Candy Freeeaaakkk

Hi Everyone,

We are going to take a sharp turn in terms of what we are going to read this month. It is very different from The School of Essential Ingredients and Eating Heaven. We hope you enjoy the variety. I think Candy Freak will inspire a lot of interesting controversial talk.

Below is a little of history about Steve Almond from his website (it is also the prologue in the book). If you have spare minute I would wander over to his web page and laugh at the originality of this author. http://www.stevenalmond.com/candyfreak.html

The author has between three and seven pounds of candy in his house at all times.

Perhaps you think I am exaggerating for effect.

I am not exaggerating for effect.

Here is a catalogue of all the candy in my apartment as of right now, 3:21 pm, October 6, 2003:

• 2 lbs miniature Clark Bars
• 1.5 lbs dark chocolate-covered mint patties
• 24 bite-size peanut butter cups
• 1 lb Tootsie Roll Midgets
• Four ounces of Altoids-like cinnamon discs
• Six ounces cherry-flavored jellies (think budget Jujy Fruits)
• A single gold-foiled milk chocolate ball with mysterious butter truffle-type filling
• Two squares of Valrhona semi-sweet chocolate (on my bedside table)
• Three pieces Fleer bubblegum

I am not counting the fourteen boxes of Kit Kat Limited Edition Dark, which I have stored in an undisclosed warehouse location, nor whatever candy I might have stashed, squirrel-like, in obscure drawers.

My main supplier is the Candy Shoppe, a seconds outlet located on the ground floor of the Haviland Chocolate factory in Cambridge. The Shoppe is run by an elderly Chinese woman whom I've been wooing ardently for the past two years. We've gotten to the point where she's willing to cut open the box of mint patties I bring to the counter to make sure the batch I'm buying has the soft kind of filling I favor. She gives me freebies and glances at me occasionally in a squinting manner that combines reluctant affection with a deep, abiding pity.

I am not blind to the hypocrisy of my conduct, nor to the slightly pathetic aspects of my freakdom. I am, after all, in my mid-thirties, suffering from male pattern balding and lower-back pain. I am not exactly the target demographic. What's more, my political orientation is somewhere to the left of Christ, such that I find most of American culture greedy and heedless, most especially our blithe and relentless pigging of the world's resources. I have a hard time defending the production of candy, given that it is basically crack for children and makes them dependent in unwholesome ways and given that much of our citizenry is bordering on obesity (just about what we deserve) and given that most of the folks who grow our sugar and cocoa are part of an indentured Third World workforce who earn enough, per annum, to buy maybe a Snickers bar, and given that the giants of the candy industry are, even as I write this, doing everything in their considerable power to establish freak hegemony over what they call "developing markets," meaning hooking the children of Moscow and Beijing and Nairobi on their dastardly confections.

I hope this inspires you to open Candy Freak and read away!

Pie Success

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was a great meeting! I love getting to know bits and pieces about you at each meeting. I think I may start a new tradition by showing the different versions of book covers...because I am a nerd and enjoy stuff like that. Below is Eating Heaven's cover for Taiwan and England.


I am going to ask Doug for the recipe for the apple pie and lemon meringue so I can post it here. I hope you are feel confident to take on homemade pie crust now!

Also, I can tell just from looking at Steve Almond's website that he is quite the character. I hope this book makes you laugh out loud while doing some deep thinking about the message behind the book. http://www.stevenalmond.com/candyfreak.html We will be meeting Wednesday May 26th at 6:30pm

Pie Competition

Hi Everyone,

First off I would like to thank everyone for responding so enthusiastically about the type of pie to make. I am really enjoying the stories and anecdotes from all of you. I thought given the amount of e-mails, comments, and facebook posts that I should inform all of you which pies are in the running for Doug to make.









First Place is Lemon Meringue pie with 3 votes

Second Place is Key Lime Pie with 2 votes

All the rest are tied with one vote each:
Banana Cream Pie
Cherry Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie
German Meat Pie

So if you would like any of the pies that are currently tied please send in more votes! Our meeting is one week from today at 6:30pm. I am really looking forward to see you all again, talking with Jennie, and of course eating pie.

