It’s getting to be that time…so here’s the recipe for my favorite stuffing. I’d like to say it’s as famous as Susan Stamberg’s famous cranberry relish (which I’ve never had—I’m kind of afraid of those onions), but I’ll say that my stuffing is almost as famous. Sort of. Anyway, it’s the best stuffing I’ve ever had, and I could eat it for dinner quite happily.
Cornbread & Scallion Stuffing
Adapted from the still sorely-missed Gourmet magazine November 1992
(It’s actually called Cornbread, Sausage & Scallion Stuffing, but in an uncharacteristic nod to heart-health, I don’t put in the sausage. See the note below if you’d like to add the sausage.)
For the cornbread:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt1 cup milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ stick unsalted butter plus an additional 2 tablespoons if baking the stuffing separately
2 cups finely chopped onion
1 ½ cups finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons crumbed dried sage
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crumbled
1 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
½ cup thinly sliced scallions
1 ½ cups chicken broth if baking the stuffing separately
Make the cornbread: In a bowl stir together the flour, the cornmeal, the baking powder, and the salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, the egg, and the butter, and add the milk mixture to the cornmeal mixture, and stir the batter until it is just combined. Pour the batter into a greased 8-inch-square baking pan (I actually use a cast iron skillet) and bake the cornbread in the middle of a preheated 425 F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. (The corn bread may be made 2 days in advance and kept wrapped tightly in foil at room temperature.)
Into a jellyroll pan, crumble the corn bread coarse, bake it in the middle of a preheated 325 F oven, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes, or until it is dry and golden, and let it cool.
In a large skillet, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and cook the onion and the celery over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened. Add the sage, marjoram, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, add the corn bread, the scallion, and salt and pepper to taste, and combine the stuffing gently but thoroughly. Let the stuffing cool completely before using it to stuff a 12-14 pound turkey.
The stuffing can be baked separately: Spoon the stuffing into a buttered 3- to 4-quart casserole, drizzle it with the broth, and dot the top with the additional 2 tablespoons of butter, cut into bits. Bake the stuffing, covered, in the middle of a preheated 325 F degree oven for 30 minutes and bake it, uncovered, for 30 minutes more.
Serves 8-10; fewer if I am one of the dinner guests!
Note: Here are the instructions if you want to add the sausage (and why not, come to think of it? Let’s live it up!): The recipe calls for “3/4 lb bulk pork sausage” that you brown in a skillet. Remove it from the pan—leaving the fat—and proceed with cooking the onions, etc. Add the sausage at the end, when you combine the cornbread and scallion with the onion mixture.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Gatsby to Meet the Silver Screen...Again
Here’s a great article about why it’s impossible to capture The Great Gatsby on film:
“Fitzgerald uses bright shocks of colour and vivid juxtapositions to create impressions, not facts. Gatsby's greatness is measured by the intensity of his dreams, which provide him a "satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality". Try filming that.”
Read more. (Thanks to Susan S. for the link.)
Even though it’s impossible, director Baz Luhrmann is going to give it the old college try. Leonardo DiCaprio will play Gatsby and Toby Maguire has been cast as Nick (isn't he maybe a little old for that part?). And this just in, after a long search, Carey Mulligan will be playing Daisy, though to me she seems to be cast to play Mia Farrow, not Daisy. Oh, well…I’ll probably still go—but mostly for the popcorn and to admire the 1920s clothing and cars.
“Fitzgerald uses bright shocks of colour and vivid juxtapositions to create impressions, not facts. Gatsby's greatness is measured by the intensity of his dreams, which provide him a "satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality". Try filming that.”
Read more. (Thanks to Susan S. for the link.)
Even though it’s impossible, director Baz Luhrmann is going to give it the old college try. Leonardo DiCaprio will play Gatsby and Toby Maguire has been cast as Nick (isn't he maybe a little old for that part?). And this just in, after a long search, Carey Mulligan will be playing Daisy, though to me she seems to be cast to play Mia Farrow, not Daisy. Oh, well…I’ll probably still go—but mostly for the popcorn and to admire the 1920s clothing and cars.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Help Struggling School Kids Learn to Write Online
My cousin in Illinois—who is, by the way, a fabulously avid reader!—told me about Write2Win, a new program that she’s recently become involved with. Such a great concept—helping kids with their school writing online, so as a volunteer you can live anywhere and work on your own schedule…while still making a difference in someone’s life. Here's some more information about the program, including contact info:
Writers and Editors: Will You Help Us?
