On the bookshelf, #2009-01

The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney

This is the best non-Steinbeck work of fiction I’ve read in ages. (Maybe since Chris Bohjalian’s The Double Bind…which oh my gosh, was almost two years ago.)

From the bn.com site:

A brilliant and breathtaking debut that captivated readers and garnered critical acclaim in the United Kingdom, The Tenderness of Wolves was long-listed for the Orange Prize in fiction and won the Costa Award (formerly the Whitbread) Book of the Year.

The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. Laurent Jammett had been a voyageur for the Hudson Bay Company before an accident lamed him four years earlier. The same accident afforded him the little parcel of land in Dove River, land that the locals called unlucky due to the untimely death of the previous owner.

A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene and sees the tracks leading from the dead man’s cabin north toward the forest and the tundra beyond. It is Mrs. Ross’s knock on the door of the largest house in Caulfield that launches the investigation. Within hours she will regret that knock with a mother’s love — for soon she makes another discovery: her seventeen-year-old son Francis has disappeared and is now considered a prime suspect.

In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney deftly weaves adventure, suspense, revelation, and humor into an exhilarating thriller; a panoramic historical romance; a gripping murder mystery; and, ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, an epic for the ages.

New Recipe #5 — Jan 2009

As per my 100 Things list, I am tackling #41 – Try a new recipe every month for a year. The previous months’ recipes can be found here:

Sep 2008: Butter Bean Burgers
Oct 2008: Pasta e Fagioli
Nov 2008: Sweet Potato and Cranberry Hash
Dec 2008: Potato-Onion Tartlets

This month I chose another soup recipe. These cold temperatures and biting winds just demand a hot bowl of soup, wouldn’t you agree? I found this recipe in the Williams-Sonoma cookbook called, Essentials of Healthful Cooking. For some reason, I can’t find the recipe online so I can’t link to it. (And this picture is from W-S’s web site but not of this particular recipe.)

Butternut Squash Soup

INGREDIENTS
* 1 butternut squash, about 1 1/4 lb.
* 1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and diced
* 2 shallots, chopped
* 2 cups vegetable broth
* 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
* Pinch of ground cayenne pepper
* 2 tbsp. thawed, frozen orange juice concentrate
* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
* Walnuts, roasted, for garnish (This was the only substitution I made from the original recipe. It called for garnishing with sauteed portobello mushrooms, which I did not have, do not care for, and wasn’t going to make a trip to the store to get. So I went with walnuts.)

DIRECTIONS
Cut the squash in half. Remove and discard the seeds, then peel and dice the flesh. In a Dutch oven or large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the squash, apple, shallots, broth, oregano, and cayenne. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are very soft, 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover and let the soup stand for about 15 minutes. Use an immersion blender or standing blender to puree smooth. Stir in the orange juice concentrate and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with walnuts after serving, if desired.

NEXT TIME
This was pretty good as is but I prefer things more savory than sweet so I would probably omit the orange juice concentrate next time. Other than that, it was perfectly seasoned.

SIDES
I didn’t pair this with anything but it would be great with crusty bread and a salad.

It is worth it

A blog is a great place to store memories, isn’t it? If you take the time to record those special moments and work really hard at capturing what you’re feeling in words, you can always return to your blog, read what you’ve written and be transported right back into that same emotional state. A blog is like a verbal time machine.

And sometimes? All of that sucks.

Today, my answering machine held the message I was hoping wouldn’t come.

“Hi, Debra? This is name of volunteer coordinator at the Center. I wanted to wish you a happy new year and, uh, also? Would you consider coming back? We really need help with the nursing home visits and some of the seniors have asked about you.”

Damn, damn, damnity damn.

I have been struggling with this decision since September when I gave notice. Did I want to stop visiting the seniors, making sure their rights were being upheld, and seeing to it that they had at least one visitor each month? No.

Did I desperately need a break from the emotional toll it was taking? Oh my, yes.

I am currently in the middle of training at a new organization, volunteering in a completely different capacity. Part of the reason I chose this new organization was because when I met the volunteer coordinator and told her what I used to do at the Center, the first thing she said in reply was, “I promise, we will not be quite as hard on your heart.” It was like having salve applied to a very tender and aching part of my soul to hear those words.

Volunteering with people in need is rewarding and fulfilling beyond measure. I receive much more than it would ever be possible for me to give. If I had to choose one thing as my passion, my volunteer work would be it.

But that said? It hurts. It is painful. It is emotionally draining. It can be frustrating and depressing.

It is the best experience in the world.

