Cooking With Ideas

Trial and Error Ravioli OR, How I Relaxed My Way to Frozen Pizza

A while ago, I read The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken -- a delightful read and a wonderful gift. (I reviewed it here.) And recently, I received another wonderful gift: a pasta machine. An Atlas pasta machine. And its ravioli making attachment. So, I have begun the great experiment.

Now, I have, in fact, made pasta before. Once. In a cooking class I took in Denver. Where? At the Cook Street School of Fine Cooking. Did I look for that recipe? No. Did I use the one providedc by the author of The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken? No. Instead, I had seen a recipe for some lovely asparagus ravioli in broth in a recent issue of Gourmet -- and so I used the pasta dough recipe that was appended to that recipe. (For the details, click here and then check out the pasta dough recipe.) This recipe called for cake flour (which puzzled me, I confess) and a bit of all purpose. It called for egg yolks and olive oil and water. It definitely involved more ingredients than the pasta I made in cooking class, which was (at least in my memory) flour and eggs. It turned -- after some work into a lovely set of fettucini and then went into a very tasty chicken soup. Anyway, this time I mixed up all the ingredients. I let the dough rest an hour. And I began moving it through my beautiful (yes, it is in fact beautiful) Atlas machine. At first, it looked like I might succeed. I was thrilled. Then, suddenly, the dough was a horrible tearing mess. It stretched even when I wasn't touching it. My effort to get it wide enough to use the ravioli attachment was perhaps part of it. My difficulty in figuring out where to locate the pasta machine so I could stabilize it using the gadget that came with it was also part of the problem. My relative inexperience with a long piece of dough was another aspect of my difficulties. (Aha, now I remember: there were TWO of us when I made it in cooking class, with one of us poised at each end of the pasta machine. Admittedly not very far apart, since the machine is not exactly huge, but it helped to have four hands.) What really happened tonight though? I think the dough just got over tired and threw up its tiny little metaphorical hands into the air and said: NO. I am not going to be ravioli today. In fact, I am not going to be any sort of pasta. I am going to throw myself (ok, it was me) into the trash can. And while making it. the yucky day disappeared, even though the ravioli remains a dream.

Next time, I am trying a simpler pasta dough. Or, maybe the same one. But I am going to try again. Why not? I have the machine, the broth, the filling and some flour and eggs. And Laura Schenone says I can do it. (See her comment here, right after the review of her book.) Plus, the machine is beautiful. And I want some ravioli. And it just seems like it woudl be the best way to say "thank you" for the machine.

Tonight, though, it is frozen pizza. Yep, frozen. Because it is almost 8 o' clock and I am hungry. While I am waiting for it to warm up (one can hardly call it cooking) I am blogging. And dreaming of ravioli (and looking at directions for the pasta machine -- like those available here -- and. . . )

ravioli
pasta machine
Laura Schenone

Kim Sunee: An Author Interview

It was one of those days. I came home, tired and ready for anything other than work. And there was a package for me. I opened it. It was a book entitled Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee – a beautiful, sort of Provencal cover of yellow with fleur de lis. I set it to the side and, after it sat around for a while, eventually I read it. A memoir, which focuses on a young woman’s struggle with her identity (adopted in Korea, living in the US and then in Europe), her relationships with her adoptive family and men in her life, and her ongoing love affair with food. I was grateful – what a gift to come floating free into my life. I even found a familiar moment in the memoir, having spent a tiny bit of time on the little island in Paris where the author once had a poetry store. So, when I had the chance to do an email interview, I took it (with thanks to Brita Rosenheim of YC Media for organizing it). So, here are a few questions and answers with the author of Trail of Crumbs, Kim Sunee. And yes, the subtitle is key: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home.

Bibliochef: Trail of Crumbs has been described as a culinary travel memoir. Can you tell us a bit, first, about your notion of a memoir and how you came to write one?

Kim: I think it’s important to note that a memoir is not an autobiography. You can write several memoirs in a lifetime. But when writing memoir, you have to step outside of yourself and (with the help of a great editor) only include that which is important to the heart of the narrative. In my story, love, travel, food and the search for identity and home were the shaping elements.

Bibliochef: The word culinary in that description is, of course, part of why readers of “Cooking with Ideas” are interested in hearing from you. Can you talk some about the place of food in your life – and how you came to decide to include recipes in your book? The title seems to allude to Hansel and Gretel’s trail of crumbs. . . where did the title come from?

Kim: When I was first meeting with agents, I originally wanted to write a cookbook. But then I met Joy Tutela of the David Black Literary Agency and we started talking about my story and the idea of a memoir. I already had the title, Trail of Crumbs, in my head for several years—like a song lyric I couldn’t forget—never really knowing what it would become. I was thinking of the fairy tale as well, of course. Finding our way back home through food has an always been an obsession of mine, along with the search for where we belong in the world, and cooking and sharing recipes.

Bibliochef: The notions of travel and home seem key to your book – and yet seem to be in some tension. Food seems to move across boundaries for you –both national and other boundaries of time, space, memory. Why food and travel? How are they linked for you? Linked to or through food?

Kim: Sometimes we need to travel in order to come back home. But I’ve also learned that home is really within ourselves—our sense of security and the inner journey. It’s our best turtle-like quality—once we have that sense of self, we can take it with us wherever we go, and feel at home. Food and the culture of food in other places, of course, is also a way in which we understand others and, ultimately, ourselves.

