Home Sweet Home

On 03.17.10, In Book Blather, Mad Ramblings, By Natalie

It would stand to reason that my husband and I, avid readers and road trip fanatics, might bring these two loves together and plan an epic journey–an odyssey, really–to visit famous literary sights across the country.  We wouldn’t be hard-pressed to find places to visit; the homes of many famous American authors are now turning tidy profits as museums.

But this inspired idea didn’t strike me until today.

In 2008, instead of visiting the home of Mark Twain (adulthood home in Hartford, CT, childhood home in Hannibal, MO–both are museums), we lined up to pay homage at the home of another famous American…Elvis Presley.  Neither of us are Elvis fans–I was 3 when he died–but a strange Elvis-fever afflicts all visitors to Memphis, and we were not immune.

Which is how we found ourselves parting with obscene amounts of cash to tour Graceland.  Elvis-fever was particularly strong with me, bestowing powers of coercion that a Svengali might envy.  I sweet-talked Anthony into upgrading our paltry Mansion Tour tickets to the Graceland Platinum Tour.  Sadly, he balked at the Elvis Presley Entourage VIP tickets ($69 plus tax).

It’s lamentable that after leaving Memphis, we drove south to New Orleans without stopping in Oxford, MS to see Rowan Oak, home of author William Faulkner.

Last year’s trip borders on negligence when you consider that we meandered south from Vermont through Massachusetts on Route 91, a stone’s throw from the homes-turned-museums of Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, and Edith Wharton.  At home, we’re only three hours from Baltimore, an easy drive to a house-turned-museum where Edgar Allan Poe lived while in his 20s.

So why don’t we try to absorb some literary culture by visiting these museums?

To be honest, I’m afraid they’ll be reminiscent of the “museums” my dad used to drag my sister and me to when we were kids.  Dad had two requirements for these outings: they had to be educational and free.  We were often the only visitors to the musty, one-room exhibits and my father would prattle away with the museum employee while my sister and I reconnoitered for rusty forks or sharp implements to poke into our eyeballs.

We grew up less than an hour from New York City and Philadelphia, so it wasn’t that world-class museums and art galleries were out of driving distance, they were just out of my miserly dad’s budget.

Based on the beautifully designed websites, it would seem that homes of famous authors pull in serious money.  Have you ever visited a literary landmark or author’s home? If so, I’m eager to hear if it’s worth the time and money.  Summer’s almost here and I wouldn’t want to squander my vacation fund on another trip to Dollywood if Rowan Oak is all that the website promises!

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TV Therapy

On 03.07.10, In Mad Ramblings, By Natalie

I’ve always turned to books as a vehicle of choice for escape.  In fact, my husband and I are such avid readers that when we moved into our house 10 years ago, we made a conscious decision not to hook up the cable.  We do have a TV with a DVD/VCR combo to watch movies–which we rarely do–but beyond that, it’s books, comics, and magazines for us.

Two weeks ago, in an instant (as the cliche goes), our lives turned upside down with a phone call.  Circumstances made it necessary for me to relocate to my sister’s house temporarily, and the situation was so stressful that when trying to read before bed, I couldn’t even get through a single sentence.

I tried desperately to focus–I had reviews to write–but couldn’t give the books my full attention.  I abandoned them and dashed off apologetic emails to the publicists, requesting extensions.  Thankfully, everyone was very understanding, and I was able to put reading (and blogging) on the back burner.

And that’s how I (temporarily) crossed over to the dark side.  I turned on the television and watched one of three soothing-to-me channels: Food Network, HGTV, and The History Channel.  The minute I put my nephew down for a nap each afternoon it was all about Giada, Paula Deen, Ina Garten, Rachel Ray, and Bobby Flay.

At night, instead of reaching for a book, I reached for the remote control.  (I would have scarfed a fistful of Valium but have never taken pills in my life and feared waking up in a foreign country, wearing a toga, beauty pageant sash, and sporting a tattoo on my face.)  I snuggled up with Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Hoarders, Chopped, Property Virgins, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and Dinner: Impossible.  For someone who has had little exposure to television in ten years, the choices were mind boggling.

Television did get me through the first two weeks of what promises to be a long and arduous journey.  I’m thankful that it was so distracting but was happy to come home and sleep in my own bed.  Drifting off to sleep last night, I wondered what I was missing on Food Network…but only for a second.  The delicious pile of TBRs on my nightstand pushed all thoughts of television right out of my head.

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Weekend Cooking: Cream Puffs

On 02.21.10, In Book Blather, Mad Ramblings, By Natalie

I’ve made (and posted about) these cream puffs before–they are always a crowd pleaser.  Though a bit time consuming (baking the shells, cooling the shells, piping in the filling), they are worth the effort.  In a fresh twist for my nephew’s birthday yesterday, I made a chocolate ganache (chocolate mixed with heavy cream) to cover some of the puffs and powder sugared the rest.

I found the recipe for the shells in a cozy mystery–Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke–and am sharing it in conjunction with Candace’s Weekend Cooking Challenge at Beth Fish Reads.  Enjoy!

Cream Puff Shells

(from Joanne Fluke’s Cream Puff Murder)

  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) UNSALTED butter
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup flour, packed down
  • 4 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

On medium heat in a small pot or sauce pan, pour in water.  Chop butter into pieces and put into water.  Let it melt.  Add salt and sugar.  Bring to a boil.

In a bowl, mix flour and baking powder.  Once water mixture is boiling, turn heat down to low and dump in flour/baking powder mixture.  Stir quickly for about 30 seconds–mixture will form a dough ball.  Remove from heat and let the dough cool for about 20 minutes on the counter.

Once dough is cool, break one egg and mix it into the dough until smooth.  Repeat with remaining eggs, one at a time until mixture has a smooth, taffy-like consistency–about 3-5 minutes with mixer.  Don’t overmix.

For mini-cream puffs, drop a teaspoon of batter per puff on to the parchment-lined cookie sheet.  You can fit 12-15 per sheet–don’t crowd them.  Cook them for about 25-40 minutes depending on size; when you take them out of the oven, pierce the sides with sharp knife to prevent collapses.  If you’d like to make large puffs, cook them for about 55 minutes.  Let the puff shells cool away from drafts.  Yield 25-50 mini puffs or 10-14 large ones.

When they are cool, cut the top 1/3 off and remove any stringy dough.  Fill with custard or the simple filling I use.

Easy Cream Puff Filling

  • 1 3.5 oz box of Jell-O INSTANT vanilla pudding
  • 2 cups heavy cream

Pour heavy cream and instant pudding mix into a bowl.  Whip with a whisk or mix master until it’s the consistency of whipped cream–light and fluffy.

Scoop filling into a quart-sized Ziplock bag.  Cut off the bottom right corner of the bag.  Pipe filling into shells.  Add lids.  Sift powdered sugar on top of cream puffs or dip them in chocolate ganache.  Watch them disappear.

Chocolate Ganache

There are many variations of this recipe but all you really need is some heavy cream and good chocolate.  I used a bit less than half of a 12 oz. bag of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and half a cup of heavy cream.

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 4 oz. chocolate (chips, chopped bar, etc)

Chop chocolate (if using a bar) and place in heat-proof bowl; set aside.  Over medium heat, bring saucepan of heavy cream to a boil.  Remove from heat and pour over chocolate.  Whisk until smooth.  (You can add additional chocolate if the ganache is too watery.)

Enjoy!

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