A quick update today, because I am flying around. And by "flying around," I mean staring out the window in a melancholy way as the leaves flutter to the ground.
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| Did I ever tell you about the time Anni burnt a large batch of paneer in this pot? No? Remind me. . . |
And then a quick few recommendations:
This movie, The Crash Reel, although you have to know someone with HBO to be able to watch it. It's a documentary about the lovely young snow boarder Kevin Pearce, and his recovery from a traumatic brain injury, and it is one of the most moving and wonderful portrayals of family that I have ever seen.
This book, The Unknowns, by Gabriel Roth, which a) is not quite the usual kind of thing I recommend, b) full disclosure, was edited by a friend of mine, and c) is about an awkward computer programmer. It nonetheless utterly captured my heart and imagination and suffered only from being too short. It is a more or less perfect novel, as evidenced by this line: "'I see myself as a life-support system for feelings of anxiety,' I say. 'The anxiety is the organism and I'm the habitat.'"
This album, Southeastern, by Jason Isbell, who used to be in the band Drive By Truckers. Go to that amazon link and listen to the clip from song 12, "Relatively Easy." If you don't like it, you probably won't like the album.
This game, Love Letter, which is small, inexpensive, attractive, easy to learn, relatively quick, and like a cross between Hearts, Stratego, and a Jane Austen novel.
Have a wonderful weekend, my darlings.
xo
We just got back from Ireland where I ate my weight in Guinness Beef Stew. As soon as I'm ready to eat beef stew again, this is the recipe I'll try!
ReplyDeletewelcome back!
DeleteI am so very happy about the Recipe Index developments around here.
ReplyDeleteoh, the brown beef stew! the recipe i blame for turning me into a meat eater again :-). i had been a vegetarian for 15 years, and never craved meat with my first pregnancy. the second time, pregnant with twins (a pregnancy i blame (gratefully) on reading "waiting for birdy" three times, but that's another story ;-) i *needed* meat (not according necessarily to my doctor or any books but according to my body - screaming for the iron and protein). i bought five pounds of organic ground beef and commissioned my dad to make hamburgers for me, which i froze and would secretly eat one each night after my (also vegetarian) son was in bed, fully expecting to get back on the wagon after my babes were born. but i kept coming back to that damn picture of the beef stew.....and one day called my best friend and held the phone out. "guess what that sound is!" "is it raining there?" "no. i'm browning beef for stew!" alas, i haven't gone back. your "dad's spaghetti sauce" is our other favorite beefy recipe :-)
ReplyDeleteHa ha!
DeleteI make marmite beef stew in the crockpot (4-5 hours on high, though I mostly turn it down somewhen in the middle and calculate twice as long for the rest on low): onion browned, and all the rest just thrown in: beef, sliced carrots, parsley, chicken broth, a teaspoon marmite, and then thicken at the end with gravy browning. I bet it tastes really similar - I will try yours too! But probably in the crockpot ;)
ReplyDeleteI have this fear that I will forget all the recipes I want to request, so I'm very glad when ones I hadn't thought of pop up as new posts. Thank you, readers, and thank you, Catherine!
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DeleteI have been reading you since baby center. I have given Waiting For Birdie as a gift dozens of times. I eat your food. My family plays games you recommend. We spend a few weeks each summer in Truro. That last one actually has nothing to do with you, but it rounded out my CN resume a bit.
ReplyDeleteGabe Roth was a good friend of mine in College, and when I saw your rec. of his novel I decided that was just the kick in the ass I needed to reach out to you.
I wanted to tell you how you have changed my life. You got me started writing about melancholy, which for me goes a bit further to clinical depression, but the way you make it seem beautiful and poignant has reshaped my own perception of those days when dinner is bread ends in soup, and dressing up means my good pjs. Thank you for writing, reading, cooking and recommending. You have enriched my life for (gulp) a decade.
Anna
shelburbia.com
Anna, thank you so much for writing. It means the world to me. What a lovely way, too, to describe this melancholy sisterhood. All of us in our houses, making good dinners, lame dinners, lying on the floor thinking about making dinner. Sigh. Plus, I assume you're planning to set me up with Gabe Roth, despite everyone's pesky pre-existing marriages, etc.
Deletexo
I made this last night. My husband said "This is that really good stew you used to make!" That I forgot about. Thanks for reminding us. It's the brownest
DeleteThat Jason Isbell album cuts me to the core. It has become the soundtrack to my Fall melancholia weirdness. It's lovely.
ReplyDeleteIs there a cookbook in your future? It would be wonderful to have these lovely posts and recipes to page through on any day.
ReplyDeleteI made this beef stew last night. It is simple and absolutly wonderful! We are having it tonight since I did not get it started till about 7pm at night. I am at work right now and all I can think about is that stew. So far every recipe I have tried of yours has turned out great and that lentil soup with the vinegrette is my favorite. TY!
ReplyDeleteI may be late to the game on this beef stew but I just had to comment....made it for my family (including my FIL) and it was to die for. This was everything you'd want in a stew and more...my FIL was waxing nostalgic about his mom's cooking by the end of the meal because it reminded him of her, it was that good. This is my go-to stew recipe forever. Thank you!
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