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"Let's go and see everybody," said Pooh. "Because when you have been walking in the wind for miles, and you suddenly go into somebody's house, and he says, 'Hallo, Pooh, you're just in time for a little smackerel of something,' and you are, then it's what I call a Friendly Day." ~ A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner



Hallo, my windblown, winter-weary but eternally good-looking friends! Are you out of hibernation yet?

Just in case you're in dire need of a little smackerel of something, I've cooked up a special batch of Pea-Bean Alphabet Soup, with a recipe from the new and revised Winnie-the-Pooh Cookbook (Dutton, 2010).

       

Is anyone familiar with older editions of this cookbook -- one with recipes by Katie Stewart (Methuen, 1971) and the other with Virginia Ellison's recipes (Dutton, 1969)? I have not seen Ellison's older edition, and wondered whether the Pea-Bean Alphabet Soup recipe was in it, or if it was newly added this time around. Years ago, I purchased the Katie Stewart edition in London; looks like different culinary writers were used for the British and American versions. Cool, but a little confusing, since both books have the exact same cover.

 

In any case, the new Pooh Cookbook, just released in October 2010, is quite lovely, as it contains full color illustrations from Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, as well as the eight original pen-and-ink drawings by Ernest H. Shephard commissioned by Dutton in 1966. Like its predecessors, the new cookbook is sprinkled throughout with excerpts from both Pooh books and features approximately 60 tasty recipes, all guaranteed to feel yummy in your tummy: Breakfasts, Smackerels, Elevenses & Teas, Provisions for Picnics & Expotitions, Lunches & Suppers, Desserts & Party Recipes, Winter Delights and Honey Sauces.

My Katie Stewart cookbook contains things like Chocolate Rock Cakes, Honey and Raisin Scones, Cottleston Pie, Bread and Butter Pudding and Watercress Sandwiches, etc., but it doesn't have any soups! So I was tickled pink to find three soups in Ellison's new book: Tomato, Corn and Shrimp Chowder, and the aforementioned Alphabet Soup, which got my full attention right away. ☺

I cheated a little on the recipe, making it in the crock pot rather than simmering it on the stove, so my finished product probably wasn't as thick as the stove version. But that's the beauty of soup -- it's hard to ruin, allows for all kinds of experimentation and variation in ingredients, and always hits the spot. The resident bears had fun adding the alphabet pasta and spelling out the characters' names. Hope you'll try this hearty soup sometime; while it's cooking you can read a Pooh story, and once you've had some soup, you'll be all set, tiddely-pom and tra-la-la, rum-tum-tiddle-um-tum.



PEA-BEAN ALPHABET SOUP
(makes approx. 10 servings)

3 T each of dried beans, such as red, Great Northern, garbanzos, pintos, or black for a total of 15 tablespoons
5 T lentils
4 T split peas, green or yellow
2 quarts water
2 beef bones, ma

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By Mark Peters

It’s easy to find articles about words people hate. Just google for a nanominute and you’ll find rants against moist, like, whom, irregardless, retarded, synergy, and hordes of other offending lexical items. Word-hating is rampant.

So if that’s the kind of thing that yanks your lexical crank, look elsewhere: this column is all about word love, word lust, word like, word kissy-face, and word making-sweet-love-down-by-the-fire, as South Park’s Chef would put it.

These words not only float my boat; they rock my socks and warm my cocoa. I love these words, and this is my attempt to figure out why. If such analysis ruins the love, as so often happens in life, big whup. There are plenty of other words in the sea.

wazoo
We’ll never know why intelligent young citizens become proctologists (or how they break the news to Ma and Pa back on the farm) but we do know that words for the butticular region tend to be vivid and fun. Wazoo is my favorite. The OED traces it back to a friendly suggestion made in 1961: “Run it up yer ol’ wazoo!” I couldn’t agree more with a 1975 example: “Dating is a real pain in the wazoo.”

So what’s so great about wazoo? Studies show you can’t say it and be in a bad mood. Try it and see: wazoo wazoo wazoo wazoo wazoo. It’s funny and silly and a blast to say. Surely, it’s a better world with wazoo in it.

