Content Tagged ‘holidays’

The staff of Ecotone and Lookout wish you and your loved ones the happiest of holiday seasons!

It is holiday feast season so I thought I would rummage through Ecotone’s Sustenance Issue to get some ideas for avoiding that same dried-out poultry and canned cranberry sauce. The bounty therein was plentiful, and I couldn’t stop with the traditional five-item list. So give your Aunt Henrietta an extra glass of white zinfandel and let your tastebuds celebrate alongside you in this collection of fantastic recipes.

Appetizer:

1. Reading Camille T. Dungy’s essay “Differentiation” I found myself wandering the snowy planes of an Alaskan town discovering a food culture I had no knowledge of. Since I am not in the habit of catching and processing my seafood by hand, I decided on the next-best thing: to start our feast with a salmon fish cake courtesy of BBCGoodFood.com. I’m not suggesting that you go crazy and make your own mayonnaise tarter sauce but I am alsohttp://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/braised-mustard-greens-recipe not not suggesting that.

Main Course:

2. It is a challenge to read Randall Kenan’s essay “Greens: A Mess of Memories About Taste” and not imagine the tangy savory flavor of mustard greens filling you up and making you feel at home. You don’t have to be a Southerner to appreciate the mastery of imagery and sensuous textures Kenan weaves into his essay. Being a firm believer in the power of bacon to make anything better, I found a recipe, courtesy of Rachel Ray, that combined the two. If Aunt Henrietta is huffing and puffing about not having those mashed potatoes, just give her a taste of these greens and ask her, “Ain’t it good? Ain’t it good?”

3. I am particularly excited about this next one. Sarah Becan’s comic “Les Curds du Mal” is both savory and enraging. After spending time learning about the politics of importing French cheese, you’ll want to jet off to Paris directly for a bit of Brie. Although we now know that our imported cheese is subpar, we’ll take what we can get and, after finding this recipe, courtesy of Saveur, we want it. And this recipe for a Tartiflette might make it taste even better.

4. Many of us here at Ecotone and Lookout have holiday histories that are steeped in tradition. But after reading “Breaking the Jemima Code: The Legacy of African American Cookbooks,” an excerpt from the book The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cooks, we’ve learned that many of our tried-and-true traditions have origins we’re unaware of. In the spirit of acknowledging that Toni Tipton-Martin gives us, let’s get rid of that salty swine and savor something new. I’m sure by this point Aunt Henrietta is on board and ready for whatever the table delivers—just make sure no one starts talking politics! Here’s a recipe for Herb Roasted Leg of Lamb offered up by Toni Tipton-Martin herself via the JemimaCode.com

Dessert:

5. The Sustenance Issue of Ecotone is a trip not only through physical sustenance, but also the emotional and historical kind. Here at Ecotone we celebrate the knowledge and healing the comes through the sharing of stories. This next recipe is inspired by Matthew Gavin Frank’s essay “Spoon Bread.” Frank’s candid examination of his own family and cultural history in Nebraska is awe inspiring. And mouth watering. This recipe for spoon bread is courtesy of Martha Stewart.

6. Emily Hillard’s essay “Heavenly Work: The Fleeting Legacy of the Shakers” asks us to imagine how a community interacts with its history. I couldn’t imagine a sweeter way to end a foray into new traditions. So, we perused Emily’s blog, Nothing in The House, and found a recipe for Red Wine-Poached Seckel Pear Tarlets that will have Aunt Henrietta dreaming about next year (and after all that white zinfindel we doubt she’ll turn down anything poached in red wine). If this particular tartlet is not your style, check out Emily’s blog for a plethora of options.

From all of us here at Ecotone and Lookout, we wish you a season filled with good sustenance of all kinds: good friends, fiesty family (wink wink, Aunt Henrietta), tasty food, and robust literature.

–Reneé LaBonté, Lookout intern

Happy holidays from the North Carolina coast, where we’re enjoying the climatic ecotone that is a long Southern autumn (and fretting about climate change). We can’t wait to share the second issue of our Ecotone’s tenth-anniversary year—our first ever to focus on sound. It will include new fiction from Toni Jensen and Brian Doyle, among others, and an essay on earthquake and glacier sounds from longtime Ecotone contributor Kate Miles. There are several special features—including a set of found photographs of musicians from the past century, curated by Sarah Bryan, and an essay on the revitalization of letterpress printing in Cherokee.

