Susanna Fraser's Blog, page 29
June 9, 2012
Books read - start to summer reading
I've signed up for the Seattle Public Library's Adult Summer Reading Program. Every three books I read this summer, I earn another entry in a drawing to win a Kindle. Mind you, I already own a perfectly good second-generation regular Kindle AND a Fire, but this is still enough to get my competitive juices flowing. If I win, I'll just give it to Miss Fraser (who otherwise will get her first e-reader for Christmas) or use it as a raffle basket prize at ECWC. That said, I've given myself something of a handicap in speed-reading this summer in that I've started reading War and Peace on my lunch hours at work, so that's half an hour a day not going to nice short-to-medium-length novels.
Anything I finish between June 1 and August 25 counts toward the reading challenge. (August 25 because the library shuts down for a week before Labor Day because of budget cuts, which has been going on since the dot-com bust recession back in 2001 or so, and I still think it's depressing. Really, it's not helping the economy to furlough a bunch of librarians and shut down a service that for many is their only access to books, information, and the internet, and what we need is more stimulus and to save worry about deficits for when unemployment gets back down to 5% or so, but if I keep going this post will get very political very fast.)
Anyway, books. I finished #48 before the challenge started, so I've just earned my first entry in the drawing.
48) If Walls Could Talk, by Lucy Worsley. An overview of how the major rooms in our houses and their furnishings and functions have changed over the past few centuries, focusing on Britain but with occasional comments on American and French homes. It doesn't go into a lot of depth, but it makes you think on how changeable the most basic functions of everyday life actually are.
49) Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March, by Adam Zamoyski. I've never been an admirer of Napoleon's, and every time I read about that campaign I want to go back in time and just scream at him or something. So many wrong-headed choices that led to so much death. That said...I now have some story ideas based around the invasion.
50) Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 2, by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko. Second in a graphic novel trilogy filling in some of the blanks between The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and likely to be the only overlap point between my summer reading and my daughter's.
51) Too Hot to Touch, by Louisa Edwards. Not only does Edwards write a sexy romance, her love of food and big city life shines through. Her books are among the few contemporary romances I seek out.
Anything I finish between June 1 and August 25 counts toward the reading challenge. (August 25 because the library shuts down for a week before Labor Day because of budget cuts, which has been going on since the dot-com bust recession back in 2001 or so, and I still think it's depressing. Really, it's not helping the economy to furlough a bunch of librarians and shut down a service that for many is their only access to books, information, and the internet, and what we need is more stimulus and to save worry about deficits for when unemployment gets back down to 5% or so, but if I keep going this post will get very political very fast.)
Anyway, books. I finished #48 before the challenge started, so I've just earned my first entry in the drawing.
48) If Walls Could Talk, by Lucy Worsley. An overview of how the major rooms in our houses and their furnishings and functions have changed over the past few centuries, focusing on Britain but with occasional comments on American and French homes. It doesn't go into a lot of depth, but it makes you think on how changeable the most basic functions of everyday life actually are.
49) Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March, by Adam Zamoyski. I've never been an admirer of Napoleon's, and every time I read about that campaign I want to go back in time and just scream at him or something. So many wrong-headed choices that led to so much death. That said...I now have some story ideas based around the invasion.
50) Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 2, by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko. Second in a graphic novel trilogy filling in some of the blanks between The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, and likely to be the only overlap point between my summer reading and my daughter's.
51) Too Hot to Touch, by Louisa Edwards. Not only does Edwards write a sexy romance, her love of food and big city life shines through. Her books are among the few contemporary romances I seek out.
June 4, 2012
Catching up on 52 Cookbooks - #28, Express Lane Meals
When it comes to books, movies, and TV, I don't have guilty pleasures because I don't see why I should feel guilty about reading or watching anything purely for enjoyment or relaxation. In fact, I'm outspoken about the whole range of what I read and watch in part because it's so fun to confound people's expectations of what a woman, or a romance author, or a Penn alum, or an adult, or any other group I'm a part of, is "supposed" to enjoy.
That said, I feel some of that guilty pleasure bashfulness about admitting I own two of Rachael Ray's cookbooks. I can be a bit of a food snob sometimes. While Mr. Fraser and I are hardly rich, eating out a couple times a year at places like Tilth and Boat Street is one of our main indulgences. I don't ask for jewelry and such for birthdays and anniversaries--I'd rather have a really nice, really unique dinner. We celebrated my first sale with a dinner at Canlis, and I've promised Mr. Fraser dinner at The French Laundry should I ever make a major best-seller list. (Though they haven't cropped up yet in the rotation, we have two Keller cookbooks--Ad Hoc at Home and The French Laundry Cookbook.)
