Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny was our library book club pick this month. The response from the group reflected the response in my own household: my husband disliked the book and I laughed my way through it.

The characters Graham and Audra are hilarious, Graham so staid and passive and Audra so extroverted as to be an embarrassment to her husband. Audra is oblivious to the consequences of her impulsive decisions, leading to many awkward moments of great comedy. Their son Matthew has Asperger's syndrome and enjoys origami. His parents support his interest and help him become involved with an origami group full of people as unique. Audra fosters Graham's relationship with his ex, the perfectionist ice queen Elspeth, even though Audra was the cause of their break-up.

All kinds of people are invited by Audra into their lives, adding to the discord and the source of much laughter for readers. Favorite scenes include a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner and Audra's discussion with a priest about God and the stock market.

Most of the group enjoyed the novel but thought it was "forgettable," perhaps a three-star read. We did appreciate the insights into Asperger's and Graham's coming to terms with his son's condition.

I enjoyed the novel as a comedy of manners and as an exploration of marriage and parenting. And it made me laugh, page after page.

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg is a charmer of a novel that will capture the hearts of readers.

At 96, Doris is frail and bears the marks of her age, the wrinkles and the thinning pure white hair. But Doris knows she still has something to offer--her story--and with the aid of the red address book her father gave her as a child, Doris writers her recollections on her laptop, a gift of love to her grandniece Jenny.

Hearing that Doris is hospitalized, Jenny leaves behind her husband and two children to manage on their own in America, taking their baby with her to Sweden. Jenny won't let the woman who saved her die alone.

Doris writes about the early death of her beloved father, her time in service, her life as a mannequin in 1920s Paris. She tells about her loves and losses, the devastation of WWII, her struggles to survive in America and eventual return to Sweden. Her story is rife with losses and hardships that show #metoo is born out of a timeless and universal concern.

The secondary plot line of Jenny's life, born to an addict mother and her struggle with feelings of being unloved, brings to the novel another relatable layer for contemporary readers.

The Red Address Book has been an international best-seller and I expect it will meet with huge success among American readers. I would recommend it to book clubs as an easy to read book with likable characters, interesting historical settings, an engaging plot line, and as a heartbreaking romance story.

I received an ARC through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Find a Reader's Guild at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fRtiOeqE4mDEtrvnSErr7rL4Ih1ALKLS/view?usp=drive_open

The Red Address Book
by Sofia Lundberg
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Hardcover $25.00
ISBN-13/EAN: 9781328473011
ISBN-10: 1328473015
Publication Date: 01/08/2019

Laura's Heirloom Recipes

My mother-in-law Laura O'Dell Bekofske created a recipe book of her favorite recipes. She included recipes from her family.

Laura's Mother Charlotte Grace Nelson O'Dell

Mother's Suet Pudding recipe is likely 100 years old! Charlotte Grace Nelson O'Dell was born in 1877 in Lynn Twp, St. Clair County, MI and died in 1951. In 1896 she married John Nelson and they lived on a farm in Lynn Twp. near Brown City, Lapeer Co., MI. Here is the recipe that Laura shared.

Mix together:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, allspice, and cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup molasses

Grind together:
1 cup suet, dates, and raisins
1 cup chopped apples
Add to the eggs/sugar mixture.

Add:
1 cup milk
1 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 c flour

Mix well. Put into a  greased pan or tin can and lay a cloth over top. Allow room to raise.

Put 1 qt of water in pressure cooker and steam at 15 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. Or, it can be put in a kettle with molds or tin cans but cover with parchment paper with rubber bands to hold in place. Also, cover with aluminum foil pressed down around sides. The parchment cover should be greased to prevent sticking. Never cover molds with water, just up to cover a third of the mold.

Serve with a sauce made with:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
chunk butter
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tb vinegar.
Cook until thickened

Laura also shared her family's Vinegar Punch which she grew up drinking as their "cold drink" instead of iced tea or soda pop as my generation grew up with.

5 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp ginger
2 quarts water
Mix well.

*****

Laura made Cabbage Balls, which she called Glompkes, a recipe from "a Polish Friend."

1 lb hamburger  and 1/12 lb ground ham, or all ground ham
1 1/2 cup rice
onions
1 egg
paprika, salt and pepper

Pour boiling water over a cabbage and let steam for a few minutes. Cut backbone out of the cabbage leaves. Roll meat mixture up in the leaves and tuck ends in. Put in a kettle as follows:
Cut up remaining cabbage and put it in the bottom of a large kettle, put in a layer of cabbage balls then a layer of sauerkraut, then repeat the layers, then pour over cabbage balls a large can of tomatoes. Cook slowly until rice is done.

*****

Pasties are a Michigan "Up North" tradition. Laura created her own version. My husband tells how the family would stop for lunch on their drive to the Upper Penninsula and warm her pasties on the car engine! I made these long ago.

Laura used her Never Fail Pie Crust recipe.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup shortening
Add a mixture of one egg, 1 tbsp vinegar, and 5 tbsp cold water beaten together
She rolled the pie crust into ten 6" circles.