We’re also showcasing three Southern musicians talking about their favorite songs—bluegrass pioneer Alice Gerrard; songster and banjo player Dom Flemons, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops; and poet and SugarQube Records founder Shirlette Ammons. There’s an essay about Detroit’s decline and opera music; a story that transports the reader to a grand home in Pakistan; and a sweet poem based on a popular children’s app. And we’ve lined up lots more stellar poetry: from Katy Didden, Sandra McPherson, and many more, with everything from poems about music to poems that engage with the music of meter and form.

Like the sound of this issue? If you subscribe or renew by December 15, you’ll be sure to get it! You’ll receive two issues, a full year, of Ecotone for $16.95—or two years for $29.95. If you’d like to give Ecotone as a gift (and it’s a great one, not that we’re biased), between now and the new year you can get a subscription for yourself and one for a friend, all for $25.

And one last possibility: you can subscribe to Ecotone and receive the new novel from Lookout Books, Matthew Neill Null’s Honey from the Lion, for $25. Read what Jayne Anne Phillips has called “one of the most assured debuts of the year”—or share it with a friend. If you order by December 15, your subscription will begin with the Sound issue, and we’ll send the book out before the holidays.

Best wishes from all of us at Ecotone. Hope you get to read lots this winter!

Struggling with ideas for what to get your friends and family for the holidays this year? Want to share your love of books with loved ones who don’t crave the strictly literary as much as you do? Look no further than this list of stellar books, examples of great literature, yes, but also fit for readers of all kinds. From poetry to prose, indie to mainstream, there’s something for everyone on your list.

For your bestie who always knows the perfect thing to say:

Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed

In her three previous books and her “Dear Sugar” column, Cheryl Stayed dished honesty, spirit, and ample tough love, encouraging her readers to “Be brave enough to break your own heart,” “Keep walking,” and “Ask yourself: What is the best I can do? And then do that.” This book gathers more than 100 of Strayed’s most inspiring quotes and thoughts.

For the mad-scientist foodie:

The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt

If you know someone who’s always looking to get better in the kitchen, and who loves to understand the science behind their successes and failures with food, here’s the cookbook they’ve been waiting for. Full of fun experiments, gorgeous photos, and perfected recipes on American standards, this book will provide hours of delicious fun long after the holidays are over.

For your budding-feminist, comic-loving teenage niece:

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

From a niche web-comic to a 2015 National Book Award finalist, Nimona is as big in heart and scope as this book’s success. The story of a superhero sidekick in training, it’s both funny and dark—medieval meets sci-fi adventures of a shape-shifting girl with a kick-butt haircut!

For your mom, who reads a poem every night before bed:

Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón: 

There is ferocity in Ada Limón’s poems, a revelatory jazz. As she grapples with the most profound of losses—the death of a loved one—she also uncovers intimacies: a desire for for beauty and change, and for something “disorderly, and marvelous, and ours.”

For your sibling who always wanted to be an astronaut:

Leaving Orbit by Margaret Lazarus Dean

Part history, part elegy, Dean chronicles the end of manned space exploration with details that will make you think, make you angry, and make you feel like you were there. The next-best thing to being in zero gravity is having a writer this good take your breath away.

For anyone who loves a good, literary page-turner:

The Last September by Nina de Gramont

Set against a desolate Cape Cod landscape, The Last September tells the story of Brett, a wife, trying to reconcile her feelings for her husband after his untimely death. Delving through Brett’s psyche into a complex emotional mystery, this book promises to keep you in chilling suspense until the last page.

For your coworker, who loves a quirky, well-told tale:

Upright Beasts by Lincoln Michel

From the respected indie press that loves this book enough to produce this trailer, Upright Beasts is a wild ride. With advice on how to work through your relationship during a zombie invasion, and a baby growing up in the stomach of a fox, these twenty-one stories offer snippets of poignant absurdity, perfect for reading over lunch and thinking about all day.

For the new parents and their little one:

The Menino by Isol

When “the Menino arrives naked and yelling, as if to make sure everyone notices,” everyone does notice. Menino is Portuguese for “child” and this book by an internationally award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books—and new mom—is all about the arrival of baby, the family’s response and adjustment, and the shocking perfection of our bodies. A humorous, wry exploration of the new baby’s reality.

Didn’t find your someone special or favorite title on our list? Well, tell us about it! Go to Lookout’s Facebook page and post the name of a book you’re giving your tall-tale-telling grandfather or your party-like-a-rock-star boss this holiday. We’ll randomly select three people to win two books of your choice from the Lookout catalog—one for you and one for a friend! Enter by December 15 to be in the running.