What We're Writing: @HallieEphron, the sister who didn't

HALLIE EPHRON: It's What We're Writing week again, and (bowing) thank you, thank you, I get to kick off the festivities. I am working on a new book but it's still very much in flux so I'm keeping it under wraps. Instead I'm offering up part of an essay I wrote about having sisters who write. I wrote it to celebrate the publication of my somewhat autobiographical novel Night Night, Sleep Tight in which the protagonist who really is the virtual me has no sisters.  

*** Whenever I get together with my sisters and reminisce about something that happened when we were growing up, one of them will pipe up, “It wasn’t like that.” Another will pile on: “And you weren’t there.”

And maybe I wasn’t. Memory is like that. Photos in family albums morph into memories, while events that weren’t seared into consciousness fade.

For years I sat back and didn’t write while my sisters did, and it’s always illuminating when one of them writes about a time when I was there.

My older sister Delia’s first book, the huge bestseller How to Eat Like a Child, has a chapter on “How to torture your sister.” In it she reveals techniques that she and I practiced on our younger sister, Amy. (“I’ve got to tell you something. You’re adopted!”) Delia would go on to write Hanging Up, miraculously finding humor in our screenwriter father’s bouts of alcohol-soaked self-pity. 

My oldest sister Nora, who inspired a generation of women to feel bad about their necks and who wrote and directed some of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’ best films, gave me a moment on the page as the "good" daughter (“to distinguish her from me,” the protagonist explains) in Heartburn, her painfully funny autobiographical novel about the breakup of her marriage to Carl Bernstein.

Then there’s the time I nearly killed Amy. She immortalized it in her first novel, Cool Shades. She couldn’t pedal her tricycle fast enough to keep up with my two-wheeler, so I tied my bike to her trike. Soon we were flying along. Near the corner, I hit the brakes. But tricycles have no brakes, so Amy kept on going until the rope snapped and she flew off, skidding face-first across the macadam. Reading her book brought back the full horror of that moment when I realized what I’d done.

I've gotten used to being written about, and whenever one of my sisters publishes something (as in just about every other week), I brace for another cringe-worthy episode from my life to get aired. 

For years I couldn't fight back. I didn't write.

Then, one day I got a call from a freelance writer. She wanted to write a magazine piece about me. “You’re the sister who doesn’t write,” she said, like “the fourth Brontë sister.” Which sounded unappealing, not just because the fourth Brontë sister died young of tuberculosis.

Then it struck me: the longer I waited to write, the less material there would be to claim as my own.

I told that freelancer that if anyone was going to write about me not writing it was going to be me.

***
After telling that freelance thanks, but no thanks, I started where most writers start, essays about my own personal experience. I piled page on top of page, thinking maybe I was writing a book. But when I read it, I knew that while the words were fine, and some of the sentences were lovely, the story was circling the drain. I had no idea that characters need arcs, that there had to be stakes, and the story had to go somewhere.

I tucked that unfinished manuscript away. When I pulled it out about three years ago, I was surprised to find that it didn't smell as bad as I thought it would. In fact, pieces of it are in Night Night. (The episode where Deirdre gets nabbed for shoplifting at J. J. Newberry's really happened. Sadly none of my sisters were involved so I missed an opportunity to humiliate one of them.)

Which leads me one of my hard and fast WRITING RULES. Save everything you write because today's garbage is tomorrow's compost. Which is a corollary to my other WRITING RULE: Just hold your nose and write.

Celebrating Nora's Salmon Mousse

BREAKING NEWS:  Today we are giving away an advance copy of Lucy Burdette's fantastic new novel, "Death in Four Courses," the dishiest of mysteries and the second in her Key West food critic mysteries to a lucky commenter!  

HALLIE EPHRON: My sister Nora and I disagreed on virtually everything (I barely notice my neck and carry a purse the size of a mailing envelope, just for example.) But on one topic we were completely in synch: food. 

Many Christmases ago she sent me and my sisters Delia and Amy each an accordian pleated  file with copies of her favorite handwritten recipes tucked in. I think it was around the time that "Heartburn" came out because some of the recipes are in that book, too, like the key lime pie that Rachel Samstat throws in her philandering husband Mark's face.

