24
SepEverything but the Kitchen Stove
My stove died. Right in the middle of baking cookies with my daughter. Of course, it’s 2020. What can I expect? It’s been such a challenging year that a small inconvenience like having no stove or oven didn’t really phase me and I sighed as I called the service department of the appliance store where I purchased this stove less than a year ago. The technician couldn’t come to my house for a few days and, adding on time for parts and repair work, I estimated I’d be sans stove for about 10 days.
I posted the requisite GIF of a dumpster fire on social media when I reported the death of my stove and my friends cheered me on, saying this was the perfect excuse for takeout and a cooking vacation. I admit, I was tempted to give up and rely on curbside service of some tasty local restaurants. But my family was just recovering from tons of takeout and fried food during our most recent vacation at the Cape. Also, I like to reserve takeout for those desperate nights when I’m fed up with feeding my family and exhausted from a busy work week. Finally, ordering out is expensive! So I decided that I would use my creativity to see how I could cook without my stove for the next week.
Every generation has its iconic kitchen gadgets that seem to define the cuisine of that era. For our moms, it was the slow cooker and the fondue pot. In the 80s, many of our families got our first microwave and spent most of our time staring into that little window before our parents caught us and lectured us on the dangers of eyes getting zapped. In the 90s, college students and novice cooks everywhere rejoiced over the ease of the George Foreman grill. During the Aughts, coffee lovers everywhere were thrilled with the Keurig and health nuts loved turning any vegetable into “noodles” with the Spiralizer.
Well, now it’s 2020 and two gadgets dominate the cooking scene: the air fryer and the InstantPot. If you aren’t a home cook or don’t keep up with the latest kitchen trends, the air fryer is essentially a fancy, mini-convection oven. Many ovens already have a convection setting but those can be a bit intimidating and most people don’t bother. An air fryer is a convenient, countertop appliance that crisps up your food without the grease and the oil.
An InstantPot is basically a pressure cooker and slow cooker combined into one convenient appliance. Many people have slow cookers but complain about the required meal planning for using it. Pressure cookers have their own dubious reputation, with nightmare scenes of sauce splattered on the kitchen ceiling after models from the 1970s would erupt without warning. The Instant Pot combines the best of both of these devices and has developed a devoted following on social media. Facebook groups are dedicated to Instant Pot recipes and troubleshooting issues for newbies.
Being the kitchen gadget obsessive that I am, I own both of these. I also love to grill in the summer. Thankfully, the weather seems to be holding out into September so I can still fire up the grill and get dinner ready before it gets dark. Of course, working at the library, I am never at a loss for cookbooks. In fact, our extensive cookbook collection contains thousands of recipes that maximize the unique features of each appliance.
Mark Bittman specializes in the basics of cooking and his book How to Grill Everything is no exception. He features simple, flavorful recipes that never take longer than 45 minutes to prepare and cook. I especially appreciated the section which focuses on the basics of grilling poultry and features different ways to add flavor to boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a weeknight staple in my house. Most of his recipes also include tips for variations depending on what spices or herbs you have on hand.
Another attractive grilling cookbook is The Big Flavor Grill by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, which claims to have “no marinade, no hassle recipes”. This appealed to me because I often fail to plan ahead and so many grilling recipes contain complicated marinades that require lots of time to add flavor. Most days, I arrive home at 5:00 PM and then quickly scan my fridge for dinner items I can cook in a relatively short period of time. Much like Bittman’s book, this title features central recipes with two or three spin-offs per meat type. I’m keen to try the lamb chops with roasted garlic vinaigrette.
I’m also a fan of my air fryer and so picked up the Good Housekeeping Air Fryer Cookbook to find more recipes. Air frying goes behind french fries and wings. This handy little gadget is a great way to cook up vegetable sides without turning on your oven. Unlike roasting or traditional frying, most recipes call for less fat when using the air fryer, making it a healthy option for families. The recipe for Roasted Sweet and Sour Brussel Sprouts is amazing and makes a difficult vegetable extremely tasty.
