verbatim

Partial Book Reviews

I'm in a reading rut. Remember back when it was heart-breaking for me to even imagine not finishing a book? (Yes, Angle of Repose, I'm talking to you.) Well, now, good luck getting me to ever finish one!

In November I started reading A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. I love Lorrie Moore—I would read a collection of her shopping lists. However, I was reading this at a time when life was getting kind of out of control, and I knew I was going to have to miss the book group meeting at which it would be discussed, so I put it down at page 74. And then I never picked it up. I was liking (if not loving) it, but I can't seem to motivate myself to get back into it. I haven't put it back on the shelf, though, so maybe there's hope for this one.

The next book group assignment was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I'm not a fan of historical fiction in general, but I was game to try. It's the story of Oliver Cromwell, and I really enjoyed Mantel's depiction of him as a true renaissance man—shrewd and insightful and multi-faceted and warm-hearted. But, man oh man, I found it made for such tedious reading. For one thing, I found it very difficult to keep track of all the Henrys and Marys and Annes and Thomases—I had to keep flipping to the Cast of Characters at the beginning of the book (you know you're in trouble when a book begins with 5 pages listing the characters, and half of them share the same first name). For another thing, Mantel has this maddening gimmick where she always refers to Cromwell as "he" even if Cromwell wasn't the the first one mentioned in a sentence. Many, many times I had to go back and reread a sentence to figure out who was doing what. Some people said to assume that "he" always means Cromwell, but that doesn't work either. I just can't believe that this was deemed (by Mantel and by her editors) the best way to show that we are inside only Cromwell's head. I found that it really detracted from my potential enjoyment of the book. Anyhow, I stopped reading on page 207 and am unlikely to bother finishing it. I'm not one to shy away from "hard work" when I'm reading (I've read Moby Dick! and Infinite Jest! and even some poetry!), but the payoff in this one wasn't enough for me.

Next I picked up something that I thought would be a blast, John Irving's latest, Last Night in Twisted River. I love-love-love Irving, but I'm barely like-like-liking this one. It's supposed to be really funny, but I'm not finding it so. I'm used to his zany sense of humor and kooky characters, but this feels so forced to me. And boring. I couldn't care less about any of the characters or the plot. It's almost as if someone is trying to do an Irving knock-off and failing miserably. I'm on page 155, and that's going to be that.

Then I turned to something that I knew would be completely different: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. OK, these pieces (some are a single paragraph, others a few pages) are indeed different—some of them are downright strange and unsettling. I've read only the first few and do intend to continue—there's something very compelling if unnerving about these "stories"—but I can already see that this is not something I'd want to read all in one sitting.

Next up for book group is Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, which I think ought to be interesting, although I don't usually do biographies.

So ... help! Please, someone, recommend a novel I will want to finish! Has anyone read Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris? That's next on my pile, but I will hold off if someone can suggest something guaranteed to please me.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Stay Up Late - Talking Heads    Little Creatures
2. People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case
3. Six O'Clock News - Kathleen Edwards
4. Baby It's Cold Outside - Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel
5. Lost Highway - Jeff Buckley
6. The Show Is On The Road - Paleface
7. Pretty Girl From Chile - The Avett Brothers*
8. Greencastle Blues - Todd Snider
9. Slow Turning (live) - John Hiatt & the Guilty Dogs
10. Patchwork River - Jim Lauderdale

*Speaking of the Avett Brothers, do you know anyone who's going to see them live in concert this spring? You do now! Woo-hoo!

Tweet-Up!

Tonight I went to my first tweet-up! (For those of you who are not in the know, that's a Twitter meet-up.) The only ones I'd heard about up till now either were giant social media "events" (which I actively stay away from) or were not convenient for me time-wise or location-wise. This one was just for a few Boston-area editorial types, and it was in nearby Cambridge.

Thanks to @CopyCurmudgeon for setting it up! It was also nice to meet @bardandbarker, @talkwordy, @ebrenner, and @cdgullo. And I was happy to be introduced to the Asgard in Central Square, a terrific Irish pub and restaurant.

So now I am no longer a tweet-up wannabe. Looking forward to the next one!

Oh, This and That

I should be writing this from New Hampshire, but we didn't go because Julie was sick. Wednesday night out of nowhere she threw up on her dinner plate (easy clean-up!) and then got a fever. She was home from school Thursday and Friday, by which time her throat was very raw. She's better now, but skiing didn't seem like a good idea, especially because it's especially cold and windy this weekend. (Two weeks ago she missed a few days of school because of viral hives! Poor kid.)

