La fete francaise

Like most people, I'm endlessly frustrated with my job. Yeah, selecting children's books for 63 libraries can be fun...but here's a secret:

It can be monotonous.

So that's when I'm eternally grateful to publishers. They have events, like author dinners and seasonal previews, to promote their books. This gets me out of the office, networking, eating, and usually carousing around Manhattan. These sorts of things get me through the daily routine.

Imagine my surprise, shock, and excitement when I received an invitation from Random House to attend an exhibition for The Enemy: A Book About Peace by Davide Cali and illustrated by Serge Bloch (Schwartz & Wade, 2009)...at the United Nations! Huge smile and an enthusiastic yes!

After airport-level security checks and getting lost in the labyrinthine halls of the U.N. building, I arrived at the event. I met Serge Bloch, the illustrator, though I seemed to get tongue-tied and still can't remember what I said to him. I'm certain I said nothing of any significance. Also, as I looked around, I realized that 3/4ths of the people there were French, which wasn't surprising since the invitation was actually from the Association Culturelle Francophone.

The exhibition was in a major walkway so that as many people as possible could see the artwork on display. On the right side was the art from the American edition of the book, printed on large foamboard, in double-page spreads. On the left side was the art from the French edition, printed in the same manner as the American version. I read French well, though my accent and listening comprehension are nothing short of embarrassing. So I read through the French edition.

It was at this point that I ran into Jeanne Lamb from New York Public Library. She also understands some French so we were able to discuss. The first thing we noticed was the length: the French edition is longer. In the midst of talking about this, a Frenchwoman commented that the reason for this was "because the attention span of American children is so much shorter." I told her I didn't necessarily find this to be true. American adults (and adults from other countries) may believe this to be so, but I certainly don't think it's true.

The parts of the book that were cut? Vivid descriptions of "the enemy". In particular, in the French version, "the enemy" kills women and children, and this part of the text was illustrated by a stick-figure-esque little boy with a sword or knife in his side, laying on the ground. It's not graphic, as the art is minimalist and seemingly simple. Nevertheless, the imagery is still potent.

Naturally, this started an exciting discussion about what is "appropriate" for children. The American version being what it is, I could definitely promote it to 1st-2nd graders, especially in a school setting where children will have questions about war and peace. But that's my opinion. By the same token, Jeanne also saw potential in using it with middle school-age kids as well. Schwartz & Wade, in making their editorial decision, definitely opened the book up to a wider American audience.

On the other hand, I do feel obligated to point out that I was disappointed to see the shortened version. I just worry that it's part of the "dumbing down" of America, not to mention that one could argue that it compromises the integrity of the author and illustrator's original work. Don't get me wrong - I am not disagreeing with the editorial decision. Instead I'm questioning our culture and society at large and, as such, Schwartz & Wade had to make a decision that would help the book sell. I can't fault them for that.

FUNNIEST MOMENT:

Laura: (whispers) Is it just me or is everyone here stunningly beautiful?

Tracy: (whispers back) Well, yeah. They're all French.

TRIVIA TIDBIT:

There were speeches made - all in French, save Lee Wade. Luckily, everyone spoke pretty slowly so I understood most of the French. The word "exposition" was repeated. I explained to Tracy that "exhibition" in French means when someone flashes you. "Exposition" is what you want to use when talking about art.

An amazing evening. I walked out of the U.N. with a bounce in my step that I didn't have earlier, and I felt like a pretty lucky gal, having a sometimes-monotonous job that allows me to see and experience cool things...like the U.N. and samurai swords.

(Buy the French version here, the English version here.)

I'm not a saint!

Sooooo not local.  Yet soooo worth it!

Eat, drink, and welcome the change in seasons!

Taking Local Eating to the Next Level

My foodie readers will most likely know about Edible Communities, which is "a network of local food publications."  Basically, it's a franchise situation and various cities, towns, and communities around the U.S. have them.  

For instance, in my hometown(ish), there is Edible Sacramento.  In the city where I left a little bit of my heart, there is Edible Phoenix.  Edible Portland covers the city I love yet am incapable of living in.  For those of you in the New York area, there is Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan...and that's it...

Until now.  Launching September 2009, there will be Edible Queens.  And thank goodness, right?  It's the most ethnically diverse borough (to my knowledge), combined with the Queens County Farm (the only remaining undisturbed farmland in the boroughs dating back to 1697), and it's primed to have its own publication.  

