Monday, November 08, 2010

Wow. Could it be any Novemberier? Honestly. I love it when the weather gets so candid like this: blustery and raw with a scrim of ice over everything, the dark descending all day long. Then my dread can ebb away and I can just deal with it. You know?

Meanwhile:


Michael made an apple pie.  Read all about it!

(He looks deceptively sweet there, doesn't he? When really. . . .


as we all know. . . )

Then the kids made fancy pastries with the leftover dough.

And then I read this book. And was totally devastated.

Then it was Garfield Day Halloween:




complete with flower fairies big and small:



And then I read this book. And was totally devastated.

And then we took ourselves up to MASS MoCA, where there happened to be an amazing exhibit about gender and junk called "Pink & Blue Projects." Guess who happened to be wearing pink?


Love that boy.

Then I made Whole-wheat Pasta with Broccoli Pesto and Garlicky Breadcrumbs.

Phew. I hope that you and all your knights and vampires, witches and rainbow fairies, platypuses and deviled eggs, ninjas and angels and eagles and sandwiches have had a magical couple of weeks.

And finally: Laura, how did you guess? We did indeed find a young woman in the woods, pregnant and afflicted with the wandering amnesia, and we brought her home with us and fed her delicious pastas and nourishing soups while we waited for her memory to return. Or something like that. xo

21 comments:

  1. I KNEW IT! :)

    Your post made this cozy Novembery morning perfect, by the way. As always, thank you.

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  2. No no no. I cannot read The Room. I simply cannot!!!!

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  3. I love when I check in, and you have posted...
    I love November too...
    and,
    I can't read The Room, I looked at it a bit ago, and am tempted because it looks so intriguing... but I think I might be permanently scarred with sadness...

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  4. Anonymous7:13 PM

    "Then my dread can ebb away and I can just deal with it. You know?"

    Okay, seriously, Catherine Newman?! It is like you reached inside my gourd (do people ever say gourd anymore? where did i even come up with that all of a sudden?).... and say exactly what I am feeling....

    Love fall. Hate fall. Love the change of seasons. Hate the feeling of an ending, endings. Love leaves changing. Hate death of leaves feeling.... and just today, I thought something like "whew, the dark and gray and bare trees is here, and now I can just STOP all that thinking about it, and just bake some rolls and hibernate with my kids in pjs."

    Continue to adore you. It's me, 2kidslife, been reading you since my babies were babies, 7 yrs ago. Adore adore adore how you let Ben be Ben, pink and all, long hair and all. And then gorgeous dad pics remind me why he'd know gorgeous long hair on man is gorgeous. (p.s. gorgeous husband you got!)

    Hugs to you. You are the best.

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  5. Love, love, love the shot of Ben in front of the pink project. I also love that he still loves pink. :) And Birdie's doll fairy is so adorable.

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  6. Anonymous4:04 PM

    Catherine,

    I read Room too. I got it at the library a couple of weeks ago. Wasn't it great? I stayed up until 2 AM reading because I couldn't wait to find out what happened.

    Kristie

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  7. There really is a feeling for November isn't there? Glad you are all well and a man that bakes. What a perfect post.

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  8. I love November. We celebrate my oldest an my youngest kids' birthdays around thanksgiving (and mine too). I stopped by to say Happy Birthday to Ben. And Fall reminds me of you. I know, crazy, but there you go.

    Word verification (I swear I'm not making this up) "recks." Yes, I'm a recks by the end of the month, but still love November.

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  9. Teafortwo1:07 PM

    I read a review of "The Room" in the Wall Street Journal. I'm not sure what I want to do with that. I had a hard time with "The Glass Castle." I liked "Freedom," by Jonathan Franzen.

    I like fall, but fall here this year means it's 73 degrees in the afternoon, and it's only supposed to be 63. We don't get pretty foliage as a result. Oh, and I'm annoyed when neighbors blow their leaves out into the street.

    But, I love moving into fall foods. And soup, and baking bread, and stuff like that.

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  10. "Wow. Could it be any Novemberier? Honestly. I love it when the weather gets so candid like this: blustery and raw with a scrim of ice over everything, the dark descending all day long. Then my dread can ebb away and I can just deal with it. You know?"
    Oh I do know. But I didn't realize I knew it until you put it so perfectly into words. I could have been wandering around thinking, "where exactly is that vague feeling of relief coming from?" Thanks.

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  11. Anonymous1:30 PM

    In the spring I love how our lives expand into the yard and the neighborhood and in November I love how our world gradually shrinks back into the hearth and home. Hot food perking in the crock pot, blankets and I'm ready to hunker in our bunker!

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  12. Anonymous2:39 PM

    For all those who said they can't bear to read ROOM...

    Oh, please read it. You won't be sorry. Best book I've read in years.

    Yes, the subject matter sounds grim, but it is handled so delicately, without being graphic or voyeuristic. More than anything else, this is a story of a mother's love and determination, told through the eyes of a stunning little boy.

    My bookclub chose ROOM and some women were reluctant to read it -- but then adored it.

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  13. I think the only thing that FL has in common with MA is the early darkness. Especially so since we are in the central time zone and it gets dark at 4:30pm. No cold ice yet. It IS Novembery and even a bit melacholy. It is wonderful to read your posts.

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  14. I totally agree about November. There's nothing really to fall in love with, but it's not so bad as anticipating November.

    I posted a picture of my son on my blog this morning and he just happened to have pink underwear sticking out from his pants, and it is good to see Ben, who has come before, in pink.

    And, I enjoy your food columns so much. Thank you for the inspiration, the recipes and the top-notch writing.

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  15. miryboo2:02 PM

    I finally got my hands on a copy of your article from Brain, Child. Thank you for the felt gnome bit!!!

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  16. Anonymous6:55 PM

    I love November too. In spite of my daughter inexplicably turning ten this month. But this November has just sucked. I know this sounds crazy, but I'm having a serious health crisis right now, and my second thought (right after "I want my mom", who is, inconveniently, dead) was "I want Catherine to cook for me." I wish I lived in Western Mass. Can you FedEx lentil soup and bread? I need some serious nurturing.

    Allyson (Al et al.)

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  17. Also makes pies9:39 AM

    Regarding the apple pie: no cinnamon or nutmeg? Really?

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  18. Anonymous1:55 PM

    Love the crust!

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  19. Anonymous2:17 PM

    Would love for my son and Ben to meet someday. They look like long lost twins (especially from the back). If Ben ever needs a long haired 11 year old buddy who appreciates pink and loves to read, let me know (we're just on the other side of the river).

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  20. Room was one of the best boos I've read in a long time. It took me a day and a half (with the half being the better hours of the night I should have been sleeping). Although the topic is horrific, the book is so beautifully written, the mother and child relationship so dead-on it is definitely worth reading.

    www.whatnowandwhy.blogspot.com

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  21. I'd have been happier had boos in my earlier post been booKs. Sheesh! And to agree w/one of the commenters, I've been following you (seems rather stalkerish to say now, even in this Twitter age) since the BabyCenter days of Bringing Up Ben. Seeing Birdy now is amazing (I can't recall if I was pregnant w/Zoe at the same time, but I think they overlapped a bit). "Waiting for Birdy" was my favorite book at the time.

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