Lisa Williams Recommends

Books

Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers' Markets: Madison, Deborah; 2002; In Local Flavors, bestselling cookbook author Deborah Madison takes readers along as she explores farmers' markets across the country, sharing stories, recipes, and dozens of market-inspired menus. Her portraits of markets from Maine to Hawaii showcase the bounty of America's family farms and reveal the sheer pleasure to be found in shopping for and cooking with local foods. Deborah Madison follows the seasons in her cross-country journey, beginning with the first tender greens of spring and ending with those foods that keep. Recipes such as Chard and Cilantro Soup with Noodle Nests and Lamb's-Quarters with Sonoma Teleme Cheese launch the market season, followed by such dishes as an Elixir of Fresh Peas or a Radish Sandwich. Recipes for Whole Little Cauliflowers with Crispy Breadcrumbs and White Beans with Black Kale and Savoy Cabbage illustrate the range of the robust crucifers, while herbs and alliums provide the inspiration for a lively Herb Salad, tisanes, and Sweet and Sour Onions with Dried Pluots and Rosemary. Deborah Madison challenges the conventional view of what's seasonal. A Young Root Vegetable Braise celebrates that early crop of delicate roots, while Braised Root Vegetables with Black Lentils and Red Wine Sauce offers an elegant centerpiece dish for the heartier roots of winter. Superlative fresh eggs, along with handmade cheese, are featured players at the markets everywhere, and here they appear in such simple dishes as Fried Eggs with Sizzling Vinegar and Warm Ricotta Custard featuring fresh whole-milk ricotta. Because organically raised poultry and meats have an increasingly important presence in our farmers' markets, they are included, too, paired with other market produce that highlights their flavors, as in Roast Chicken with Herbs Under the Skin. Late summer corn and beans inspire Corn Fritters with Aged Cheddar and Arugula and Shelly Beans with Pasta and Sage. When markets are filled with squashes and melons, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, Deborah Madison shows us that they're perfect ingredients for simple, vibrant dishes, such as Braised Farmers' Long Eggplant Stuffed with Garlic or Tropical Melon Soup with Coconut Milk. For the happily overwhelmed cook, Platter Salads suggest how to go ahead and use all of the market's bounty. Fruits, another vital part of farmers' markets, are generously featured. Huckleberries, unusual grapes, and figs; stone fruits like plums and peaches; heirloom apples, persimmons; winter citrus and subtropical fruits are all here. Fig Tart with Orange Flower Custard; Peach Shortcake on Ginger Biscuits; a Rustic Tart of Quinces, Apples, and Pears; and a Passion Fruit and Pineapple Compote are just a few of the luscious desserts. And, because the market features more than fresh foods of the moment, recipes based on dried fruits, oils, vinegars, preserves, and other long-keeping foods help the reader continue eating locally once the market season has ended. By going behind the scenes to speak with the farmers and producers, Deborah Madison connects readers directly with the people who grow their food. Full-color photographs of gorgeous produce, mouthwatering dishes, and evocative scenes from the markets will entice every reader to cook from the farmers' market as often as possible. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
My Life in France: Child, Julia; 2006; Amazingly energetic, creative, and ultimately inimitable (despite many attempts), Julia Child (d.2004) brought French cooking to American kitchens. For this book she worked with her husband's grandnephew Alex Prud'homme to record her experiences between 1948 and 1954 in Paris and Marseille (and a few later adventures), which she terms the best years of her life. Like her life, her book is full of fun and zest. Fans will savor, or devour, this account. Annotation #169;2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
The Kite Runner: Hosseini, Khaled; 2003; "Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds; Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him." "The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, and their lies. Written against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before. The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
Animal Dreams: Kingsolver, Barbara; 1990; In a combination of flashbacks, dreams, and Native American legends, the acclaimed author of The Bean Trees offers a suspenseful love story and a moving exploration of life's largest commitments. "Probes the human heart with uncommon wisdom".--New York Newsday. Copyright #169; Libri GmbH. All rights reserved. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.
A Perfectly Logical Explanation: Castranova, Michael; 2002; Enjoy a good laugh with an often-humorous look at home ownership, grass-roots politics, foreign travel, low-rent journalism, squirrels in the attic, good old rock and roll, and more. Surely there has to be a perfectly logical explanation for everything.
The Runaway Bunny: Brown, Margaret; 1972; A little rabbit who wants to run away tells his mother how he will escape, but she is always right behind him.

