Category Archives: books

New Year Countdown

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christmas-2008-part-2-0622Welcome to the sixth day of Cathy’s New Year Countdown —  New Year’s Eve. I’m going to admit to extreme nerdy geekiness and say that some of my favorite things are new calendars and planners. C’mon, admit it: You love them, too. It might be old-fashioned, but there’s something about those pristine blank pages. Blackberries are nice, laptops essential and iPhones are pretty cool, but they don’t hold a pixel to a brand-new calendar. With an unblemished year in front of you, enthusiasm and optimism seem quite warranted. Oh, the things we could do! I could be organized! I could be on time! I could go to fabulous places! I could remember all my friends’ birthdays! Who knows? It could happen. With a new calendar, all things are possible. If you didn’t get one for Christmas, don’t let 2009 sneak up on you without one. Go to your local bookstore or office-supply store or big-box discount store and find what you need. I always get a big wall calendar for the kitchen family-planning headquarters plus one of those 365-a-day-whatever tear-off calendars for my desk (featuring a daily handbag or puzzle or knitting pattern or wild-women quote of the day) and a cute and sleek planner for my purse that looks great for about 3 days and then I spill coffee on it or lotion/perfume/hand sanitizer leaks all over it or I tear out pages to use as hasty notepaper and then find myself skipping from the second week in January to the first week of May. But my intentions always are good. That’s the thing about a new calendar — good intentions are all that’s important. Check back tomorrow for more tips on making the most of 2009 with day no. 7 in Cathy’s New Year Countdown. Since it’s still a party at my house, let’s keep the holiday spirit going and stretch the New Year out to Twelfth Night, or Jan. 6. Happy New Year!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown

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machine2In Day No. 8 of Cathy’s 12 Days Before Christmas Countdown, it’s time to look at the original holiday-simplification guide, “Unplug the Christmas Machine.” Even though it’s almost 20 years old, this book remains the signature how-to for scaling back and cutting down. But you’ll find more here than tips on re-using wrapping paper and getting decorations out of your own backyard. In fact, the rest of the title says it all: “A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back in the Season.” Authors Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli show you how to identify and make time for what’s truly important to your own family’s holiday celebrations and gives you permission to ditch the rest. Isn’t that the kind of Christmas we all want? And we’re talking real-life here. For instance, the authors warn you that while deciding to forgo massive present-opening on Dec. 25 could be a good thing and spiritually satisfying, you might find yourselves sitting around staring at each other without anything else to do. Awkward! And while it christmas-and-new-years-2006-07-01810reads a bit dated — it was written, after all, before laptops, cell phones and Blackberries became essential family tools — the core message still is relevant: To get the most out of Christmas, you’ve got to regain control of it. It might be too late for this year — you’ve already gotten all your Christmas chores done for this year, haven’t you? — but reward yourself by getting a head start on Christmas 2009. More good news? You won’t derail your new holiday frugality when you buy this book because as an older paperback, it’s only about $10 at most online booksellers — less if you buy it used. It’ll be a $10 you’ll never regret (unlike the $10 I spent on Max Factor Lipfinity Lipstick Sweet 55, but who knew?). Check back on Christmas Countdown Day No.  7 for one of the best online sites I’ve found for Christmas shopping.

Christmas Gift Projects

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carolyns-scarves-005My younger daughter Carolyn is a master at recycling and reusing when carolyns-scarves-004it comes to making gifts. She is so creative and talented — proof that genetics skips a generation because she did not get those characteristics from me. Inspired by Natalie Chanin’s how-to guide “Alabama Stitch Book,” Carolyn’s latest project is making these tea towels* from thrift-store T-shirts. She shops for the colors she wants, then cuts out the solid pieces of fabric from the shirts and plans her embroidery and reverse-applique designs. We recently spotted towels just like this in a Birmingham gift shop for $25 — she’s got less than $1 in each towel and the embroidery goes fast, so making them is definitely a money-saver. Plus, I think it’s her therapeutic stress-relief. These are so wonderful that I’m counting on her to make my old age rich and comfortable. Isn’t it nice to know that your children will take care of you?

And if you haven’t seen a copy of Natalie Chanin’s book, you’re missing out. It would make a wonderful carolyns-first-bandana-0021Christmas gift for any crafters on your list. Natalie is a fashion designer who returned to her northwest Alabama roots several years ago. Her company specializes in gorgeously hand-quilted clothing made from recycled fabric. Check out her Web site at http://www.alabamachanin.com/ to learn more. Carolyn’s first project out of “Alabama Stitch Book” was this past year when she tried her hand — literally! — at making this bandana. She’s gone on to make several for family and friends out of old and vintage T-shirts, including one she made for her sister, Liz, from the blue T-shirt Carolyn was wearing on the day Liz’s first baby — Nolan Thomas Behel — was born. I remain in awe of my children’s talent and imagination. Who would have thunk it back when it was a struggle to get them to finish their homework???