Now that the weather is turning a bit cooler, I’m ready to put my Instant Pot back on the counter. Recipes for the Instant Pot require a bit more planning than the air fryer or grill so I tend to use it on the weekends for family dinners and store the leftovers for weekday lunches. The Instant Pot Bible does look a little overwhelming but I like that it contains recipe modifications for different Instant Pot models and directions on how to either slow cook or pressure cook your favorite dish. I’m fairly traditional when it comes to making my own homemade pasta sauce but desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m going to attempt making sauce in under 4 minutes in my Instant Pot and see if the Buttery Marinara Sauce, a take on the Marcella Hazan recipe, can hold a candle to my regular stovetop, slow-cooked sauce.
While I love these gadgets, I do miss my stove. Stovetop and oven cooking are still the most convenient and often fastest ways to get a meal on the table. But I’m going to soldier on and get the most out of my underused kitchen appliances. Hopefully, my stove will be back in service by next week. If not, I’ll just keep plugging along, trying new recipes. And if all else fails, there’s always takeout!
Kate Tigue is the Head of Youth Services at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the September 24, 2020 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.
17
Sep2020 – A Year of Wonder
After the library closed in mid-March due to the Coronavirus, and when we were still in some disbelief of what was happening to life as we knew it, I immediately reached for my copy of Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. Published in 2001, it became one of my all-time favorite books. As I thumbed through the pages and thought about it and other books about plagues and disease and death, I outlined a column that I had due at the end of April.
April was not a particularly emotionally healthy time for me. I missed my place in the library. I was energized only in fits and starts; I had seemingly comatose times when I merely stared into space. I couldn't watch the news. My attention span didn't allow for movies, series, or podcasts, let alone books. I rarely knit but nervously surfed the Internet watching COVID-19s numbers climb around the world.
Working remotely, my husband and I navigated our home office spaces and our life as a couple. I baked bread and roasted chicken, while at the same time leading the library staff in daily (and sometimes hourly) Zoom meetings. I texted and called, preferring a personal touch. I updated the trustees and town managers via emails. Those missives barely spoke of the loss I was experiencing, communication that belied a deep and profound grief for my place of work, my co-workers, and my normal life. The only time I felt energized and happy were Tuesdays spent in my office in a cavernous, nearly empty library.
April was not the time for a column on a book about sickness and death. I abandoned the topic and wrote about the wonders of the library's virtual offerings. The staff had performed miracles from the days before we closed through March through May. We hoped to reopen, but we prepared to remain closed. It was a confusing, slightly schizophrenic time.
In the months that followed, I mused about other novels of plagues that I'd read years ago: Stephen King's The Stand, and Albert Camus' The Plague. I knew there would be another time when I could consider writing about these novels in my column.
Stephen King's The Stand is a giant book – both figuratively and literally. The original I read was around 800 pages.* As a post-apocalyptic fantasy, it isn't a genre that I currently read. However, in the late 70s, I remember being intrigued, committed, and addicted to it. The story (or multiples of storylines) was initially set in 1980. King's novel follows numerous characters who are survivors of a pandemic.
The US government developed a weaponized version of the flu, and its accidental release threatens the entire world's population. The fatality rate is 99.4% within one month. Small groups of survivors from various parts of the country form coalitions and new societies that confront each other. Scenes take place in Vermont, Colorado, Nevada, Nebraska, and Maine. *Later, in 1990, King released the uncut version that was 1100 pages. I have one of those mass-market copies, a carry-over from when I distributed free copies as part of World Book Night in April of 2012.
There are survivors, and King's dark book ends with some hope in the first version. Hope is doubted in the extended version when crazy Randall Flagg survives an atomic blast. Interestingly, a second miniseries (the first was in 1994) completed production in March 2020 at the beginning of COVID-19 and will be aired this December. Whoopi Goldberg is cast as 108-year old Mother Abagail. Alexander Skarsgård plays Randall Flagg.
