Quote for today

The impulse for much writing is homesickness. You are trying
to get back home, and in your writing you are invoking that home,
so you are assuaging the homesickness.
- Joan Didion

Grit Magazine - America's Rural Lifestyle Magazine for 125 Years

I am so pleased about my soup article in Grit. First of all, ya gotta LOVE this magazine. It's been publishing for 125 years and has refashioned itself several times over the years. When he was a boy, my father sold subscriptions to it and that was the only was to get your hands on it. When I started writing for them about five years ago, it was in a newspaper tabloid format. Now, it's a glossy, well-designed magazine and you can get it on the new stands. My article is in the current issue. You can check it out online at www.grit.com. It's in the Comfort Foods section. Enjoy!

Pizzelles

Okay so my pizzelles are not perfect looking--but they REALLY taste good.

Pizzelle Recipe

Christmas would not be the same in my house without the pizzelles my Gram made every year. I make them now, with a non-stick pizzelle iron--so easy. I wonder how my Gram did it with her old clunky iron.

Here's the recipe:

This is the basic pizzelle recipe. You can substitute virtually any flavoring instead of the anise extract. But for those who prefer the authentic, the anise is necessary. To soften the anise flavor, add a tablespoon of vanilla.
6 eggs
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup cool melted butter
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons anise extract
Preheat pizzelle iron. Beat eggs, add sugar gradually and beat well. Add butter and anise. Sift flour and baking powder and add to creamed mixture. Dough will be very sticky. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto pizzelle iron sprayed with Pam, if it’s not a non-stick iron. Cook until steam stops and cookies are a rich golden color. Lift the top of the iron carefully. Remove cookies with a large fork or spoon. Cool on wire racks and store in airtight container. Makes five dozen.

First-Grade Food Writer?

I volunteer once a week to work with the children in Tess's class. I am at one of the "rotation" stations. The children are divided into groups and rotate between activities. It's very different than when I did the same thing for Kindergarten, where I was just doing a craft or reading a story, while the "real" instructing was going on in the other groups. This year I am really helping the kids work on important skills. Last week, I was working with them on a writing project. One little boy and I had a meeting of the minds. He grinned ear-to-ear because I showed interest in his story and asked him questions. This week, the activity was writing a Thanksgiving menu. When his group came to me, he pulled on my sleeve and said, "Remember me? I am the good writer." (My heart burst!) This week, I paid special attention to him and praised his menu. "Of course it is good. You are such a good writer," I said. He looked up at me and said,"Yes, I know, but does it make you hungry?"
Great. Just what the world needs. Another food writer.

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?