Write2Win is a new nonprofit organization that brings the writing community into 6th-12th grade U.S. classrooms via email to provide personal mentoring to struggling students. Our goal is to make a difference by helping teachers and administrators who are working hard to turn around failing schools and galvanize effective educational innovation.
Low-achieving students in our Chicago and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pilot programs have been raising their writing grades an average of over 19% working with our editors’ one-on-one guidance. For many of them, this has been the difference between a D and a B! Teachers report that students look forward to their personal notes and encouragement each time they receive our edited files.
Too many of our young people are falling through the cracks of the public school system, and too many are dropping out or graduating with very low academic confidence. We want to help them succeed, and having strong writing skills leads to success, not only in college but in just about any career they might pursue.
To that end, we are asking everyone who has taught writing or made their living as a writer or editor to consider volunteering an hour or two a week (or even an hour or two a month). Joining our team of volunteer writers is easy, flexible, and absorbing. You will notify us when you are available to take on a few papers, with no pressure from us. We usually have four to five days' turnaround time, so our editors find it easy to fit this into their schedules.
Many of us enjoy reading the students' papers and finding creative ways to encourage and mentor them. I hope you will consider joining us. Please go to this page on our website to see our small but mighty (and growing) wall of heroes:
http://www.write2winonline.org/editors.html
You can view and open sample edited papers from this link to see the color-coded system we use to provide guidance to the students:
http://www.write2winonline.org/system.html
Please write Linda Wolf at info@write2winonline.org for more information on becoming part of our team. More info: http://www.write2winonline.org/index.html
Writers and Editors: Will You Help Us?
Write2Win is a new nonprofit organization that brings the writing community into 6th-12th grade U.S. classrooms via email to provide personal mentoring to struggling students. Our goal is to make a difference by helping teachers and administrators who are working hard to turn around failing schools and galvanize effective educational innovation.
Low-achieving students in our Chicago and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pilot programs have been raising their writing grades an average of over 19% working with our editors’ one-on-one guidance. For many of them, this has been the difference between a D and a B! Teachers report that students look forward to their personal notes and encouragement each time they receive our edited files.
Too many of our young people are falling through the cracks of the public school system, and too many are dropping out or graduating with very low academic confidence. We want to help them succeed, and having strong writing skills leads to success, not only in college but in just about any career they might pursue.
To that end, we are asking everyone who has taught writing or made their living as a writer or editor to consider volunteering an hour or two a week (or even an hour or two a month). Joining our team of volunteer writers is easy, flexible, and absorbing. You will notify us when you are available to take on a few papers, with no pressure from us. We usually have four to five days' turnaround time, so our editors find it easy to fit this into their schedules.
Many of us enjoy reading the students' papers and finding creative ways to encourage and mentor them. I hope you will consider joining us. Please go to this page on our website to see our small but mighty (and growing) wall of heroes:
http://www.write2winonline.org/editors.html
You can view and open sample edited papers from this link to see the color-coded system we use to provide guidance to the students:
http://www.write2winonline.org/system.html
Please write Linda Wolf at info@write2winonline.org for more information on becoming part of our team. More info: http://www.write2winonline.org/index.html
Monday, November 15, 2010
Author of ROOM to Speak at Politcs & Prose
Mark your calendars for this event from the Politics & Prose newsletter:
Thursday, December 9, 7 p.m.
EMMA DONOGHUE
ROOM: A Novel (Little, Brown, $24.99)
Emma Donoghue is a 2010 Man Booker Prize Finalist for her new novel ROOM. She beckons us down dark alleys to a place we would never intentionally go, as she tells this unthinkable story through the irrepressible and naive voice of five-year-old Jack, who has lived his entire life in a single 11 x 11 room. His innocent depiction belies the horrid reality that exists for him and "Ma", his only friend, his teacher, and his protector from "Old Nick", who keeps them both captive in "Room".
