A Kinrowan Estate story: Pudding

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Her name was Bronwyn ap Tewdwr and she was our guest judge for the annual pudding contest. ‘A pudding contest?’ you ask. And I say, ‘Why not?’ Real pudding, like real ale, is a long way from the packaged puddings that litter grocery stores. And watching a group of talented folk making tasty food is something I always appreciate!

The contest, which covers both sweet and savoury puddings, is held annually in the Fall. So Mrs. Ware and her Kitchen staff start planning for this by finding interesting ingredients and picking the judge from among the culinarily inclined people that she knows. That person gets a week here gratis and a generous stipend as well.

(You cannot pitch yourself as a judge, as that gets you disqualified. And Mrs. Ware is quite above being bribed even if she has a weakness for Turkish Delight ever since she was a wee girl and read the Narnia books for the first time.)

Now I’ll admit that my only pudding of interest is a dark chocolate one made with bittersweet chocolate. But then I like a dark chocolate bread pudding as well. Maybe even better. The only thing I’ve ever tasted better than that pudding was a dark chocolate bread pudding infused with Madagascar vanilla and a hint of cardamom. Ymmm!

We Swedes have a long tradition of making puddings from scratch. My momor, my maternal grandmother, every Autumn made an apple and almond pudding using a tart apple variety with just vanilla and cinnamon for spicing. Served with warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was quite wonderful.

Bronwyn decided that though she officially is the arbiter for this contest, anyone interested should have a say. The actual contest took place in what’s called the canning and drying kitchen, as it’s set up exclusively for that purpose. It’s in a building that’s strictly two-season use only as we drain the water before the first real freeze takes place. It’s got two Viking gas stoves, each with eight burners, two sinks for water and cleaning up, and lots of work space.

We started in late morning with sets of four pudding makers, each given ample time to create their pudding from scratch. That group created a pudding using our pear cider; a blackberry and graham cracker pudding, as those bushes were still bearing; a breakfast pudding with bacon, cheddar cheese and mushrooms; and what the Yanks call an Indian pudding which is made with cornmeal and molasses.

Before we wrapped it up many hours later, we’d seen made and had sampled puddings such as black pudding and haggis pudding, groaty pudding (soaked groats, beef, leeks, onion and beef stock), kugel, a Yorkshire pudding, steak and kidney pudding, and several spotted dick and a suet and fruit based concoction. There was even a stellar Christmas pudding that Mrs. Ware said she’d be making for our Christmas eventide meal.

There was a three-way tie for best pudding between the breakfast pudding, the pudding using pear cider and the kugel, which was the work of Rebekah, a Several Annie, one of Iain’s Library Apprentices, from Israel.

All in all everyone was happy with both the food and the comfortable companionship in a contest no one took too seriously. Most of us went for a long walk afterwards to work off the feeling of needing a good nap this engendered.

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What’s New for the 10th of November: a grab bag of books from our favorite authors; Richard Thompson and Stephane Grappelli on film; music from all over; and comfort food

He tried to reconstruct the story in his mind, but it kept getting confused, bleeding into itself like watercolors.― Catherynne M. Valente’s The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden

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I’m in the Kitchen enjoying a very late evening snack of hot cider and a just-baked apple and Riverrun cheddar cheese tart. A member of our staff’s playing music by piper Kathryn Tickell and right now it’s the set of ‘The Magpie’, ‘Rothbury Road’ and ‘The Cold Shoulder’ which Memoria, our Library app, tells me was recorded at the Washington, D.C., Irish Folk Fest on the second of September, fourteen years ago.

I always enjoy Kinrowan Hall best when it’s at its quietest, which is why I’m oftimes down in the kitchen late in the evening, or walking outside just after dawn breaks. And now I see my mug needs refilling before I finish off this edition… Now let’s see what I’ve got for you…

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Gary says he liked Per Pettersen’s Out Stealing Horses even better the second time around. ‘At its most basic Out Stealing Horses is a story of war-induced trauma and its generational effects on society, families and individuals. Petterson is a highly skilled writer, and the translation by Anne Born captures the story’s nuances quite well. Petterson’s spare prose style perfectly matches Trond’s dry, buttoned-up personality and the difficulties he has in coping with unfamiliar emotions and situations.’

Gary liked Arkady Martine’s A Desolation Called Peace even better than its prequel, A Memory Called Empire, which he reviewed last time. ‘With her first two novels, Arkady Martine has emerged as the author of some of the best military/political science fiction of the era. Her memorable and not always likable characters capture and hold our imaginations as they navigate a host of big meaning-of-life questions in life-or-death situations. This is space opera for the ages. I have high expectations and many questions that I hope are met in the next installment. Like, I wonder if I’m right about the kittens?’

Charles de Lint’s Yarrow: An Autumn Tale gets a loving look by Grey: ‘Cat Midhir has stopped dreaming. People assure her that it isn’t possible, that she just doesn’t remember her dreams, but Cat knows they’re wrong. Where her dreams have been, there is only heaviness and loss. For Cat, this loss means more than it would to most of us, because she is that rarest of all dreamers, a person who returns to the same dream every time she sleeps. In her dream world live her truest friends and her only source of inspiration for the books and stories that have won her acclaim in her waking life…’

Jennifer loves the new Daniel Pinkwater from Tachyon, Jules, Penny & the Rooster, another goofy and comforting middle-grade chapter book about the enchanted forest in Jules’ back yard. And yes, there is a magic turtle!

Leona gives an incisive review of Black Is the Colour of My True-Love’s Heart, an Ellis Peters novel: ‘Originally published in 1967, ‘this is a book of music, of silence, of words; it has love, hate, and all their analogues. Myths and facts combine to wrap the storyline in a heavy cloak of authenticity. This is a story of high passion and cool deliberation; it dances through the morals and minds of another age and gives the reader a wide window into the world of folk music and ballad-singers.’

Emma Bull’s War for The Oaks with a battle between the Fey and some of we mortal humans that is settled using music on Midsummers Eve. It also features music from Cats Laughing, or perhaps Cats Laughing plays music from the novel. I’ll need to ask Will which it is… Ahhh he says the band comes after the novel. Oh and we’ve got the trailer made for a film version of the novel didn’t happen which has some of the music in the novel. Michael has a lovingly detailed review of it here.

Steven Brust, a musician himself, brings us, in collaboration with Megan Lindholm, The Gypsy, which — well, as Robert puts it: ‘There are three brothers who have become separated. They are the Raven, the Owl, and the Dove. Or perhaps they are Raymond, Daniel, and Charlie. They are probably Baroly, Hollo, and Csucskari. One plays the fiddle, one plays tambourine, and one has a knife with a purpose.’

