. After reading No Angel (see below) I couldn’t wait to start the 2nd book. A friend said to me that she liked #2 better than the first one, and I think I agree. It carries on the saga of this gentrified family in the publishing business in WWII era England. There are wartime injuries, even deaths as the family spreads out some (France and America), but it’s still about the London-based core family group that get themselves into trouble at several junctures. Loved this one. Do read them in order, though.
. No, not that Homer, but Homer, the blind cat. It’s a charming, funny, sweet, riveting book that any animal lover should read. We haven’t owned cats for decades, but I enjoy reading about them even if I don’t have one. Homer was a tiny kitten when found, with a dangerous eye infection. The vet who saved him had to remove his eyes, so the little kitten never knew sight. He’s adopted by a patient gal who is a writer already, and I can imagine that little Homer almost wrote the book himself. He’s very brave, willing to take risks – she almost loses him once. If you love animals, you’ve got to read this. I found it at Costco, but it’s also cheap at Amazon in paperback.
by Sarah McCoy. A really really interesting story. About WWII but told from the side of loyal German Hitler-loving citizens. The kind of local people who could be your neighbors, who were very nationalistic and truly believed Hitler was leading them to a better future. I’ve never read anything with a German perspective. The book isn’t political. In a way it’s a type of chick lit (which is why I didn’t suggest my DH read it) as it’s got a moderate amount of romance in it. The entire book is enveloped in the story of the family, who live in Garmisch (a place I’ve visited twice), who own a bakery. Mostly it’s about one of the bakery owner’s daughters. One daughter goes to a 
– by Erik Larson (hard copy) – wow, what a book. In all the literary fiction I’ve read about Nazi Germany, I’d never read that much about what it was like living in Berlin leading up to Hitler’s demonic rampages. This biography is about America’s ambassador to Germany from 1933-37, William Dodd. An academician, Dodd was probably unsuited to the job, yet he brought a kind of humility and clarity to the unrest. Accompanied by his wife and two adult children, they assimilated into the gay life of diplomacy. Dodd was not liked by his counterparts at home, yet he had the ear and appointment specifically because of Roosevelt, but only after 5 other career diplomats turned down the job. Dodd took his position very seriously, hoping that he’d make time to write a book he had worked on for much of his life (a detailed history of the American South). With no internet, no commercial jets and little but old fashioned typewriters or often written by hand, communiques sailed back and forth in diplomatic pouches. Dodd originally was lenient with Hitler, wanting to believe the hype Hitler broadcast. In time, though, he came to realize that Hitler had an insidious master plan. Dodd’s vivacious and beautiful daughter dated all manner of diplomats, Nazis and Russians, and very few Americans. She leaned left. Very far left, to the point of socialism. She had affairs – very inappropriate ones (says me), which undermined her father’s role (yet he seemed oblivious). This book is a real picture of the day to day life back then, well written, well researched and riveting. The Ambassador never did finish his book. But this book – well, everyone should read it. Erik Larson is the famous author of 
– by Willa Cather (on my Kindle) – what a joy to read. I’ve been a big fan of Cather’s writing most of my adult life, although I’ve not read all of her books. She had such a gift of words – such an ability to write a liquid picture – a conjurer of time and place that just doesn’t happen anymore in today’s writing world. The story revolves around a young girl (yes, it’s a coming of age novel) the daughter of a minister in the Midwest who has a musical gift. Her mentors help her to go to Chicago to study. Thea, the heroine here, is a very serious and studious young woman and not given to joy in life. She struggles with loneliness, yet seems to have no ability to reach out of her box to find friends or companionship. As with any young person who moves to a new place for work or study, there is that soulful pull from “home.” Does she give in? I’m not telling. A very good read.
– by Penny Vincenzi (hard copy from the library) – when two friends of mine recommended this book I knew I needed to read it. It’s not new (2004), but it is part of a trilogy by this English author. And I just refused to pay the very high Kindle price so that’s why I visited my local library and found it on the shelf. Vincenzi writes about the day-to-day lives of English gentry, and since I’m addicted to Downton Abbey these days, it sounded like a natural to read this book. It chronicles the lives of this particular family including marriages, births, affairs and chicanery, with their lovely home as the surround, the life style of the then-rich-and-famous, formal dinners. See? Downton Abbey. The difference is that there’s not much in this book about the servants, the below-stairs family. It takes place during the same pre-WWI era (1910′s). Prominent in the story is the book publishing business the family maintains (and with difficulty during the war years run by the two women left at home). Now I need to find the next in the series. If you enjoy family sagas, this one is a gem.
