Food for Thought…The Gate House

The Gate House

**

First let me say two things: Number one, I am normally a Nelson Demille fan. And yes, that is two stars….and they’re pretty dim stars at that. And second, I have a personal rule about not abandoning books without reading to the end. This book made me wonder why I’d ever imposed that rule and who’d know if I broke it.

I’ve enjoyed several of Mr. Demille’s books. Plum Island and The Charm School are two of my favorites. This book is a sequel to Gold Coast written eighteen years ago. The characters themselves, especially John Sutter, are interesting and well developed. I enjoyed Sutter’s caustic wit and sarcasm for the first fifty pages. His “Dear Ms Post” letters actually had me laughing out loud. Then slowly I began to feel as if one of us had stayed too long at the party. John Sutter became the boor who told the same joke one too many times.

There’s not a lot of talk about food in this novel. There is lots of talk about money, and wills, and sex. There are pages and pages of deceit, revenge, and sex. There are chapters on mafia dons, mafia hits, and yes….mafia sex.

I don’t want to mislead you. This book is not 674 pages of sarcasm and sex. Sometimes it contains cocktails, sarcasm, and sex. Maybe it’s just me, but I found Susan Sutter’s appetites a little far-fetched even for a cheating, murdering heiress…but maybe that’s just me.

I’m joining Food for Thought on Saturday. Don’t worry. I read two books that I could not put down while I was at the beach. Next time you’ll see more stars…I promise! For more edible reviews click here!

Spoken From the Heart...An Edible Review

****

Spoken From the Heart

I am joining Jain at Food for Thought and Michael Lee West at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday allows me to combine two of my great loves—reading and cooking!

Knowing my great love for biographies and autobiographies, my youngest son gave me Spoken from the Heart for Mother’s Day and I have truly enjoyed reading it. The strongest sense I got while reading was an almost tangible sense of peace and acceptance. The autobiography reads exactly like her public persona—soft spoken.

I found the first half of the 456 page book the most enjoyable and, by far, the most revealing. She writes of an idyllic childhood marred only by her longing for siblings and the sadness over her mother’s “late miscarriages”---a euphemism for the lost brother and other two babies never again discussed. She discusses in depth the tragic car accident that took the life of her classmate while she was at the wheel of the other car. She admits a guilt from which there is no absolution but realizes “there is no great clock to unwind”.

I was moved by how poignantly she describes her heartache when she was unable to conceive in early marriage. She says that there is no word in the English language to mourn absence. She says, “For those who deeply want children and are denied them, those missing babies hover like a silent, ephemeral shadows over their lives. Who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that was never held?”. I sensed once again the mourning of lost siblings and that Laura Bush’s sense of responsibility as wife and mother far outweighed that of First Lady.

The second half of the book is far less personal and interesting to me. Perhaps the lack of intimate details is by design or perhaps it is out of necessity to include all the facts. Mrs. Bush writes of people, places, and events with little personal insight. The exception is her moving account of September 11.

I got a strong sense that Laura Bush is happy to be back in her native Texas with lifelong friends, close ties to the land around her, and a slower schedule. She wrote a paragraph about the early years of her marriage in Midland. She writes, “I remember one summer evening working in the flower beds in our yard after the girls had gone to sleep, while the sun still hung low in the sky. George was sitting on the steps reading the newspaper, and I thought to myself , “This is the life”. And it was.”. Haven’t we all had a moment like this---one when life seems so peaceful and you wish you could freeze it? I recently had one of those days.

Oddly enough, I am the “fisherman” in the family. Beloved much prefers hunting, but he indulged me and took me to a friend’s private pond. You can see the tip of my pole in the left corner :). It was a perfect afternoon in a beautiful spot.

The fish were biting. And I thought of Laura Bush-- “This is the life”.

We fried the fish for lunch on Sunday. You can find the hushpuppy and tartar sauce recipes on an earlier post here.

Coleslaw

8 cups shredded cabbage (I buy the bagged variety)

1 cup shredded carrot

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon black or white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all and refrigerate.

Don’t forget to visit Food for Thought on Saturday and Designs by Gollum on Friday. Thanks Ladies!

The Help

The Help ****

by Kathryn Stockett

I recently learned about a new event hosted by Jain at Food for Thought. She calls it an edible review—a chance to review a book of our choice and showcase food vignettes within the book. This is right up my alley—two things I love: reading and cooking! So while I’m at it, I’ll be sharing a recipe for Foodie Friday with Michael Lee West at Designs by Gollum. Recently during a couple of days when we were iced in, I had the chance to sit down and read The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I had heard the buzz, but had not had the opportunity to read it myself. The book is the story of domestic help in white households of the South in the early ‘60’s. It is a story of awakening.

A toilet and chocolate pie—an odd combination to be sure, but two things at the very heart of the book. The story centers around Skeeter who has just graduated from Ole Miss and returned home with a degree in journalism but without the all-important engagement ring. In her attempt to fit back into the society she left, she finds herself drawn to the plight of the domestic help raising the children and cleaning the houses of her bridge partners. It is Skeeter who digs deeply into the lives of Aibileen, a wise black woman raising her seventeenth white child, and Minny a short black woman with a big attitude and an even bigger mouth.

I found the deep dialect a little affected. I grew up about ten years and forty miles from the setting. I enjoyed reading about streets, stores, and even a weatherman I recognized. Skeeter’s best friends Hilly and Elizabeth, employers of “the help” represent people we all know….part arrogance, part ignorance, and part a product of their time. The heroine, in my opinion, is Aibileen who rallies the other maids and entices them to tell their stories to “Miss Skeeter” for a book she hopes to have published. It is Aibileen who nurtures Mae Mobley, the child of the indifferent social-climbing Elizabeth. She presses Mae Mobley’s little fat thumb into her own palm and tells her, “You is smart, you is good, you is important”. This, for me, was what Stockett wanted us to know. Each of is smart, and good, and important.

Oddly enough, my favorite part of the book was the last chapter: “Too Little, Too Late”—the author in her own words. Here I gained an insight into the ambivalence of the author about her native Mississippi. Stockett herself was raised by an absentee mother and her grandmother’s maid. She admits to having conflicting feelings about the way she herself had thought about her upbringing and how she treated Demetrie who cared for her. The plot moves well, the characters are well developed, and the dialogue is lively. I recommend The Help. Oh, and about the pie and the toilet…you’ll just have to read it :)

Now, back to that chocolate pie that no self respecting bridge group would be without! This is my never fail stand by recipe for chocolate pie!

Chocolate Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon flour

3 cups milk

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients together in a medium size saucepan. Gradually stir in milk and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir 1/2 mixture slowly into egg yolks. Add this mixture back to the saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook one minute. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Cool slightly and pour into cooled baked pie shell. Top with meringue if desired

***Note- To make Coconut Cream Pie. Follow above recipe EXCEPT reduce sugar to 2/3 cup. Omit cocoa. Fold in 3/4 cup shredded coconut just before filling pie shell.

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EDITED--I actually posted this before I knew the event was every OTHER week! Hope you don't mind. In the meantime, I have posted a blogaversary giveaway. Click here to enter.