Sweets for the Sweet
Speaking of food, let me add, every child deserves to have at least once in his childhood two special desserts. Children need to watch their being made (but not help in the process), one of them, days before its being served and the other immediately after it comes out of the oven. One is baked on a wooden cutting board in the range oven; the other is shaped in a terra cotta flower pot in the fridge. You can locate the recipes on the Net. The one for the oven is Baked Alaska. [Some people think this is a fish, but it isn’t.] The one for the fridge is Paskha, the traditional Russian Easter dessert. The latter is quite rich and should be sliced thin, like cheesecake. Invite friends in for the Baked Alaska, for it all needs to be eaten. Oven-baked ice cream isn’t a good left-over.
♥
Monday, January 3, 2011
A Different Way to Lose Weight
During these twilight years of my life, I am in the process of giving away possessions I really like and sometimes cherish. Things I don’t have any particular fondness for usually go to a thrift store of some sort for tax deductions. Among the liked items are, of course, books. [Given to family members already is all my real jewelry, which was just a few items. My hands full of rings and bracelets would be a distraction from my keyboard work. I look at the keys, for I don’t touch type.]
Many times I’ve searched for a book, not to find it, but vaguely recall I gave it to someone, who, I thought at the moment, would appreciate it. I hope the donees are still enjoying them. One granddaughter-in-law took off my hands several cookbooks and my loose recipes. This was twenty years or so after I gave several boxes of cookbooks to my daughter when I was still cooking. That was when I owned about 200 cookbooks and used them. A few were coffee table books of great beauty.
I recall many years ago getting home from school to find the post had delivered a big package. It was a gorgeous cookbook specializing in desserts, loaded with color photos, one tempting picture sometimes taking up a whole page. I distinctly remember a chocolate jewel with pink twirled frosting. Each delight graced a different pattern of china or crystal. It was a dream book.
So, I began at the beginning and studied every photo, reading its fascinating name and glancing at the list of ingredients. This took awhile. When I finished, I felt as if I had eaten from the book. I was not even hungry and it was time to get supper on the table. This might have been one of the few cookbooks I never cooked from.
Sounds like a great enjoyable way to lose weight, doesn’t it? Just spend an hour studying exceptionally well photographed dishes of delightful, even decadent, desserts long enough and you will be filled! I don’t guarantee it will work the second time with the same pictures, for I never tried it again. You’d better buy another cookbook.
Now I know what you’re saying. It wouldn’t happen that way with you, for you’d find something you’d just have to cook right then. Well, my guess is that would happen only if you did not spend a long time with the pictures. Saturate your eyes long enough and feast.
This is wild, of course. I know about the conditions in other countries. We need to help them rather than feast so gluttonously ourselves, even if not in actuality. And who, these days, has an hour to spend that way? I hadn’t planned to. It sneaked up on me. It didn’t happen again and I gained back that pound.
♥
During these twilight years of my life, I am in the process of giving away possessions I really like and sometimes cherish. Things I don’t have any particular fondness for usually go to a thrift store of some sort for tax deductions. Among the liked items are, of course, books. [Given to family members already is all my real jewelry, which was just a few items. My hands full of rings and bracelets would be a distraction from my keyboard work. I look at the keys, for I don’t touch type.]
Many times I’ve searched for a book, not to find it, but vaguely recall I gave it to someone, who, I thought at the moment, would appreciate it. I hope the donees are still enjoying them. One granddaughter-in-law took off my hands several cookbooks and my loose recipes. This was twenty years or so after I gave several boxes of cookbooks to my daughter when I was still cooking. That was when I owned about 200 cookbooks and used them. A few were coffee table books of great beauty.
I recall many years ago getting home from school to find the post had delivered a big package. It was a gorgeous cookbook specializing in desserts, loaded with color photos, one tempting picture sometimes taking up a whole page. I distinctly remember a chocolate jewel with pink twirled frosting. Each delight graced a different pattern of china or crystal. It was a dream book.