I sat here for a few minutes after listening to that message, trying to think of what to say when I call her back. I would be well within my rights to politely tell her that I am involved with another organization now and wouldn’t be returning. In fact, I was pretty sure that I would say that.

But.

Then I read this post, this post, this post, this post, and this post.

And I remembered.

Yes, a blog is a great place to store memories. If you take the time to record those special moments and work really hard at capturing what you’re feeling in words, you can always return to your blog, read what you’ve written and be transported right back into that same emotional state. A blog is like a verbal time machine.

And sometimes? That is exactly what you need.

Why John Cusack is always a good idea

Serendipity, the Movie
On Sunday afternoon, I decided to watch the movie ‘Serendipity’. Have you seen it? It stars John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale (and Jeremy Piven and Bridget Moynahan) and basically, the story is that John and Kate’s characters meet and there’s a spark between them but they both are seeing other people so they decide to go their separate ways and let destiny bring them back together if they are meant to be.

Yes, it’s definitely a chick flick (Hello! John Cusack!) but it was an okay way to spend 90 minutes.

Cut to two minutes after the movie finishes…

Serendipity, the Blog Post
I had just slipped the movie back into its Blockbuster envelope and decided to go online. I checked Google Reader and Megan of Velveteen Mind (Are you reading her? Do.) had just written this post. ON SERENDIPITY. That, my friends, is what we call serendipitous.

So, admittedly, I was still a little hungover from all the Cusack charm when I read Megan’s post but it still got me to thinking. How much serendipity is there in the world and how much is just us causing things to happen? In the movie, the only really serendipitous (I love that word) moment is when John and Kate’s characters meet the first time, reaching for the same pair of gloves at the counter at Bloomingdale’s. The rest of the movie, the seeking and plotting and attempting to find the other, well, that was two people making an effort.

But it all started with that one moment of serendipity, the happy accident.

Serendipity, in Real Life
If we go back to this post of mine, we could find serendipity in that day as well. No, not the bad day (or EVERY day would be serendipitous) or in me calling the organization (I was planning on doing that anyway) but there was serendipity in the fact that there was a volunteer orientation being held that night. Then, I made the decision to show up, to help that woman in from the parking lot, and yada yada yada. The key was in taking advantage of that serendipitous (REALLY love that word!) moment.

To quote Megan, “Making my Sundays an act of sheer will may prevent moments of missed opportunity…” Megan seeks out serendipity and it comes to her. She has enough experience in this that she is going to blog about it every week. How cool is that? (Well, Megan is way cool, so I’m not surprised.)

I have decided I am also going searching for serendipity. I have found it before and I have no doubt I can find it again. There are plenty of happy accidents to be had, I just need to recognize them, act on them, and then make an effort to realize their potential. This is within my reach. This is doable.

After all, they made a whole movie about it.

Oh, this is for fun!

You guys are great! Seriously. I took something from each of your comments on the previous post and not only have I set some new ground rules for myself but I have also decided to just cut myself some slack. This isn’t supposed to be a burden. I get it now.

Ground Rules:
#1. I’ll post something if I want, when I want, about what I want.
You would think this would be a no-brainer but sometimes I get those ‘I wish you would write more’ emails and it guilts me into thinking I have to write. No, I don’t. My blog, my schedule.

#2. I’m going to concentrate on commenting on my friends’ blogs more, comment on a few different blogs each week to perhaps find a new friend or two, and just lurk on the rest.
I did get out to a bunch of blogs to comment last night so that helped. I don’t feel like such a freeloader, reading all your good stuff and not offering anything in return. I noticed I’m missing a few bookmarked URLs in my list of blogs I want to comment on frequently so I’ll have to get those added.

#3. If someone comments here and I feel they need a response or if they ask a question, I’ll email them back to carry on the conversation. Or, I’ll do what I’m doing here and just make another blog post out of it.
I tried the whole commenting on comments within the comments thing and it just didn’t work for me. First, I’m not on my blog other than early in the morning or late in the evening so I can’t actually carry on a conversation. By the time I get back to read comments, most of you have already moved on to bigger and better things. Plus, I don’t really care for it when other people do that (no judgment! whatever works for you!) because I don’t have time to go back and see if the author commented on my comment and sometimes when I do, I find that a whole party has been going on while I was away and now I don’t know whether to join in or if its over and…blah, blah, blah…it just doesn’t work for me. Maybe someday, if my schedule changes, it would be fun to try that but for now I’ll use email.

#4. Remember I own the blog, not the other way around.
‘Nuf said.