Down the decades, we’ve reviewed most everything Patricia McKillip has published, so it’s only fitting that we finish off this time with a review by Richard of her latest book: ‘With Dreams of Distant Shores, Patricia A. McKillip delivers something that is not quite your typical short story collection. While the point of entry is a series of shorter pieces, the collection builds to and is anchored by the lengthy novella “Something Rich and Strange”, with an essay on writing high fantasy orthogonal to the usual tropes. The book then ends with appreciation of McKillip’s work (and the stories in the collection) by Peter S. Beagle, an elegant coda to a warm, thought-provoking collection.’

Richard looks at a novel from a beloved writer: ‘Peter S. Beagle’s latest, Summerlong is an exercise in masterful, hopeful heartbreak. Deeply steeped in mythology yet relentlessly modern (if a bit sentimental), it tackles the big questions of love, compromise, dreams, and what you might do – or forgive – in the face of the sublime.’

Zina ends our book reviews with Charles de Lint’s What the Mouse Found and Other Stories: ‘Ah — two of my favorite things, paired in one slim volume. (Sorry, I’ve always wanted to use the phrase “slim volume” somewhere.) Fairy tales and Charles de Lint. The postman dropped the package through the door this afternoon. Just a bit later, here I am at my computer. I couldn’t not read it right away, could I?’

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We asked a number of folk we know what is your comfort food? Is it a bowl of your mother’s fish chowder Or a warm doughnut dusted with powdered sugar? Comfort food is as individual as each of us. And here is Deborah Grabien‘s reply:

Well, it’s an odd thing: as a cook, I think all food is comfort food.

No, I’m not being difficult. It’s just that I love to cook, and I don’t cook anything I don’t also love to eat, unless I’m cooking for a large crowd. The whole thing about food is that — like air and water — it’s one of the great imperatives. Sex is brilliant, but you can go without it your entire life with no ill effects, and in fact, many do. Try going without food, air or water, though, and you’re in serious trouble.

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Gary was quite taken with the DVD of The Richard Thompson Band’s Live At Celtic Connections, from that Glasgow festival in 2011. It featured a big band doing numbers from Thompson’s 2010 release Dream Attic plus a second set drawn from his 40-some-year career solo and with former wife Linda. ‘This was not an average night, with a good crowd of Glaswegians, a road-tested band and the charged atmosphere of Celtic Connections. This one is a must-have for any Thompson fan,’ Gary says.

A labor of love is how Gary describes the making of the DVD about the great jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli: A Life in the Jazz Century. The film purportedly contains all known footage of Grappelli’s partner Django Reinhardt, as well as footage of Grappelli ‘making music with the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, George Shearing, Duke Ellington and others. Many other figures from his life contribute interviews, and rare clips of Art Tatum, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, and Gregor and the Gregoriens are included.’

leafiesIn new music, Gary had high praise for Trendafilka’s For the Olives: ‘Trendafilka is an 11-piece women’s vocal ensemble singing a repertoire based on traditional folk songs of Eastern Europe — the Balkans, the Baltics, the Caucasus, and the Eurasian Steppe — all places with rich traditions of polyphonic singing.’

From the Archives, Craig said The Saw Doctors’ first album after a long pause reflects the band members’ maturity: ‘But The Cure is not a big mope fest. As people grow and mature so should their songwriting. The same band that embraced the “Where’s the Party?” (another cut from <i>Sham</i>) attitude are now embracing concepts like fatherhood (“Your Guitar”), which in turn reminds them of the “Wisdom of Youth” in the form of a power ballad that contains some of the album’s best guitar work.’

David reviewed two albums featuring lots of fiddling, Lissa Schneckenburger’s Dance, and Oliver Schroer and the Stewed Tomatoes’ Freedom Row. Of the former, he says, ‘I found my feet tapping, my fingers popping as I listened. The music is subtle, essentially acoustic, just guitar and fiddle for the most part.’ And of the latter, ‘The sound is virtually seamless but the fiddle is the driver here. The music is played by a band in the same way that Duke Ellington’s Orchestra played. Duke might have played the piano but the orchestra was his main instrument, and that could be the best way to describe what happens with the Stewed Tomatoes.’

David also got a kick out of John Stewart’s Havana. ‘The songs are vintage Stewart, simple chord structures, catchy but subtle melodies, and lyrics both straitforward and honest. Stewart is singing more like recent Johnny Cash these days. A bit breathy, deep and a little wobbly…but true and captivating.’

Judith found lots to like in a various artists album with lots of guitar: Six Strings North Of The Border is an instrumental collection of tunes from Canadian guitarists. Often record companies compile showcases of their own artist, but some of the guitarists here record via Borealis and some don’t. All the selections are good, and range from Celtic to World Fusion to Old Time, plenty of variety: something for everyone.’

She also enjoyed 3 Ravens by a Scottish group: ‘Malinky’s style is contemporary traditional and carries whatever power it has in strings and bellows and flat goatskin. Though not as loud and driving as some bands (particularly those with pipes or bass) it is a solid band with great musicians and an interesting menu, and 3 Ravens is a sure bet for almost any reasonable Scottish music enthusiast.’

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Later on, I was entertaining myself this afternoon by doing searches for music on the Infinite Jukebox, our Media server, and decided to see if we had anything by Procol Harum. To my considerable delight, I found a bootleg of them called Transmissions ’69 (live) though that was all I could find out about it when I went online. Delightfully, it had their “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” on it.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Brandy (A Letter to Tessa)

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A letter from Lady Alexandra Margaret Quinn, Head Gardener here in the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, to Tessa, her botanist friend who is on an extended collecting trip in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere.

She copied her letters into her Journal and her will stated that they should be shared after her death.  Alex as she preferred to be called lived to be well over a hundred and indeed outlived her beloved Queen. She was Head Gardener for sixty years and died while overseeing the blessing of the first planting of the growing season from what we think was a cerebral hemorrhage from the way it was described by Those who saw it.

This letter which you can read here concerns the addition to the Estate of producing apple brandy.

Dear Tessa,

I must confess that I just got over a headache brought on by drinking more than a bit of a most excellent apple brandy that we laid down ten years ago. We were celebrating  the birth of a daughter to a couple who works here, Ingrid and Jacob. It’s their first and she takes after her mother in both her blue eyes and flaxen hair.