Anyhow, here are the trinkets and treasures and trivialities I've collected for you recently:

Jeffrey Eugenides is finally, finally coming out with a new book! I can barely wait any longer.

I love the idea of the Googleganger—that's a person who has the same name as you, and whose online references get mixed in with yours when you Google yourself. [Get it? It's Google + doppelgänger.] Not surprisingly, I've got more than one Googleganger; the most prolific one is a photographer in New York.

This cartoon about the Mayan end-of-the-world prophecy cracks me up.

Julie is halfway through the final book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, and she is fascinated by all the Greek myths about the gods and goddesses. She wouldn't understand it, but I got a kick out of Odysseus's inbox.

Watch 19-year-old  Zach Wahls speak in defense of marriage equality in Iowa. How proud his parents must be!

You know those funny Old Spice Guy ads? (No?! This one's typical.) Anyhow, check out this wonderful take-off with Zinfandel Guy (but it doesn't load properly in Firefox, so use Chrome or Safari).

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. You've Got a Friend (live) - James Taylor
2. Return of the Grievous Angel - Lucinda Williams & David Crosby
3. Heart Full of Holes - Mark Knopfler
4. Good Morning Coffee - Greg Brown    In The Dark With You
5. Mexican Home (live) - John Prine 
6. Step Right Up - Tom Waits
7. Psycho Killer - David Byrne & Richard Thompson
8. A Heart Needs a Home - Loudon Wainwright III & Shawn Colvin
9. The Unrepentant - Steve Earle
10. Busted - George Jones

Feed the People

As long-time Verbatim readers know, the "cause" that is nearest and dearest to my heart is wiping out hunger. I lose sleep thinking about people who don't know where their next meal is coming from. When my kids tell me how hungry they are at a moment when I happen to be feeling all preachy-like, I'm liable to launch into one of my "We don't know what hunger is. You haven't eaten in a few hours, since your last snack. What if you hadn't eaten all day?" rants.

As often as I can, I get involved with groups whose mission is to feed the hungry in my community. (Yes, I do occasionally give to outside organizations, but you must also know that I'm mostly a "Think globally, act locally" kind of gal.) We make bag lunches for the homeless shelter, we donate canned and boxed goods to our local food pantry, I go with Pete to serve dinner at the soup kitchen (and am trying to find a date when our family and perhaps another family or two can do the whole thing ourselves!), and so on.

Another opportunity came up this Sunday, when our temple asked for volunteers to help pack up and deliver groceries to the needy on behalf of JF&CS, a local organization that does wonderful things for those in need in the surrounding communities:

For almost 150 years, Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) has been Greater Boston’s leading and trusted provider of comprehensive human services. JF&CS helps people of all faiths, races, and ages with the challenges of life. A caring presence in the 80 communities we serve, we’re proud to be the place that new mothers, young families, people with disabilities, fragile elders, and the chronically poor can turn to for vital and personalized services.

What an operation! We and dozens of other families from temples all around were given lists prepared by families in need. We entered a large room that was divided up into tables full of cereal, pasta, canned beans, soup, and so on. All the items had been donated—for instance, our temple's "assignment" for the year is canned tuna and boxed cereal (I drop off full bags as often as I remember, which is probably not enough, considering how often I'm at the market). We had to gather all the items on each list, which is where the kids came in. "Go get me a jar of peanut butter and two cans of fruit!" One family required kosher food, so we had to carefully check the labels of each item before we bagged them. At the end, we went into a separate room to get whatever refrigerated items were available—this time there was cream cheese, eggs, and frozen spinach and broccoli.

Then we took the Google map directions attached to our lists and drove to deliver the bags to the families. They were so grateful, and it was all I could do not to cry in front of them.

When Pete does the soup kitchen, he first meets with the other kids in the group and the group leader to talk about poverty. He's learned that not everyone who visits the soup kitchen is necessarily homeless. Some have homes and even jobs, but they still don't have quite enough to make ends meet without these extra hot meals. Or everything was fine until they lost their job or they had a big medical bill or their car died or their rent went up or whatever. It's been really eye-opening for him to learn that there are people within our own community who are in dire need.

I'm eagerly awaiting another opportunity to pack and deliver food for JF&CS; in the meantime, I'm going to make a point to buy more tuna and cereal, I've offered to drive all that tuna and cereal from the temple to JF&CS each month, and I'm going to volunteer directly to JF&CS to pack groceries for those families who are able to come pick them up themselves.

