book review: “More Than Enough”…

… a novel by Anna Quindlen. Quindlen is a prolific author, with a number of bestsellers, selections chosen by well-known media personalities as ‘club’ material, and several books for children as well as a popular memoir. This book, recently published was recommended by a relative who works in a bookstore as an enjoyable read, requested from the local library and read over several days and in the wee hours.

Polly Goodman is an English Lit. teacher in a girls private prep. school in New York, high-end education for females with parents of both means and desire to raise daughters into successful adults: with the expectation the graduates will be accepted to Ivy league colleges as legacy students, and on to careers in government and private firms. Married to Mark, who is a vet. at the Bronx Zoo, the couple has been dutifully following protocols for years in an effort to conceive. Polly has three devoted friends who comprise a book club, with the understanding they will not actually read the book, but meet monthly to maintain their strong bonds.

Out of the blue, the three others give Polly a DNA test for a birthday gift: she does the test on a lark, and gets a response: an unknown relative contacts her hoping to build a relationship. Although Polly is confident she is the sibling of Garrison, the daughter of a city court judge held in high esteem and the judges’ husband, now declining with dementia: she is curious. Agrees to meet this person in a coffee shop in Vermont, only to find she is young, black, with a deceased mother who was born in Ghana, adopted by a white couple in the midwest. Nothing at all what she expected when she sent the sample off for testing, on a lark.

The story is well written, building characters and fleshing out the humanity and rough edges of daily life. Highly recommended. Not a spoiler precisely – but a sweet ending that might make the readers eyes leak…

book review: “Stitches” …

… by Anne Lamott. A small book (which would be easier to write than a large one, if your editor/publisher decides it has enough words to print and sell?) about the size of the average paperback, or an issue of Reader’s Digest. Printed in in 2013, she initial felt a need to respond to the tragedy of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in New York state, where a number of children were randomly gunned down Lamott.also has a written number of others on various subjects relating to her experiences, life-lessons, years of observing the natural world where she resides in the hills of southern California.

“Stitches” refers to her perception of how the world holds together when everything seems to be falling apart. Family and friends find their lives untenable: a beloved couple, life partners for decades, receives an unwelcome medical diagnosis. A parent, stalwart and faithful, suddenly no longer the capable independent adult who has always been a resource of knowledge, now in need of support, assistance, care as strength and health decline, with loved ones helpless observing from the sidelines.

Trying to make sense of the senseless, provide a logical explanation for the inexplicable, pondering the varigeties of the universe when it seems the planet might be slipping from it’s axis to twirl away in an unpredictable, random manner.

on a side street …

…in the little two block commercial area that might be considered ‘downtown’ St. Elmo district. With brick edifices, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, professional offices like dentistry, speech-and-hearing clinic, converted loft space for housing, barber-beauty-permanent cosmetics. The base of the Incline Rail cars that will take tourists (for a considerable fee) up the steep mountainside to the top edge of Lookout:buy a ticket, get in line, purchase an ice cream cone at Jeni’s to enjoy while waiting for the rail car to descend and load for the next excursion.

This hand painted sign seen on utility pole.

What you are seeing here: love yourself. Gratitude is Great. Be thankful always. The little, rarely considered, often overlooked daily things we do not give a thought to: city services – they come and get the trash every week. The electricity comes on at the flip of the switch on the wall. Water: safe, clean, potable, on demand happens when you turn the handle on the faucet.

All the little, rarely noticed events that make our lives run smoothly. Mail delivery, businesses dependably opening and closing as advertised,stocked with the goods we desire. Social and emergency services available for assistance on demand. Many seemingly routine things that happen without a conscious thought. Make it conscious: Be good to yourself.

Things will not always go according to plan. Be generous with forgiveness: including the possibility every little thing will not go as expected -Thankful for the ability to take a breath, course correct, be kind.

food prep …

… of any description, really unusual for a person who claims to not do any cooking. But I did, sort of: making a quiche when someone was coming to visit over the weekend. From a recipe trimmed from the back of the Bisquick box years ago. Fed to family for decades, but not stirred together to cook and serve in a really long time. I might have made a different version in recent years that requires cornstarch as the ingredient to thicken when baked, but this one that calls for a half-cup of the handy baking mix has not been assembled in forever.

A big fan of egg-y things, from egg salad sandwiches, to a little scoop on a cracker. That great family-gathering tradition of deviled eggs, always popular on the church buffet and tea-party fare for ladies luncheons. Any way a body can serve as part of a breakfast, from scrambled, and over easy to poached on toast. Just plain boiled and sprinkled with little sea salt and pepper. Lately, stirred to mix, poured into a small skillet to cook/set and flipped over onto a flour tortilla, a scattering of grated cheese, roll it up and walk out the door with food in hand.

This recipe was a quick way to feed a family when there were school-age people clamoring for food. Along with a vegetable, green salad: makes a meal. Anyone who has tried to please youngsters will have to admit, even when the dish is something the adolescents consider ‘unpalatable’ enough ketchup or bar-be-que sauce will help them to choke it down. Just be prepared to see all your efforts covered with a layer of red sauce…

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie (I think the ‘impossible’ part is how it goes from a liquid when you pour it into the pie plate, to bake and come out a solid?)