Our idea for doing apple brandy came to use from a Several Annie whose family in Normandy in the northwest of France was fond of Calvados, their version of apple brandy that is produced as a rather coarse, rough brandy that must age for several years to acquire its flavor, amber color and the right amount of alcohol  which our Brewmaster, Sven, says is ideally between 40 and 43 percent.

Sven got the distillery equipment that he needed to produce it from France and didn’t The Steward  complained about the cost as he approved the funds transfer to our agent in Normandy.

We sampled it after the preferred two years of aging, then at five years, and now at ten years. Sven figured long aging would make it more smooth, less biting, and he was right. Sipped cold, it’s simply wonderful. And all too easy to drink while sitting by the fireplace in the rooms of The Steward near a roaring fireplace on a bitterly cold winter night.

We were also celebrating the occasion of Angela who is being promoted to Lead Publican in the Green Man Pub now that her baby is past nursing, the first woman to hold that post. She’s been studying for several years now with the retiring Lead Publican whose moving back to Glasgow so he and his wife can be near their grandchildren.

As always, I’m looking to your return as I’m missing you very much.

Love Alex
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What’s New for the 27th of October: The Byrds Live, Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix, Some Excellent Music Reviews, Folkmanis Puppets of an Autumnal Nature, The Mouse Guard begins…

It was time to be honest with myself. To survive all the shame this world will throw at you, you have to hold yourself tall, look your accuser straight in the eye. Even if it’s your own face looking back at you — Nalo Hopkinson’s New Moon’s Arms

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Here in this quite remote Scottish Estate where the nearest town’s a good thirty-five miles away, the group of less than thirty souls here year round forms a community that’s at its most cohesive when the weather turns decidedly cold and oftimes unfavourable to travel. This ‘hunkering down’ is a gradual process that starts in early Autumn and doesn’t really end ’til after lamb season in April as it’s hard to be a good host when you’re covered with blood, shit and other stuff that’s unpleasant in general.

Pumpkins are versatile food here, so you can help us harvest them now that our first light frost has passed; likewise apples and potatoes need harvesting and proper processing for the uses they’ll be put to. Gus, our Head Gardener, uses for staff anyone physically healthy and able to be properly picky at what they’ll be doing.

All work and no play makes Gutmansdottir an unhappy girl indeed, so there’re contadances pretty much weekly here. Tonight a visiting band, The Black Eyed Susans, are playing. But first, let’s see what’s in this edition such as the book reviews all on works by Nalo Hopkinson…

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Jennifer, aided by guest reviewer Rich Bynum, looks at the two latest collections of short fiction by Nalo Hopkinson from Tachyon Publications. She regrets that a review of every story–even of just her favorites–would run almost as long as a Hopkinson story, but by damn these are all good.

Jennifer also talks about the things she loves in Nalo Hopkinson’s The New Moon’s Arms, which is less a fantasy novel than women’s fiction with magical realism.

Jessica has a neat look at the  Mojo: Conjure stories:  “The best thing I can say about this book: whatever expectations you have going in, they’ll be shattered coming out. If you think that you’ll like it, you’ll love it. If you think that you’ll love it, you’ll really love it. And if, like me, you think that it will be interesting and not bad, you are in for a shock. I’ve reread some of my favorite tales already, and they still haven’t faded. Their voices are still fresh and true, and reading them I am still conscious of the skillful storytelling I’m honored to read and the fact that the storytellers have created a world where their presence is invisible. They’ve created a world that could be our own.“

Lenora found this work to be, errrr, interesting: “ In many ways, The Salt Roads is less satisfying than Nalo’s previous work because it’s more ambitious. It takes a trickier narrative form, takes chances with characters and situations, leaves large parts of its conclusions ambiguous, demands that the reader make some of the connections themselves. It’s weaker than her previous books, but only because she tried to do even more with it. I enjoyed many parts of the book; the richness of words, many of the characters, the way the worlds contrasted — and matched. The many links to history. It’s a cliché to say “even a weak book by Author X is better than most books out there,” but in Nalo’s case, it remains true. I may not be as satisfied with The Salt Roads as I’d hoped, but it is still a good, flawed, book that took chances, failed at some, and won out with others.” 

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As cooler temps become the rule of the day, Denise takes a look at Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix. She found it a lovely way to start the day, and perhaps even enjoy the evening; “…if you’ve a mind, a splash of Kahlua and/or Bailey’s wouldn’t be amiss.” Now go see what she thinks cocoa lovers should give this one a try.

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April reviews the first volume in an ongoing series by David Petersen: ‘The year is 1152, treachery is afoot, and the Mouse Guard, defenders of all mice, must suss out the traitor in their midst before the Guard is destroyed. So goes the basic plot of Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, a graphic novel collection of Petersen’s award-winning comic. And just so there’s no confusion, Mouse Guard isn’t a nickname or colloquialism — the protagonists really are mice, the small, furry rodent kind.’

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Brendan enthusiastically reviews Mimi & Richard Fariña’s Pack Up Your Sorrows. ‘There are many reasons to get this CD: as a remarkable record of time past, when a substantially large group of very talented musicians converged on New York City and forged their own memorable sound; as the record of someone who was bound for greatness and died way too early. But clearly the most important is that it is just great music …’

David says that Stephen Stills’s Turnin’ Back the Pages, a compilation drawn from his Columbia recordings of the mid-70s, changed his mind about that period of Stills’s career. ‘Stills’s perfectionism, his juxtaposition of rock with Latin beats, his rich harmonies and his fiery guitar playing make me sit up and take notice.’

He also reviewed the soundtrack album from the U.S. Civil War film Gods and Generals. ‘An altogether useful package then, is this Gods and Generals soundtrack. A couple of fine tunes by artists whom we here at Green Man are fond of; some moving and evocative orchestral pieces; the involvement of Mark O’Connor and Paddy Moloney and a collection of video material to add to our collection. Not an everyday listen, but one I am glad to have in my library.’

Peter gives us his usual thorough coverage of four albums of English folk and folk rock: Assembly Players’ A Kynaston Ball, various artists’ Strange Coincidences in Speciality Tea Trading, Mary Humphreys & Anahata’s Sharp Practice, and Tickled Pink’s Terpsichore Polyhymnia. ‘These four CDs represent things you might hear around the folk clubs, sessions and festivals this summer. There are plenty of people around telling you what you should read this summer, so think of this as your summer listening.’

