Mornings, Newspapers, Applesauce, and a Poem

I subscribed to The Washington Post, but after owner Jeff Bezos' decision not to endorse Kamala Harris last fall, I cancelled my subscription in anger (along with about 300,000 other people). I have three days remaining and have been thinking about re-subscribing, but once again, I'm angry. On Wednesday, Bezos announced a major shift to the newspaper’s opinion section, saying it would now advocate only “personal liberties and free markets” and not publish any opposing viewpoints on those topics. Of course, The Washington Post is his toy and he is free to use it in whatever way he would like, even if that means it is his personal mouthpiece. I just don't want to pay money for a newspaper run this way. It's a shame because I will miss some terrific writers and Ron Charles' book reviews, but not enough to give the billionaire more of my money.

This has changed my mornings a little bit. I read blogs, do Wordle, do a Duolingo German lesson or two, and check the news. This depends on what kind of day it looks like and how much news I can handle. Sometimes I read headlines on NPR, sometimes BBC, but lately I've been reading The New York Times through my library. It's just another reason that I'm grateful for libraries, the resources they provide, and the money they save me (but I know I'm preaching to the choir).

I found this article (gift link) yesterday and it captured my imagination. It's about how poetry helped the author start her days in a different way, not mindlessly heeding notifications on her phone and scrolling. She started memorizing poems during the pandemic, and while I don't think I'll take that approach, I decided that I wanted to make more of an effort to start my day with poetry. I know some of you do this already and I'd love to hear if/how it's made a difference. 

But in an effort to find something to write about today, I've given you some background information about how and why I came upon this poem. It reminds me of my grandmother which is always a good thing and I warmed up some applesauce for breakfast while I read it. I have a cold, I'm irritated at Jeff Bezos, but I have eaten warm applesauce, and I'm finding my way. Here's hoping that you are, too. 

Applesauce

by Ted Kooser 

I liked how the starry blue lid
of that saucepan lifted and puffed,
then settled back on a thin
hotpad of steam, and the way
her kitchen filled with the warm,
wet breath of apples, as if all
the apples were talking at once,
as if they’d come cold and sour
from chores in the orchard,
and were trying to shoulder in
close to the fire. She was too busy
to put in her two cents’ worth
talking to apples. Squeezing
her dentures with wrinkly lips,
she had to jingle and stack
the bright brass coins of the lids
and thoughtfully count out
the red rubber rings, then hold
each jar, to see if it was clean,
to a window that looked out
through her back yard into Iowa.
And with every third or fourth jar
she wiped steam from her glasses,
using the hem of her apron,
printed with tiny red sailboats
that dipped along with leaf-green
banners snapping, under puffs
or pale applesauce clouds
scented with cinnamon and cloves,
the only boats under sail
for at least two thousand miles.

 

From Delights and Shadows (Copper Canyon Press, 2004). 2004 by Ted Kooser.

Unraveled Wednesday: 2/26/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers today, with some more blue teeth and a couple more gray stripes on the current Hitchhiker.

I have several progress indicators; it takes up a whole block on the patio, I'm working on the 43rd tooth, and the ball of blue yarn is getting smaller. I do have another full skein of the blue yarn already wound, but I hope to be finishing this up shortly. By "shortly", I mean within a couple of weeks. I've ordered some gradient skeins from Wollmeise for another Hitchhiker idea I had, but that will take at least a couple of weeks to get here. I don't think there are tariffs on yarn from Germany, but I guess I'll soon find out. 

I finished one book this week. It was an ARC with a unique premise, but I thought the execution was lacking a bit. Daria Lavelle's Aftertaste presents a unique premise: Konstantin "Kostya" Duhovny, who can taste the favorite foods of the deceased, discovers he can reunite the living with their lost loved ones through his culinary creations. Set against the vibrant backdrop of New York's culinary scene, the novel explores themes of grief, love, and the lengths one might go to find closure.

Lavelle's writing vividly captures the sensory experiences of food, making the descriptions of spices and food truly mouthwatering. The food writing is five stars, but some of the ghostly elements are not as well-written and felt underwhelming to me. The fusion of supernatural elements with the high-stakes world of professional kitchens offers an intriguing narrative. However, while the concept is compelling, the execution occasionally feels uneven. Some character developments and plot transitions seem rushed, leaving certain emotional arcs underexplored.

Despite these pacing issues, Aftertaste remains an imaginative journey through the intersections of food, memory, and the supernatural. Readers interested in a blend of culinary fiction and ghostly tales may find this novel a flavorful read. Three and a half stars rounded down.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on May 20, 2025. 

What are you making and reading this week?

