Mangos, Cucumbers & Avocados - Oh My!

I'm trying this new thing called taking care of my body. You start by giving a shit. Check. Then you take baby steps. This week I've been drinking a lot more water (good, since it's been so damn hot - I don't wanna get dehydrated). Florida's Natural OJ (Owned by Florida farmers, not from concentrate....and I'm a loyalist so it's the only kind I buy) was on sale at Key Food so I bought enough to keep one in the fridge and freeze the other. This has really worked to my advantage because my mother made the recommendation to freeze some of the OJ in ice trays, and I ended up needing it. I don't keep lemons or lemon juice in my fridge because they tend to go bad. But this week my choices for food required lemon juice. I skipped it. I used frozen cubes of OJ. Worked like a charm.

I bought avocados, peaches, cucumbers and mangos this week because they were on sale, not because I had any recipes in mind. After the purchase, I googled some recipes with these combined ingredients and I came up with 3, considering what else I had in the house: Cucumber-avocado salad, chilled cucumber-mango soup and Avocado Mashed potatoes.

Cucumber-Avocado Salad with Roasted Potatoes
The roasted potatoes were just a tossed-together recipe, partly stolen from my friend Thom:
Makes 4-5 servings
About a pound of small red potatoes (it was probably a little more...whatever I was able to yield from the bag I got at the store)
Olive oil
Garlic salt
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion (white, yellow, vidalia, etc.)
Fresh basil (which is growing on my windowsill)

Cut the potatoes into approximately 1" pieces, place in a bowl and toss with olive oil, garlic salt, sliced onion, basil (and if you want, a little bit of pressed fresh garlic)
Place covered in casserole dish or heavy pan on bottom rack of oven at 325 degrees for about half an hour or until potatoes are nice and tender.

Cucumber-Avocado Salad
(this was great as a side with the potatoes)
Makes 3-4 servings
1 large cucumber
salt
1 avocado
1/8 cup of vegetable oil or olive oil (I used olive oil)
1.5 tablespoons lemon juice (I used 3 or 4 small cubes of frozen OJ)
1 small garlic clove (pressed)
black pepper

Peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise, and core with a melon baller or spoon (this is easier if the cucumber is a little cooler than room-temperature). Discard the pulp and the seeds. Slice thinly & place in a bowl. Salt lightly and refrigerate for an hour.
Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. Scoop out of the skin, and dice (this works best if the avocado's been in the fridge for about half an hour). Add diced avocado to the refrigerated cucumber.
Combine oil, lemon (or oj), garlic, pepper & add'l salt if needed. Stir together with avocado and cucumber, and store in fridge for at least another hour. Serve cold. I don't recommend keeping this in the fridge more than 2 days or it'll get kinda brown.

I had this for three days straight for dinner. It was absolutely delicious. I reheated the potatoes each night, and the combination of the two was divine. Add some soy/veggie chicken, and I was in veggie heaven.

Chilled Cucumber-Mango Soup
Makes about 4 servings
1 mango, peeled and pitted (refrigerated is best)
1 cucumber (as with the salad, make sure you cut it lengthwise and spoon out the pulp & seeds, but you don't need to peel the cucumber this time)
3 tablespoons chopped onion (red is probably best, but I used white, which was delicious)
3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice (or just use frozen OJ like I did)

Take half of the mango and dice it.
Take half of the cucumber and dice it.
The remaining pieces of mango and cucumber (should be half of each) may be chopped up coarsely, tossed in the blender with 1/8 cup of water and pureed until almost completely smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add diced mango, cucumber , chopped onion, juice, and 2 cups of cold water.
Stir, and chill. Should be okay in the fridge for 2 or 3 days, and you really shouldn't try freezing it.

Really really refreshing. The oj gives it a smoother taste than the lime probably would, so the lime might be worth a shot. However the smoothness of the orange and mango, mixed with the crispness of the cucumber rind and the onion is perfect. I might even recommend placing your serving in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before serving to make it that much more refreshing.