The thing is, as much as I'd love to devote long hours to working my way through those Keller books, cooking is a lower priority than my day job (which supports my food, shelter, and transportation habits) and my passion for writing. In fact, most days I just want to get a reasonably tasty, reasonably healthy dinner on the table with enough time left over to write, work out, and even unwind a little before bedtime. And that's what Rachael Ray's cookbooks, her whole approach, is for.
So, you know what? I'm not going to feel guilty about that, either. I'm not a chef, and I am busy. Why shouldn't I work from cookbooks that are designed for people in my circumstances, especially when, as Ray's generally do, they're based around actual fresh ingredients that cook quickly rather than processed shortcuts? I do think Ray's earlier cookbooks are better than her later ones, and her pasta recipes are better than the rest of her repertoire. And the EVOO thing drives me crazy. It doesn't take that much longer to say extra-virgin olive oil.
All that said, Cookbook #28 was Express Lane Meals, and my chosen recipe was...
Drunken Tuscan Pasta
1 bottle Tuscan red table wine such as Rosso di Montalcino or Chianti (I just used a bottle of Oregon pinot noir we happened to have in the house)
Coarse salt
1 lb. spaghetti or other long-cut pasta
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 lb. sliced pancetta or bacon
3 portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
A couple pinches red pepper flakes
4-5 cups chopped dark greens, your choice of chard, escarole, spinach, or kale (I used chard)
Black pepper, to taste
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a handful plus more to pass at the table
Pour the entire bottle of wine into a large pot. Add water and salt to fill the pot up as you would to cook pasta. Bring the wine and water to a boil over high heat, add pasta, and cook to al dente, ladling out some cooking liquid for the sauce before draining the pasta.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 T oil, then chop and add the pancetta. Brown the pieces until golden at the edges and transfer them to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add the mushrooms to the same skillet, season with the rosemary, and cook until they are deeply golden, 6-8 min. Push the mushrooms to the sides of the pan, add the remaining oil, and add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook them for a minute or so, then blend in the mushrooms. Add the greens and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. When the greens have wilted, add a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking liquid and cook for a minute to reduce it a little.
Drain the pasta well and add to the skillet. Add the pancetta and a handful of cheese to the pan. Toss the pasta for a minute or so to absorb the remaining liquid. Adjust seasonings and serve.
It looked like this. The pasta isn't whole wheat--cooking in red wine darkens it:
And it tasted delicious. Nothing to feel guilty about at all.
That said, I feel some of that guilty pleasure bashfulness about admitting I own two of Rachael Ray's cookbooks. I can be a bit of a food snob sometimes. While Mr. Fraser and I are hardly rich, eating out a couple times a year at places like Tilth and Boat Street is one of our main indulgences. I don't ask for jewelry and such for birthdays and anniversaries--I'd rather have a really nice, really unique dinner. We celebrated my first sale with a dinner at Canlis, and I've promised Mr. Fraser dinner at The French Laundry should I ever make a major best-seller list. (Though they haven't cropped up yet in the rotation, we have two Keller cookbooks--Ad Hoc at Home and The French Laundry Cookbook.)
The thing is, as much as I'd love to devote long hours to working my way through those Keller books, cooking is a lower priority than my day job (which supports my food, shelter, and transportation habits) and my passion for writing. In fact, most days I just want to get a reasonably tasty, reasonably healthy dinner on the table with enough time left over to write, work out, and even unwind a little before bedtime. And that's what Rachael Ray's cookbooks, her whole approach, is for.
So, you know what? I'm not going to feel guilty about that, either. I'm not a chef, and I am busy. Why shouldn't I work from cookbooks that are designed for people in my circumstances, especially when, as Ray's generally do, they're based around actual fresh ingredients that cook quickly rather than processed shortcuts? I do think Ray's earlier cookbooks are better than her later ones, and her pasta recipes are better than the rest of her repertoire. And the EVOO thing drives me crazy. It doesn't take that much longer to say extra-virgin olive oil.
All that said, Cookbook #28 was Express Lane Meals, and my chosen recipe was...