 

The Weekly Loaf

This week's loaf has a slightly different shape, but it's still bread. I was perusing the King Arthur Baking website, looking for something new and different and I came upon this Braided Stromboli recipe. John recently ordered a stromboli when he had lunch with some friends. He brought home the leftovers, but it wasn't anything that impressed me. Gloppy is how I would describe the mix of ricotta and mozzarella that made up the filling. I thought I could make something better, and this recipe was my first attempt. 

Please ignore the wonkiness of the braiding (laying the dough over the filling). I rolled the dough out too thin and wasn't as careful folding the dough over as I could have been. I didn't make this right after I came upon the recipe because I had to find some semolina flour first, but I'm glad I finally did. Many of the comments on the recipe raved about how nice the dough was to handle, and I agree. I might try this dough the next time I make pizza. 

The recipe called for half a pound of thinly sliced provolone and one quarter pound of salami. I used a bit more of each, and that was okay, but the bottom was a bit greasy. The next time I might try prosciutto and mozzarella to reduce the greasiness, or maybe sausage, mushrooms, and mozzarella. I might even try spinach, mushrooms, and mozzarella (except John would probably wonder if I forgot the meat). 

I'm always looking for dinner recipes that are easy and taste good. This one fit the bill and I hope I can make it taste and look a bit better the next time I make it. Here's hoping that all your dinners this week are delicious!

A Gathering of Poetry: February 2025

It's the third Thursday of the month so I'd like to welcome you to A Gathering of Poetry. This poem was inspired by the winds blowing fiercely and the freezing rain pelting me as I took the recycling bin out one evening. Once I read through it, it seemed almost as if Ada Limón had been standing across the street watching me. I wish that was the case as I think she would be a fascinating person to talk with, but until that happens, we've got her poetry. 

Dead Stars

by Ada Limón

Out here, there’s a bowing even the trees are doing.
                 Winter’s icy hand at the back of all of us.
Black bark, slick yellow leaves, a kind of stillness that feels
so mute it’s almost in another year.

I am a hearth of spiders these days: a nest of trying.

We point out the stars that make Orion as we take out
       the trash, the rolling containers a song of suburban thunder.

It’s almost romantic as we adjust the waxy blue
       recycling bin until you say, Man, we should really learn
some new constellations.

And it’s true. We keep forgetting about Antlia, Centaurus,
       Draco, Lacerta, Hydra, Lyra, Lynx.

But mostly we’re forgetting we’re dead stars too, my mouth is full
       of dust and I wish to reclaim the rising—

to lean in the spotlight of streetlight with you, toward
       what’s larger within us, toward how we were born.

Look, we are not unspectacular things.
       We’ve come this far, survived this much. What

would happen if we decided to survive more? To love harder?

What if we stood up with our synapses and flesh and said, No.
     No, to the rising tides.

Stood for the many mute mouths of the sea, of the land?

What would happen if we used our bodies to bargain

for the safety of others, for earth,
                 if we declared a clean night, if we stopped being terrified,

if we launched our demands into the sky, made ourselves so big
people could point to us with the arrows they make in their minds,

rolling their trash bins out, after all of this is over?

====

From The Carrying (Milkweed Editions, 2018) by Ada Limón. Copyright © 2018 by Ada Limón.

You can read more about Ada Limón here. 

====

Thank you for reading and joining us for our monthly Gathering of Poetry. You are more than welcome to add your link below if you would like to share one of your favorite poems. The more the merrier!

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Unraveled Wednesday: 2/19/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers today, just plugging away knitting happily on the current Hitchhiker. 

These are definitely indoor pictures today because the wind chill outside is 14 degrees and I'm a wimp.

I finished A Year of Marvellous Ways, based on Jane's recommendation, saying that she enjoyed reading novels that feature older remarkable women. (Thank you, Jane.) This is something that I also enjoy, and Marvellous Ways is one strong, kind, generous woman. I needed to read a book that reminded me there is still goodness, kindness and love in the world and cruelty can be healed through patience, compassion and love. This story fit the bill perfectly and was four stars for me. 

I'm currently reading Long Bright River which is a book filled with addiction and sadness, so I hope to balance this out with Followed by the Lark, a book about Henry David Thoreau (unless something better shows up in the meantime).

What are you making and reading this week?

 

Read With Us: Why You Should Get Involved With a Bunch of Awful Characters

Our current Read With Us book is The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Kym, Carole and I have somewhat of a tough job promoting this book. This is my attempt to explain why I think you should read The Secret History—even if the characters are awful. 

