Hi everyone !
Hope it was a good Father's Day (not many fathers on this list but we've all had them - Jack and I cherish the memory of our dads, Lenny and John - grandfathers to Mandy, Scott, Rennie, Karen, Gail, Bonnie, Jexy, Libby, Jeff, Alex and James and great-grandfathers to Emily, Meghan, Caleb, Olivia, Kristin, Jason, Bob, Jacob and Natalie. They must be so proud watching our lives.
I'm excited to let you all know that Jacob Milo Rowland has taken the training wheels off of his two-wheeler. Remember what an amazing feeling that was?! Jacob is pretty proud of himself. Check out his picture on the blogsite!
I want to share a beautiful quote that I found from syndicated columnist, Ellen Goodman - this is an excerpt from her book with Patricia O'Brien, I Know Just You Mean: The Power of Friendship in Women's Lives
"When we asked women how they defined what a close friend is, they leaped past the adjectives to describe the impact: being known and accepted, understood to the core, trust and loyalty you can count on, having someone on your side. Having someone to share worries and secrets as well as the good stuff of life. Someone who needs you in return.
Somewhere in the meaning of the word "trust" is the assumption that a friend has your best interest at heart. Friends can be collaborators, the instigators who make change possible. They are often the ones who urge us to take a leap, who jump with us or help us scramble back up the other side.
Talk is at the very heart of women's friendship, the core of the way women connect. It's the given, the absolute assumption of friendship. It can be serious or funny, painful or exuberant, intense or joyous. But at the heart of the connections made is one sentence that women repeat over and over: "I know just what you mean."
Book Report:
Janet just finished Loving Frank a first novel by Nancy Moran. This is a fictionalized account of the mistress of Frank Lloyd Wright.
She really loved it, as did Jexy when she read it several months ago. It's been on my "must read" list for a while. I'll include the review again:
From Publishers Weekly
Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions. Horan puts considerable effort into recreating Frank's vibrant, overwhelming personality, but her primary interest is in Mamah, who pursued her intellectual interests and love for Frank at great personal cost. As is often the case when a life story is novelized, historical fact inconveniently intrudes: Mamah's life is cut short in the most unexpected and violent of ways, leaving the narrative to crawl toward a startlingly quiet conclusion. Nevertheless, this spirited novel brings Mamah the attention she deserves as an intellectual and feminist. (Aug.)
Janet is also enjoying listening to The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller - sounds like a great summer read!
From Publishers Weekly
Bestselling author Miller (The Good Mother; When I Was Gone) returns with a rich, emotionally urgent novel of two women at opposite stages of life who face parallel dilemmas. Meri, the young, sexy wife of a charismatic professor, occupies one wing of a New England house with her husband. An unexpected pregnancy forces her to reassess her marriage and her childhood of neglect. Delia, her elegant neighbor in the opposite wing, is the long-suffering wife of a notoriously philandering retired senator. The couple have stayed together for his career and still share an occasional, deeply intense tryst. The women's routines continue on either side of the wall that divides their homes, and the two begin to flit back and forth across the porch and into each others physical and psychological spaces. A steady tension builds to a bruising denouement. The clash, predicated on Delia's husband's compulsive behavior and on Meri's lack of boundaries, feels too preordained. But Miller's incisive portrait of the complex inner lives of her characters and her sharp manner of taking them through conflicts make for an intense read.
Website/Blogsite of the Week: At book group this week, Cynthia and Terrie gave us quite a view into the world of on-line dating - so, how about www.match.com!
Podcast of the Week: NPR's wonderful cooking series Hidden Kitchens - http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=5421655
Vocabulary Word of the Week: Transform (as in learning how to ride a bike!)
Pronunciation:
\tran(t)s-ˈfȯrm\
Function:
verb
Etymology:
Middle English, from Middle French transformer, from Latin transformare, from trans- + formare to form, from forma form
Date:
14th century
transitive verb1 a: to change in composition or structure b: to change the outward form or appearance of c: to change in character or condition : convert2: to subject to mathematical transformation3: to cause (a cell) to undergo genetic transformationintransitive verb: to become transformed : change
— trans·form·able \-ˈfȯr-mə-bəl\ adjective
— trans·for·ma·tive \-ˈfȯr-mə-tiv\ adjective
synonyms transform, metamorphose, transmute, convert, transmogrify, transfigure mean to change a thing into a different thing. transform implies a major change in form, nature, or function
Cooking and Dining Report:
A few selections from my kitchen this week:
Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf from Fine Cooking - Jack had asked for a meatloaf with mushrooms and this fit the bill - http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/recipes/bacon-wrapped-meatloaf.aspx?nterms=50240&ac=fp
Oven-Fried Chicken from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29719,00.html
Chicken and Orzo Frittata from Giada de Laurentiis - a frittata that is cooked in the oven - great for a group - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_36536,00.html -
I served this with simple roasted asparagus - just toss the asparagus (trim the ends where they snap naturally) in olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes - halfway through cooking, sprinkle with freshly greated Parmigianno Reggiano cheese.
Rugelach - I typically only make these pastry treasures during the Chanukah/Christmas season but we had them yesterday - this recipe is worth repeating and I have to credit Ina Garten with this one:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35322,00.html
Have a great week ahead!
Love,
Susan
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