Love is in the air...

Valentine's Day is coming!
I remember two books. Both are love stories. One is Kate: The Making of a Princess (Claudia Joseph; Mainstream Publishing; 2010; 267 pages) which I have just finished.

As we all know by now, Kate Middleton is engaged to Prince William, and this book chronicles the details of the relationship between the lovebirds. A friend loaned it to me and since I'm into biographies, I thought I should give it a go. It makes for a great reading, glad I picked it up. Till now, I'm amazed at how the lovebirds managed to have fun AND fall in love despite the papparazzi, press and the bodyguards lurking in the background. Champagnes, high-class nightclubs, exotic holiday getaways formed much of the background to the lovebirds' interlude...(quite heady for a commoner like me, lol)
Ok, I did cheat while reading it. I skipped the geneaogical details of the Middleton family spanning five generations. It should be interesting for those who want to know more about "the extraordinary tale of an impoverished working-class family that overcame deprivation and adversity to rise to the upper echelons of society".

Another great love story I read a long while back: To See You Again: A True Story of Love and War (Betty Schimmel and Joyce Gabriel; Pocket Books; 2000; 352 pages).
During German Occupation, Betty Markowitz and her family fled from Czechoslovakia to Hugary. She met, and fell in love with Richie Kovacs (the only fictional name in the book; others are real). They were separated after Holocaust (the whole family was taken to the Death Camp). After liberation, she married Otto Schimmel and they migrated to America. Three children and more than 20 years later, she met Richie again...(Very sad. I cried buckets after reading this book. Life can be very cruel for some people.......).

Two GREAT love stories amidst two contrasting backgrounds. That's what makes the books so rich and worth reading.

Cookbooks

My mom have a good range of cookbooks, but four of them are the ones referred to the most:

i) Better Homes and Gardens' New Cookbook (Hardcover, 1968)

ii) McCall's Cookbook (Hardcover, 1963)

iii) Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cookbook (Hardcover, 1961)

iv) Ellice Handy: My Favourite Recipes (Paperback, fourth edition, 1974)


Except for the first one, all the others are out of print. All the cookbooks above are passed-down to me.

I bought the 11th edition of Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (1997) ...the old one was just too frequently handled, dog-eared, and stained with oils, syrups and what not.

A hallmark of these classic cookbooks are clear, concise and easy-to-follow recipes. They are usually tried and tested so there's no problem with it being too bland, too dry etc.

Family recipes passed-on from one generation to another is the main selling point of Amy Vanderbilt's cookbook. She provide anecdotes and advice in a very omniscient way...it's as if she's there with you.

Sometimes, just looking inside these books have made me realize just how much things have changed. Ellice Handy provide coconut milk-making tips and made-from-scratch puff pastry recipes in a time where it's readily available in cartons and frozen food departments of supermarkets.

Others, like Better Homes and Gardens, have adapted to the times, which is probably why it's the only one among my cookbook collections in print. The recent one provides nutritional analysis of each recipes; how much more time is needed to bake muffins if it's in larger tins; how to measure spaghetti before boiling to get the exact serving you want per boil; and using egg substitutes in recipes calling for eggs.

I thank my mom for passing-on the books to me. Yes, I still use them especially for basics like roast chicken and pizza base. Interesting cookie recipes are a boon for my Hari Raya celebrations. Oh, and I still need to refer to the books even for some recipes which are real easy (like cabbage in coconut milk - I open Ellice Handy's book), I don't usually remember recipes by heart like my mom, who is a fantastic cook.

In time, I'll pass down these books to my daughters, who I hope will find cooking a joy and made easy with these user-friendly cookbooks.

Life accounts

I like reading about other people's lives. Whether it's autobiographies (story written by that very person) or biographies (story written by someone else), it makes for a compelling reading. It's interesting to find out what makes them tick, the rough patches they went through and how they make amends/redeem themselves after that. And you empathize. You find that it's really the same, whether you're a King or a commoner.

That is why I'm now reading Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi (Katherine Frank, 2001). Put simply, it's hard to put this one down. It's a well-researched book with everything one needs - political intrigue, personal torments, gossipy bits - ah, joy! It does get dry in some areas where there's too many dates and much discussions on Congress Party's political manoeuvringsbut never veer away from the book's intimate point that is Indira.

Other books that I have read and will recommend:

I Don't Mean to be Rude, But...: The Truth About Fame, Fortune and My Life in Music (Simon Cowell, 2004) - I picked this one up immediately when it got to the stands. Light and breezy, thanks to Cowell's sharp tongue and sense of humour.

