Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, 2015, thursday, 19, 2016, wednesday, my, blog, curious, reader, saturday, december, 2020, may, january, 13, tuesday, november, 10, october, august, july, 16, listhttps, bigreadinglife, wordpress, com, archive, simplicity, project, demon, haunted, world, and, cow, jumped, over, moon, kitchen, year, randomness, of, baking, bread, station, eleven, go, set, watchman,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (337), and (179), was (88), that (76), you (61), with (60), she (57), for (55), her (42), book (41), one (39), not (37), but (36), there (34), which (32), more (31), this (28), when (26), have (26), would (25), life (23), out (23), can (23), are (23), share (21), from (20), books (19), will (18), what (17), into (16), were (16), had (16), all (15), because (15), sagan (15), just (14), reading (14), has (14), bread (14), may (13), big (13), many (13), even (13), might (13), where (13), about (13), did (13), always (13), never (12), back (12), only (12), make (11), good (11), know (11), your (11), then (11), mother (11), very (11), could (11), #december (10), than (10), room (10), things (10), they (10), much (10), living (10), those (10), who (10), been (10), new (10), first (10), made (10), over (10), them (10), year (10), little (10), january (9), his (9), after (9), although (9), work (9), something (9), find (9), also (9), july (8), through (8), think (8), away (8), time (8), thought (8), love (8), how (8), two (8), bit (8), now (8), kitchen (8), reichl (8), february (7), august (7), october (7), world (7), old (7), day (7), read (7), people (7), pinterest (7), facebook (7), blogthis (7), email (7), comments (7), posted (7), grad (7), without (7), feeling (7), put (7), course (7), part (7), own (7), hands (7), joy (7), june (6), september (6), november (6), our (6), works (6), its (6), home (6), found (6), being (6), should (6), thinking (6), take (6), science (6), road (6), other (6), probably (6), short (6), store (6), several (6), cookbooks (6), walk (6), able (6), like (6), get (6), april (5), 2015 (5), project (5), another (5), clap (5), hard (5), don (5), between (5), nothing (5), rather (5), doing (5), running (5), hand (5), too (5), still (5), hit (5), later (5), open (5), whether (5), way (5), see (5), end (5), jones (5), really (5), days (5), christmas (5), great (5), used (5), going (5), down (5), words (5), fine (5), often (5), last (5), ruth (5), some (5), point (5), look (5), let (5), country (5), until (5), years (5), each (5), simplicity (4), eyes (4), best (4), here (4), why (4), ever (4), believe (4), him (4), lives (4), change (4), place (4), well (4), power (4), dog (4), photographs (4), itself (4), morning (4), turned (4), child (4), wish (4), every (4), within (4), ones (4), goes (4), small (4), editor (4), judith (4), shelf (4), yes (4), gone (4), myself (4), happy (4), gift (4), wonderful (4), office (4), obviously (4), does (4), size (4), seem (4), husband (4), art (4), baking (4), dough (4), remember (4), ask (4), comes (4), pretty (4), enough (4), filled (4), grief (4), any (4), house (4), their (4), however (4), both (4), reader (4), true (4), paper (4), particular (4), began (4), cow (4), moon (4), ghost (4), carl (4), haunted (4), believed (4), god (4), billions (4), voice (4), march (3), 2016 (3), woman (3), says (3), brain (3), prove (3), since (3), summer (3), trip (3), land (3), atticus (3), finch (3), kept (3), few (3), nearly (3), subject (3), bring (3), say (3), covers (3), live (3), thursday (3), else (3), pick (3), call (3), station (3), eleven (3), around (3), light (3), while (3), alone (3), story (3), far (3), late (3), early (3), against (3), surprised (3), cards (3), door (3), friend (3), upon (3), considered (3), name (3), mine (3), fast (3), heart (3), leaving (3), edition (3), page (3), apparently (3), treasure (3), reason (3), saw (3), knew (3), journey (3), self (3), mental (3), list (3), walked (3), shop (3), thing (3), huge (3), long (3), closet (3), heaven (3), julia (3), heard (3), publication (3), saving (3), cook (3), wrote (3), sadly (3), didn (3), dark (3), entire (3), makes (3), bowl (3), cookbook (3), recipes (3), needed (3), using (3), precious (3), actually (3), full (3), already (3), wonders (3), took (3), making (3), added (3), york (3), felt (3), loving (3), matter (3), most (3), given (3), window (3), entered (3), looked (3), either (3), hold (3), begin (3), finds (3), sort (3), children (3), painted (3), came (3), pots (3), longer (3), cost (3), carried (3), though (3), need (3), demon (3), jefferson (3), generation (3), belief (3), least (3), pile (3), 2020 (2), blog (2), review (2), jenny (2), emily (2), widely (2), sleeping (2), needs (2), couch (2), posts (2), perhaps (2), real (2), strong (2), mess (2), perfect (2), worked (2), whatever (2), kill (2), mockingbird (2), forever (2), friends (2), set (2), bleak (2), hope (2), phone (2), meant (2), gripping (2), fun (2), sun (2), planet (2), everyone (2), poetry (2), question (2), age (2), successful (2), rising (2), lights (2), cities (2), flight (2), sky (2), points (2), cut (2), fire (2), dreams (2), help (2), slightly (2), writing (2), hours (2), car (2), before (2), stood (2), beautiful (2), array (2), credit (2), exist (2), sister (2), close (2), nor (2), movies (2), exposure (2), non (2), john (2), period (2), sick (2), lucky (2), wednesday (2), bake (2), traffic (2), jam (2), plane (2), whole (2), experience (2), simply (2), printing (2), second (2), won (2), bought (2), doubt (2), truly (2), soon (2), went (2), aisle (2), seemed (2), imagination (2), emma (2), 1902 (2), travel (2), proof (2), searching (2), certain (2), evan (2), success (2), front (2), passed (2), appeared (2), along (2), spines (2), stopped (2), nerd (2), especially (2), tight (2), reached (2), brick (2), library (2), including (2), knows (2), 1980s (2), french (2), cooking (2), ago (2), series (2), particularly (2), machine (2), recipe (2), randomness (2), wanted (2), weekend (2), resting (2), yeast (2), require (2), soul (2), calms (2), warm (2), gently (2), loaf (2), spread (2), soft (2), known (2), oven (2), saved (2), card (2), choice (2), spent (2), writer (2), shopping (2), damn (2), readers (2), thoughts (2), easier (2), keep (2), upstate (2), manhattan (2), pad (2), mid (2), want (2), poverty (2), ignorance (2), feel (2), losing (2), overlooking (2), times (2), square (2), supportive (2), dream (2), blessed (2), borrowed (2), line (2), gourmet (2), herself (2), job (2), dollar (2), gentle (2), beginning (2), industry (2), family (2), author (2), wall (2), instead (2), chief (2), magazine (2), such (2), decided (2), become (2), these (2), write (2), tried (2), quite (2), potato (2), cover (2), nice (2), picture (2), smiling (2), looking (2), heavy (2), food (2), pantry (2), pull (2), create (2), dish (2), reasons (2), night (2), milk (2), upstairs (2), son (2), past (2), brow (2), reaching (2), crescent (2), stars (2), splendid (2), ink (2), built (2), base (2), onto (2), jump (2), jumped (2), imagine (2), called (2), orange (2), punch (2), potica (2), piano (2), superstition (2), school (2), table (2), must (2), getting (2), ready (2), owl (2), roll (2), mom (2), wasn (2), decidedly (2), meal (2), held (2), yet (2), game (2), haven (2), decades (2), loved (2), closed (2), cold (2), cry (2), hurt (2), hot (2), favorite (2), dress (2), chose (2), except (2), written (2), teleported (2), tell (2), said (2), dichotomy (2), himself (2), fascinating (2), greatest (2), hero (2), doesn (2), scientist (2), tells (2), frederick (2), understood (2), literacy (2), path (2), freedom (2), changed (2), douglass (2), american (2), history (2), kinds (2), slavery (2), free (2), keeping (2), regarding (2), death (2), biblical (2), literalists (2), atheist (2), faith (2), evidence (2), universe (2), existence (2), theory (2), fit (2), hear (2), cosmos (2), radium (2), girls (2), sitting (2), use (2), got (2), floor (2), start (2), idea (2), word (2), move (2), curious (2), simple, theme, powered, blogger, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, archive, grandmothers, kitchens, entangled, cecilia, grant, unbecoming, downham, justlittlemusings, means, trying, sill, working, butterfly, charlotte, web, blogging, 2006, elly, griffiths, talia, hibbert, appreciating, deeply, indie, newsletter, bicycles, nhận, định, aston, villavs, ajax, ngày, 2024, lúc, mountain, girl, 2025, beauty, cat, politics, zohrans, jacindas, rebecca, yarros, likely, event, 