(Stacy Schiff); 
; and 
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To tell you the honest truth, I’ve never been much of a plum fan. I’m not saying I don’t eat them (none so far this summer, actually). I do eat them, but not often. I don’t seek them out is what I’m really saying, but I know that’s a mistake. After reading the chapter on plums in Russ Parsons’ book, How to Pick a Peach, I’ll be on the lookout for some specific varieties (Greengage primarily, or Wickson). My parents had a red plum tree in our backyard. A very prolific plum tree, actually. And I can recall, as a mid-age young girl reaching up to the low-hanging branches to taste the first fruit of the season and being sorely disappointed because of the sour skin. Mostly my mother just stewed the fruit with a little sugar and water. I have no recollections of a plum pie. Or cake. Or anything else with plums, for that matter. Just stewed plums. Maybe that’s another reason I didn’t develop a fondness for them.
Even I have noticed lots of plum varieties – yellow plums, green plums, red plums, scarlet plums, purple plums, and almost black plums. But by and large, most plum varieties taste the same, despite the variations on skin color. Mostly it’s just a sweet and tart flavor. The Elephant Heart is an herbaceous type, and the Wickson contains a golden honey tang. The greengage is the sweetest.
Did you know that plum trees are promiscuous? Yup. They cross-pollinate with wild abandon, so 
Parsons says. Yet the early varieties were mostly developed by the great Luther Burbank. Even though we have countless schools here in California named after Luther Burbank, I knew very little about him until I read his brief story at Wikipedia. With no more than a 5th grade education, he was fascinated with nature, plants and flowers, and eventually moved from Massachusetts to California. Then he began, in earnest, to hybridize a variety of vegetables and fruit, most notably the plum. [Just as an aside, Burbank developed the Russet potato – it was originally called the Russet Burbank potato, on which McDonald’s relies for its famous french fries. He also developed the Shasta daisy, the Fire poppy, the July Elberta peach, the Flaming Gold nectarine, the Freestone peach, the white blackberry AND both the Santa Rosa plum and the Wickson plum. Burbank was not highly regarded in his time because he didn’t use accepted scientific practices – note-taking particularly – in his research – he merely wanted the results and didn’t care a whit about how he got there.] Burbank actually developed 113 new varieties of plums and prunes. Amazing. He died in 1926.
Since then, another agricultural scientist named Floyd Zaiger took up Burbank’s banner. He’s the guy who crossed the plum and apricot, to create the pluot. He also developed the Aprium, which has a more apricot-ness than the pluot, which is more plummy. There are several varieties of these – the Dapple Dandy, the Dinaosaur Egg, Flavor King and Flavor Supreme.
Growing: Most plums are grown in California.
Choosing: Find the more deeply colored, shiny and firm, but not hard. Don’t worry about any of the white powder on the skin – that’s normal, called a “natural bloom.”
Storing: If unripe, leave out at room temp for a day or two, then refrigerate. If you chill them before they’re ripe the quality suffers.
In the book Parsons has detailed recipes for a Spiced Plum Ice Cream and a Cornmeal Buckle with Plums.
Simmer 1 cup of red wine, 1/3 cup sugar and a sachet containing
4 whole cloves, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 cinnamon stick. When the mixture is clear and fragrant, add 1 pound pitted and quartered plums. Simmer until they soften a little, then refrigerate until chilled. Remove the sachet and serve over vanilla ice cream.
A year ago: Summer Shrimp Salad (very refreshing dinner type salad)
Two years ago: Grandgirl’s Fresh Apple Cake (oh my, yes, delicious, a Paula Deen recipe I believe)
Marie
said on August 6th, 2009:
I really love plums. So does Todd. I think they are one of our favourite fruits. I also adore Pluots. They’re sweet and juicy. My favourite!