Albert Camus' The Plague (1947) is usually required high school or college reading. At 300+ pages, The Plague is definitively shorter than The Stand. What it lacks in length, however, it is abundant in meaning. Camus' plague has a double meaning – both the pandemic that ravages the port city of Oran, Algeria, and the rise of Nazi Germany and the suffering that was unleashed as World War II. Camus' The Plague has many parallels in the Coronavirus pandemic, and it is an eerie read in 2020.
The epidemic is denied as a hoax. Shortages and hardships are endured. Death is rampant. The inhabitants of Oran are quarantined for a year, emerging at the end, frightful and relieved at the same time. However, unlike COVID-19, the outbreak is contained to Oran. In fact, Camus' premise is that by working together, cooperation is achieved.
"What's natural is the microbe. All the rest — health, integrity, purity (if you like) — is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never falter. The good man, the man who infects hardly anyone, is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention." Albert Camus in The Plague.
In Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders, a similar tragedy struck an English town in the 17th Century. War correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Brooks, visited the small English village of Eyam. While there, she was intrigued about a sign designating it Plague Village and learned the plague arrived in the countryside in 1665. After suffering a multitude of quick and sudden deaths, the village's residents agreed to self-quarantine for 14 months so as not to spread the virus. With little written record to go on, Brooks crafted a historical novel centered on one line in one of the village rector's letters. Her book is the intriguing story of how one bolt of fabric brought the bubonic plague and the horrors of death and desperation to the mostly illiterate English town.
In doing some research for my column this week, I found that NPR wrote a piece on April 20, 2020, titled "A Matter of Common Decency: What Literature Can Teach Us About Epidemics." Not surprisingly, the article included both Year of Wonders and Camus' The Plague. It also included a book I have not read. It is a science fiction work and was published just one year before our experience with COVID-19 began. By Karen Thompson Walker, The Dreamers is the story of an ominous sleeping sickness that sweeps over a fictional town in Southern California. While the book focuses on the psychological realism of the dreams of its victims (one sleeping a year through an entire pregnancy), there are prescient parallels to our own pandemic experience. The virus is airborne. A community is quarantined. Masks are in short supply. Perhaps most visionary of all is the description of one of the ways the virus travels from person to person. Before the town is locked down, one last wedding is held. The bride has the first signs of being ill:
"Whoever shares her lipstick that day, whoever borrows her eyeliner, whoever kisses her cheek that night or dances too close or clinks her flute of champagne, whoever touches her hand to admire the ring, whoever catches the bouquet at the end of the night — all of them, every one, is exposed. This is how the sickness travels best: through all the same channels as do fondness and friendship and love." Karen Thompson Walker in The Dreamers
Our library has these books in print and digital versions. They all have messages that we need to hear in these difficult times.
"Here we are, alive, and you and I will have to make it what we can."
Geraldine Brooks in Year of Wonders.
Charlotte Canelli is the Director of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the September 17, 2020 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.
10
SepRemembering Oliver Sacks
I first discovered Oliver Sacks in college when a science professor assigned the book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. The title comes from a case of a man who did just that – when looking for his hat, he looked at his wife’s head, perceived it somehow as his hat, and put his hands on her head to try to grab it and put it on. This, like so many other stories recounted by Sacks, seems implausible, but if the truth is stranger than fiction, we may also venture to say that the truth of neuroscience is stranger than any other truth we are accustomed to. Oliver Sacks was a British neurologist, practicing in the U.S. for most of his career who wrote prolifically about his patients.
Sacks became well-known for his book Awakenings, which was made into a film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. It was about patients with encephalitis lethargica, better known as sleeping sickness, with whom the Doctor worked at the Beth Abraham Hospital in New York. The patients were unable to move on their own for decades until receiving life-changing treatments with the new drug L-DOPA.
Dr. Sacks went on to write books consisting of case studies and vignettes. The aforementioned Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat covers a wide variety of aphasias, amnesias and other disorders. One patient remains essentially “stuck” in 1945, unable to form new memories. He recalls his past in great detail but cannot remember things that just happened or grasp newer developments such as the moon landing or his own gray hair and aging face. The popular movie Memento featured a fictional character with anterograde amnesia, the inability to form new short term memories, but this disorder can truly exist in real life and Sacks wrote of patients with the condition.