Bonus wazoo words: I am also a staunch admirer of gazoomba, bippy, badonkadonk, bottom, tush, fanny, fourth point of contact, and tuchus.

abyss
My mother always warned me to avoid two things: packs of wild dogs and the abyss. Still, I can’t stop reveling in this word. Part of the appeal is its meaning. You have to love a definition this ultra-hellish: “The great deep, the primal chaos; the bowels of the earth, the supposed cavity of the lower world; the infernal pit.” The OED’s secondary meaning is nearly as cool: “A bottomless gulf; any unfathomable or apparently unfathomable cavity or void space; a profound gulf, chasm, or void extending beneath.”

Also, I love looking into the abyss—except when I make the void jealous. The void is very insecure, you know.

buttmunch
When it comes to a perfect marriage of humor and stupidity, you can’t get any better than Beavis and Butthead, and I have yet to greet the day when I get tired of hearing their litany of immature, silly insults, such as dumbass, bunghole, peckerwood, dillweed, dillhole, and butt dumpling.

For me, the dumbass laureate of these words is buttmunch, so I was pleased to learn its origin in the DVD extra “Taint of Greatness: The Journey of Beavis and Butt-head, Part 1.” As B&B creator Mike Judge tells the tale, “Standards at MTV said no to assmunch. So I said, how about buttmunch? So we started saying buttmunch so many times, and then I just inadvertently said assmunch once. And they just heard buttmunch so many times that assmunch didn’t sound like anything new, so then assmunch slipped past ‘em. And that’s the story of assmunch and buttmunch.”

higgledy-piggledy
My marginally reliable memory told me I first saw this magnificent word in a Bloom County cartoon. Lucky for me and the

This little girl is just way too adorable. As soon as her book comes out, I'll be first in line to snatch it up!

Thank you to Fuse #8 for the link!

I'm continuing my series about synopsis writing. I build an arsenal of synopses for each project. I write the "one line sound byte" version. I write the one paragraph "single piece of fine chocolate" version. I write the one page "slice of cake" version. I write the three page "full course version". And I write the "I'm not counting calories" ten page version.

I usually start with at big version. I write a short one to five line description of each chapter. Then I stick them all together. This has added benefits because you might notice that there is something fishy or messed up about your plot. So yay! Bonus. My next job is to half that document. I stick to the main plot points and leave out most of the sub-plots unless it's big and important. Then I look at each sentence and ask, "Can I say this with fewer words?" I almost always can.

Here's is an example:

The Iblis is a raving madness that destroys all order and ultimately brings death.
becomes
The Iblis, a raving madness, destroys order and brings death. (See, shorter!)

Today's doodle is "Fish soon to be out of water".



Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

And this week's playlist is an oldie and goodie and also my theme song. 'Seize the Day' by Carolyn Arrends. Please check her out.



My quote of the week:

You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes. Pooh. (aka A.A. Milne)

I'm home chasing Captain Destructo today, so I don't have long, but I wanted to share my other favorite Winnie the Pooh writing moment. The simplicity of A.A. Milne's voice always makes me smile.

POEM
written by Eeyore in a Quiet Moment

Christopher Robin is going.
At least I think he is.
Where?
Nobody knows.
But he is going-
I mean he goes
(To rhyme with "knows")
Do we care?
( To rhyme with "where")
We do
very much.
(I haven't got a rhyme for that "is" in the second line yet. Bother.)
(Now I haven't got a rhyme for bother. Bother.)
Those two bothers will have
to rhyme with each other
Buther.
The fact is this is more difficult than I thought
I ought-
(Very good indeed)
I ought
To begin again,
But it is easier
To stop.
Christopher Robin, good-bye
I
(Good)
I
And all your friends
Sends-
I mean all your friend
Send-
(Very awkward this, it keeps going wrong)
Well, anyhow, we send
Our love.
END.

"By-and-by Pooh and Piglet went on again. Christopher Robin was at home by this time, because it was the afternoon, and he was so glad to see them that they stayed there until very nearly tea-time, and then they had a Very Nearly tea, which is one you forget about afterwards, and hurried on to Pooh Corner, so as to see Eeyore before it was too late to have a Proper Tea with Owl."  ~ from THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER, by A.A. Milne (E.P. Dutton & Co., 1928).  

