Reading, Writing, and Sourdough

On a challenge, Gene Weingarten wrote a book about December 28, 1986, a Sunday in America picked at random. Think of all the newspapers in the country and what might have made the cut back in the day and it is pretty much what you'd expect: fires, murders, sports, car crashes, arrests, celebrations, and the arts, though not a lot of arts as the selected date fell in the quiet week between Christmas and the New Year. In the hands of twice-awarded Pulitzer Prize author, story after story unfolds to reveal the full depth of the American experience. A burning house, when fully investigated, includes the life-altering reactions of fire-fighters, children caught in the blaze, and parents whose trajectories from birth to that cataclysmic moment are far more complex than they are described in a newspaper column. Those swoops and arcs, measured as snapshots on December 28, are carried through the next 25 years with contemporary interviews. A football playoff game, similarly covered i...

Baking with sourdough while being confined to the house is really a natural combination. A key ingredient for a great sourdough bread -- aside from flour, water, starter, and salt -- is time and if there is one thing we all have while we are working from home is an abundance of time. And an urge to raid the kitchen. I've been baking a lot and trying to find people to whom I can give loaves and doing my best to persuade them that no viruses have survived my 500-degree-oven. Allegheny College has a crack Crisis Management Team that meets daily to respond to statewide mandates and to care for 2500 students and employees. This five pound loaf (below) went to them but did not contain nearly as much gratitude as they deserve. I made my first sourdough challah. It looks great, but was not a total success. I am going to have to practice more with enriched doughs, that is, doughs with fats (vegetable oil in this case) and eggs. This dough rested in the fridge for ...

The first book in a long series by Laurie R. King involving a retired Sherlock Holmes and his soon-to-be protege Mary Russell. Sherlock is tending bees at his remote countryside home, and obviously bored, when 16-year-old Mary, head buried deep in a book, literally trips over the old man while rambling the downs. The two quickly deduce everything necessary about one another from scuffs on shoes, tiny callouses on fingers, creased brows, and stamped footprints in the earth. Vintage Holmes. Only what ensues is a verbal sparring match that most certainly would have given Watson apoplexy had he been there to witness it. Over the course of three increasingly entangling cases Holmes and Russell (Holmes always refers to the young woman as Russell, just as he always called Watson, Watson) spar, deduce, disguise themselves, and hound after bad guys across Britain. With time the rest of Holmes's entourage join the fray -- Watson, Holmes's housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, his brother Mycrof...

Three mysteries. In the first, the Reverend Willie Maxwell, a black Alabama preacher, was tied to the deaths of five close family members, including a couple of wives. Following each untimely departure, the Reverend was the primary beneficiary on several life insurance policies per deceased. While all of the investigations strongly suggested murder for profit, Tom Radney, a civil rights lawyer, and unsuccessful liberal politician, managed acquittals in every trial. At the funeral of Willie Maxwell's third wife's daughter, the Reverend was shot dead by Robert Burns. There was no question about who killed Maxwell. The church was packed. Everyone saw Burns fire three shots. Nor was there much question about why -- Burns had had enough of Maxwell's antics -- so the second mystery was only whether Burns would be convicted. Tom Radney, the same lawyer that defended Maxwell, now successfully defended  Burns, who was acquitted on grounds of insanity and released from psychiatr...

A new discovery for me are sourdough crackers. They contain all the essential ingredients for deliciousness: a hint of olive oil, salt, flakes of dried oregano, and enough seedy crunchiness that people across the room look up longingly at the first snap. The great thing about making sourdough crackers is the recipe only requires a few tablespoons of sourdough starter, so they can be made easily while making another bread.  The other bread in this case were a dozen rolls. I kneaded in roasted kabocha squash I discovered uneaten in the refrigerator. For the rest of my liquid I used a leftover beer, and, well, I had the olive oil on the countertop for crackers, so I poured in two tablespoons.

In five days of continuous action leading up to the home-wedding of Walter and Bennie's recently graduated college daughter to her college girlfriend, the chaos and calamity we call family is put on full display. An ancient great aunt arrives for the event, even though her mind is not fully present. The self-absorbed bride's younger siblings race about the house. Bennie's sister and brother come and bring their children elevating the cacophony of cousins. Then the bride's friends, dogs, and musical instruments come, unexpectedly, to camp in the backyard. Cruising in the background of the fourth generation Westchester home, slowly disintegrating with age (no grass will grow in the front yard, and days of rain have muddied what will become by the end of the week, a swampy parking lot), is a slow invasion of Chasidic Jews. The Chasidim, as they have in other suburban towns near New York City, are seeking inexpensive real estate. While preparing a wedding, Walter and Ben...