Monastery Cheese Story and Pictures

Waynesboro photographer Christy Majors and I have been at it again. I invited her to come along on very special trip to cover a story with me. I just knew she'd snap great photos of the place. The story is about Our Lady of Angels Monastery Cheese, which is made in Crozet, Va., deep in the mountains. It was certainly worth a drive just to meet Sister Barbara, who I still think about with great fondness. The article is in the newest issue of Flavor Magazine.

Here is the link to Christy's photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/christymajors/sets/72157618219319818/

Here is the link to my article, which is in pdf form. http://www.molliecoxbryan.com/molliecoxbryan/new-article-on-monastery-cheese-in-flavor-magazine.html

The Daily News Record: By the Book

The Daily News Record: By the Book

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Lovely Spring Photos from Christy Majors

Waynesboro photographer Christy Majors is at it again. Here's a couple of pictures to brighten your day. She has a flickr account if you're interested in seeing more of her work. I'll also be posting more Spring pictures (and others) soon.

Images of Waynesboro

Check out this wonderful blog about a new book coming out. Writer Elizabeth Massie and artist Cortney Skinner team up for a wonderful telling of Waynesboro's history. It promises to be a fun and interesting read, and a delight for the eye, as well. Can't wait to see it. Check out the blog at:

http://imagesofamericawaynesboro.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies

So, I haven't been posting here often. I've been working hard on finishing up the MRS. ROWE'S LITTLE BOOK OF SOUTHERN PIES, and doing a lot of work on getting ready to promote it. The book is now available on Amazon. I will try to keep this blog up, but do check at my web site http://www.molliecoxbryan.com and blog there, which you just need to click on on the main page.

In the mean time, I'm doing some essays for the local NPR affiliate, WVTF. I've blogged about it over at the other blog, as well as some of my experiences with pie and the pie book. I am going to try to continue with this blog--I miss it and I've found that over the past few days that you do, too. I've met several people who have mentioned it to me. I had no idea there was such a huge fan base. Please drop me a line. Respond to posts.

I'm regrouping and dragging a good friend along. Stay tuned.

Being a Good Citizen

Tess, our second grader, came home with an interesting fill in sheet. I am a good citizen because...
1. I return library books so other people can enjoy them at their home.
2. I won't be a litter bug.
Not outside, anyway, but she certainly IS one in our house. ;-)

Adventures of a Hungry Mom/Food Writer

Check out my latest column in the News Leader.

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080914/LIFESTYLE/809140301/-1/&source=nletter-news

Picking Peaches at Chile's Orchard

Okay. So we were revved up about picking peaches at a local orchard. What a great activity for the kids and our friends. Maybe we were a little too exuberant about it. We picked a whole box of them. And as I saw my friend's bill while she was getting check out, I thought GOD WHAT AM I DOING? Her bill came to about $40.
"I am going to need to put some of these back," I said. All I had was $20 and my bank card and honestly, it was a few days before payday, and I was not sure we had the money in the bank to cover it.
"Oh NO, I can't let you do that" the woman behind the counter said. "You can just IMAGINE that we'd have piles of peaches everywhere if we let everybody do that."
My mouth must have dropped open and then I dug out my bank card, saying a little prayer to the gods of checking account balances. And I paid her. But I never will again.
So, here's my thoughts. Couldn't they have taken some of my peaches and placed them on their shelves for sale, with the others? That might just have been a little too much work for them, I guess, considering there were maybe 4 other customers that I saw that morning.
After I thought about, I realized that other people must have gotten snagged too because, well, she readily admitted that others were surprised and wanted to put them back. So. I looked around and did not see any signs posted that warn people "YOU MUST TAKE WHAT YOU PICK."
All of this aside, what ever happened to customer service? If she had ever whispered the words "I'm sorry, but this is our policy..." No. She was nasty and condescending. I have a couple of witnesses—one of whom is an adult.
And I am telling everybody I know. We all deserve to be treated better than that, especially when plunking down almost $50 for a bunch of unripe, rather smallish peaches, that we picked with our own hands.

Toilet Paper Madness

Okay, so I have figured out we are going through one roll of toilet paper a day this summer. Also, since the girls are home most days, all day long, we are constantly running to the grocery store. Thank goodness school starts next week.

Check out my latest column

http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080810/LIFESTYLE/808100301/-1/&source=nletter-news

Reading Haven Kimmel

"What if God loves us the way we truly love our children, walking around outside with them and watching them eat cinnamon toast and listening to them talk to imaginary friends on imaginary telephones, and they are becoming and we are becoming with them, because of all this, this life with them, is planted in us and stays in us and it's what we know of love," The Used World, Haven Kimmel.
The Used World is the third Haven Kimmel book I've read this summer. It started with my friend who is an awesome writer, Elizabeth Massie, telling me about A Girl Named Zippy, Haven's bestseller of a memoir. I am writing one, just like it seems everybody else is doing. I admitted to Beth one night that I didn't think anybody would want to read my story. I am not famous, I have not been horribly abused, or overcome an addiction. She said "Read this book."
It sent me on a journey of reading Haven Kimmel, a writer of mostly happy childhood memories. Her fiction is much different and goes really, really deep. The quote I started this post with is one I keep in mind every day as I schlepp my daughter to dance camp every day.
She is nine, no longer a baby in my lap, but nonetheless, I am inspired by her and her sister nearly every day. If I allow myself, between packing lunches, getting baths, fighting about the tv, and gameboy, I can see Spirit in them. I hope it never goes away. I hope the world does not leave them bitter and turning away from love.