Among the other recipes were "Mrs. Hellman's Pot Roast" which required a can of cream of mushroom soup and an envelope of dried mushroom soup. I never tried to make it. But a recipe I've made over and over is Nora's salmon-yogurt mousse -- the perfect summer treat. It's absolutely delicious, cheap, and healthy.

WARNING (from Hallie): Do not be tempted to use anything but FRESH dill in this, and if you adulterate it with "low fat" mayo or yogurt, you're on your own.

***
Nora Ephron's Salmon-Yogurt Mousse

1 cup fresh dill
1 cup (she specified Hellman's) mayonnaise
2 cups plain yogurt
1 peeled and sliced cucumber
1 envelope gelatin
1/2 cup boiling water
1 T lemon juice
2 small onions sliced
2 dashes of Tabasco
3 drained anchovies
1 lb. canned salmon with juice (pick through to remove bones)

Chop dill. Mix 2/3 of it with 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1 cup of yogrt. Chill to serve as garnish with cucumber slices.

In a food processor, combine 1/3 of dill with gelatin, lemon juice, oion, and 1/2 cup boiling water. Process for 1 minute to dissolve gelatin. Scrape side with spatula to push any clinging gelatin into the mixture. Add 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup of yogurt, salmon and juice, Tabasco, and anchovies. Process 60 seconds until smooth.

Pour into 4-cup mold rinsed in cold water (do not dry). Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve with garnish.

Nora Ephron 1941-2012

We had intended to post
a - hopefully-  Nora Ephron-like piece today on why we felt bad about our hair, but our thoughts  on Jungle Red run much deeper today.

Nora Ephron, filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, essayist and beloved sister of Hallie has passed away.

She was glamorous, brilliant, and funny and her observations on everything from breasts to her neck (which she felt bad about)  made us laugh and made us feel good about ours.

I didn't realize it at the time but I wanted to be her when I saw Sandra Dee in the movie Take Her, She's Mine, which Nora's parents wrote based on her letters from college and we all wanted to have what Meg Ryan was having in When Harry Met Sally. From Silkwood to Heartburn to Sleepless in Seattle Nora Ephron created characters that will stay with us forever.

Rest in peace.

Signs of the Times

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Happy Saturday!  I noticed the other day that my ankle was puffy.  (I promise this has a point.) So I looked up “puffy ankle” (in Web MD, as usual) to see if it was maybe malaria or dengue fever or something horrible that hasn't been discovered yet. Turns out, in all likelihood, it has to do with, um, getting old.

Really? A puffy ANKLE? Are you KIDDING ME? It went away, but I fear that...well, we shall see.

Anyway, I am delighted to tell you I am not alone in the REALLY? Are you kidding me? neck of the woods. My dear pal Laura DiSilverio (who is much younger than I am, just saying) has been thinking along the same lines.

Those lines being, sadly, in her face. 

Wanna talk about this? And, just because it might help--wanna take a QUIZ???   

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LAURA DISILVERIO: Hello to everyone in Jungle Red land, and thanks to the brilliant Reds for inviting me back.  Or course, I’m here in part to publicize the release of ALL SALES FATAL, the second in my Mall Cop Mystery series, but I’ve got something else to talk about, too, so let’s stipulate that ASF is funny, engaging, and a great read, and that you’re going to pre-order it at once, and move on. (You can read more about ASF at the end of this post, if interested.)

What I really want to discuss today, and get your thoughts on, is aging.  More specifically, aging gracefully.  I’m coming up on the big five-oh and I’m pretty sure there’s nothing “graceful” about the way I’m doing it.  Hallie’s sister Nora wrote a hysterically funny collection of essays on the subject, I Feel Bad about My Neck, and I’ll admit those essays resonate more now than they did when I first read the book.  

 I feel okay about my neck, but I think it’s grossly unfair that I’ve been re-afflicted with acne as my hormones go menopausal.  Wrinkles are bad enough, but wrinkles with acne is just wrong.  I’m also not fond of muscles that take four times as long to recover from a hard workout, or the way the flesh around my knees sags like it’s trying to visit my ankles.

To facilitate this discussion, I’ve put together the following short quiz.  Take it and see how you score on the “Graceful Aging” scale.

