Gilead

My book club met last week to discuss Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 and was proposed by Rona. I have found that Rona's taste in books most closely matches mine, and we both loved this one.
 
Excerpting from his review in the Washington Post, Micheal Dirda says the following:

"Marilynne Robinson's new novel is so serenely beautiful and written in a prose so gravely measured and thoughtful, that one feels touched with grace just to read it. Gilead possesses the quiet ineluctable perfection of Flaubert's "A Simple Heart" as well as the moral and emotional complexity of Robert Frost's deepest poetry. There's nothing flashy in these pages, and yet one regularly pauses to reread sentences, sometimes for their beauty, sometimes for their truth.
Much of Gilead reads like a spiritual diary, the journal of a country pastor. Robinson's narrator is that rarity in fiction -- a thoroughly good man. As the Rev. John Ames approaches his 77th birthday (and an impending death from heart disease), he decides to record something of his family's history and his own inner life. The result, he trusts, may be of value to his young son, now only 7, as well as a testament of his love for the boy and the boy's mother, the unexpected blessing of his old age. This immensely moving novel it is a spiritual journey no serious reader will want to miss."

I am so impressed by Robinson's eloquence and by her ability to write in the voice of an old religious man.  Rona and I both loved John Ames and felt so emotional toward the end of the book when we knew he was reaching the end of his letter and therefore the end of his life. What a moving, beautiful, book. I guess I need to check out Flaubert's A Simple Heart.

For Michael Dirda's full review click here.

My Hands Upon My Face

MY HANDS UPON MY FACE

I felt the hot water flowing into my upturned hands,

My face waited impatiently, expectantly, for its treat.

It felt like heaven when my skin finally sunk into the pleasure,

My hands upon my face.

Before my skin had had enough I rose with new awareness -

What if I couldn't move my arms toward my face?

What if I couldn't cup the hot liquid that was caressing my skin?

What if I couldn't put...  my hands upon my face?

I thought of Irysse and others like her,

Whose bodies have become uncooperative traitors,

Who have as much right to the pleasure I feel

When my hands are upon my face.

I looked down at my hands, cupped and flowing.

I looked up at my face, flooded with knowing.

Slowly, I dipped my head with reverence and gratitude

To feel my hands upon my face.

Organic Flowers

I have lifted the following article from the Care2 website in its entirety. I felt it was worth re-posting.

Many of us will be buying or sending flowers for Valentine’s Day and Easter and Mother’s Day. You may not know that it is now possible to send organically-grown flowers. There are very real and important reasons why this is the best choice.
Find out why organic flowers are best—and where to buy them. According to Organic Bouquet, growing flowers organically:

• Reduces toxic chemical usage.
• Brings life to the soil.
• Best for the environment.
• Safer for farmers and farm workers.
• Promotes long-term sustainability of farmland.

One of the problems with pesticides is that they don’t stay put: They drift, getting into and contaminating water supplies, our homes, gardens, and bodies. Since many pesticides have been implicated in ozone depletion and the rising incidence of cancer, non-organic flower-growing has a serious impact on our health and the environment.
Rather than using toxic chemicals to destroy pests, organic farmers rely on prevention, and also on growing thriving, pest-resistant plants through healthier soil and environment. So organic flower-growers not only reduce the amount of toxic compounds in the biosphere, they actually improve the environment and promote the sustainability of farmland.
Many of the flowers we buy at supermarket floral departments and florists come from other countries where pesticide regulations are far more lax than they are here. Floral workers suffer the risk of exposure to chemicals that have been banned in the United States.
Support the health of our planet and ourselves by supporting the organically-grown flower industry. Here are a few links to help you find organic flowers.
To order organic flower bouquets:
Organic Bouquet
California Organic Flowers

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-organic-flowers.html#ixzz1mD8KEXUv

Cooking A Recipe From Vegetarian Times

Vegetarian Times is my favorite magazine. The articles are researched, timely, and interesting (to me.) The topics in VT are more about a healthy lifestyle than just veggie recipes, but you can be sure it's chock full of recipes. Some recipes, though meatless, would never appear in my kitchen. The recent issue, however, has the recipe for one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes: Lemongrass Curry Tofu and Broccoli. I HAD to try it. My pantry and fridge had everything I needed except the lemongrass and the serrano pepper, so I got up early, drove to my office to feed Moxie and then to Earth Fare to pick up a few items including the lemongrass. Unfortunately they didn't have the serrano pepper but I knew I could work around that.

