Today's picture - Snack shelves

Today, for my Weekend Cooking entry, I'm posting a photo of my daughter-in-law Estée's 'snack shelves.'

There used to be snacks on the bottom shelves, too, but Campbell Walker helped himself! You may see on the right that the next shelf over has dog snacks. I think this is a great idea for parents of little kids or really anyone who enjoys snacks. My particular favorite is Mediterranean Medley.

An Afternoon with Hazel Nina - April 19, 2016

Yesterday was the first time that Hazel Nina has arrived since Tom moved the fence, which I wrote about here. What a difference it made. No craziness at the gate, no having to carry Hazel in because Lucy was jumping with excitement and could knock her over. Just a lovely, calm walking in.

The area between the patio and the fence is where our little vegetable garden is going to be.

Hazel walked in the door, took off her jacket, and lifted her feet asking for help getting her pink cowgirl boots off. She immediately said "marshmayo." She has fallen in love with two things lately - M&Ms at her house and marshmallows at Pop and Nana's house. As vegetarians, we are so pleased that a company has come up with a vegan version.

They taste terrific. You may ask Hazel! Every time she's here she likes to have one for each hand, several times over the time of her visit.

As soon as she got her marshmallows, she went into the living room, climbed up on the chair, and said "Bababoo."

If you have a little one in your life, you may know that Baba is a character in one of the best television shows for children that I've ever seen, Puffin Rock. It is an Irish show, shown there, in the UK, and in the US on Netflix. It is sweet, the characters are adorable, there is a wonderful love in the family, and lots of information about the natural world. Tom and I love it as much as she does. This is Baba and his big sister Oona.

We first learned about the show when we were visiting our grandsons. It is a big favorite of Campbell Walker's as well.

After a little tv, we went outside for a walk. Hazel loves mud and mud puddles, and since it had rained the day before, she was a happy girl.

We went out in the field where the stream is very swollen from all the rain.

Can you see how soaked her pants are? She loved it out there. We came back to the house, and she was delighted with the words "dripping wet" (which I told her she was) and repeated them over and over.

She played pretend sleep in the playroom/study.

She had a little lunch and then I read her a book her mother used to love, Bea and Mr. Jones by Amy Schwartz.

Toward the end she began to fall asleep.

I sat with her a while, and then Pop brought her up to bed. She coughed a little later and woke herself up. She fell right back to sleep in my arms but we didn't want to chance putting her back in the crib (she still sleeps in the crib here, but at home she's been on a floor mattress for a long time) so I sat down in the living room and held her for an hour and a half. Pure heaven. When she woke up it was time to go home. Another wonderful day with Hazel Nina.

Potato, Leek, and Watercress Soup

Please do go visit Beth Fish Reads for more food related postings.

This week I made a soup that is a bit similar to a recipe I shared seven years ago for Watercress and Potato Soup. That one used wild leeks, and this one has the regular leeks which are sautéed a bit. I mentioned in the older post that I could eat it all myself, and this time I did because watercress is not Tom's favorite food.

When I was shopping, I saw this

and had to buy it. Look at that green!

Potato, Leek, and Watercress Soup

In a large pot, lightly sauté some chopped leeks in 1-2 Tablespoons butter. You could use olive oil or a mixture of both. I thought the butter gave an excellent flavor to the soup.

Peel (or not) and chop a few potatoes.

Put 4 cups of water in the leeks saucepan. Add the potatoes and cook until they are soft. Add roughly chopped watercress.

Cook a while on medium heat.

Then put through a food mill. (You could also use a blender).

I absolutely love this soup, and intend to make it at least every other week. And, as I said, I ate it all. At one sitting.

Today's poem by Patricia Fargnoli

I posted a poem, which you may read here, by Patricia Fargnoli eight years ago when she was Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. This morning I realized I hadn't read anything by her in a long time, and went searching. I came upon this video of her reading "Visiting Frost's Grave" at his actual gravesite.

Making bread with Hazel Nina

If you've never happened to visit Beth Fish Reads which hosts Weekend Cooking, here are the guidelines:

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

For a few weeks I've been baking bread for Margaret, Matthew, and Hazel. It has been quite a hit with Miss Hazel. It is known as 'Nana bread' at their house. When we were taking care of her on Friday, I thought I'd let her make the bread with me. She thoroughly enjoyed herself, and brought it home. I told her we can call it 'Hazel bread.' I felt like I was part of a long line of grandmothers teaching the grandchild how to make bread. My heart was bursting with love.

Today's pictures - How to eat frosting

Yesterday we were at a surprise 60th birthday party for Hazel's other grandmother, and Hazel demonstrated the proper way to eat frosting. I can almost hear a silent mmm in the last picture.

Happy Easter!

Like Sunday, Like Rain

Generally, in life or in the movies, friendships are between peers, often either the same age or at the same stage of life. But this movie, and my own life, proves this isn’t always so. When Tom and I were in our early twenties, we moved into my childhood home after my mother died. There were lots of new people on the street since I had grown up, and these people had children. A month after my mother died, we met a boy out in the field between our houses. He was about to turn nine. Through him we met all the kids on the street. While they were growing up, our house was the place to come and play. It was magic. We all just connected in this amazing, amazing way. And these kids are now in their late forties or fifties, and are still our dear friends.