1.        You notice a few more wrinkles around your eyes.  Do you

a.       Smile at your reflection and think how great it is you’ve laughed and smiled enough to carve happiness into your face

b.       Trot down to the drug store and buy some retinol cream

c.       Try a do-it-yourself face lift by pulling your hair back into the tightest ponytail possible

d.      Rifle your kids’ college funds, sell your plasma at the blood donor center, and race to the nearest plastic surgeon

2.       Your joints ache after a little exercise.  Do you

a.       Give thanks that you’re still mobile

b.      Wander down to Walgreen’s to get some of that chondroitin you’ve been hearing about; it’s worth a try

c.       Schedule a massage

d.      Use it as an excuse to give up your gym membership (and apply the money saved to your tummy tuck fund)

3.       Someone tells you, “You look great . . . for your age.” Do you

a.       Thank them sincerely and feel good all day

b.      Buy another lotion or potion to fade age spots, diminish wrinkles, brighten your complexion, plump your skin, and raise your IQ ten points

c.       Put this person in your WIP . . . as the murder victim

d.      Try to patent the phrase “for your age” so no one can use it without your permission under threat of prosecution and a lengthy prison term

4.       You put on five or ten pounds that just won’t budge.  Do you

a.       Think, “That’s why God invented elastic-waist pants and skirts!”

b.      Invest in the entire Spanx collection

c.       Work a half-hour walk into your daily routine

d.      Try the latest fad diet and learn to subsist on nothing but kelp, raisins and Metamucil

Scoring:  Give yourself one point for each A, two for each B, three for each C and four for each D answer.

0-4:  The “Let Nature Take Its Course” Gal (or Guy).  You’re undermining the economy with your refusal to purchase any of the lotions, ointments, dyes, teeth bleaching kits, diet pills, vitamins, or services devoted to making you look and feel four months younger than your calendar age.  Your aging celebrity counterpart is Jack Nicholson. 

5-12:  The Do What You Canner.  You have staked out a reasonable middle ground between letting yourself go completely and obsessing endlessly about each gray hair and wrinkle.  Your aging celebrity counterpart is Jamie Lee Curtis or Betty White.

13-16:  The Interventionist. You’re well on your way to becoming Joan Rivers.  You regard the words “aging gracefully” as an oxymoron and are doing more than your share to keep the economy afloat with beauty product, spa, and plastic surgery purchases.

So, Jungle Reds, how gracefully are you aging?  What’s your biggest complaint about aging?

HANK: Sorry. Still laughing. Luckily I'm really bad at math,so I can't properly calculate the bad news. And even if I knew the score, I would forget it soon.

How about you, Reds?  

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In All Sales Fatal, wounded-vet-turned mall cop Emma-Joy “EJ” Ferris finds a dead gangbanger in the Fernglen Galleria parking lot.  When her boss then disappears and his three ex-wives insist he’s met with foul play, she searches for a link between him and the dead teen.  With the help of her octogenarian Grandpa Atherton (a retired CIA agent), currently working as the mall’s Easter Bunny, she must track a killer with little to lose before the murderer puts her out of business for good.  Critics loved the first mall cop mystery, Die Buying, naming it to several Best of 2011 lists:  Suspense magazine (Top Four Cozies of 2011), the Seattle PI (Top 10), AnnArbor.com (Top 12). 

Please visit me at http://www.lauradisilverio.com or http://www.facebook.com/lauradisilverio

Never Forget To Roar

The Lion Is In is a novel about three women on the lam and a lion who changes their lives. It’s about friendship, courage, love … and learning to salsa with the king of the jungle.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: “Three women walk into a bar”…kind of sounds like the beginning of a joke. But for the three women in THE LION IS IN, it’s the beginning of a journey. Delia Ephron’s new novel is—well, it’s novel. And original and fresh and hilarious and poignant and it stars—a lion. Named Marcel. As you will discover, Marcel is a force. And so, as you will also discover, is Delia. (If her last name sounds familiar, come on. You know why.)

HANK: Delia! You're amazing. With a whole list of novels and essays, movie screenplays like You've Got Mail (with so many lines that are iconic) and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a long-running play written with sister Nora, (Love, Loss and What I Wore), and now your brand new book THE LION IS IN that comes out this week. SO much to talk about! So, um, what was your sister Hallie like when she was a kid?

Delia Ephron: For some reason that question reminds me of Hat Day at Camp Tocaloma where Hallie, about 8 at the time, wore an upside-down straw bowl on her head.