Bibliochef: Of course, one of the places that matters to your narrative is New Orleans. And, quite obviously, Hurricane Katrina has had an enormous impact on New Orleans – I wonder if you have any comment on the ongoing impact of the hurricane?

Kim: I still feel a lot of outrage and the sorrow of loss...for so many...However, I think the chefs of the city and people from all over the world gathered and supported one another in ways only food can bring people together.

Bibliochef: You have written a book – and are now involved with “Cottage Living” magazine as a food editor. Can you talk some about your writing process – and any differences you see between the two types of writing?

Kim: I just wrote an essay for IACP [International Association of Culinary Professionals] about editing vs. writing. [For the article, click here.] I think they are 2 different ways of thinking...but being an editor definitely helped me be a better writer. The writing process for me is a difficult one. I am constantly revising and laboring, but I’ve tried to let the writer come in first and write and then allow room for the editor to have her place—after the creative process—to revise and edit.

Bibliochef: Many of the reviews – and even the comments on the back of your book –focus on your writing as about a relationship. Writing as a woman, do you have any comment on how much attention there is – in the book and in responses to the book – to the main male character? Do you find more attention to him than to yourself as narrator/author?

Kim: I was surprised, perhaps naively so, about how much attention (in interviews and reviews) was focused on the male character, as you put it. Happily, I’ve received many letters on my Web site, from men and women, about how they appreciated the honesty with which I wrote about love and my relationship, in particular. I’ve come to understand that reviews or reactions to the book are often more about the reviewer than about me as an author/narrator. [For Kim's website, click here.]

Bibliochef: In the book, you also write about the poetry bookshop you had in Paris. And you speak of your own efforts at writing poetry. Can you comment on poetry? Any relation to the themes of food/home/travel?

Kim: Poetry for me is the distillation of a single moment that is so pure and resonates at a certain time in our lives. It’s music and love and the world of small things all wrapped up in a single line of beauty. It’s like the perfect bite—you don’t need the whole meal or the entire dish, just a balanced combination of flavors. I still write poems and food seems to find its way in my poetry now as well. I published a few recently on Powells.com under original essays. [For Kim's original essay at www.powells.com, click here.] People ask why I wrote a memoir first. My questions and obsessions with food and love and the search for home would be the same whether in a cookbook or a book of poems...it just happens that I started with the memoir.

Bibliochef: What music, films, books related to food (other than your own!) would you recommend? Why? (These could be scholarly or otherwise!)

Kim: There are so many, I’m sure I will forget to include a lot of them, but here’s a start: All of MFK Fisher and Elizabeth David. Julia Child and Paula Wolfert. Jean Anderson. Dorie Greenspan. The journal Gastronomica. I LOVE Jim Harrison’s The Raw and The Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand. Films: "Mostly Martha", "Babette’s Feast", and I recently watched a Japanese film called "Tampopo" about a woman in search of making the perfect bowl of noodles. It’s a spaghetti western in more ways than one. I also like "Ermo"—the quiet beauty of that woman making the dough... And all those fun names for pies in "Waitress". There are so many more—Under the Tuscan Sun, "Big Night", Waverly Root...Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Naomi Duguid and Jeffrey Alford. I love all their books—I don’t think I’ve cooked from them but I love the depth of their curiosity. I think Artisan publishes some of the most beautiful cookbooks. Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries—I wish I had written that one. Alice Waters. I always go back to the very basic La Cuisinere Provençale by Jean-Baptiste Reboul. Outlaw Cook by John Thorne. [For Thorne's e-zine, click here.] The Southern Foodways Alliance. ......

Bibliochef: Wow. What a list. Thanks. Some of these are familiar and I love them all -- and some new! I'll be out there looking for them. Meanwhile, what do you eat for comfort food?

Kim: It really depends. A bowl of pasta with some sort of crispy chewy pork product is always comforting. Gumbo with potato salad. Red beans and Rice or sometimes just a bowl of fragrant steamed rice with a pat of salted butter or a drizzle of olive oil. I love cheese and Tarte Tatin with a dollop of chilled crème fraiche.

Bibliochef: What am I not asking that I should? What question have you never been asked that you have always wanted to be asked? What's your answer?

Kim: Hmmm...I need to think about that one. These are all great questions and thank you for including me on your site.

Bibliochef: Well, thanks. And thanks again for your book -- and for all the new things I learned through this interview.

For other interviews, click here or try here for a(n allegedly) feminist review of Trail of Crumbs or here for a review from "Northwest Asian Weekly."

Kim Sunee
Trail of Crumbs
memoir
culinary memoir
travel memoir

What has come in your mail lately?

I admit it. I love free things that come in the mail. I horde coupons. I never use them, but I horde them. At work, there are all sorts of work-related things that arrive unheralded and unrequested. Magazines. Books. Once, a set of CDs. But, suddenly, at home. . . . once more rarely, now more frequently. Free things. What now? As I have said on occasion on this blog, Bibliochef has begun to receive mailings from various presses complete with cookbooks to review. Hurrah! I am a bit behind in considering all of them, so I am going to comment on three of them below. I hope you ( yes, you, dear reader) will comment away if you have experience with any or all of these! Or, if you have fantasies of free things arriving, unsolicited, through Uncle Sam's mail. Or, just because I am asking, so desperately. Comment.