So, I began at the beginning and studied every photo, reading its fascinating name and glancing at the list of ingredients. This took awhile. When I finished, I felt as if I had eaten from the book. I was not even hungry and it was time to get supper on the table. This might have been one of the few cookbooks I never cooked from.
Sounds like a great enjoyable way to lose weight, doesn’t it? Just spend an hour studying exceptionally well photographed dishes of delightful, even decadent, desserts long enough and you will be filled! I don’t guarantee it will work the second time with the same pictures, for I never tried it again. You’d better buy another cookbook.
Now I know what you’re saying. It wouldn’t happen that way with you, for you’d find something you’d just have to cook right then. Well, my guess is that would happen only if you did not spend a long time with the pictures. Saturate your eyes long enough and feast.
This is wild, of course. I know about the conditions in other countries. We need to help them rather than feast so gluttonously ourselves, even if not in actuality. And who, these days, has an hour to spend that way? I hadn’t planned to. It sneaked up on me. It didn’t happen again and I gained back that pound.
♥
There’s Money Out There Somewhere
There were exciting programs on C-SPAN over the weekend, but I’ll mention only two here. When I tuned in, Gov. Bobby Jindal was in the middle of talking about his new book Leadership and Crisis. He spoke from the Reagan Ranch Center in California and received much applause for statements he made. Later in the day, I tuned in again and got the first half of his speech, minus the introduction. He is a dynamic speaker and needs no teleprompter. How refreshing.
On another program a woman answering questions from callers said George Bush’s Decision Points has sold two million copies. That’s a runaway best seller.
The last time I checked, authors were getting, for their own pockets, about one dollar per copy. If that is still the rate, then George has already made two million dollars on the book. If two dollars a copy, then he’s made four million. It could also become a selection for book club distribution and net him another tidy sum. I don’t think Hollywood will pick it up, but you never know.
♥
There were exciting programs on C-SPAN over the weekend, but I’ll mention only two here. When I tuned in, Gov. Bobby Jindal was in the middle of talking about his new book Leadership and Crisis. He spoke from the Reagan Ranch Center in California and received much applause for statements he made. Later in the day, I tuned in again and got the first half of his speech, minus the introduction. He is a dynamic speaker and needs no teleprompter. How refreshing.
On another program a woman answering questions from callers said George Bush’s Decision Points has sold two million copies. That’s a runaway best seller.
The last time I checked, authors were getting, for their own pockets, about one dollar per copy. If that is still the rate, then George has already made two million dollars on the book. If two dollars a copy, then he’s made four million. It could also become a selection for book club distribution and net him another tidy sum. I don’t think Hollywood will pick it up, but you never know.
♥
Sunday, January 2, 2011
A Look at Farming
In Brian Lamb’s rerun interview with author Frank McCourt last night on C-SPAN, the author told of his once being referred to as “just a teacher,” while others around him had high-powered jobs or successful writing careers, whatever. Doors were closed to him everywhere, he said, for he was just a teacher.
Then he wrote Angela’s Ashes, about his mother. It was a best seller, as you know, and now he says doors are opened to him everywhere.
For generations in American society, three vocations rated as being at the top, above all others: religious ministry, medicine, and law. At least one of these rested upon a calling—that’s what vocation means—and perhaps the other two also, depending on the individual. Though today well-sprinkled with felonies and misdemeanors, they still are at the top. But there are two fields of endeavor, usually not called vocations, that hold high standing in my view. They are farming and teaching, but only when done well. A poem exists, written from the point of view of a farmer that begins with “I guess I’ve seen more light than any man alive [sic].” Whenever I think of wide open fields, I recall that line. It figures the light seen is even more than what a pilot sees, for he doesn’t fly every day. The farmer rises daily to look over his fields, and, of course, to look up at the sky for signs of pending rain. He must take in the clouds, and even the stars, when he tucks his land in for the night. That’s one positive way to look at farming. You see more light than anyone else. It is an honorable estate.
