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Tomato Season is Here
Yesterday our CSA box included an abundance of heirloom tomatoes. I love the way they look, the poetic names they have, and–most importantly–how they taste. Here are some of the varieties we received: From top left, going clockwise: Black Krim, Garden Peach, Red Zebra, Green Zebra, Roman Candle, Sun Gold Savor this last bit of summer.
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Plummy Rum Blackberry Buckle
When stone fruits are in season, I can’t help buying them in bulk. The problem is that they don’t last very long. Even at the rapid rate I gobble them, I can never finish all of the purchased peaches or plums. The solution? Bake with them, of course. This “buckle” cake is delicious either as a dessert with ice cream or whipped cream, or with coffee for breakfast. Plummy Rum Blackberry Buckle (try to say that 3 times fast…) Modified from a Bon Appetit recipe 1/2 cup whole, unpeeled almonds 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted…
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Trash Shopping on Hippie Christmas
August 15 is moving day in Madison, otherwise known as “Hippie Christmas.” Most leases here begin on August 15, so it’s common to see boxes stacked on porches, moving trucks in driveways, and trash piled on lawns. Combined with the August heat, it can be a pretty disgusting sight. If you’re willing to look beyond the stained mattresses and broken desk chairs, though, sometimes you can find a treasure or two. Yesterday, I picked up Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein in hardcover, as well as Henry Roth’s 1934 novel, Call It Sleep from a pile of discarded belongings near the curb. Both will make excellent, no-cost additions to my book…
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Busy Gal Barbie
Ten years ago, a friend gave me a card with this vintage Barbie image on it and I saved it. I know Barbies are less-than-popular these days because of their sexist implications, but I love this print. I played with the plastic Mattel dolls into my early teens (I was not cool if you haven’t already figured that out). I kept up characters and complicated plots that lasted for years… and then went on to immerse myself in feminist theory and gender studies in college. Contradictory? Perhaps. I think it was good practice for fiction writing, though.
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Treats for the Soul and Stomach
Tonight I have Critique Group. I am lucky to be a part of a group of five fabulous women writers who get together every other week to weigh in on one another’s projects. We are bold: we blog and send our work out into the world for publication. We are brave: we read one another’s manuscripts without the shine of extensive revision (we put the “rough” in rough draft). And we are hungry: hungry for a place in the literary world, yes, but also physically hungry. We show up, exhausted and starving, after our various day job in the worlds of law, motherhood, sales, and office administration. Often one or…
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Casino Movies: Where’s Lady Luck?
There’s nothing better than a good-looking woman going on a roll at a crowded craps table and knowing what she’s doing. This happened in Vegas on Saturday night when my college roommate walked up to the table in a short black dress and red heels. On her turn, she took the dice and showed the boys how it’s done, placing the right bets at the right times. I heard a guy next to her say, “Wow, you really seem to know the game. How did you learn?” Her reply? “I like math.” I think we can agree that this is a sight everybody loves to see…unless you’re playing the “don’t…
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Vegas, Baby
This weekend I’m headed to Las Vegas for the bachelorette party of my law school roommate. One of the things I love about Vegas is that anything goes…fashion-wise, that is. You can push the envelope a bit more in Vegas, and no one will bat a fake, drag-queen eyelash at you. Although, if you push it too far, you might be asked what you charge by the hour. So this weekend, in the land of risk, these are the fashion risks I’ll take if I happen to luck out at the craps table on the first night and can afford to go on a shopping spree (hey, it could happen.…
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Go Ahead, Call Me a Cheesehead
A new food magazine, Edible Madison, threw its launch party on Saturday. Edible Madison is a quarterly publication that celebrates the local foods of Southern Wisconsin and the people who grow, produce, and prepare them. Free copies of the debut issue can be found at various locations around town, including Ground Zero Coffee and Fromagination cheese shop, which is where the launch party was held. While chatting with writers, farmers, and small business owners, we snacked on a delectable variety of Wisconsin cheeses. Some of my favorites were the soft lavender and honey Driftless sheep’s milk cheese from Hidden Springs Creamery, Spanish Manchego-style Gran Queso from Roth Käse in Monroe,…
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Book Club for Men
Statistics are often tossed around the literary world claiming that women read more fiction than men. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that my husband does not read fiction. Ironic, isn’t it? I write fiction (albeit for a mostly female readership), but I can’t get him to pick up a novel unless I stalk him with it–leaving it on his nightstand, on his side of the bed, in his briefcase. I also know plenty of women who participate in book clubs, but no men who do. So I got to thinking about a Book Club for Men (not to be confused with Hair Club for Men),…
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Six Items or Less
The New York Times recently published an article about consumers who decided to go on a fashion “diet.” On the website Six Items or Less, people from all over the world committed to go an entire month wearing only six selected items of clothing from their closets. It sounds daunting, until you dig deeper into the rules. There are exceptions that don’t count towards the six items: underwear (obviously), swimming suits and work-out clothes, outer jackets (like raincoats), shoes, and accessories. You can get multiples of the same item for laundry purposes, but they must be exactly the same. When I read the rules, I thought, What? Shoes and accessories…
a blog on fiction, fashion, food + family