Rebecca dug into a clutch of diverse recordings: Patrick McGinley & Family Style’s Patrick, Family & Friends; Bob Neuwirth’s Havana Midnight; and Graham Parker’s Deepcut to Nowhere. Regarding the latter, she says, ‘
Personally, I find this a very accessible collection of music. The tunes are lively and easy to follow, and the lyrics are interesting and comprehensible. The overall mood is discontented, rueful, sometimes even angry.’

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Our What Not this time is about the Folkmanis Puppets of an Autumnal Nature, or at least that’s how Cat defined them. They were the ones Cat asked Folkmanis specifically to send and then he handed off to various staff members for review. So here’s the review of these wonderful puppets which are definitely worth your time.

The Worm in Apple puppet gets reviewed by Robert: ‘One of the more unusual items to cross my desk from Folkmanis is their Worm in Apple Puppet. It’s a nice, big apple — not shiny, since it’s made of plush, but it is very appealing — unless you count the small green worm peeping out of a hole in the side.’

Next up Denise looks at the  the Chipmunk in Watermelon puppet. While she’s as entranced as ever by this company’s creations, there’s one quibble. ‘Mine looks as if he’s suffering from agoraphobia. Exo-karpoúzi-phobia, maybe?’ Read her review to find out what’s going on…

She finishes off with the Mouse in Pumpkin puppet: ‘All hail the spice! Pumpkin everything is the rule of the day this time of year, and I’m all for it. Give me my pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pies,spicy roasted pumpkin, and pumpkin crumble. And okay, a PSL or two while we’re at it, though I’m more a Chestnut Praline Latte gal myself. So when Folkmanis decided to indulge my love of the orange squash, my grabby hands eagerly shot out. And I’ve been snuggling with this adorable puppet ever since.’

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The season in turning, so why a song to see you off that celebrates it that turning? It’s ‘Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season)’ by Judy Collins who sung it at The Newport Folk Festival, fifty five years ago. It was written by Pete Seeger in the late Fifties and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics save for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines are the first eight verses of the third chapter of the ‘Book of Ecclesiastes’. The Byrds also recorded it and you can hear them sing it here. This version was recorded at the Boston Tea Party fifty five years ago.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: All The World’s A Stage

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From The Sleeping Hedgehog, date unknown. No idea if it’s a story retold there, or a true story transcribed into written form. Not that it really matters, does it?

There, my friend. I am not good company tonight, but if you can stand the long face, I’ll buy the rounds, all right? Here, Reynard — a pint for this compassionate one, the poor bastard…

No, sure it will be all right. Surely. It is just that…you know they say that the world is a stage, yes? Vesti la giubba, vesti la giubba! The sad fruit of hate, the agonies of grief, the cries of rage, the bitter laughter. We breathe the air of this lonely world along with everyone else, and we hold up a mirror — but which is the reflection?

The stage and the world. As Signor Shakespeare said — are they not the same thing? We think, no! they are not, surely they cannot be…yet disaster strikesin a mockery of our mockeries, like mirrors reflecting mirrors over and over again, until you cannot tell where life starts and then art continues on, or perhaps it’s the other way around. Which is art? Which is life? Reynard, give me another? No, it’s all right, you know I can hold my drink, I’ve been drinking since before you were whelped! Another for you, my friend?

Ah, don’t look so worried, you. Surely it will be all right. Our company…we follow the grand tradition, the great art, yes…we are one of the few companies left of the Commedia dell’Arte, we are! Each performance different, the story the same, but everything fresh, each night new… We each have our roles, our specialty, each of us has studied long and hard.

Yes, I am Arlecchino, sometimes I am Truffeldino. Someday when I am a bit older I will master Pedrolino as well, or perhaps he will master me — but Arlecchino, he is my favorite and always has been. Troublemaker, servant, go-between, clever boots…that’s me! Your servant, my master!

Ah, my master. Well, he is our director, he is a great clown, a subtle actor, a genius of improvisation! And a good businessman as well; he owns our company. Ah, my friend, I am worried. We came to this great city, was it years ago now? Surely not…but now, they shout for us as the kings and queens of the stage!

Tragedy and comedy, both the mirror image of the other… He has a terrible temper, but he is honest, my master is, you can trust him.

She is beautiful, you know, my master’s wife. She is much admired. Much admired. She is sometimes my Columbina, sometimes she is Isabella. She is very clever as Columbina, her improvisations are very good.

Look at the time. I will have to be at the theatre soon. Reynard, one last one for the night. Perhaps just a bit of that whiskey. A sniff of water.

Yes, I am worried. It is this damned place, it turns everything around. Do we become our roles, or do they become us?

But surely it will be all right.

Come down later to see the performance tonight, the? For some reason, I’m actually dreading tonight, I don’t know why. I will feel better if you are there in the audience, my friend. I must go, for, as they say, the show must go on, no matter how we feel, the?

Ridi, Pagliaccio!

 

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What’s New for the 13th of October: Elizabeth Bear tends a pot of turkey stock, Groot and Rocket Raccoon, A Video and Fiction set in India, Tasty music reviews, and music from Irish trad band Clannad

Nothing happened. We stitched in silence. At least we stitched without words. Having nothing else to listen to, I began to hear needle points puncturing cloth, threads drawn through, again and again, as rhythmically as breathing. Our breaths mingled with the sound, as though breath became thread, air became fabric. I stitched another corner carefully, thinking of other corners: in doorways, at field gates, walls joining at the edges of a house. My stitches pulling them together, reinforcing them… knowing how it was done, whatever it was they were doing, would be knowing how it could be undone… — Patricia A. McKillip’s Solstice Wood

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Finch ‘ere. I’m filling in as Reynard, our Barkeep, is off travelling with his wife Ingrid, our Estate Steward, this week.

Care to have a pint of our new All Hallows Eve Ale? It’s quite good. I’ve been getting stellar comments about it from those who’ve had a few pints. Bjorn, our Brewmaster, always seems to enjoy creating new Autumn libations more than those he does for the other seasons. And he’s hinting that he’ll be doing an authentic Octoberfest beer very soon but he’s kept everything a secret from even me.

Iain is running through the tunes that Red Robin will be playing later this evening in the Sanctuary as he’s the caller. Two violinists, one smallpiper plus a mountain dulcimer player — all from Ashville, North Carolina — and it should be quite tasty to dance to.

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So here’s some genre and mystery novels of set in India.

Cat leads us with alternative history novel, The Peshawar Lancers, in which the British Empire decamps to India: ‘The much more Indian than English culture is a brilliant re-visioning of British history that reads like vintage Poul Anderson, particularly his Dominic Flandry series. It features rugged heroes — male and female — vivid combat scenes, exotic locales, and truly evil villains. Hell, it even has Babbage machines, the great analytical engines that Sir Charles Babbage never built but which also play an important role in William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s The Difference Engine.’

