Beverly Farr's Blog, page 3

Name Dropping for Comfortable Clothes

I want to live in a Lands’ End Catalog. Have you ever noticed how happy and healthy the women models are? Even the old women with gray hair look great – strong and healthy. And they’re wearing comfortable, well made clothes. When my kids were little, I used to buy lots of Lands’ End clothes, but for some reason I stopped shopping there, but recently as I decided to buy my “Author” wardrobe – in other words, knit clothes as comfortable as pajamas but better looking so I don’t look terrible when I take a break from the computer to buy groceries – I returned to Lands’ End.

I love their sport knit pants and their cardigan sweaters.

What are some of your favorite catalogs that inspire you?

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When a Second Love is Better

There’s nothing like a good Cinderella Story to make me feel better and both Sabrina 1954 and 1995 do the job well.

The earlier version has Audrey Hepburn, who makes nearly everything better. She is beautifully awkward, quirky and then at last radiant. I do think her dress at the ball is a little weird, but other than that, it’s a great movie. I’m not sure I completely believe Humphrey Bogart falling in love with her, but as long as Audrey is happy, I’m happy.

And surprisingly, I like the second version even better than the first. Not only do we get Han Solo pretending to be a business man, the script is fantastic. The first date sequence has some of the most tense, funny and romantic dialogue I’ve ever seen. I also like the way the first love interest is not such a loser. Greg Kinnear was charmingly flawed.

There is enough humor in both versions to balance out the very sweet romance.

What is your favorite Cinderella story?

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Can You Improve Upon Perfection?

Jane Austen is my favorite author. I don’t think all her novels are perfect, but Pride and Prejudice comes close. It has romance, humor and wry, insightful commentary on family relationships and the world.

I write Pride and Prejudice Variations, which means that I take the basic story and characters of P&P and change them – slightly, sometimes not so slightly – and see what happens. I’ve actually been doing this sort of thing for years – analysing and re-imagining favorite books and movies in my mind (Like what if Juliet got the letter or if Scarlett actually spoke to Rhett when their daughter died?) – but I’ve only recently started actually writing them down.

In my current story Accepting Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth learns that her father is dying and her formerly prosperous uncle in London is having financial problems. Given the realities of 1812, Elizabeth knows she has to marry a wealthy man if she is going to help her family survive. Being a governess or seamstress isn’t going to make enough money. I found this idea interesting because I often wonder what I would do if I were a young woman in Regency Era England. I’d like to think I’d be a brilliant writer, but Jane Austen never made much money, Mary Wollstonecraft was poor, too. Would I have married money?

The story is also interesting to me because Darcy gets engaged, thinking Elizabeth loves him. He doesn’t find out the truth until after the wedding ceremony. How would this proud man react? And how can these two imperfect people eventually reach their happily ever after?

These types of questions keep me up at night and make writing very fun.

Now, to return to the title of this blog piece. Do I think my writings are an improvement upon Jane Austen? Absolutely not. Instead, they are merely my tribute to her. I love Darcy and Elizabeth in multiple variations. And just as I love the 1980, 1995, 2005 and even the 1940 film versions of Pride and Prejudice, I am always interested in a new twist.

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Potato Spiders

They’re not really spiders, but the little sprouts on my red potatoes looked like spiders today, and they reminded me of a funny family memory. When I was young, my family lived in Morristown, New Jersey and we had a house with a basement. The basement had the TV room, an area for laundry and a pantry area. In the pantry, there was a cupboard with bins for onions and potatoes. As a side note, my father grew up in Idaho, sometimes harvesting potatoes when he was in high school, and he preferred Idaho potatoes to all others. He could taste the difference. I think it is something in the soil that makes the difference.

Anyway, one day when I was about six or seven, I was sent downstairs to get some potatoes for dinner. When I opened the cupboard, in the dim light I saw what looked horrifying like white worms – some of them eight to ten inches long. I screamed, dropped the bowl, and rain upstairs. When I described what I had seen, my parents burst out laughing. Some of the potatoes had sprouted. No big deal. But they were still very creepy to me and I refused to go back and bring them upstairs. My mom went herself, and I think I even refused to eat the potatoes that night at dinner.

Now, as a tough old mom who has removed sprouted eyes from thousands of potatoes, it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I think it’s a wonderful part of botanical reproduction. Sprouts are just Nature’s way of creating new potatoes – it’s part of life. But I will never forget that heart stopping moment when I opened that cupboard. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.

And here’s a recipe:

Grease a slow cooker with butter. Peel and slice up a ton of potatoes (5 to 8 pounds, depending on what fits in your slow cooker). Alternate layers of potatoes with some heavy whipping cream. I use about 1- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream. Cook on high until everything is soft. Add salt and pepper and you can serve with grated cheese on top.

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Accepting Mr. Darcy

I’m thrilled to announce my latest Pride and Prejudice Variation: Accepting Mr. Darcy. This is a longer novella.

In this version, Darcy learns that Elizabeth has married him for his money. Can he forgive her?

And here’s a big thank you to all those who left reviews and comments for An Heir for Pemberley. I really appreciate it.

Happy reading!

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What to do after the Epiphany, Mr. Bennet

I have dramatic children, which shouldn’t be a surprise. I often hear “Mom, guess what I just realized!” in tones that imply something life-changing is going to be revealed. The insights are usually commonplace along the lines of “gum gets hard if you spit it out and leave it somewhere” but occasionally it is profound like “if you listen to people, they’re more likely to listen to you.”

All this wisdom floating around has made me realize that it’s not the wisdom that matters – we’re all getting new insights, wisdom, or realizations – it’s what you do with them that matters.

