Book Talk #13

Additionally, thoughts about autumn and a recipe

Yes, I will add to the plethora of praising posts about autumn. How’s that for some alliteration?

I am not a summer person. Part of that stems from very pale, almost flammable skin, and a tendency to get heatstroke at inconvenient times; such a picnics, baseball games whose tickets cost the earth, and standing in lines at amusement parks.

Fortunately, the amusement park era of my life is over, if they want to go they can drive themselves and pay for it. I’m out.

Glaring sunlight depresses me. It probably has something to do with my Irish ancestry, they are misty people. My grandmother, who was an Irish immigrant, enjoyed what she called a soft day, gray and damp, which is the kind of weather that makes me the most happy. People think this is weird because most are happiest in the sun and feel depressed by the cool, damp gray days that invigorate me. Perhaps it is weird, but I’m weird in a lot of ways so it doesn’t concern me too much.

Give me a cool day, a fireplace and a book and I am happy, happy, happy. I am much less happy at the beach, on picnics, or sitting outside at restaurants. I appreciate the beauty of it all, I live seven miles from the Atlantic Ocean, so summer is big here, but it’s not my happy place.

I also hate being hot. Even more so since menopause. Yuck.

This is also the time of year when my reading kicks up a notch. If you follow me on GoodReads you will see that I am, as of this writing, two books ahead of being on track for my goal of 95 books. This is only due to my three-mile walk every morning and I sometimes listen to a book while walking. Yes, I count audiobooks as read, that’s a point people argue about, feel free to do so, there is a case to be made either way. I just count it as a record-keeping device and I don’t sweat the small stuff.

Something about the fall demands good books, and cozy blankets.

Since we are getting toward the spooky season I thought I would share with you a book I enjoyed that fits into the magical realism genre.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen is a magical, romantic book about the Waverly family who live in a lovely small house in a very small town in North Carolina. Behind the tall fence tucked away in their yard is an apple tree which all the town knows bears special fruit. The Waverlys themselves have special gifts that have them held at arm’s length by the rest of the town, despite their long history there. Claire Waverly, a caterer who prepares her dishes with the enchanted flowers from her garden is sought after but treated warily by her customers. Her elderly cousin Evanelle walks through the town giving gifts to people who do not yet know they need these items. Sydney Waverly, Claire’s sister, having run from Bascomb, North Carolina as soon as possible returns with a daughter and secret. Syndey’s return turns Claire’s well-ordered life upside down and it turns out that is exactly what Claire needed.

This book has a feeling of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman but it lacks the darkness of that novel. It’s a romantic type of magic that is very satisfying to read. There is a second novel in the series, First Frost which was just as enjoyable.

I love finding a new author who has a body of work you can dive into. I have read all of Sarah Addison Allen’s books and look forward to more. Each Sunday she posts a short story on Facebook and these are always so imaginative and fun to read. If you are on that cursed app give her a follow.

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In my house, the autumnal equinox is celebrated with pumpkin bread. I think the trend of pumpkinizing absolutely everything is insane but pumpkin bread is a must for the season. This recipe is

Danielle Bean

’s which she published in Faith and Family Magazine in the very early 2000s. May have even been the late 90s. It is pumpkin perfection. Do not, and I mean it, ruin it with the addition of nuts, chocolate chips, or (shriek) raisins. If you do I will know and there will be repercussions.

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 beaten eggs
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin

3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp (scant) salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg

2/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. Mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and then add to egg mixture. Add 2/3 cup water and stir by hand until thoroughly mixed but still slightly lumpy. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-in.x 5-in.x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake for one hour or until tests done with a toothpick. Makes 2 large loaves.

Enjoy!

Happy fall.

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