Is it so much to dream that everyone in my community can go to bed with a full stomach? I don't like to think about the amount of food my family throws away for various reasons; I'm determined to work harder to make the most of what we have and to set aside more for others in need.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Seven Little Indians - John Hiatt
2. Rudie Can't Fail - The Clash
3. Beauty Mark - Rufus Wainwright
4. Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
5. Knocks Me Off My Feet - Stevie Wonder
6. Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
7. Magpie to the Morning - Neko Case  
8. Rock and Roll Doctor - Little Feat
9. Song for Sonny Liston - Mark Knopfler 
10. If I Had a Boat (live) - Lyle Lovett  

Sloppy Joes à la Ming

One year ago this weekend was Steph's Bat Mitzvah! Hard to believe. In commemoration, the kids toasted each other tonight with Spritinis:

I'm normally not one to succumb to pressure to serve traditional Super Bowl fare, but this year I caved just a little. In addition to downloading Lynne Rossetto Kasper's wonderful podcast of The Splendid Table each week, I also get her weekly e-newsletter. Last week she had this recipe from Ming Tsai, which puts an Asian twist on sloppy joes. It was delicious.

Asian Sloppy Joes

2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
2 medium red onions, cut into ¼" dice
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 cup diced celery
1 tablespoon sambal or hot sauce of your choice (We used just a bit of Tabasco.)
1¼ cups hoisin sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
Juice of 2 limes
8 ounces roma tomatoes, fresh or canned, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns
1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded (We skipped the lettuce.)

Heat a stockpot or other tall wide pot over high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic, ginger, celery and sambal. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce and sauté 1 minute. Add the beef and pork and sauté, breaking up the meat, until just cooked through, about 6 minutes. Add the lime juice and tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the mixture has thickened enough to mound when ladled, 20 to 25 minutes.

Toast the buns and place a bottom half on each individual serving plate. Top generously with the meat mixture. Top with the lettuce and the bun tops. Serve with chips and pickles.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. One World - Dire Straits
2. Backstreets - Bruce Springsteen
3. Songbird - Eva Cassidy    Songbird   
4. Welcome To The Working Week - Elvis Costello
5. Laughing River - Greg Brown
6. The Late John Garfield Blues - John Prine
7. Porchlight - Neko Case
8. Catfish John -  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band & Alison Krauss
9. Perfectly Good Guitar - John Hiatt
10. Think - Aretha Franklin

Kugel Carbonara

I apologize for the mixed metaphor in the title, but that's what this is: a traditional spaghetti carbonara, but it's baked like a kugel. What could be bad? You know we love both carbonara and kugel, so this was a big hit here. And easy-peasy.

This comes from Faith Durand's new book, Not Your Mother's Casseroles, which I had the pleasure of proofreading last spring. This is part of the "Not Your Mother's" series from Harvard Common Press (including Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook and Not Your Mother's Microwave Cookbook), which features new takes on old techniques or equipment. In this case, it's casseroles. Forget about the can of cream-of-whatever soup—we're talking fresh, healthful ingredients here.

Baked Spaghetti Carbonara

1 pound spaghetti
Olive oil
8 slices bacon, cut into 2-inch lengths
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine
6 large eggs
1½ cups milk
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly grease a 9x13x2" baking pan with olive oil. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat, and salt the water generously. Cook the spaghetti for about 2 minutes less than recommended by the package directions for al dente. Drain and return to the cooking pot, then toss with a generous amount of olive oil.

2. Place the bacon pieces in a large, deep skillet and turn the heat to medium. Cook the bacon slowly until it is crispy, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook over medium heat for an additional 4 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant and golden.

3. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the white wine. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the wine is slightly reduced. Turn off the heat and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs thoroughly and whisk in the milk and Parmesan cheese. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, and a generous quantity of black pepper. Add the spaghetti and toss thoroughly. Pour in the bacon mixture and toss again.

5. Spread the pasta mixture in the prepared baking dish. (At this point the casserole may be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.) Bake for 30 minutes, or until set. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Date Night Lives!

In the last few months, Andy and I have been experimenting with a mini date night. Every so often on a Saturday night, we'll pick up a pizza for the kids and then head out to The Local for a drink (or two) and an appy (or two). We're home before bedtime, and the kids seem fine. And we feel quite decadent!

This past Saturday night we went on a real date night—well, no movie, but at least a restaurant dinner, which is something we hadn't done since my birthday last April, if you can believe it. We went back to old favorite Aquitaine, where Andy can always depend on the steak frites. As for me, I had the lobster vol-au-vent, which was luscious. (Although on the menu it was spelled "voul au vant," so I had to send them an email on Sunday, but I haven't heard back yet. C'mon, if you're going to describe yourself as a French bistro, you have to get the French right, non?) We had such a nice time, and we were home at a reasonable hour. Maybe someday we'll actually do a movie and dinner. Imagine.