Weather like this makes me want to write ‘Death’ on all the leaves. — Marianne C. Porter
I can smell garlic, cumin, nutmeg, cardamom, and even a hint of ginger on the whole baby lamb being slowly cooked as I approach our Kitchen… All welcome smells, especially on this raw, slefty afternoon on this Scottish estate where the temperature will be hard pressed to reach freezing on this November day. Yes, everything is getting a thin coating of ice too. Nasty indeed.
It’ll be a day of naps, reading and noshing for most of the Estate staff who can avoid going out into the treacherous weather. Rebekah, our newish Kitchen staffer who’s from Haifa, uses a day like this to do a stunning array of Jewish sweets, to wit: date-filled hamantash, krembo (a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat), rugelakh, some filled with raspberry jam and some filled with chocolate, and even ma’amoul, small shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts.
And that yeasty smell that is ever appreciated is freshly baked whole wheat sourdough rolls more than warm enough still as they are covered with a soft cloth to keep them warm to warrant butter and the jam of your choice on them.Me, I go for the strawberry jam or raspberry jam… Join me in the Kitchen after you peruse this Edition of our book and music reviews.in
Christopher was pleased with Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, a book from the early years of the microbrew movement. ‘I greatly enjoyed the introduction with its overview of beer; what beer is, the basics of brewing, a view of beer and brewing through the ages and the setting forth of Oliver’s basic premise, namely that for any meal one can find appropriate beer(s) to accompany the food. I also particularly enjoyed a number of chapters in the second section dealing with specific brewing traditions (e.g., Lambic, Wheat, British). The book is well written, informative and engaging.’
Alan Light’s The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of ‘Hallelujah’ is one of Gary’s favorite music lore books of the past 20 years. As he said in his review, Light ‘ … deftly tracks down the genealogy of this odd song that is now a staple of film and television, “reality TV” singing contests, funerals, weddings and Olympic opening ceremonies. How did this song full of biblical and sexual imagery, dark irony and wry humor come to mean all things to all people?’
Jayme reviewed a minor classic Walter Wangerin, Jr. ‘While time has somewhat dulled the revelatory impact of The Book of the Dun Cow — in some ways it feels very much a product of the 1970s and can almost be viewed as quaint by cynical contemporary readers — it is still a powerful story.’
Joseph found food metaphors handy in his review of Andersen Gabrych and Brad Rader’s graphic novel Fogtown, which he said “… has more holes than a Swiss cheese pincushion. It runs the gamut from dope dealing femme fatales and corrupt clergymen to transgender prostitution and interracial homoeroticism. It’s quite a feat for a mere 176 pages. Small pages.’
Michael enthusiastically reviewed a bit of updated fairy tale fantasy (and two of its three sequels): ‘In The Stepsister Scheme, Jim C. Hines brilliantly remixes and reimagines three of the most popular fairy tale heroines of all time, recasting them as action heroines and secret agents in a world of magic, treachery, intrigue and adventure. These aren’t damsels in distress by any means, but strong-willed, competent, self-sufficient women capable of overcoming all sorts of problems.
Gary here. In new music, I’ve been enjoying John Scofield & Dave Holland’s Memories of Home, which continues the jazz guitarist and bassist’s longtime series of collaborations. ‘The album is something of a tour through some of the icons, heroes and mentors who influenced both of these musicians, (Miles) Davis chief among them — Holland played with Davis from 1968 to 1970, Scofield in the early to mid 1980s. But the nods to jazz greats and greatness don’t end there.’
I also review an album led by another guitarist, Pierre Dørge’s Songs For Mbizo: Johnny Lives Forever, featuring the Danish avant garde guitarist and American cornetist Kirk Knuffke. ‘It’s an extraordinary record, matching Dørge’s wide ranging melodicism and powerful tonal moods with Knuffke’s equally clarion tonalities and inventiveness, and propelled by a sharp, sympathetic rhythm section.’
From the Archives, Brendan reviewed Jay Ungar and Molly Mason’s Harvest Home: Music For All Seasons. ‘The highlight of this CD is, of course, Ungar’s and Mason’s foray into orchestration with their amazing five-part composition, “The Harvest Home Suite.” With help from composer Connie Ellisor, this piece was imagined as a musical representation of the year-long cycle of farm work from harvest to harvest.’