Avocado Mashed Potatoes
Makes 3-4 side portion servings
3/4 pound of potatoes (about 2 large)
1/2 stick of margarine (or butter, I guess)
1/2 lemon, quartered (or just use frozen OJ)
1 garlic clove, whle
1 avocado
salt
pepper

Peel and quarter the potatoes, wash thoroughly, then place in a pot large enough to then cover them with cold, salted water. Heat & simmer for 20 minutes or until cooked thoroughly, and drain.
Meanwhile, put margarine, lemon (oj) and garlic in a saucepan on very low heat for 20 minutes, then discard lemon & garlic (if you used oj cubes, you only remove the garlic, savvy?).
While all that's happening, slice the avocado in half, remove the pit and skin, and smush it up (room temp is best in this case....or a blender). Once you've drained the potatoes, add the avocado and margarine, and mash.

This is delicious hot or cold. I think I'd like it a little more garlicky though, so I might add it to individual servings. I think next time I might just sautee garlic in a little olive oil instead of using the margarine. I also think the 22 minutes I let the potatoes cook was a little too long, because they mashed a litttttle too easily and I think I prefer them a little chunkier.

The Alphabet of Desire, poems by Barbara Hamby

Barbara Hamby's The Alphabet of Desire is simply a bonanza of musicality, sexuality and honesty. It contains a myriad of allusions to everything from Jane Austen to Daffy Duck, but never hides behind false style or framework. The section actually titled "The Alphabet of Desire" has poems ordered by title alphabetically (one for each letter) and the lines of each are also structured alphabetically (though, somehow, I didn't notice this until I got to the poem for the letter O....way to be paying attention, Lauren. Wayyyy to go.) This structure feels a little forced (how many words can you really use that start with x and z?) but satisfying all the same.

But the last section of the collection was my favorite - her Italian Odes. Ripe with colloquialism, full of wit and bright with realism. These were the poems that seemed closest to her heart - those which were the most real to her and, therefore, the most real to me.

One more book of poetry, and then I get to re-read The Grapes of Wrath :)

Look, but do not touch: a stroll through Mecca

Yesterday, I walked into a Barnes and Noble and did not walk out with a book. This is a very surprising accomplishment for this bibliophile who simply has to own all of them. All of the books, and all of their pages, all of their dust jackets, their placeholders, their print, their dust, their mildew & mold, their oxidation, their bindings - I want it all.

I was very careful to not pick up any books, knowing that by holding them they could possibly transmit their yearning to be read into my palm, and then all would be lost. All money, that is. But I carefully reminded myself that I was there with a friend, and that I should be polite and let him find his books instead of watch me drool all over the fiction section in my Supermarket-Sweep-like mad dash to purchase every book within reach.

I also reminded myself that I've got no money to currently be spending on books. That sealed the deal for me - the memory of my poverty, and of the fact that I already have books at home, from the library - 2 books of poetry by Barbara Hamby, a book of short stories by John Barlow called Eating Mammals, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Gertrude Stein's The Making of Americans which is thicker than the average dictionary.

Don't Close the Book on Libraries!

Last week to *take action * - the New York Public Libraries are facing budget cuts up to $37 Million. Don't let this happen - Do not let the city trim one of the most invaluable resources that we, and all of the city's students, have. Write to your elected officials, donate $10, tell all your friends. The children of this city need their libraries. I need these libraries.

This week's netflix

edit: in case you read this entry before the fix I've just made - I was very very tired when I wrote it last night, hence I came across sounding like someone on coke trying to explain the difference between the simpsons and garfield & friends, while snorting more coke. When I re-read the entry this morning, I was very annoyed with myself....so now that's all been fixed. Thanks for understanding :)

I had these movies for 2 weeks and just never had a chance to watch them. FINALLY today I did.

"The Red Violin" is a stunning history of one particular violin and how it affected each of its' owners. The story is fictional, but based loosely on the mystery of a Violin called the "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius - the main similarity being the color.

I'm pretty sure I added this to my list because Greta Scacchi is in it (Mrs. Weston nèe Taylor in the Miramax version of Emma). I was impressed with Scacchi, but she doesn't have a ton of screen time.