* Tea towel — a Southern term for a pretty cotton or linen towel used exclusively for drying delicate dishes and silverware

Fall Food, Southern Style

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One of my favorite fall traditions has started: Betty Sims’ Scrumptious Culinary School in Decatur, Ala. A former restaurant-owner and caterer and the author of two cookbooks, Betty teaches eight classes or so in her home every fall. The classes, which focus on simple yet elegant menus for parties and entertaining, are so popular they sell out almost immediately. And no wonder! Betty is a delight — so warm and gracious and the very epitome of Southern hospitality. In each class, about 40 people gather in the basement of her elegant home, which she’s converted into a teaching kitchen. While we sample appetizers and sip wine, Betty demonstrates the recipes, answers questions and shares from her extensive cooking experience. Then the best part happens: We get to eat! This is such a fun evening that’s good for groups of girlfriends together or for going by yourself. A couple classes — a Spanish menu and cooking with wild game — still have openings, so check out the schedule at http://scrumptiousinc.com/

An Epic Read

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Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon were among the women singers/songwriters whose music defined a generation: the hippie baby-boomers coming of age in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sheila Weller’s book, “Girls Like Us,” explores the trio’s intertwining lives and how their successes changed the music industry. It’s a fascinating look at these women’s beginnings, their personal and professional struggles and the men who inspired them (although not always for the good). It’s also an homage to the rise of feminism and the fast-track advances in women’s rights from one decade to the next. Sounds like a must-read, right? Well, maybe. It’s long — more than 500 pages — detailed and peppered with references and observations that do nothing to move the story along. Also, Weller writes with interminably long sentences, relies on distracting hyphens and parentheses and can’t disguise an annoying sort of exclusionary elitist attitude that’s prejudicial and unattractive. For example, she believes that the only smart and progressive women found in America in the early1960s were at the elite Northeastern women’s colleges. Really? Hmmm … That’s just one instance of Weller’s biased and insider approach. But, that being said, I’m glad I read this book. If you’ve ever belted out Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” if King’s “Tapestry” is on your best-album-ever list or if a mellow mood sends you to Mitchell’s “Clouds,” this is the book for you. But if you like quick reads and straightforward writing, it’s not.

My New Favorite Cookbook

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You have to add “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper” to your cookbook collection. If you’re a fan of the public-radio show “The Splendid Table,” it’s a must-buy. If the sound of “Splendid Table” host Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s voice is enough to send you into the kitchen with renewed enthusiasm, it’s a must-buy. If you like to eat, it’s a must-buy. If you’re fascinated with food, it’s a must-buy. If you think nothing’s new in the cookbook section, it’s a must-buy. And that pretty much covers everybody.

Why will you love this book? The recipes are new and fresh, with unexpected twists on tried-and-true classics. The photography is lush — while some reviewers have wished for more, the low number of photos leaves room for more recipes and, besides, the lively graphics and layouts keep things fun. But it’s the text that’s so compelling — the stories behind the recipes, the valuable how-to’s, the quick “Cook to cook” tips and the guidelines to answering such perplexing puzzles as how to buy a wok, how to read olive-oil labels and what to do with not-on-purpose wilted greens. One of my favorite chapters doesn’t have recipes: “Essential Equipment,” where authors  Kasper and “Splendid Table” producer Sally Swift tell you to buy the best you can afford and give us a glimpse into what’s usually found dirty in their own kitchen sinks.

Happy Birthday, Ann Beattie

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Ann Beattie, author of one of my favorite books ever, is 61 today. (Thanks, Garrison Keillor, for always letting me know things like this.) My husband and I were college students when her “Chilly Scenes of Winter” was published in 1976, and this novel captures that time and our then-20-something-year-old angst (although I don’t think anybody in the ’70s would have used the word “angst”) perfectly. In fact, it was my husband who, many years after college, introduced me to Beattie and this book. I’ve been a fan ever since. You will be, too, if you haven’t read her yet. And what better day to start than her birthday?

Art on the Move

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I know that graffiti on railroad cars is vandalism. It’s against the law, expensive for the railroad company to remove and dangerous for the artists. I know all that. And I certainly would not want to come outside to get in my car and see that an artist had used it as a free canvas and then have to drive it around like that. When you look at it that way, railroad graffiti is destructive, wasteful and just plain wrong. Yet, I’m fascinated with it. When I’m stopped at a train (which happens a lot where I live), it’s a pleasure to sit and watch the art roll by. I wonder where it came from, who did it and why. I know that some of what I’m looking at is probably gang-related or obscene and I’m too ignorant to realize it — but sometimes art is subversive, so that’s OK.