Drunken Tuscan Pasta
1 bottle Tuscan red table wine such as Rosso di Montalcino or Chianti (I just used a bottle of Oregon pinot noir we happened to have in the house)
Coarse salt
1 lb. spaghetti or other long-cut pasta
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 lb. sliced pancetta or bacon
3 portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
A couple pinches red pepper flakes
4-5 cups chopped dark greens, your choice of chard, escarole, spinach, or kale (I used chard)
Black pepper, to taste
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a handful plus more to pass at the table
Pour the entire bottle of wine into a large pot. Add water and salt to fill the pot up as you would to cook pasta. Bring the wine and water to a boil over high heat, add pasta, and cook to al dente, ladling out some cooking liquid for the sauce before draining the pasta.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 T oil, then chop and add the pancetta. Brown the pieces until golden at the edges and transfer them to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add the mushrooms to the same skillet, season with the rosemary, and cook until they are deeply golden, 6-8 min. Push the mushrooms to the sides of the pan, add the remaining oil, and add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook them for a minute or so, then blend in the mushrooms. Add the greens and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. When the greens have wilted, add a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking liquid and cook for a minute to reduce it a little.
Drain the pasta well and add to the skillet. Add the pancetta and a handful of cheese to the pan. Toss the pasta for a minute or so to absorb the remaining liquid. Adjust seasonings and serve.
It looked like this. The pasta isn't whole wheat--cooking in red wine darkens it:
And it tasted delicious. Nothing to feel guilty about at all.
June 3, 2012
Emerald City Writers Conference 2012 open for registration!
Speaking from my insider's perspective as the assistant registration chair, I can tell you that between the first three days of registration and the people we know are coming as speakers, we're already over a third of the way to being full up. So if you'd like to come, and especially if you want high priority for an editor/agent appointment, register now!
*****PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED AND ENCOURAGED*****
2012 Emerald City Writers' Conference – Registration now Open
Be part of one of the largest regional writing conferences on the West Coast! The Emerald City Writers' Conference, held October 26-28th at the Westin Hotel in Bellevue Washington, is sponsored by the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America and is designed to meet the needs not only of romance writers, but writers of all genres.
ECWC features a rich schedule of workshops to help you enhance your writing skills, increase your marketing savvy and build your technical know-how. Workshop presenters include Cherry Adair, Susan Andersen, Stella Cameron, Smashwords CEO Mark Coker, Jane Porter, and more. A list of workshops and a tentative schedule are available at www.gsrwa.org.
Keynote speakers are NYT best-selling author VICTORIA ALEXANDER, story and script consultant, author and lecturer MICHAEL HAUGE, and three-time RITA recipient SUSAN WIGGS.
Editors from Avon, Ellora's Cave, Entangled, Montlake/Amazon, and Tor will be attending, along with agents from Janklow & Nesbit Associates, The Seymour Agency, and Waxman Literary Agency.
Tons of fun activities are planned also, including a Bookfair, a Saturday night Glow Ball, games, raffles, and door prizes!
Last year's ECWC sold out early – so don't delay! Register now at: www.gsrwa.org.
May 28, 2012
Catching up on 52 Cookbooks: #27, Lobscouse and Spotted Dog
If I ever have time (i.e. if I'm fortunate enough to reach a point where I don't need a full-time day job on top of my writing career), I mean to take up historical reenacting. I always seek out living history museums, and any chance to experience the food, drink, music, clothing, etc. that people from the past, particularly my own characters, might've enjoyed.
I love the dedicated geekery that leads to blogs like Inn at the Crossroads (medieval and modern recipes based on the cuisine of A Song of Ice and Fire, source material for Game of Thrones), and Outlander Kitchen (same thing for Diana Gabaldon's books).
So naturally I own Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels. But until this project I never actually cooked from it, and its home isn't with my cookbooks in the kitchen but on the research bookshelf in my office. I grab it sometimes when I need a suitably historical/British dish for my characters to feast upon. None of my other cookbooks talk about drowned babies or spotted dogs, after all. (They're puddings, the old-fashioned boiled kind with lots of dried fruit. I don't see the appeal, but, then, I'm the type who replaces raisins with chocolate chips whenever I make quickbreads or oatmeal cookies. Doubtless my taste buds would've been different had I been born 200 years earlier.)
I wish I hadn't been neck-deep in edits when this came up in the rotation, because I'd love to try Strasburg Pie (bacon & foie gras baked in puff pastry), Ratafia Biscuits, or a Jam Roly-Poly, just to name a few, but I didn't have the time to source ingredients unavailable from Amazon Fresh or my local grocery or to devote most of a weekend afternoon to cooking. So instead I went simple, but a simple dish Jack and Stephen ate all the time:
Yes, I made toasted cheese. Simple as can be--I've heard it described as a simplified Welsh rabbit, but I thought of it as an open-faced grilled cheese. You take bread, whatever kind is handy, along with cheese, whatever kind is handy. I used Italian bread with a mix of cheddar and parmesan--the good stuff, imported-from-Europe foodie cheddar and parmesan, since I figure that's closer to what Jack and Stephen would've had. You toast the bread a bit, then add the cheese and broil. That's all there is to it.
