The Food of Summer Weekly Link Round-Up

Sometimes I think the world is going out of its way to make me feel like an old fart. Someone on Facebook is constantly sharing a photo of something and asking those who know what the item is to raise their hands. It's always something that was quite common when I was a child. One of these days, someone may actually post something I don't recognize. Well... I can dream, can't I?

From the Museum of International Folk Art

Somehow this got me to thinking about cooking, food, and summer. When I was a child, foods were actually seasonal. There was none of this shipping fruit and who knows what all thousands of miles around the world so it can show up on our grocery store shelves. This seasonality meant that many foods were special. I was lucky because gardening was an important part of my family's summers. My grandmother had her garden, which was mostly different kinds of fruit, and Mom and I had our larger one, which was vegetables. Weeding was one of my chores, and I was my grandmother's chosen strawberry picker because she'd actually get enough to do something with. (Not so if my grandfather or my mother was asked to do the honors!)

My summers were filled with garden fresh, home grown tomatoes, rhubarb, corn on the cob, green beans, onions, black raspberries, strawberries, watermelons, potatoes... and whatever we didn't gorge ourselves on, my grandmother canned for the gloomy months of winter. Once you've had home grown, so much of what you bring home from the produce section of the grocery store tastes like rubber or cardboard.

My favorite summer meal? Ham, green beans, baby potatoes, and tiny onions-- with my grandmother's black raspberry cobbler for dessert. Well, this was smart, Cathy. Now I'm hungry! I'd better head on out to the link corral. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my mind off that cobbler.... Head 'em up! Moooooooooove 'em out!

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Websites that post fake and satirical stories. 
• I've been listening to a series called A Stab in the Dark, a UKTV Crime Podcast hosted by Mark Billingham. Good stuff, and brought to my attention by one of you readers out there. Ken, was it you??? 
• When reading a book was a group activity.
• My grandmother made most of my clothes growing up so I might take a trip down Memory Lane at this online database containing 83,500 vintage sewing patterns from Vogue, McCall's, Butterick, and Simplicity.
• Plan a rainy day and the folks at BuzzFeed will reveal which book you should read next. 
• The word choices that explain why Jane Austen endures.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Scientists in Peru have reconstructed the face of a woman who ruled 1,700 years ago. 
• Colombia is working to salvage a Spanish treasure ship loaded with an estimated $1 billion in gold and jewels. 
• A sacrificial wolf elaborately adorned with some of the finest Aztec gold ever found and buried more than five centuries ago has come to light in the heart of downtown Mexico City. 
• Meet the forgotten Middle Eastern queen who was protected by a curse and crowned with gold. 
• An album of drawings by 18th Century painter Thomas Gainsborough has been discovered in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• A night with Virginia Woolf at America's strangest literary hotel. 
• A sleepy little murdertown called Reykjavik.
• A tour of author Don Winslow's ranch in southern California.
• There's a Harry Potter supper club opening in London this summer. 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Iron ladies of the American railroad.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Favorite literary sidekicks. 
• Twenty-seven female authors who rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy right now. 
• Ten essential road trip books that aren't On the Road. 
• Twelve unique bookshelves that will bring you one step closer to the library of your dreams-- unless you take a look at them and had the same thought I did.... 
• Nine true crime books to read before they become movies.
• Any Stephen King fans out there in the mood for pillows, mugs, and tote bags?
• The top ten opening scenes in books.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!