"This World Was Never Meant for One as Beautiful as You."

If Vincent hadn't been a failure:

as a bookshop clerk

as an art salesman

as a preacher

as a suitor

Would we have ever been blessed with this?

I love this song:

If you want an explanation of the lyrics, go {here}.


Vincent, 19 years old

Vincent, 13 years old

His Mother

His Father

Brother, Theo

Beloved brothers at rest together.

A new biography of Van Gogh will be published next week: Van Gogh:  the Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. The authors propose an explosive new theory on the cause of Van Gogh's death.


60 Minutes did a  segment on it yesterday.
Part One:
 


Part Two:



CBS News also has a virtual tour of Van Gogh's paintings:



The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam hosts more of his work than in any other museum.
Part of its permanent collection:

Sunflowers, 1889

Potato Eaters

Self-portrait as an Artist 1888

Wheatfield with Crows

Van Gogh's paintings are much more impactful when you see them in person. Such broad strokes. And the colors!

I was literally brought to tears when I went to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Paperback Pumpkins

Want to make a clever jack-o-lantern?

You will need:

old paperback books

hot glue gun

black construction paper

Go here for directions.

Forgotten Garden

The library book group read this book last October. Check out the library blog for information about the book, the author  (including an interview) and discussion questions--

[here]

Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Get to Know Prof

Get to know a little bit about Prof. She's had an interesting life.

Life Challenges
When I came into the world, I had just one hand, my left.  My other arm ended in a stump just below my elbow.  Being a parent myself, I realize how deeply my mom and dad must have suffered and worried over my handicap, but they also had a no nonsense attitude about what I could accomplish in this world, and that was everything that anyone else could do.  Since they believed, I did too. I skated and road a bike. I sewed and knitted. I played baseball and basketball. I loved to dance.  I even learned to play the piano. I had many friends who were just as encouraging as my parents.  I grew up believing that I was special, perhaps more sensitive to the pain of others because of my own affliction.


My husband went through cancer with radiation treatments which were terrible for him and me.  As he became cancer free he began to have balance problems.  He underwent two brain surgeries, and just as he was getting back to his old self, he was rear ended at a  stop light and the vertigo became very much worse.  He had to give up his job which he loved and eventually we came here using the last of our savings to build on to Heather's house.  At first I was so lonely for Oregon and friends I left behind, but now I feel loved and supported by our Ward and would not go back if I had a chance.

Education

My college years were spent in Utah at Brigham Young University. I was a Language Arts major.  By the time I was a sophomore, I was into creative writing classes. I soon became an editor on the staff of the Wye Magazine, the literary endeavor of the school.  I published much of my own work in this magazine. I also won prizes in both of the writing contests on campus.

Career Opportunities

I continued to write such things as skits and road shows for church, and plays for the school. I always wanted to write professionally, but the time didn’t seem right.  Eventually, I snagged a job at Mount Hood College. First I taught Communication Skills. Then, I got a job with a specialized program involving veterans of the Viet Nam war.  I was to teach science.

I loved that job.  I knew little about science, but I put together a yearlong curriculum by quickly reading through children’s books. My students were an odd assortment.  Most had come out of drug rehab centers or prisons.  There I was, a prim little Mormon lady, hanging out with motorcycle gang members and ex-cons. Never have I been treated with more respect and kindness than by those fine men. I soon realized that I had the power to make them believe in themselves.  Once they believed, there was no end to what they could accomplish.

Thoughts About Being a Reader

I am a voracious reader, and have been since I was a small.  I was also something of a loner because I was an only child until I was thirteen.  I found, however, that I never had to be alone as long as a book lay open in my hands.


Life Pleasures
I find that if I am not doing something creative I am not happy.  I had a little business going with knitted hats, scarfs and purses for a while. I also made some unusual underwater centerpieces that I sold or gave away.  I love to garden and was out in the rain yesterday planting when I noticed it was snowing on me. What a crazy place.

Favorite Book

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury


Favorite Movies
Across the Universe, The Fountain, Fried Green Tomatoes and, surprisingly, any Martial Arts movies that are funny or artistic.

