STACKED

books

Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook by Martha Hall Foose

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I love food. It’s a borderline obsessive thing. I like to eat, I like to go out to new restaurants, I love to cook. At the reference desk, I always have various food blogs open in the background. I’m always making something new and bringing it in… and of course, I’m always on the hunt for good cookbooks. Faithful readers have seen evidence of this obsession in earlier cookbook reviews.

Martha Hall Foose won a James Beard award in the American Cookery category for her book Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook. And I completely understand why, and I’ve only just made one recipe!

Cornbread Crusted White Chili – and yes, it’s as good as it sounds.
Here is the outer cheesy cornbread crust – inside, there was an amazing white chili with tomatillos, chicken, and hominy, but my friend and I devoured it before I remembered to take a picture. Whoops.

I read this cookbook like a novel. Foose throws us into the slow Mississippi Delta world that she loves so much. Every recipe has a history; we meet characters like Aunt Mary Stigler Thompson – a woman who declares none of the entrants in the mayonnaise making competition are “as good as my own”; Mrs. Ethel Wright Mohamed, a woman who stitched hundreds of tea towels to remember her beloved late husband; and M. Taylor Bowen Ricketts who cooked black-eyed peas just as well as she painted. Foose’s notes section with cooking instructions are just as charming as the histories that grace every recipe.

Oh, and the food. Huge color photographs adorn nearly every page of complex, beautiful, mouth-watering Southern food. From curried sweet potato soup with pork rind croutons to banana puddings served in a mason jar to field peas with snaps… I was hungry every time I picked up this book. I took my time with Screen Doors and Sweet Tea – in fact, I took so long that it’s now over-due. I had to quickly photocopy all of the recipes I want to try and return it to the library. I know I’m not the only one who’s actually cooked from this book – at the front, I found a post-it note from another patron who had meticulously written out each recipe that she tried.

Southern cooking is not fast, nor is it easy. Many recipes require hours of prep work, and I know that I don’t have a lot of time for this kind of cooking during my hectic work week. But for special occasions, I will definitely make a caramel cake. Or the greens with cornbread croutons. Or overnight dinner rolls.

Oh, it’s time to start planning the next dinner with Foose. And I’m adding this book to my Christmas wish list. I foresee running out of shelf space at this rate.

Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around

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I work for a very large library system. Sometimes, this is a curse – I’m subject to the whims of bureaucracy, I’m unable to enact a great deal of change without paperwork, I deal with disgruntled city workers on a regular basis, and oh, yes, there’s a lot of paperwork. But one of the advantages of this system has to be the amazing group of donors who support library programming – Library Foundation of Los Angeles. At Central Library, the Library Foundation holds a regular lecture series called ALOUD on subjects ranging from Neutra’s architecture to urban farming to poverty. The Library Foundation attracts fascinating authors to speak about their latest published works, and most of the programs are free. On occasion, ALOUD attracts some very big names – I’ve seen Steve Martin play the banjo and talk about his book Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, Garrison Keillor will perform next week to promote his novel Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance, and last night, I was able to attend a panel discussion featuring special guest, David Byrne. The lecture was called “Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around.”

David Byrne, to promote his new book Bicycle Diaries, has been on a whirlwind tour of the United States, hitting many major metropolitan cities. In each panel discussion, he brings together a civic leader, an urban theorist, and a bicycle advocate. I had the pleasure to hear Michelle Mowery, Bicycle Coordinator for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Don Shoup, Professor of urban planning at UCLA (a “parking rock star”), and Jimmy Lizama of The Bicycle Kitchen as they joined David Byrne for a lively two hour discussion. Each speaker had fifteen minutes to give a presentation, then they all sat down for Q&A… that was supposed to last for 20 minutes, but ended up in the hour long territory.

David Byrne himself gave a really thoughtful speech – he talked a little bit about the freedom after he discovered cycling in an urban environment. He was living in Manhattan, and he found himself tired of relying on taxis or the train schedule. He found that when he rode his bike, he could easily hop from art gallery to a concert to a restaurant in much less time (and expense) than any other means of transportation. His presentation was particularly notable for the number of photos of different cities – both of urban spaces that worked with cycling (most notably in Europe and Asia) as well as places that weren’t conducive for bicycles – including a snapshot of an Austin road.

Donald Shoup added a more academic tone to the discussion; his book, The High Cost of Free Parking, details the amount of money (and time) spent looking for curbside parking spots in urban locales. A biking enthusiast himself, he also introduced the idea of the Bicycle Boulevard as a cheap way to encourage biking within Los Angeles. I’m a neophyte when it comes to new urban planning ideas, so I was particularly fascinated by his engaging presentation. Honestly, it makes me want to take his class at UCLA!

The bureaucrat, Michelle Mowery, was the real star of the show, though. Articulate and passionate, she obviously loves her job… and the world of cycling. Every Monday, she rides from Long Beach to her downtown Los Angeles office via the LA River Bikeway. Her presentation was on the shorter side, but almost every single question in the Q&A section was addressed to her. And boy, was she able to answer them. She was one of the architects of the new Los Angeles Bike plan, and she was able to refer to specific chapter and page numbers that dealt with the complaints of the attendees. She said that the plan was incomplete, but her office was really working hard to gather more funding and more importantly, more awareness for the issues at hand. Mowery was also able to outline clear and feasible ways to practically implement almost every single suggestion from the biking community. I came away from the presentation extremely impressed that cycling had such an advocate in the city government.