Donoghue challenges the reader to relate to this situation in pragmatic and occasionally mundane terms. The magic lies in crafting an intimate story of a mother, a son, and how they cope, support each other, and survive in this confined space. Jack's narrative reveals how much "Room" forces the characters to change, and details the challenging process of individuation and recovery from trauma and deprivation. Donoghue's skillful storytelling reveals her characters' confusion and resilience, and will have you caring and rooting for them as they deal with this life they never chose. - Bill Leggett
Politics & Prose is located at:
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Directions to the store
202-364-1919 • 800-722-0790
books@politics-prose.com
Thursday, December 9, 7 p.m.
EMMA DONOGHUE
ROOM: A Novel (Little, Brown, $24.99)
Emma Donoghue is a 2010 Man Booker Prize Finalist for her new novel ROOM. She beckons us down dark alleys to a place we would never intentionally go, as she tells this unthinkable story through the irrepressible and naive voice of five-year-old Jack, who has lived his entire life in a single 11 x 11 room. His innocent depiction belies the horrid reality that exists for him and "Ma", his only friend, his teacher, and his protector from "Old Nick", who keeps them both captive in "Room".
Donoghue challenges the reader to relate to this situation in pragmatic and occasionally mundane terms. The magic lies in crafting an intimate story of a mother, a son, and how they cope, support each other, and survive in this confined space. Jack's narrative reveals how much "Room" forces the characters to change, and details the challenging process of individuation and recovery from trauma and deprivation. Donoghue's skillful storytelling reveals her characters' confusion and resilience, and will have you caring and rooting for them as they deal with this life they never chose. - Bill Leggett
Politics & Prose is located at:
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Directions to the store
202-364-1919 • 800-722-0790
books@politics-prose.com
Night of 100 Poes in Baltimore
The only thing better that 100 Poes would be 101 Poes…so I wish I could attend this event: Night of 100 Poes (as in Edgar Allan) in Baltimore. Attendees are encouraged (though not required) to dress as Poe and along with the costume contest, the program includes:
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Black Cat (starring Bela Lugosi & Boris Karloff)
The Masque of the Red Death (starring Vincent Price)
Panel Discussion
When: Saturday, November 20, at the University of Maryland’s School of Law—reservations and details here.
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Black Cat (starring Bela Lugosi & Boris Karloff)
The Masque of the Red Death (starring Vincent Price)
Panel Discussion
When: Saturday, November 20, at the University of Maryland’s School of Law—reservations and details here.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Guest in Progress: Michelle Brafman on Literary Matchmaking
Michelle Brafman and I met several years ago, and our paths keep crossing at various literary events. Most recently, it was at a book party this summer when she told me about her interest in literary matchmaking, as aptly described below. When I followed up to ask if she’d like to write a guest post, she matched me up with Homestead by Rosina Lippi…so she really means business! (I was less deft, ham-fistedly insisting she read We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver simply because that's the book I tell everyone they need to read.)
Literary Matchmaking
By Michelle Brafman
I met my husband through my friend Amy, a skilled matchmaker who was much better at identifying the man who would complete me than I was. I've since tried to repay my karmic debt by playing cupid, without success, so instead I've strived to become an accomplished literary matchmaker.
First, let me define a literary match. It's the book that will crack your heart open and follow you around for days. You'll find a way to mention your literary match while discussing the mundane, a killer sale at Macy's, Metro delays, or today's NASDAQ. David Grossman describes this phenomenon in his essay "Books That Have Read Me" in recounting his discovery of Bruno Schulz's The Street of Crocodiles, "I read the book over the course of one day and night in a total frenzy of the senses, and my feeling -- which now slightly embarrasses me-- will be familiar to anyone who has been in love: it was the knowledge that this other person or thing was meant only for me."
There's more than one way to find a literary match. I've stumbled upon matches at the library, bookstore, and through blog posts like Work In Progress's guest piece by Rebecca Thomas. Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them is also a wonderful resource. My best writing instructors have implored me to read outside of my comfort zone. The right book at the right time can forge a new pathway in my brain by modeling a technique or an effect just out of my grasp. Under duress, I read Aleksandar Hemon's The Question of Bruno, and I'll be darned if two weeks later I finally fixed a short story I'd been endlessly revising by trying one of Hemon's inventive narrative structures.
