Football Fever

Red River Rivalry. It's on!

Go OU!

Book Review: Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee

That Thomas Jefferson spent time in France is nothing new.There have been many books, movies, and mini-series to attest to that, but what is less well-known, at least to me before reading Thomas J. Craughwell’s  delightful little book, Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brulee, is the special attention he paid to food while he was there.

I like to eat, mostly what my husband refers to as Oklahoma food, which is shorthand for white or yellow, bland, and most often made of wheat or corn. Some of my particular favorites are macaroni with just a little bit of tomato juice, corn bread, hominy, biscuits and gravy, and fried mush. In Jefferson’s day the American cuisine of the day was similar, simple foods prepared simply.

But France? France was a wholly different place with wholly different ideas on how food should be prepared. There was nothing simple about it; food was designed to impress, and Thomas Jefferson wanted to bring that impressive food back to America when his 5-year stay was over. To do that he enlisted the help of his slave, James Hemings, who agreed to accompany Jefferson to Paris and learn to cook from the French in exchange for his freedom.

Craughwell takes the opportunity in this concise, little book not only to relate the story of Jefferson and Heming’s agreement, but also to explore other interesting byways such as what Hemings status as an American slave was in a country where slavery was illegal and how did Sally Hemings,James’ sister and the eventual mother of several of Jefferson’s children, also find herself in Paris.

My favorite chapter was a description of a 3 ½-month trip that Jefferson took throughout France and eventually into Italy in order to sample foods and wines and record the status of the peasantry he encountered along the way. The American experiment at the time was in its very infancy and Jefferson was determined that his country emulate the best of what he found and avoid the worst.

I enjoyed this book, most of which concentrates on Jefferson,which is understandable since documented sources about him are much more plentiful than those on Hemings. Craughwell himself bemoans the fact that we don’t know more about Hemings, and I, too, found myself wishing I knew how he felt about living in a country where he did not speak the language while learning an rigorous new skill, the successful completion of which would mean his freedom. One can only imagine.

I would recommend this book for Jefferson buffs, cooking enthusiasts, and anyone looking for a quick overview of life in pre-revolutionary France. This book is definitely

I'll Have Three Slices, Please

I've written before that back in Palm Spring in February when I discovered Lisa Occhopinti's book, The Repurposed Library, the first thing that caught my eye was that whatever-that-is hanging underneath the title. (Turns out it is a book mobile, or bookmobile if you're being cute, but that is a post for another day.)

The second thing that caught my eye was that doohickey in the top left corner.

That, my friends, is a book spiral, and I discovered that I really, really like making book spirals. They are sort of addicting and mind-numbing and easy to do when one is catching up on one's shows that have been waiting on the DVR until Captain America goes on a trip.

First I made one--and decorated it with a button.

And then I sorta went on a tear and made a few more.

I quilled a center for one and bought buttons and bangles for the others and I was really starting to like the way these looked...and then I quit. Turns out that slicing the books so I could make the spirals became a real pain in the tookus. For the ones above I used an X-acto knife like Occhipinti had suggested, but after dulling several of those blades, I got bored and went onto other things, like flowers and words.

A few weeks ago, I decided my spider story needed some illustration and that meant I needed a few more spirals. This time I cut the book with scissors. That was not any more fun that cutting them with the knife, but it did add a little more precision and a smaller chance of slicing my fingers off.

After I posted my spider story Heather from Rhymes With Magic asked me how I was cutting my books. She's been working with sprials lately, too (seriously, click that link and go look at the cool stuff she is making!). She asked if I had tried the local office supply store. I was stumped. I had no idea what she was talking about. 

So this weekend I took a few books to the store and said, "I know this sounds crazy, but..." and I explained what I was trying to do. The very, very nice man said, "Let me show you something." And so he took one of my books and here's what he showed me.

Holy schmoley!! You would not believe how excited I got. I asked if he could slice one with the covers still  on and a minute later he couldn't help laughing as he brought back three perfect slices of book. 

(Now I know how this guy does his magic. Prepare to be amazed when you click that link.)

When the office supply guy and I were done I had slices of all different sizes, some covered and some not. I'm giddy. 

I've had some designs in my head for spirals that I've put off doing because the cutting was such a pain, but now? Now the sky's the limit. Whoo-hoo!

The Message on My VoiceMail

Voicemail Lady: You have one new message. To listen to your message, press one.

Me: [presses one]

Voicemail Lady: First new message received at...1:30...p.m. [Beeeeep]

Messenger: Hello, Stephanie. This is R----- at the South County Library Volunteer Bookstore. I'm just calling to tell you that we have received some more Reader's Digest Condensed Books and we're holding them for you. You can give us a call at 713-23......uh wait, that's not right.......

