Split-Pea Monday
I am attempting split-pea soup. (Wikihow has a good recipe, very simple, with PICTURES. Us cooking-challenged need pretty pitchers.) There’s a bunch of ham in it, and the onion will be caramelized and added later (because I like the taste browned onions give to a soup.) Plus a quartered potato to take some of the salt out.
The Selkie made caramels again this weekend and gave me some. I have the best writing friends ever.
I have been thinking about cooking lately. The Selkie assures me I can cook, since I can read and am reasonably capable of following a recipe. I was told I was a worthless cook so often growing up that I think I believe it. It’s hard going, trying to figure out how to do a week’s menu and get everything thrown together at the proper time. Part of the problem is the stress–I feel as if I’m being graded on a particularly fierce exam, and failure to perform well WILL mean pain.
This is akin to how I feel about a lot of stuff, not just cooking. The echoes of childhood taunting echo for a long time. It is hard to challenge basic assumptions about oneself that were etched in with acid when one was tender and impressionable.
I’ve started reading Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. I suppose I’m on a non-paranormal kick. I generally read non-paranormal fiction and a good deal of history, but I’ve been noticing lately just how much paranormal romance and urban fantasy there is nowadays. This is a good thing–I think it shows that our cultural vision of the world is changing, becoming a little more inclusive of difference.
Or so I like to think. The cynic in me disagrees sometimes, pointing out that most paranormal hero/ines are crippled by their “difference” and gifts, set against the world in a one-person war. However, that’s a step up from the absolute silence about all things even remotely woo-woo that used to reign in fiction, even fantasy and horror (Derleth and Lovecraft and King notwithstanding.) I think the field is undergoing a renaissance, and I’m curious to see how it will all turn out.
Anyway, White Teeth is very engaging. I read the first few chapters about six months ago, during a slow morning at the bookstore, and couldn’t forget it when I had to finally put it down so a customer could buy it. So, now I have a chance to buy it, and I’m enjoying it as much as I thought I would. In particular, Smith’s hilarious little asides and ear for dialogue are very good.
So. It’s revisions for a few more hours, then I think I’ll reward myself with a chapter or two. Rewards are good. The Muse likes rewards.
And so do I.