1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or your choice)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup original Bisquick

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Heat oven to 400. Grease nine inch pie plate. Cook ground beef and onion, drain. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle over cheese. Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake about 25 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Makes six servings.

You can add anything; more vegetables would be good, if you want to dice and saute sweet peppers or celery. If you are a fan of cooked spinach, or choose to add more nutrition, fresh or frozen spinach (thawed and drained) would add a whole lotta good health. Or if not a lover of beef, use ground turkey, or left over bits of roast chicken from the deli to increase protein?

book review: “The Black Echo” …

… by Michael Connelly, another paperback written by the author of a series featuring the Los Angles police detective Harry Bosch. Possibly the third one read in recent days, as the character has developed in the seamy alleys, viaducts, stony hills of Hollywood and densely packed neighborhoods of southern California. Drug addicts, teen gangs, huge homeless communities, immigrants by the thousands crossing the southern border, tourists without number, run-aways from across the nation and planet being watched by predators ready to strike.

Bosch is a renegade, disillusioned but highly capable Detective, having worked his way up the chain of command, after a youth of raising himself on the streets. Unconventional, forever disagreeable with supervisors, obstinate, often underhanded with methodology for problem solving. A stint in the military during the Vietnam conflict with a close=knit group who would go below the earth’s surface into the miles of hand-dug tunnels in search of Cong. personnel, munitions, supplies are part of Bosch’s history.

On duty as a LAPD detective, Bosch is called to an isolated area off Mulholland Dr., location of a large reservoir serving the city water supply. A body has been found in a water viaduct, first thought to be a junkie that had OD’s, Bosch soon realized the corpse was a fellow ‘tunnel rat’ from his military service, as the team got similar tattoos in Vietnam. Looking for evidence, clues, the man’s history, Bosch finds his former mate might have been involved in a bank heist where the vault was accessed from those miles of below surface tunnels that riddle the city wide infrastructure. This bank robbery, unsolved, under the jurisdiction of the FBI, leads him to conclude there is another possible and similar effort underway: to relieve a former official in the Vietnam war, now living in LA.

Connelly’s writing is almost like an actual script, or screen play: tightly woven, succinct, not a man who minces words. Details describing street scenes, traffic, other characters, city in general prove his knowledge and personal relationships with law enforcement and lay out of the densely populated area. A fast-paced good read, filled with background details to bring the plot to life.

visiting a little…

… elementary school on Hixson Pike up on the north side of Chattanooga. Part of the Hamilton County School System, Rivermont is a small compact neighborhood school, built years ago when the idea of building schools designed to meet the needs of small portions of the city/county was popular. Rather than the model of today: giant constructions with each grade segregated into separate wings, like spokes on a wheel with communal rooms like library, gym and cafeteria in the center. With a small play ground, green grassy fields for sports and a serious problem with traffic in the mornings and at letting-out time each afternoon. Although situated on a four-lane street, the amount of vehicles that travel the area creates a definite ‘jam’ during those high-traffic hours.

The art on the walls done by the second grade students was photo worthy. One of the delights of going into schools all over town is the opportunity to observe how creative the teachers are when required to meet the ‘standards’. Incorporating those goals the state BOE sets that some education expert with little actual experience in elementary classrooms decided are essential. Writing a book about curriculum to sell to school systems for guiding the teachers who don’t need one more thing added to their list of ‘required’ goals for assessment of successful learning.

Hopefully the art instructor had conversation with the second grade students about what the words mean. Discussing how they can show that kindness, compassion, and care to fellow students, teachers, family, the world in general.

Although this photo was taken back in the spring, near the end of the term, no less applicable for a lesson in compassion, brotherly love, consideration for fellow students, teachers, staff, family, the world in general.

book review: ” Secrets of Midwives” …

…. by Sally Hepworth. At last count, nearly a dozen published, all stand alone, rather than a connected series as a many authors will write to continue characters and story-line from one to the next book. This one was a little hard to follow: in the way that some writers will use the chapter separations to change the character and use a different voice as the pages turn. A number of different women, including three generations who choose to become those people who assist women in labor and delivery, guiding them as females have for centuries through the birthing process. Here: in home births as the family chooses, or in a more formal medical setting as the need arises.

One of these three women, trained to provide support prior to labor and delivery, as well as birth, is pregnant, choosing to not reveal that fact, or the name of the other parent to her mother or grandmother. A hard pill to swallow, for the older women, as they family has hidden secrets for many years, stories carefully kept in the dark and un-shared from their history. As the pregnancy evolves, the three women gradually reckon with the past, with other characters coming into the story line, providing details as the months go by. A supportive man connected with the medical facility comes on the scene, offering paternity.