2023, smithereens, strangers, belle, burden, vintage, reads, necromancy, pays, midway, tales, listhttps, bigreadinglife, wordpress, com, subscribe, atom, older, scout, victim, cruel, hoax, figuring, returned, maycomb, evil, twin, brother, skippy, next, installment, discover, father, hostage, cellar, radley, mystery, manuscript, hidden, box, redeem, tampering, tinkerbell, meantime, bother, saddens, fear, sin, watchman, foreboding, ends, sweet, ray, provoke, ponder, otherwise, granted, compel, dystopia, opposite, utopia, terms, writes, shining, birds, singing, peace, harmony, healthy, fed, highly, educated, isn, sit, eat, grape, clusters, listening, recitations, vanished, fortnight, ifs, compelling, deadly, pandemic, modern, medicine, technology, fleet, lethal, devise, ways, fight, perished, wake, porch, moths, fluttering, nights, trains, under, surface, dazzling, electric, third, rail, towns, glimpsed, airplane, windows, glimmering, pharmaceuticals, certainty, surviving, scratch, finger, chopping, vegetables, dinner, bite, departments, police, maintenance, garbage, pickup, internet, social, media, scrolling, litanies, nervous, hopes, lunches, cries, expressions, contentment, commenting, others, less, avatars, better, judgment, key, ignition, casually, awed, produce, section, supermarket, stared, colors, freshness, amazing, choices, fingertips, asking, buying, currency, pepper, judge, peppers, cart, remote, garage, opener, groceries, refrigerator, grill, someone, telephone, cell, laugh, together, talk, bottle, wine, watch, movie, alive, dwell, drawn, doomsday, literature, dystopian, themed, masterpieces, none, genre, limited, existent, mandel, breakthrough, 1984, fahrenheit, 451, brave, alarming, flu, virus, crops, half, across, republic, georgia, frighteningly, incubation, dead, traveling, headed, direction, weeks, civilization, evaporated, somehow, survived, random, plans, draw, graphs, fill, action, lists, delight, comprise, largely, forged, unforeseen, turns, envision, causes, miss, minutes, planned, wide, encompassing, research, learned, volume, error, 127, slipped, allowed, subsequently, corrected, knowing, purchasing, fairly, rare, fell, sentiment, attached, wrong, displaced, agony, regret, whispered, shouted, deep, mistake, straight, failed, follow, instincts, mentally, kicked, fullest, anatomy, croaked, noise, cross, groan, loud, shriek, upset, leave, immediately, smitten, raced, reluctantly, fighting, indulgence, practicality, impulsive, acquisitions, afternoon, alcove, stacked, unsure, desk, contained, volumes, detour, ran, booth, tarkington, flyleaf, inscription, acca, tommie, merry, vanrevels, rummaging, equipped, dusty, crammed, rafters, aisled, rambling, creaky, saggy, sofa, inside, step, narrow, entrance, stairs, laid, building, code, existed, opened, ubiquitous, tinkling, bell, clichéd, tiny, tea, average, anything, albert, knopf, championed, credited, oblivion, doubleday, personal, contains, brought, lidia, bastianich, joan, nathan, jacques, pepin, james, beard, marcella, hazan, stuff, learn, print, diary, anne, frank, mastering, machines, market, decade, pinch, based, buttermilk, crazed, trail, invariably, lead, desired, juila, essence, lazy, cannot, rushed, stages, development, jostled, term, breads, normally, quiets, mind, soothes, spirit, rainy, sunday, places, kneading, scene, ceramic, mixing, sturdy, wooden, spoon, clean, linen, cloth, jars, flour, magic, watching, bubble, fragrance, sliced, sandwich, type, occasional, boule, bakery, savored, thickly, brie, authentic, baguette, achieve, crunchy, crust, shatters, spiky, shards, rough, textured, raggedy, interior, produced, fossilized, remnant, daily, subtitle, memoir, hybrid, 136, wow, happened, dramatically, affected, purchased, fortune, smiles, apt, hoard, staying, historical, fiction, led, zeppelin, hasty, decision, zeroed, prospective, mull, give, greater, item, earned, money, case, strange, taking, workable, delicious, fair, ingredient, party, giving, romantic, evenings, walks, woods, revelation, finally, emoir, expend, token, aren, allow, continue, defunct, months, depressed, marginalized, couldn, overcome, sudden, urge, grab, tedious, shoulders, enlighten, ruthie, wheelchair, despair, consists, burying, companion, anyplace, unsinkable, positive, attitude, appreciation, fortunate, maybe, cher, moonstruck, yelled, snap, angst, storm, suddenly, finding, unemployed, worried, financially, unerringly, apartment, unless, grounds, sits, gladly, content, magnificent, million, view, colleagues, jobs, recover, future, seeing, endless, empty, incapable, imaging, insinuated, feared, homeless, publishing, vast, influential, selling, interviewed, anderson, cooper, attends, concerts, travels, cranberry, pecan, crostata, worth, gotten, tempted, throw, ten, subscription, publisher, conde, nast, publishes, magazines, literally, overnight, recounts, miserable, apart, comprised, workers, sympathetic, empathetic, drags, seasons, indulgent, whining, appetit, brides, glamour, yorker, vogue, readily, ignore, annoying, technical, difficulties, form, basis, irritation, having, expended, visceral, irritating, explain, difficult, lie, flat, inclined, spinach, ricotta, gnocchi, wrestle, submission, hauled, garden, hire, butler, submissively, shame, simplistic, shirred, eggs, puree, physicality, object, chunky, ish, hardback, version, crime, novel, dust, hardboard, gray, canvas, spine, feels, partly, pages, printed, hefty, matte, glossier, temptingly, glorious, runs, throws, begins, ingredients, urgency, photograph, sparks, epiphany, palate, pains, lack, luster, awful, missed, opportunity, shine, honed, waited, impatiently, delivered, ripping, packaging, landed, doorstep, evening, tuesday, confused, date, puts, water, coffee, maker, doors, leads, bedroom, bringing, fact, died, telling, comfortable, finished, entitled, hartley, foreign, differently, fevered, bakes, surprises, band, paints, peonies, crane, marsh, fish, captures, steeple, church, high, above, tree, tops, toward, suspended, blue, firmament, jumps, silvery, chasing, examples, wrought, gifted, watercolor, medium, pen, chalk, riding, toy, plywood, rocked, sides, rounded, higher, quietly, fanfare, plotting, standing, judging, striving, right, brightly, awesomeness, manage, specialties, blossom, types, citrus, sherbet, juice, concentrate, maraschino, cherries, tossed, color, served, midnight, mass, eve, parents, abundance, growing, holidays, special, halloween, eager, dressed, bum, dining, wondrous, moment, hollowed, oranges, jack, lantern, faces, shells, jello, hoot, cookies, constructed, chocolate, vanilla, shaped, heads, cashew, beak, artist, weddings, funerals, slovenia, occasion, mourning, complete, yeasty, thinly, tearing, variations, filling, same, consisted, ground, walnuts, honey, meringue, cinnamon, watched, manipulated, walnut, concoction, coxed, placed, tube, pan, declare, organized, unappreciative, company, during, preparation, sneak, gander, sight, alarm, stout, dripping, spoons, peelings, belching, steam, splashes, tomato, gravy, strewn, hither, scraps, instructions, exotic, morsel, taped, cabinet, askew, overflowing, lots, boiling, bubbling, gurgling, chaos, emerged, fabulous, candles, assigned, task, flotsam, jetsam, removal, madness, preceded, genius, revealed, drive, holding, silly, inconsequential, realize, consequence, dimple, memories, deepest, impressions, excursions, usually, pass, bookshop, cermak, neighborhood, replaced, joint, convenience, nancy, drew, begged, hesitated, acted, conspirator, egger, feeding, habit, heft, 1950s, class, stamp, cents, gallon, quarter, quiet, bathed, hour, accomplish, sat, usual, wrapped, blanket, perpetually, asleep, noticed, chest, sharp, owe, cool, sewed, childhood, fabric, white, cotton, cartoon, drawings, ladies, stylish, hats, carrying, purses, arms, hoops, men, bowlers, wedding, gown, enamored, piece, clothing, tome, finish, expected, exceedingly, off, tangents, putting, information, topics, raising, franz, mesmer, ozma, edward, teller, thermonuclear, war, frightening, prospect, space, ship, top, attic, stair, fascinated, person, private, despised, pill, wife, understandably, forgive, informed, mutual, ann, druyan, discovered, hopelessly, married, seems, insatiable, attention, personally, man, inspire, wise, elegant, lucid, unyielding, dull, lost, mysticism, thomas, deserve, accolade, disconnect, extolling, virtues, botanist, astronomer, philosopher, thinker, declaration, independence, fails, slaveholder, uneasily, cohabiting, modes, human, approachable, young, slave, named, bailey, armed, understanding, taught, fled, england, character, sir, walter, scott, orators, lady, lake, surprise, champion, critical, delightfully, subversive, dangerous, unjust, society, today, cultures, thrive, segments, population, darkness, illiteracy, breeds, rightly, tyrants, expression, ideas, newspapers, encourage, begets, disobedience, skepticism, ultimately, tyrant, gears, hopelessness, low, esteem, mesh, kind, perpetual, failure, grinds, bear, scores, students, tested, anymore, culture, wins, feelings, dismissive, validity, miracles, nevertheless, careful, acknowledge, positivity, religion, humans, ethics, compassion, morals, roots, religious, fault, termed, spoke, unerring, stenographer, allegory, metaphor, interpretation, suffer, whom, fools, easily, nonpareil, stand, scientific, come, conviction, denied, explained, absence, withhold, infinitely, argued, disprove, creator, essentially, declares, impossible, lifetime, tools, currently, disposal, comfortably, cloak, agnostic, proven, requires, skeptically, interrogate, discordant, notes, takes, manner, magical, reservation, pseudoscience, zealotry, witchcraft, ufo, encounters, miraculous, healings, beatific, visions, claims, alien, spaceships, prosaic, explanations, once, subjected, common, sense, analysis, inventing, city, america, umbrage, scoffing, ghosts, certainly, savannah, oodles, burgeoning, tourist, stormy, experiences, speak, incredibly, enthralling, chances, spoken, seen, narrated, johnny, carson, funny, imitating, settled, published, 1996, saganesque, nasal, roundish, candle, try, purge, managed, select, island, kate, moore, pat, barker, hated, issues, beyond, gruesome, painful, adding, grim, physical, discomfort, row, leg, uncomfortable, cabin, air, temperature, settings, plus, faced, bathroom, feet, elaborate, rows, behind, conscience, seat, pillow, head, package, misery, thereafter, glimpse, relived, honest, unload, minute, purged, blip, total, fail, decide, advice, marie, kondo, caught, understand, method, correctly, fuzzy, process, gives, carted, remains, problem, picked, practice, routine, opening, paging, fade, west, middle, piled, thousand, whatsoever, stiff, difficulty, brushing, anxious, joyless, owned, tall, worn, believing, started, counting, shelves, downstairs, expecting, hundred, 700, continuing, count, exhausting, contemplate, guesstimate, questioning, efficacy, planner, clever, post, note, fungible, launched, selection, 2021, purging, utensils, dishes, cups, collected, multitude, swag, bags, conventions, fairs, advertising, campaigns, gadgets, awhile, figure, capable, causing, bodily, harm, easy, gave, confidence, bigger, clothes, proved, sentimentality, wardrobe, relative, ease, absolute

Text of the page (random words):
in a blanket for she is perpetually cold or so she says her eyes were closed she was asleep i noticed her hands resting on her chest i began to cry i began to cry because something hit me sharp and hard it hurt to those hands which were always so strong and yet so gentle i owe so much those were the cool hands i felt on my hot brow when i was sick they were the ones that sewed my favorite childhood dress she let me pick the fabric and i chose a soft white cotton with small cartoon like drawings of people on it ladies in stylish hats and carrying purses over their arms little children running with hoops men in bowlers i called it my people dress and except for my wedding gown i can t remember being more enamored with a piece of clothing than i was with that one my mother took me shopping with her quite a bit she didn t drive back then and so we always walked as we walked instead of holding hands we would clap each other s hand walk clap walk clap walk clap it was a silly game and so inconsequential that i should probably not be able to remember it but the longer i live the more i realize things which seem of no particular consequence at the time dimple our memories with the deepest impressions on these excursions we would usually pass a little bookshop on cermak road i haven t been back to the old neighborhood in many decades but it has probably been replaced with a fast food joint or 7 11 convenience store and is nothing more than an old ghost now one day as we passed the shop i saw a new nancy drew book in the window it cost 1 00 i begged my mother hesitated i loved books even then and she always acted as co conspirator and egger on feeding my habit but a dollar carried more heft in the late 1950s when a first class stamp was 4 cents and a gallon of milk or a trip to the movies cost a quarter each she looked at me and at the window and at me i