Simple as can be, and gives you a sense of connection to the past. I might prefer a chocolate cake to a drowned baby and pork tenderloin to soused hog's face, but bread and cheese are timeless.
I love the dedicated geekery that leads to blogs like Inn at the Crossroads (medieval and modern recipes based on the cuisine of A Song of Ice and Fire, source material for Game of Thrones), and Outlander Kitchen (same thing for Diana Gabaldon's books).
So naturally I own Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels. But until this project I never actually cooked from it, and its home isn't with my cookbooks in the kitchen but on the research bookshelf in my office. I grab it sometimes when I need a suitably historical/British dish for my characters to feast upon. None of my other cookbooks talk about drowned babies or spotted dogs, after all. (They're puddings, the old-fashioned boiled kind with lots of dried fruit. I don't see the appeal, but, then, I'm the type who replaces raisins with chocolate chips whenever I make quickbreads or oatmeal cookies. Doubtless my taste buds would've been different had I been born 200 years earlier.)
I wish I hadn't been neck-deep in edits when this came up in the rotation, because I'd love to try Strasburg Pie (bacon & foie gras baked in puff pastry), Ratafia Biscuits, or a Jam Roly-Poly, just to name a few, but I didn't have the time to source ingredients unavailable from Amazon Fresh or my local grocery or to devote most of a weekend afternoon to cooking. So instead I went simple, but a simple dish Jack and Stephen ate all the time:
Yes, I made toasted cheese. Simple as can be--I've heard it described as a simplified Welsh rabbit, but I thought of it as an open-faced grilled cheese. You take bread, whatever kind is handy, along with cheese, whatever kind is handy. I used Italian bread with a mix of cheddar and parmesan--the good stuff, imported-from-Europe foodie cheddar and parmesan, since I figure that's closer to what Jack and Stephen would've had. You toast the bread a bit, then add the cheese and broil. That's all there is to it.
Simple as can be, and gives you a sense of connection to the past. I might prefer a chocolate cake to a drowned baby and pork tenderloin to soused hog's face, but bread and cheese are timeless.
May 24, 2012
Reading Update
Time for another reading update! I notice I'm reading more nonfiction than fiction these days. It isn't a deliberate decision, but simply a function of my library holds list. I buy most of my fiction, since ebooks are generally quite affordable, and I'm willing to pay the occasional premium price to get the latest Gabaldon/GRR Martin/Spencer-Fleming/Bujold/etc. release in my hands the nanosecond it releases. But once a book is on my Kindle, unless it's a sequel I've been awaiting for months or years, there's no pressure to read it immediately.
Nonfiction, on the other hand, I generally get from the library. I'll hear an interesting author interview on NPR, whip out my library's iPhone app at the next long stop light, and put the book on hold. Once I get it, I have three weeks to read with no possibility of renewal, since everyone else who heard that interview did the same thing, and you can't renew a book when there's a hold queue awaiting it. So that book on the food of the future must be read now now now, while that romance or mystery I've heard good things about can wait. Really, I need to think through whether I truly need to read every book that catches my interest on NPR (or the Daily Show, or the Economist), because I'd love to bring my fiction-nonfiction ratio back to something like 60-40 fiction, or at least 50-50.
45) Some Assembly Required, by Anne Lamott. Sort of a companion piece to Operating Instructions, Lamott's memoir of motherhood. In this book we see her first year as a grandmother. It's not as raw and gritty a book--you get the sense Lamott is holding back from a too harsh, too honest opinion of her son and his girlfriend and the assorted members of their extended families--but if you like her work, you'll probably enjoy this book, too.
46) Lone Survivors: How We Came to be the Only Humans on Earth, by Chris Stringer. I've been fascinated by paleoanthropology since I was a little kid reading about the Leakeys' discoveries in National Geographic and Time-Life books. Sometimes I think there's a version of me in an alternate universe who got her PhD in the field and hangs out with people like Chris Stringer at conferences. I wouldn't want to be anything but an author, but I do like to keep up with the field. This book is a good summary of the current state of the science from a Recent African Origins perspective.
47) Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins. I wasn't quite as blown away as I was by the first book in the series, in that I read it over several days rather than a single afternoon. But I'm still hooked, and Katniss makes a wonderful protagonist because she's so difficult despite her courage and resourcefulness. And I think Katniss Everdeen may be the best heroine name ever.
