“I have always longed and longed to own a sweet-shop. The sweet-shop of my dreams would be loaded from top to bottom with Sherbet Suckers and Caramel Fudge and Russian Toffee and Sugar Snorters and Butter Gumballs and thousands and thousands of other glorious things like that.” (The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl)
“Nose Bags On, Grubs Up!”
Happy Roald Dahl Day!
I can’t think of any other children’s author who invented quite as many wildly imaginative fantasy treats for his stories — from lickable wallpaper to the pickled spines of porcupines to hot noodles made from poodles on a slice of garden hose. I’m convinced I would have done much better in school if I had had some candy-coated pencils for sucking in class. Perhaps the reason I’m so obsessed with food now is because I grew up without mosquitoes’ toes and wampfish roes most delicately fried. Good theory, in any case. ☺
From all accounts, Roald was a lifelong foodie. In her introduction to Roald Dahl’s Even More Revolting Recipes, Felicity Dahl mentions that many of the letters Roald wrote to his mother while he was in boarding school included a request for food. It was quite a challenge fulfilling his every craving, especially when it involved raw eggs. He also asked her to send him a Primus stove so he could cook some of those raw ingredients. Continue reading →
Inspired by her recent weight loss (35 pounds), the book features her favorite time-tested recipes and personal anecdotes. Her guiding philosophy is to frequently eat small portions of really tasty, savory food throughout the day, rather than obsess over counting calories or seeking “diet recipes.”
In the section entitled, “Cooking Vegetarian with Courage I,” she includes a satirical poem she wrote back in 1983, a kind of “self defense” prompted by a visit to Ye Olde Health Food Diner in Los Angeles. Although basically carnivorous, one day she craved broccoli and steamed rice. After placing her order, she took out a pack of cigarettes and was surprised when the waitress immediately chastized her for being a smoker.
She looked around at the pale, pitiful customers in the diner and asked the waitress whether they were newcomers, hoping to “get better.” The waitress assured her they were vegetarians who had been eating there for years, to which Maya replied, “Don’t ever tell anyone that these people have been coming here for years, and are still looking no better than they do now.”
THE HEALTH-FOOD DINER
by Maya Angelou
No sprouted wheat and soya shoots
And Brussels in a cake,
Carrot straw and spinach raw,
(Today, I need a steak).
Not thick brown rice and rice pilau
Or mushrooms creamed on toast,
Turnips mashed and parsnips hashed,
(I’m dreaming of a roast).
Health-food folks around the world
Are thinned by anxious zeal,
They look for help in seafood kelp
(I count on breaded veal).
No smoking signs, raw mustard greens,
Zucchini by the ton,
Uncooked kale and bodies frail
Are sure to make me run
to
Loins of pork and chicken thighs
And standing rib, so prime,
Pork chops brown and fresh ground round
(I crave them all the time).
Irish stews and boiled corned beef
and hot dogs by the scores,
or any place that saves a space
For smoking carnivores.
Maya’s poem made me smile and remember a time when health-conscious eaters were called “nuts,” vegetarianism was viewed as a hippie fad, and much of what you could find in a health food store was inedible. Happily, things have changed; Maya hasn’t smoked in over 20 years and is “enchanted with vegetables.” As am I. But I still crave a good burger or plate of ribs every now and then . . .
Here’s Maya’s recipe for cornbread, sure to please vegetarians as well as carnivores. She suggests cutting a piece in half horizontally, inserting a slice of Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese, then heating it in a toaster oven for breakfast. Nice change from cereal!
ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT CORN BREAD
(makes 9 squares)
3 T butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups white cornmeal
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
1-1/2 cups plus 2 T milk
1 egg, well beaten
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter in an 8-inch square pan.
2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
3. Stir in 1 cup plus 2 T of the milk and the egg, mixing only enough to dampen the cornmeal mixture.
4. Pour the batter into the pan. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup milk over the batter and stir.
5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
*Adapted from Great Food All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart by Maya Angelou (Random House, 2010) —————————————————————-
♥ Anastasia Suen is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at Picture Book of the Day. Take her a piece of cornbread. Secret password: Seaweed.
**Note: Food photos in this post are not from Maya’s book.
April Halprin Wayland, our very first Potluck Poet this month, always writes "Happy Birthday" in raisins to members of her family. We think this is the coolest idea and wanted to send our very own greetings. ☺
In case you missed her delicious poem and recipe, click here. Mmmm, Lemon Waffles.
And don’t forget she’s doing the Poem-a-Day Challenge and is posting a new poem and the story behind the poem each day at her website. Go over there and nibble on a few words.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPY BEARTHDAY, APRIL!
♥ Check out all the 2011 Poetry Potluck posts here.
I’m not sure the daffodils have appeared yet on the shore of Lake Michigan where JoAnn Early Macken lives, but I do know she’s been in the “Spring state of mind” since March 4th, her favorite day of the year.
