More Secret Literary Lives

Back in December, Miss Havisham posted about her secret literary affair with 60s counterculture books and movies. I was so excited to read her post because "Exposing Teachers' and Students' Secret Literary Lives" was the title of my presentation at the National Council of Teachers of English conference back in November. Our thesis was basically that if we can tap into students secret literary lives, we can engage students in other forms of meaningful literary activity. We began the presentation by confessing to our own secret literacies - both the presenters and the audience. Some of the secret lives we discovered included the following:

- Geo-literacy (maps and atlases)

- Manicure reading (trashy magazines at the nail salons)

- Jack Bauer (spy novels)

- Journals and diaries

As for me, I confessed to one of my secret literacies: traveling the world, one cookbook at a time. Yes, that's right, I am obsessed with reading recipes. Nothing makes me happier than purchasing a cookbook from an exotic location, paging through the recipes, drooling over the photos, and imagining the delicious meals that I could make. That's right - could! Because most of the time, I don't actually cook anything from these cookbooks. The recipes are complicated, call for unusual kitchen implements, or require hard-to-find ingredients. And then, of course, there's the fear that I'd go through all of shopping, prepping, and cooking, only to present the meal to my husband...who would wrinkle up his nose and head out to McDonald's. Well...that's not entirely fair...he's a pretty adventurous eater but he firmly believes that some cuisines should be prepared by those who grow up in the culture...and that he should partake of them only in a restaurant.

I haven't done much reading lately because of a combination of factors (work, laziness), but I have been reading my cookbooks! They're easily digestible (pun intended) because they're written in chunks, and I can page through them without committing to a long sit-down. Lately I've been working on Good Housekeeping's Light and Healthy cookbook as part of my goal to continue eating as many non-processed foods as possible. It has been difficult without the farmer's market, but I try to shop the perimeter of the grocery store and have been experimenting with winter greens like swiss chard, brussel sprouts and kale. And I made my first soup last weekend - a Caribbean black bean stew with sweet potatoes. It was delicious! Even Mr. DeWinter devoured some. Quite frankly, though, Good Housekeeping has nothing on A Taste of Cuba or Essentially Lily (Savannah and Miss H would love the vintage photos of Lily Pulitzer in this one).

Zagat's guides also make for a convenient, quick indulgence! I purchase one for every city I visit, and flipping through them is like a quick trip to New Orleans, or Denver or New York. And in a pinch, a chapter of Anthony Bourdain will do just fine. But those tidbits are missing the gorgeous, glossy photos of a really good cookbook. That's what really makes the experience...my imagination is good and all, but add in a few color photos and I really start to salivate!

So, that's one of my literary secrets...I'll dish about my obsession with Henry the Eighth another time. What about the rest of the madwomen?

Oh, and Miss Havisham...I do have an undercover obsession with 60s poetry...so if you ever want to hit up City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, I'm in!