carried home my treasure at christmas weddings and funerals we always had potica it is the dish of slovenia and no occasion of joy or mourning could be complete without it she would make the yeasty dough and roll it out as thinly as she could without tearing although there are variations mom s filling would always be the same and of course i believe the best it consisted of ground walnuts honey meringue and a little cinnamon i watched as her hands manipulated the dough and spread the walnut concoction and coxed the whole thing into a roll to be placed in a tube pan when it came out of the oven we could at last declare it to be christmas my mother was a wonderful cook but she wasn t a particularly organized one she was decidedly unappreciative of company in the kitchen during the preparation of a big meal if one was able to sneak a gander at what was going on in there the sight would alarm all but the stout of heart pots dripping spoons potato peelings more pots with covers belching steam splashes of tomato or of gravy cookbooks strewn hither scraps of paper that held instructions for the making of some exotic morsel taped to a cabinet yet more pots with covers askew to overflowing and lots of boiling bubbling gurgling chaos what emerged however was nothing short of fabulous and with candles for the table it was only at the end of the perfect meal when we children were assigned the task of flotsam and jetsam removal that the madness which preceded genius was revealed another of my mother s specialties was something she called orange blossom punch and was made with two types of citrus sherbet orange juice concentrate and 7 up with maraschino cherries tossed in for color she always served it after midnight mass on christmas eve with potica and she always put the punch bowl on the piano i don t know if it was out of a superstition of some sort both of my parents were blessed with an abundance of them but the piano it always was and always had to be growing up i remember so many holidays that my mother made special with the work of her hands one particular halloween i came home from school eager to get dressed up as a bum and found the dining room table filled with wondrous things while we were at school she must have spent the entire day getting ready for the moment she had hollowed out oranges cut smiling jack o lantern faces in the shells and filled them with jello there were also hoot owl cookies she constructed using part chocolate and part vanilla dough which she shaped into owl heads a cashew for the beak they were little works of art but of course my mother was an artist if you look around my house or walk into my office you will see the splendid examples of art wrought by my mother s hands she is or was very gifted although watercolor was her medium of choice she did splendid work in pen ink and chalk but she also built things like the riding toy made from plywood with a base that rocked on the sides she painted a crescent moon onto the rounded base and higher up a cow in full jump in a sky full of stars with the words and the cow jumped over the moon this she made for my son john she made it quietly with no fanfare i can imagine her plotting it out standing back as she painted judging her work striving to get it just right she painted it gently and brightly with an awesomeness only she could manage my mother has entered her 96 th year she is often confused about the day not just the date but whether it is morning or night whether one puts milk or water in the coffee maker which of those doors upstairs leads to her bedroom she wonders when her son is bringing back her dog the one he borrowed for the weekend the one that in fact has been gone for many years when her sister died last year at the age of 98 i decided there was no point in telling her i want her to be happy the past can be a nice comfortable place to be i just finished a wonderful book entitled the go between by l p hartley the first line of which is the past is a foreign country they do things differently there yes they do that is where my mother calms a fevered brow bakes surprises for her children works a band saw paints a bowl of peonies or a crane in the marsh looking for a fish that is where she captures the steeple of a church rising high above the tree tops reaching toward heaven reaching into forever and