas books as gifts and I've picked up those I remember from my childhood. It always seemed weird to me to have them on the regular bookshelf all year so I started putting them away right along with the holiday decorations. (I do this with Halloween and Easter books, too.) Each one has the year written in it and many are inscribed from the giver...mostly by my mother-in-law and I am so thankful she taught me to do this.
When our friends arrive I warm olives on the stove with some slices of garlic, red chile, and orange zest. I put a loaf of olive bread in the oven for just a bit, take it out, slice and slather with goat cheese and then put back in to toast. Sarah heads out to the porch for a chilling bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau (est arrive!) and we get to work on the pasta dough.
I've made pasta several times and it's worked just fine. Better than fine, actually. It's always incredible! (And I'm always so surprised.) Each step is very easy; it's all about texture. So far I've just been making it by hand on the counter. This time I decide to try the KitchenAid stand mixer...Alice Waters doesn't exactly recommend this idea but she does mention it so how bad can it be? So I toss two cups of flour in, beat two eggs lightly and pour them into the mixer bowl...whirrrrrrr. Hmmm. Dust. Really, it's like fine powdery dust. I go back to Alice and reread her comments more carefully this time and see that it says to slowly pour in the eggs while the mixer is mixing. I upend the first batch of dust into the garbage can not wanting to take any chances and just start again. This time I end up with something with a texture I recognize. Before things go too far I dump it out onto the counter and start kneading it together. Still not as perfect as the by-hand method but the job gets done.
Now I put my friends to work with the pasta machine rolling the dough through again and again until it magically transforms and has that incredible elastic feel. It is truly amazing. Why don't I do this more?
From here the pace is frenetic. Layers of clothing begin to be peeled off as we crowd into the small kitchen (four adults, two kids, and two dogs in a 10 x 12 foot kitchen. It's awesome and there is not a drop of sarcasm in there. Or in there either.) and all are kneading, cranking, whisking (I'm making the besciamella to layer into the lasagna), grating parmigiano reggiano or just trying to step over a dog, pick up a kid, or stay out of the way. Before we know it the noodles are dropped into roiling water for all of 10 seconds, the assemblage happens in minutes, and it's in the oven. Just ten minutes to make vinaigrette, (which rocks; thank you, Alice!) and set the table.
Buon appetito!!
I made a simple tomato sauce with olive oil, lots of garlic, and canned crushed tomatoes; then layered the soft polenta with the sauce, fresh mozzerella and parmesan. The mozz was a little rubbery and none of the textures seemed to meld. Next time I would shred the cheese instead of using slices. But all in all not that exciting.
Sunday in the kitchen was far more successful. Started the morning with chocolate chip scones. Whole Foods has their house brand of wonderful dark chocolate mini chunks which look like tiny chocolate bars and they are perfect for baking. My scones are really getting quite good. I've finally learned to not over work the dough. The only way to make them come out perfectly crumbly and scone-y is to just dump the whole mess out onto the counter and sort of push it all together into a really rough circle. Just enough so that it holds together. The first few times I did this it just seemed so wrong. If you can divvie the circle into eight wedges and transfer them to a baking sheet you're golden. The messier the better.
After a warm scone and a second coffee I really hit my stride. Recipe number two was almond-anise biscotti and yes I did toast my own almonds; thank you very much. Some friends are coming for Sunday dinner and I have this in mind to go along with coffee. I also have some truffles on hand (again, Whole Foods house brand and dang are they yummy. They are actually made in France.)
I found an interesting cocktail recipe and so I make ginger-infused simple syrup and stick that in the fridge to chill. I also finely grind crystallized ginger and mix with sugar to dust the glass rims. The prosecco is sitting in the window sill keeping cold (old house!)
Ever since I read La Bella Cucina: How to Cook, Eat and Live an Italian (Viana La Place) I have wanted to institute sort of a standing Sunday dinner where a few close friends are always welcome. It's really tough to keep it going so if I can do it every six weeks or so I'm happy at this point. Maybe after the small fry is older and not so insanely needy. Did I mention through most of my cooking I have an 18-month-old saying "mama. mama. mama." endlessly? Or "watch. watch!" which means he wants to stand on the kitchen stool and "help." This sooo doesn't work for me. Lucky for him he's so cute.
For the last year I've been making my bolognese from a recipe I found in Saveur magazine. It's an article entitled "The Lasagna Lesson" and I guard it with my life. (Along with every other issue going back to January 1999 when I subscribed.) Like most Italian recipes this one begins with the "holy trinity"--onion, carrot, celery. It's not long before the house smells absolutely incredible.