Nonfiction, on the other hand, I generally get from the library. I'll hear an interesting author interview on NPR, whip out my library's iPhone app at the next long stop light, and put the book on hold. Once I get it, I have three weeks to read with no possibility of renewal, since everyone else who heard that interview did the same thing, and you can't renew a book when there's a hold queue awaiting it. So that book on the food of the future must be read now now now, while that romance or mystery I've heard good things about can wait. Really, I need to think through whether I truly need to read every book that catches my interest on NPR (or the Daily Show, or the Economist), because I'd love to bring my fiction-nonfiction ratio back to something like 60-40 fiction, or at least 50-50.
45) Some Assembly Required, by Anne Lamott. Sort of a companion piece to Operating Instructions, Lamott's memoir of motherhood. In this book we see her first year as a grandmother. It's not as raw and gritty a book--you get the sense Lamott is holding back from a too harsh, too honest opinion of her son and his girlfriend and the assorted members of their extended families--but if you like her work, you'll probably enjoy this book, too.
46) Lone Survivors: How We Came to be the Only Humans on Earth, by Chris Stringer. I've been fascinated by paleoanthropology since I was a little kid reading about the Leakeys' discoveries in National Geographic and Time-Life books. Sometimes I think there's a version of me in an alternate universe who got her PhD in the field and hangs out with people like Chris Stringer at conferences. I wouldn't want to be anything but an author, but I do like to keep up with the field. This book is a good summary of the current state of the science from a Recent African Origins perspective.
47) Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins. I wasn't quite as blown away as I was by the first book in the series, in that I read it over several days rather than a single afternoon. But I'm still hooked, and Katniss makes a wonderful protagonist because she's so difficult despite her courage and resourcefulness. And I think Katniss Everdeen may be the best heroine name ever.
May 21, 2012
Congratulations to Alyssa Everett!
Today my long-time critique partner Alyssa Everett's first book from Carina Press released. Technically, it's not her debut book, but that book is caught in the Dorchester death spiral, so this is the first book of hers that you can actually find for sale wherever ebooks are sold:
Alyssa has a lovely historical voice, and I recommend Ruined by Rumor to anyone who likes their historicals to pay attention to the mores of the time.
Buy it directly from Carina.
Buy it for your Kindle.
Buy it for your Nook.
Alyssa has a lovely historical voice, and I recommend Ruined by Rumor to anyone who likes their historicals to pay attention to the mores of the time.
Buy it directly from Carina.
Buy it for your Kindle.
Buy it for your Nook.
May 19, 2012
Catching up on 52 Cookbooks - #26, Good Eats 3
I've always enjoyed Good Eats, and I even met Alton Brown at a book signing once. We have the entire set of his cookbooks, but I rarely cooked from them before this challenge. So many of the Good Eats recipes just seem so involved for an everyday, very busy cook. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to try something like Brown's coconut cake, but since cooking of necessity comes third behind writing and the day job among my commitments, I rarely have the time or energy for something of that magnitude.
While I doubt I'll be taking on his more complex projects, now that I've sampled a few of his recipes, I plan to try a lot more. These recipes work, and he explains the steps with enough clarity to reassure the cook who's never tried a particular technique before.
For the midpoint of my random cooking year, I drew Good Eats 3: The Later Years. After browsing, I settled on Oven Roasted Broccoli (see link for recipe), because Brown recommended it for people who normally find broccoli too bitter. It's a definite winner. Best-tasting broccoli I've ever had, without any of that icky bitter mushiness broccoli so easily gets, and only slightly more work than steaming or stir-frying.
Halfway through this project, I've already decided to promote some of my little-used cookbooks to the regular rotation--not least Alton Brown's--while others will get even less play. In general, I'm finding my older cookbooks, especially those that are fundraiser collections rather than single-authored, just don't have a lot of appealing recipes. That surprises me a little--I'd expected my taste buds to have more nostalgia for the kind of food I ate growing up. It feels weird to even think of giving away The Moosewood Cookbook or the 1990's Joy of Cooking, but if I want vegetarian recipes or just a comprehensive encyclopedia of anything a home cook might venture on, my Mark Bittman books pretty much have that covered.
After I've finished my 52 cookbooks, I think I'll keep doing a random rotation--it's a fun challenge, and it gives me something to blog about--but I'll stick to those books I actually liked on this go-round.