                              
The other morning I was feeling a little odd. 

It was almost eleven and I needed a little smackerel of something.

Just in time, I received this lovely email from author Jeannine Atkins ( jeannineatkins):

Jama, this is my favorite scone recipe, which I doubled and brought into my children's literature class after reading WINNIE-THE-POOH and feeling like we needed 'a little something.' One student said he was happy to 'walk into class and see two big cookie-like things on the table.'

Rum-tum-tiddle-um-tum!

Scones!

No tea party would be complete without them. Whether you pronounce it skon to rhyme with John (as in most of the UK), or skoan to rhyme with Joan (as in the U.S.), there's no denying their appeal. Split them in half while they're still warm, lay on the butter, strawberry jam, and clotted cream (if you're lucky), and you've got home and heaven in one little cake!

Scones, originally from Scotland, are perfect anytime -- breakfast, elevenses, very nearly tea, or proper afternoon tea. Make them plain with cream, milk or buttermilk, add fruit or even chocolate chips -- then roll and cut them into little rounds, or pat the dough onto a sheet, and cut in wedges. They can be baked or dropped on a griddle. Your tum-iddle-um will thank you.

When Jeannine's students walked into the classroom, they probably felt like this:

When you've been walking in the wind for miles, and you suddenly go into somebody's house, and he says, 'Hello, Pooh, you're just in time for a little smackerel of something,' and you are, then it's what I call a Friendly Day.

Very friendly Jeannine has written quite a few fabulous books herself, the latest of which is Anne Hutchinson's Way (FSG, 2007). In this historical fiction picture book (illustrated by Michael Dooling), Anne leaves England with her husband and ten children for the Massachusetts Colony, seeking religious freedom. 

   
                 ANNE HUTCHINSON'S WAY by Jeannine Atkins,
               illustrated by Michael Dooling (FSG, 2007), ages 9-12

When she disagrees with the minister's ways, Anne holds meetings in her own home to preach the gospel herself. Told from her daughter Susanna's point of view, this inspiring story of a strong woman who believed in the freedom of speech, was recently named a 2008 Amelia Bloomer Project Recommended Title, one of 32 books which encourages girls to be "smart, brave, and proud."

Jeannine has written several other wonderful books about strong girls and women, such as Aani and the Tree Huggers (Lee and Low, 2000), Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Stories of Six Pioneering Naturalists (Dawn, 2000), and How High Can We Climb: The Story of Women Explorers (FSG, 2005). All reflect Jeannine's love of history, research, and personal interest in feminism.

So, next time you crave a little something, mix up a batch of Jeannine's scones, pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea (maybe Republic of Tea's  All Day Breakfast or Assam Breakfast ), and curl up with one of her books. It'll get you humming, and may even inspire you to greater things. What could be friendlier?

DRIED FRUIT SCONES
from Jeannine Atkins



1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, cut in bits
1-1/4 cups mixed dried fruit: chopped apricots, dried cranberries or cherries, and raisins
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking sheet. Combine dry ingredients, then cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix in fruit. Combine cream and egg, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir with a fork just until the dough forms a ball. Pat this into a round and squash about 8 inches wide. Cut about halfway through into twelve wedges and put it on the baking sheet. Bake about twenty minutes until golden.

Visit Jeannine's Website and Blog for more about her books!

Come and join the Tea Party! Post your recipe and leave the link in the comments, or email your recipe to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot com). We'd love a little smackerel from you!

 

Spring is here and with it a discreet surge in visitors coming to see Winnie-the-Pooh at Donnell. Glancing at the guestbook today, I saw that the Brits are back in Bring-the-Bear-Home force. They'd been quiet for a while, and I just assumed that meant that they'd accepted that Pooh was now an official resident of New York (he likes bagels and everything). No go. Springtime just makes them all the more insistent. The Australians, who often write defenses of Pooh in the guestbook, recently put down, "They'll send Pooh back when you return the Elgin Marbles". Ow.