And Cat admits he’s biased when it comes to the music of Jay and Molly, in his review of their emotional album The Quiet Room. ‘I like everything that they’ve done. They’ve been married since 1991 and there’s a joy in hearing them perform together with a competence that’s too rare in these days when even traditional music gets too often embellished when it need not be.’
David, a big Arlo Guthrie fan, reviewed a double CD of his, Arlo Guthrie’s Live in Sydney. ‘Telling tales is one of the things Arlo does best, and this new double CD set features many of his stories. Whether talking about his dad, or Cisco Houston, or singing the same songs after 40 years. His voice is sounding older, but he’s still an engaging speaker, funny and charming.’
While he was at it, David also reviewed Arthur Penn’s Alice’s Restaurant, the movie treatment of the lengthy shaggy dog tale that provided the title of Arlo’s first LP. ‘Arthur Penn took the bare bones of Arlo’s story and fleshed it out: he added characters, and motivations, and events that were far from Guthrie’s original, but he came out of it with a full bodied, honest portrayal of life in the ’60s.’
Let me set aside the ever so cute Mouse in the Pumpkin Folkmanis puppet I’ve admiring that was sitting on a shelf in my office that someone apparently left there recently. We review them and they end up in mostly appropriate places in this building — in the Kitchen in a teacup for a wee mouse, a hedgehog left near a pIke of the in-house newsletters, The Sleeping Hedgehog, and now this. So admire the creature while I select some music to end this edition…
I'm the Librarian for the Kinrowan Estate. I do love fresh brewed teas, curling, English mysteries and will often be playing Scandinavian or Celtic music here in the Library here in Kinrowan Hall if the Neverending Session is elsewhere.
I'm a violinist too, so you'll me playing in various contradance band such as Chasing Fireflies and Mouse in the Cupboard as well as backing my wife Catherine up on yearly Christmas season tours in the Nordic countries.
More Posts
What’s New for 23 November
I can smell garlic, cumin, nutmeg, cardamom, and even a hint of ginger on the whole baby lamb being slowly cooked as I approach our Kitchen… All welcome smells, especially on this raw, slefty afternoon on this Scottish estate where the temperature will be hard pressed to reach freezing on this November day. Yes, everything is getting a thin coating of ice too. Nasty indeed.
It’ll be a day of naps, reading and noshing for most of the Estate staff who can avoid going out into the treacherous weather. Rebekah, our newish Kitchen staffer who’s from Haifa, uses a day like this to do a stunning array of Jewish sweets, to wit: date-filled hamantash, krembo (a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat), rugelakh, some filled with raspberry jam and some filled with chocolate, and even ma’amoul, small shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts.
And that yeasty smell that is ever appreciated is freshly baked whole wheat sourdough rolls more than warm enough still as they are covered with a soft cloth to keep them warm to warrant butter and the jam of your choice on them.Me, I go for the strawberry jam or raspberry jam… Join me in the Kitchen after you peruse this Edition of our book and music reviews.in
Christopher was pleased with Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, a book from the early years of the microbrew movement. ‘I greatly enjoyed the introduction with its overview of beer; what beer is, the basics of brewing, a view of beer and brewing through the ages and the setting forth of Oliver’s basic premise, namely that for any meal one can find appropriate beer(s) to accompany the food. I also particularly enjoyed a number of chapters in the second section dealing with specific brewing traditions (e.g., Lambic, Wheat, British). The book is well written, informative and engaging.’
Alan Light’s The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of ‘Hallelujah’ is one of Gary’s favorite music lore books of the past 20 years. As he said in his review, Light ‘ … deftly tracks down the genealogy of this odd song that is now a staple of film and television, “reality TV” singing contests, funerals, weddings and Olympic opening ceremonies. How did this song full of biblical and sexual imagery, dark irony and wry humor come to mean all things to all people?’
Jayme reviewed a minor classic Walter Wangerin, Jr. ‘While time has somewhat dulled the revelatory impact of The Book of the Dun Cow — in some ways it feels very much a product of the 1970s and can almost be viewed as quaint by cynical contemporary readers — it is still a powerful story.’