Filling:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups potatoes diced
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 large onion chopped
Season with salt, pepper, spices as desired

In each pie crust circle add 1/3 cup meat mixture, fold over and seal edges. Cut some steam slits on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Laura noted that she liked the pasties with catsup but her husband preferred gravy!

Newsy Stuff: Quilts, New Sewing Machine, Shibas, and Books

Life has been very busy, and I have hardly prepared for the holidays!

I bought a new sewing machine! I have used a Bernina 850 Record made in 1974 my entire quilting life. When my original machine died of old age I replaced it with an identical machine.

But it was time for a change. I wanted a machine that threaded the needle and had other nice features. I bought a Baby Lock Soprano at a local quilt shop, on sale half price.

My new Baby Lock with the Bernina in the background

We have a grandpuppy! Our son adopted a Shiba Inu! Ellie is now the fifth Shiba Inu we have had in our family. She was rescued from destruction after the puppy mill didn't want her anymore.

She is a real sweetheart.

My weekly quilt group had their annual Christmas Party. Every year they have a gift exchange playing Quilto. People can take each other's wins. This year we were to make pillowcases or placemats.

My placemat with a Singer sewing machine was very popular, and the gals took it from one another to the bitter end. The pattern is from Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Blocks Volume 2. Thank you to designer Jina Barney!

I got the last of my quilts back from the longarm quilter! The Big Block quilt is for my livingroom. I previously made this pattern in another colorway for my son.

Icicle Days is a pattern from Bunny Hill. The fabrics were a win from an AQS Facebook giveaway.

My version of Lorna McMahon of Sew Fresh Quilts pattern Fox Kits was custom quilted. I just love it!

Kona Fox Kits

I was contacted by Ryan of the ETWN Global Catholic Network. He is making a documentary film about Father Aloysius Schwartz and the World Villages organization.  He googled Operation Hanky and found my post about Father Al's Korean Relief organization.  Father Al masterminded Operation Hanky, a cottage industry of Korean women whose embroidered handkerchiefs raised money to built schools and hospitals.

I have been working on my quilt projects, serenaded by the Seeburg jukebox. We found my stash of  50s and 60s 45 records and now the jukebox is nearly filled up! New additions include Wimoweh, I Ride an Old Paint performed by the Weavers, Scarlet Ribbons, Tom Dooley, What Now My Love by Herb Alpert, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, Color My World by Chicago, and more.

I am reading like crazy to get in all the January publication books! I am reading The Cassandra by Sharma Shields and Overrun, about the Asian Carp crisis, by Andrew Reeves.

New on my shelf are:

The Red Notebook by Sofia Lundberg and The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson, won through Bookish.
I also won Make Me a City by Jonathan Carr from LibraryThing.

Make Me A City by Jonathan Carr
painting by my mother Joyce Gochenour

New from NetGalley I have
The King's Favorite by John Vance, a historical fiction/mystery about Charles II and his court
The Peacock Feast by Lisa Gornick, historical fiction "about love, class, and the past we never escape."

Just finished galleys include
Jane Austen for Kids including background history and activities to help younger readers experience Jane's novels
We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels, set in Detroit in the 60s and Underground Railroad eras

I am way too busy to be prepared for the holidays!

Creating Art Quilts with Panels by Joyce Hughes

The ladies in my weekly quilt group love to work with preprinted panels. I have never thought seriously about buying a panel, even though I have seen some nice ones.

Until now. Now I can't wait to get my hands on some panels!

Creating Art Quilts with Panels by Joyce Hughes showed me how marvelous preprinted panels can be as the basis for art quilts. She embellishes the fabric with thread painting, sometimes replacing backgrounds or rearranging the elements to create a new image.

A friend recently took a class in thread painting in which they used a photo printed on fabric. Why not use a printed panel?

typical preprinted panels from Creating Art Quilts with Panels

Joyce Hughes came to use panels while teaching as a time saver so students could jump into technique.

In her book, we learn how to select a good panel.  Joyce covers all the supplies needed including sewing machine needles and feet, threads, fusible, batting, rulers and marking tools. She shows us how to prepare the panel including rearranging elements with fusible applique.

details of thread painting from Creating Art Quilts

Then she shows us the techniques for free motion quilting and thread painting with detailed photos and complete instructions and hints.

using an overlay from Creating Art Quilts from Panels

creating a new background for a panel from Creating Art Quilts with Panels

Other techniques covered include trapunto, use of an overlay, three-D effects, bobbin work, couching, and embellishments. Finally, she shows how to add a border, block and bind off the quilt, and add a sleeve.

landscape panel with quilting in colored threads from Creating Art Quilts with Panels

I was stunned by the finished quilts.

a finished panel art quilt from Creating Art Quilts with Panels

Joyce offers six projects: a flower, embellished tree, flag, a landscape, winter birds, and the heron seen above.

Last of all there is an inspiration gallery of art panel quilts of all types, from pillows to wall hangings.

The detail in the book is fantastic. Between the photos and instructions, I feel I could tackle my own project with success. What needle to use for different techniques, how to layer threads by color, how to fuse large pieces with less fusible--there are so many things I will take into my projects.

Now...its time to go shopping for panels!

