Late-breaking (ie, from last week) news: Kathy Reel is the winner of E.J. Copperman's WITNESS FOR THE PERSECUTION! Kathy, contact E.J. at Jeff at Jeff Cohen Books dot com for your prize.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: For Christmas, my daughter shared with me a subscription to an app called Storyworth. Every week the recipient of the gift is emailed a question. Some are stock, as in "Who were your grandparents?" Some are asked by the giver, like "Where did you go on vacations as a child?"
You answer the questions in as much detail as you want, and you can add photos, too. Then you hit SEND and your little post goes to the giver. (You can go back and edit, too, thank goodness.) At the end of the year, Storyworth compiles all your stories into a book. Isn't that a terrific idea?
Of course I am cringing to admit that I've hardly answered any of the questions! They trigger a flood of memories and stories, but I am so under the gun on my book and all my time and energy is going into getting those last pages done. Huge apologies to Kayti! But I promise, as soon as I send off my manuscript, I'm going to have a great time filling in those blanks. (The questions make terrific journaling prompts, too.)
This week's question was "What are your favorite recipes to cook, or to eat?" and my first thought was of big meals, which I've never been very good at, dinner party and holiday sort of stuff.
And then I thought about omelets. Prompted, in part, by the one I made for dinner last night. Sauteed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, sharp cheddar cheese. And butter, as that is the only proper way to make an omelet. Fabulous. It is the best dinner I can think of.
That led me to think about my mom, who loved omelets, too, and about our trips to France. My mom's favorite Paris meal was an omelet with a green salad and a glass of wine, in a brasserie. That was the height of sophistication as far as she was concerned! I have to say I agree.
And that led me to Julia Child. Is anyone else watching JULIA, the new HBO Max series about Julia's early days on public television?
(I hate that we can't all watch the same things!) The British actress Sarah Lancashire from Happy Valley plays Julia--is that bizarrely unexpected? (She's really good, though.) I don't remember my mom owning a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but surely she watched The French Chef, because it was the sixties and that's what you did. And how else did she learn about French omelets?
Those are questions I would ask now, if I could, and I think it's a lovely idea to share these stories, rambling as they may be.
How about you, REDs and readers, are you sharing stories--or asking the questions?
