Good Morning!

Food...

Shame on me for enticing you with the word Food. There are no recipes here today, just a review of one book - The Best Thing I Ever Tasted:The Secret of Food by Sallie Tisdale.

This book is used in an English class at a nearby community college. For a number of years I have given a tour on Food and Feasting at the museum for this class. I decided it was about time I read one of the books that the students were reading. Better late than never.

Maybe I’m still channeling Julia, but I found this book very interesting and easy to read. Her style is casual. It is part memoir, part culinary history, part sociology. She ties together history, folklore, personal anecdote and analysis. She talks about the medieval kitchen, the classic French kitchen, Betty Crocker’s test kitchen (General Mills), her childhood kitchen, her kitchen today.

Here’s a little something from the book:

“What did you eat for breakfast? For lunch, for last night’s supper, as an afternoon, snack? What did you eat, and why? We think we choose food consciously, deliberately, rationally. We think about calories, price, time, convenience, cholesterol and fat and protein and other people’s opinions, even as we mull over our desire. But what we choose to eat, even what we want to eat, is dictated by forces far beyond our reach, by tiny tides we do not see. Whether we want to believe it or not, we eat what we eat for a thousand reasons. We eat to settle our nerves, in joy and despair, in boredom and lust. We comfort ourselves, make ritual, find delight. What we choose makes us naughty or good. Food fills many empty spaces. It can be symbolic, mythic, even archetypal - and nothing special. How we feel about food is how we feel about our own lives ...”

I keep a scrap piece of paper in the books I read, especially the non-fiction, and take notes as I go along. This piece of paper is covered, front and back, up and down, where ever there was an empty space to take a note. Tisdale talks about whole grains and the change to milled white flour being the modern way to eat because it was farther from the soil. Betty Crocker being the idea General Mills had to answer all those cooking questions being asked by women who had never learned how to cook and the desire to keep things quick and easy with the use of processed foods.

Interesting partial quotes (because I didn’t write the whole thing down) like this one from Wendell Berry, “It is impossible to mechanize production without mechanizing consumption.” ...”impossible to make machines of soil, plants, and animals without making machines also of people.”

Or, the quote from Belasco and his Appetite For Change: “Avoid processed food.” “Awakening to the joy of cooking and eating, especially together...” I had just returned from a wonderful afternoon at the Path of Tea and came home, picked up this book and read the last quote. I thought how wonderful it was to spend time with people I enjoy, drinking tea, eating cake, laughing, talking. Wow! Just like we were *real* people!

Lots of wonderful things in this book. Lots to think about. I'm going to set the table tonight for sandwiches and enjoy every minute talking to Mr. Dragon about his class today. Maybe a beer to go with the sandwich in a nice, tall sparkly glass?! A candle or two?!

I guess you get the idea. I did like this book and recommend it highly.

Horizontal Surfaces

How many horizontal surfaces in your home? Just count them. Tables (kitchen, dining room, library, coffee, end), the floor, beds, kitchen and bathroom counter tops, bookshelves. You get the idea. Now, how many of them collect things? More things than they should have. I really think you are getting the idea now!

Remember Hurricane Ike? We had to take everything off the walls downstairs, unload all the shelves, move furniture in order to repair our water soaked walls. Remember me telling you that we moved a lot of *stuff* into the guest bedroom. Well, some of that stuff is still on that bed and covered with plastic (we started to paint in that room -- got one wall finished and stopped, but the plastic is still there).

When Mr. Dragon was working I didn’t say much about where he dropped his *stuff* when he came in the door. I was just glad he was home and I understood how stressful his job was. I wasn’t going to pick on where stuff was dropped. I also knew what his office looked liked. Most of the time you couldn’t get in the door. His most important filing was done on the floor.

So, in walks retirement and WOW. I’m not a clean freak. I’m not particularly neat. But I’m learning fast! I do admit that I love that we LOVE living in our home and I guess it looks like it!

So, what about horizontal surfaces? Just this .... when you have folks over for a meal -- it is nice if you remove the fancy new putter from the dining room table.

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We went to an Astros baseball game on Friday. They won. Then the roof at Minute Maid Stadium opened up for the Friday night fireworks display. Did I have my camera? NO! You can take my word for it -- the fireworks were beautiful.

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You just knew I couldn't get away from Julie or Julia. Amazing isn't it? Maybe I'm channeling Julia or something! I was looking at the NYTimes and found an article that you can read here.
Here is a quote from the first part:

"Almost 48 years after it was first published, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child is finally topping the best-seller list, bringing with it all the butter, salt and goose fat that home chefs had largely abandoned in the age of Lipitor.