In no particular order:

Regional Greek Cooking by Dean and Catherine Karayanis was just published by Hippocrene Books. Hippocrene has published a variety of cookbooks. But who are the authors? Here's what I found on line:

Dean Karayanis has authored news, sketch comedy, and opinion pieces for TV, radio, and online for over 10 years. In his spare time, Dean reverts to his roots, whipping up Greek culinary masterpieces. Catherine Karayanis is author of numerous online computing courses and articles, as well as four books on networking, database administration, and operating systems for McGraw-Hill. She has also worked in the restaurant business for several years. Sourcce: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/regionalgreekcooking.html.

Their cookbook? Not a high end production with loads of pictures, but a useful book with a range of recipes. And, I must say, as someone who only recently learned to make dolmades, I love the cover with the stuffed grape leaves nestled cozily up against the sliced lemons. [For my entry on dolmades, click here.] The recipes cross a variety of regions within Greece; both the mainland and related islands (e.g., Ionian Islands, Aegean Islands, and . . . ) as well as parts of Asia Minor and Cyprus! The sections devoted to particular sub-regions are followed by a discussion addressed to the question: "What would Greeks drink with this?" (A memory of my Ph.D. qualifying examinations and way way way too much ouzo in Chicago's Greektown surfaces involuntarily. We should, I shudder and think -- and then dismiss -- never drink ouzo again.) Despite this, the section is fascinating.

A few recipes from the book that particularly attracted my attention include one for a shrimp and feta that reminds me of those many years ago in Chicago's Greektown. There is Macedonian Eggplant and Lamb Cassarole, Baked Pears with Feta, and a variety of recipes with hallouhmi (a cheese I have seen in Wegmans and never used). Somehow the very word "avgolemono" seems very very nostalgic.

Hippocrene has also published a Lebanese cookbook, a cookbook focusing on China's Fujian province (I have absolutely no idea where that is), a south Indian cookbook, a belarusian cookbook ( I am dying to see this for various personal reasons), a Czech cookbook, a Filipino cookbook, and a Cajun cookbook. As this list makes evident, Hippocrene focuses on regional -- and understands regional in very diverse and smart ways. They also publish histories, travel titles, and dictionaries of various sorts (albanian/english and vice versa, amharic/english, byelorussian/english, croation-english /english-croation, beginner persian, gaelic-english/english-gaelic, indonesian-english/english-indonesian, and, my personal favorite just because I have a clue about the language to which it refers even if I have no idea of any single word in it, the ladino dictionaries). Really, Hippocrene Books is dictionary heaven for those who are definitively opposed to imperial english and its move to become a universal language. Yes, Hippocrene Books provides a whole range of Arabic/Englsh dictionaries. One publication of theirs to think about carefully is their Modern Military Dictionary, English-Arabic/Arabic/English. Hidden in the marketability of this title, of course, lies (not so very discretely) loads of history -- contemporary and otherwise -- not to mention politics and governmental funding of language education. Of course, Hippocrene is not only a producer of resources for linguists and other dictionary users. They also produce poetry books, illustrated histories and an edition of a book on Gettysburg, but what fascinates us all here at Cooking with Ideas are the cookbooks. Here are some of their cookbook titles: "Afghan Food and Cookery"; "Argentina Cooks"; "Cooking with Cajun Women"; "Secrets of Columbian Cooking"; "Estonian Tastes and Traditions"; "Finnish Cooking"; "Havana Cookbook"; "Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine"; "Taste of Nepal"; "Farms and Foods of Ohio"[one of the few places in this list I have actually been!]; "A Taste of Quebec" [oh, wait, another!]; "Sephardim, Israeli Cuisine"; "Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad and Tobago"; "The Art of Uzbek Cooking"; and "Traditional Food from Wales."

What range! I confess I have not included their full list. But wow. What a list! No particular book may be fancy but -- the list. Wow. Taken together, it requires us to ask: is such a list itself an effort at global connectivity or an aspect of global appropriationism? And, on a more mundane note, one must ask: what do youmake of the book I am ostensibly commenting on: Regional Greek Cooking? Let us know!

The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy was published by Viking's Studio imprint. Subtitled "recipes from the beloved bakery for everyone's favorite treats," the book is connected (yep) to Sweet Melissa Patisserie in Brooklyn. The cover is enticing; a beautiful cake, with confectioner's sugar spinkled over it, and berries mounded in the center. The recipes are organized according to the following categories in the table of contents: 1) dessert for breakfast; 2) after-school snack; 3) it's somebody's birthday; 4) what will we do with all of this fruit?; 5) Sunday supper's grand finale; and 6) favorite gifts. What that translates into is 1) muffins, quick breads and etc.; 2) cookies, brownies and bars; 3) special layer cakes; 4) fresh fruit pies, cobblers, crumbles,and preserves; 5) puddings, specialty pies, cheesecakes and etc.; and 6) truffles, brittles, and candies. I rarely bake, so I am not the best judge of this book, but I confess reading it has been helpful in controlling my sweet tooth. Not necessarily why one would think to buy it, but. . . This is not a photography book disguised as a baking book, but is filled with real recipes with directions that work even for me, the non-baker. And I have always wanted a recipe for snickerdoodles. The range, though, moves much beyond this -- homemade butterscotch pudding, cherry clafoutis tart (ok, I have never met a clafoutis I did not like), and pear cranberry pie. Not to mention biscotti. Who knows? I may even bake one of these days. In the meantime, have you cooked from it -- or been to Sweet Melissa's? Let us know!