That’s what Like Sunday, Like Rain is about. A true, probably lifelong, and definitely life-changing, friendship between a twelve-year old boy, Reggie and a twenty-three year old temporary nanny, Eleanor. They talk, they understand one another, they care about one another. This is a wonderful, wonderful movie, and the theme music that runs through it is exquisitely beautiful. 

This is a quiet, gentle film. I was captivated by it, and didn’t want it to end. There’s also a little treat for Green Day fans - Billie Joe Armstrong has a small role as Eleanor’s ex-boyfriend. I almost didn’t post the trailer because of the beginning of it. Honestly, that is the only loud part in the whole film. This is not a movie about an aggressive ex. His existence and their breakup is just the catalyst that gets her the nanny job. It is on Netflix Instant, and DVD.

Garden and Fence

After a year of not planting any vegetables, we are putting in a new, small vegetable garden on the front lawn! I had been sure that we could live without it - that we would go to the local farmers’ markets and also buy fresh produce at our Co-op and so we wouldn’t miss having a garden at all. Well, it didn’t turn out that way. With a new puppy and the dear grandchildren we made it to only one market, where I unhappily paid $4 for a head of lettuce, and didn’t go grocery shopping nearly as often as I meant to. But most of all, we missed walking out the door and picking a tomato whenever we felt like it. We’ve been pondering all winter where to put the new garden. It just needed to be big enough to put in a few tomato plants, lettuce, parsley, basil, spinach, and yellow beans.

And then, voila! I got an idea, which gives us a garden area and solves a fencing/gate problem we’ve faced for several months. When Tom first began building our new fence in 2014, replacing the falling-down picket we’d had for many years, he put it in the same spot. 

But then we began to think it might be nice to move it over toward the terrace so that any dogs we might have could go out the front door and be completely enclosed. So, he did it. 

What we didn’t reckon into the equation was the Houdini dog we got last summer by the name of Lucy. She can open latches with ease. Tom tried different ideas to keep the gate shut to no avail until he came up with the idea of a carabiner. 

Even Lucy cannot open it. In fact, I can barely open it, and therein lies the problem. It is a real drag to have to go through such a rigamarole just to get in and out of the yard. When Tom is trying to carry in a crate of fresh milk from the local farm, he must put the crate down, open the gate, pick it up, put it down inside the fence, lock the gate, and then go in the house. And the poor UPS and Fed Ex fellows have braved the carabiner with nary a complaint. We try to meet them so they don’t have to come in but sometimes we aren’t home. 

The hassle of opening the gate was one problem. The other problem with Lucy in that part of the yard was that she was ruining my precious flower gardens that border the patio. This corner is where she stands to do her major job around here - that of being snoop dog. 

Margaret, Matthew, and Hazel live just down the road, and she is worse than any neighbor peeking out through curtains or using a telescope. She watches for them. She gets all excited when they drive in their yard, or she hears their voices or their dogs barking. And of course tramples the flowers in the process. I ended up fencing them, but felt badly for her because she so enjoys her ‘work.’ I thought we’d just transplant the whole bed in the spring. But now I won’t have to. With our new plan, I get my garden back. 

So, we are returning to the old way. Lucy will go out the kitchen door and have the freedom of most of the yard (which opens into a big field) and we will have the freedom of coming and going in the front door with no hindrances. The new garden will be right beside the patio. There will be a section of fence dividing it from the rest of the yard. It’s going to be wonderful, and we are so excited. I’ll post pictures as we move along on the project.  

Today's pictures - March thermometers

The Intern

I was so pleased when I read Heroic Measures and it didn’t feature the older people or the dog dying. Those kinds of events seem to be standard fare in books and movies. It is much, much harder to write a book or make a movie about real, everyday people living mostly happy lives. Of course that isn’t necessarily the truth of life, but it is certainly a truth. There are a whole lot of happy, good people out there. They have their troubles and cares but they also have great joys, and I, for one, like to read about them in books or see them at the movies. 

I began watching The Intern with no previous knowledge. I knew who the main actors were and that’s it. Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. 

And I knew it was a Nancy Meyers movie. 

I love The Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give, The Parent Trap (the remake), and Father of the Bride (remake). I like her view of the world, and had high hopes that I’d like this one, too. And oh, how I did. I loved it. And Tom felt the same way. Here is how she describes her work:

Nancy Meyers knows who she is and who she isn’t.
What she isn’t is a filmmaker known for high-concept, ambitious stories or action sequences and stunts.
What she is, is a producer, writer and director known for “Something’s Gotta Give,” ”The Holiday” and “It’s Complicated” who creates well-developed characters having relationships that unfold on screen.
“You don’t come to my films for that amazing plot twist,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m not trying to put myself down but the plot isn’t sort of what stirs it all up. “
She says characters are “Where I put my energy. I want to make them people you care about. I just want to make them people you care about so you get invested as you tell the story. You’re in with me.”