The book, given a huge lift from the recently released movie “Julie & Julia,” sold 22,000 copies in the most recent week tracked, according to Nielsen BookScan, which follows book sales. That is more copies than were sold in any full year since the book’s appearance, according to Alfred A. Knopf, which published it."

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I’m posting this late Sunday evening for Monday morning. I’m off early on Monday for a session with my trainer. Yep. You read that right. I’m doing everything I can to put off the neurosurgeons knife as long as possible. My trainer is great. She knows me well and we are working on core strength and balance.

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I'm thinking I might need a little of this before Monday is over!

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I am thankful for another day on beautiful Mother Earth.

Joy to You!

It's Amazing!

I just can’t get away from Julie and Julia! I was going through some old Cooking Light Magazines and found this article on Julie Powell from March 2004. I seem to be haunted by Julie, Julia and food! Did you know that Julia Child’s birthday was August 15? They are everywhere I go. Every book I touch!



I am reading The Best Thing I Ever Tasted: The Secret of Food by Sallie Tisdale. I think I mentioned a while back that I do (did) tours for a college literature class on food and feasting at the museum. This book by Tisdale is one of the books the instructor uses in his class and I thought I should read it. It is quite good and when I’m finished I’ll do a short review. It is worth a read. At any rate, I’m reading along and what do I find on page 128 -- JULIA!!! Here’s the quote:

“Martha Stewart, cooking on television with Julia Child, couldn’t stop correcting Julia’s work. She quietly picked, picked, picked away at this and that, and Julia Child, in her inimitable, breezy way, just let the criticism float by.”

“Julia Child, for all the years of complaints about her technique, has never failed to express her firm belief that good food is part of a well-lived life with rough edges and a few untidy corners. She is a woman of appetite and undenied pleasure. Martha Stewart’s vision of a well-lived life has no untidy corners; tidy corners may be her vision of heaven. Control, not comfort, is her joy. Julia Child once told a friend she didn’t think Martha Stewart would ever be happy.”

No wonder I never got hooked on Martha! Perhaps Julia was a closet Buddhist??!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder what might pop up this week about Julie or Julia. If something does, I’ll report next Monday!

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Hurricane season started June 1. So far, it has been a very quiet year, but we are starting to watch the waves coming off of Africa as the hurricane business heats up. We’d like some rain, but please, no repeat of Ike. Guess that’s why I haven’t done a proper rain dance. I don’t want it to be misinterpreted by the powers that be.

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I am thankful for another day on beautiful Mother Earth.

Joy to You!

To Mull

Monday Mulling

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It might have been because it had been such a long time since I had seen a movie in a movie theater. It might have been because I had read both books. It might have been because I now qualify for the senior ticket price now that I’m 60. It might have been just because Julie and Julia is a good movie. For whatever reason, I thought the Julie and Julia movie was wonderful.

This is a story about two women who are looking for something “to dooooooo” with their life. Julia decides to take cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu. Julie decides to prepare every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days and blog about it.

This is a love story. A love story about food. At the same time, you can’t ignore the love story between Julia (Meryl Streep) and Paul (Stanley Tucci) or Julie (Amy Adams) and Eric (Chris Messina). These women aren’t looking for love. They’ve found it.

There is a funny scene with Julie and three of her friends at their weekly “cobb salad lunch”. I can remember having a few lunches like this one. But I couldn’t remember the scene from her book. That’s because it isn’t in her book, but is something Ms. Ephron added.

Go see Julie and Julia. If you remember Julia Child you’ll enjoy Meryl Streep’s reincarnation of Julia if nothing else. Don’t eat before the movie. You’ll want a nice meal after!

***

We had some rain yesterday and may get more today. Enough to raise the humidity level, but take us out of the heat advisory for a little while. I’m not going to complain. I’m just going to say that I will be very glad when it isn’t so darn hot.

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Mr. Dragon is hitting golf balls this week with the kids (our god-daughter and her beau and our god-son). They’ll have a good time -- even in the heat. Their mom and I will think about lunch for them when they decide to come home and cool off. It’s nice to have them all together before they are off to their various universities.

On another day I'm having lunch with another of my "sisters". We are bag lunching at her school while she prepares her classroom for school to open. Seems like the summer vacation just started. Time is flying!

Mr. Dragon has decided to take an art history class along with his studio class this next semester. I think the title is something like art history between the wars. Lots of "isms"!