The Mind’s Eye offers another collection of case histories including a the story of a musician who loses the ability to read music, followed by the ability to read anything at all, though she can still write perfectly fine and play music by heart. In his books Sacks writes of various patients who have lost the ability to recognize faces, even of their loved ones, and reveals that he himself suffers from some level of prosopagnosia, or face blindness. Some people can only recognize others by memorizing a particular distinctive feature such as a birthmark to look for, or by hearing a person speak or watching them move.
In An Anthropologist on Mars, Sacks provides seven case studies of patients, including one featuring fellow author Temple Grandin. Grandin, who is autistic, has managed to navigate life among the neurotypical. Although she has an impaired ability to recognize social cues, Grandin maintains a deep understanding of animal behavior and has a successful career working with animals and improving their welfare in the ranching and farming industries.
His book Musicophilia specifically addresses music and its relationship with the brain. This could be tragic such as a phenomena of a particular song triggering a seizure, or sometimes beneficial or life enhancing. Sacks describes patients with disorders such as Tourette’s Syndrome and Parkinson’s Disease using music to overcome struggles they face or mitigate their symptoms. He explores how the emotional side of music can help trigger memory and being back some normalcy for people with Dementia.
Rather than gawking at or exploiting patients, Sacks treats them with empathy and fascination, using their stories as windows into a world of adaptability and resilience. Moreover, he does not leave himself unexamined – Sacks wrote prolifically about himself in autobiographies and memoirs including Uncle Tungsten and On the Move. A quick read, Gratitude, serves as a small collection of farewell essays at the end of his life. The world certainly owes Oliver Sacks a debt of gratitude for his lifetime of riveting stories which make science accessible to the layperson and cause us to think deeper about what it means to be human.
Lydia Sampson is the Assistant Director at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the September 10, 2020 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.
3
SepMichigan Musings
Summertime brings with it memories of travelling and visiting family in regions far and near. Every time I get into a hot vehicle and the first blast of warm, muggy air comes out of the car vents, I remember all those sketchy (though money-saving) motels we stayed at while traveling to Michigan in the summer. At least the rooms had air conditioning, unlike the 1977 navy blue Plymouth Volare wagon we traveled in.
Every two years, we would travel out to Michigan to see family. My father had been born a “Michigander,” settling in New England after serving in the Navy from 1958-62. Though I do remember a few trips with both of my parents, it was only after their divorce in 1978 that I recall the details from the many trips to and from “The Great Lakes State.” (And thus the reason for the somewhat seedy motels… my mother would never have agreed to that!) Packing my sister Melissa and my brother Ted and as much luggage and toys as the car would hold, we set off, seatbelt-less and bouncing back and forth from the front to the back, to the “way back.” My father was an incredibly patient man… it would usually take a physical fight between my siblings to get him to raise his voice. The silence was golden!
Traveling out, we usually followed the same route: from New Hampshire to Massachusetts, to New York (and its awful Thruway…bump/ssstssstssst/bump/sssstssstsst/bump for miles!) Skirt around Albany and on to Batavia, New York, which is where we usually stayed the night. Dad normally avoided big cities, giving them names like “Beef-alo” for “Buffalo;” somewhat inexplicably, a place to be avoided (I had yet to understand the issue of traffic flow). We would then head south along Lake Erie, going through Pennsylvania but around Cleveland, Ohio. Then, north along Lake Erie, avoiding Toledo, Ohio, and heading north into Michigan. Then it was just another half an hour until we reached our destination: Mohawk Road in Tecumseh, Michigan, Lenawee County. There was much rejoicing in the station wagon as the long 19-hour journey finally came to an end (bless you, dad!)