Movies

Casablanca: 2003; In World War II Morocco, seething with European refugees desperate for passage to neutral Lisbon, only a world-weary and bitter nightclub owner can help his former lover and her Resistance-hero husband escape from the Nazis.
The Lives of Others: 2007; A 1984 East Berlin simple surveillance assignment: Capt. Gerd Wiesler, a Stasi officer and a specialist in surveillance, has been assigned to keep an eye on Georg Dreyman, a respected playwright, and his actress girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland. Though Dreyman is known to associate with blacklisted director Albert Jerska, a known dissident, Dreyman's record is spotless. Wiesler discovers that Minister Hempf has an alterior motive in spying on this seemingly-upright citizen. Wiesler's sympathies shift from the government to its people - or at least to this one particular person.
Sweet Land: 2007; Inge is a feisty German mail-order bride who has come to Minnesota to marry Olaf, a young Norwegian immigrant farmer of few words. But in a post-WWI, anti-German climate, the local minister openly forbids the marriage. Inge and Olaf fall in love despite the town's disapproval. But when the town banker attempts to foreclose on the farm of his friend Frandsen, Olaf takes a stand.
Jacques Perrin Presents Winged Migration: 2003; This documentary follows bird migrations through 40 countries and each of the seven continents. Teams totalling more than 450 people, 17 pilots and 14 cinematographers used planes, gliders, helicopters and balloons to fly alongside, above, below and in front of their subjects.
Bringing up Baby: 2005; Crazy comedy about an heiress who is determined to catch a stuffy zoologist, and uses her pet leopard, Baby, to help get his attention.

Music

Songbird: Emmylou Harris; Disc 1. Clocks (alternate version) -- The angels rejoiced last night (with Gram Parsons) -- The old country baptizing (with Gram Parsons & the Fallen Angels) -- Coat of many colors -- For no one -- Ooh Las Vegas -- Satan's jewel crown -- Tulsa queen -- My songbird -- Green rolling hills -- One paper kid (with Willie Nelson) -- Sorrow in the wind -- Rough and rocky -- Jordan (with Johnny Cash) -- Darkest hour is just before dawn -- Ashes by now -- How high the moon -- Spanish Johnny (with Waylon Jennings) -- The last cheaters waltz -- Racing in the streets -- Like an old fashioned waltz.Disc 2. The sweetheart of the rodeo (with Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Gail Davies) -- When I was yours -- My father's house -- Bright morning stars -- When He calls -- Lonely street -- Brand new dance -- Get up John -- If I could be there -- Ballad of a runaway horse -- Going back to Harlan -- Sweet old world -- All my tears ; Prayer in open D (live) -- Bang the drum slowly -- Boy from Tupelo -- Lost unto this world -- Man is an island -- Cup of kindness.Disc 3. Falling in a deep hole (previously unreleased) -- 1917 (with Linda Ronstadt) -- Palms of victory ; Softly and tenderly (previously unreleased) (with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton) -- My dear companion (with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton) -- Mary danced with soldiers (with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) -- I don't love you much do I (with Guy Clark) -- All I left behind (previously unreleased) -- I remember you (with Steve Earle) -- Golden ring (with Linda Ronstadt, Anna McGarrigle, and Kate McGarrigle) -- Sonny (with Dolores Keane and Mary Black) -- In the garden (previously unreleased) -- Love still remains -- Snake song -- Hobo's lullaby -- Wondering -- Immigrant eyes (previously unreleased) -- Juanita (with Sheryl Crow) -- She (with the Pretenders) -- Sin city (with Beck) -- Wheels (with the Seldom Scene).Disc 4. Beyond the blue (with Patty Griffin) -- First in line (with John Starling) ; Highway of heartache (previously unreleased) -- Alone and forsaken (with Mark Knopfler and his band) -- Child of mine -- Heaven ain't ready for you yet -- Wish we were back in Missouri -- Mama's hungry eyes (with Rodney Crowell) -- Here we are (with George Jones) -- Waltz across Texas tonight ; Snowin' on Raton ; Gone ; Don't let our love die (previously unreleased) -- The pearl (live) -- Wildwood flower (with Iris DeMent and Randy Scruggs) -- Love and happiness (with Mark Knopfler) -- When we're gone, long gone (with Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton).DVD (television appearances). Together again ; Making believe (with the Hot Band) -- Blue Kentucky girl -- Satan's jewel crown -- Mr. Sandman -- I don't have to crawl -- I ain't living long like this (with Spyboy) -- Love hurts (live) (with Elvis Costello) -- Imagine -- Emmylou Harris on Animal rescue.Performer: Emmylou Harris, vocals, guitars ; with various performers.
The Joshua Tree: U2; Where the streets have no name -- I still haven't found what I'm looking for -- With or without you -- Bullet the blue sky -- Running to stand still -- Red Hill mining town -- In God's country -- Trip through your wires -- One tree hill -- Exit -- Mothers of the disappeared. Performer: Rock music written and performed by U2.
All the seasons of George Winston: George Winston; Colors ; Dance -- The Venice dreamer (part 2) -- Living in the country -- The cradle (live bonus track) -- Joy -- Treat Street -- Variations on the canon by Pachelbel -- Thanksgiving -- Miles City train -- Corrina Corrina -- Hummingbird -- Longing ; Love -- Cast your fate to the wind -- Sandman -- The snowman's music box dance -- Northern plains (bonus track) -- Sleep baby mine (bonus track).Performer: George Winston, solo piano.

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