Things Cooks Love: Implements, Ingredients, Recipes by Marie Simmons is the first in a new series of books from Sur La Table, published by Andrews McMeel books in Kansas City. [Hint: you can get recipes on their website.] Sur la table, of course, is the cooking store we all love, first opened in 1972 in Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The book entered the house accompanied by a spiffy folder of information about it, and a letter. Yep, a form letter, but still. In amongst the information were a few important tidbits: author Marie Simmons, we learn, wrote a column for Bon Appetit for more than 15 years and has written 18 cookbooks. She is, though a deserter -- as a native New Yorker who now lives in California. (Ok, maybe not a deserter, maybe just smarter than those of us who were sucked in by a limited job market and then have stayed in New York State.)

I confess I think this book is really spiffy. It has a section on various kitchen implements -- both a basic one and one that points to more "global" implements which should be used in various forms of cooking. So, in addition to grill pans and cast iron pans and whisksm you can read about mezzaluna, molcajete, and karahi. (What's great, too, is that there are directions for using them --and alternatives if you can't afford to buy every conceivable gadget. Or can't store every conceivable gadget. Or just don't want to die and go to consumer heaven -- or is it hell?) Anyway, after the sections on implements (and how to use them) -- also known as "essential cookware and tools", there are a variety of sections devoted to various cuisines, each with recipes using the relevant gadgets. What cuisines? Here they are: Asian; Mexican; French; Indian;Italian; Iberian (aka Spain and related areas); and Moroccan. The book provides interesting recipes for each area. I admit, though, I kept looking for recommendations of particular brands -- of, e.g., pasta makers and other particular thises and thats. Not in this book. But, definitely recipes that are enticing. For example: "Goat Cheese Stuffed Swiss Chard Bundles with Olives and Sun-dried Tomatoes" and "Lamb Tagine" and "Fresh Fruit Quesadillas." Anmd much much more. I will definitely cook from this.

At the end of the book there does appear a delightful section called "shopping sources." No, they are not all little hints directing you to Sur La Table, despite the ways in which this book feels like a marketing decision (only occasionally -- and perhaps this is why I actualy want recommendations for particular versions of tools -- kind of a consumer reports for the cook?). Why are these few pages delightful? Because the focus is on ingredients. And, yes, the list of sources is itself wonderful --if pretty darn distant.

What can we look forward to from this series? Yep, the mailing which dropped through my mail slot did tell me -- The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet is due out October 2008 and Knives Cooks Love: Selection, Care, Techniques, Recipes by Sarah Jay is due out November 2008. Who is Mushet? For some insight, click here. And Sarah Jay? Again, for a bit of insight, about this proprietor of paellapans.com, click away. While i know what a chiffonade is and how to pit and chop a mango, the latter book (ok, I already said I am not a big baker) is a really exciting possibility. Can't wait!

My one question: am I tempted more by this book because the production values (aka photography) are higher? Maybe. Yep, maybe indeed. And yet we all know that while we sometimes eat with our eyes -- okay, always also eat with our eyes, this is not quite the right way to evaluate cookbooks. . . . The truth is, I will probably cook from all these books one of these days.

So, three cookbooks arrived, unsolicited through the mail, into the foyer of my home. I am grateful for all three. One may entice me into baking. One may tempt me into regional Greek cooking (thankgoodness I made dolmades in a class before this. For background, click here.) And one fits with my secret wish to wander through Sur la table with a gift certificate of enormous proportions. Not to mention, my need for pictures of various things I might buy there -- acccompanied, conveniently enough, with uses for them, directions and recipes!

What has come through your mail slot recently -- especially relevant to food? Fill us in! Please?

Sur La Table
Melissa Murphy
Sarah Jay
Cindy Mushet
baking
Greek cooking
Marie Simmons
Karayanis

UPSTATE 2050

I have no idea how to make this related to food, exactly, but this is a great site and deserved its own little review. Here and there food shows up -- in the linking of Amish to college towns, for example, and the impact on upstate NY wine when California and France experience devastating climate change. But really, this is about much much more.

The site? UPSTATE2050 is filled with tales which purport to be about upstate New York in 2050. The tales are presented as news stories, for example, and range from the impact of war to ecological difficulties to new laws which lead people to be using horse drawn wagons rather than cars to. . . . It is simply a great site -- and open to submissions from anyone who has an intriguing imagination of upstate NY into the future. I admit I really liked one tale about new versions of money which riffed off of the Ithaca Dollar, but also referred to a lovely concept, the Ivy Wars -- nice critique of some of the nastiness associated with higher education.

Anyway, check it out. It is both fun -- funny -- and thought-provoking. Just imagine -- a Mandatory Identification and Registration Act (2015), a Free Tuition Movement, the end of free public high schools, tax free zones. . . a combination of apocalytics, futurology. and. . . .

But then again -- wasn't the Patriot Act unimagineable? Torture undertaken by the U.S.? MOre than five years of war in Iraq? The re-election of George W. Bush? The election of Ronald Reagan?

A Few New Links and One New Blog

Well, a few new links from our own area that focus on food and/or food-related matters:

Calico's Ailurodrome and Alehouse is a site which features a Rochester woman, librarian, cat fancier who blogs about craft beer and home brewing -- and all sorts of other things.