Another Quote of the Day

" I like this radio for tv thing," Emma Bryan, 9, about VH1, which she had never seen before today.

Quote of the Day

"I am not a person that likes to be patient,"—Tess Bryan, 7-years old.

Summer in Waynesboro

We've been swimming at the Waynesboro Pool nearly every day. My girls are taking lessons. And I have to say what a great group of teenagers they have as lifeguards and swim teachers. How many young men would want to teach a bunch of little kids how to swim, let alone do it with such kindness that it blows you mind? If you are looking for good kids, and after all, we hear a lot about the bad ones, look no further than the Waynesboro public pool. 

Tess's Three Wishes

With this week being the last week of school, there is an enormous amount of paper coming into the house. I ran across this in Tess's things. She is 7. And I am going to use her spelling.
My Three Wishes
I wish everybody was a mermaid.
I wish nobody would kill animals.
I wish Brokerobom was president.

Inspired

My 9-year-old daughter, Emma, was home from school for two days in a row. She watched the movie E.T for the third time yesterday and decided to write a novel called "E. T. Returns." She took printer paper, folded it in half, stapled a binding, and started writing her book. She was still writing in bed last night, got up to get a drink of water, and said to me, "Mommy, it SO hard to stop writing a novel."
I remember feeling that way. I glimpse that raw inspiration from time to time.
Paying attention to my daughter's words has helped me realize that I am really burned out. This summer, I am going to try to rest and (maybe) write the things that feed me. I'll be getting ready for a lot of action in the fall—pitching articles and working on the publicity for my next book. I want to feel the way Emma does--I have and know what it's like to be on fire about your work. There's nothing more fulfilling.

Springdale Water Gardens—a Gem in the Valley

I love this place. To me, seeing a water lily float on the water, with its petals opening, lifting to the sky is like seeing a piece of magic. It's so tranquil.
If you are a gardener or water gardener, chances are you've heard of Springdale Water Gardens—they are a national company sending out their water garden products all over the world. And they are right here in the Valley. I was lucky enough to go on a field trip with my daughter's first grade class to visit this amazing place. I thought I'd share some of the pictures I snapped.

Little Writer

Emma, my 9-year-old, has had rough year. Third grade is tough and she is bright, but a bit dreamy and creative, and would rather be outside playing than studying for exams. (Wouldn't we all?) Luckily, she has a very involved teacher, who has been careful to encourage Emma's natural abilities, along with trying to get her to work harder on the things that don't come as easy to her. This year, she chose Emma to attend the Young Author's Night—which is a program they send talented and gifted writers to in the Spring. Kids from Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County are selected to go. It makes them feel so special. One author talks to them about her life and what it's like to be a writer. Emma came home so inspired that she started to work on a mystery novel.;-) AS to how I feel about my daughter perhaps following in my foot steps...well, let's just say that a mixed of of emotion that might be better left for another post.

Here is the story Emma wrote that got her into this event and the one she shared while she was there. (Okay I am bragging and I am using my blog to publish my own daughter's story, wouldn't you?)

Don't you want to know about when I got lost at the children's museum in Lynchburg? It was July 27, 2006. I finally got to the children's museum after one hour of waiting in the car. We finally got to the the children's museum in Lynchburg. I jumped out of the car and raced to the door. I pushed open the door and glanced at the inside playground.
Soon after we got to the museum, my Dad asked me to climb all the way to the top floor, I said yes. So, I climbed to the last floor. I saw a tunnel through the playground. It was the only way to get to the next floor. So I went through and I got scared. Suddenly, my dress was caught on something so I turned around and saw a family. I screamed so loud that a lady who worked there heard me. She crawled in and found me. She grabbed me. She finally got me out of the terrible place. I looked behind me and saw a sign that said "tunnel of horror." I started to cry and asked the kind lady will I ever see my mommy and daddy again? Yes, she said. But it didn't sound like the lady. I looked up and saw my mommy.

Rainy Spring Day

It's been raining off and on all day. Now the rain is falling steady and I can hear it pounding on the roof. Spring rain is a joy—you can feel and see all the buds and shoots just soaking up the moisture.
Sometimes I wonder what I am doing here in this Valley that is in some ways so behind the times. I wonder what I am doing at my keyboard. Am I writing? What will become of the bits and pieces of poems and stories I have scattered? Do they have any meaning? Will they sprout into more?
I can hear the birds chirping, along with the rain, outside my windows. My office is a sun room that we made into a space that was supposed to be just for me. But like so much at this time in my life, it has turned out not to be that way. Finding the time to write is not any harder than finding the time to actually think a complete thought, which sometimes is almost impossible. That tell you something about me and my life. Scattered is the best way to describe it.
Sometimes I have moments where I can see with clarity and have the space to explore it. Few and far between.
Still there is the rain. something to bring joy and flowers and green. Everywhere, the green.

New Column in Gannett's News Leader

Check out my latest column.
http://www.newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/LIFESTYLE/804130301/-1/&source=nletter-news