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Creating Art Quilts with Panels: Easy Thread Painting and Embellishing Techniques to Create Your Own Colorful Piece of Art From Panels
by Joyce Hughes
Fox Chapel Publishing
Pub Date 10 Dec 2018 
ISBN: 9781947163164
Paperback: $24.99 (USD)

Michelle & Me

I am one of the 175,000 people who bought Becoming Michelle Obama in its first week of publication. I am not going to review the book--it feels unnecessary. But I am going to talk about my personal reaction.

My interest in the book is part of a long-held interest in the First Ladies dating to the creation of my redwork quilt Remember the Ladies. I read books on the president's wives and individual biographies and memoirs while developing my patterns. I find the role of First Lady fascinating and at times even familiar.

Remember the Ladies by Nancy A. Bekofske

The president's spouse is thrust into the limelight. The layers of expectations and the deluge of attention and isolation, criticism and idolation, are unsought and unwelcome. The president's spouse is not elected and garners no salary and yet is expected to represent the country as an ambassador, hostess, and representative. The president's spouse cannot choose the family's home. Their spouse works long hours and travels a lot.

Michelle honed telling her story on the campaign trail, a way to forge bonds with diverse groups of people. On the surface, Michelle has nothing in common with people like me. But I felt a connection over and over.

Michelle's dad was a blue-collar city employee with MS. My dad was an auto mechanic who worked in his dad's gas station. He lucked into a job in the auto industry as an experimental mechanic. My mom was crippled with Psoriatic Arthritis.

Michelle grew up in a multi-family home, shared with her aunt and uncle. I grew up in a multi-family home, shared with my father's siblings and his parents. When I was five my grandmother moved in with my family. Michelle shared a bedroom with her brother, separated by a wall and enclosed with folding doors. My grandmother and I had side by side bedrooms, once a larger room that was divided, and enclosed with folding doors!

Michelle had piano lessons. So did I. She has a brother. So do I.

Michelle had children in her thirties. I had my son in my thirties.

When Michelle's husband went into politics it meant he was away much of the time, leaving her to juggle a career, running the home, and raising their kids. My husband took a job where he spent four hours a day commuting and was home only a few hours a day. He frequently traveled across the states and several times a year was abroad. I juggled the homefront and raised our son.

Michelle's husband's career left her with difficult choices between stability for the family and being together. She found herself thrust into the spotlight, but also in his shadow with her own accomplishments sidelined to her role as Barack's wife. My husband's career as a minister meant frequent moves, some dictated, with no choice of the house we lived in or the school district our child was in. At gatherings, people surrounded him and ignored me. It was expected that I attend events and take on leadership and act as a figurehead. I often did not meet expectations as I tried to be true to myself.

When Michelle wrote that she and her husband had always been sounding boards for each other and how Barack had perfected the ability to set boundaries between work and family, being fully present even when they "lived above the shop" my respect grew deeper than ever. Living in a church-owned home with a husband on-call 24-7, parishioners' happiness dictating housing needs and raises, it was hard to have boundaries between our family life and my husband's career. When churches were in crisis it affected us all deeply.

Michelle Robinson Obama may strike you as someone charmed and glamorous.  But, I related to her. I got it.

After all, she grew up in a divided bedroom with folding doors.

Recipes From My Mother-in-law: Cakes

My mother-in-law Laura Bekofske's cookbook had a thick section under Pies and Cakes. Many of the Cake recipes were collected from friends. They are 'easy' and include prepacked, boxed, or canned goods. I have not tried these recipes.

Apple Cake

1 1/2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
2 beaten eggs
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped dates
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups peeled, diced apples

Mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Sift flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold all together. Add apples, nuts, and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9" x 13 " pan. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Cake Frosting

Laura noted this recipe was from June Cole

1 cup milk
1 package vanilla pudding
8 oz of Dream Whip
Mix

Chop Suey Cake

Laura noted this recipe was from Judy Connors

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut
1 cup walnuts
12 oz can crushed pineapple, juice included
Grease and flour bundt pan
Mix and bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees
Test doneness by sticking in a knife and if it comes out clean it's done. Don't bake over 50 mins.

Cherry Crunch

Laura noted this recipe was from Mary Himrod

2 cans Cherry Pie Filling
1 box Duncan Hines Cake Mix, yellow or white
1 cup pecans
1 1/4 stick oleo
Spread dry cake mix over pie filling, spread pecans on top, cup butter into squares over the top. Bake at 325 degrees until brown.

Orange Date Nut Cake (Christmas Cake)

Laura noted this recipe was from Pattie Boone

4 cups flour
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp orange rind grated
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 cup nuts
1 lb chopped dates

Mix, spread into a ring pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
Mix together:
1 3/4 c sugar
1 3/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp or more of grated orange rind

Let stand while baking the cake. Stir occasionally. Poke holes in the baked cake and pour this mix over the hot cake, gradually as cake absorbs it.

Rhubarb Cake

Laura noted this recipe was from Clarice Norrise

Cream together:
1/2 cup oleo
1 1/2 cup brown sugar

Beat in 1 egg

Add:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Fold in:
2 cups of uncooked, finely chopped rhubarb
Bake in pan for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon over the top.