Cat also looks at a rather interesting audiobook: ‘Golden Age is the story of Torchwood India and what happened to it. It is my belief that the best of all the Torchwood were the audio dramas made by BBC during the run of the series. Please note that it was BBC and not Big Finish that produced these despite the fact that latter produces most of the Doctor Who and spinoff dramas. This is so because the new Doctor Who audio dramas were kept in-house and these productions were kept there as well, though Big Finish is now producing the new Doctor Who adventures as well.’

Donna leads her reviewing off with four novels in a murder mystery series set primarily in India (The Last Kashmiri RoseRagtime in Simla, The Damascened Blade and The Palace Tiger): ‘These books by British writer Barbara Cleverly form a murder mystery series. Although I have read other serial fiction and other murder mysteries, this is my first encounter with this particular combination. I found the first two books in a recent remainder catalog at prices much reduced from their original suggested retails. They were sufficiently enjoyable to prompt me to seek out the next two, which are readily available from the usual on-line sources. They are probably also available in the mystery section of any relatively large bricks-and-mortar bookstore, if you prefer to shop that way. They all run about 300 pages in length and are relatively quick reads — probably good fare for summer travel.’

The novel Gary looks at is set in a richly imagined future India, Ian Mcdonald’s River of Gods. And it’s a bloody good read as well: ‘You can hold whole universes in your hand, between the covers. And as with those old faery tales, you need to pay attention to books like River of Gods. They contain important truths, hidden inside entertaining stories.’

Gary now looks at a story by a master storyteller: ‘The world is groping for a new mythology, one that makes sense in a world that has seen nuclear devastation and sent humans to the moon; a world that encompasses both communications satellites and children starving to death in the midst of plenty. Perhaps the new mythology will be found in the multiple collisions of cultures, histories, arts and religions; maybe it will be birthed through the agency of pop culture, which has supplanted classical music and art. Or so Salman Rushdie seems to be saying in his sprawling, entertaining and challenging novel, The Ground Beneath Her Feet.’ 

Tammy Moore has a review particularly worth noting if you read River of Gods: In Cyberabad Days, author Ian McDonald returns to the technologically brilliant, parched and i-Dusty India of 2047, an India first visited in his award-winning novel River of Gods. The seven stories collected in this volume follow the rise and fall of this new India, from the luxurious, robot-monkey guarded palaces of the super-rich to the slums where the robotwallahs rule like tinpot gods.

Raspberry dividerIain has a rather special treat for us as he interviews one of favorite authors: ‘We here at Green Man remember the winter afternoon that Elizabeth Bear  carefully tended a pot of turkey stock that many hours later would become one of the most tasty turkey veggie soups ever encountered by anyone ‘ere. Later that week, I got to interview her about all things culinarily that interested here ranging from her ideas picnic basket and what make a great winter hearty meal to the perfect brownie.’

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Richard brings us Bend It Like Beckham,  a film about ‘…Indian cooking, cultural absurdity, family love, and an abiding desire to play what the English call ‘the beautiful game’…’ That game, of course, would be football; what we in the States call soccer. What happens when a young Indian girl dreams of playing football like English football star David Beckham? Culture clash, among other things — but Nathan says that ‘[t]he underlying theme of culture clash is better because it is underlying, rather than politicised and angry. Instead of favouring either the Indian or the English culture, the writer shows how the two manage their uneasy coexistence.’

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Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak’s Brundibar gets a review from Rebecca: ‘Pepicek (very small) and Aninku (his sister, even smaller) have a problem: their mother is very sick. The doctor told them to go to town to get milk, but how can two children who have no money buy milk? And how can they get money when they have nothing to sell? They could sing for money … except that Brundibar (Czech slang for bumblebee) can sing much louder than two small children, and he chases them off. With the help of three talking animals, three hundred schoolchildren, and eventually the whole town, they chase off bullying Brundibar, get money and milk for their mommy, and so are happy again.’ M

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Brendan enthusiastically reviews Mimi & Richard Fariña’s Pack Up Your Sorrows. ‘There are many reasons to get this CD: as a remarkable record of time past, when a substantially large group of very talented musicians converged on New York City and forged their own memorable sound; as the record of someone who was bound for greatness and died way too early. But clearly the most important is that it is just great music …’

David says that Stephen Stills’s Turnin’ Back the Pages, a compilation drawn from his Columbia recordings of the mid-70s, changed his mind about that period of Stills’s career. ‘Stills’s perfectionism, his juxtaposition of rock with Latin beats, his rich harmonies and his fiery guitar playing make me sit up and take notice.’

He also reviewed the soundtrack album from the U.S. Civil War film Gods and Generals. ‘An altogether useful package then, is this Gods and Generals soundtrack. A couple of fine tunes by artists whom we here at Green Man are fond of; some moving and evocative orchestral pieces; the involvement of Mark O’Connor and Paddy Moloney and a collection of video material to add to our collection. Not an everyday listen, but one I am glad to have in my library.’

Peter gives us his usual thorough coverage of four albums of English folk and folk rock: Assembly Players’ A Kynaston Ball, various artists’ Strange Coincidences in Speciality Tea Trading, Mary Humphreys & Anahata’s Sharp Practice, and Tickled Pink’s Terpsichore Polyhymnia. ‘These four CDs represent things you might hear around the folk clubs, sessions and festivals this summer. There are plenty of people around telling you what you should read this summer, so think of this as your summer listening.’

Rebecca dug into a clutch of diverse recordings: Patrick McGinley & Family Style’s Patrick, Family & Friends; Bob Neuwirth’s Havana Midnight; and Graham Parker’s Deepcut to Nowhere. Regarding the latter, she says, ‘Personally, I find this a very accessible collection of music. The tunes are lively and easy to follow, and the lyrics are interesting and comprehensible. The overall mood is discontented, rueful, sometimes even angry.’

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Our What Not this week is a collectible from Guardians of the Galaxy, namely a figurine of Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Says Cat: ‘Accurate representations of Rocket Raccoon, best known from the two Guardians of the Galaxy films are difficult to find without spending a lot of cash on the accurate one-sixth scale models costing in the hundreds of dollars. I wanted one such figure largely because I thought that Rocket and Groot were the most interesting characters in those films.’

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Let’s finish this edition off with a tune by Clannad, a band often derided by Irish trad music lovers as just a New Age band because of their later recordings  but give a listen to ‘Down By The Sally Gardens’ and I think you’ll agree that they do Irish trad rather well.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Autumn is Here (A Letter to Anna)

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Dear Anna,

I thought you’d appreciate this copy of Ciaran Carson’s Last Night’s Fun: In and Out of Time with Irish Music, which is the best book ever done on Irish traditional music. I particularly like the chapter on what to have for breakfast after an all-night session!

The cooler weather that autumn brings here is very similar to the weather there is in Stockholm. The Steward has ordered the usual check of the fireplaces and he went one step more with having all of them cleaned even though they weren’t due until next autumn. Everyone’s taking the prediction of a much colder, more snowy winter seriously. We’ve even prepped a heated space for the Irish Wolfhounds as it might be too cold even for them.

Tamsin was pleased with the prep work Gus did for the owls so that they might have warm homes this Winter. I still don’t know why she attracts a larger than normal number of owls, but she once jokingly, at least I hope it was meant that way, suggested reading Alan Garner’s The Owl Service.

As you know, we don’t raise beef here but trade for it with the Riverrun folk. And Mrs. Ware made a lovely dish from some of this year’s beef last night — a brisket braised in apple cider with baked butternut squash and very tender carrots. She made use of the second harvest of pumpkins (the first are a variety grown only for use in Bjorn’s spiced pumpkin ale) to make pumpkin tarts. And she says she’ll have pumpkin muffins in the morning as well! Ymmm!

Plans are being made for the usual winter activities here — I see notes up for Curling teams, Old Norse and French reading groups, and the chess group is reserving space in the Reading Room twice a week. Someone, I think it’s most likely Finch, is offering lessons in border pipes.

Your sister has yet another group up and running — Solstice, which has her on violin, Finch on border pipes, and Astrid on cello. It’s got a very sweet sound, more Nordic in sound than Leaf & Tree. They’re more interested in doing a recording than touring, so I suspect we’ll be treated to concerts here as they fine tune this group.

Lastly I should note The Steward approved your request to be a Scholar-in-Residence in Nordic Languages for next year. You’ll be selecting the person who holds the position for Winter ’19. The usual stipend plus expenses and quarters applies. Ingrid only  requested only that a background in Beowulfian studies would be nice.

Affectionately, Iain

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What’s New for the 29th of September: Louisiana’s Lost Bayou Ramblers, live music by Kathryn Tickell, Ottawa based urban fantasies by Charles de Lint, Norwegian saxophonist Karl Seglem, Gus on the Estate Kitchen garden and other Autumnal matters

Every good fiddler has a distinctive sound. No matter how many play the same tune, each can’t help but play it differently. Some might use an up stroke where another would a down. One might bow a series of quick single notes where another would play them all with one long draw of the bow. Some might play a double stop where others would a single string. If the listener’s ear was good enough, she could tell the difference. But you had to know the tunes, and the players, for the differences were minute. — Fiaina in Charles de Lint’s Drink Down the Moon

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The end of Summer is nigh upon us as the Autumnal Equinox is gone and we here on this Scottish Estate have begun the only partly conscious shift into Autumn as a given thing. Everything — from the behaviour of the lynxes as they hunt their prey to the food served up by Mrs. Ware who’s our Head Cook and her staff — starts the shift to serving the heartier foods what the increasingly cold, too frequently wet weather causes us to crave.

By October, even the Neverending Session starts folding in on itself as the ancient boon of food, drink and a place to sleep is outweighed by our remoteness. So that group is almost entirely comprised of the musicians here, a number somewhere around a third of the Estate staff such as myself (violin),  my wife Catherine (voice and wire strung Welsh violin), Béla (violin), Finch (smallpipes) and Reynard (concertina). It’s always interesting to see who’s playing in it at any given moment. Nor is it by any means always present, a myth started by the musicians a long time ago.

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Early in his career, Charles de Lint did a number of novels set in the real city of Ottawa where he and his wife, the late artist MaryAnn Harris, lived and had made their home for many decades. We’ve reviewed these works so we decided to  feature some of  those reviews and some other works as well in this edition.

She also says of Medicine Road that ‘I suppose it’s fitting, for a story about twos, that the creators are two Charleses. Charles Vess’s illustrations make this not-so-simple fable deeper and richer. Vess combines line drawing and painting in a way that makes his pictures simultaneously vividly life-like and fairy tale-remote.’

His Yarrow: An Autumn Tale gets a loving look by Grey: ‘Cat Midhir has stopped dreaming. People assure her that it isn’t possible, that she just doesn’t remember her dreams, but Cat knows they’re wrong. Where her dreams have been, there is only heaviness and loss. For Cat, this loss means more than it would to most of us, because she is that rarest of all dreamers, a person who returns to the same dream every time she sleeps. In her dream world live her truest friends and her only source of inspiration for the books and stories that have won her acclaim in her waking life…’

Richard looks at a novel I’ve enjoyed reading several times:’Seven Wild Sisters, a collaboration between Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, holds no surprises, and that’s a very good thing. The companion-cum-sequel to their earlier collaboration The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, the book delivers exactly what it promises: Gorgeous illustration and an encounter with the otherworld that’s ultimately more about wonder than it is about peril.

Robert has two Autumnal fantasies by de Lint: ‘Charles de Lint is known as “the godfather of urban fantasy,” and indeed, it’s in that genre that he’s made his mark – he’s never been a writer of heroic fantasy: in a better than thirty year career, very few buckles get swashed, although the two short novels included in Jack of KinrowanJack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon — come close, something of a romp a la Dumas pere — by way of Harold Lloyd, perhaps. Both concern the adventures of Jacky Rowan and Kate Hazel, best friends who find themselves enmeshed in the doings of the land of Faerie that coexists with modern-day Ottawa.’

He also looks at Moonheart, perhaps de Lint’s best loved novel: ‘Moonheart may very well be the first novel by Charles de Lint that I ever read. I can’t really say for sure — it’s been awhile. It certainly is one that I reread periodically, a fixture on my “reread often” list. It contains, in an early form, all the magic that keeps us coming back to de Lint. (And be reminded that Charles de Lint may very well be the creator of what we call “urban fantasy” — he was certainly one of the first to combine contemporary life and the stuff of myth.)’