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I finished reading another of the Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross, Miss Julia Throws a Wedding. This is the third book in this cozy Southern series and what a hoot Miss Julia is. From the back cover: “Miss Julia is feeling a little wistful when Hazel Marie, once her late husband’s paramour and now her best friend, prepares to move out and live in sin with that marriage-shy Mr. Pickens. Suddenly, to Miss Julia’s delight, a wedding is in the offing: Handsome Deputy Coleman Bates and attorney Binkie Enloe announce their plans to run down to the courthouse and tie the knot. But Miss Julia insists that they have a real wedding ceremony and vows to make it happen. When a lost preacher, a crowd of uninvited guests, and a queasy bride threaten the blessed event, Miss Julia is there to restore order, confirming her undying motto: if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!” Miss Julia has come a long way since her husband’s death. She is ignorant of the plight of many of those who are less fortunate than she, but watching her learn is a lot of fun! She continues to grow emotionally and spiritually with each novel. That’s not easy for an old-fashioned widow in a small southern town. Go get ‘em Miss Julia!

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I am thankful for another day on beautiful Mother Earth.

Joy to You!

The Julia Influence

Okay. I know. I'm taking this Julia Child stuff too far. I'm even cooking!

This recipe is from Cooking for Two 2009: The Year’s Best Recipes Cut Down To Size by America’s Test Kitchen.

Pantry Corn Chowder

Serves 2

Note: If you have not thawed the corn, quickly defrost it in a bowl in the microwave.

• 1 pound frozen corn, thawed (see note)

• 3/4 cup whole milk

• 3 slices bacon, minced

• 1 small onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)

• Table salt

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 8 ounces red potatoes (about 3 small) or 1 russet potato, cut into into 1/2-inch pieces

• Ground black pepper

Process half of the corn with the milk in a food processor until smooth, set aside.
Cook the bacon in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer 1 tablespoon of the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the pureed corn, broth, potatoes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, bring to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining corn; return to a simmer and cook until the corn is warmed through and the potatoes are tender, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, remove the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with the reserved bacon and serve.

Now, what changes did I make? I had buttermilk left and used it. I used vegetable broth rather than chicken broth and I didn’t use any salt - the bacon was enough. Mr. Dragon gave this chowder 5 stars (and he wasn’t very excited about it when I said we were going to have Corn Chowder for dinner). Enough left over for another meal. Our bowls must not be as large as the Test Kitchen’s!

This leads me to what I've finished reading - My Life In France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme.



From Julia’s introduction: “This is a book about some of the things I have loved most in life: my husband, Paul Child; la belle France; and the many pleasure of cooking and eating. It is also something new for me. Rather than a collection of recipes, I’ve put together a series of linked autobiographical stories, mostly focused on the years 1948 through 1954, when we lived in Paris and Marseille, and also a few of our later adventures in Provence. Those early years in France were among the best of my life. They marked a crucial period of transformation in which I found my true calling, experienced an awakening of the senses, and had such fun that I hardly stopped moving long enough to catch my breath.”

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this book. Part of it, I'm sure, was the pleasant memories I had of watching Julia on television, but the book is just good. The Childs were big letter writers and the letters, wonder upon wonder, were kept and these form a basis for the book -- at least for the memories Julia recalled. From Paul's job, politics, Julia's father, living in France, Germany, Boston, finding the pleasures of cooking, to writing the cookbook -- a wonderful read.

I read Julie Powell's book "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living," shortly after it was published in 2005. While I enjoyed it and laughed a lot, it just doesn't hold a candle to My Life In France (in my not so humble opinion) -- but a fun read. Julie still has a blog and you can catch up on the opening of the film and all the stuff that goes with it here.

Eat something wonderful today!

Joy to You!

Unfinished Business

Mr. Dragon finally photographed his art work from this summer. These are my favorites from that photo session and the ones that were too big for me to scan.

This is one that I will frame.

This one his instructor loved.
He wanted him to do more with the "blobs".
(Another one of those technical terms.)

Mr. Dragon likes this one.

Look what I got yesterday! Two awards at one time from the lovely and talented Shelly, the Blue Ridge Lady. Thank you, Shelly. I'll try to continue with the *variety feast*!

You must go and visit Shelly. She has been collaging for a little over a year -- bright, beautiful, fun collages. She also does some beaded jewelry and she is a cat lover. It's always hard to hand the awards off to other blogs. There are just too many blogs that make me smile. So, if you don't already have these awards, would like them, or need to make yourself smile -- please grab an award with my blessing and a big YeeeeeHaaawww!

Last, but not least, the Julie and Julia articles at the New York Times continue today with a marvelous post by Michael Pollan whose latest book is In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Have a wonderful day.

Joy To You!

(I hear rain! I'm going to go sit on the balcony before it stops!)

Bon Appetit

From the NYTimes

You know that I don't normally post on Wednesday. Wednesday is errand/adventure day. But, I couldn't resist when I found this article on the Julie and Julia movie. Here's the link: Film Food, Ready for Its Bon Appetit. Enjoy!

Try something new today!