Pie Pie Pie

Hello Everyone,

I really hope you bring your appetite next Wednesday because Doug will not only be making us pie, but he will be making us two pies! We decided that pie represents comfort food in a lot of ways. Just as Portland is apart of Ellie's life Washington is apart of ours, so we decided to make apple pie in honor of our wonderful apples. For those of you who may have tried to make homemade crust it has the great potential to end in disaster. Have no fear because Doug will walk us through how to make the perfect homemade crust! However, we know you still want the finished product so Doug will be serving us two pies he previously cooked. There is a catch though! We would like to know what type you would like the second pie to be? It does not matter how complicated the pie is or what flavor...Doug will make it for you. The only catch is you have to let me know before next Wednesday so Doug can make it for you! So please leave comments or e-mail me.

With your appetites stirred, I hope you are enjoying Eating Heaven and come ready with lots of questions for Jennie Shortridge. Just a reminder the next meeting will be Wednesday April 28th at 6:30pm.

Comfort Food

Hi Everyone,

I am half way through Eating Heaven now. I am beginning to see that this novel is every bit about family as it is about food. I am at the part of the novel when Ellie begins reminiscing about the food she grew up with. In honor of her and Benny I thought I would post this recipe because to me it represents the epitome of comfort food.

Macaroni and Cheese with Bread Crumbs Topping

16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
8 ounces monterey jack cheese or mild cheddar cheese (shredded)
6 tablespoons butter (4 for recipe, approximately 2 for greasing pan)
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 lb elbow macaroni

-Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
-Shred the two cheeses into two different bowls.
-Prepare elbow macaroni as directed on box. Drain and set aside for a moment.
-Grease entire surface of your 9"x 13" baking pan generously with butter.
-Start preparation by covering the bottom of the dish with half of the cooked elbow macaroni.
-Cut 2 TBSP of butter into small pieces (like a pat of butter) and spread them over the macaroni evenly.
-Add a layer of half of the Cheddar Cheese, then half of the Monterey Jack or Mild Cheddar Cheese.
-Add the other half of the elbow macaroni, THEN 2 more TBSP of butter cut into small pieces and spread out evenly.
-Add the other half of both cheeses.
-Add the 2 Cups of milk.
-FINALLY -- Sprinkle the breadcrumbs lightly in a thin layer over top of the whole dish (you may use more or less than my recipe calls for).
-Put in oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until lightly browned

ENJOY!

Boy that is a lot of butter and cheese! I guess that is why they call it comfort food. What I love most about this recipe is a quick and easy yet oh so delicious.

A Little Info about Jennie Shortridge

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying Eating Heaven. It is definitely a deeper read than what we have read before. Eating Heaven is actually based off a true story from Jennie's life. Jennie explains where the motivation came from:

Where did this story come from? When my stepmother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, like Ellie, the only thing I really knew how to do for her was cook all her favorite foods… one last time. It was an amazing experience to share her last five months with her, and through her grace I learned a lot about both living and dying.

Aside from Eating Heaven Jennie also wrote an article called the "A Graceful Exit" that was debuted in Mademoiselle magazine in 1997 about her stepmother's cancer. Below is the full article. If you have an extra 10 minutes I highly recommended reading it. It is inspiring and terribly sad at the same time.

"A Graceful Exit"

Three months ago, my stepmother Jeannie was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Isn't this the news we all fear the most, the thought that jars us awake at 3 a.m., the thing we finally believe is important enough to pray for? Dear God, please let this headache be anything other than a brain tumor and I swear I'll do anything. I'll volunteer, I'll be a better person, I'll even give up french fries.

If I'd just been told I had six months left on the planet, I'd be a basket case, wailing, asking, "Why me?" Not Jeannie. Deep within herself she has found a reservoir of quiet courage. She doesn't worry about herself, she worries about my dad. Is he going to be okay after she's gone? She worries about her things. Should the china go to this person or that person? Who needs it most? She chooses special mementos for those closest to her; precious little pits of her history are assigned to her grandkids, dear friends, daughters by birth and marriage. She tends to the important details, the ones that will outlive her—the ones the rest of us have not yet found the strength to deal with.

Although Jeannie sometimes needs to be hospitalized, she is happiest at home, ensconced in her front living room recently redecorated with hospital bed, oxygen, and medical paraphernalia. Her two cocker spaniels keep close tabs on her, like little guardian angels. Home hospice nurses visit every day; friends, neighbors, and family drop in regularly. She receives everyone gladly, offering a cup of coffee, a game of gin rummy, or just quiet time together. She invites the whole family for dinner at every opportunity. Even when she's not up to hostessing, she wants her loved ones near.