Jaimie and Leah Supported Agriculture -- I have even met one of these bloggers and they certainly have strong media production values. Keep an eye out for more video blogging and podcasts. Ithaca area -- and community supported agriculture focused. Recipes flag which ingredients are locally grown or produced.

Live, Love, Eat, Bake is a site, also from the Rochester area. A bit chatty -- but worth an occasional visit.

Eat Out Rochester is just that: a blog that focuses on eating out in Rochester! Not terribly lively, but they are looking for input! Maybe you have some for them.

freshcrackedpepper is a site which seems to be local (so I put it there in typelist!) but wow -- it is really well written, and has a reflective tone I really like.

Allens Hill Farm now has a blog! Yes, the same Allens Hill that did an interview here at Cooking with Ideas and which produced the Chocolate Chip Cookie mix I recently made! And which I review here on April 30.

Also, check out the comments on my recent entry on Finger Lakes links to find a few more! Thanks to everyone who commented.

Mac's Philly Steaks Opens in Geneva

Canandaigua has had a Mac's Philly Steaks for a while. And now one has opened in Geneva. I have not tried it yet, so I am asking you all -- have you? What's your view? Give us a review!

Meanwhile, though, what was once a local food fad -- Philadelphia steak sandwiches, and Philadelphia cheese steaks -- a variety of hoagie (quite definitely not a sub) has long been a nationwide phenomenon. And yet, most of those outside Philadelphia come no where near my memories of the Philly phenomenon. (for virtual reflections on the real deal, click here or here. Both have pictures. In case you've been fooled by a pseudo cheese steak.) My memory -- a hoagie roll (again, NOT a sub roll) filled with thinly shaved steak, dripping with some grilled onions, maybe some peppers, and definitely some cheese. Thick. A bit salty. Mac's is tempting. Why? Because of this sentence: "After spending many summers on the south New Jersey Shore. . . " which appears on their website. Yes, I think of certain parts of south Jersey as almost the same as Philly. Yes, I know the difference between "down the shore" and other ways of talking about the beach. Yes, I do. There's another reason to be tempted: their web site discusses the basic necessity of the right roll.

You can choose between two sites in the real world, not the virtual world:

76 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY 14424
585-394-7080

10 Castle Street
Geneva, NY 14456
315-789-1101

Check one or the other out -- and let us all know. How are these cheese steaks? Is it as close to Philly as your dreams?

A Mystery Interview: Author Lorraine Bartlett on "Murder is Binding"

Some time ago, I reviewed an anthology of mystery fiction and left a note that I had done so on “Sisters in Crime.” Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by a Rochester area murder mystery writer with the wonderful wisdom to have the same typepad theme! (A typepad theme is simply the color settings one uses for one’s blog!) Right when we “met," we began discussing a possible interview – and finally here it is! (The delay entirely my fault!) Lorraine Bartlett has a book which has just come out, Murder is Binding, and we discuss that book – and many other topics below. Enjoy!
(And join me in thankiing www.mgccc.edu for the image.)

Bibliochef: As I said, we “met” because I dropped a note to “Sisters in Crime” that I had reviewed a mystery at Cooking with Ideas. So, I want to begin by asking you how you came to be a mystery writer. And would you characterize yourself as a writer of cozy mysteries or another subgenre?

Lorraine: I was introduced to mysteries at an early age: 12. My mother read them. When the bookmobile would arrive in our neighborhood, she would only pick books with a little skull graphic on the binding (that the library used to designate mysteries). They frightened me. But when I read my first mystery, Ammie Come Home by Barbara Michaels, I never went back to children’s books.

I write cozy mysteries and psychological suspense. For cozy, it’s the Booktown Mystery series under the pen name Lorna Barrett. My Jeff Resnick series features a former insurance investigator who’s a tad psychic--but he relies on his investigative skills to solve the crimes he gets involved in.

Bibliochef: So, you write under several names; can you tell us about each of them and the sort of mysteries you write under each?

Lorraine: My ex-agent believed (and rightly so) that men weren’t likely to buy books written by women. Although I’d always figured I’d write under the name L.L. Bartlett, she actively encouraged me to do so. When I was a finalist in the St. Martin’s/Malice Domestic best first traditional mystery contest, I figured I’d sell under my real name Lorraine Bartlett. (That still hasn’t happened.) My current publisher wanted a pseudonym for the Booktown Mystery series, and I chose the name Lorna based on Lorna Doone cookies. I chose Barrett because should I figured it would be shelves in bookstores next to Bartlett (or at least pretty close).

Bibliochef: Can you tell us something about your writing process? Also, I read your piece on critique groups. Are you in one now? How do those work?

Lorraine: I really don’t have a set writing process. Lots of times I start a scene in longhand, get writers cramp, and move to the computer. Other times, I start on the computer and move to the cushy chair in my office with a pad of paper and a cat on my lap.

Having a critique group is wonderful for writers when they first start out. I’ve been in a number of groups; some were great--some were toxic. At this point, I no longer need to critique on a chapter-by-chapter basis. These days, I usually only critique other published authors and have my work critiqued by them. I don’t need a line edit (but I welcome someone pointing out typos), and look for my first readers to give me a broad overview of my work.