HANK: Oh, she still wears that. We all wondered about it...but were afraid to ask. Anyway, I was thinking about You've Got Mail. (You're probably sighing, now, thinking, WHY is she asking about that? But here in book world, it's a true classic).

One reason I love it is that it reveals how some of us--and I include myself--find it so much easier and more successful to talk without really being in the same room with someone. Joe and Kathleen are articulate and clever and poignantly honest when they're anonymous. There's a question there, I promise. About writing, I guess. Are you more comfortable writing than talking? Are you enthusiastic when you sit down at the computer? Or anxious?

Delia Ephron: I love to write. It's total escape for me -- not that it isn't sometimes difficult or full of anxiety but basically I'm so happy writing. But I also love to talk. I love to talk about writing too -- to have really boring conversations with my writer friends about things like structure. But everyone in the world writes more. Email and texting and twitter are putting our voices out of business.

HANK: Oh, my husband would disagree...for my voice, at least. So. The Lion is In. Okay, I've gotta ask. Tell us about the first moment you thought: oh, of course. I could write a novel about three women who meet a lion. Yes, a lion. And how their lives are changed by the lion. Sure, yeah, that'll work. Why didn't I think of that sooner? (And I love the Thelma and Louise cover!)

DE: I dreamed it. I had a really powerful dream about three women in this huge strange roadhouse/bar built of materials hammered every which way. I knew two of the women were young, in their twenties, and their names were Lana and Tracee. And there was an older woman, around 50, that I named Rita when I woke up. Tracee was in a wedding dress. And there was a lion. A lion. In a large cage. The women were all on the lam.

The dream took place in North Carolina, a state I had never been to. When I woke up I really didn't know if what I dreamed had actually happened. It took me a few minutes to realize I was actually in NYC in my own bed. I knew it was my next book. I sat down that morning and started writing. The story contains all the themes of my life, so I'm not surprised in retrospect it came from a dream. But when I went down to N.C. after writing the first draft (not before), I found so many things that I had written were actually there.

And the lion ... I have a dog, so I believe that animals are remarkable and have the power to change our lives ... but a lion???? ... I sent the manuscript off to Katie Buess, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and she said everything that I had imagined with Marcel (my lion) was right. She helped me, gave me some ideas and adjustments ... but basically I seemed to know it.

And re the cover: Thank you. I love it too.

HANK: Delia, that’s almost—incredible. A dream. Huh. And so interesting that it didn’t just evaporate when you woke up, as they often do. I want to talk about how your brain “understood” lion-ness, and what that was, but first-- You talked about the themes of your life..tell us about some of them…and how they translated into the book.

DE: Lana is struggling to stay sober ... and those were problems I grew up with, my parents had those problems ... and Rita is unhappily married, trapped in a joyless world -- her spirit is being crushed. I know that from my first marriage. I had to leave to save myself, and she does too. And Tracee, well I'm not a kleptomaniac, but I know what it's like to feel unloved.

When I began to write, I didn't know what the women wanted. I only knew what they didn't want: the lives they were leading. Their friendship -- a sisterhood -- is a major part of what helps them figure out where they are going and get there. The other part is Marcel.

HANK: So what was it about lions that you “got”? Why did you use a lion? How did you pick the name Marcel—or was that simply the lion’s name?

DE: Marcel -- I suppose it's like a baby where you look at it and you know its name. Oh this is ... Marcel. About lions, I understood their power, their silence, their essential social -ness, their love of scents (although I had to be told about their love of femur bones) and their whimsy.

HANK: Yikes. Scary. (But good to know about the femur thing.) What did your agent say when you—or your husband, or whoever you first told—explained what your book would be?

DE: I just sent it to my agent without an explanation. I'm not sure if I told her I was even writing it but she loved it. She pushed me ... I did two more drafts, but she always loved it. So did my husband. I strive/hope to write what I like to read: characters that you love to be with, and a story that keeps you turning the pages. The turning pages thing was always working. I hope the other does too.

HANK: In the end, all the women’s lives are changed by the lion. For some reason, it reminds me of Dumbo’s magic feather, where the feather has no power, except what Dumbo believes—and that’s the strongest power possible. It’s as if we all have lions, you know, we just have to be open to them. (Or, I could be wrong.)

DE: That's what I believe. Whether you have the help of a lion named Marcel -- friend, playmate, comforter, priest, rabbi, minister, higher power, shrink -- we all posses the imagination to change our lives.