♥
In Brian Lamb’s rerun interview with author Frank McCourt last night on C-SPAN, the author told of his once being referred to as “just a teacher,” while others around him had high-powered jobs or successful writing careers, whatever. Doors were closed to him everywhere, he said, for he was just a teacher.
Then he wrote Angela’s Ashes, about his mother. It was a best seller, as you know, and now he says doors are opened to him everywhere.
For generations in American society, three vocations rated as being at the top, above all others: religious ministry, medicine, and law. At least one of these rested upon a calling—that’s what vocation means—and perhaps the other two also, depending on the individual. Though today well-sprinkled with felonies and misdemeanors, they still are at the top. But there are two fields of endeavor, usually not called vocations, that hold high standing in my view. They are farming and teaching, but only when done well. A poem exists, written from the point of view of a farmer that begins with “I guess I’ve seen more light than any man alive [sic].” Whenever I think of wide open fields, I recall that line. It figures the light seen is even more than what a pilot sees, for he doesn’t fly every day. The farmer rises daily to look over his fields, and, of course, to look up at the sky for signs of pending rain. He must take in the clouds, and even the stars, when he tucks his land in for the night. That’s one positive way to look at farming. You see more light than anyone else. It is an honorable estate.
♥
For Writers Only
It’s really getting under my skin to come across repeatedly one particular grammatical error (in addition to those mistakes with lie, lay, rise, raise, sit, and set). It’s the misuse of the word “silently” when it should be “silent.” Last night I found it twice in just a few pages of Moscow Rules, an exciting international intrigue novel by Daniel Silva, author of The Rembrandt Affair. I thoroughly enjoy his work, but he doesn’t know me, and is not likely to read this criticism from me. Maybe one of you will tell him. But hear this:
Many authors write (and publishers publish) “He stood silently.” Yes, we once learned that adverbs tell how. But so do adjectives. Adverbs tell how something does; adjectives tell how something is. There is no action in “He stood silently.” It should be, “He stood silent.” It’s like “Stand straight.” We don’t say, “Stand straightly.” Nor do we say, “Stand tally,” but “Stand tall.” Many other such verbs with adjectives make up this list; for example, “Drop dead.” That’s a sort of action, but what this means is “Drop to be dead.” If the construction can be expressed with a form of to be, rather than the verb given, as in “He was silent,” then it needs the adjective, not an adverb.
♥
It’s really getting under my skin to come across repeatedly one particular grammatical error (in addition to those mistakes with lie, lay, rise, raise, sit, and set). It’s the misuse of the word “silently” when it should be “silent.” Last night I found it twice in just a few pages of Moscow Rules, an exciting international intrigue novel by Daniel Silva, author of The Rembrandt Affair. I thoroughly enjoy his work, but he doesn’t know me, and is not likely to read this criticism from me. Maybe one of you will tell him. But hear this:
Many authors write (and publishers publish) “He stood silently.” Yes, we once learned that adverbs tell how. But so do adjectives. Adverbs tell how something does; adjectives tell how something is. There is no action in “He stood silently.” It should be, “He stood silent.” It’s like “Stand straight.” We don’t say, “Stand straightly.” Nor do we say, “Stand tally,” but “Stand tall.” Many other such verbs with adjectives make up this list; for example, “Drop dead.” That’s a sort of action, but what this means is “Drop to be dead.” If the construction can be expressed with a form of to be, rather than the verb given, as in “He was silent,” then it needs the adjective, not an adverb.
♥
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The Latest Book Purchase
I got out of Barnes & Noble this past Thursday with buying only one new book and one from the bargain table. The first one had to be ordered and will arrive at my house on Monday or Tuesday perhaps. When B&N doesn’t yet have a new book in the store, you can order it for less money than you’d pay if it were in the store. If you have a membership in B&N, this order is postage-free for the customer. That membership gives you another 10% off, and Thursday happens to be the day B&N usually offers a percent-off coupon online. Often it’s 25% off, as it was last Thursday. So I ordered Going Home to Glory by David and Julie Eisenhower.