The final presenter, Jimmy Lizama, offered a grassroots perspective on cycling in Los Angeles. I liked his presentation style; instead of using a traditional PowerPoint, he used a series of photographs to illustrate a story about his girlfriend’s daily bike trip to the local elementary school with her son. Jimmy was able to illustrate both the joys and struggles of a typical Angeleno cyclist. And during the Q&A, he was able to offer more personal recollections to expand on theories presented by the other speakers.

I love the idea of using books as the basis for lectures such as these. Honestly, I have no real connection to the biking community here. I haven’t owned a bicycle since my father sold mine in a garage sale during my high school years. But I really enjoyed the community that the library brought together through this book-based discussion. I’ve added a couple of items to my growing to-read pile, plus I gained some insight into my neighborhood. Sometimes, reading can seem like an insular activity, but events like these can be found at local libraries all over the country… and they’re worth the trek. Or the bike ride.

Twitter-style book reviews, part 2

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I’m moving soon, so I’ve been frantically trying to read all of the books I have checked out from various libraries, books I’ve picked up at conferences, and books I’ve borrowed from friends and acquaintances. What this means is that I have started many books but not finished any of them. At present count I’m reading twelve books. Because I haven’t actually finished any, I can’t post a full-fledged review, but I decided it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the more interesting and noteworthy titles. So, without further ado, what I’m reading now in 140 characters or less.

Liar, by Justine Larbalestier

After her boyfriend is killed, pathological liar Micah says from now on, she’ll tell only the truth. Interesting psychological YA with a twist.

Escape, by Carolyn Jessop

Carolyn Jessop’s story about her life in the FLDS, her subsequent escape, and what happened afterward. Simplistic writing, compelling story.

The Secret Life of Prince Charming, by Deb Caletti

Quinn discovers her womanizing father steals more from the women in his life than their hearts. Sometimes slow YA, but has real insight.

A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn

Teenage boy wakes up Sleeping Beauty in modern times. Hilarity and confusion ensue. There are better retellings, but this is fluffy and fun.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness

A germ kills off all females and causes men’s thoughts to be broadcast. One day, Todd discovers a quiet in the Noise. Fascinating YA dystopia.

The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas

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As a cookbook lover, I’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer selection in my local branch. However, when the 2009 James Beard Award nominees for cookbooks were announced, I braved the catalog to order Beatrice Ojakangas’ latest venture, appropriately called The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever: With More Than 500 Recipes! The tagline contains all that you really need to know about this massive book – it’s huge. Utterly teaming with delectable recipes. And really, they all sound good.

Ojakangas is known for her Scandanavian cookery. A native of Duluth, Minnesota, her ancestry is entirely Finnish. Her first writing venture, The Finnish Cookbook, is still in print – a marvel for a cookbook published in 1964. The Best Casserole Cookbook is her 27th published cookbook. In a recent interview with the Toledo Blade, Ojakangas says the publication of this book is “”very timely,” offering “economical meals that are simply made with ingredients that you won’t spend a fortune to buy, or that you already have on hand. It’s comfort food.”

The day I received this tome, I sat down and started reading it like a book. Normally, I like cookbooks with full-color pictures for each recipe; I’ve been spoiled by the gorgeous cookbooks published by Clarkson Potter. The Best Casserole Cookbook lacks the excessive photography of my favorite volumes, but it does have a few lovely inserts with some mouth-watering photographs. Ojakangas divides the book into several categories, starting with the basics. I loved this section, especially seeing that my early casserole attempts centered around cream of mushroom soup that always seems too salty. One Christmas, I made cream of mushroom soup purely for use in the green bean casserole. Ojakangas shares my disdain for the sodium-packed, overly processed stuff, so she explains how to make different sauces that can act as healthier substitutes for Campbell’s. In the following chapters, she details appetizers, meats, vegetarian, grains, desserts, and even breads that one can make in a casserole dish. I especially enjoyed the “Casseroles for Two” chapter – as a single person, it’s sometimes difficult to justify making a casserole intended for 12 people, but Ojakangas’ smaller portion sizes are spot-on.

Of course, I had to try a number of these recipes. My favorite? I made the Broccoli and Chicken Casserole for Two for a friend of mine one weekday night. The recipe was insanely simple, made with sour cream and parmesan instead of a heavy cheese sauce. I assembled it in less than 20 minutes, popped in the fridge, then put it in the oven when I came home from work the next day. My friend had never eaten a casserole before, so he was surprised to find that he liked it so much!

Next week, I’m making a Southwestern Breakfast Casserole with chorizo, queso fresco, and eggs for a work meeting. We have another potluck the following week – I know that Moussaka with Lots of Vegetables will be my contribution. And I’m sure I can find an audience for Spicy Cheese and Green Chile Dip. When I (reluctantly) returned the book to the library, I forced my co-workers to browse… and I saw several people making copies of the pages to try for dinner later. I may have to buy myself a copy of this book; it will look beautiful next to my worn copy of Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything.