Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams

I’m hosting an Easter brunch this weekend, so Carole’s call for Ten Favorite Side Dishes to Serve at Family Dinners is a perfect topic as I plan my menu.

1. Ribboned asparagus salad with lemon from Smitten Kitchen (pictured above). It looks pretty and springy and tastes great.

2. Roasted cauliflower with kalamata olives, parmesan, and pickled lemon. I shave the cheese over the cauliflower when I take it out of the oven and toss in the olives and lemons, which I’ve rough chopped.

3. Cilantro, chickpea, and lime salad. I make this a lot during the summer, as a side and sometimes to eat for lunch.

4. Roasted new potatoes and leeks. They’re buttery and delicious, especially when I get them from the organic farm down the road.

5. Strawberry and spinach salad. My former co-worker gave me this recipe, and it’s a hit whenever I make it. If you want, I’ll write out the recipe; the dressing is delish.

6. Cornbread. Add a drizzle of honey and it becomes dessert.

7. Broccoli rabe. I like it shocked, then sauteed in olive oil and garlic with a drizzle of lemon. Wish I had some in front of me right now, in fact!

8. Celery stuffed with cream cheese. My mom served this at every big family meal, and while I don’t make it often, it’s like my own Proustian side dish when I do.

9. Sauteed Brussels sprouts. I like them roasted, too, but this is my favorite way to serve those micro cabbages.

10. Watermelon, feta, cherry tomato, and mint salad. It’s a little early in the season for it, but it sure is a tasty, refreshing side!

What are your favorite sides to serve at a family dinner?

This week Carole charged us with listing Ten Songs that Put us in a Good Mood. As I thought about what to include in my list, I realized the songs that make me happy are most often songs to which I like to dance, sing along with, or have a sentimental connection. So here’s my playlist:

1. Independent Women by Destiny’s Child. I was SO excited when the first Charlie’s Angels movie came out. The song became a favorite, especially as I realized that I had, in fact, become an Independent Woman. Even if I’m married, I love knowing that I can take care of myself just fine, in fact, in style, all by myself. Power to the ladies!

2. Brandy by Looking Glass. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Best. Song. Ever. I’ll give you this: it’s a tragic song, but it still puts me in a good mood. Maybe it is schadenfreude on my part.

3. Lady Marmalade by Patti LaBelle. Tell me you can sit still when this is on, and I’ll tell you you’re a fibber!

4. Nowhere Man by the Beatles. I love singing along to this song, and I adore this part of Yellow Submarine.

5. The Game of Love by Santana and Michelle Branch. Early on, when our relationship was shifting from friendship to romance, Neal told me that he thought of me every time he heard this song. How can that not put me in a good mood? Plus: great dance tune.

6. Beast of Burden. With apologies to the Rolling Stones, I like it best when Alejandro Escovedo sings it (yes, mad crush on my part). Pretty much anything he sings puts me in a good mood, though. (This link has the Boss singing, too!)

7. When the Hunter gets Captured by the Game by Jerry Garcia Band. Another sentimental one, this was on Neal’s play list requests for our wedding party.

Jill with my pals Michael and Amy

8. Where is Bobbie Gentry by Jill Sobule. I can’t get enough of Jill Sobule. I love her voice, and her songs, even the sad ones, put me in a good mood.

9. Nothing to Prove by Jill Sobule. I double dog dare you not to shout “I got nothing to prove” along with her.

10. Jerusalem by Dan Bern. His voice makes me happy, and this song, in particular, makes me feel like someone has seen into my heart and put what’s in there to music. And that, too, puts me in a good mood.

What music puts you in a good mood?

My first penpal was my Ohio grandmother. I would send letters filled with my world and ask her questions about hers. She always wrote back and asked me questions, too. I have a nice collection of letters from this woman whom I might otherwise not have known very well.  In fact, when I was preparing to marry the first time around, I asked her about her wedding. She wrote a beautiful descriptive letter and thanked me for asking; she enjoyed the chance to remember her early romance, her dress, their rustic honeymoon.

Mrs. Wolfe, my first grade teacher, signed me up for a penfriend, and I wrote to Sarah in London well into our twenties. We sent little gifts and tapes so we could hear each others’ voice. One of these days I’ll be clever enough to find her via the magic of the Internet and write to her once more.

Letter writing, then, has been dear to me since my earliest literate days. Even with the ease of e-mail, I enjoy writing letters. In 2012, I’ve committed to writing 52 letters. Six weeks in, I’ve gotten one return letter and two email responses. For the month of February, I joined the Month of Letters Challenge, and I’ve steadily sent letters, postcards, Valentine’s cards, and little notes. I enjoy imagining the recipients at that moment of recognition: aha! This is not a bill! This is something pleasant. Well, at least that’s how I feel when I see familiar handwriting on an envelope.