While I doubt I'll be taking on his more complex projects, now that I've sampled a few of his recipes, I plan to try a lot more. These recipes work, and he explains the steps with enough clarity to reassure the cook who's never tried a particular technique before.
For the midpoint of my random cooking year, I drew Good Eats 3: The Later Years. After browsing, I settled on Oven Roasted Broccoli (see link for recipe), because Brown recommended it for people who normally find broccoli too bitter. It's a definite winner. Best-tasting broccoli I've ever had, without any of that icky bitter mushiness broccoli so easily gets, and only slightly more work than steaming or stir-frying.
Halfway through this project, I've already decided to promote some of my little-used cookbooks to the regular rotation--not least Alton Brown's--while others will get even less play. In general, I'm finding my older cookbooks, especially those that are fundraiser collections rather than single-authored, just don't have a lot of appealing recipes. That surprises me a little--I'd expected my taste buds to have more nostalgia for the kind of food I ate growing up. It feels weird to even think of giving away The Moosewood Cookbook or the 1990's Joy of Cooking, but if I want vegetarian recipes or just a comprehensive encyclopedia of anything a home cook might venture on, my Mark Bittman books pretty much have that covered.
After I've finished my 52 cookbooks, I think I'll keep doing a random rotation--it's a fun challenge, and it gives me something to blog about--but I'll stick to those books I actually liked on this go-round.
May 15, 2012
To Scrivener or not to Scrivener?
Any number of authors swear by Scrivener software, a word processor and project management tool that's designed specifically for long projects like books and screenplays. I signed up for a free trial, and I just made my way through the tutorial. So far I'm...dubious.
Basically, Scrivener gives you one big binder for a project. Within it, you treat each chapter or scene of your manuscript as a separate file, though you can easily compile them into a single view. You can tag the scenes in various ways, e.g. by point-of-view character or setting. You also have separate sections where you can keep character notes or research files.
I can see the good in all of this. So why aren't I rushing to start my new project in Scrivener instead of good ol' MS Word?
It's purely a gut reaction. I don't claim any of this is rational at all. But it just feels WRONG to me to treat my manuscript as a bunch of discrete scenes or chapters rather than an organic whole--albeit a fluid one that can and should change right up until my editor and I agree that it's ready.
Believe me, I realize how strange this sounds...but the manuscript is sort of a sacred space to me as I'm working on it. The Manuscript is the Manuscript, the Manuscript is one, and I don't WANT my research or my visual inspiration or my notes in the same file. None of those are the Manuscript--they're commentary. I even like keeping much of that not-the-manuscript stuff off my computer. I like to plot on a whiteboard, and I sometimes use my whole office door as a sort of canvas for post-it-notes with scene notes and character arcs. I'm a kinesthetic learner and thinker, and I need to step away from the monitor, pace, rearrange my post-its, pull a pile of research books off the shelf and spread them out on the coffee table, etc. I'm sure the Scrivener corkboard and research files are more efficient, but it doesn't have that same physicality, and it just doesn't feel like ME.
On the other hand, I do want to learn to be a faster and more efficient writer, so maybe I'm being too quick to dismiss a tool that might help me move in that direction. Yet...I wonder how much you can really force your process in a direction that's unnatural for you?
Basically, Scrivener gives you one big binder for a project. Within it, you treat each chapter or scene of your manuscript as a separate file, though you can easily compile them into a single view. You can tag the scenes in various ways, e.g. by point-of-view character or setting. You also have separate sections where you can keep character notes or research files.
I can see the good in all of this. So why aren't I rushing to start my new project in Scrivener instead of good ol' MS Word?
It's purely a gut reaction. I don't claim any of this is rational at all. But it just feels WRONG to me to treat my manuscript as a bunch of discrete scenes or chapters rather than an organic whole--albeit a fluid one that can and should change right up until my editor and I agree that it's ready.
Believe me, I realize how strange this sounds...but the manuscript is sort of a sacred space to me as I'm working on it. The Manuscript is the Manuscript, the Manuscript is one, and I don't WANT my research or my visual inspiration or my notes in the same file. None of those are the Manuscript--they're commentary. I even like keeping much of that not-the-manuscript stuff off my computer. I like to plot on a whiteboard, and I sometimes use my whole office door as a sort of canvas for post-it-notes with scene notes and character arcs. I'm a kinesthetic learner and thinker, and I need to step away from the monitor, pace, rearrange my post-its, pull a pile of research books off the shelf and spread them out on the coffee table, etc. I'm sure the Scrivener corkboard and research files are more efficient, but it doesn't have that same physicality, and it just doesn't feel like ME.
