sunday bear: paul child

August 12, 2012September 30, 2017 ~ jama ~ 18 Comments

*Martin and Cornelius now have their own cooking show, “Bearly Cooking.”*

It’s Julia Child Week!

No better way to meet Julia than through Paul Child’s eyes. This excerpt from a letter he wrote to his family when he and Julia were first dating is the best analysis of her character, according to biographer Noël Riley Fitch:

She never ‘puts on an act,’ or creates a scene. She’s direct and simple about natural functions such as defecation, urination and belching, and has no measly Mrs. Grundyisms concerning sex. She frankly likes to eat and use her senses and has an unusually keen nose. She appreciates the special local overtones of both places and people and never gravitates toward the stuffy and safe. She is unusually strong physically and marvelously healthy. She has a firm and tried character in seeing a job through and is naturally very clean and sweet at all times. She has a cheerful, gay humor with considerable gusto as well as subtlety, and appears not to be frightened easily and is therefore emotionally steady rather than hysterical when things get tough. She has a frank and warm liking for men, and no apparent bitchiness about other dames. She loves life and all its phenomena, a quality which shows to great advantage in traveling . . . She has a deep-seated charm and human warmth which I have been fascinated to see at work on people of all sorts, from the sophisticates of San Francisco to the mining and cattle folk of the Northwest. She would be poised and at ease anywhere. I should say; she tells the truth, and for the most part uses balanced rather than extravagant language. In this connection I believe that her thinking has become much more careful, logical and objective in the last two years, and I find her interesting and fun to talk to at any time. And I love her dearly.

~ from Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noël Riley Fitch (Doubleday, 1997).

***

♥ This week’s Sunday Bear Hug is brought to you by Martin and Cornelius, who think everyone should always have at least one rubber chicken on hand. A kitchen essential, like trick mustard.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((JULIA))))))))))))))))))))))))

***

♥ JULIA CHILD’S 100th BIRTHDAY AT ALPHABET SOUP! ♥

Monday, August 13: Julia’s Favorite Chocolate and Almond Cake

Tuesday, August 14: Minette’s Feast with Susanna Reich and Amy Bates

Wednesday, August 15: Bon Appétit with Jessie Hartland

Thursday, August 16: Julia the Ham and Her Recipe for Cherry Clafouti

Friday, August 17: Paul Child’s Birthday Sonnets

—————————————————

friday feast: fishing for cookies

August 10, 2012September 10, 2017 ~ jama ~ 49 Comments

OH PLEASE TAKE ME FISHING!
by Jack Prelutsky

“Oh please take me fishing, oh please, pretty please,”
insisted my sister the pest.
She drives me bananas when she’s at her worst,
she bugs me when she’s at her best.

She wouldn’t give up, so I’ve got her along,
but I’ve not decided her fate.
Maybe I’ll patiently teach her to fish —
maybe I’ll use her for bait!

~ from A Pizza the Size of the Sun (Greenwillow Books, 1996).

* * *

Unlike the sister in Prelutsky’s poem, I was never a pest (*cough*), but the narrator sounds very familiar.

While my brother and Dad went fishing, I stayed home and played with my Ruthy doll and read Madeline’s Rescue. When it was time to take a picture of the day’s catch, I was only too happy to oblige. Even though I didn’t go fishing, this is still my favorite childhood picture. It hangs in our den and makes me very happy.

Newton and I spent a lot of time together growing up because we were latchkey kids. During the summer we rode our bicycles all over, bought fuzzy chicks at the carnival, tried to sell the macadamia nuts from my grandma’s tree, played marbles and ate hamburgers at Dairy Queen.

Continue reading →

a special giveaway for alphabet soup’s 5th birthday

August 7, 2012September 30, 2017 ~ jama ~ 110 Comments

Hello hello hello!

I’m baaaaaaaaaack — just in time to celebrate five years of Alphabet Soup!

Wow, it’s very hard to believe it’s been that long and that I’m still here after 1400+ posts on 2 different platforms, ~~348~~ 15 pies, ~~569~~ a few cupcakes ☺, 145 book reviews, and many, many days when I asked myself, “Why am I doing this again?”

Who’d have thought a very private, non tech-savvy introvert who’d never even read a single food blog (gasp!), could somehow keep finding something to say week after week?

Wonders never cease.

I named the blog, “Alphabet Soup,” because at the time I was writing my first chapter book about an alphabet collector who acquires a miniature uncle via mail order for the letter U, and included, “soup” because of my first picture book, Dumpling Soup. I was intrigued, and still am, by blogging as an art form, a unique creative outlet that allows me to indulge my love for journaling and creative nonfiction, letter writing, children’s literature, photography, culinary history, typography, food art, food memoirs and baking.

I have learned SO much in five years, only to realize how little I actually know about everything. I have new respect for professional book reviewers, renewed love for teachers and librarians, even have a new appreciation for editors, i.e., “inappropriate submissions.”

Continue reading →

friday feast: riffing on brown

June 29, 2012September 20, 2017 ~ jama ~ 59 Comments

*This post is dedicated to Frances Park and Ginger Park, passionate purveyors of the ultimate edible browns.

***

My name is Jama and I am a serial brownogamist.

I just can’t help myself. Something about those little brown shorts and matching socks. The rum hum of that engine, the pounding of running shoes on the front walk, the telltale whump as a parcel is tossed onto the porch.

Thing is, he has no idea what I look like. I just hope it’s as good for him as it always is for me.

WHY I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU, UPS MAN
by Alice N. Persons

you bring me all the things I order
are never in a bad mood
always have a jaunty wave as you drive away
look good in your brown shorts
we have an ideal uncomplicated relationship
you’re like a cute boyfriend with great legs
who always brings the perfect present
(why, it’s just what I’ve always wanted!)
and then is considerate enough to go away
oh, UPS Man, let’s hop in your clean brown truck and elope !
ditch your job, I’ll ditch mine
let’s hit the road for Brownsville
and tempt each other
with all the luscious brown foods —
roast beef, dark chocolate,
brownies, Guinness, homemade pumpernickel, molasses cookies
I’ll make you my mama’s bourbon pecan pie
we’ll give all the packages to kind looking strangers
live in a cozy wood cabin
with a brown dog or two
and a black and brown tabby
I’m serious, UPS Man. Let’s do it.
Where do I sign?

~ from Don’t Be a Stranger (Sheltering Pines Press, 2007)

***

Continue reading →

cool book purses!

June 4, 2012October 1, 2017 ~ jama ~ 8 Comments

Recently spotted these on Etsy and couldn’t resist sharing.

Michelle of Chick-Lit Designs specializes in designer book purses, clutches, eReader and iPad/tablet covers. If the book is large enough, the handbag will include a pocket for your eReader.

*Children’s Book of Virtues iPad/tablet cover*

Aren’t they fun? A great novelty gift that blends the old with the new. If you don’t see a book that you like at her shop, she will try to find the perfect book. Or, if you already have a book that you would like converted into a purse or cover, place a custom order.

In case you’re worried about the book pages, Michelle donates them fully intact to a local refugee center. You also have the option of having her re-bind them in matching fabric. Nice gift set idea for your special bookish friends. ☺