For me, the initial shock has not worn off. I find myself crying in unexpected places: in the movie theater as the lights go down and the credits roll. As I ride the elevator to the second-floor oncology unit at the hospital. As I lie in the tub, trying to relax and nurture myself, the way self-help books suggest. Whenever I'm in the safety of even fleeting privacy, the tears just seem to flow. Then, when I haven't thought about it for hours, while absorbed in another activity, the realizations hits me in the stomach. Jeannie is dying. This 57-year-old, wisecracking, impeccably groomed, doting grandmother of seven is dying. But reality pushes it further. It is this bald, rail-thin cancer patient who is dying. Without her usual accoutrements—beauty parlor hair, makeup, manicured nails—Jeannie looks sweetly childlike. But, as I've discovered since her diagnosis, she is as steely strong and practical as she is stripped of her former persona.

When Jeannie had a particularly frightening bout with pneumonia recently, her doctor called us at 6 a.m., telling us to come to the hospital quickly. I arrived a half hour later and stood outside the doorway of her room and listened as the doctor explained that "today might be the day." With his voice breaking, he encouraged her to ask for as much morphine as she needed, saying there was no need for her to be in pain. I clumsily broke in on this scene, crying and embarrassed that I had witnessed their discussion. Jeannie looked at me with concern and said, "It's okay, honey." We spent the morning finishing her thank-you notes for the myriad gifts and flowers she'd received. It was the thing she wanted to do most.

Jeannie's unusual and accepting response has sparked a revolutionary concept for me. Death may not be the deepest, darkest, scariest thing in the whole world. Perhaps it is simply a normal and peaceful passage. Maybe, when we get beyond it, we look back and think, "Oh, was that all there was to it?" Maybe we're somewhere nice. Maybe we're someone else. Or maybe we just cease.

It reminds me of childhood swimming lessons, all of us standing wet and shivering in line to make our first-ever jump off the diving board. We were petrified, but we knew we had to do it. We could either kick and scream and prolong it, or hold our noses and take that leap into the wild blue yonder. The elegance in Jeannie's approach to death is that she knows it is the next step in the greater plan, and she'll jump off when it's time.

While the last three months have found me alternately in shock, denial, and grief, I'm beginning (albeit haltingly) to grasp this concept. Dying is a normal part of life. Jeannie is living with dying and so are the people around her.

In the stark light of imminent death, even the mundane takes on a bittersweet importance. And so I ask Jeannie, and I really want to know, "If you could have anything in the world to eat, what would it be?"

And then I make it for her.

Epilogue, August 2003:

Jeannie died two months later, quietly, peacefully, and surrounded by family. As I stood at the end of her bed I knew I was blessed and lucky to witness this amazing event. Even at the time, in all my grief, I saw it as a birth in reverse, the completion of a circle. When she took her last slow breath, we all stopped breathing, too, listening, waiting. The next breath never came, and so we all finally exhaled a collective sigh of sorrow, and of joy at her release.

I hoped you enjoyed it! Now get out an enjoy the sun!

It's Friday

Hi All,

It's Friday and do you know what that means? It means you have the lovely weekend to relax and cook! I hope you all are enjoying Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge. Although this book does not contain recipes in the book itself, Jennie did post some recipes on her website. Below is the recipe for Benny' Favorite Spice Cake. Like I said, with the weekend stretching out in front of you there should be no reason not to try this delicious cake :)

Benny's Favorite Spice Cake

There's something about spice cake that seems old-fashioned and out-of-date, yet make one and peoples' eyes light up. As a metaphor for the relationship between Benny and Eleanor, I think spice cake is just about the perfect food.

2-1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons fresh or bottled minced ginger
1 cup vanilla yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9-inch cake pan with oil, butter or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the first eight dry ingredients (flour through pepper) and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and mix well, then stir in ginger. Add dry ingredients one cup at a time, mixing until smooth. Fold in yogurt by hand or using the mixer's lowest speed so that the yogurt doesn't "break," or lose its consistency. When well blended, pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, then frost with cream cheese frosting also found on Jennie's website: http://www.jennieshortridge.com/creamcheesefrosting.php

Different School of Essential Ingredients Book Covers

Hi All,

Who knew that book covers were different in every country! I knew that after Erica described all the different covers I knew I had to see them! Below is the link to Erica's facebook and under one of her albums you will find all the different covers. I am really interested to see what your favorite is? I like Portugal the most!



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Erica-Bauermeister-Author/111458598179?ref=ts&v=wall#!/photo.php?pid=2708000&id=111458598179&fbid=162388428179



Enjoy!