A complicated birth takes place, but all ends well. As it turns out, the pregnancy and birth was attended by the grandmother: possibly the best possible scenario. She did the actual delivery, what is referred to in the narrative as a ‘footling’. Meaning the first part of the infant to emerge is his foot. A most unusual presentation, but apparently something this woman with decades of experience in birthing was familiar with and prepared to handle. Withoout the benefit of hospital care, having a home birth even with the knowledge of breech, and risk to both mother and infant

grandmother’s mother …

… judging from the clothing and appearance, photo probably taken in the late 1900’s. She lived in a small town in central east Georgia, likely never traveled more than a dozen miles or so from she was born, grew up, met a man married and had a family. Worked at home as awife and mother, planted a garden, harvested crops to save vegetables and feed a family over winter months. Met the needs of her growing family, kept a tidy house, enjoyed life in her community: church-going and active in a congregation of conservation Southern Baptists who kept youngsters inline with a solid thump on the head on Sunday mornings, or a grimace and finger pointing from the choir loft.

She would have been the glue that held the family together. Supportive of her parents,siblings, nieces, nephews of her own siblings, cousins, more distant relatives in times of need. In the way families and close-knit communities of neighbors. Appearing without prior knowledge of family in crisis: baked goods still warm from the cast iron wood stove, ham from the smoke house ready to be sliced, bowls of home grown vegetables, still glowing with summer sunshine.

Responsible from a young age: going to collect the eggs in the early morning,expected to help with preparing family breakfast for those going out to work in the fields, cleaning up after meals, tidying home, doing laundry making all the family clothing from yard goods bought at the general store. Every article on their bodies hand stitched to wear until the no longer wearable. From undergarments, to hand-knit stockings on their feet, as well as skirts, trousers, shirts, coats all stitched by the fingers of the family. Young girls started with learning how to make tidy even stitches, on small scraps of fabric,under the supervision older experienced siblings. observed by those sisters, aunties,cousins, ‘little mothersin training, criticizing stitches and skills, to create larger pieces into ‘samplers’ As their abilities improved, adolescents collecting material to go into a ‘hope’ chest, linens to start housekeeping,with those young girls goals of eventual marriage with a future home of their own.

book review: “Echo Park”…

,,, by Michael Connelly. Another of his tightly written tales featuring the LAPD detective Harry Bosch. In one of these character driven narratives, Bosch (and the author) make no bones about how Bosch benefitted from selling one of the cases he resolved to the movie industry, resulting in a generous pay-out for him to buy a home up in the Hollywood hills, and retire.

Lured back on to the force, to become part of group of detectives assigned to cases that have lingered for years without resolution.Often there are details found in the accumulated boxes of evidence collected at the scene, or information from the ME during autopsy that had never been evaluated: DNA, things there was simply no technology that would provide addition clues to resolve the mystery. Bosch felt a strong connection with the family of this young woman’s family, unsolved murder haunts him over a decade after she vanished. Bosch is told there is serial killer/incarcerated suspect who can take them to where her body is buried, but believes this to be a publicity stunt for a politician.

Although well guarded, the the confessed serial killer escapes when taken to a remote, densely wooded area. Shots fired, officers killed there on the rugged hillside. The scenario reads like a script for a television series: which it is. Well written, with a unexpected ending.

the person who …

… claims to never cook: agreed to make a pot of chili to donate for an fundraising event. It is remotely possible at some far distant point in my life of pot-stirring, family feeding, church supper cooking I would have needed and used a recipe to make a pot of chili, but unlikely. This is an exception: the required donation is for ‘white chili’. Although I have eaten it, never have I ever actually put it together to stir, cook, serve. In recent years, on the rare occasion when I have served chili, it included chicken, rather than beef: other wise pretty much the same basic ingredients anyone would assemble for this cold weather favorite. Including tomato sauce, tomatoes, onions, spices, beans to make the fan-favorite served over tortilla chips or in a bowl with cornbread.

Still debating as to how to thicken the soup-like consistency, as it seems the recipe will produce a product that is more ‘soup’ like than the expected full-bodied meal expected of chili. Possibly adding some cornstarch will be the solution, as the chicken stock does not tend to thicken when cooking like tomato products would after simmering all day. Or maybe a can of the white beans that have been pureed to help thicken and make the consistency more stew like rather than soup?

That will be me leaving out the red pepper flakes: my mouth does not like ‘spicy-hot’ at all. BYOB of hot sauce…

The addition of the package of dry Ranch Dressing mix will certainly be tasty, add some interesting flavor. Not a fan of spicy foods, there will not be any red pepper flakes in the version I will assemble to deliver to the event next week. Undecided about adding the two small cans of chopped green chilies: Although they are available in ‘degrees’ of heat, there was not a ‘mild’ option on the shelf at Walmart. Which will require another shopping trip to look for the version that has less heat. You can see it all goes in a crock pot and will cook for hours. The chicken will have to be removed and shredded, then all the ingredients heated before serving.

Prep instructions: put everything except the last four lines in the pot to simmer for the chicken to be thoroughly cooked. Remove chicken to shred. Add the veg, let heat through. Add toppings when you fill a bowl. It was just too meaty for me to want to taste, but had reports it was good, and the pot was nearly empty after the lunch was served.