Strawberry Season

"Donwell was famous for its strawberry-beds, which seemed a plea for the invitation: but no plea was necessary; cabbage-beds would have been enough to tempt the lady, who only wanted to be going somewhere."

--Jane Austen, "Emma"

Photo via here

Jane Austen's novel Emma has some famous scenes that capture the essence of summer in England. There are country house dinners, afternoon teas, leisurely walks, picnics, and strawberry-picking. I always think of "Emma" when I think of strawberry season.

The 1996 film "Emma" with Gwyneth Paltrow and Toni Collette

Don't let the summer go by without making strawberry shortcake, especially while you can still get good strawberries. If you know how to make a biscuit or a scone, then you can make a luscious strawberry shortcake. Biscuits, strawberries and whipped cream -- together they make the quintessential summer dessert. 

This treasured book is my go-to source for biscuits and scones. It has a great recipe for Strawberry Shortcakes made with homemade biscuits. It couldn't be easier.

Charlotte Walker's Strawberry Shortcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut up
2/3 cup milk
2 quarts strawberries, hulled and sliced; sprinkle with a little sugar
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Put flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; stir to mix well. Add butter and cut in with pastry blender or rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine granules. Add milk; stir with a fork to form a soft dough, adding more milk if needed. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and give 8 to 10 kneads. Roll or pat dough to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out shortcakes with a 2- or 21/2-inch round cutter; re-roll and cut the scraps. Place apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush shortcakes with beaten egg. Bake 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve the shortcakes warm in a basket. Let everyone split a warm shortcake and fill with berries and Creme Fraiche.

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Put this together while strawberries are still in season. You can freeze the unbaked biscuits (place cookie sheet with unbaked biscuits in freezer; when biscuits are frozen, put them in a freezer bag) and pull them out and bake them anytime for this homey dessert. Be sure to eat it outside on your porch or patio or, even better, on a blanket under a tree. And don't forget to take along your copy of "Emma." The strawberry-picking scene at Donwell Abbey is such a great summer scene. And these long summer days are perfect for dining outside and reading in the garden.

Loving Shakespeare

Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes in "Shakespeare in Love"

There are certain films that are guaranteed to take us out of ourselves, not only to a place of enchantment and joy, but also to another time. We are immersed in the past in a way we have never been before and we feel we understand it better. Through great writing, period sets, evocative music, and beautiful costumes, the filmmakers insure that for a couple of hours we are visiting another era. Maybe these films are not exactly historically accurate, but they capture the essence, the goodness that we have all derived from that time and place. We leave the theater enriched. These are the films that stay with us. 

Recently I watched one of these, the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love. If you haven't seen it for a while, watch it again and you will be happy you did. It is a magical film. I think I was smiling the whole time. You may notice a few things about the film you had forgotten: how joyful it is, how much running Joseph Fiennes does, the golden light, the gorgeous costumes, and the music which is impossible to get out of your head for days afterwards.

Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker in "Much Ado About Nothing"

Fortunately for all of us Shakespeare lovers, there is a new film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. This has to be one of the most beloved plays by Shakespeare. You know the story: Beatrice and Benedick, duking it out. They claim to hate each other, engage in verbal sparring and one- upmanship, and, naturally, fall in love. It is a winning formula.

This new film adaptation is different from others you may have seen; it is modern in style, setting, and costume. Directed by Josh Whedon and shot in his beautiful Spanish-style home in Los Angeles, it captures all the romance and magic of the play and gives it a fresh spin. The film is hip, stylish and very funny. I was smiling when I left the theater, thinking about the timelessness of the story and the universality of the character traits of its lead characters. If you love Shakespeare, be sure to see this film. It reminded me of how I felt when I first saw "Shakespeare in Love." Here is a filmmaker who has made Shakespeare and his work live and breathe for us. The words that were written five hundred years ago are still relevant. I feel grateful for that. Go here to see the trailer and read a review. 

I have been thinking about my favorite Shakespeare plays. It's actually very hard to choose...maybe Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet? Tomorrow I will probably have a different answer. 

What are your favorite plays by Shakespeare?  

Midsummer Goodness

It is great to be back after taking a short break from my blog. I hope you've been enjoying the summer and would love to know what you have been up to. Hopefully it includes some relaxation!

You may be wondering what have I been up to?

Gardening

I have been planning a kitchen garden for the back yard which should be finished soon; in the meantime, I am swooning over the vegetable garden at Robinson Gardens. What an inspiration!

Travelling

We celebrated our wedding anniversary in beautiful Napa, where we saw fields of glorious sunflowers.

Cooking

In the summer I like to keep it simple and often make Bruschettas with chopped tomatoes and basil. I serve them with grilled fish and a big salad. Pour a glass of chilled chardonnay and you have the perfect summer meal. It's even better eaten outside! Here is my Bruschetta recipe.