After cutting the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes I began sauteing them.

The recipe called for broccoli, tomatoes, and carrots, but I had to add mushrooms. I LOVE mushrooms. I also had to wash some cilantro to add as garnish. I LOVE cilantro. You can also see the spices: turmeric, curry, and cayenne pepper (which I added to make up for the missing serrano pepper.) You can also see a can of coconut milk; I decided to use low fat coconut milk (big mistake I found out.) Ignore the bananas. :-)

The other flavorings were shallots (the purple things) garlic, ginger (the yellow pieces), and lemongrass (the four stems that you may think are green onions.) The dark green thing was part of a poblano pepper, to provide some pepper taste (it wasn't hot enough to sub for the serrono, which is why I added cayenne.)

The instructions said to form a paste with the food processor, but I found it made less than a paste despite many turns of the blade. I ended up with more of a chopped mixture but think that was perfectly fine.

Meanwhile my first pan of tofu cubes were nicely golden. I put them in a bowl and sauteed another batch.

With the pan still hot after cooking the tofu I sauteed the shallot mixture in half toasted sesame oil and half canola oil. Toasted sesame oil provides a nice taste to Asian food. After 10 minutes it was beginning to brown, which meant it was time to...

... add the coconut milk, turmeric, curry, and cayenne pepper. Water and the carrots were added as well. Now it was beginning to smell gooooooood!

My pan was getting full and I knew I still had lots to add so I put the curry sauce in a big pot and added the veggies and the tofu.

Of course I had started the brown rice earlier and it was looking pretty good.

The finished product!

Nooshi Joon!

So was it good? It was good-ish. The ingredients were yummy but it did not taste the way it tastes at the Vietnamese restaurant. I chalk it up to four things:

• My tofu is different than the one they use. Theirs is smoother; I think it's what they call "silken" tofu.
• I used low fat coconut milk. I think this was a mistake. There was very little "coconut milk" taste. I think next time I will have to use the real thing.
• It wasn't salty enough. The recipe didn't say to add salt and we rarely add salt when we cook, but it needed it and next time I will add some.
• This recipe was out of Vegetarian Times, not Vietnamese Times. It may have been missing a crucial ingredient like thái vuông con cờ. (just kidding!)

I think the bottom line is that it can be really hard to recreate something you get at a restaurant. But I am going to try it again. Remind me to use silken tofu, regular coconut milk, add some salt, and some of that thái vuông con cờ. :-)

From Salam Cafe To Lell's Cafe

We went to Lell's Cafe for the first time this morning for breakfast. It is owned and operated by one woman who does all the cooking herself. Her mission is to use as much as possible what was grown and produced in York County soil, and her coffee is fair-trade, shade-grown, etc. Lell's is in no way vegetarian but the eggs, meats and dairy come from local farmers that are hormone and antibiotic-free. You get the idea. I'll put her mission statement below the pics. Breakfast was delicious!! Next time I'll take some pics of the food itself.

Lell's is located across from Winthrop Commons (where Earth Fare is.) Saeed and I like to spend our money (well, he'd like it if everything were free) on things that either benefit or at least don't harm certain beloved causes: animals, the environment, the arts, or in this case, a local small business. With everything part of a chain these days it's harder than you'd think.

It's a nice warm, homey atmosphere. While waiting for our food we grabbed the newspaper and read, and after hearing a bit of sizzling and clanking from the kitchen we were served a veggie omelet, grits, and a biscuit. All home made, all from scratch. Super yummy. No calorie counting please.

Lell's is visited by lots of Winthrop folk, both student and professor. When we arrived at 7:15 AM this fellow was the only customer but by the time we left the tables were mostly full. Because it's a one woman show with few wait staff she is only open for breakfast and lunch, 7 AM - 3 PM, Tuesday through Saturday.

Lell has had lots of difficulty sustaining a small business in these economic times with ingredients that are more expensive. She writes a poignant story in her blog about hoping she can hang on. She mentions that she does all the food prep herself (I saw that this morning) so perhaps that sign reflects her motto. I hope she makes it.