It is, admittedly, a little odd that America even has the bear. I guess that's what happens when publishers go about buying literary figures before Disney can. You know what else we have? Pooh bombs. Or rather ticking Pooh-shaped structures that are sometimes mistaken for bombs. These are dangerous times to live in.

Thanks to Strollerderby for the link.

Like death and taxes, the royalty lawsuits surrounding a bear of very little brain and too much tummy have started again tenfold. In celebration, the Powell's Blog posted a very amusing courtroom drama starring the critters in question. Favorite line thus far, "Tiggers can't handle the truth." I just attempted to work in an A Time to Kill quote, but nothing seemed appropriate or even, for that matter, funny. Best to leave that sort of thing to the professionals, I think.


*My subconscious has just informed me that if I ever attempt to use the term "hiz-ouse" again there will be serious repercussions. I have informed my subconscious, in turn, to shove it where the sun don't shine. It has now responded by dredging up my worst memories of various small boy-related humiliations. Of course you know, this means war.

Finally. A way to keep Pooh bear in his place when he keeps rapping on his glass casing demanding better claret.

I can threaten him with this.

I don't think a human brain could come up with anything more disturbing than this. Oh. Sweet. God.

Apparently (and she has never divulged this information before so how was I to know?), Lisa Yee is the world's biggest number one Winnie-the-Pooh fan. I'm not saying this in a lighthearted manner. I don't call her Number One because she has two Eeyore dolls and a signed edition by E. H. Shepard or something. I'm talking... well...

Better see for yourself.

Yeah. When you have so many materials you can donate them to The White River Heritage Museum and get a collection named after you... only THEN can you be called a true fan.

Lisa, darling, you must come and visit Pooh again and pronto. Look, this newbie YA author did. Why not you? Come back to him. You may be on the wrong coast, but no author can stays away from NYC for too long. How long can you resist the lure?

I was trying to decide what to do for this particular Video Sunday. Should we go the Peter Pan route and stay with the big public domain names out there? Should we instead swerve towards Harry Potter parodies and liven everything up with a bit of contemporary flash?

Not a bit of it. It's amazing how quickly decisions can be made when you receive an e-mail from author/illustrator Aaron Zenz telling you to check out a Russian version of Winnie-the-Pooh. Pooh doesn't like to talk much about his years trapped behind the iron curtain, but it's obvious that he did good work there. This little video is a sheer delight. As a commentator on Cartoon Brew pointed out, they get all the little details right. Pooh sighs heavily before beginning a sentence with Piglet. I love his little unattached feet and the sheer roundness of him. The sole similarity to Disney, as I see it, is the way in which he hits tree limbs as he plummets downwards from the honey. Judge for yourself, though.

I come into work and Pooh grabs me by my elbow the minute I step out of the elevator. It's like he's been waiting for me or something. "Have you heard?", he says anxiously. His breath is particularly sweet. Obviously he's been dipping into that special Hunny we got him last year. The misspelled stuff so hard to find in America.

"Have I heard what?," I say testily, yanking my arm away. He turns on his heel and is back in 3 seconds with a computer printout in his paw. "Disney Loses Court Ruling Over Winnie the Pooh Rights," he reads. "Sound familiar at all?"

"Since when have you started reading Bloomberg.com?," I ask. I shift through the papers, reading. "And who's this Slesinger guy that won?"

Pooh moans in a kind of exaggerated fashion and collapses onto a footstool. "A publisher. Apparently he acquired the U.S. and Canadian merchandising rights to me and mine," he indicates Kanga, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet who're engaged in a game of euchre in the corner. "He got them from that Milne fellow in 1930."

"Really?" I read on. "So where does Disney come in? Aren't you, like, their second highest grossing character of all time?"

Pooh mumbles something about a mouse under his breath. "Yes, of course. Disney got some rights from Milne's widow in 1961. But I just cannot tell you what a nightmare all this has been for me. Never knowing exactly when my likeness will be used. Getting calls at all hours of the night from people who want a statement. I'm just glad it's over."

"Silly old bear," I say with a smile. He can be a pain but the guy has his heart in the right spot. He even joined in on the euchre game a little later. Eeyore, as you might expect, totally got creamed.