The film is very beautiful and I actually managed to watch it without subtitles. Usually, a film in which a large portion of the spoken script is not English has pre-subtitled it for you. And if they haven't, I usually put the subtitles on. But we weren't busy at work, and I was able to concentrate a little more on what was happening. The Italian stuff was facile - they managed to speak slow enough that I understood everything. The French was a little more difficult, but there was less of it. I've never really studied German, but I've had enough experience with it so that certain key words are really all I need - especially when a film is very well acted and directed, and the body language spells most of it out. Last, but not least, the Mandarin wasn't happening - I could get the tone from their inflection and body language, and I was able to discern what was happening based on the emotions, but that language will continue to baffle me.

Samuel L. Jackson (no, there were no snakes on the violin) has an assistant in the film whose finding is that the red violin is the most acoustically sound instrument in the world - that it's the perfect and impossible blend of perfect, sound math and perfect artistry. Math and music being universal languages, it's only apropos that his finding reflects my experience with the film - not needing words to understand the emotion.

I was a little confused when Netflix recommended this film to me. I thought it was the 2007 film by the same name which is about a team of space cadets and the actual sun. I've already seen that film through Netflix, so I wasn't really sure what was up.

Then I realized Jennifer Ehle and her identical mother, Rosemary Harris, are in it. Now, sense is made. Bonus stars - Rachel Weisz, Ralph Fiennes (duh), James Frain and Mark Strong. Win.

Ralph Fiennes stars as Ignatz Sonnenschein (the name of the film comes from the protagonist's true last name - Sonnenschein being Sunshine in German), and then as Istavan's Olypic-gold-medalist son, Adam Sors (pronounced Zorsch, it means prophecy or divination in latin and Hungarian, and they changed it to this from Sonnenschein so that Istavan could move up in the court system as a judge), and then as Adam's sometimes-communist son, Ivan Sors (who later changes his name back to Sonnenschein).

This one was a little more complex than "The Red Violin" (so it's good that it was in English) though both films dealt with multiple planes of existence in the past, and while the violin is the constant in the first while Ralph Fiennes is the constant in the second.

I have to give Ralph Fiennes some serious credit, here. I half-expected to be bored by a repetitious performance, but that didn't happen at all. Each of his three characters is distinct. Each has his happiness, his own anger, his own purpose, but none are the same as the other. And it doesn't hurt that he's surrounded by a brilliant cast, especially Jennifer Ehle and Rosemary Harris. The two of them are impeccable, and bring a true beauty to the film.

Lester Higata's 20th Century, stories by Barbara Hamby

Imagine, if you can, this story being told as if one were reading spiraling sentences printed on what has now been folded into an origami lotus. The end of Mr. Higata’s life is on the outermost petals, the root of his life is deep in the heart of a paper flower so well-crafted, that it even gives off the head aromas of the text. It has a Merlinesque feel to it – living time backwards. It enables an odd kind of involved dramatic irony which only adds to the text’s complex taste.

Hamby has made an incredibly successful transition from poetry to fiction, a true credit to her mother (to whom the book is dedicated) whom, Hamby says, “has always tossed words around and made them spin and laugh and do cartwheels on the lawn.” The juxtaposition of Hamby’s love for her own mother with her characters is somewhat surprising. Here, you have an author who obviously has wonderful memories of growing up with her mother, writing about two mothers (Mrs. Higata – the title character’s mother, and Mrs. Thompson – his mother-in-law) who are domineering, murderous and racist sticks in the mud. Throw in Ruby Kaapuni, and you’ve got a boxed collector’s edition set of crappy mothers.

In the case of the former two, it serves to prove that the best people are sometimes formed from the worst parents (mothers, at least – both of the fathers are decidedly less evil). In the latter case of Ruby Kaapuni, it’s the opposite – her husband beats her and rapes their daughter, and is later killed by their son who goes mad like his sister. Happy family, no?

Lester Higata is a fictional character – a family man, a good man and, though fictional, very human. In Hamby’s acknowledgements for the volume she says that “[he] has been a part of [her] for so long that sometimes [she] forget[s] he is not a real person.” I can understand why. He’s in excellent company, joined in this story by a veritable rainbow of personalities, each as human as the next. And if her love for these characters was ever in question, the proof is in her words – as colorful, as fragrant and as juicy as Mr. Manago's mangos or Helen Nakamura’s papayas. 