On the other hand, I do want to learn to be a faster and more efficient writer, so maybe I'm being too quick to dismiss a tool that might help me move in that direction. Yet...I wonder how much you can really force your process in a direction that's unnatural for you?
May 12, 2012
Catching up on 52 Cookbooks - #25, Enough to Feed an Army
When I was an undergrad at Penn, not quite when dinosaurs roamed the planet, but I swear there were still woolly mammoths about (OK, OK, it was 20 years ago), my brother was a math instructor at West Point. While they were there, my sister-in-law contributed to Enough to Feed an Army: the West Point Officers Wives' Club Cookbook.
It isn't listed on Amazon, so no link, but it's a typical compilation cookbook, with West Point facts and images interspersed here and there. I got my pumpkin and banana bread recipes from it, though I use chocolate chips instead of the suggested walnuts. This time, I decided I wanted to pick a vegetable recipe, so I settled on:
Warm Green Bean and Pancetta Salad
1 1/2 lbs. green beans, trimmed5 oz. pancetta, diced1/3 c. minced shallots1 T chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 t. dried rosemary (I used fresh, since we have some growing in our front yard)3 T olive oil2 T plus 1 t. fresh lemon juice (I interpreted this as "juice of 1 lemon")
Cook beans in large pot of boiling, salted water until crisp-tender; drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Pat dry.
(I chose to steam the beans instead, since I prefer my beans very lightly cooked.)
Cook pancetta in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp, stirring often. Transfer pancetta to paper towels. Pour off all but 1 1/2 T fat. Add shallots and chopped rosemary to skillet and cook over medium heat 2 min, stirring often. Add beans and stir to coat. Add oil and lemon juice; stir until beans are heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with pancetta.
The beans turned out quite tasty. They're not enough better than my usual preparation, which is just to stir fry till hot in a little olive oil with garlic, salt, and pepper, to replace it for everyday meals. But I can see myself making it as a side dish at a dinner party someday.
It isn't listed on Amazon, so no link, but it's a typical compilation cookbook, with West Point facts and images interspersed here and there. I got my pumpkin and banana bread recipes from it, though I use chocolate chips instead of the suggested walnuts. This time, I decided I wanted to pick a vegetable recipe, so I settled on:
Warm Green Bean and Pancetta Salad
1 1/2 lbs. green beans, trimmed5 oz. pancetta, diced1/3 c. minced shallots1 T chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 t. dried rosemary (I used fresh, since we have some growing in our front yard)3 T olive oil2 T plus 1 t. fresh lemon juice (I interpreted this as "juice of 1 lemon")
Cook beans in large pot of boiling, salted water until crisp-tender; drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Pat dry.
(I chose to steam the beans instead, since I prefer my beans very lightly cooked.)
Cook pancetta in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp, stirring often. Transfer pancetta to paper towels. Pour off all but 1 1/2 T fat. Add shallots and chopped rosemary to skillet and cook over medium heat 2 min, stirring often. Add beans and stir to coat. Add oil and lemon juice; stir until beans are heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with pancetta.
The beans turned out quite tasty. They're not enough better than my usual preparation, which is just to stir fry till hot in a little olive oil with garlic, salt, and pepper, to replace it for everyday meals. But I can see myself making it as a side dish at a dinner party someday.
May 10, 2012
Catching up on 52 Cookbooks - #24, The Pie and Pastry Bible
(I've been cooking from a random cookbook each week even when I've been too busy with edits to blog about it, so now that I'm back in the land of the blogging I'll be posting a month's worth of catch-up entries.)
I don't think of myself as a pie person even though the last few years I've made the pecan and pumpkin pies at our family Christmas celebrations, and depending on the season I often make a pecan or a berry pie when we have dinner guests. You see, a real pie person would make her own crusts, and for some reason homemade pie crusts intimidate me. I feel the same way about yeast breads. I'm game for anything else that's within a normal home cook's repertoire, but those two feel like you need a PhD in advanced cookery to tackle, or something. I don't claim this is rational. Maybe next year my culinary challenge will be "overcome yeast phobia."
My mom could do both, naturally. She rarely baked bread, but she made pies ALL THE TIME, always made her own crusts, and looked with scorn upon ready-made pie shells. I mean, next thing you'd be making your cakes from a MIX.
So now, whenever anyone praises my pecan pie, I'm all self-deprecating and say, "Oh, thanks, but I cheated. I used a store-bought crust. My mom would've made the crust, too." And when The Pie and Pastry Bible came up in the rotation, I felt preemptively guilty, because I knew I'd end up cheating and using a ready-made crust.