The best place an unpublished mystery writer can go to seek help in strengthening their work is the Sisters In Crime Guppies Chapter (www.sinc-guppies.org). They offer tremendous support. Through their many subgroups, they can help you hone your query letter, strengthen a synopsis, and share information on what agent/editor is looking for what kind of book/story. The name “Guppies” was coined to stand for “the Great Unpublished,” but there are an awful lot of now-published authors who stick with the group after publication. They celebrate good news with cyber champagne and lots and lots of cyber chocolate. In fact, their twice-yearly writing challenge (to write 40,000 words in a month) is known as the “Chocolate Challenge.” The winner gets pounds of chocolate (in just about every form) from the losers. I’ve never won--but I’ve written a lot of words as part of the challenge.

In addition to the piece on critique groups on my website, I had one published in the “How I Got Published” anthology by Writers Digest (2007). [For Writers Digest onb line, click here.] It’s called “Critiquing and the Green-Eyed Monster.”

Bibliochef: Your book Murder is Binding (issued April 1, 2008!) includes a cookbook store and some history of cookbooks in its plot. How did you come to focus on these topics?

Lorraine: I really don’t remember. I’m not one to make detailed outlines. I had an idea that the book's main character Tricia’s next door neighbor would be a pain in the butt. I’d probably just bought another load of cookbooks when I started the scene and decided to make Doris the proprietor of a cookbook store. It was actually my agent who picked out the title of the stolen cookbook. She didn’t feel the one I’d chosen (a signed copy of one of M.F.K. Fisher’s books) was valuable enough. She was right.

Bibliochef: I love the premise that a small town in New England can model itself on Hay-on-Wye, the Welsh place so well-known for its bookstores – and use that to draw in tourist trade! Have you been to Hay-on-Wye?

Lorraine: I’ve been to Wales, but not to Hay-on-Wye.

Bibliochef: Ok, so, more generally, do you have a favorite cookbook store? And, by the way, do you have a favorite mystery bookstore? Or just plain favorite bookstores?

Lorraine: I buy a lot of cookbooks from Edward R. Hamilton (in Vermont). We don’t have a lot of independent bookstores here in Rochester, so I guess my favorite local bookstore is actually the Greece Ridge Barnes & Noble, where the Community Relations Manger has been especially kind to me. I also buy a lot of books (and nearly all my music) online. I don’t buy used books (or steal music online). If we don’t pay authors and musicians--how can they continue to provide us with new works to enjoy?

Bibliochef: You include recipes in Murder is Binding – and that leads me to guess you cook. Is that the case? If so, what’s your favorite sort of cooking? Are you willing to share a recipe (perhaps one not appearing yet in a book)?

Lorraine: I go in spurts. Sometimes I like cooking, and sometimes I can’t be bothered. I certainly like to eat! I love Indian food. Here’s a pseudo Indian recipe that I actually got out of a Taste of Home magazine [for the magazine on line, click here]:

Vegetarian Spinach Curry
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can 8 ounces tomato sauce
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 can (16 ounces) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained, divided
1 cup chicken broth
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

In a nonstick skillet, cook the onion, garlic and curry powder in oil for 3-4 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in the tomato sauce, spinach and 1 cup of the garbanzo beans. In a blender, combine the broth and remaining garbanzo beans, cover and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir into the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook and stir until mixture is heated through. Serve over rice.

I don’t always follow recipes to the letter. If it calls for 2 cloves of garlic, I might toss in 10. If it says one tablespoon curry--I use two. (I like my flavors strong!)

Bibliochef: Your depiction of sibling relationships in Murder is Binding is a cross between scathing and lovely. Any comment on the role of family relationships in keeping plots going?

Lorraine: My first series (the Jeff Resnick Mysteries) concerns brothers. I was the middle child of three, wedged between two brothers, so I got to see that kind of relationship firsthand. I hadn’t planned to write about sisters with the Booktown Mysteries, but Angelica arrived in the first scene and I was stuck with her. It was only after I finished the book that I figured out where I got the name. From--of all places--a character in the movie "Pollyanna." (Although my Angelica is nothing like that character in the movie.)

Bibliochef: There is a cat in Murder is Binding called “Miss Marple” and the mystery bookstore is proudly located at 221, linked thereby to Sherlock Holmes. Are you a fan of classic cozies and Holmesiana? Which are your favorites?

Lorraine: While I’ve seen my share of Miss Marple episodes, and vividly remember the movie version of “The Mirror Cracked” with Elizabeth Taylor, I’m not a fan of “period” pieces. For Christmas one year I asked for a Sherlock Holmes collection, and read every story, but I can’t say I enjoyed them. (I read them because my friend Lee Shackleford loved them…but I couldn’t get into them.) But I’m a fan of Victoriana…and I did research 221 Baker Street (thanks again to my friend Lee) for the book. But it was all the Barbara Michaels books that introduced me to the (cozyish) mystery genre. I gobbled them up--and there are two I read faithfully every year. (Um…make that three.)

The cat is based on one of my own. She was a little gray cat named Cori and I had her for 18 years. (She was “used” when I got her--and died at age 20.) She was a wonderful little cat who never weighed more than eight pounds. Miss Marple from the Christie novels was an old, gray-haired lady. It seemed apropos that Tricia own a gray cat named Miss Marple. (Who seems to steal every scene she’s in.)

Bibliochef: One of your other series, that you mentioned earlier, focuses on a paranormal detective in Buffalo. Why Buffalo? And why paranormal?