Spritwalk  our reviewer says ‘is a loose sequel to Moonheart, a series of related tales, again centering around Tamson House and including many of the same characters. In fact, the House is even more important as a Place in this group of stories. It begins with a brief discussion of Tamson House from a book by Christy Riddell, whom we will meet again in The Onion Girl and Widdershins, followed by a delightful vignette, “Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood,” of Sarah Kendell, age seventeen, remembering her childhood “imaginary” playmate, a red-haired boy named Merlin who lived in the oak tree at the center of the garden. It’s a sweet, sad tale of the price of love.’

Robert starts off a review I think is perfect for Summer reading this way: ‘I’ve long followed Charles de Lint’s writing, starting with, if I remember correctly, Moonheart way back when, and I’ve been as close as I ever come to being a fan for years. (I even got my hands on some early stories, somehow.) So when I was asked to do a review of The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, I said, “Yes. I haven’t had a chance to read de Lint in a while.”’

 

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In another vein entirely, Robert has some thoughts on Joe R. Lansdale’s Pigeons from Hell: ‘Pigeons from Hell is an adaptation by Joe R. Lansdale of a story by Robert E. Howard, with art by Nathan Fox and color by Dave Stewart. Lansdale is at pains to point out, in his “Notes from the Writer,” that it is really an “adaptation” — updated, exploring some new facets of Howard’s story, and not to be confused with the original, all of which leads me to treat it as its own creature.’ Just click on the link to see how this creature fared in Robert’s opinion.

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Speaking of cooler weather, Gary brings a review of a recording by the jazz quartet helmed by Norwegian saxophonist Karl Seglem. ‘Don’t fear that Nordic Balm is an album of smooth jazz destined to become aural wallpaper. Far from it. Even in those places where it’s obviously intended to sooth, it always maintains its integrity, and there’s always something quite interesting going on, if you’re paying attention.’

‘Portland’s Anna Tivel is that rare songwriter who can put together a song like an award-winning short story writer,’ Gary says. He finds plenty of that kind of song on Tivel’s new album Small Believer.

Gary says you should check out Turmoil & Tinfoil, the new album from Billy Strings, a hot young bluegrass player and singer. He says ‘the Michigan native is making a name for himself as one of the most incendiary bluegrass guitarists on the scene.’

Louisiana’s Lost Bayou Ramblers haven’t released a new record since 2012, but they have a new one due out any day now called Kalenda. Gary says they ‘still sound like nothing else you’ve ever heard. Those vocals by founding member Louis Michot could’ve been recorded in somebody’s backyard by Alan Lomax 50 years ago, but they’re backed by what sounds like an ensemble auditioning for a gig as house band in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tattooine!’

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Gus, who many of you already know is our longstanding Estate Head Gardener, is one of our excellent storytellers. He has an Autumnal gardening tale for our What Not this time as we approach that season. He leads off his story in this manner: ‘Oh, hello. It’s you again. How is it that every time we meet up, I’m clomping around in muddy boots? Come out to get some fresh air, have you? Give me your name again? I’m Gus, if you remember, the gardener around these parts. Here, I need to head out to the kitchen gardens, come walk with me a bit. They’re behind that wall over there.’

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Autumn for me is when I start craving the sound of certain performers, one of which is Kathryn Tickell. She to me is one of the more interesting sounding of the Northumberland performers that risen up in the past thirty years in the years since Billy Pigg was active. So let’s listen in to her performing ‘The Magpie’, ‘Rothbury Road’ and ‘The Cold Shoulder’ which is from an outstanding soundboard recording of a performance at the Washington D.C. Irish Folk Fest from the 2nd of September, fifteen years ago.

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What’s New for the 15th of September: Autumn on the Estate is here

bury my bones in the midnight soil / plant them shallow and water them deep / and in my place will grow a feral rose / soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth —V.E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

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Autumn here with its promise of bonfires, pumpkins, cider on tap in the Pub, of blackberries fat and tart on their prickly bushes  and pumpkins ripening on the vine, but it’s also the time of year that we get serious about getting ready for Winter. If you visit us on this Scottish Estate, someone will no doubt ask you to pitch in on some task that needs doing. So dress appropriately, have a good attitude, sturdy footware and you’ll be appreciated here quite nicely. And your first cider will be on me.

Now why don’t you give me a few minutes to finish up this Edition and we’ll head off to the Kitchen as the season’s upon  us when the staff’s making babka, that exquisitely chocolate rich Eastern European sweet, leavened bread along with just as tasty rugelach, both a good treat as the weather cools…

Raspberry divider.Cat kicks off our China Miéville retrospective with a review of a limited hardcover edition of Miéville’s debut novel King Rat. ‘Call it magic realism. (It is.) Call it an urban fantasy. (Also correct.) Call it dark fantasy if you like. (It is definitely that.) Or call it horror, as it most certainly is that as well. It is, in some senses, a nastier version of the London created by Gaiman in Neverwhere.’

Jason gave the  highest of marks to Miéville’s breakout novel Perdido Street Station, though not without some caveats. ‘I won’t lie to you, the book isn’t easy to read. It’s dense and complex and has a circuitous plot that sometimes seems completely irrelevant, until you keep reading and find that it is essential. And at 700 pages plus, it requires patience.’

Next Jason reviewed The Scar, a follow-up of sorts to Perdido Street Station and the second of Miéville’s Bas-Lag trilogy. ‘A new menagerie of creatures is presented here, including mosquito-people, vampir, llorgis and grindylow, in addition to his established khepri, cactacae, and Remade. He has added to the already lush environment created in Perdido, expanding the scope of Bas-Lag to the far reaches of the world.’

Finally, Jason took a quick romp through one of Miéville’s’s novellas. ‘It’s amazing to see Miéville’s prodigious talent and range increase with each successive publication. The Tain is a remarkable story of survival and coping, of making the best of a horrible situation. It shows the adaptivity of humanity, that we can survive almost anything, and the ending is so unexpected and so fitting that you may feel the top of your head lifting off as you read it.’

J.J.S. Boyce delved deep into the mystery that is Miéville’s The City & The City, set in two intertwined but strictly segregated urban enclaves. ‘The unique geopolitical landscape of the city & the city complicates what would indeed be a simple murder investigation elsewhere in the world. Because here the victim appears to have been killed in one city but dumped in another, suggesting a forbidden passage over one of the invisible borders, an action much worse than the murder itself.’

Kathleen had high praise for Miéville’s first young readers’ book. ‘Un Lun Dun is his first actual novel for young readers, and — marvelous paradox — it is a wonderfully mature work. The writer’s voice is focused through the child’s vision like light through a ruby, becoming coherent energy, light with a sword’s edge. His previous hints of childishness become instead a clear-eyed look at fantasy, heroism, tragedy and redemption from the viewpoint of a 12 year old girl.’

