Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures and Cherry Frozen Custard

Any book that gives you an excuse to make frozen custard, must be good, right?  Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures is mostly set in glamorous (and not so glamorous) Hollywood, but at its heart and start it is a story about a girl from Door County, Wisconsin - where frozen custard is a summertime staple.  The novel tells the story of the improbable rise to stardom of Elsa Emerson, a young girl from Wisconsin.  Elsa has the theater in her blood - her parents run a summer theater in rural Wisconsin.  But it is a family tragedy that propels her determination to escape Wisconsin and make it in Hollywood - her drive to succeed is not just for herself, but for her family.  Elsa spends her first years in Hollywood as a young wife and mother, never really making it in the Hollywood studio system.  She finally makes it when she meets a man who convinces her to shed "Elsa" and transform into Laura, the glamorous Hollywood starlet.  The book spans 40+ years of Elsa/Laura's life and career, and the ups and down that come with it.

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Blackberry-Mint Julep

Until this one, I have never had a mint julep I enjoyed.  That doesn't make sense, since I really love bourbon, but I have not had a tasty mint julep.   As often happens with cocktails, a bad experience once can sometimes put you off a certain drink or type of liquor forever (or at least for a while).   I recall a very bad mint julep my senior year in college, made by a friend from Kentucky (no offense, P!) - a medicine tasting drink that made me shiver a bit after I took a sip.  To some extent, that was all it took for me to pretty much swear off juleps for a while.  I have partaken a bit in recent years, since bourbon has been so in vogue, juleps turn up on a lot of menus.  What I have found is that the crushed ice that is part of the drink is overdone a bit, and so I feel like I am drinking a bourbon snow cone.    A purist will not like this blackberry mint julep, but it is far and away the best julep I have ever had.  I really like the technique too - pureeing the fruit and mint together then straining to a syrup.  This is something I will play with with other fruit and herb combinations - as summer approaches the possibilities are endless.  While I am a late for an derby day party you may have thrown, this drink is a keeper for the spring no matter what the occasion.

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Still Life with Breadcrumbs and Berry Scones

I recently read Anna Quindlen's "Still Life with Breadcrumbs" as part of a new book club organized by one of my old camp friends.  This is not a book that was on my list or that I was even aware of, but I really liked it a lot.  It is rare these days that a book (or a movie or tv show...) is about a woman over 50, Still Life with Breadcrumbs is a nice break from the norm.  The book is about Rebecca Winter a famous photographer who has fallen on hard times, is struggling to make ends meet, and hasn't taken many photographs lately.  In an effort to save some money (and perhaps find some inspiration) she escapes her Manhattan apartment to a modest cottage in upstate New York.  It is in this small town (after a few days alone in the cottage with a raccoon, questioning her sanity and her decisions) that she walks into Tea for Two cafe and orders the first of many scones from the proprietor, the chatty Sarah.  While she spends a year in the small town, she consumes many of these scones, finds her artistic voice again and finds love.  Along the way it is an insightful, funny and moving read.

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Spring!

Now that April has rolled around, it is time for green things, light things, spring things.  Never mind that where I am, it is not exactly warm yet... but it is getting there.  For Bostonians like me, even if it is 30 degrees out, spring starts when the Red Sox start to play.  Today, I am going to my first game of the season, so spring is here!  When spring starts I am drawn to pretty green things at the market  - peas, asparagus, spring onions, artichokes.  I can't get enough green.  I saw this dish in Saveur Magazine and it just seemed like spring on a plate.  For now I used frozen peas, but pretty soon I will make this again with some fresh ones.  This is a great dish to welcome spring and other than a little bit of cream, it is good for you too.

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