Month: October 2012

  • Murder Your Darlings

     

    I’m reading and thoroughly enjoying, in dribs and drabs, Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret … With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory. This section made me snort in laughter.

    In his book On the Art of Writing (1916), Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, an eminent critic, anthologist, and adventure novelist, handed down a guideline for writers that people are still handing down. Usually people attribute it to Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, Noël Coward, W.H. Auden, Oscar Wilde, or someone else whose fame has lasted longer than Sir Arthur’s. Here is that guideline in its original form: “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press: Murder your darlings.”

    [...] What generations have taken from his admonitions, though, is that we writers should root out our own self-indulgent bits, the vivid turns of phrase that call attention to themselves instead of advancing the narrative for…you. The reader. [...]

    Yes, well. Sir Arthur’s pen name was Q. Some frills trimmed there. But don’t you suspect that after rejecting Kill your pets as too mean and Eliminate your sweeties as ambiguous, and then hitting, bingo, upon Murder your darlings—don’t you suspect that he thought to himself, Q, you are cooking?

     

  • Satisfaction of Daylight and Dark

     

    She worked hard
    and managed her life
    with dignity and good humor.
    What did she get out of it?
    A step-by-step and day-by-day satisfaction of daylight and dark,
    of turning seasons,
    of gardens and flowers and friendly animals,
    of sharp knives and clocks that were on time,
    of well-baked bread
    and a properly stuffed and roasted chicken,
    of rich memories of a happy childhood.

     

    Carol Ryrie Brink describes her Gram, who, she says “has crept into nearly every book that I have written. Sometimes she is the chief character, sometimes she has a minor part; sometimes she is young, sometimes she is old.” I have enjoyed getting to know Carol’s Gram, whom I first met in the delightful Wisconsin frontier book, Caddie Woodlawn. If you love Laura Ingalls Wilder, you will love Caddie Woodlawn. With a picture of Gram in my head, I’m eager to re-read the story of her childhood.   

    The quote above comes from A Chain of Hands, Brink’s final book, published posthumously. This book is a series of vignettes about the hands that touched and transformed Carol Ryrie Brink’s life.

    What strikes me about Gram, is that her granddaughter could write this about a woman who had experienced a truck-load of tragedy. Her husband had been murdered “just after he had let his insurance policy lapse.” She lost five children in their infancy. Her daughter (Carol Ryrie Brink’s mother) killed herself after a bad second marriage. She raised or partly raised three grandchildren. Yes, this is Caddie Woodlawn’s life!

    …but it was impossible to live with her
    and not be infected with some of
    her honor
    and justice
    and good humor.

     

  • Jerky

     

    At the bottom of my email inbox—a dark and very deep well—I have two requests for jerky (or biltong, the South African version) recipes, in response to the September 2011 post, I’m Converting. I’ve delayed because no two batches of jerky are ever the same. My son, Carson, made a large bunch of jerky a decade ago that still evokes fond sighs. If only we had written down those proportions!

    We make jerky from hamburger, using a jerky gun and a food dehydrator. It is easy to mix and easy to chew.  You can make it in the oven, in a smoker, even in the sun if you live in a very hot climate.  It sounds obscene to say, but we make jerky to use up leftover burger in our freezer.  You know, that hunting thing.

    Substitutions are allowed. I would never use plain salt in a jerky recipe. My cupboards are brimming with smoked salt and various seasoned salts. The heat in the jerky can come from cayenne, red pepper flakes, hot sauce. Two years ago I had a banner crop of jalapenos, which I dried and ground into red pepper flakes, which I am still using.

    You need a LARGE bowl for mixing the ingredients. Wash your hands and plunge them into the meat and spices. Squeeze, twist, turn, squeeze, until it is thoroughly mixed. This would be a “critical” step.

    I grew up eating raw hamburger, only one of the bizarre items in my catalog of eccentricities. Hence, I have no problem taking a bite and adjusting the seasonings. If you are normal, you don’t want to do this. Plop a tablespoon in a fry pan and cook it; then you can taste the flavor and correct, if needed.

     

    Recipe A – Hamburger Jerky

    4 lbs. hamburger
    2/3 cup brown sugar
    4 T salt
    1 t garlic powder
    2 T black pepper
    1/2 – 2 t cayenne
    1 T onion powder

    Mix and refrigerate for 24 hours.

    If you don’t have a jerky gun, roll 3/16″ thick, place on racks. Smoke approximately 10 hours. Cut into strips. Store in refrigerator.

     

    Recipe B – Hamburger Jerky

    11 1/2 lbs. hamburger
    2 T – 3 T liquid smoke
    1 T  meat tenderizer
    3 T onion powder
    2 T lemon pepper
    2 T seasoned salt
    2 T garlic powder
    4 1/2 T red pepper flakes
    2 cups brown sugar
    1 cup Yoshida’s sauce
    1 T hot sauce

    If you have questions, please ask. I might answer by Christmas 2013.

     

  • For All the Tea in China

    How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Changed History

    Tea met all the definitions of intellectual property: it was a product of high commercial value, it was manufactured using a formula and process unique to China, which China protected fiercely; and it gave China a vast advantage over its competitors.

    Robert Fortune was a plant hunter sent to China by the East India Company to steal tea plants. He shipped them to Great Britain’s greatest possession, India, where they would be grown, giving England its own source of a precious commodity, thus bringing the price of tea down and making it available to England’s citizens.

    This is a fun book on many levels: 19th century, England, China, espionage, horticulture, tea and opium.

    I listened to the audio book, read by the author. I found her voice a bit off-putting. I have found few audiobooks read by authors that I’m crazy about. My interest lagged at times. This is the kind of book which required close attention: unfamiliar place names and era, scientific, political and economic considerations of a complex subject. I listened to several discs more than once to keep up with the details.

    Recommended for history buffs, tea enthusiasts, and science lovers.

     SatReviewbutton

    I enjoy participating in Semicolon’s Saturday Review of Books.

  • Be Weld, My Heart

    After we were teenagers and before we were middle-aged, my husband taught welding.

    He rarely needs to weld; any large projects he gives to our son.

    Tonight as I walked into the garage, I saw him welding.

    Quick, I snatched the camera.

    What caption would you give this picture?