But I did not! Instead I chose to make...
CRUSTLESS APPLE CRUMB PIE
5 c. baking apples, peeled & sliced 1/2 inch thick (~3 large)
1 1/2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T light brown sugar
2 T granulated sugar
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg, pref. freshly grated
1/8 t. salt
1 T unsalted butter
FOR TOPPING:
2 T + 2 t. light brown sugar
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. walnut halves
1/16 t. salt
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
3/4 t. vanilla extract
EQUIPMENT: a 9-inch pie pan
Preheat oven to 400 F. Set oven rack on 2nd level from the bottom.
In a large bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and toss to mix. Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes to an hour.
MAKE THE TOPPING:
In a food processor, pulse together sugars, nuts, salt, and cinnamon until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the flour, butter, and vanilla and pulse until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Empty into a small bowl and with your fingertips lightly pinch the mixture to form little clumps.
Transfer the apples and their juices to a colander suspended over a bowl to capture the liquid. The mixture will exude about 1/4 c. of liquid.
In a small saucepan, reduce this liquid, over medium-high heat, with the butter, to 2 T. Pour the hot liquid over the apples, tossing them gently.
Transfer the apples to the baking dish. Pour in all the remaining juice. Cover the dish with foil and make a 1-inch slash in the middle. Bake the apples for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and sprinkle the surface evenly with the topping. Continue baking for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is crisp and golden brown, the fruit juices are bubbling thickly around the edges, and the apples feel tender but not mushy when a cake tester or small sharp knife is inserted.
Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
It came out looking like this:
Not the most photogenic dessert ever. It was reasonably tasty, though not enough so to justify the amount of work that went into it. It would've been far better with some vanilla or dulce de leche ice cream, though.
I don't think of myself as a pie person even though the last few years I've made the pecan and pumpkin pies at our family Christmas celebrations, and depending on the season I often make a pecan or a berry pie when we have dinner guests. You see, a real pie person would make her own crusts, and for some reason homemade pie crusts intimidate me. I feel the same way about yeast breads. I'm game for anything else that's within a normal home cook's repertoire, but those two feel like you need a PhD in advanced cookery to tackle, or something. I don't claim this is rational. Maybe next year my culinary challenge will be "overcome yeast phobia."
My mom could do both, naturally. She rarely baked bread, but she made pies ALL THE TIME, always made her own crusts, and looked with scorn upon ready-made pie shells. I mean, next thing you'd be making your cakes from a MIX.
So now, whenever anyone praises my pecan pie, I'm all self-deprecating and say, "Oh, thanks, but I cheated. I used a store-bought crust. My mom would've made the crust, too." And when The Pie and Pastry Bible came up in the rotation, I felt preemptively guilty, because I knew I'd end up cheating and using a ready-made crust.
But I did not! Instead I chose to make...
CRUSTLESS APPLE CRUMB PIE
5 c. baking apples, peeled & sliced 1/2 inch thick (~3 large)
1 1/2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 T light brown sugar
2 T granulated sugar
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg, pref. freshly grated
1/8 t. salt
1 T unsalted butter
FOR TOPPING:
2 T + 2 t. light brown sugar
1 T. sugar
1/2 c. walnut halves
1/16 t. salt
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
3/4 t. vanilla extract
EQUIPMENT: a 9-inch pie pan
Preheat oven to 400 F. Set oven rack on 2nd level from the bottom.
In a large bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and toss to mix. Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes to an hour.
MAKE THE TOPPING:
In a food processor, pulse together sugars, nuts, salt, and cinnamon until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the flour, butter, and vanilla and pulse until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Empty into a small bowl and with your fingertips lightly pinch the mixture to form little clumps.
Transfer the apples and their juices to a colander suspended over a bowl to capture the liquid. The mixture will exude about 1/4 c. of liquid.
In a small saucepan, reduce this liquid, over medium-high heat, with the butter, to 2 T. Pour the hot liquid over the apples, tossing them gently.
Transfer the apples to the baking dish. Pour in all the remaining juice. Cover the dish with foil and make a 1-inch slash in the middle. Bake the apples for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and sprinkle the surface evenly with the topping. Continue baking for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is crisp and golden brown, the fruit juices are bubbling thickly around the edges, and the apples feel tender but not mushy when a cake tester or small sharp knife is inserted.
Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
It came out looking like this:
Not the most photogenic dessert ever. It was reasonably tasty, though not enough so to justify the amount of work that went into it. It would've been far better with some vanilla or dulce de leche ice cream, though.