My favorite way to find a literary match is through a literary matchmaker. They come in all forms, but they share an ability to listen articulately to the stories you tell, on and off the page. After my walking buddy and writer Melinda listened to me describe the precipitating event in the novel I was writing, she told me about the fatal snowball thrown in Robertson Davies' The Deptford Trilogy. I immediately inhaled the book and came away with a sense of the resonance I was seeking with my own snowball. My friend Margaret, a former professor and matchmaker extraordinaire, would scribble suggestions of stories at the bottom of my critiques. She introduced me to many works, including filmmaker and writer Neil Jordan's Night In Tunisia which she intuited would help me bridge the gap between my filmmaking and emerging writing skills.
Now I teach creative writing, and I find myself scrawling similar "you might want to read . . . " notes on my students critiques. Of course I have my stand-bys -- Lorrie Moore's Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? for the coming of age novel, Tillie Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing" and Jamaica Kincaid's' "Girl" for the interior monologue-- and if they're brave enough to try the omniscient point of view, I direct them to The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski (compliments of Margaret). My heart starts pumping wildly, however, when I've gotten inside one of their stories and found their Bruno Schulz or Robertson Davies.
At the end of the semester, I distribute a list of my matches to the class. I don't expect to hear from my students about my selections, but I hope they'll stumble upon my match at some point and discover the message I've placed in a bottle. If a student asks for a letter of recommendation, I'll peek back at the book I suggested, and he or she will materialize right in front of me.
Recently a friend pointed out that I often respond in a conversation with the question, "Do you know what book you might like?" Guilty as charged. I often find myself scanning my internal library for a narrative that responds to an experience they've shared or a writer who I think will make them laugh or perhaps entertain them during a long plane ride.
Amy, whom I met because she was coincidentally reading a favorite book of mine at the time, The Lover by Marguerite Duras, is modest about her string of successful matches. But I tell my children that they wouldn't exist had it not been for Amy. I don't pretend that my literary matchmaking can rival her feat. The right book, however, can midwife a living, breathing story or novel that if you're lucky will become someone's literary match.
Resources:
http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/books/847/books-that-have-read-me/ (David Grossman)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/books/review/Barton.t.html (Francine Prose)
http://www.aleksandarhemon.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Deptford-Trilogy-Robertson-Davies/dp/0140147551
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Tunisia-Neil-Jordan/dp/0099327414l
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Will-Run-Frog-Hospital/dp/0446671916
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-Riddle-Tillie-Olsen/dp/0385290101
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/Girl/story.asp (Jamaica Kincaid)
www.nytimes.com/.../books-of-the-times-a-warsaw-in-the-hands-of-the-nazis.html (The Beautiful Mrs. S.)
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143105145,00.html (Bruno Shulz)
http://www.amazon.com/Lover-Marguerite-Duras/dp/0375700528
About: Michelle Brafman is a writer and teacher. Her short fiction has received numerous honors including a Special Mention in the 2010 Pushcart Prize Anthology, and she's hard at work on her first novel, Washing the Dead. She teaches creative writing at George Washington University and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland, with her husband and two children. For more information: http://www.michellebrafman.com/
Literary Matchmaking
By Michelle Brafman
I met my husband through my friend Amy, a skilled matchmaker who was much better at identifying the man who would complete me than I was. I've since tried to repay my karmic debt by playing cupid, without success, so instead I've strived to become an accomplished literary matchmaker.
First, let me define a literary match. It's the book that will crack your heart open and follow you around for days. You'll find a way to mention your literary match while discussing the mundane, a killer sale at Macy's, Metro delays, or today's NASDAQ. David Grossman describes this phenomenon in his essay "Books That Have Read Me" in recounting his discovery of Bruno Schulz's The Street of Crocodiles, "I read the book over the course of one day and night in a total frenzy of the senses, and my feeling -- which now slightly embarrasses me-- will be familiar to anyone who has been in love: it was the knowledge that this other person or thing was meant only for me."
There's more than one way to find a literary match. I've stumbled upon matches at the library, bookstore, and through blog posts like Work In Progress's guest piece by Rebecca Thomas. Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them is also a wonderful resource. My best writing instructors have implored me to read outside of my comfort zone. The right book at the right time can forge a new pathway in my brain by modeling a technique or an effect just out of my grasp. Under duress, I read Aleksandar Hemon's The Question of Bruno, and I'll be darned if two weeks later I finally fixed a short story I'd been endlessly revising by trying one of Hemon's inventive narrative structures.