Robert De Niro is a widower who misses having a purpose in his life. Even though he has money and friends he feels there is a space that needs filling. He sees an ad for a senior intern, and applies for the job. And the movie goes on from there. 

There aren’t the expected stereotypes. First of all the different generations in the company get along well together. Younger people listen to the older man. The young people are not superficial and vacuous. Every person in the movie seemed real to me. There were surprises all through the movie. I’d think, ‘well, I didn’t expect that.’ Good surprises. Small surprises. No one is perfect, no one can hold it all together all of the time - just like real life. And there's a delightful heist scene! 

I will add this spoiler, as I did with Heroic Measures, there’s a happy ending. The old fellow doesn’t get sick and die, and in fact, has a romance! The young people work on their problems.

This is a movie with much kindness and compassion and intelligence. One of the very best I’ve ever seen. 

Today's poem by Susan Moorhead

I've read Susan Moorhead's blog for a long time, and when I learned she had a book of poetry coming out, I immediately bought it. It is a wonderful collection that you may buy at Finishing Line Press.

The one I'll share today is called:


I need the dog tonight

It's a night of worries fretting me like old bones
malformed by years of disease, the dull aching
pain flaring up when it threatens to rain. I wander

through the house, everyone asleep, checking
door knobs and window locks, but it's the thing
in me that can't get out after years of trying

to leave it behind. I walk the rooms turning off lights
I have just turned on, not restless but looking
for direction, just the old whirrings of a mind stirred

up with no ease in it, no place to curl up and rest.
I need the dog tonight. I find her, the furry snoring coil
at the foot of my daughter's bed, a bit of fluff and canine

neurosis that my sleeping child feels can guard her
from harm. The dog looks up, quizzical, waiting for my call,
but I see the peace of my daughter's outstretched arm,

the slack of her mouth, her long dark hair careless
on the white pillowcase, and I bid the dog goodnight.

Susan Moorhead

Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment

Heroic Measures

by Jill Ciment

fiction 2009

print

finished 2/3/16

What a little gem this book is. 

Heroic Measures covers a weekend in the lives of Alex and Ruth, who are in their late seventies, and their elderly dachshund, Dorothy. They have been thinking for a while that they should give up their co-op because it is a five-flight walk-up. It would be nice to have an elevator, but they feel conflicted about moving, just as anyone would who has lived in the same place for a long time. Ruth is a retired teacher, and Alex is an artist. He is currently at work on a very special project.

As monks once illuminated the Bible with gold leaf and devotion, he is illuminating the seven-hundred-and-fifty-page file that the FBI had kept on Ruth and him during the heyday of the cold war.

Another alternative would be to do as Ruth’s sister recommends and move to Florida where she is. But Ruth

tries to imagine her and Alex in Fort Myers, clad in their dark New York clothes, and Dorothy with her bad back, crossing six lanes of traffic and then miles of sun-blistering parking lots just to have a bite out or to pick up some milk and bread.

This is a very full weekend for this couple who usually lead a quiet life. The realtor shows the co-op to many people, Alex and Ruth look for new home, Dorothy is suddenly paralyzed, and there is a crisis in the city. It is just a few years since 9/11, and a truck has stopped in a tunnel. It isn’t known if the driver is a suicide bomber or not. The book is told from the points of view of Alex, Ruth, and Dorothy! It is quite enjoyable, and believable, to see the world from a dog's eyes. 

The book has humor and warmth and a great sense of place. And I'll tell you a little secret. No one dies. The book has a happy ending. Such a treat.

In the acknowledgments, Jill Ciment says

The illuminated manuscript series attributed to my character, Alex, is based on The FBI Files, a Collage Series by Arnold Mesches.

I looked him up, and discovered that the author is married to the artist. You may read more here.

A Christmas Eve Wedding

I have been meaning to write for weeks and tell you that our daughter Margaret was married to Matthew on Christmas Eve at their house. Michael and Estée and their boys weren't able to be there, but all of Matt's family was there, and Tom and I. The service was performed by their good friend.

Another friend of Matthew and Margaret's makes great things with paper mache, and we commissioned her to create a cake for their wedding present. She had this terrific idea to put photos on it, so I spent an evening finding all the photos I had from when they first got together in 2007 to the present and then emailing them to her. This is the amazing result

The beautiful flowers were done by a local woman, and the delicious, incredible cake was made by a woman they've known all their lives.

Pre-wedding

Married!

Tom, Margaret, Me, Matthew, Hazel

I love Hazel's expression in this!

The family

Quote du jour/Ruth Stout

There is a privacy about winter which no other season gives you … Only in winter…can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself. 

Ruth Stout

Quote du jour - E.M. Forster

On Virginia Woolf's birthday, here are some words about her written by E.M. Forster.

Real food is necessary, and this, in fiction as in her home, she knew how to provide. Food with her was not a literary device put in to make the book [To the Lighthouse] seem real. She put it in because she tasted it, because she saw pictures, because she smelt flowers, because she heard Bach, because her senses were both exquisite and catholic, and were always bringing her first-hand news of the outside world.