It's a quarterly publication - 4 times a year - and there will also be regular web content.  In fact, it appears as if I will be contributing some of that content.  More details to come, of course, but for now let me remind everyone that the Edible Communities publications are locally owned and support local restaurants, farms, and shops.  Take a look for your nearest magazine.

Eat, drink, and support local communities.

Forgotten photos

Recently I've mentioned two meals I have made but I was unable to provide photos at the time: Migas and Burg's French Toast.

I made Migas from Spain: A Culinary Road Trip by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow (click on link above for recipe) while my parents were visiting and, again recently, for a simple family dinner.  It's a great option for cooking with kids because few kids will say no to toasted bread crumbs as dinner!  If they eat the accompanying roasted peppers, chorizo, and pancetta as well, well then that's even better!  I also serve it with a bunch of grapes.  Here is how it turned out:

I also made Burg's French Toast from Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life a few weeks ago...and we just made them for the third time this morning.  It's officially our go-to recipe (again, you can click the link above for the recipe).  The great thing about it is that you can really change it according to your tastes; for instance, Molly doesn't add freshly grated nutmeg to her recipe...and I can't imagine french toast without it.  So I add it to taste.  Ultimately, it's about the bread and egg combo.  We use a porous (but not tooooo much) bread and cut off the crusts (the crusts just get too hard and crunchy, in our experience).  And we soak the bread for ages -  about 3 -5 minutes.  That way you get the really crunchy exterior and custard-like interior.  This morning we even made it using entirely local ingredients: the bread, syrup, eggs, and cream (we made whipped cream to go on top) were all bought locally at Union Square market.  Outstanding.

Eat, drink, and cheers to a 3-day weekend well-spent!

Kitchen enhancement

I've been whining to Adam for quite some time about wanting a board of some sort in our kitchen where I can keep track of our weekly menus and shopping lists.  This was our solution:

Eat, drink, and combine aesthetics with functionality.

Joie de Vivre!

The First Strawberries of the Season!

(taken by my phone)

"Consider the Farmworkers"

Civil Eats has a sobering post, "The Ethics of Eating: Consider the Farmworkers," which discusses the living conditions of farmworkers in Marion County, Oregon.  

We're so fond, myself included, of complaining about the conditions of CAFOs, declaring them evil and feeling righteous for eating grass-fed, cage-free, humanely raised animals.  "Consider the Farmworkers" is a call for action to consider the human cost of the food we eat.

Horn Book's food issue

Horn Book Magazine's May/June 2009 issue is chock full of delicious foodie articles related to books and reading.

Fortunately, my favorite article in the issue, "Book and Bar Man" by Jack Gantos is available online. I particularly loved Gantos' description of himself reading at the bar of the Elks Club when he was a child: "Sitting at the bar as a boy is where I learned how to smudge up the pages of a book with the cheeky rouge of food. The bar always had bowls of sweaty peanuts that were both salty and sugared. They were delicious. I ate mounds of them, and they left the tips of my fingers crusted with a glaze of oily, salty sugar - a kind of tacky varnish that was instantly transferred to the upper corners of the pages." He also described a meal in Bangkok for which I am completely ravenous.

Unfortunately, Horn Book is not giving up Arnold Adoff's poem "sol y sombra" to the masses. It might be blasphemous to only share a single stanza of a poem and, yet, I must:

each evening at casa quitapeňa we would devour plates of gambas al pil pil and chunks
of thick spanish bread dripping oil: the crunching of sardines punctuated our talk of
ernesto and (always) faulkner and richard wright

Swoon. I have no idea what "gambas al pil pil" is. My first inclination was to look it up, but then I realized that the magic of the line lies in my unfamiliarity with the dish. I have no idea what it is but I want to eat it anyway. That is great food writing.

Linda Sue Park wrote "Still Hot: Great Food Moments in Children's Literature". I really loved the way that she separated the article into "Breakfast", "Lunch", and "Dinner" sections. However, I did find her choice in books to be very predictable: Farmer Boy, Bread and Jam for Frances, among others. Park does point out that she could have discussed newer books, but that she decided to write about the books of her childhood, which is understandable. After all, Park makes the point that what we eat and read as a child stays with us, good and bad. I also enjoyed Park's observation that Maurice Sendak understood the connection between food and love when we wrote Where the Wild Things Are: Max wanted to be in a place "where someone loved him best of all", and that place was home where his food was still hot.

Eat, drink, and read - all at the same time.