The book won't be published until October, but when it does come out, I strongly recommend it - for the story, and for the inherent poetry. And if you enjoy history (and Hawaii's history, at that) it's even more layered and beautiful. 

Lester Higata’s 20th Century

Stories by Barbara Hamby
University of Iowa Press
October 2010
184 Pages
$16.00

with some trepidation...

I don't want to jinx this reading spell by writing about it before it's done, but I have to get my thoughts down. Upon arriving at the office this afternoon there was, in fact, a package waiting for me from the University of Iowa Press, containing Lester Higata's 20th Century by Barbara Hamby. Bored as I was at work, I set the book aside to make sure I didn't start equating it with work (which can be very dangerous to the appreciation of literature).

I can already tell that I love this book. I breezed past its 10% and I'm 30 pages in, and am loathe to put it down. This is the book I've been waiting for, to get me out of this rut. A) It has to do with Hawai'i - Count me in.

B) It's got historical context - Count me in. But above all of that, Barbara Hamby cannot hide her intrinsic poetry, even when writing prose. It's not perfect, and it's kind of obviously the work of soemeone who doesn't normally deal in short fiction (i.e. there's a lot of repetition and the dialogue - the "he said" and "she said quietly" and "he shouted" - can become a little stilted), but it's kind of like asking a trade window washer to clean a mirror - it's not their usual work but my, does it sparkle.

I can't wait to get through this book and see what it inspires me to pick up next!

Photos!

You may have noticed some recent changes around here, namely a re-design (care of blogger's new design template feature) and the addition last week of a large button that said "Photos @ The Literary Gothamite.com." That large and conspicuous button has been removed, and the brand new photo page can be found by clicking on the "Photos" button, above, which will re-direct you to photos.theliterarygothamite.com

My desire to have a home base in TheLiteraryGothamite, paired with the lack of control I now feel on Facebook has now come to a head. I've been removing photos from Facebook on a near-daily basis, leaving only the ones that either I didn't take, or wouldn't make sense on my photo page (i.e. pictures taken with a cell phone, pictures that don't fit into any other section of my photos, etc.)

The page is still under construction. I've gotten I think everything up from 2004 to 2008, and I'm currently uploading 2009. I still have almost all of 2009 to get through, followed by everything from the last 6 months, and then all of the photos I have prior to 2004. It's a project, and it's ongoing, and it gives me something to do.

I'm sorry that I haven't had a review up in a while. I'm kind of stuck - I had borrowed a bunch of books from the library, couldn't get into them, managed to fail at returning them (as I often do) and have racked up fees totaling $29.00 - which is great, because the public libraries need money! But not great, because now I can't check out books until I pay it. And I'm poor :(

I've got some books here at home, but nothing has grabbed me. I tried a few non-fiction books that I'd gotten from my sister, and I tried a Cormac McCarthy, but then realized it was part of a series and I should probably read the rest of the series....that's what you get when you get free books, you know?

Supposedly, I should be getting reviewer copy, this time from University of Iowa Press, called Lester Higata's 20th Century:

       Starting in 1999 with his conversation with his father, continuing backward in time throughout his life
        with his wife, Katherine, and their children in Hawai‘i, and ending with his days in the hospital in 
        1946, as he heals from a wartime wound and meets the woman he will marry, Hamby recreates not 
        just one but any number of the worlds that have shaped Lester. The world of his mother, as stubbornly 
       faithful to Japan and Buddhism as Katherine’s mother is to Ohio and conservative Christianity; the 
      world of his children, whose childhoods and adulthoods are vastly different from his own; the world 
       after Pearl Harbor and Vietnam; the world of a professional engineer and family man: the worlds of 
       LESTER HIGATA'S 20TH CENTURY are filled with ordinary people living extraordinary lives, 
       moving from farms to classrooms and offices, from racism to acceptance and even love, all in a setting 
       so paradisal it should be heaven on earth.

I was away for a wedding this weekend (my friends Maria & Brad! Photos are here), so I've not been to work since Thursday - just checked my voice mail at the office and it would appear that I do have a delivery. I'm hoping it's the book since I wasn't expecting anything else, and I really need something to read.