Writers Who Taught a Love of Language
Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald for economy and precision
John Steinbeck for beauty of phrasing
Ray Bradbury for poetic language
TS Elliot for fine imagery and content
ee cummings the deliciousness of words

Want to Write a Book?

In a survey done about ten years ago, 81% of Americans said that they wanted to write a book. But the publishing business is struggling more now than ever before and the chances of getting anything published are becoming bleaker.

However, I have noticed a trend that I think deserves mentioning.

If you want to have your book published, start writing a blog. If you can attract a huge online crowd to your blog every month, advertisers will come knocking and a book deal just might be in your future!

One of the first to be successful at this was French blogger Clotilde Dusoulier, whose cooking blog, Chocolate & Zucchini, has led to two books--and retirement from her computer software engineer job.

Check it out {here}.

And {here}.

And it might lead to a movie deal, too, as Julie Powell discovered. (In this unusual case, the movie was truly better than the book or the blog, in my opinion.) If you are interested in the book, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously you might want to have Legacy's friend edit it first with her black marker.

Most people have heard of the Pioneer Woman.

She's published three books!

--a cookbook

--her true-life love story with her husband, the Marlboro Man

(It had to be good to convince her to give up her big-city ways and move to a ranch in the boonies.)

--a picture book about her dog, Charlie

Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond {here}.

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels--A Love Story {here}.

Charlie the Ranch Dog {here}.

Her love story has been optioned for a film. Reese Witherspoon has signed on to play the lead. Yay!

There are quite a few food bloggers who have been successful:

Julia Parson, a British self-taught cook. Her food blog, A Slice of Cherry Pie,  led to her book by the same name {here}.

And Molly Wizenberg's blog led to something even better than a book deal. One of her fans became a friend and then a husband! Here they are in the restaurant they started together.

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

I liked this book! I've found that I like reading about cooking more than I like actually doing it, though I enjoy that sometimes, too.

You don't have to be a fabulous cook to have a fabulous blog (and book). Christina Haupert's expertise is healthy living.

Carrots 'N' Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake at a Time

And Shauna Reid is an expert at losing weight and keeping it off. (And I've heard she's very funny.)

Amazing Adventures of DietGirl by Shauna Reid {here}.

Serena Thompson is one of my favorite people that I don't actually know. Her blog came after her Farm Chicks Antiques Show became wildly popular in Washington--a little different road to success.

She grew up in a hippie gypsy wagon, traveling around the U.S and then settling in a tiny cabin in the California woods. She had no electricity, no running water, no refrigeration. She learned to cook on a wood stove and sew on a treadle sewing machine. She learned to use her own creativity and ingenuity to make something special from ordinary items.

I like her sunny attitude, her deep appreciation of life, and how she finds beauty in the simplest things.

Her two books:

The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen: Live Well, Laugh Often, Cook Much by Serena Thompson and
Teri Edwards {here}.

The Farm Chicks Christmas: Merry Ideas for the Holidays {here}.

She was featured in this book:

Signature Styles: 20 Stitchers Craft Their Look by Jenny Doh {here}.
She was featured in this magazine (where you can see a picture of the hippie gypsy van her father built):
Where Women Cook {here}

One of my favorite blogs is 71 Toes. The author, Shawni Eyre Pothier, is a talented photographer and a lovely mother of five children. She named her blog 71 Toes because her youngest child was born with an extra toe--and a rare genetic syndrome which leads to blindness. She wrote a beautiful book about mothering with her own mother:

A Mother's Book of Secrets: Keys to Making Motherhood Memorable, Meaningful, and Magnificent by Linda J Eyre and Shawni Eyre Pothier {here}.

This list of books by bloggers is not comprehensive. If you're interested in learning about more bloggers-turned-published-authors, Stephanie O'Dea, a blogger at A Year of Slow Cooking and author of two cookbooks, wrote a post about blogger books {here}.

So for you would-be authors: get blogging!

Austenland Movie

Shannon Hale just announced that her book Austenland is being made into a movie.

Stephenie Meyer is producing it.

Jerusha Hess, co-author of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre is the director.

Keri Russell plays the lead role, a woman in her thirties who is obsessed with Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth), of Pride and Prejudice fame.

JJ Feild plays a Mr. Darcy actor at Austenland.