I've got several hours of simmering now so I clean the house ("mama. mama. mama!") and generally straighten up. Throw in a load of laundry, make hot dogs for a late lunch, and swing through the kitchen periodically to stir the sauce. In between I stop to read the Christmas books I brought out of storage today to the boys. This is one of my favorite things about the holidays: since West was born he has gotten Christmas books as gifts and I've picked up those I remember from my childhood. It always seemed weird to me to have them on the regular bookshelf all year so I started putting them away right along with the holiday decorations. (I do this with Halloween and Easter books, too.) Each one has the year written in it and many are inscribed from the giver...mostly by my mother-in-law and I am so thankful she taught me to do this.
When our friends arrive I warm olives on the stove with some slices of garlic, red chile, and orange zest. I put a loaf of olive bread in the oven for just a bit, take it out, slice and slather with goat cheese and then put back in to toast. Sarah heads out to the porch for a chilling bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau (est arrive!) and we get to work on the pasta dough.
I've made pasta several times and it's worked just fine. Better than fine, actually. It's always incredible! (And I'm always so surprised.) Each step is very easy; it's all about texture. So far I've just been making it by hand on the counter. This time I decide to try the KitchenAid stand mixer...Alice Waters doesn't exactly recommend this idea but she does mention it so how bad can it be? So I toss two cups of flour in, beat two eggs lightly and pour them into the mixer bowl...whirrrrrrr. Hmmm. Dust. Really, it's like fine powdery dust. I go back to Alice and reread her comments more carefully this time and see that it says to slowly pour in the eggs while the mixer is mixing. I upend the first batch of dust into the garbage can not wanting to take any chances and just start again. This time I end up with something with a texture I recognize. Before things go too far I dump it out onto the counter and start kneading it together. Still not as perfect as the by-hand method but the job gets done.
Now I put my friends to work with the pasta machine rolling the dough through again and again until it magically transforms and has that incredible elastic feel. It is truly amazing. Why don't I do this more?
From here the pace is frenetic. Layers of clothing begin to be peeled off as we crowd into the small kitchen (four adults, two kids, and two dogs in a 10 x 12 foot kitchen. It's awesome and there is not a drop of sarcasm in there. Or in there either.) and all are kneading, cranking, whisking (I'm making the besciamella to layer into the lasagna), grating parmigiano reggiano or just trying to step over a dog, pick up a kid, or stay out of the way. Before we know it the noodles are dropped into roiling water for all of 10 seconds, the assemblage happens in minutes, and it's in the oven. Just ten minutes to make vinaigrette, (which rocks; thank you, Alice!) and set the table.
Buon appetito!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Opera and hostages.
So far that's what I'm getting from Bel Canto (Ann Patchett). One hundred and ninety well-heeled party goers suddenly find themselves lying prone on the expensive carpet, held by earnest revolutionaries who had intended to abduct the country's president, but El Presidente stayed home to watch his favorite soap. Not sure I am completely enthralled with this one yet but of course, I'll stick it out.
Oh my gosh! It just hit me! Bel Canto is The Fifth Element! The enthralling opera singer, hostages in black tie; it's all there. But if at some point in Bel Canto they open the opera singer's stomach and pull out magical crystals I'm done. The Fifth Element is one of those movies I can watch again and again. Written by Luc Besson and based on a story idea he had as a child, it's a dizzying romp through time and space. Flying taxis! Alien shape-shifters! A beautiful innocent with orange hair (Milla Jovovich); an oddly amusing, sniffling bad guy (Gary Oldman) and a femme talk show host who blathers on hilariously at the speed of light (Chris Tucker). All this, plus Bruce Willis saving us all (again)!! How could it miss?
I also really loved Patchett's The Magician's Assistant. One moment in that story really sticks with me: the magician, while making gin and tonics out by the pool plucks a fresh lime from a potted tree and says how much he "loves living off the land." It also has a terrifying and very intense airplane scene. Do not read this book while flying. Her "scenes" are so vividly drawn I have the images in my mind as if they were from a film rather than a novel. Dang if that isn't true of all good writing.