where suspended in the dark blue firmament a cow jumps over a silvery crescent moon chasing stars posted by grad at 1 18 pm 21 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest tuesday november 10 2015 my kitchen year the subtitle to my kitchen year ruth reichl s memoir cookbook hybrid is 136 recipes that saved my life saved her life wow what had happened to have so dramatically affected her life that it needed saving you might ask i know i did and i purchased it using one of those precious book gift cards that comes along every now and then when good fortune smiles i m apt to hoard those cards saving them for something that has staying power a cookbook an art book historical non fiction a led zeppelin cd i never make a hasty decision when using a gift card even when i ve zeroed in on a prospective choice i still mull it over a while one would think i d give greater thought to an item for which i ve actually spent hard earned money but no that is not the case for whatever strange reason no and so i honed in on my kitchen year and waited impatiently for it to be delivered ripping open the packaging as soon as it landed on my doorstep and i began reading it that evening i wanted to love it i tried to love it sadly i don t love it i just can t bring myself to love it and here are some of the reasons why let s begin with the physicality of the book itself as an object it s a chunky ish book about 9 1 2 x 7 x 1 1 2 the size one might find in the hardback version of a new crime novel there is no dust cover but it does have a nice hardboard cover with a picture of a smiling ruth reichl and a good looking gray canvas spine it feels heavy for its size partly because the pages are printed on a hefty matte paper rather than the glossier paper that one often finds in cookbooks one finds that sort of paper in many cookbooks for a very good reason photographs of food should look temptingly glorious so much so that the reader runs into the kitchen throws open the pantry and begins to pull out ingredients never feeling the urgency to create that particular dish until a photograph sparks an epiphany of the palate it pains me to say the photographs in this book are a bit lack luster not awful but oh such a missed opportunity to make them shine the book itself is difficult to cook from because it does not lie flat so if you are inclined to make the spinach ricotta gnocchi you ll either have to wrestle it into submission a with a big brick hauled in from the garden write the recipe out by hand or hire a butler who will submissively hold it open for you a shame really because although a bit simplistic the ones i ve tried are really quite good the shirred eggs in potato puree is good enough to dream about i could readily ignore these annoying technical difficulties since they do not form the true basis of my irritation with having expended a precious gift card on this book it is more visceral than it is ruth reichl herself who is irritating let me explain for ten years reichl was the editor in chief of gourmet magazine a wonderful publication for which i had a subscription many years running that is until publisher conde nast which also publishes big name magazines such as b on appetit brides glamour the new yorker vogue decided to close down the magazine literally overnight and after 69 years of publication reichl recounts going back to her huge office overlooking times square feeling miserable apart from losing her job she was also leaving what had become a family comprised of her co workers up to this point i was sympathetic empathetic even but then ruth reichl drags the reader through 4 seasons of self indulgent whining with recipes suddenly finding herself unemployed reichl worried that she and her obviously very loving financially successful and unerringly supportive husband would not be able to keep both their manhattan apartment and the little country house in upstate new york unless she was able to find another job photographs of the little country house and the grounds upon which it sits would seem like heaven to most of us i would gladly have given up the new york pad content to look out my country window at the magnificent million dollar view but that is me ruth however entered the land of grief yes gentle readers land of grief as her colleagues were beginning to find jobs and recover