After greeting our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, we always wanted to explore… especially any of dad’s old haunts. The River Raisin was a favorite spot… he enjoyed swimming, fishing and just walking along the rocks. This river is about a 5-minute walk from Mohawk Road. I remember one time walking down there and dad stopped, looked, then went over to the side of the path and pointed at something sticking up in the brush. “You kids see that? That is a Christmas tree stand that your Uncle Chub and I made.” We were thrilled to see something that old, and amazed that it was still there! We walked until we came to a spot where there used to be a bridge, but now just the supports were intact. One year, I was stung by nettles as we walked along the water. I couldn’t believe that a plant could “sting.” On another trip, I spent the summer collecting flowers for our pressed flower collection. I picked this pretty, purple flower that turned out to be common blue eyed grass. Poor dad, all the way to and from Michigan that year, I was forever asking him to pull over so I could pick the wildflowers!
We also visited “downtown Tecumseh,” which was a lot smaller back then, and this included a tour of Tecumseh High School, where my dad played football, basketball, did track and wrestled. He might have only been 5′4″ and 130 pounds but he was feisty! In honor of dad’s sporting days, my sister and I usually scored a “Tecumseh Indians” black and orange T-shirt. My brother usually chose a toy. One year, dad took us to the John Deere store located out there and proudly purchased Ted an authentic green and yellow John Deere toy tractor. My brother loved that truck and played with it for many years.
After shopping, it was time to eat. Meals were mostly eaten at grandma and grandpa’s. Grandma made chili (using Campbell’s tomato soup as the base) and lots of hamburgers and hotdogs. One year, dad and his brother Walter (everyone called him Chub), went fishing and brought back a whole slew of bluegill that they caught in Lake Erie. Uncle Chub patiently showed us how to open and gut the fish, and grandma fried them up. Delicious! Served alongside her famous summer marshmallow fruit salad, we felt like we were tasting quintessential Michigan.
When we didn’t eat at the homestead, we had a favorite restaurant that we could only eat at when in Michigan: the Big Boy (dubbed “The Large Fellow” by my Tecumseh cousins) for meals. There are a lot of these restaurants in Michigan, but only a few scattered in just three other states. The Big Boy is an American-style burger joint perfect for families. If we didn’t have dessert there, we would go to get ice cream at what is now G & J’s Frosty Boy, formally just “Frosty Boy.”
At the end of the visit, everyone had to gather to take pictures. This was a more painful process than it is now and one was never sure of the results until the film was developed. My grandmother was in such earnest to get every family group and then the entire family. My father was a master at ruining a good picture. Sometimes grandma would catch him in time (“Carl!”), and sometimes she wouldn’t. There are a series of shots showing dad “gearing up” for the goofy face… it’s almost like time-lapse photography! Needless to say, my brother and my nephew Joey continue on in the tradition. Thankfully, digital cameras now guarantee at least one good picture.
There are a lot of great places to visit in Michigan, such as the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, and Little Bavaria in Frankenmuth, but don’t dismiss little Tecumseh. Some of my best family memories have been made in that small midwestern town.
For information visit https://tecumsehlibrary.org.
Carla B. Howard is the Senior Circulation and Media & Marketing Assistant at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the September 3, 2020 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.
27
AugSummer Fling: Embracing Romance Novels
Confession time: I’ve never read anything by Nicholas Sparks. I’ve never even seen The Notebook! I’ve never thought of myself as the type of person who reads romances. I’m not sure exactly who I picture as the ideal romance reader but I was certain it was not me. Plus, I’ve always had trouble getting into romance as a genre. I do judge book covers and I’ve never been interested in the classic “bodice-ripper” with a long-haired Fabio-type on the front. My jaded self never considered the more modern romances either, considering those a little too saccharine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have observed that people take one of two routes in order to deal with current events. Some folks dive head first into books or movies with themes that match what is happening in our world. Several people I know took this even further by doing research on other pandemics like the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic or the polio scares in the late 1940s. For some, learning as much as possible seems to be a route to comfort.
Others take the escapist route and look for lighter fare. I have heard so many people say they have had trouble enjoying their usual artistic tastes, especially if they generally gravitate toward books or movies with heavier themes and topics. Some other readers have confessed that it was difficult to even focus on any type of reading during this spring’s quarantine period.