My favorite way to find a literary match is through a literary matchmaker. They come in all forms, but they share an ability to listen articulately to the stories you tell, on and off the page. After my walking buddy and writer Melinda listened to me describe the precipitating event in the novel I was writing, she told me about the fatal snowball thrown in Robertson Davies' The Deptford Trilogy. I immediately inhaled the book and came away with a sense of the resonance I was seeking with my own snowball. My friend Margaret, a former professor and matchmaker extraordinaire, would scribble suggestions of stories at the bottom of my critiques. She introduced me to many works, including filmmaker and writer Neil Jordan's Night In Tunisia which she intuited would help me bridge the gap between my filmmaking and emerging writing skills.
Now I teach creative writing, and I find myself scrawling similar "you might want to read . . . " notes on my students critiques. Of course I have my stand-bys -- Lorrie Moore's Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? for the coming of age novel, Tillie Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing" and Jamaica Kincaid's' "Girl" for the interior monologue-- and if they're brave enough to try the omniscient point of view, I direct them to The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski (compliments of Margaret). My heart starts pumping wildly, however, when I've gotten inside one of their stories and found their Bruno Schulz or Robertson Davies.
At the end of the semester, I distribute a list of my matches to the class. I don't expect to hear from my students about my selections, but I hope they'll stumble upon my match at some point and discover the message I've placed in a bottle. If a student asks for a letter of recommendation, I'll peek back at the book I suggested, and he or she will materialize right in front of me.
Recently a friend pointed out that I often respond in a conversation with the question, "Do you know what book you might like?" Guilty as charged. I often find myself scanning my internal library for a narrative that responds to an experience they've shared or a writer who I think will make them laugh or perhaps entertain them during a long plane ride.
Amy, whom I met because she was coincidentally reading a favorite book of mine at the time, The Lover by Marguerite Duras, is modest about her string of successful matches. But I tell my children that they wouldn't exist had it not been for Amy. I don't pretend that my literary matchmaking can rival her feat. The right book, however, can midwife a living, breathing story or novel that if you're lucky will become someone's literary match.
Resources:
http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/books/847/books-that-have-read-me/ (David Grossman)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/books/review/Barton.t.html (Francine Prose)
http://www.aleksandarhemon.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Deptford-Trilogy-Robertson-Davies/dp/0140147551
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Tunisia-Neil-Jordan/dp/0099327414l
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Will-Run-Frog-Hospital/dp/0446671916
http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Me-Riddle-Tillie-Olsen/dp/0385290101
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/fiction/Girl/story.asp (Jamaica Kincaid)
www.nytimes.com/.../books-of-the-times-a-warsaw-in-the-hands-of-the-nazis.html (The Beautiful Mrs. S.)
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143105145,00.html (Bruno Shulz)
http://www.amazon.com/Lover-Marguerite-Duras/dp/0375700528
About: Michelle Brafman is a writer and teacher. Her short fiction has received numerous honors including a Special Mention in the 2010 Pushcart Prize Anthology, and she's hard at work on her first novel, Washing the Dead. She teaches creative writing at George Washington University and lives in Glen Echo, Maryland, with her husband and two children. For more information: http://www.michellebrafman.com/
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Top Lit Journal Markets for Fiction
Cliff Garstang, at the blog Perpetual Folly has posted his annual fiction “ranking” of literary journals, based on the new edition of the Pushcart Prizes. While he notes the subjectivity inherent in “ranking” journals, it’s hard to argue too heatedly about this sensible and consistent methodology:
“This ranking, on the other hand, is extremely simple. I look at the annual volume of Pushcart Prize winners and the list of Special Mentions included in the back of the volume. I award a certain number of points for a winner and fewer points for a special mention. I add up the points and make a list.”
The points are kept cumulatively, for ten years.
Top five:
Ploughshares
Conjunctions
Zoetrope
Tin House
Southern Review
Check out the entire list here, and consider where you’d like your work to appear.
“This ranking, on the other hand, is extremely simple. I look at the annual volume of Pushcart Prize winners and the list of Special Mentions included in the back of the volume. I award a certain number of points for a winner and fewer points for a special mention. I add up the points and make a list.”
The points are kept cumulatively, for ten years.
Top five:
Ploughshares
Conjunctions
Zoetrope
Tin House
Southern Review
Check out the entire list here, and consider where you’d like your work to appear.
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