Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

03.02.2010

Welcome, February.

I’m a few days late in welcoming February. What can I say, it crept up on me. I have no idea where the past month went.

Winter is like that for me. My dad used to refer to it as my ‘blue fog’ (or was it fug?) anyway–I don’t necessarily feel sad or SAD (seasonally-affected) in wintertime, just very passive, very quiet, and very low-key. I suppose that I don’t do much of anything. Like a bear, I hibernate and try to keep warm. Unlike a bear, I do a lot of reading.

I came across something by Doris Lessing today, that seemed to fit my current mood perfectly;

Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy.

Quite.
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Tags: Books, Seasons, winter
Posted in Books | 1 Comment »

28.01.2010

Rest in Peace, J.D. Salinger

I was surprised to read that J.D. Salinger died today. He was 91 years old, so he certainly lived a long time. I think that the main reason I was surprised was because he is never in the press… he gave his last interview in 1980 (three years before I was even born) and was almost as famous for being reclusive as he was for writing The Catcher in the Rye. I said almost.

My seventeen year old self, like many other adolescents, was able to identify deeply with Salinger’s characters; their humanity, their yearning for a more authentic way of being in the world, the passions and recklessness of being very young. I haven’t re-read Salinger’s work in years, and look forward to revisiting it as an adult. I loved Holden Caulfield’s voice, but identified even more profoundly with Franny Glass of Franny and Zooey. The fact that Salinger’s characters inspired such devotion in fans was a source of pain for him, he who most wanted to be left alone, but it has also insured that the genius of his singular talent will continue to live on. That’s the beauty of the written word.
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Tags: Books, herbs, musings, Vietnamese, winter
Posted in Books, Treats, musings | 2 Comments »

10.12.2009

On: Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant

“It is the privilege of loneliness; in privacy one may do as one chooses.”
–Virginia Woolf, from Mrs. Dalloway, as quoted in the above book.

P1040265

I recently borrowed this book, Alone in the Kitchen With an Eggplant, edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler from the library. Once I began reading, I found myself enthralled and barely took a break until I finished it. There’s something so irresistible about discovering what other people do when they are alone.
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Tags: Books, musings
Posted in Books, musings, noodles | 6 Comments »

13.11.2009

Cod: the book, and a recipe for Bacalhau Assado

When I began writing on this site, the edible library, I had intended to use my love of books to inspire my love of cooking. My concept was essentially this: for each appropriate book I read, I would conceive of a recipe that matched that book in some way, whether through an associated memory or idea, or by a dish or cuisine explicitly mentioned. As I began to write, I started to find my task a bit daunting. I still liked the idea, but actually pairing a book and recipe for each post is a lot of work! The book must be read, notes should be made, and a review/synopsis written. Then, I would need to choose a recipe, cook it so that it turned out well, and have satisfactory accompanying photos of the dish in question. Phew. So, I did end up posting on food and books (as well as tea!) but usually separately rather than together.

Today, however, I will attempt to write on a book and a dish in the same post. The book is Cod by Mark Kurlansky which I read over the summer and wrote a short post about here.

“Life is saltfish.” -Halldór Laxness
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Tags: Books, fish
Posted in Books | No Comments »

15.10.2009

Ready… set… sprout!

In an effort to: a) eat more organic produce, b) be thriftier, and c) simplify finding fresh produce during the colder months, I have started growing my own sprouts. Growing sprouts is likely ‘old hat’ to many of the wonderful food-centric folk out there, but it is new to me, and it has been a revelation. It is really very easy and satisfying to grow your own sprouts, and it’s also cost-effective (great for our seemingly-hostile economic climate) and at least a little entertaining. I love peering into a jar of seeds/sprouts to see how much they have grown overnight.

in the beginning, there were seeds

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Tags: sprouting, vegetables
Posted in Books, Plants, Veggies | No Comments »

30.09.2009

Rustic Apple Galette, and why ‘The Cider House Rules’

Two days ago I finished reading John Irving’s novel The Cider House Rules, and it really had me craving apple pie like you wouldn’t believe. The majority of this post is going to be novel-oriented, but we’ll start by assembling the following rustic apple galette:

another reason to love autumn.

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Tags: autumn, Books, Seasons, Treats
Posted in Books, Seasons, Treats | 1 Comment »

15.09.2009

Turmeric. In curry, yes, but as tea?

there's a lot of turmeric in there

Last night and this morning I made ginger tea laced with turmeric. I would like to say I am drinking it for its wonderful flavour, as I do with regular tea and my beloved sencha, but it is not really so–I’ve been trying it primarily for its purported health benefits. Though, I must say, it makes a very pleasant drink. The fresh ginger overwhelms the overall taste, though the turmeric is certainly responsible for the colour, as well as the earthy body of this tisane. (more…)

Tags: Books, Japanese, Tea
Posted in Books, Tea | 5 Comments »

26.08.2009

Cod: Now available in book form

This is the book I’m reading. It was on my bookshelf for a good long while before I picked it up and dove in, but I’m glad I did.

I love histories on a single subject (if it’s obscure, so much the better) with lots of interesting anecdotes and bits of folklore thrown in. That’s exactly what this book is, but it’s also about a) food and b) importance of sustainability, which makes it timely and not entirely frivolous.

This book was written in 1997, so I am a bit behind on the times. Blame this on the fact that I usually only shop in used bookstores.

Expect a cod recipe to follow, once I’ve had a chance to properly digest this book. Ahem.

Love,
Meggie ^^

Tags: Books
Posted in Books | 1 Comment »

13.08.2009

New books and free tea

Disclaimer: this turned into a long, rambling post. If you’ve no interest in books, tea, or rambling… consider yourself warned.

loot

Several weeks ago I ordered some tea from Hibiki-an, a tea producer in Japan. I have ordered tea from them several times before and am always happy with my order. This time, though, I misjudged how long the tea would take to arrive. It was in no way the fault of Hibiki-an, my tea always arrives promptly, but it caused me no small amount of stress, actually. I placed my order only four or five days before Pants and I were planning to leave for Nova Scotia. Generally it takes seven to twelve days for a package to arrive from Japan. (more…)

Tags: Books, Haruki Murakami, Tea
Posted in Books, Tea, musings | 2 Comments »

12.06.2009

Murakami’s ‘Norwegian Wood’ and cooking

A week ago while reading ‘Norwegian Wood’, a novel by Haruki Murakami, I stumbled across a pertinent quote. The character of Midori in the novel is an eccentric university student from Tokyo, who also happens to be a terrific cook, of traditional Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka region) fare. She taught herself to cook on her own, from a book:
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Tags: Haruki Murakami
Posted in Books | No Comments »