Kestrel found Kraken to be a good introduction to Miéville’s writing. ‘On the whole — and this is something which I never thought I would find myself saying about a China Miéville novel — this is an incredibly fun read. Also, at five hundred pages, it makes a pretty good beach book (although probably not if you are the nervous over-imaginative sort as, see above, ominous giant squid god).’

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We naturally raise our own pigs here and if can Gus, our Estate Head Gardener reviews this book, he’ll tell way more than you need to know about them. So yes, Jennifer L.S. Pearsal’s Big Book of Bacon gets reviewed by him: ‘Yes bacon. We use a lot of bacon at this Scottish Estate. Bacon in cheddar and bacon rolls, bacon and tomatoes in eggs, bacon in beef stew for a little extra flavour. Even one enterprising Kitchen staffer even created ice cream with smoky bacon and chocolate as its flavour. It actually tasted rather good. Well you get the idea. So when I discovered this book in a pile of galleys sent to us, I decided to give it a review.’

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We can’t recommend this series off abd it feels Autumnal to me, so here it is once again. If ever there was a series that felt like it was British to the core and autumnal in its setting, it is the one Kathleen and her sister Kage wrote up, Two Fat Ladieswhose series documented that they were brilliant British cooks who rode a motorcycle with a sidecar, drank excessively, smoked whenever they pleased and cooked using bloody great hunks of meat, butter and anything else that isn’t ‘tall good for you. And funny as all Hell, which indeed the review is as well.

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In new music, Gary admires jazz saxophonist Miguel Zénon’s latest offering. ‘Golden City is Zénon’s exploration of and tribute to the history and evolution of the West Coast’s cultural mecca, San Francisco, where he has been a member of the SFJAZZ Collective since the early 2000s. In these 11 pieces, he and his formidable ensemble dig deep into Zénon’s compositions that reflect that history, from the Bay Area’s occupation by Indigenous Ohlone people, through the Gold Rush, the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the loss of community due to gentrification, and other historical and cultural tides and trends.’

Gary also gives a thumbs up to the latest from rootsy Americana singer Melissa Carper. ‘Melissa Carper gives a graduate level seminar in classic country music style on her third solo release Borned In Ya. Carper is the real thing when it comes to Americana music, as I’ve been preaching since covering her previous albums Daddy’s Country Gold and Ramblin’ Soul.’

He also enjoyed New Moon by a New York trio that blends Carnatic music and American jazz. ‘Arun Ramamurthy Trio’s debut Jazz Carnatica was one of my favorite releases of 2014 (indeed, of the entire decade of the Teens), and I’m delighted to report that their follow-up, although a decade in the making, is even better.’

 

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Speaking of Autumnal, Our What Not is a matter of a very special pumpkin as Denise tells about the Folkmanis’ Mouse in a Pumpkin puppet: ‘All hail the spice! Pumpkin everything is the rule of the day this time of year, and I’m all for it. Give me my pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pies, spicy roasted pumpkin, and pumpkin crumble. And okay, a PSL or two while we’re at it, though I’m more a Chestnut Praline Latte gal myself. So when Folkmanis decided to indulge my love of the orange squash, my grabby hands eagerly shot out. And I’ve been snuggling with this adorable puppet ever since.’

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So I’ve got some Autumnal music for you that I think fits pretty much any season. It’s Michele Walther and Irina Behrendt playing Aaron Copland’s ‘Hoe Down’from Rodeo. I sourced it off a Smithsonian Institution music archive which has no details where or when it was recorded (which surprised me given how good they usually are at such things), but it may have been around fifteen years ago.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: A Pudding Contest

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Her name was Bronwyn ap Tewdwr and she was our guest judge for the annual pudding contest. ‘A pudding contest?’ you ask. And I say, ‘Why not?’ Real pudding, like real ale, is a long way from the packaged puddings that litter grocery stores. And watching a group of talented folk making tasty food is something I always appreciate!

The contest, which covers both sweet and savoury puddings, is held annually in the Fall as a break from the getting-ready-for-Winter tasks all of us are doing. So Mrs. Ware and her Kitchen staff start planning for this by finding interesting ingredients and picking the judge from among the culinarily inclined people that she knows. That person gets a week here gratis and a generous stipend as well.

(You cannot pitch yourself as a judge, as that gets you disqualified. And Mrs. Ware is quite above being bribed even if she has a weakness for Turkish Delight ever since she was a wee girl and read the Narnia books for the first time.)

Now I’ll admit that my only pudding of interest is a dark chocolate one made with bittersweet chocolate. But then I like a dark chocolate bread pudding as well. Maybe even better. The only thing I’ve ever tasted better than that pudding was a dark chocolate bread pudding infused with Madagascar vanilla and a hint of cardamom. Ymmm!

We Swedes have a long tradition of making puddings from scratch. My momor, my maternal grandmother, every Autumn made an apple and almond pudding using a tart apple variety with just vanilla and cinnamon for spicing. Served with warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was quite wonderful.

Bronwyn decided that though she officially is the arbiter for this contest, anyone interested should have a say. The actual contest took place in what’s called the canning and drying kitchen, as it’s set up exclusively for that purpose. It’s in a building that’s strictly two-season use only as we drain the water before the first real freeze takes place. It’s got two Viking gas stoves, each with eight burners, two sinks for water and cleaning up, and lots of work space.

We started in late morning with sets of four pudding makers, each given ample time to create their pudding from scratch. That group created a pudding using our pear cider; a blackberry and graham cracker pudding, as those bushes were still bearing; a breakfast pudding with bacon, cheddar cheese and mushrooms; and what the Yanks call an Indian pudding which is made with cornmeal and molasses.

Before we wrapped it up many hours later, we’d seen made and had sampled puddings such as black pudding and haggis pudding, groaty pudding (soaked groats, beef, leeks, onion and beef stock), kugel, a Yorkshire pudding, steak and kidney pudding, and several spotted dick and a suet and fruit based concoction. There was even a stellar Christmas pudding that Mrs. Ware said she’d be making for our Christmas eventide meal.

There was a three-way tie for best pudding between the breakfast pudding, the pudding using pear cider and the kugel, which was the work of Rebekah, a Several Annie, one of Iain’s Library Apprentices, from Israel.

All in all everyone was happy with both the food and the comfortable companionship in a contest no one took too seriously. Most of us went for a long walk afterwards to work off the feeling of needing a good nap this engendered.

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