Archive for September 2014
Eat Your Words by Charlotte Foltz Jones (and illustrated by John O’Brien) is an entertaining look at the evolution of idioms associated with food. Although written as a children’s book, this should appeal to anyone with an interest in sustenance and words. It has nothing to do with nutrition and diets.
Foltz’s conversational, easy-to-read history of food and the language associated with it is immediately engaging because of its emphasis on fun. She shares how certain dishes or snacks came to exist. I suspect we all know about sandwiches and their debt to the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, but new to me, at least, is Sylvester Graham and his role in the cracker that bears his name.
Fun, often obscure, facts related to food are shared, including a section on what Foltz justifiably identifies as “silly food laws.” Who knew that in Lexington, Ky., for example, that “it is against the law to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket”? Of course, the larger question is who would want to? Food-related events are also listed, including the Berrien Springs, Mich., annual Christmas Pickle Festival. This suggests mistletoe isn’t the only reason to pucker up.
The book is written in an amusing tone, but it also contains interesting facts associated with the foods we consume every day. Get the book for a kid, but be sure to read it, too.
Eat Your Words
Four Bookmarks
Delacorte Press, 1999
85 pages including bibliography
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson is exasperating and slightly intriguing. Camille and Caleb Fang are performance artists in the extreme. Their definition of art is to create irresponsible chaos amidst the realities of daily routines. The Fangs have children, Annie and Buster, who are used as props and/or unwilling co-conspirators. The kids, also known as A and B, have no interest in being part of their parents’ far-fetched ideas. Once old enough they leave home to pursue more traditional artistic endeavors: Annie is a film actress and Buster writes novels.
When the novel begins, however, both Annie and Buster are experiencing low points in their lives. Though resistant, they return to the family home. Wilson creates a palpable sense of anger and frustration on A and B’s part. This spills onto the reader. In a way Camille and Caleb are like the king who wears no clothes when they create their exaggerated scenarios, most of which are ill-conceived. It’s their children who wonder why no one else can see what they do.
Wilson combines a fair amount of humor, elements of a low-key mystery and the pathos associated with children who have been psychologically harmed and become adults who haven’t outgrown the affliction.
Unfortunately, the narrative doesn’t work. Too many questions arise making suspension of disbelief impossible. For example, if the Fangs are so successful as performance artists why aren’t they recognized? More importantly, why didn’t anyone call social services to keep Annie and Buster out of the fray?
The Family Fang
Three Bookmarks
Ecco, 2011
309 pages
Up until a few years ago, anyone who drove through the if-you-blink-then-you-miss-it town of Hartsel in Colorado’s South Park was familiar with the neon-blue storefront housing Dorothy’s Tamales. Decades ago, Dororthy (there’s an actual Dorothy) started selling tamales in her home a few miles east of town and then moved to what can best be described as a wide trailer – painted that distinctive blue. It was a great place to stop for good Mexican food and pick up tamales to take home after a day spent in the mountains.
Without fanfare, Dorothy moved from Hartsel to Fairplay, well, to the southside of Fairplay along U.S. Highway 24. Gone was the color, gone was part of the smaller town’s character and, most importantly, gone was the ease of stopping.
Finally, we visited the new location. The restaurant faces the highway but it’s on a frontage road, so access is somewhat complicated. It’s a much larger facility but the menu appears pretty much the same. Oh, did I mention the restaurant is also a bowling alley?
Even with a new address, the tamales are worth the extra effort to reach. Filled with chicken, pork, vegetables (I’ve never tried these), cheese or buffalo, the tamales can be smothered in red or green chili. I opted for the pork with red. The shredded meat, masa and chile are well-balanced so no single element overshadows the other.
It’s nice that frozen tamales are still available to bring home for later; so we did.
Dorothy’s Tamales
Four Plates
12771 US Hwy 24,
Fairplay, Colo.
It’s important to use the full name when discussing Twist On Classic Comfort Food, even though it’s easier to refer to this exciting restaurant simply as Twist. The eatery has established itself as a major culinary player in Breckenridge thanks to the spins it puts on mostly-familiar dishes. It doesn’t hurt that Twist is located in a Victorian-style home, another comfort source.
Although it was busy, service never wavered; on a few occasions a server other than our own stopped to see if we needed anything. That’s a nice touch.
The best strokes, though, came from the kitchen. Meatloaf reigns high on the comfort food throne, here it’s made with chorizo and bison. Although it sounds intriguing, we didn’t try it. Instead, the Braised Short Ribs and the Jackfish comprised our orders. Properly braised meat should fall off the bone, which is exactly what happened. Jasmine rice, peach pickled ginger gremolata, cauliflower and a wonton crisp were served with the tender pork.
The Jackfish was a nightly special, and since I was unfamiliar with it I thought I should go for it. This grilled, mild fish was a bit dry but the squash ratatouille provided contrasting texture. A small amount of tomato basil sauce enhanced the not-quite-parched fish. I probably wouldn’t have this again, but am glad I tried it.
This time of year in Colorado, Palisade is synonymous with peaches. The featured dessert was a hand pie filled with blueberry and western slope peaches served with vanilla gelato. The crust was flakey, but the fruit and gelato stole the show.
Twist
Four-and-a-half Plates
200 South Ridge St.
Breckenridge, CO
The Vacationers by Emma Straub is as bright as a day on the beach and also as gritty. Full of poignant, laugh-out-loud descriptions, Straub masterfully portrays a family in crisis.
Jim and Franny Post, with their teenage-daughter, thirty-something son, his girlfriend, and Franny’s best friend Charles and his partner are slated to spend two weeks together in a large rented house on Mallorca. Each chapter represents one day of the vacation and every day includes various perspectives provided by the connected tourists. These are separate views more than distinct voices. Each character hopes to project, or better yet protect, a certain image, because everyone has a secret – some known to a few, others hidden.
The Posts, married 35 years, are financially well-off, privileged. Their daughter, Sylvia, is set to start at Brown in the fall, and the trip was planned as a family celebration. However, in the interim from when the trip was conceived and actually occurs, Jim has had an affair and lost his job. Some know this; others don’t.
As the emotional baggage is shuffled around, the Posts direct their own disappointments to Carmen, the girlfriend. She’s perhaps the most honest among the group, but she is also subjected to the family’s rude behavior. Only Sylvia demonstrates fleeting moments of kindness and understanding.
Yet, the novel isn’t about being mean to others. It’s focused on what people do to live with themselves, even when they’re basking in the sun and have been out too long without sunscreen.
The Vacationers
Four Bookmarks
Riverhead Books, 2014
292 pages
The Blue Page Special 