Recognize him from Masterpiece Classic's Northanger Abbey?

It has just begun filming in the U.K. so there is no release date yet.

Looks like fun!

Food, Glorious Food

We've shared some yummy food with each other over the years. It's always fun to see what's going to show up at our semi-annual potluck dinners. Remember the time when everyone brought dessert?
But we've never spent a whole evening on food before--until last week.
__________________
Hermana brought:

SHRIMP NEWBURG

1 Tbps. butter

2 Tbps. green onions brown in butter

1 can small shrimp, drained

1 can shrimp Campbell’s soup

Warm together.  Just before serving,  add 1 cup sour cream and 1-2 cups peas.  Dilute with milk, if needed.

Pour over patty shells or over rice.

(You can substitute medium to large shrimp, if desired.)

She brought two old cookbooks . . . .

and some family cookbooks.

____________________

Jade brought:
7^th Day Adventist Cookbook

Old Alaska cookbook

2^nd great grandma Gunderson (1894)

From My Grandma Gunderson who just celebrated her 92nd birthday last week. This recipe was from her Grandma who made the potato starch from soaking potatoes and straining the starch water, then drying it and collecting the starch. Way easier to go to The Good Earth.

STARCH CAKE

*Preheat oven to 400 (but follow temperature guide below during baking)

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup potato starch (I bought mine at the good earth)

3/4 tsp cream of tarter

Separate eggs, beat whites until stiff, then mix in the cream of tarter. In a large bowl, beat yolks with sugar until creamy. Fold the potato starch into the yolk/sugar mixture. Finally, fold egg whites into the batter. Grease a tube pan generously (but leave the tube ungreased).

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes

then turn the oven to 375 for 15 minutes

then to 350 for another 15 minutes,

then down to 300 for the final 25 minutes

Total time in oven 65 minutes. When done, run a sharp knife around outsidge edge of pan. Turn onto brown paper bag and let cool.

Serve with fruit and whipped cream.

___________________

Queenie likes these cooking magazines:

MICROWAVE APPLE CRISP

6-8 Medium tart apples, peeled and sliced (8 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup flour, divided
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats (I use regular)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine


Toss apples with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 T flour; place in a greased 8" microwave-safe deep-dish pie plate (I use 9-10").  In a bowl, combine oats, cinnamon, and remaining brown sugar and flour.  Cut in butter until crumble; springkle over apple mixture.  Cover with waced paper.  Microwave on high for 10-12 minutes or until the apples are tender. Yield: 8 servings.

____________________

Juicy brought:

+ Ward and Family Cookbooks

_____________________

Jeeves brought:

_______________________

Moab brought:

She likes 101 Things To Do With . . . . cookbooks. I don't know if she likes these particular ones, however.

_____________________
Apple likes the Lion House cookbooks.

__________________

Shulamit, one of our original members, returned after many years and brought:

______________________
Legacy brought:

BUTTERSCOTCH BUNDT ROLLS

Also known as Sticky buns!

18 frozen dinner rolls

1 (3-ounce) package butterscotch pudding (not instant)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup melted butter

Arrange frozen rolls in a greased bundt pan. Sprinkle pudding, brown sugar, and pecans over rolls.  Drizzle butter over all. Cover bundt pan with a dishtowel, plastic wrap, or waxed paper and let rise at room temperature overnight, or about 12 hours.  Remove distowel. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Cool 5 to 10 minutes before inverting to a serving plate. Serve warm. Makes 18 rolls

P.S.  Don't be tempted to add more than 18 rolls or they will run over the pan like Legacy's did!

_____________________
Two of my favorite cookbooks:

The authors of Our Best Bites also have a popular blog by the same name. Check it out {here}. One of the authors served a mission to Brazil and she has some Brazilian recipes that I love. Check out the easy cheese rolls (also known as pao de queijo) {here}. It's great for people who have gluten intolerance because there is no wheat flour. It's made with tapioca flour instead.

I watch The Food Nanny on byutv and she inspires me to put love into my cooking.

___________________

Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op that was recommended. You can order a basket of fresh produce and pick it up on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Check it out {here}.


If you are interested in starting your own co-op, learn about it {here}.

Bon Appetit, Interrupters!