A coworker with similar taste in books was recently corresponding with me over our latest reads. Although I shouldn’t have been, I found myself shocked to learn that she had been exclusively reading romance novels ever since March. She admitted to being just as surprised as I was regarding her foray into this genre since she never thought of herself as a “romance reader.” But like many folks, she found she wanted an escape from everyday life when she picked up a book rather than untangling complicated plots or contemplating anything depressing.
I was intrigued. Why did I have such a distaste for romance novels? What’s wrong with a little escapism? Nothing, I decided. Once my coworker sent some recommendations for titles to try, my long-term relationships with fantasy and literary fiction were on hold. I was off on a summer fling with romance and I threw myself into it.
First, I started my journey with Jasmine Guillory, author of modern romances that feature strong female characters who are independent but looking for an equal partner. Guillory’s modern sensibility also means focusing on people of color as main characters and including interracial relationships in her stories. In The Wedding Date, Guillory artfully starts with the rather silly premise of two people getting stuck in an elevator and develops a realistic long-distance relationship between Alexa, an ambitious political operative in San Francisco, and Drew, an LA-based pediatrician. Drew and Alexa move from pretending they are together at a wedding into a steamy relationship that navigates distance, race, and when to get serious. Guillory penned several more novels in the “Wedding Date” series although they feature other couples from Drew and Alexa’s social circle.
My second recommendation features romance with a historical twist: In Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore, Annabelle Archer earns a scholarship at Oxford in exchange for supporting the women’s suffrage movement in Victorian England. She ends up advocating for her cause to conservative Duke of Montgomery, an influential aristocrat who is tasked with stopping the cause’s progression in Parliament by the Queen. This novel exhibits the more traditional features of a classic romance novel, albeit one with a strong willed heroine dedicated to a feminist cause. Annabelle refuses to give up on her dreams in spite of the limitations society tries to place. If you enjoyed the frustrated banter between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice but are looking for something bit more spicy, this one’s for you.
Kevin Kwan’s debut series Crazy Rich Asians and subsequent film really put romantic comedies back on the map. Kwan tried to recreate the fast-paced, gossipy style and hilarious name-dropping footnotes that skyrocketed Crazy Rich Asians to instant success with his latest novel, Sex and Vanity. The final result is an uneven, overlong attempt to modernize E.M. Forster’s A Room with A View, a novel about a woman torn between two worlds, into a comedy of manners. This book was a bit too long and the style Kwan employs in his other work just didn’t translate well here. Kwan reimagines Lucie Churchill as a biracial art dealer from New York who is torn between two cultures while trying not to fall in love with the enigmatic George Zao. He thoughtfully illustrates the effects of the Churchill family’s explicit racism regarding Lucy’s Chinese heritage and her ensuing identity crisis, which is the novel’s highlight. I’m hoping his future works play into his strengths as a comic author and that he continues creating fresh stories instead of retreading ones from the past.
My final summer romance is the aptly titled Beach Read by Emily Henry. Be warned; there is nothing beach-y about this novel. Set on the shores of Lake Michigan, a writer of romance novels takes up residence in her father’s love nest after his untimely death and the revelation of his extramarital affair. January Andrews’ world is unraveling: her crippling depression prevents her from writing, she’s out of money, and her long-time boyfriend leaves her now that she’s not the upbeat person she once was. Her new neighbor is Augustus Everett, literary fiction writer and her old college nemesis. The two couldn’t be more opposite but end up challenging each other to write a novel in the other’s style. Old rivalries, insecurities and attraction flare as January attempts to teach Gus the tropes of the romance novel while they both research a local cult. This book has fully realized characters who enter into a believable relationship, making this title the best of the bunch.
Romance may never be my preferred genre but I’m happy I gave it a shot this summer. I can definitely see myself looking for more off-beat romance titles when I need a change of pace from my genres of choice. It’s a great reminder that we all need to stretch our reading muscles and try something new!
Kate Tigue is the Head of Youth Services at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, MA. Look for her article in the August 27, 2020 issue of the Transcript and Bulletin.