My Corelli Cookies Or Reading Does Indeed Enhance Your Life

Today I made rosemary shortbread. I read about it last week in the newspaper. It seems that rosemary cookies can be served in a variety of ways--as cookies, spread with jam, or before a meal as an appetizer type thing. I thought they were something I could throw in front of guests on Thanksgiving with some squash soup and made a batch.

I didn't know what rosemary was prior to reading Corelli's Mandolin maybe ten or more years ago. I grew up in a family in which onions and salt were the primary cooking seasonings. I couldn't pronounce "herb" properly until my teenage years or later. I pronounced it like the man's name.

Then came Corelli's Mandolin in which rosemary figures prominently in the early chapters. I was intrigued, tried it, and loved the stuff. My family was not quite so enamored. My sons and husband always referred to it as "pine needles," which led me to start buying it already crushed.

And thus Corelli's Mandolin had a direct influence on Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year.