Carole is honoring the Challenge with this week’s topic: Ten Tips for Writing a Great Letter. I hope my 38 years of letter-writing experience help you write a great letter of your own!

1. Read letters from a time when they were the main form of correspondance. A good model helps every writer. In 2009, I battled a fierce rainstorm so I could visit some of Jane Austen’s letters. They were as magnificent as you’d expect.

2. Consider your audience. We don’t always know the person to whom we’re writing very well, but a correspondance is an excellent exercise to remedy that. Begin, then, with what you do know. She is a reader? A gardener? A mother? A baker? Ask questions about the reader’s occupations, and if she responds, she’s sure to elaborate and sketch a more detailed picture.

3. Tell a story. We love to read stories! What happened when you walked into the wrong room that day? Who did you meet while walking the dogs?

4. Describe with great detail. My little house is not that remarkable, but I recently filled a letter to my mom with descriptions of the changes we made and our plans for future changes. I’ve described my view to Neal when writing him from the beach or Rome or Taos. Describe the charming acts of your baby or kitten or your partner as he cooks. Describe a meal. Wish to let the reader experience what you describe as you have, sparing no detail.

5. Express admiration for the reader. In his “Consolation to His Wife”, a letter from Plutarch to his wife upon the death of their dear little daughter, he writes, “I know the good fight you lately fought when you supported Theon’s sister and resisted the women who were charging in with wails and shrieks, simply to pile fire upon fire. When people see a friend’s house aflame they extinguish it with all possible speed and strength, but when souls are ablaze, they only add kindling…Against such a contingency I know that you will be on guard.” It is a sad letter, but one in which the writer expresses his admiration for his wife’s level-headed ways.

6. Review a book, play, or movie. It’s fun to hear what our friends are reading or watching and to get a thorough review. I’ve watched many a movie and read many a book because of detailed recommendations.

Content of letters is important, but considering how they will appear to the reader and how they will be used (oh, I’m sneaking in the rhetorical situation…once a writing instructor…) is also vital when writing a great letter.

7. Settle in. Don’t write when you only have time to dash. I like to have at least half an hour, which allows me to slow my thoughts, to consider before I write.

8. Use a beautiful pen. I favor fountain pens because I like the scritch of an extra-fine nib on paper. I most often write with a Lamy Safari or a lovely little pen Neal gave me a few years ago.

9. Indulge in high quality paper. I’m on a G. Lalo of Paris kick. It takes ink like a champ, and it comes in some pretty colors, too.

Mostly, though, the key thing is

10. Be authentic. Share something of yourself on paper, a real feeling, a real moment of your life, and your reader will treasure their letter. Emails and phone calls all too easily disappear into the ether, but letters have staying power. They are, in a way, little bits of immortality.

There’s so much more I could say about letter writing: spread it over a week, sharing a bit of each day; add a sketch or watercolor; be hilarious; share something you’ve studied. But I think instead I’ll ink my pen and write a letter to a friend.

What do you enjoy about letter writing? What do you like reading about in letters?

Happy Valentine’s Day! Last year I mused on the meaning of Valentine’s Day. This year, I brought candy to my classes, made a valentine for my love, and wore pink Fluevogs. I’m also creating a list of Ten (Some of Which May Be) Chocolate Treats.

Carole, readers, don’t shun me. I’m really not such a fan of chocolate. Oh, there was that bar Spring gave me on my birthday that I gobbled up, and maybe the ocasional brownie or pain au chocolat makes me swoon just a little, but usually chocolate makes me feel all twitchy, so I avoid it.

Can I still be in the Lady Club?

Anyway, here’s a list of my favorite treats.

1. Pain au chocolat. There’s a patisserie in Auvers where Sara, Neal, and I stopped on a misty walk, and I haven’t forgotten the taste of the chocolate melting in my mouth.

2. Ladurée macaroons. Was it salted caramel, Sara? Whatever flavors were in the darling little boxes, they made heavenly treats!

3. Pineapple. A good corer makes it easier to enjoy fresh pineapple. What a treat!

4. A long soak in the tub. Preferably with…

5. A good book.

6. Freshly inked fountain pen and lovely paper on which to write.

7. Fruit from July in the freezer. Because of the October-November power outage, I’ve lost my summer fruit. Usually, though, I have cherries to make a Valentine’s clafoutis.

8. A perfect blood orange. There’s no way to tell until you pop a wedge in your mouth, but when a blood orange is perfectly ripe, it can’t be beat as a sweet treat.

9. Whoopie pies. Even though I no longer identify myself as a New Englander, I still cherish this very-New-England treat.

10. Chocolate dipped apricots. Nice plump fruit and good dark chocolate=treat.

What’s your favorite (maybe chocolate, maybe not) treat?