Food and Books

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This past week, my four-woman book club had our November meeting at my house with the book “The Space Between us” by India-native Thrity Umrigar. We had just finished “The Help,” about black maids and the white women they worked for in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s Civil Rights movement, and “The Space Between Us” is much the same story — privileged upper class women and lower-class servants. However, “Space” focuses more on the relationship between two individual women and what happens when that relationship is tested. We all loved this book for the insight into Indian culture and the stories of struggle, love and loss the two women main-characters endured. Highly recommended. And because book club is just us four friends, whoever is hosting usually tries to find some favors and cook a dinner that goes along with the theme of the book we read that month. Luckily, for my turn I found three oh-so-cute enameled trinket boxes from India at the World Market in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. And for cooking, I turned to Indian chef Madhur Jaffrey’s “Easy East/West Menus for Family and Friends.” Okay, I didn’t actually cook anything from that cookbook — you know me better than that — but I did get some good quick and easy menu ideas (thank you, grocery stores!): Roasted onion and garlic jam on toasted strips of nan bread, sauteed chicken breasts in a garlic and ginger sauce, turmeric rice with onions and golden raisins, roasted asparagus, a couple ready-made heat-and-eat curry dishes (hot, hot, hot — but tasty, in a hot mouth-burning sort of way) and English tea cookies for dessert. Good friends, good books, good discussion, not-so-bad food — and my three friends don’t mind the bonus cat hair they get at my house, at all.

Children

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At almost 20 months, grandson Capt. Adorable hasn't quite yet grasped the concept of "if the shoe fits ...!"

Food

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Anytime I can rummage through a grocery store where the primary language is anything but English — not so common here in Alabama, let me tell you — I take it. And one of my favorites is Nabeel’s Cafe and Market, in Homewood, Alabama (right next to downtown Birmingham). I don’t even know what most of this is, but it’s fascinating to wander around the aisles and try to figure it out. Nabeel’s Cafe is a favorite place to eat, too — I’m especially in love with the hummus (accompanied by fried pita chips, of course), bruschetta and Greek-fried potatoes. And if you’ve got restless young ‘uns with you who are less not-so-much interested in sitting quietly and discussing the latest judging mistakes on So You Think You Can Dance and debating the merits of Survivor’s Evil Russell, there’s a nearby playground for quick energy releases. Plus, you can take home a bag of fried pita chips. What’s not to like? Check out Nabeel’s at http://www.nabeels.com.

Farming

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I don’t know what time it is in your part of the world, but here in northwest Alabama/northeast Mississippi/southern middle Tennessee, it’s cotton-picking time. Cotton is a top crop in Alabama, and the counties in my corner of the state are among the top producers state-wide.  (I looked that up at www.alfafarmers.org just to impress you all with my knowledge.) Cotton’s history in the South is a long and at times not an honorable one, but people all over — white, black, rich, poor — still have memories of back-breaking work in late-fall heat. I remember my maternal grandfather reluctantly sharing his less-than-happy cotton-picking experiences as a boy growing up near Jackson, Mississippi. Today, it’s pretty much huge machines that do the work, from what I can tell. And while it’s true that I know next to nothing about the cotton industry, I do think it’s encouraging that in our wireless nano-techno get-it-done yesterday world, sometime’s it still as simple as putting seeds in the ground … and hoping for the best.

Food

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Steak dinnerTo wrap up a fun but busy fall weekend of football, work, friends, family and work — the work and football parts are all my husband, you know — we celebrated with a home-cooked home-grilled steak dinner. Which turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Actually, I just sliced the bread and tossed the salad and chopped the ends off the asparagus and Dear Husband did the rest. Yes, well, OK, I did whip up a batch of my famous oven fries and a pan of yummy sautéed mushrooms, but that’s not really cooking — it’s just fixin’, you know. We patted ourselves on the back — after wiping off our hands, of course — for frugally and deliciously and sustainably eating at home and had to wait about three hours to work up an appetite for dessert: Pumpkin pie from my mom, who cooks supper almost every night and would never think about bragging about it to the blogosphere. Unlike her shameless daughter.

Sports

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University of Tennessee footballEven though my husband and I haven’t actually lived there for years, we still consider nearby Tennessee home. It’s where we grew up, it’s where we graduated from college, it’s where our daughters were born, it’s where family and friends are, it’s where we head back to whenever we can. And although I am not especially a University of Tennessee fan, I don’t wish them any particular ill will — we are not UT haters. That being said, when three of your football players get arrested for armed robbery, seems to me that drastic and immediate action is called for. Wouldn’t you think? However, hours after the arrest, UT is still “reviewing” the case. And I know that people who get arrested get due process and a presumption of innocence, but such a namby-pamby delay smacks of “let’s first figure out how badly the loss of these players will affect our football chances before we do anything drastic.” C’mon, people! Guns? Robbery? Hello??? Outta there. Immediately. That’s my .02, anyway. In his sports-editor blog at the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://nems360.com/blog/3079620, my husband says it much better. Okay, I feel calmer now. Thank you for listening to me rant and rave. And if it turns out that the football players in question were safe and sound in their dorm rooms studying for finals instead of pulling guns and demanding money on convenience-store customers, I will apologize. Promise. In the meantime, help me solve another mystery — The Case of the Missing Bottle Opener — in my weekly newspaper column at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20091113/ARTICLES/911135000. No ranting there.

