food in fiction essays

the secret garden (part one): another peek inside

~ jama ~ 31 Comments

“Then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her back against it, looking about her and breathing quite fast with excitement, and wonder, and delight. She was standing inside the secret garden.”  ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett

Illustration by Russell Barnett

Whenever I am asked to name my all-time favorite children’s book, I always say, The Secret Garden.

It’s not like I’ve read it more than three or four times in my entire life, or that I can quote key passages from it at the drop of a hat. And as soon as I mention it, a bevy of other beloved favorites come to mind — Little Women, Little House books, Ramona Quimby, Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess. I love them all — but somehow, The Secret Garden has the tightest grip on my child’s heart.

Original 1911 edition with illustrations by Troy Howell.

When I first read it, at the age of nine or ten, I knew nothing of the Yorkshire moors, gorse, heather, or the myriad flowers mentioned in the book except for roses. Instead of crocuses, snowdrops, lilacs, peonies and forget-me-nots, I had grown up with anthuriums, plumeria, bird-of-paradise. I had never seen a robin, fox, or crow. But I knew loneliness and had a big case of “it’s not fair,” and often wished I had the power to boss grown-ups around and make them listen to me. Oh, to have an Ayah or servants at my beck and call!

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laura for a day

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

“Once you begin being naughty, it’s easier to go on and on, and sooner or later, something dreadful happens.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Carrie, Mary, and Laura Ingalls


Which children’s book character would you most like to be for just one day?

I’d like to be Laura Ingalls, mainly because her childhood was so vastly different from mine. I would love to have three sisters, a father who plays the fiddle, a dog named Jack, and a more intimate knowledge of how food was grown, cultivated, preserved, and prepared in the late 19th century. It would also be quite cool to be called, “Half-pint.”

Pioneer life was much harder than is depicted in the Little House books, so I wouldn’t necessarily want to actually be Laura Ingalls Wilder — no, just the Laura in the stories who eagerly watches Ma make Pancake Men, takes her turn at churning the cream, marvels at eating a little heart-shaped cake made from white flour, and is there to smell and taste all the bread and biscuits fresh from the wood-fired oven.

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friday feast: i love me some little cakes

~ jama ~ 22 Comments


From Denslow’s Mother Goose, 1902.

While reading up on Medieval/Elizabethan food for Shakespeare’s birthday yesterday, some very fetching banbury cakes insisted that I pay attention to them.

Naturally, I was reminded of the English nursery rhyme, and the time Len and I traveled to Banbury for a taste of those famous cakes. Food, you see, is always the great motivator.

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recipe for a picture book

~ jama ~ 61 Comments


Happy 15th Birthday, Dumpling Soup!!

Wonders never cease — my little picture book is still in print after all these years!

To spice up my Hawai’i celebration this month, I’m giving away three signed hardcover copies! These are original trade editions from my personal stash (currently, only paperback and library editions are still in print). This seems like the right time to part with them, as a way of thanking you for all your support and interest in my books and this blog.

All you have to do is comment on any post between now and January 31, and I’ll toss your name into my big red soup pot. Enter as many times as you like. Each comment = one entry. On Monday, February 2, the most well-behaved teddy bear in the kitchen will ladle out the winners! (Note: This giveaway is open to everyone, with or without a blog. Please include your first name and last initial if you’re logging in as “Anonymous.” Non U.S. residents also welcome to enter.)

And now, for your nibbling pleasure, HOW I COOKED DUMPLING SOUP (which is a story about celebrating the New Year in Hawai’i):

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in the pink with irving and muktuk

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

“All my books were easy to write — doesn’t it show?”
~ Daniel Pinkwater

Snowball and Ursula talk PInkwater over blueberry muffins and tea.

How could I not like Daniel Pinkwater?

Whenever I see his name I smile. I was thinking how this is a strange, conditioned response. I don’t know how or why it happens. Sure, he’s written around 100 books. And to be honest, it’s not like I’ve read dozens and dozens of them. I’ve read maybe ten. But they got to me. So much so, that whenever I see his name on a book, I put my Ugawawa mocassins on the wrong feet, step slightly to the left of center, and shift into giggle-and-snort mode. I just know it’s going to be good.

Hello. How could I not like a man who writes about polar bears and blueberry muffins?

So far, there are five titles in the Irving and Muktuk, Bad Bears, picture book series (ages 5-8). Trust me. This 9-foot tall pair with slitty, sneaky side eyes and galompo feet will have you rooting for them after the first page. Their main crime? Well, they do cheat each other at cards. But mostly they are motivated by the quest for muffins and more muffins, which results in questionable behavior, like, um, stealing.

In the first book, Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), we are introduced to the arctic town of Yellowtooth, which holds a Blueberry Muffin Festival every New Year. After Officer Bunny sees the bears trying to break into the muffin warehouse, he lures them into his station wagon, and has them airlifted by helicopter far above the Arctic Circle. The following New Year, the duo returns to Yellowtooth disguised as very large penguins. They are airlifted again and return three more times with different disguises, until Officer Bunny finally makes arrangements to have them relocated to the Bayonne Zoo.

 

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