Sunday, July 11, 2010

Random Quotes and a recipe

Because I'm weeding books from a bedside chest (and other places . . . like the floor) to make room for a new bed frame, I have collected a few quotes I think worth sharing before I pass on the books. And, a recipe that I haven't tried. If you beat me to it, let me know how it turns out.

Quotes and a recipe!

Being in this recession feels like watching a nature film about the disintegration of a major polar ice shelf: Huge chunks of everything we thought was solid keep breaking apart and disappearing into an abyss, the depth of which no one knows.

from Cherries in Winter by Suzan Colon

"A little while later, we got pulled over by a state trooper. We thought, What now? He took a look at our license plate and said, 'Do you mean to tell me that you-all drove here all the way from New York in this car?' Daddy said, 'Yes, sir, we did.' And the trooper said, 'Well, God bless, and welcome to Florida.' "

from Cherries in Winter by Suzan Colon

Quick Apple Cake

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine [plus about 1 Tablespoon, melted]
2 apples, peeled and sliced
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Sift together into a second bowl the flour, baking powder, salt and tablespoon of sugar. Cut the butter or margarine into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is the consistency of cornmeal. Stir in the egg and milk. Spread batter in a greased pan (8 x 8 x 2 in.).

Press apple slices into batter in rows. Brush top with part of the melted butter or margarine, sprinkle with the combined sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and top with remaining melted butter or margarine. Bake in a quick oven until the cake leaves the sides of the pan and is nicely browned on top, twenty-five minutes or more. Serve warm or cool cut in squares.

--also from Cherries in Winter

Over the PA system, the captain came on again. "I'm sure y'all have noticed we've been circling. We're trying to use up some a that big ol' tank a gas before we come on in." He proceeded to tell us that there was a little ol' problem with getting the landing wheels to go down. That got everyone thinking. Now all you could hear was the vibration of the propellers slicing evenly through the dark, and the muffled terror of people mentally preparing to die. Only the Indians in the back appeared unconcerned; what did they care--they'd be back.

--from Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden

The thought of performing operations on numbers was much slower in coming because performing arithmetic requires a certain degree of abstraction. Anthropologists tell us that among many tribes, if two hunters fired two arrows to fell two gazelles, then got two hernias lugging them back toward camp, the word used for "two" might be different in each case. In these civilizations, you really couldn't add apples and oranges. It seems to have taken many thousands of years for humans to discover that these were all instances of the same concept: the abstract number, 2.

--from Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace by Leonard Mlodinow

I am living once again in the town where I grew up, having returned here several weeks ago in a state of dull torment for which the Germans probably have a word.

--from All New People by Anne Lamott

18 comments:

  1. Love that quote from Dead End Gene Pool. Of course, I'm getting on a plane this week, so hopefully I'll forget what I just read!

    That recipe sounds yummy!! Let me know how it turns out.

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  2. Les,

    Just meditate on reincarnation and you'll be fine. I wish you a safe and happy trip.

    The apple cake likely won't get made, right away. Huzzybuns said, "The word 'easy' is a misnomer -- that's an old-fashioned cake recipe," which is true. So, maybe if I manage to get the counters clean on his next trip, I'll give it a try (but you know I'm not a motivated cook). He heads to Australia on Friday. Without me, of course. :(

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  3. Awww. I'm sorry you don't get to go to Australia. :(

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  4. Thanks, Les. I'm kind of teary about it, today. Australia's been #1 on my wish list of places to go for as long as I can remember.

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  5. I had to laugh at that 'state of dull torment' quote. I bet the Germans DO have a word for it. Bummer on Australia - hope the Hub has an OK trip (and brings back some chocolate?)

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  6. Great quotes- I'm in the process of cleaning out my collections of books too. It's probably a quicker process for the Kindle owners.
    Ann
    Cozy In Texas

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  7. Care,

    Isn't that a great quote? It made me laugh out loud, too, and I thought the same thing. I'll bet she's right. LOL

    Thanks. He's just going to Sydney, this time -- last time he went all over the place, so I shouldn't be quite as envious, but I still am. I'm actually kind of pathetic. :)

    Australia's a great place to get opals, aboriginal artwork and funky things like didgeridoos. I asked huz to look for a pretty bit of aboriginal artwork. Last time, he brought back a boomerang and mug, both with really pretty painted designs.

    Cozy in TX,

    Ah, yes, I'll bet you're right. I don't own an e-reader, yet. I'm not quite ready to pay what I consider a real book price for an electronic download (especially when I can still find plenty of excellent books for a quarter at my library sale) but they do take less space and are presumably easier to dispose of. :)

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  8. Euclid's Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace by Leonard Mlodinow sounds interesting. I'll have to check my library.

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  9. Bonnie,

    It's a good book -- at least, what I read was. Someone loaned that one to my husband and he said he had to return it so I stopped reading. And, then, Lord knows what he did with it but it turned up in our bedroom, yesterday, and I had to mark down that quote before he takes it back.

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  10. I cannot believe some of my quotes (two!) made it in the same space as my beloved Anne Lamott. Fainting! Many thanks for making my day with such cool author proximity, and for thinking my words were good enough to make it to your website. Smiling and fainting at the same time . . . :)
    Re: The "easy" cake--it really is easy, though in the paperback edition of "Cherries in Winter" (which I affectionately refer to as "Cherries in Paperback"), there will be a recipe index that advises bakers the following: Cake pan, no; loaf pan, yes. Or, if you want a larger cake, double all the ingredients, except the apples. If you’re using a loaf pan, one apple will cover the top quite nicely.
    That's a little sneak preview of the ppb. There will also be additional chapters and recipes, hopefully just as easy.
    Many thanks again!
    Suzan Colón
    author of "Cherries in Paperback"

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  11. Suzan,

    Okay, first, thanks for the smile. Anne Lamott is definitely all kinds of awesome; I can see why that would give you a buzz. LOL

    Second, thanks for the info about the loaf pan vs. cake pan. Good to know. Now, I just have to figure out where husband keeps the loaf pans. I can't find anything in our kitchen. He keeps rearranging things when I'm not looking and then leaving the country. Honestly. Men.

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  12. The recipe sounds good! You've chosen quotes to guarantee interest...I'm about to take down titles!

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  13. Jenclair,

    That apple cake does sound good, doesn't it? I couldn't bear to part with the book until I'd saved the recipe. I've reviewed two of the four books and the other two I haven't actually read through - I just happened to open the Anne Lamott book and that quote is the opening line. The math book belongs to my husband's assistant so I didn't get to finish it before he took it back, but I have a feeling you'd enjoy it.

    Since my search feature isn't working, if you want to see my reviews I recommend going to Google and typing in Cherries in Winter or Dead End Gene Pool along with the word "Bookfoolery" if you want to read the reviews.

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  14. I'll bet if you were a lawyer you could go to Australia.

    I love those quotes! The Dead End Gene Pool cracked me up and made me think and the quote of Euclid's Window reminded me of innate logarithmic counting.

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  15. Carrie,

    LOL It took me a minute before I realized what you meant by that "if you were a lawyer" comment.

    I'm glad you liked the quotes! I have a tendency to stick tons of post-its in a book and then not find the space to use all of them, so I figured it would be a good idea to slap together a post full of quotes worth sharing. :)

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  16. It's possible I'll be prefacing all coments like that......no, no, I promise I won't. I just couldn't resist once.

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  17. Carrie,

    I wonder how long it would take before other commenters started to wonder (and possibly ask) what the heck we were talking about if you did. LOL

    Witty little sneak. :)

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  18. Oh yes... that is very good...

    "Nothing gold can stay"
    ~Robert Frost

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