Brief Review of Kosher Chinese

This is the story of a vegetarian Jewish man from the Upper West Side of Manhattan and his experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the interior of China.

Michael Levy, author of Kosher Chinese, and whose story this is, had been a kosher vegetarian, and when he went to China to teach English and was confronted with a bowl of deep fried millipedes at his welcome dinner, broke the cultural training instilled by the Peace Corps and said, "I cannot eat this." The 30 or so people, including a Communist part official, who had gathered in his honor gasped and turned stone silent. After a long pause and deep silence, Levy again spoke and said "Because I'm Jewish." Finally, the silence was broken when someone said, "Comrade Marx was a Jew," and "Einstein too." This was how Levy became known as the Friendship Jew. What follows in this cleverly written book is Levy's account of living in the interior of China, the part of China not covered by the modern news media, and how he learns to live using squat toilets, adapting to foods, and even confronting his moral dilemma and eating dog. This book is entertaining, thought provoking, and well worth reading! I give this 5 stars out of 5.

The Magic of Maggi

It's ten AM and what doesn't go well with researching "trustworthiness" as left-over Chinese food from the night before? Alas, I used up all those little plastic pouches of soy sauce last night-- and good old salt and pepper just doesn't seem to go well with General Tso Chicken and Lo Mein noodles. So deep into the cabinet I my arm went to search for my beloved Maggi!

This is the Dutch version of soy sauce but better! This soy sauce is pithier, has more "punch" to it (probably the massive infusion of sodium!) and finally did my Chinese hunger justice! I grew up with Maggi-- when we immigrated to Amerika one of the things we sneaked into the country was a small bottle of Maggi. It was inconceivable to eat a meal without Maggi on the table. It was used for everything! It was gently poured on macaroni and cheese, and of course, generously doused in all soups! The BBC even did a special on Maggi- the seasoning of the world!

I still love Maggi but the bottle I have came from my Dad's house. We cleared out his house in 2006, and I still have a good amount left over! Guess because I am the only one in my American family who uses Maggi, it should last a good long while-- of course, this bottle is also huge! However, I do see some grocery shopping and a new bottle of Maggi in my future. Now back to "trustworthiness"...

Review of The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

I have a penchant for reading summer novels set on beaches and islands... and Elin Hilderbrand's stories are easy to read and amusing-- although at times, they lack satisfying conclusions. The Island was among the better of her novels because the resolution of the central character's dilemmas is at least plausible. The setting of The Island is an old family home with no electricity or modern conveniences, set on Tuckernuck Island, a privately owned spot in the ocean just a short distance from Nantucket. The grey, weathered family house on Tuckernuck had not been used in 13 years, until the matriach of the family, Birdie Cousins, who had inherited the family home, asks her oldest daughter, Chess, to spend a month on Tuckernuck to "get away from it all." Earlier Chess had broken off her engagement to subsequently her ex-fiancee died in a rock climibing accident. Feeling terribly guilty and somewhat responsible, Chess falls into a deep depression and Birdie hopes that a month on Tuckernuck will help Chess to heal. Birdie's younger daughter, Tate, a corporate world computer whiz with somewhat awkward social skills, then asks to also join this mother-daughter bonding retreat from civilization. As soon as Birdie's younger sister, India, a widow of a well-known artist and successful administrator of an art program in Philadelphia, finds out about this trip she sees a month on Tuckernuck as an opportunity to seek some escape from an uncomfortable situation in which she has found herself. On Tuckernuck, life is simple. No television, phone, refrigerator, or electricity. There is no cell phone reception, until Birdie finds out that if she stands in the water at a remote point of the island facing a specific direction, she can get crystal clear reception. But this is her secret not shared with the rest of the women in the house. Groceries and ice for the ice box are delivered daily by their caretaker, the son of the man on whom both Birdie and India had crushes when they were young.

The story unfolds as each of the characters reveals herself and makes new discoveries that help to reach a decision or heal a wound. The characters are relate-able, although I found the daughters and the sister India to be the best developed characters. The daughters, both twenty-somethings, revealed the common insecurities and secrets associated with people who are being developed as adults. The sister, India, was easily understandable as a woman who had help together a man who was an artist and her husband, and after he dies she finds herself by becoming very successful in the world of art administration. However, the older woman's character of Birdie's was not quite as well developed. Hilderbrand worked to create a family matriarch but missed some of the nuances of mother-daughter relationship that could have added another layer of intimacy. This could be because Hildebrand herself is yet a young mother and hasn't experienced what it is like to be the mother of grown daughters. The most wonderful characters in the book were the old weathered house and the island itself. The descriptions created mental images and this place and this house became a character full of history, experience, and memories.

What's In A Name?

I have a very dear friend whose mother is experiencing the early stages of Alzheimers-- but then, she's also 92 years old so it may just be a strain on the brain of having so many memories after living such a long time! However, Stephanie's mother, although I have never met her, knows me. She calls me "Kookla"... and I think it's a great name! She can't remember my Dutch name Joka, so Kookla is as close as she gets, although in the past she has also called me Ocra and Orca. I think I like Kookla really well because it's better than being called a vegetable or a killer whale! So if I have decide to write my memoirs, I will definitely have to take a nom de plume, and Kookla sounds like a really good option. Thank you Alice!

Artichokes and Figs

OK- I am admitting my own ignorance! I love artichokes and figs, but the only artichokes I ever seen or eaten came in a glass jar from the grocery store shelf, and the figs I've enjoyed my whole life come in a nifty foil package (also from the store)! I always imagined both of them growing in some far away exotic land... like Israel, Spain, Greece... and never imagined they could grown in my own backyard. Phillip planted several artichoke plants in the garden...

The plant has a purple flower and I never would have recognized this (remember-- I only know artichokes in a jar!)as an artichoke if he hadn't pointed it out to me.

Then the figs... did you know they grow on trees? I thought they grew on a bush... (yes, I know it's a pathetic sad fact that I am sooo ignorant about these things!)... but now I am sooo much smarter, since I have not one, but several fig trees growing on my back deck. I really do love the shapes of the leaves... they are big and have these deep indentations-- very artistic! The biggest surprise is that fig trees can grow this far north, but then we've had an very hot and dry summer.

Now we just have to keep the squirrels away...