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet has a paradigm shift when she reads the letter Darcy writes after she refuses his marriage proposal. She realizes that she has misjudged Darcy and believed the flattery of Wickham, a charming con man. This is particularly humbling because she had always prided herself on her discernment. There is a line that says until this moment, she had never known herself. This sudden realization is a key moment in the story. She begins to see Darcy in a new light.

Darcy has a realization, too. When Elizabeth rejects his marriage proposal, he is stunned to learn that she thinks he is arrogant and conceited. He is motivated to change his manners, to treat others with more respect. And with this change, he paves the way to earn Elizabeth’s affections.

Both Elizabeth and Darcy are changed by their realizations. They face their flaws and change for the better, which is one of the reasons why Pride and Prejudice is still popular 200 years after it was published.

Elizabeth’s father gets a moment of insight as well. When his daughter Lydia runs off with Wickham, Mr. Bennet realizes that he is partly at fault for being an absentee parent. Elizabeth had warned him, but he had ignored her advice. He says, “Let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away soon enough.”

His comment is humorous and unfortunately, too true for most of us. That’s another reason why so many people read Jane Austen. We all get the fleeting inspirations, thoughts of how we need to change or improve, and it’s easy to let the feeling fade away.

So how do we hold onto that wisdom? Telling someone might help. Writing it down is better. If you don’t have pen and paper, or if you’re like me and likely to lose a scrap of paper, email yourself. Send yourself a text message. And then do something.

I’m reminded of the quote that says a person who won’t read is no better off than the person who can’t read.

What’s the point of an epiphany if we do nothing about it?

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When You Don’t Want to Put in the Time

My favorite quilt is a 100 nine-patch with 50 pairs of coordinating positive and negative patches. For years it was periodically on my dining room wall (I rotated quilts for decoration) and people would say, “Oooh, I love that. How long did that take to make?”

I tried to estimate the time it took to find fabric, wash it, iron it, cut it up, sew the patches, plan the design, sew the patches together and finally hand quilt it. It took at least 200 hours, maybe more.

At that point, no one – unless they are a rabid quilter — is saying “Hey, I want to do that, too.”

But that’s okay. Not everyone wants to make a quilt to hang on their wall. Some people would rather buy one, but the problem with that, is that few people want to pay for someone else to make one by hand.

So what do you do when you want something but don’t want to do the work to get it?

1. Arrange for someone else to do it. Pay for it, barter, or beg.

2. Change your desires – settle for something else.

3. Stop whining and Get to work.

Some people think #3 is always the best choice. I disagree. We only have a limited amount of time and it’s important to put our efforts towards the things that matter most.

For example, right now, I’m not quilting. I still look at quilts, but the majority of my time is spent writing because that’s a higher priority. However, I keep thinking about another quilt project – a cute striped quilt with 1930s retro fabrics – and one of these days I’m going to block out another 200 hours. Maybe just one hour a week.

Brag alert: Check out the tiny stitches on my 100 nine-patch quilt.

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Jumping For That Tub of Butter

At one point in the movie Midnight (1939), Claudette Colbert mentions taking a risk for happiness and wealth and refers to it as “jumping for that tub of butter.” Since this movie was filmed in 1939, I don’t think there was any butter rationing going on yet. I assume a lifestyle referred to as a tub of butter meant the good life, the rich life or Easy Street.

In Midnight, Colbert is a down-on-her-luck dancer who has lost all her money in Monte Carlo and has landed in Paris with nothing but a gold evening gown and a plucky attitude. She meets the hero, a charming cab driver played by Don Ameche (in one of his best roles) and then ends up being a Cinderella with John Barrymore playing fairy godmother. It is hilarious and has some of the best dialogue, ever. There is a great surprise twist at the end. It would make a great Date Night movie.

And now back to the butter. If you’ve read my blog, especially my recipes, you’ll know that I love butter and cream. Not that I want to land in a tub of it, but I certainly think it makes my life better – as long as I consume it in moderation.

So what’s the life message? Take risks, but be reasonable?

What exactly does that look like? Give me a hint.

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Why Is Jane Eyre So Fascinating?

I don’t think the world is ever going to stop reading and analyzing Jane Eyre. This past week I read a fascinating article about how women need to adapt to survive in the world and some of the examples came from Jane Eyre.

Why is this book so compelling that people are still talking about it 200 years later?

Jane is a very sympathetic, but still flawed individual. She is good without being self-righteous. She endures difficult times and is ultimately rewarded with a relationship that she wants but makes some of us think, “Are you serious – do you really want Mr. Rochester?”

I know there are some readers who find Rochester better than Darcy (perish the thought). With all my reading and rereading of this book, I think his attraction is that he is the first person (other than the friend who died at school) who really listened to Jane and understood her.

As my mother once said, “There is nothing as attractive as a person who is attracted to you.” I agree with some of that and add a warning, “So be careful out there.”

Jane Eyre is wonderful because it is not just a romance. It is a manifesto – the story of a young woman in Victorian times who is true to herself.

It makes me wonder what are the current novels that are equally profound. Are there any other Jane Eyres out there?

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Guilt Free Apple Pie

Ok, so it’s not exactly apple pie, but for a person who has not had a slice of apple pie in over 23 years, it is pretty darn close.

Real sugar in most real desserts gives me headaches, so I’ve been eating fruit with the occasional or very dark/bitter chocolate (90% cocoa) for years. Here’s a recipe I just came up with this morning:

Sauté 2 very small sliced apples and a small handful of raw pecans in 1 T butter until apples are browned and a little soft. Sprinkle with cinnamon (no sugar in that).

WOW, it was fantastic. For lower fat, I could skip the pecans.

Butter is my friend. My mouth and stomach are very happy.

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