Escape Watching
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“Willy Wonka” — a very silly and watchable film from 1971. |
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“The Battle of Algiers” a very serious Italian film from 1967, which we had always wanted to see. The colonial war in Algeria is mostly forgotten by now, at least by Americans (if we ever heard of it in the first place). The horrors of war and politics never seem to change. |
Escape Reading
Here are the books I’ve been reading during the past week, along with a quote from each that shows how the authors use food to create characters and atmosphere.
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Ann Cleves: The Long Call. A good police procedural. |
Quote from The Long Call — “The house felt different without Simon. Empty. Quieter. It wasn’t that he’d made much noise, except when he was cooking and those had only been good sounds: the rhythmic beat of a knife on the chopping board, the sizzle of searing fish in a pan, the rattle of pots. He’d given up drinking quite so much recently and so even those noises had been calmer, less frenetic.” (p. 333)
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Alice Munro (1931-2024) has recently become notorious for being a hideously cruel mother. Despite this, I decided to read some of her stories, which I didn’t find especially wonderful. If they had to find a Canadian woman for the prize, I wish it had been Margaret Atwood. |
Quote from “The Progress of Love” short story by Alice Munro — “I didn’t have a problem right away with Beryl’s story. For one thing, I was hungry and greedy, and a lot of my attention went to the roast chicken and gravy and mashed potatoes laid on the plate with an ice-cream scoop and the bright diced vegetables out of a can, which I thought much superior to those fresh from the garden. For dessert, I had a butterscotch sundae, an agonizing choice over chocolate. The others had plain vanilla ice cream. Why shouldn’t Beryl’s version of the same event be different from my mother’s?” (p. 44)
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Every story in this collection of the best from last year seems better to me than the stories I read by Alice Munro. Sad. |
Quote from “Democracy in America” short story by Allegra Hyde — “I turned onto my back, my hands behind my head, pretending to ponder Honey’s question. The rented room was above a local grocer and below us the register clanged with the afternoon rush, shrill with its clattering belly of coins, the swish of paper money, credit card beeps, as locals purchased pumpkin pie filling, mint ice cream, meat, for one of their culture’s holidays. This was the kind of American town I had come to see, but it had not yet shown me what I wanted to know.” (p. 146)
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I keep trying to read fantasy and si-fi, but it rarely speaks to me. Definitely this well-regarded novel did not speak to me. |
Quote from Binti — “I stood up, realizing that my time of death was not here yet. I took a quick look around the giant hall. I could smell dinner over the stink of blood and Meduse gases. Roasted and marinated meats, brown long-grained rice, spicy red stews, flat breads, and that rich gelatinous dessert I loved so much. They were all still laid out on the grand table, the hot foods cooling as the bodies cooled and the dessert melting as the dead Meduse melted.” (p. 30)
Escape Eating (In Real Life)
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Lots of Clementines and Mandarins. |
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I made Beef Bourguignon according to the recipe of Julia Child (which I know by heart). We enjoyed it with a salad and some of Len’s bread. |
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A light dinner salad. Farro and arugula are under the apples. |
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Mugs from the past. |
Blog post shared with Deb at Readerbuzz — © 2025 mae sander
18 comments:
OK. I have to admit the advent calendar did make me smile. For a minute. Thanks for sharing how you cope. :(
I was thinking of making Julia's B.B. -- it's been a long time and I love it. Looks like you liked The Long Call. I really like the Matthew Venn character -- it's an interesting backstory. If you have Britbox, there is a multi-part series of it. The advent calendar is brilliant.
With the new executive order 47 signed this week, I am not sure we will make it through. He has given himself all power. We are screwed.
Hello,
I do love Ann Cleeve's books, great food quote.
Both the beef bourguignon and the apple salad look yummy.
Take care, enjoy your day!
The food pics look super yummy!
You're so good, Mae ~ mandarines and clementines for escape food. My escape is chocolate. I didn't know that Alice Munroe had won the Nobel Prize for literature. Definitely Margaret Atwood deserved one. Chocolate over butterscotch is always a difficult decision for me. Have a great week!
It´s a surprise-game, for all of us...
Oh, you made me all hungry!
Praying March will look much better!
Before we gave up on beef totally and red meat almost totally I used to make a mean beef bourguignon. It had a full bottle of wine and six ounces of brandy in it, and I always used chippolini onions.
I liked the Advent calendar, but I think I really need to escape because this new presidency is really making me stressed out. Not that I'm surprised. And did you like the MAtthew Venn book? I liked that series, but Anne Cleeves is a great writer. And Gene Wilder makes the best Willy Wonka. Like other comments, I hope March is better, but other than maybe weather improving, I'm not sure it will be. hugs-Erika
Are you familiar with what ‘dodgy’ means? I’m not sure if it’s just an Australian/British slang word, it means something or someone that is unreliable, suspicious, or poor quality, and every time I see DOGE I read it as dodgy in my head and think it’s a very accurate descriptor.
Wishing you a great reading week
One of my happiest memories is the birthday when my sister prepared Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon for me. I will never forget the taste of that meal.
It seems to help me to focus on small actions toward truth (email to my representatives suggesting that their powers are being trampled on by the executive branch and correcting misstatements; little notes of encouragement to those speaking up for truth; talking to like-minded others). I honestly think T is a puppet on which to focus our attention and to avoid taking on the real problems in the country---racism against Others; the greedy (I wish I could think of a stronger word) rich; shutting down opportunities for people. To keep going, I have to think about the good, the little shards of light amid so much darkness.
that apple salad looks wonderful. is there a particular recipe for the vinaigrette?
Link to the salad recipe including a very nice vinaigrette:’
https://www.loveandlemons.com/farro-salad/
Good reading distraction books. That advent calendar of hell about sums it up. All of these things are so painful ugh! I can only imagine what lunacy Kash Patel will bring on.
Oh my. I can just about taste that Beef Bourgignon!
Have a good week, however you can with all the craziness that is happening right now.
I'm thinking we have a giant carbuncle on Uncle Sam's behind.
That advent calendar is funny. We need to laugh when we can, right? I have heard good things about Ann Cleeves novels. I'm really curious about the short story collection edited by Lauren Groff. I'll have to check that one out. It's too bad about Binti. But then, I do really like fantasy and science fiction so perhaps it will be better for me. I do have that one on my TBR and hope to read it someday. I hope you have a good weekend!
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