she on the other hand looked into the future seeing endless empty days incapable of imaging how my life would ever change she actually insinuated she feared she would end up alone and homeless this from a woman known widely in the publishing industry with a vast array of influential friends a loving family and who was already a best selling author she is interviewed by anderson cooper she attends yo yo ma concerts she travels still life is bleak until one makes cranberry pecan crostata which perhaps will make it worth living for a short period of time i had gotten to page 61 at this point and was tempted to throw the book against the wall instead i read on it is mid february and gourmet has been defunct for several months she is feeling especially depressed out there in the real world people were doing big things thinking big thoughts living big lives she felt marginalized and couldn t help thinking about the life i might be living at this point i am overcome with the sudden urge to grab this tedious woman by the shoulders look into her eyes and ask her do you really want to think about the life you might be living let me enlighten you ruthie you might be living a life in a wheelchair or one filled with the despair of poverty and ignorance you might be living a life where the grief you feel is not from losing your huge office overlooking times square but rather consists of the grief that comes with burying a child you might be living a life where there is no loving supportive husband to be your companion and friend nor any dream of being lucky enough to own a little house in the country or anyplace else for that matter or you might be living a life filled with an unsinkable positive attitude and appreciation for how truly fortunate even blessed you have been maybe i would have borrowed that great cher line from moonstruck and yelled snap out of it through all this angst she is cooking up a storm for you see she has a m emoir cookbook in the making the very one for which i would expend a precious book token and which i do not love and when added with all the other readers who aren t doing big things or thinking big thoughts we will make it a little easier for you to keep that little place in upstate new york and that great manhattan pad and allow you to continue to think and do big i had finally had enough ms reichl is a fine writer there is no taking that away from her there are some very workable recipes in the book delicious even and to be fair after a full year of soul searching ingredient shopping party giving romantic evenings with her husband and long walks in the woods she comes to the revelation that her life is pretty damn good after all something that many of us already knew one wonders why it took her so long posted by grad at 5 35 pm 16 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest thursday october 1 2015 the randomness of baking bread i can t remember the last time i bought bread the sliced sandwich type bread yes there is the occasional loaf of warm boule from the bakery to be savored thickly spread with a soft brie i ve been known to go out of my way for an authentic french baguette which i never seem to achieve at home the crunchy crust that shatters into spiky shards the rough textured and raggedy interior it is the bread that will never be produced from my oven a fossilized remnant of the 1980s but for the daily loaf it works just fine and so i bake baking bread is the essence of a lazy weekend bread cannot be rushed and in the early stages of its development should not be jostled the very term resting which yeast breads normally require quiets the mind soothes the soul and calms the spirit on a dark rainy sunday morning there are few places i d rather be than in the warm kitchen gently kneading bread dough the entire scene makes me happy the big ceramic mixing bowl the sturdy wooden spoon a clean linen cloth big jars of flour the magic of watching yeast bubble into life and then of course there is the fragrance when bread machines first hit the market over a decade ago i had to have one in a pinch it works just fine baking with juila based on the julia child tv series has a particularly good buttermilk bread machine bread recipe being book crazed i am often on the trail of books about bread and because there is a randomness to life itself one thing w...