HANK: Has this book changed your life, too?

DE: It's calmed me down. Marcel is a force.

HANK: So I have to ask. When you think--"Marcel"--if you do--what does that mean?

DE: First the whimsy, something I always try to be in touch with, and then the bravery. And the patience. And kindness. And the roar. Never forget to roar.

HANK: Never forget to roar. Fantastic. Thank you! The book is amazing…and I can’t wait to see what happens as a result.

So Reds, was there a moment for you? Or a force? Or a decision? A person, place, thing, event or animal--who changed the course of your life? (Mine might have been when the political candidate I worked for lost the election—and I lost my job. As a result, and because I didn’t know enough to be afraid, I walked into a radio station, and asked for a job as a reporter. And so it goes.)

And how about this—Delia’s giving an autographed copy of THE LION IS IN to one lucky commenter!

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About the Author

Delia Ephron is a bestselling author and screenwriter. Her movies include The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, You’ve Got Mail, Hanging Up (based on her novel), and Michael. She has written novels for adults and teenagers, books of humor, including How to Eat Like a Child, and essays. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, More, and The Huffington Post. Recently, she collaborated with Nora Ephron on a play, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which ran for two years off-Broadway and has been performed in cities around the world, including Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Sydney.

www.twitter.com/deliaephron
www.facebook.com/deliaephron
www.deliaephronwriter.com

On "Love, Loss, and What I Wore"

HALLIE: My sisters, Delia and Nora Ephron, have written a wonderful play that’s off-Broadway right now, “Love, Loss and What I Wore.” It’s based on the poignant illustrated book/memoir by Ilene “Gingy” Beckerman. To Gingy’s stories they added lots more, including some that I recognized (Nora and her bottomless purse, Delia and her hot pink Mexican wedding skirt). Even my daughter got into the act, collecting bra stories from her friends.

What is it about women and clothes?

DELIA: we start young. Really it's the first thing we get to chose -- what to wear. Even before we get to decide what we want to eat, our moms let us pick out what we are going to wear that day. So we define ourselves with clothes from the start. And we shop with our mom's and we rebel with clothes when we're teenagers. And don't forget dress-up -- I mean "play," pretending to be other people, clomping around in our mom's high heels.

HALLIE: We’re not talking about “fashion” here, right?

DELIA: Absolutely. Not fashion. This play is about the clothes we wore and the memories they trigger. We always remember what we were wearing when ... we fell in love, broke up, and so on and so forth. The stories of our lives told through our clothing.

HALLIE: Of course, our mother picked our clothes growing up. I don’t know why but the dress I remember you wearing as a child is a dark blue and white striped taffeta dress with a drop waist and a swishy skirt, and a red velvet bow at the neck. Do you remember that dress? I was so happy when I grew into it.

DELIA: Now that's interesting. I thought mom let us pick all our clothes. And that dress -- I die when I see myself in it. I was built like a stick, and that dress required someone with curves. And that bow!

HALLIE: What can I say? It was yours, so I coveted it!

The production features five actresses with a cast that rotates every six weeks or so. I went to see it with a half-dozen friends from college. We saw Rhea Pearlman and her daughter Lucy DeVito, Kristin Chenoweth, Capathia Jenkins, and Rita Wilson. They were so phenomenal and seemed to be having so much fun doing it. Do you get to work with the actresses, and how do you decide which one gets to perform which story?

DELIA: Yes and it is the most fun. We rotate in a new cast every month. Since the play is a collection of stories, with each new cast, we have to decide which actors are right for each piece.

HALLIE: The audience I saw this with was rocking, from the minute the cast walked on stage. Do you get to watch audiences respond and talked with them after they’ve seen the show?

DELIA: The actors love to do the show because the audience -- which is mostly women, since this is the story of women's lives -- are very interactive. What happens is that the show triggers your own memories -- so the audience is having a really personal experience. And often they don't want to leave the theater because they are so busy talking to their friends about their own experiences. But not all audiences are alike -- and no two performances are alike -- so there is always the excitement and anxiety, what will this show be like.

HALLIE: After the show I couldn't stop thinking about clothes. The date decision: whether or not to wear a padded bra. The California shoes that nearly dissolved in a New York City rainstorm my first day at college. Not knowing what to wear to my mother's funeral.