If you’ve ever been intrigued by dark academia, fictional murder, or the idea of losing yourself in a beautifully written, haunting novel, The Secret History is a book you shouldn’t miss. It’s a novel that pulls you deep into a world of elitist intellectualism, ancient rituals, and a crime committed by a group of people you probably wouldn’t want to be friends with. And yet, you won’t be able to look away.

It's a story of privilege, obsession, and tragedy. At the heart of The Secret History is an elite group of Classics students at a prestigious New England college, led by the enigmatic and charismatic professor, Julian Morrow. These students are pretentious, manipulative, and often deeply unlikable, but that’s part of what makes them so compelling. Tartt crafts them with such psychological depth that their flaws feel disturbingly real. You may not like them, but you’ll hopefully understand them.

The novel is narrated by Richard Papen, an outsider who desperately wants to belong. He gets swept up in the world of his privileged classmates, Henry, Francis, Charles, Camilla, and Bunny, until he becomes complicit in their dangerous secrets. As the story unfolds, we see how their obsession with the ancient world and their own intellectual superiority leads them down a path of moral decay and, ultimately, murder.

You may be asking yourself, "Why should I care about these unlikable characters?" Some readers hesitate when they hear a book has “unlikable characters.” But in The Secret History, this is exactly what makes the novel so powerful. These characters force us to confront human nature at its most arrogant and flawed. Their moral ambiguity makes them fascinating to read about, much like the Greek tragedies they revere.

It’s also refreshing to read a novel that doesn’t sugarcoat its protagonists. Rather than being forced to root for them, you’re invited to analyze them, to question their motives, and to see the chilling consequences of their actions. The result? A reading experience that feels immersive, intoxicating, and unforgettable.

At its core, The Secret History is deeply rooted in the study of Classics, particularly in the themes of fate, hubris, and the power of the gods. One of the most significant literary influences is Euripides’ The Bacchae, a play about the destructive power of Dionysian ecstasy. The students, inspired by their studies, attempt to recreate an ancient Bacchic ritual—an experience that goes horribly wrong. Their desperate need to transcend the mundane leads to irreversible consequences, echoing the tragedies of the ancient world they idolize. You may be more well-versed in the Classics than I was, but I understood the book better after I read about Euripides' play and the Maenads. Julian (the Classics professor) says “Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it,”, foreshadowing his students’ fates by drawing parallels to Euripides’ Maenads. Maenads were the female worshipers of the God Dionysus, and in Euripides’ play The Bacchae, they murder King Pentheus for banning them from worshiping their god. Like King Pentheus, Bunny Corcoran will later be lured into the woods by his own friends in an effort to avoid answering for their crimes. Despite the graphic violence of The Bacchae, bacchanals are romanticized by Julian in The Secret History, as he speaks of them as a sort of spiritual cleansing, a cathartic release of "primitive impulses".

Much like the doomed characters in The Bacchae, the students in The Secret History believe they can control what they don’t fully understand. Their intellectual arrogance leads them to believe they can stand above morality, but Tartt masterfully shows how hubris always brings ruin.

The Secret History is not just a murder mystery or a psychological thriller—it’s a novel about the allure of beauty and knowledge, and the dark paths they can lead us down. Tartt’s prose is lush and hypnotic, making even the bleakest moments feel poetic. You may be drawn in by the dark academia esthetic, the philosophical undertones, or the brilliance of Tartt’s storytelling. If you love immersive stories, morally complex characters, and books that make you think long after you’ve turned the last page, I think The Secret History is a must-read. 

Discussion day for The Secret History is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always fun, educational, and entertaining Zoom discussion. I really hope you'll Read With Us (even if the book is filled with awful characters)!

The Weekly Loaf

My current weekly loaf came about because of our weather report. On Saturday we had snow and freezing rain, which then turned to rain on Sunday. The doomsday weatherman was predicting 20-40 mph winds with 60 mph gusts on Sunday night into Monday. Since our electricity tends to go out even if there are gentle breezes, I decided I better make some dinner early on Sunday while I still had a stove that worked. 

First up was a pot of sausage corn chowder. I always think soup needs bread to go with it, so I ended up making rosemary bread. 

It's really just a white bread with rosemary added to the dough but it smelled good and I thought it might taste okay, too. I used this recipe for guidance. 

Just make sure you grease your pan completely and don't leave any spots ungreased where the bread might stick and tear. 

I will be making another Honey Oat Pain de Mie in my Pullman pan later today, and I will make sure to grease that pan completely. We're visiting Ryan tomorrow and I'd like to take him a decent loaf of bread, one without any tears in the side. 

I hope your Monday is off to a good start and the rest of your week improves as we head towards Friday!