Shopping and Style

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Children's clothingOh my goodness. My husband always cautions me against turning into a Styleblubbering grandmother and overwhelming you all with photos and praise of grandson Capt. Adorable, but I just can’t help it. And you know I think all of y’all’s children and grandchildren are adorable, too. I really do.  I always want to hear more about their cuteness. And I’m not posting these pics because I think my grandson is the most adorable and cute of them all. Oh, no. You know that’s not the case here, I promise. I’m just posting these pics because … well … let’s see … uh … hmm … because I want to talk about children’s clothing. Yes, yes — that’s it. I want to have a completely objective discussion about little boys’ clothes and how they wear the exact same thing that big boys and men wear but somehow it just looks so especially adorable on their little 19-month-old selves. I mean, have black sneakers, dark cuffed jeans, a white untucked oxford shirt and a knitted sweater vest and matching scarf ever looked so cute? Somehow even though a grown man could wear the exact same thing, it just wouldn’t look the same, would it? Baby Gap and Old Navy excel at this look — translating grownup style to toddler chic at affordable new-parent prices. Until I had a grandson, I always thought that little girls’ clothes were far more fun than little boys’, but now I head straight for the T-shirts and cargo pants and don’t even notice the pink lace and ruffles across the aisle. See, now we’ve had our discussion about children’s fashion and I didn’t once mention our model, Capt. Adorable. It’s just a coincidence that he’s wearing the exact same thing I wanted to talk about, really it is.

Food

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Kalou's Corner MarketIn what may be a strange sort of obsession for someone The Villages of Providencewho doesn’t cook an awful lot, I love exploring grocery stores. And really, admit it — don’t you enjoy just browsing through the really cool ones? Surely I’m not the only person who does this! While Whole Foods and Fresh Markets top my list of big chain stores, I’m always on the Grocery shoppinglookout for the small and local, and I’ve found another in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s Kalou’s Corner Market in the Villages of Providence development on U.S. 72 west. Providence is one of those new “luxury” neighborhoods that also offers shopping, restaurants and offices. It has Mellow Mushroom, a great Thai place and the top-rated Grille 29 — and now add Kalou’s. You can get a freshly made sandwich at the deli along with dessert at the bakery and a do-it-yourself salad. Take your lunch, grab a bottle of beer from the cooler and eat out on the sidewalk for some prime people-watching. Or, if you insist on cooking, you’ve got plenty to choose from. Kalou’s is upscale and gourmet but prices are comparable with Fresh Market. I love wandering around looking at the olive oils, for instance, or the various balsamic vinegars or pestos and salsas. There’s a great beer selection, a ton of wine and gorgeous fresh produce, too. So much food! So many options! I really should cook more … or, at least, eat more.

Random Thoughts

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Have you ever had people say things to you — and I’m talking nice things here — that made you see yourself as someone other than the person you think you are? It always amazes when I see myself from somebody else’s perspective since usually the image does not jive at all with the image I have of myself. I mean, it sort of makes you wonder if the private you — the one that mostly lives inside your head — and the public you — the one that goes to work and the grocery store and PTA meetings — have anything in common whatsoever. This past week I had three people say things to me/ask me questions that threw me for a loop: 1) The person who cuts and styles my hair told me, “You’re always so sweet and cheerful when you come in. It just makes me day,” when really I think of myself as crabby and grumpy, especially when I have to spend $$$ just to make my hair look presentable; 2) the person working in the dressing rooms at my favorite discount-clothing store asked me if I knew where to find a purse with a clasp closure for a Christmas present, when I really think of myself as someone who can barely find her own purse and get outside the door with two matching shoes; and 3) a person in local-theater circles and I were chatting at a local coffee shop about the struggles of writing and what to do when you hit a wall and I said that caffeine always helps and this person said that (insert name of illegal drug) helps, too, and then sort of paused as if waiting for me to suggest we go get some. So in the space of three days, I’ve been identified as sweet, stylish and a drug user  — when really I’m just a grouchy un-put-together coffee fiend. Sigh.

Food

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I don’t know what it is about me and my two daughters, but we absolutely adore any combination of bread, fruit and Apple and cheese sandwichescheese — particularly if it’s all warm and melty. Y’all already know about Younger Daughter’s signature Banana and Peanut Butter Breakfast Sandwiches — https://cathylwood.wordpress.com/tag/food/page/7/ — and it’s true that I’ve been obsessively enjoying a fresh fig and Laughing Cow cheese panini for lunch almost every day this Halloween fall, but I think the high point of our bread-fruit-cheese adventures came this past weekend when Older Daughter wanted a quick, tasty and nutritious pre-trick-or-treating supper before introducing 19-month-old Capt. Adorable to the joys of free candy. After much negotiating — Should we use the Foreman, a skillet or the Halloween hairstylesbroiler? — we came up with these open-face apple-and-cheese sandwiches. First we toasted thick-sliced whole-grain sourdough bread under the broiler, then we added various cheeses (our favorite turned out to be simple cheddar) and thinly sliced Honeycrisp apples, sprinkling dark brown sugar and cinnamon on some of the sandwiches. Then we popped them back under the broiler, watching carefully since we’re prone to wander away and start entirely new projects while we’re cooking — not good. Anyway, our apple and cheese sandwiches turned out easy, yummy and fun. And the Captain loved trick-or-treating! Maybe next year his mom will actually let him have some of the candy.

And if you’re still struggling to adjust to this past weekend’s time change back to Standard Time as well as Halloween candy overload, you’re not alone. Read my weekly newspaper column at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20091106/ARTICLES/911065000 to find out who are the only members of my family remaining unaffected by our annual falling back.