What are the clothes that meant something to you?

DELIA: My crocheted dresses that were so, so short and so so sexy that I used to wear everywhere, even to work, when I was in my twenties. My raspberry silk sweater -- I can see it so clearly -- I wore it on my first date with my husband. I was wearing it when the menu caught fire in the restaurant. Very symbolic.

HALLIE: How about you? Please, tell us about something special and what it meant.

Julie and Julia and Jungle Red

HALLIE: Last week I went to see "Julie and Julia," which I would have gone to see even if it weren’t my sister Nora’s movie. It was lovely and sweet—and Meryl Streep IS Julia Child.

Which led me to drag out my copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”--my copy is a 1967 edition, 15th printing, and is inscribed from friends of my parents on May 11, 1969. A wedding present.

My husband and I used to meet every few months with friends and, in advance, come up with a menu that involved each guest making a single dish that took as long as a normal single meal to prepare. Needless to say, lots of our recipes came from Julia. It's easy to see which, because those pages are warped and stained and the margins are scribbled in.

All in all, I made it through about 34 recipes--nowhere near Julie Powell's record setting mastery of all 524. But still.

Standouts were Onion soup (start by roasting bones for broth). Soup au Pistou (an incredible concoction made with zucchini and fresh peas, cooked with lots of garlic and run through a hand mill). Duck a l'Orange and Creme Caramel. And the extraordinary and extraordinarily expensive Tournedos Rossini (filet mignon, home cooked artichoke hearts, truffles, a slab of foie gras, and a Madeira sauce--Oh, baby!) Every recipe had a meltdown moment…as when the duck flew off teh platter on the way to the table or when I renverséd the crème caramel all over the kitchen counter.

Still, I can’t remember a single dish that failed, though Lobster Thermidor did not seem worth the trouble when compared to how delicious a plain old boiled lobster with drawn butter can be.

Have you cooked Julia or are your culinary triumphs more of the Galloping Gourmet variety…or are we talking green been casserole with mushroom soup and canned onion rings?

RHYS: I too used to belong to a supper club for which we had to prepare one dish. And Tournedos Rossini was the first reeeely expensive dish I ordered as an adult. And it was worth it! We used to entertain a lot and I was always trying out new recipes for guests (much to John's horror when I hadn't tested them first) My only spectacular failure was a turbon of sole, stuffed with shrimp and crab. When I turned it out, it collapsed into a nasty pink mess. I had to make a hasty sauce to cover it!

I believe that Julia herself once threw a duck across the kitchen on the way to the table, didn't she? That was why she was so popular--she was so human and really enjoyed every part of the cooking and the eating. I once had an important meeting with the head of my publishing house and the head of marketing back in the days when I wrote YA books. Julia Child and husband were at the next table and I sat almost touching her. All my table-mates wanted to know was what she was eating next. I remember she started with a dozen oysters. And she never shrank from using the butter. My kind of lady!

HALLIE: Oh, gosh, elbow to elbow! I'm jealous. My friend, chef Lora Brody, actually COOKED for Julia once. I can only imagine how nerve wracking that would have been.

JAN: I remember making a stuffed roast after watching a Julia Child episode. It was very complicated, delicious, but very rich. Although I love to cook, I usually avoid recipes that involve too many steps or too many ingredients I have to go to special stores to find.

Tonight I'm throwing a dinner party and all the recipes center around the herbs in my garden, starting with a melon sald with cilantro and fresh mint.

I spotted Julia Childs once, though, at a WGBH Wine tasting fundraiser. It was very exciting. I think she waved.

HALLIE: I also have a garden full of fresh herbs like now, and in honor of same have become an expert at making mojitos.

HANK: Oh, I've made that onion soup. Fantastic. But you know what I learned from her? Very important. Before you start a recipe, read the whole thing, and sort of--imagine how it's going to work and what you need to do in advance. There's nothing like making, say, lasagne, and then getting to the part of the recipe where it says: "add marinara sauce, see p. 233." Ahhh....

And my copy is newer, the 23rd printing from March, 1973. (The onion soup page is a crinkly mess! So is the page for souffle a la vanille.) And I just reread the first line of the foreward: "This is a book for the servantless American cook who can be unconcerned on occasion with budgets ,waitlines, time schedules..."

Hilarious.

HALLIE: Culinary triumphs? Please...dish!