Reading

I can't stay away from my favorite Barbara Pym and just finished rereading this classic. What an interesting character the heroine is, polished and confident and yet unhappy and searching for something more. As with most of Barbara Pym's novels, happiness is never far from home.

Research
Photo via here

I have been working on a fundraiser dinner dance with a French theme, specifically Paris in the 1920's. It's been so much fun reading up on this era and searching for quotes about Paris by Hemingway and Fitzgerald. This photo shows Hemingway with his wife Hadley (on the right) sitting at a Parisian cafe with Gerald and Sara Murphy (on the left). So many stories there!

Planning
Photo via here

I am planning a trip to Florence in the fall. Naturally, I am rereading E.M. Forster's Room with a View. Any view of this magnificent city is gorgeous!

Yoga
Photo via here

 And, finally, I have been having back problems and searching for ways to get some relief. This is one of the reasons I took a little time off from my blog. I have discovered yoga and love it. I feel that my back is healing and I am getting stronger.

As my yoga teacher told me,

"Every time you have pain, stop what you are doing and take fifteen deep breaths and picture that happy place. And don't forget to meditate for five minutes before going to sleep." In my opinion, there is wisdom in this prescription that could be applied to many things in life.

 Summer can be a great time for inspiration. What have you been up to?  

Summer Refresher

Dear readers,

 I am taking a few weeks off from blogging to work on some new projects and spend some time in the garden. Hope you enjoy this beautiful month of July. Looking forward to returning in August refreshed and inspired. See you then!

 xo/ Sunday

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Happy Fourth!

In my opinion, there is no more iconic Fourth of July dessert than a cherry pie. And, I would go out on a limb here and say that pies of any flavor (peach, blueberry, strawberry/rhubarb) are the most popular Fourth of July desserts, and the most American. Maybe this is because pies have a homespun quality, so different from a fancy cake or pastry. You make a crust with four humble ingredients: flour, butter, ice water and salt. Then you fill it with whatever is in season.

There is something about a pie cooling on a windowsill or a piece of pie with a scoop of ice cream that takes us back in time, evoking memories of our youth. Baseball games, picnics, hanging out at the local swimming pool, going to the beach, drive-in movies, barbecues, and evening treks to the ice cream shop. These were the summer activities from my childhood. And Fourth of July with a dinner of corn on the cob, potato salad, barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs and cherry pie, followed by a fireworks show was the ultimate in summer magic. Pies are nostalgic and have the power to take us back to that sweet place.

I remember my mother making the most delicious pies for the Fourth of July. Cherry pies in the summer and apple and pumpkin pies in the fall were her specialties. When she made them, it was always an occasion. She may have used canned pie filling when she couldn't get fresh fruit, but she never took the easy way out with her pie crust. It was always homemade, tender and delicious.

I used to be afraid of making pies because of the crust and for years I couldn't get it right. My mother's recipe was not from any book but in her head and even though she described it to me, giving me all the ingredients and instructions, I never could make it as good as hers. Years ago I found the answer -- the perfect pie crust that works every time and couldn't be easier. It is a recipe for Pate Brisee (pie crust) that I found in Martha Stewart's magazine about 15 years ago. Because you make it in the food processor, it takes just minutes to put together. Try this and you will never be insecure about pie crust again.

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Martha Stewart's Perfect Pie Crust

2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter; process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 8-10 seconds. Add the ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube of the food processor with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process the dough for more than 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic. Press the dough into a flattened circle, and wrap it in the plastic. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least two days. This amount will make two 8- to 10-inch crusts. Cut the dough in half and roll out one at a time for the bottom and top crusts.

Go here for the recipe for Twice-Baked Sour Cherry Pie (photo above)

Go here for a list of twenty pies to make this summer, any one of which would be perfect for your July 4th celebration.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Books That Sparkle

"There are books I go to when I don't want any more of the place I'm somehow stuck in and I long for a lighter and brighter world...They make me feel I've just had a drink of a particularly sparkling Champagne."
-- Mary Gordon

I have a wonderful address book called "The Reading Woman" that I bought at the Frick Museum in New York. It is illustrated with lovely paintings of women reading and filled with quotes by writers. One of my favorite quotes is the one above.

It is true -- there are books that sparkle, books that take us to a lighter and brighter world. We read them and are taken away, transported to a place of witty conversation, well-dressed people, candle-lit rooms, beautiful flowers, glistening silver, china teapots, dialogue sprinkled with bons mots, humorous mishaps, and enterprising heroines searching for love and a place in the world. These books feature dashing detectives, bungling aristocrats, glamorous characters, bright young women and ordinary people who have the ability to see the beauty in everyday life. We are swept away by their stories as well as the settings of their stories. The characters go on elegant picnics, create beautiful environments out of run-down houses and gardens, meet friends over afternoon tea, write letters and diaries in cozy libraries, solve mysteries over sherry in the drawing room, and fall in love under an ancient elm tree. Romance, mystery, intrigue, and comedy are the subjects.

