Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant Cookbook Signing at Sam's Club—Success!!!

What is a Narrative Cookbook?

I am often asked what a narrative cookbook is. And I smile.
A narrative cookbook is a cookbook that tells a story. If you think about all the different kinds of cookbooks there are, you'll note that some of them just give recipes and hints about food. Narrative cookbooks have recipes, along with stories about the food, history, the people making the food, and so on. The Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley tell the story of Mrs. Rowe's life, restaurant, food, and give some local history. It tells the story through overlapping techniques—the main one in the narrative that flows throughout the book, which is accented by photo captions, sidebars, recipe head notes.
So.
A narrative cookbook is what it says it is. ;-) A cookbook that tells a story. Any other thoughts about that?

dreams, art, business

Dreams are funny things. Last night I dreamed about my friend Jennifer Ledford’s best friend Robin Goering, who is an artist. We stopped by her studio yesterday. Let’s just say that between the incredible art and the magic of her space, she filled my dreams most of the night. (Check out her new blog! http://robinstudio6.blogspot.com/) On top of that, Jennifer has created a nifty space all her own in downtown Waynesboro, as well—forged with her own blood, sweat, passion, and you guessed it DREAMS!
Kids and Sew On, Jennifer’s custom embroidery company, used to be a home-based company. It has grown so fast and so incredibly that she decided to take the leap and rent a store front. She embroiders bags, shirts, hats, well, just about anything you can imagine. Now her store is located on Wayne Avenue. You can still order her products online at http://www.kidsandsewon.com.
We visited both places yesterday during Waynesboro’s Fall Foliage Festival where artists set up their wares for sale. Okay, so I can never afford to buy what I like, but still, it’s always inspiring to see the art, but more importantly, to see the dreams become reality in front of my face.
For me this year, it was so satisfying to see these two women, Jennifer and Robin, fulfilling their passions. Interestingly, they both spoke of how nice it was to have their own space, how it made them feel whole again. (Jennifer has four children; Robin five. And both have been stay-at-home moms, while pursuing their businesses and art.)
Things do and can fall into place. Often, it’s not the way we imagine it will be when we are young women pursuing our careers—or when we are struck utterly, profoundly, with the need and the desire to have children. How will it work? Will we have to stop painting? Will we have to stop dancing? Acting? Writing? Often the answer is “No, but…” That is to say, “No, but it will just take rethinking, reshaping, reforming. I know that my writing career is nothing like I had imagined it would be. Still, it ain't chopped liver. I am still finding my way. Who knows where I will be 10 years from now? Even though they are not writers, women like Robin and Jennifer are lighting a way for me. I am grateful for them.

Ya don't have to be nice, honey

My daughter Emma is a sweetie. Really. A very sensitive little girl who is trying to find her way in the harsh world of public school. Last year, on the playground a boy tried to take her ball from her, she grabbed it back off of him—and he pushed her down hard. The school kind pissed me off because they talked to her about how SHE could have handled the situation better. She was sticking up for herself—the boy took her ball. I told the assistant principal that we are teaching her to stand up for herself—whether they like it or not. Mostly, her feelings were because she thought the boy was her friend. I am still getting my feelings hurt over people who call themselves my friend and then prove that they are not. So I find I am at a loss to explain the complexities of friendship to my child.
Then last week, in the midst of my younger daughter being sick with the stomach flu, Emma came home sick from school she never even made it to her class. They called at 8:10. At first, I didn't think much of it because Tess was sick. But as the day wore on, I could tell Emma had gotten "better" very quickly. Turns out, there was an incident on the bus that upset her.
This is the kind of girl Emma is: she decided to make little drawings/posters for everybody on the bus. And one night she poured her heart out into these posters, working very hard on them. She just decided she wanted to do something nice for the kids she rides the bus with. Unfortunately, a group of them laughed at her and tore up the pictures.
It would have made me sick, too. Now, Emma is riding in the front of the bus and has been told that she doesn't have to be nice to those boys. She seemed confused, "But I have to be nice to everybody." But you don't have to be, do you? Especially if somebody treats you with disrespect, they don't deserve your attention, let alone your friendship or heart. It's a lesson I am still learning—it has been a difficult and painful one throughout my life—but to see my daughter dealing with this at the age of eight, it feels like a kick in the gut.

Frog Friend

We opened up one of our lawn chairs and look what we found tucked in between. It's the first frog I've seen in years. Isn't she cute?

Produce Auction

Today I visited the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction. I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

Chickpeas

I want to tell you about a FABULOUS restaurant in Waynesboro. "Chickpeas" serves Middle Eastern/Greek food, along with some other more traditional American fare. Every time we go—and that's turning out to be any chance we get—I order the hummus and the stuffed grape leaves. They are the best stuffed grape leaves I've ever had. They are done to a perfect consistency. Sometimes, those leaves get hard and chewy. But Chickpeas grape leaves are tender, filled with yummy rice and spices. I simply can't get enough of them.
Okay. I can see and hear some of you in my imagination already. What's the big deal? Hummus? Grape leaves? The big deal is I am in Waynesboro, Va., in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, which is steakhouse, country cafe, diner territory. Good ethnic food is 30 miles away in Charlottesville and Harrisonburg. My husband and I have watched in horror as number of Indian restaurants have opened and promptly closed—not lasting more than a year. Even though they offered interesting dishes and great service.
We are holding our breath: Will Chickpeas make it?
We think it might. Every time we go in, there's a pleasant crowd. We take it as a sign of their success. We think it's almost been a year—that's the first official hump to overcome, it seems.
Any other Chickpeas fans out there?