This is the day she feels is the true beginning of Spring, a day to “take the bull by the horns and take care of business. Blaze a trail and follow it. Harness the horses and plow ahead.” For JoAnn, Spring is more than a season; it’s an attitude. March forth, embrace all the possibilities, and celebrate this time of renewal with promise twinkling over the horizon.
Lovely!
JoAnn: Any day now, we’ll all surrender to one of those glorious afternoons when everyone rejoices in the world and we all leave our jackets on the playground. Troubles seem trivial, problems feel petty, and all we want to do is drop everything, run outdoors, and soak up the sunshine.
I think we should designate JoAnn as our official Spring Ambassador! Before I share her poem, please replace your beret with this:
#2 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2011.
It’s April, April, April!
What better ‘first poet’ for our Poetry Month celebration than one who’s named, “April”? The always exuberant April Halprin Wayland, whose personal tagline is “1/2 poet, 1/2 author, 1/2 not good at fractions,” brings her own special brand of energy and expansiveness to everything she does, whether writing, teaching, storytelling, fiddle playing, doodling, sun farming, hiking, campaigning for peace or collecting clouds. Her fascinating, adventure-filled life has provided oodles of inspiration for poems and stories, and her sunny outlook has certainly brightened up the alphabet soup kitchen. We thank her for kicking things off!
April: Poetry is a place where I clear the brush, rake the leaves, plant some violets, drag in an old log to sit on. Readers may not see the same things I see, or think the same things I was thinking when I wrote the poem, but they can sit next to me and breathe in the violets.
My book, GIRL COMING IN FOR A LANDING: A Novel in Poems (Knopf), based on my journals as a teen, is about a teen who writes poetry in secret; it includes tips to teen writers at the end. One poem is about waffles . . . and writing:
WAITING FOR WAFFLES by April Halprin Wayland The T.V. talks in the other room, the ironing board stands, hands on hips, in the middle of Great Aunt Ida’s kitchen and I sit on the burgundy booth in my p.j.s as Great Aunt Ida makes waffles.
I love pouring batter onto the waffle iron. It’s like writing poems — from puddles to patterns.
If I stare at the black light willing it to warm to red, it takes forever.
Just like writing. Sometimes I have to not write in order to write.
So I slide around the vinyl booth seat to look out her second story window at the birds.
Apparently, Myra Cohn Livingston was the one who suggested April write a collection of poems in the teen voice, and April says doing so set her free. Love that! And isn’t it so true about sometimes having to “not write” in order to write?
April: When my sister and I slept over at Grandma’s we’d make waffles. I remember her heavy waffle maker and the waiting, waiting, waiting for that red eye to light up. I think the waiting made them taste better. Yum! I wish I could say that Grandma used this Lemon Waffle recipe. But the truth is that after I wrote this poem, I searched for a good waffle recipe that did not use sugar (I don’t eat sugar), and found this wonderful one on a bed and breakfast site. (I love making pancakes with it, actually –)
I wrote the owners of the B&B, asking for permission to use the recipe; they were very kind, saying it was freely given to them and to pass it on — so I have!
Behold perfect Meyer lemon specimen from April’s tree!
Here in Southern California our lemon tree is overflowing with fragrant Meyer lemons. Meyer lemons have thin skins and are milder and sweeter than most lemons.
LEMON WAFFLES (serves 4)
4 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup flour
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks with the honey. Blend in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter, beating well. Blend in the milk and flour alternately. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Bake in prepared waffle iron until golden brown.
This batter can also be used to make lovely, light pancakes.
Jama’s note: Len and I really enjoyed these — light as lemony clouds, a delicate flavor, and no refined sugar. Definitely worth waiting for! ☺
————————————————————————————
April Halprin Wayland is a farmer turned folk musician turned author. Her newest picture book, NEW YEAR AT THE PIER: A Rosh Hashanah Story (Dial, 2010), won the Sydney Taylor Gold Medal awarded by the Association of Jewish Libraries. April’s work has been called “dazzling,” “honest, heartfelt, poignant,” and “utterly fresh and winning.” Her critically acclaimed novel in poems, Girl Coming in for a Landing (Yearling, 2004), her picture books, and her poetry have garnered numerous awards, including the Lee Bennett Hopkins Honor Award for Children’s Poetry, the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, and MommyCare’s Book of the Year.
She’s been an instructor in UCLA Extension’s Writers Program for over a decade and teaches workshops in schools all over the world. You can find her online at her official website and the Teaching Authors blog. Don’t forget to check out April’s Poem-a-Day Challenge poems throughout the month here. I especially love that whenever a member of her family has a birthday, April writes “Happy Birthday” in raisins in the kitchen, and she’s the only poet I know who once wrote “I Love You” in ketchup on a dinner plate. ♥
Jama's Alphabet Soup 