Here are some books that have the power to sweep us away into a lighter and brighter world.

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The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse

 The aristocrat Bertie Wooster would be lost without the guidance of his brilliant valet Jeeves. The mishaps Bertie encounters in this book are endless, as are the laughs. This may be the perfect escapist book!

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Comedy and romance set in the ancestral home of an eccentric British family. The heroine longs to escape to a more glamorous life and her adventures take her to Paris. The ending is surprising and poignant.

Pride and and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The ultimate in romantic, happy endings

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

 English women find love and lose their inhibitions in Italy, written by one of the masters --E.M. Forster. He called it his "merry and bright" book.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

  Do you remember how funny this play is?

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
The dashing detective Lord Peter Wimsey is in love with the mystery writer Harriet Vane. Together they solve a crime set at Harriet's alma mater Oxford University

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield

A middle-class housewife living in the English countryside keeps a diary recounting her mundane life with her family and servants. It turns out she has literary aspirations and a witty sense of humor.

Merry Hall, Down The Garden Path and other books by Beverley Nichols
The debonair bachelor Nichols buys a run-down estate in the English countryside and sets about restoring the garden to its former glory. These books are laugh-out-loud funny.

Mapp and Lucia series of novels by E.F. Benson
Comic novels by Benson about the social rivalry between two women -- Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Lucas (Lucia) -- in a country village. The question is, who will be queen?

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Mildred Lathbury, a spinster and clergyman's daughter living in London in the 1950's, narrates this very funny story of her peaceful life being shaken up by her new and glamorous neighbors. Barbara Pym at her best!

 Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Even though tragedy and disillusion occur, when Charles Ryder falls in love with Sebastian Flyte and his glamorous family, we also fall under their spell.

 To the North by Elizabeth Bowen
A serious book about two young women who are lost -- one is an orphan and the other a widow -- finding their way together in London and searching for a meaningful life, as well as a home. Evocative descriptions of houses and furnishings that envelop and comfort, at least for a while...

And more recent books:

Le Divorce by Diane Johnson

 Diane Johnson's comedy of manners about American expats living in Paris

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
A modern re-imagining of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. If you love cookbooks, English literature, love stories and Jane Austen, this is the book for you. It combines contemporary themes with old-fashioned storytelling.   

Any Human Heart by William Boyd
A romantic and sweeping saga of a book, this novel tells the story of the fictional character Logan Mountstuart, who during the course of his life is a writer, spy, and art dealer. It reads like a social and cultural history of the twentieth-century. Anglophiles will love it.

 Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Two young women meet a handsome banker in Greenwich village. They enter his glittering social world and their lives change. With echoes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Truman Capote, this book is such a good read!


I had fun coming up with this list and revisiting some of my favorite books. Can you think of any others?

Go here to read an essay on Barbara Pym in the New York Times. This month is the centenary of her birth and Pym's fans are celebrating the occasion.

Love Story: Chapter Three

 Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Midnight

I am a huge fan of the films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. They were made in 1995 and 2004 by director Richard Linklater and featured the actors Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. In the first film  Before Sunrise, a young American man Jesse and a young French woman Celine (played by Hawke and Delpy) meet on a train from Budapest and decide to get off together in Vienna and spend the night walking and talking and falling in love. (Didn't we all take that trip to Europe in our twenties?) After a magical night, they make a plan to meet in six months at the same train station. The second film Before Sunset, takes place nine years later when Jessie is in Paris on a book tour signing copies of the best-selling novel he has written about that night in Vienna. Celine finds him at the book signing and they spend an evening together walking the streets of Paris and once again, as in Vienna, talking about everything. The talking (and there is a lot of it) is the key ingredient that makes these films so special; the conversations are where the magic happens. I won't tell you anymore, but some film critics say the ending is one of the best and most romantic of any film. I agree.

Before Midnight is the third film in this romantic trilogy and it has opened in the theaters. Almost two decades have passed since Jesse and Celine's first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. As with any long term romance, this one is showing some wear and tear. If you haven't seen the film, go right away. I loved it. Like the other two films, it has witty and smart dialogue woven through a love story, though at times a rocky one, and this time it is set in Greece. The unique feature of the trilogy format -- three films made over the course of almost twenty years -- allows us to follow this couple from their twenties (they were so young and cute!) to their forties and discover how their romance has fared. If you haven't seen the previous two films, watch them first. You are in for a treat. After you have seen these, go to the theater to see Before Midnight to find out what has happened to this couple in the seven years that have passed since that night in Paris. This movie is a gem. I've actually seen it twice!

By the way, the dialogue in all three films is so natural that many people assume that it is improvised. However, the actors are actually working from a script. Go here to learn more about how these films were made.