At the bargain table, I found nothing of interest except John Le Carré’s A Man Most Wanted. I picked it up and tried to recall if I had already purchased that one. Not being sure, I concluded two copies would be better than none, and bought it. I do have two copies; someone will get a gift.
♥
I got out of Barnes & Noble this past Thursday with buying only one new book and one from the bargain table. The first one had to be ordered and will arrive at my house on Monday or Tuesday perhaps. When B&N doesn’t yet have a new book in the store, you can order it for less money than you’d pay if it were in the store. If you have a membership in B&N, this order is postage-free for the customer. That membership gives you another 10% off, and Thursday happens to be the day B&N usually offers a percent-off coupon online. Often it’s 25% off, as it was last Thursday. So I ordered Going Home to Glory by David and Julie Eisenhower.
At the bargain table, I found nothing of interest except John Le Carré’s A Man Most Wanted. I picked it up and tried to recall if I had already purchased that one. Not being sure, I concluded two copies would be better than none, and bought it. I do have two copies; someone will get a gift.
♥
Happy New Year!
It’s cold in Boise but the sun is shining bright at the moment. I started the year by breaking a resolution before I got out of bed. I slept till 8:00 on the dot. But I had gone to sleep at 2:00 a. m., so that’s only six hours of sleep. That’s good; it’s often four hours. The noise on Times Square was too much for me—I’d rather be reading—and I turned off the telly and got back to George.
I finished reading George Bush’s Decision Points around 10:00. In the next to the last chapter, the one on peace and its negotiations, is an amazing little story about a hen turkey that we should all appreciate, for that fowl helped to shape world peace. Don’t miss it.
Decision Points is an excellent work. It tells the other side of some stories, something the news people at the time didn’t tell us straight, if at all. A news man now told us the other day that George Bush’s book sold a million copies within about a month after publication. Then he said Bill Clinton’s book sold 1.2 million, but it took six years.
For 2010 my reading record shows only 40 books finished. Naturally, one of my resolutions for 2011 is to read 50. When I was teaching, I managed to read 100 books a year, but every time my classes and I read Hamlet, I counted every time as a reading, for it was a reading.
One thing I like to do (but failed to do this time) is to have a book almost finished by midnight of New Year’s Eve, and then finish it quickly on January 1. That gives one’s reading list a great start. There’s more to say, but this is enough for this posting. Do note this date may have more than one.
♥
It’s cold in Boise but the sun is shining bright at the moment. I started the year by breaking a resolution before I got out of bed. I slept till 8:00 on the dot. But I had gone to sleep at 2:00 a. m., so that’s only six hours of sleep. That’s good; it’s often four hours. The noise on Times Square was too much for me—I’d rather be reading—and I turned off the telly and got back to George.
I finished reading George Bush’s Decision Points around 10:00. In the next to the last chapter, the one on peace and its negotiations, is an amazing little story about a hen turkey that we should all appreciate, for that fowl helped to shape world peace. Don’t miss it.
Decision Points is an excellent work. It tells the other side of some stories, something the news people at the time didn’t tell us straight, if at all. A news man now told us the other day that George Bush’s book sold a million copies within about a month after publication. Then he said Bill Clinton’s book sold 1.2 million, but it took six years.
For 2010 my reading record shows only 40 books finished. Naturally, one of my resolutions for 2011 is to read 50. When I was teaching, I managed to read 100 books a year, but every time my classes and I read Hamlet, I counted every time as a reading, for it was a reading.
One thing I like to do (but failed to do this time) is to have a book almost finished by midnight of New Year’s Eve, and then finish it quickly on January 1. That gives one’s reading list a great start. There’s more to say, but this is enough for this posting. Do note this date may have more than one.
♥
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