I’m so enthralled with railroad graffiti that I bought this book, “Freight Train Graffiti,” by Roger Gastman, Darin Rowland and Ian Sattler (about $22 from Amazon, soft cover). It’s a valuable pop-culture and art resource. It does a super job of explaining graffiti techniques and why — and how — railroad graffiti evolved and why artist risk their lives to do this. The best part is the pages and pages of graffiti-ed railroad cars, with clues on how to identify individual artists. I passed this book on to my art-teacher son-in-law and he uses it in class.

At least, admiring the graffiti makes the train stops go faster!

History and Yard Sales

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You know how you always tell your parents, “You really should write those stories down.”? Well, my friend’s dad has done that, and the stories in  “Before and After” are fascinating. Woody Stanley, 93, was born in rural Colbert County, Alabama. He owned and operated several businesses and restaurants in the area and still lives there, where he’s just closing his latest venture — a restaurant-supply store. In his lifetime, as the book says, he’s gone from kerosene lamps and candlelight to TVA electricity, from mules and Model Ts to the space shuttle. Reading his book is like sitting down and talking to him and learning about the ways things used to be. Folks in this part of Alabama know him from the famous Woodymac Drive-In restaurants he owned from 1947 to 1968. Everybody went there for burgers and shakes. Even Elvis Presley ate there after his history-making concerts at the nearby Sheffield Community Center. You’ve got to read the book to find out what Elvis always ordered — and why! You need to read it, too, to see how Woody defused a potential racial conflict on a bus he was driving during World War II — before Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. Woody also witnessed Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s visit to the Shoals to announce the beginning of TVA. My friend, Susan, said her dad wrote the book in about a year on a yellow pad with a pen at the dining room table. “He was inspired to write it because of the history and changes he’s witnessed and because he wanted to share things that ‘people in the last 30-40 years wouldn’t know about’,” Susan said. The book is $24, including shipping. Email jcant1@hughes.net to place an order or to pay by credit card with Paypal. Or mail a check to 1101 Brookford Place, Muscle Shoals, AL 3566. Or stop by Commercial Equipment Supply, 2613 North Jackson Hwy., Sheffield, this week to meet Woody as the store clearns out inventory with a yard sale, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday-Saturday. There are all sorts of great kitchen and restaurant items left – and Woody might even autograph a book for you!

Muffin Mania

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Muffins are the perfect food. I’m talking here about real homemade muffins, warm and melty from the oven, with crunchy tops and moist middles bursting with good things such as blueberries, apples, raisins and nuts —  then torn in two and reverently topped with your spread of choice. (Do not try this with anything you have to tear the plastic off of.) In my former life as the mother of teenagers, I was a master muffin maker, but I gave it up as my nest gradually emptied and friends started taking their hamburgers out of the buns. But a recipe in this cookbook inspired me to try again. Martha Foose is the author of “Screen Doors and Sweet Tea” and owner of famed Bottletree Bakery in Oxford, Miss., (go to www.oxfordcvb.comisfor Bottletree  and other Oxford info, especially if you’re headed there for the first Presidential debate on Sept. 26). She’s the best kind of Southern woman: Smart, funny and strong — the kind who can feed a sweaty park full of hot and hungry people while wearing an adorable sundress with coordinated espadrilles. That’s what Foose did when she was the guest chef recently at the Spring Park Farmer’s Market in Tuscumbia, http://www.cityoftuscumbia.org/Latest_News/index.html, Ala. (This link is from 2007 but the information is still correct.)  The audience at Spring Park demonstrations always is a tough crowd — they know what good food is — but Foose charmed them, deliciously. She made me believe that even after a couple-years’-break, I too could turn out to-die-for blueberry muffins. And she was right, although it took me a couple tries to get my rhythm back. (Click here to read the rest of the story: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080822/ARTICLES/808220302)

If you value food, family and friends, Foose’s cookbook is a must-have. The photography’s gorgeous, and Foose adds tips and suggestions in her own Mississippi style — you can almost hear her Delta accent. Almost all bookstores and online booksellers have this book. Visit http://www.marthafoose.com/ for a list of stores that sell autographed copies.

Here’s the Blueberry Muffins recipe:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and salt

Grating of nutmeg

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (do not thaw) blueberries

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Spray 18 muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. In large bowl with a whisk, combine dry ingredients. Toss in blueberries to coat and evenly distribute. In separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Using rubber spatula, combine wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake 15 minutes or until tops spring back lightly when touched. Let cool 5 minutes then turn out onto rack.