Joseph found food metaphors handy in his review of Andersen Gabrych and Brad Rader’s graphic novel Fogtown, which he said “… has more holes than a Swiss cheese pincushion. It runs the gamut from dope dealing femme fatales and corrupt clergymen to transgender prostitution and interracial homoeroticism. It’s quite a feat for a mere 176 pages. Small pages.’
Michael enthusiastically reviewed a bit of updated fairy tale fantasy (and two of its three sequels): ‘In The Stepsister Scheme, Jim C. Hines brilliantly remixes and reimagines three of the most popular fairy tale heroines of all time, recasting them as action heroines and secret agents in a world of magic, treachery, intrigue and adventure. These aren’t damsels in distress by any means, but strong-willed, competent, self-sufficient women capable of overcoming all sorts of problems.
Gary here. In new music, I’ve been enjoying John Scofield & Dave Holland’s Memories of Home, which continues the jazz guitarist and bassist’s longtime series of collaborations. ‘The album is something of a tour through some of the icons, heroes and mentors who influenced both of these musicians, (Miles) Davis chief among them — Holland played with Davis from 1968 to 1970, Scofield in the early to mid 1980s. But the nods to jazz greats and greatness don’t end there.’
I also review an album led by another guitarist, Pierre Dørge’s Songs For Mbizo: Johnny Lives Forever, featuring the Danish avant garde guitarist and American cornetist Kirk Knuffke. ‘It’s an extraordinary record, matching Dørge’s wide ranging melodicism and powerful tonal moods with Knuffke’s equally clarion tonalities and inventiveness, and propelled by a sharp, sympathetic rhythm section.’
From the Archives, Brendan reviewed Jay Ungar and Molly Mason’s Harvest Home: Music For All Seasons. ‘The highlight of this CD is, of course, Ungar’s and Mason’s foray into orchestration with their amazing five-part composition, “The Harvest Home Suite.” With help from composer Connie Ellisor, this piece was imagined as a musical representation of the year-long cycle of farm work from harvest to harvest.’
And Cat admits he’s biased when it comes to the music of Jay and Molly, in his review of their emotional album The Quiet Room. ‘I like everything that they’ve done. They’ve been married since 1991 and there’s a joy in hearing them perform together with a competence that’s too rare in these days when even traditional music gets too often embellished when it need not be.’
David, a big Arlo Guthrie fan, reviewed a double CD of his, Arlo Guthrie’s Live in Sydney. ‘Telling tales is one of the things Arlo does best, and this new double CD set features many of his stories. Whether talking about his dad, or Cisco Houston, or singing the same songs after 40 years. His voice is sounding older, but he’s still an engaging speaker, funny and charming.’
While he was at it, David also reviewed Arthur Penn’s Alice’s Restaurant, the movie treatment of the lengthy shaggy dog tale that provided the title of Arlo’s first LP. ‘Arthur Penn took the bare bones of Arlo’s story and fleshed it out: he added characters, and motivations, and events that were far from Guthrie’s original, but he came out of it with a full bodied, honest portrayal of life in the ’60s.’
Let me set aside the ever so cute Mouse in the Pumpkin Folkmanis puppet I’ve admiring that was sitting on a shelf in my office that someone apparently left there recently. We review them and they end up in mostly appropriate places in this building — in the Kitchen in a teacup for a wee mouse, a hedgehog left near a pIke of the in-house newsletters, The Sleeping Hedgehog, and now this. So admire the creature while I select some music to end this edition…
Iain Nicholas Mackenzie
I'm the Librarian for the Kinrowan Estate. I do love fresh brewed teas, curling, English mysteries and will often be playing Scandinavian or Celtic music here in the Library here in Kinrowan Hall if the Neverending Session is elsewhere. I'm a violinist too, so you'll me playing in various contradance band such as Chasing Fireflies and Mouse in the Cupboard as well as backing my wife Catherine up on yearly Christmas season tours in the Nordic countries.
More Posts
About Iain Nicholas Mackenzie
I'm the Librarian for the Kinrowan Estate. I do love fresh brewed teas, curling, English mysteries and will often be playing Scandinavian or Celtic music here in the Library here in Kinrowan Hall if the Neverending Session is elsewhere. I'm a violinist too, so you'll me playing in various contradance band such as Chasing Fireflies and Mouse in the Cupboard as well as backing my wife Catherine up on yearly Christmas season tours in the Nordic countries.