Lorraine: Again, it was my introduction to Barbara Michaels’ work that made me want to write a story with a paranormal thread. (My favorite of her books are House of Many Shadows, Witch, Stitches in Time and The Dancing Floor.) Of all those books, it seems that food is mentioned the most in Stitches in Time and The Dancing Floor.

Why Buffalo? Because I mistakenly thought that a bigger city (than Rochester) would have more crime. Sadly, Rochester (my home town) is the death capital of New York State. Why paranormal? Again, in homage to Barbara Michaels. I knew at an early age that if I ever wrote a book, it would have a paranormal thread. Unlike Ms. Michaels, I decided to write about siblings.

My husband is originally from Buffalo and still has family there. We go there quite a bit.

Bibliochef: One of the themes of Cooking with Ideas has to do with women’s lives and/or feminism. Do you see this issue as at all relevant to your mysteries and your writing life?

Lorraine: It saddens me that “feminism” is considered by many to be a derogatory label. Young woman today don’t seem to understand that even a generation ago things were very different. When I first started working, I was relegated to the pink-collar jungle of secretarial work, and I never left it. (Except for 18 months when I worked production in a machine shop.) I wanted to go further in my (so-called) career, but the shackles of the clerical label weren’t to be broken. My niece doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary about a woman aspiring to be President. That said, she also doesn’t seem to realize that many doors are open to her. She’s thinking very small in terms of what she sees ahead in her working life. (“I’ll just get married and be a stay-at-home Mom.” She doesn’t see that she should think about supporting herself.)

The women in my Jeff Resnick series are more supportive in nature, although Brenda is a registered nurse (who intends to keep working), and Maggie is another captive of the pink-collar jungle.

Tricia and Angelica (and their friends in “Murder is Binding”) are more empowered, owning their own businesses, or aspiring to. Frannie has even less power than Maggie (she’s a receptionist, whereas Maggie is an administrative assistant), but I have plans for her. I had my own business (albeit small) as a vendor in an antique co-op for 11 years. (That just ended in March.)

Bibliochef: Thanks. Its great to hear someone positive on feminism; and it is great to connect that to work, to the generational difference between yourself and your niece, and to your female characters. Ok, now for some less serious questions I ask everyone I interview! What’s the absolutely best meal you have ever had? What made it the best meal?

Lorraine: That’s a difficult question. My mother is a wonderful cook. She now takes medication that has eradicated her sense of smell and taste, but she still makes wonderful dinners. Her sister is also a wonderful cook. But when I think of restaurant food, I lean toward the ethnic. My favorite foods are either Indian or English pub food. The best Indian meal I ever had was in Dublin in an Italian restaurant. Go figure! (Maybe it was jet lag.) I don’t even remember what I ate. It was just so good I remember it with deep affection. (Second best Indian meal was from a take-away in Portsmouth, England, around the corner from (another of) my aunt’s home.)

Bibliochef: What music, films, books related to food would you recommend? Why? (These could be mysteries or otherwise!)

Lorraine: I can’t say I have any favorite music or films that feature food. But I do collect cookbooks. Okay, I’m not a great cook, but I love to read cookbooks. I have shelves and shelves full of them--from just about every cuisine, too. That said, we seem to eat the same five or six dishes over and over again.

Bibliochef: What do you eat for comfort food?

Lorraine: I love a hard boiled egg and a slice of dry white toast, along with a cup of tea. (I like Wegmans Country white for toast.) I eat it a lot. It sounds boring, but that’s what makes me feel good. I could also eat rolls for breakfast, lunch and dinner--slathered with butter--and never get tired of them. When I was six, we went to England (my parents’ homeland) aboard the Queen Mary. I was seasick for three days. By the time I could eat, the only thing I wanted were rolls and butter. And I remember huge silver platters piled high with fresh-baked rolls. I’ve loved them ever since.

Bibliochef: Do you have a favorite restaurant in the Finger Lakes?

Lorraine: I’m pretty much a homebody--and don’t stray far. But it’s tradition that when we head south, we always stop at the Bath, NY McDonalds for an Egg McMuffin. (I like mine with sausage.) It’s fattening and bad for you and oh-so-delicious.

Bibliochef: What question have you never been asked that you have always wanted to be asked? What's your answer?

Lorraine: Why doesn’t Jeff eat much? Since only one of the Jeff Resnick books is out, people haven’t had a chance to notice that Jeff might have an eating disorder. I noticed it by the third book (not yet slated for publication) and wondered where it came from. Through a series of (also unpublished) short stories, I explored his childhood to find out what his issues with food were all about. Sure surprised me! I’ve always felt a slave to delicious food. It’s hard to say “no” to that second helping. I sometimes think my subconscious wanted to create a character that had better control over it. (I’ve read where people with eating disorders feel the only control they have in their lives is over what and how much food they eat.)

These stories aren’t mysteries, so it’s not likely that they’ll ever see publication.

Bibliochef: Wow. Thanks -- thanks for being the first mystery author interviewed on Cooking with Ideas and thanks again for getting in touch! Let me know if you have signings or readings in the area coming up for Murder is Binding and I will let folks know.