You can call us at 832-42.....no.....no.......That's your number.........What's my number?......I don't even know my number.

Well, Stephanie, that's just the kind of day we're having around here. So anyway we have some books for you. You know where we are. They'll be waiting for you.

We look forward to seeing you. Good-bye.

[Click]

Book Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Title: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Author: Agatha Christie
Format: Kindle & Audiobook (Whispersync)
Reading Dates: Sep 9 - Sep 26, 2012
Rating: *** 1/2

My first experience with Whispersync, the new bookmark-in-the-cloud service from Amazon and Audible, is complete and my official reaction is -- not bad! The Mysterious Affair at Styles is one of 20 Kindle/Audible combinations that Amazon is giving away for free, so I snapped it up a few weeks ago. I decided to read this one first, because it was only 5 1/2 hours long on Audible. I could read on my Kindle and then turn on Audible when I got in my car and it would ask me if I wanted to go to my furthest read point. I had a little trouble at first getting Audible to sync reliably--sometimes it would ask me to sync and sometimes it wouldn't, but eventually it seemed to get better. Kindle always seemed to be able to keep my place no matter if the last place I read was on Kindle or on Audible. 

But even if you don't want to do the Whispersync thing, you should download both versions just to get the Audible version. David Suchet, the actor known for playing Hercule Poirot, narrates Agatha Christie's first Poirot mystery and he does an outstanding job, not just with Poirot's voice, but with all the voices--male and female. This was a really, really well narrated book.

The mystery itself was intriguing, if typical Christie. A houseful of guests are together at Styles, the country home of Mrs.Emily Inglethorpe, when she is found dead. Several of the house guests, including her much younger husband, her stepsons who stand to inherit her fortune, her daughter-in-law, and the mysterious Dr Bauerstein, all have reasons to want her dead, so Poirot is called in to find the murderer. The solution to the mystery is a bit contrived, but satisfying nevertheless. Poirot's uncanny ability to sift through the clues and combine them in ways that mere mortals don't seem able to is always entertaining. A quick, fun read! 

Give Me an O! Give Me a C! Give Me a D! Give Me an Umlaut!

I got a message on my phone from the Library Lady the other day. She said they had more RDCBs for me if I wanted them.

 

I resisted as long as I could--which ended up being two days--which ended up being one day longer than usual when I get that call. So progress.

 

But then I got out to the parking lot and faced the truth. And you have all seen what the truth looks like.

 

 

And that's what the truth looked like before I put the new books in there. I got out my shoehorn and somehow made everything fit. Thank goodness for backseats.

 

When I got home I went upstairs to scout a place for the new books.. And once again I faced the truth. And you have all seen what the truth looks like:

 

 

My OCD was starting to kick in. I needed more room and I needed some organization and I needed it before Captain America got home. An hour later I had lugged many boxes of books upstairs and I had this. (Happy sigh)

 

 

The top shelf  holds all the books with fancy covers, like this one...

 

 

...or this one, which I think is my favorite because it matches my living room.

 

 

The bottom shelf is filled with plain colored books like this purple one.

 

 

I have more purple plain covers than any other color. (Happy sigh.)

 

I grouped all the books on both shelves by color. On the left are the red ones like this...

 

 

 

 

...and then comes the orange ones

 

 

...on to the blue ones...

 

...all the way to green ones on the other end.

 

 

The best part of leaving boxes of books in your car for several months is finding books you forgot about, like these German RDCBs, or Reader's Digest Auswahlbϋcher. Now there's a word that needs condensed!

 

 

Their covers are fancier than the plain covers, but more subtle than the American fancy covers.

 

 

And the end papers...well subtle doesn't quite describe them.

 

 

 But add a little scrapbook paper (happy sigh) and my favorite German word--well, ok, the only German word I know besides Auswahlbϋcher and you get...

a present for my favorite parents, who both had birthdays this week. In honor of passing on the OCD gene to me, this one's for you, Mama and Daddy!

 

An Artiste's Perogative

We all know what spiders look like, right? They look like this.

Or this.

  

Or do they? Maybe I can change my mind. I am an artiste, now, right? Maybe they look like this.

 Upside-down looks a little more sinisterer...er...

 

 

All those creepy legs...

  

 

Well, this guy looks a little less creepy than the other guy.

 

A little less creepy in a Sebastian sort of way.

 

 

And he's definitely rocking a blond flat-top now.

 

 

 

Kinda like my dad back in 1962.

 

 

...only with darker eyes.

 

This is what a dead spider looks like.

 

 

Or maybe it's this.

 

 

Or maybe that's a reindeer.