Oh my gosh! It just hit me! Bel Canto is The Fifth Element! The enthralling opera singer, hostages in black tie; it's all there. But if at some point in Bel Canto they open the opera singer's stomach and pull out magical crystals I'm done. The Fifth Element is one of those movies I can watch again and again. Written by Luc Besson and based on a story idea he had as a child, it's a dizzying romp through time and space. Flying taxis! Alien shape-shifters! A beautiful innocent with orange hair (Milla Jovovich); an oddly amusing, sniffling bad guy (Gary Oldman) and a femme talk show host who blathers on hilariously at the speed of light (Chris Tucker). All this, plus Bruce Willis saving us all (again)!! How could it miss?
I also really loved Patchett's The Magician's Assistant. One moment in that story really sticks with me: the magician, while making gin and tonics out by the pool plucks a fresh lime from a potted tree and says how much he "loves living off the land." It also has a terrifying and very intense airplane scene. Do not read this book while flying. Her "scenes" are so vividly drawn I have the images in my mind as if they were from a film rather than a novel. Dang if that isn't true of all good writing.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Popping my cherry.
So maybe that got your attention. Hopefully this will hold mine. Several things have happened recently to push me into facing the harsh pressure of choosing a friggin' blogspot URL. (It just seems like such a commitment! This is the same sort of reason I could never get a tattoo. This seems just slightly less ouch-y so here goes.)
I've been sort of a freakish reader since I was five and now that I have my very own freakish five-year-old reader (see photo above) the timing seems appropriate to begin keeping some sort of record of just what I am actually reading. I absolutely hoard books and have many many I've read and quite a few I haven't yet. I can browse my own library and see what's there but somehow it's just not the same. I started noting dates on the flyleaves and I find it interesting to know where I was, when I was and who I was when I read something. It is extremely cool to see the three sets of dates in my very attractively beat up copy of Windup Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami) Why do I read it every other summer over the fourth of July holiday? And why can't I ever get all the way through Underworld (Don DeLillo) when I love it so so much? (I'd mention Proust here but I don't think that particular problem is very unique. And god help you if you're still trying to get through Ulysses.) I'm hoping this blog may help me answer some of my own such questions.
I just read Julie & Julia (Julie Powell) and am completely inspired by her. However, I will forgo Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julia Child, et al) and stick with Alice Waters and her new The Art of Simple Food. Seriously, just go ahead and toss pretty much every other cookbook you have and get this. I've found myself carrying it around the house. It's near me at all times. I love it. Passionately. I've been a fairly decent cook for some time but I think of this book as a sort of master class...the basics, yet she's given me these tiny details that change everything. My god you should taste my vinaigrette! And I have a whole new relationship with my once-feared cast iron pan.
Okay, I can see already that this blog will be veering wildly from subject to subject. Well, at least from books to food and back again. And I suspect there may be some travel bits that show up as well since reading, eating, and travel are my main life pursuits. Again, there has never been a time in my life I haven't been reading regularly so that, as always, is the thread through it all.
D
-
I've been sort of a freakish reader since I was five and now that I have my very own freakish five-year-old reader (see photo above) the timing seems appropriate to begin keeping some sort of record of just what I am actually reading. I absolutely hoard books and have many many I've read and quite a few I haven't yet. I can browse my own library and see what's there but somehow it's just not the same. I started noting dates on the flyleaves and I find it interesting to know where I was, when I was and who I was when I read something. It is extremely cool to see the three sets of dates in my very attractively beat up copy of Windup Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami) Why do I read it every other summer over the fourth of July holiday? And why can't I ever get all the way through Underworld (Don DeLillo) when I love it so so much? (I'd mention Proust here but I don't think that particular problem is very unique. And god help you if you're still trying to get through Ulysses.) I'm hoping this blog may help me answer some of my own such questions.
I just read Julie & Julia (Julie Powell) and am completely inspired by her. However, I will forgo Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julia Child, et al) and stick with Alice Waters and her new The Art of Simple Food. Seriously, just go ahead and toss pretty much every other cookbook you have and get this. I've found myself carrying it around the house. It's near me at all times. I love it. Passionately. I've been a fairly decent cook for some time but I think of this book as a sort of master class...the basics, yet she's given me these tiny details that change everything. My god you should taste my vinaigrette! And I have a whole new relationship with my once-feared cast iron pan.
Okay, I can see already that this blog will be veering wildly from subject to subject. Well, at least from books to food and back again. And I suspect there may be some travel bits that show up as well since reading, eating, and travel are my main life pursuits. Again, there has never been a time in my life I haven't been reading regularly so that, as always, is the thread through it all.
D
-
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