For Lorraine Bartlett's blog, click here. Look familiar? Don't be confused -- it just looks like Cooking with Ideas. For her related websites, click here.

murder mystery
Lorraine Bartlett
cozy mystery

I Bought a New Cookbook and Boy Was It Expensive: Saha

I admit it. I am a fan of a certain shape of cookbook. I first fell in love with the shape when I received Hot Sour Salty Sweet as a gift. A great cookbook, with lovely pictures and swell recipes, many of which have become standards in my repertoire. I also own Mangoes and Curry Leaves by the same authors -- with the same shape. And, I have been seduced by others -- Italian: Slow and Savory is one (I have owned it for ages and "read" it often -- but I have not cooked from it). Anyway, I recently was in a bookstore and felt the urge and bought another cookbook of the same shape: Saha (2005). Yes, it was way too expensive ($69.95). No, I have not cooked from it, but that is not stopping me from reviewing this lovely rectangular ode to Lebanon and Syria and their cooking traditions.

The book is beautiful, with photography that both documents and offers you colorful insight into the traditions the co-authors, Greg and Lucy Malouf (former husband and wife, current friends), encounter while traveling. For Greg, a journey to his heritage; for both, quite a difference from Australia. . . And for those of us who hear "war" when we hear "Beirut" a good reminder of what came before -- and what has been built in the years after --civil war.

Among the things I learned in reading it: pine nuts are a big growth crop in Lebanon, but they do not produce enough to compete with China (whose pine nuts, the book alleges, taste terribly bland in comparison); that Greece and Turkey are not the only purveyors of an anise flavored liquor; and that pomegranate molasses has even more uses than I knew. I learned, too, that "saha" is a toast -- to health, I think.

One thing really troubles me, though. The book is not "just" a cookbook (nor is Hot Sour Salty Sweet, for example). It is also a photography book. In fact, that's likely why the book is so expensive, right? All that lovely ink and the choice of paper and. . . The photographer's name, though, does not appear on the cover. Yes, it appears on the inside, title page: Matt Harvey. Yes, it appears as follows, several paragraphs into the acknowledgements (p. 272 of a 275 page book) from Greg and Lucy Malouf: "Thanks, too, for our traveling companions, Matt and Linda Harvey. Linda's good nature and cheery disposition made her a joy to be with and helped dispel the inevitable tensions and challenges of traveling in unknown territory. Matt's creativity and talent as a photographer is clear on every page of this book, and he has captured the beauty and extraordinary diversity of the region in a way that mere words never could."

Otherwise, a great purchase. I have read it cover to cover several times. As it "bakes," I imagine cooking from it. Hmmm. I see the Maloufs have a book on Turkey and Turkish cooking called Turquoise! I am on the watch for it. But I am not sure I will spend so much, since I definitely own some Turkish cookbooks already.

For Greg Malouf's site, click here. For an interview with Greg, click here or even better, here. I could learn something about interviewing from that last one! For Lucy's possibly defunct blog, click here. For other reviews of Saha, click here or here

Saha
Greg Malouf
Lebanon
Syria

Finger Lakes Sites to Watch Out For

So, this site, among other things, focuses on the Finger Lakes. And today, I thought I would point to a few sites which both tell the history of the Finger Lakes and serve various tourism related roles regarding our little part of the lovely blue swirl of our planet earth.

But first: what do you know about the Finger Lakes? I admit I only know what I have learned by osmosis. Glacier lakes? Seneca is the deepest? Sounds of cannon mysteriously reverberating. Lake trout. Burned over district -- and related nineteenth century religious movements. The Seneca Falls aspects of the history of feminism. (On this last point, if you have no clue, see these sites: Women's Rights National Park and National Women's Hall of Fame.) Developed/not-so-developed lakes. So, I gave in to temptation and turned to wikipedia (even though I am ashamed) -- the Wikipedia article on the Finger Lakes was great for me in terms of an overview. A place to start. Some ideas. And if you have an urge to make sense of local geology, try clicking here for a New York State Geological Society perspective.

But here are a few other sites which I recommend checking out:

The Finger Lakes Wine Guide/Middle Finger Lakes Wine Guide: Yes, the middle finger. No, not that middle finger! Run by a B&B owner this site does wine and winery reviews as well as a few restaurant reviews. I suspect this is a newer site as there are not many restaurant reviews (thought these are only a secondary focus).

Finger Lakes Wine Country is a site which covers Chemung Cuonty, Steuben County, Schuyler County and Yates County. It offers information on lodging, restaurants, farmers markets, and all sorts of other interesting aspects of our area. Because of its focus on the four counties noted above, it includes, for example, the Corning Glass Museum.

Friends of the Finger Lakes Publishing focuses on books by Emerson Kees. It opens with a lovely map of the Finger Lakes and has buttons for some of the lakes themselves. Each of these offers some basic background written by Kees.

Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance is a site which is "the official regional website." As such, it covers what seems to be everything about our region -- from dining to shopping, with stops at various cultural possibilities. As a side note, they have a pseudo-blog where one can submit articles -- and bibliochef did one on local blogs a while ago!

Seneca Lake Winery Association: Focused on the many wineries around Seneca Lake, this site also lets you know about happenings along the trail. Check it out!

There are, of course, many more sites. But these will get you started. Have fun -- and recommend ones you think are crucial in the comments please?

Upcoming Interview! And more. . .

What is coming to Cooking with Ideas in the next little while? In addition to the promised review of Saha -- watch for the following exciting entries

**** an interview with Rochester-area mystery writer, Lorraine Bartlett!

*** a brief discussion of Finger Lakes related websites

* a possible guest blog from. . . .