A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines (Anthony Bourdain, 2001) - I bought this one first after watching the 'Cook's Tour' TV show....was hankering for more, and bought....Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Anthony Bourdain, 2000). Yummy and edgy! Hail Bourdain, the rock star of the culinary world!

scarlet blouse cowboy stories

i used to read my dad's penny novels, under the bed with a torchlight. why? cos i was too young and not allowed to read those kind of books, he said. what was the fuss about, i ask myself in my dotage today. well, all i can remember is the colourful style of the writers. the passages that stayed indelibly dealt with bursting buttons of a red blouse on a hefty chest. the male protagonist invariably would rip the female love's blouse. the lipstick on her was always scarlet. the plots were about cowboys and horses and ranches. the women rarely did anything, as far as i can recall. they seemed to be able to sit on a horse, ride well, even sidesaddle. they looked good in tight jeans and tighter shirts or blouses. the hair of these luscious women were always long, with the right hint of a wave. and blonde or raven. the men looked tyrone power if they were the hero or the incarnate of your nightmare if a bad person. the guns were shotgun rifles, or westons (?). the horses also played a large part. they were all big and fast. however, the button poppers were the most exciting thing of these stories. and when i reached 12, i moved on to leon uris and taylor caldwell. i wonder where those slim novels, some even in comic form are today?!

My Top 15

I was tagged by a dear friend in her Facebook note entitled 'My 15 Favourite Authors'.

I have always been an avid reader, and this excercise made me think for a while, for these reasons:

i) My God, I have read tonnes of books...but some of the most memorable ones are those I read as a child. When I started my primary school, I remembered how a well-meaning acquaintance came to me with a book in her hand to test my English reading skills. The book in question: 'Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes'. Humpty Dumpty? Cow jumping over the moon? Ridiculous, but fun indeed...

A steady diet of Enid Blyton's books marked my progress into bibliophile territory after that. Young boys and girls on holidays always have some mystery to solve, and they can be great sleuths too (Famous Five & Secret Seven series). In the Malory Towers and St Claire's series, girls learn English, French, and sports at the boarding schools, apart from manipulation and trickery to get what they want ...which never go unpunished, of course.

I also discovered Tolkien with 'The Hobbit'. My, he made Middle Earth so believable, it was pure magic.

ii) Nowadays, I pick books to read by genre rather than author. Crime, thriller, true accounts, horrors, biographies and espionage feature highly on my list. So that's why even if I only read one book from an author, I favour him/her based on my assessment of that particular novel (In this case, I'll name the book by the author's name to indicate it's the only book I read).

Here's my 15:

1. Enid Blyton
2. Jalaluddin Rumi
3. Tom Clancy (Executive Order)
4. J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Dominique Lapierre (City of Joy)
6. Thomas Harris (created the character named 'Hannibal Lecter')
7. Agatha Christie
8. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
9. Roald Dahl
10. Mohd. Ismail Sarbini (author best known for children fiction in the '80s)
11. Clive Cussler
12. Mother Goose
13. Stephen King
14. Robert Maynard Pirsig
15. Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking)

ken follet's pillars of the earth

this is a fantastic read, no joke! the book is so thick my fingers ache from holding it up. and i couldn't put it down when i bought only 3 months ago. it's about the building of churches and the story follows a few families. their lives get intertwined but the church building, the architectural details, masonry stuff, and the history of Britain are what binds the lengthy, centuries-strong plot.
 i always liked that kind of historical novel. i didnt go for ken follet till this book landed in front on my eyes at, i think it was times bookshop. then he wrote the sequel, world without end. wah!  got that too. more aching fingers. fantastic read, following the family of masons and prerunners to architects today. thing is, i learnt a lot about architecture, the history of churches. god knows if it's all the gospel truth (the pun, the pun!). is there another, like a trilogy? mr follet has keen insight and a breezy style. he should lay off the sex bit in these stories, i think, cos it detracts from the energy of the characters. heh! but who am i to criticise this tale-spinning author.
and now, the series on pillars of the earth is out. can't wait to watch that, and hope i won't be disappointed.

readers' digest condensed

i fell ill with food poisoning over the xmas weekend. while spooning in my chuk (porridge), i went back to my vast (ha, ha) collection of reader's digest condensed books. i have been fixated on these tomes since i was a teenager. my dad used to get them. these books offer three to five novels, in a condensed form. i still think it's value for money, and today, i can only find these books in secondhand shops in amcorp mall, chowrasta in penang, garage sales, and flea marts overseas.
so, i picked one which i had bought for RM8 at a bookshop at the penang chowrasta market. i whizzed through dick francis who writes on horse racing but i got stuck on a war story, all about fighting. wasn't in the mood for that. and that's the beauty of these condensed books - different stories in one slightly heavy tome.
am better, after the chuck and beehoon soup, and a terrific read.