Mission Statement from the website:

Lell’s Café is about real food and quality products. Our passion is evident in the ingredients we use and the relationships we have with our producers, growers and customers. We believe in sourcing seasonal products direct from York County soil and the surrounding environs while employing direct/fair trade buying practices with the growers and roasters of our coffee beans.

It is our goal to be able to pinpoint a spot on a map with the name of the farm or person responsible for the ingredients in what you eat and drink. Sustainability and organic practice produces better food with less strain on the environment. Running a restaurant in accordance with these standards speaks to our personal philosophy of supporting a cleaner environment through our persistence in food and coffee knowledge and our commitment to this community.

The two year journey to open this café has seen many changes, many reality checks and lots of soul searching. The idea of Community encompasses every aspect of this project. We would not exist without the support of the “village” that made this business possible. Financially we are a “CSR” which stands for Community Supported Restaurant. This model allows us to be financially stable through the commitment of loyal customers and allows us to support local farmers. It removes us from the staid model of bank financing and frees us to grow sensibly and with little outstanding debt. The model also ensures that the customers who come here believe in the food and coffee that we serve. In the big picture it creates a sustainable local circle…. An infinity of sustenance and support.

Lell’s Café is committed and willing to support an ever increasing supply of local resources while reducing the need to rely on big box suppliers. It is a simple formula: the more you the customer supports eating local the more growers can afford to produce local food.

Salam Cafe

I stumbled upon an Australian comedy show by and for Muslims. They won "Best Program of the Year" in 2006. I'm not sure if it's still on the air. The first video is a snippet from their show that made me laugh. The second is a blurb about how Salam Cafe is trying to help reduce tensions in Australia through humor.

Baby Cherry Park

During their last visit Cyrus and Kai took us to the park while their mom was visiting Lisa. We always talk about going to Cherry Park and sometimes do, but when we go to this cute little park just a couple of blocks down on Cherry Road we always have it to ourselves. Baba called it "Baby Cherry Park." Cyrus seemed to really like that.

Here Baba is directing the race. Kai is riding the toucan and Cyrus is trying to beat him on the pelican.

Ishmael and Starbuck get their sailing orders from Captain Ahab.

Baba is teaching Cyrus how to slide down the long pole.

Video shorts:

At first I had Kai facing me but the sun was in his eyes so I turned him around. This is not important but you hear me say something about it.


I've done this myself. In one's non-swinging adult life you forget how important your center of gravity is.


Kai is now a very competent slider.


After seeing Kai slide down and accidentally landing on his rear end Cyrus "accidentally" lands on his... over and over and over again.


I'm sorry I cut off his cute little dance at the end!


Sir Cyrus struggles to bring King Kai the royal ball.

Unexpected Little Bonus

After a hard rain our lone daffodil looked a bit top heavy and this gave me permission to cut it and bring it indoors. (I hate to cut them when they are decorating the yard so nicely.) As I approached the flower with my scissors I saw a little...

... beautiful snail. (please click on photo to enlarge)

An Archimedean spiral right there in my back yard!

My little snail has a face only a mother could love.

It's a lousy picture but this daffodil looks beautiful in our kitchen now.

I'm $4 Ahead

After the previous games I'm $4 ahead of Saeed. We are betting a whole $5 on the Super Bowl so that could mean $9 for me if I win... well, if the New England Patriots win. That's the price of a lunch buffet at the Bombay Grille. If I lose then I pay Saeed $1. That's not even a cup of coffee so...

GO PATRIOTS!

Too Warm

As others in the country are buried under a mountain of snow we have had temps consistently spring-like. Yesterday it was near 70. On January 29th this daffodil sprang up near our back door. I'm not complaining about the mild temps; in my old age I enjoy warmer temperatures, but this can't be good for the ecosystem that relies on cold temperatures to advance the normal life cycles. I have a feeling we will still get frigid temps (many of our snows have been in February and March) but by then many already budding trees and flowers that normally bud in late March and early April may die. I also think of the farmers. The Matthews Farmer's Market newsletter said this does not bode well for many of their produce. The blueberry bushes, for example, would die with a hard cold spell. So I don't know what to wish for... not that it matters. Mother Nature does what she wants.