Pots and Pages

Well folks, Fall is just about here.  Here in The Dirty Nati, evenings are getting really cool and chilly.  It's time for some heat!  Of course, you all know the Colored Man, and I am thinking about good comforting stews and soups, and some pages to turn in a book or two.

As far as the soup is concerned, I have a recipe for a Columbian soup called puchero, featuring spare ribs, beef brisket, chicken and cassava.  I have never eaten the South American and African staple cassava, but this is definitely one recipe that I will be preparing some weekend as the months get even colder.  Since we all will be spending alot of time indoors watching cable and reading, I thought that I would share with you some books that I think will keep you quite occupied during the upcoming cold season, just as they have keep me entertained in the past few months.

The first book that I am recommending is entitled, Wench, and written by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.  I recently met Mrs. Valdez at a book fair, and asked her what inspired her to write the book.  She explained that she was reading an autobiography about W.E.B. Dubois, and there was a sentence about a summer resort in Ohio, named Tawawa House, where Southern plantation owners brought there female slaves for vacation.  This sparked her interest and she began researching.  What I really like about this book is the fact that it provides new information about something that I never even imagined happened.
At times, both brutal and chilling to read, Ms.Valdez steadily delivers a powerful punch in her first book, that is soon destined for the big screen.  A Must Read.

Ms. Valdez, at the Cincinnati By the Banks Book Fair

 

My next selection, is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, written by Pulitzer-prize winning writer, Isabel Wilkerson.  I cannot praise this book enough.  Ms. Wilkerson has written a scholarly tome that focuses on the migration of African-Americans from the South to the North from 1915 to 1970.  The Colored Man finds it very engaging that Ms. Wilkerson interviewed over 1,200 subjects for the book, and narrowed her story down to three individuals - Robert Joseph Pershing Foster, who migrated to California, and became the physician to the entertainer, Ray Charles; George Swanson Starling, who migrated to New York and became disillusioned when his children became trapped in the vices of the big city, despite the hardships and sacrifices that he had endured; and finally, Ida Mae Gladney, who migrated to Chicago, and remembered meeting Barack Obama when he was running to become her district representative in the Illinois state senate.  This is a book that mixes real-life struggles and courage, along with historical documentation. Many of us can relate to the migration saga within our own families, and this book deserves your time and attention.  The Colored Man would not lead you astray.  Trust me.

If you can't tell by now, the Colored Man reads quite alot.  This is something that I have done my entire life.  I mainly read American authors, and only recently started reading books by authors of different cultures.  With that said, I am not into romance-type books, but the next book is kinda "romancy", but also has a good story.  The book is entitled, Conquistadora, and written by Esmeralda Santiago, a writer of Puerto Rican heritage.  The novel is set in the mid-1800's, and is the story of a young Spanish girl, Ana Larragoity Cubillas, who dreams of traveling to Puerto Rico and owning a sugar plantation.  She gets her wish, but you know the old saying, "be careful what you wish for."  According to the author, this is just the beginning of what will be a trilogy of books about the conquistadora, Ana.


My final recommendation to keep you toasty this winter, is entitled, Slavery by Another Name:The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, written by Douglas A. Blackmon, a prize-winning writer for the Wall Street Journal, and author of several critically-acclaimed books.  Mr. Blackmon weaves a historical tome that focuses on Black men being rounded up from the roads and settlements in the South, and being placed in modern-day concentration camps to provide labor to plantations and companies throughout the South.  This was a predicament that not only befell many men, but also quite a number of women, who were forced to work as cooks, laundresses, and sex slaves at the various camps located in the South.  This type of slave labor was used to make the bricks that were used on the streets and sidewalks of Atlanta, mined natural resources for Alcoa, and helped several insurance companies become the business giants that they are today.  Two adjectives can accurately describe this book - Enlightening and Maddening.

Well there you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, about 3,000 pages of various words put together to create a story, or share some history.  These are the books that the Colored Man is recommending for the upcoming frigid days and nights.  I have provided the entertaining, exciting reading material, now the succulent, lip-smacking stews are up to you to come up with.

Laying-Up with Bed-Warmers

It's starting to get cold and usually during this time of the year, the Colored Man's heart starts to think about finding a bed-warmer or two.  Someone to help him ward off the frigid winter weather.  But in reality I am getting tired of casual bed-warmers, and having to worry about the simple things, like clean sheets and towels, pillow talk and cuddling, the complimentary breakfast, and the cold kiss good-bye at the door, with the promise that I will call, when in reality I know that I probably won't.

This season I am seeking someone with a little more depth.  Someone who understands when it's time to be quiet and when it's time to talk.  Someone who doesn't mind if you snore a little, have morning breath, or wake up a little moody.  And I realized that the best someone, or should I say something, with all my requirements was a good old-fashioned book.

A book doesn't complain about anything.  You can mistreat it, abuse it, not return phone calls, and subject it to all the other relationship drama, and a book will still be where you left it, waiting with open arms for your return.  Here are a couple of prospects that the Colored Man thinks will fulfill his winter lusts.

The first candidate is entitled, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.  Written by Pulitzer-prize winning Isabel Wilkerson, the book follows the lives of three very different and distinct African-Americans who migrated from a debilitating Southern landscape to more promising climes in the North.  Wilkersons' Great Migration tome is non-fiction, but reads like fiction, which makes it engaging and informative throughout the 622 pages.  She manages to weave little anecdotes throughout, for example, that some migrants, unfamiliar with Northern accents, thought that the conductor said Penn Station, New York, at the Penn Station, Newark station and mistakenly got off the train.  Many decided to stay put once they realized their mistake, thus the large Southern Black population in Newark.  I think that one of the very big reasons that I am excited about this candidate is that the Great Migration touches my own family, many of whom migrated to New York from North Carolina during the 40's and 50's. My parents would migrate first to New York, then back to North Carolina, and finally landing in Maryland in the late 60's.  You probably have a similar story in your own family.

The second potential bed-warmer is, The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South, by Alex Heard.  This book brings up memories of a time in America that will at times make you steaming mad, but also make you proud of what we as African-Americans have overcome. 

Willie McGee was accused of rape by white housewife Willette Hawkins, but he claimed that his relationship with the woman was consensual; they were having an affair.  Willie McGee was found guilty and sentenced to die, which was no surprise for anyone, as Willie's fate was sealed before he entered the courtroom.

The McGee case was the impetus to lead civil rights activists to fight Jim Crow laws in the South, which were designed to humiliate and punish.  Willie McGee may have died unfairly, but his ordeal was a small piece in the struggle that would eventually lead to Barack Obama being in the White House.

My final contestant who I think is up for the job, is a cookbook.

Marcus Samuelsson is one of America's premier culinary wizards, and he fully understands that food culture from across America and the world, should be explored and appreciated.  Born in Ethiopia and orphaned at age 3, Marcus was adopted and raised in Sweden and began his kitchen travels alongside his adopted grandmother at an early age. 

This is not Chef Samuelssons' first cookbook, however, New American Table may be the one that home cooks find most easiest to replicate the recipes from, and if you don't believe the Colored Man, check out his first cookbook, Acquavit, named after his eponymous New York eatery.  I dare you to recreate a recipe from it!!!  This coffee-table sized book is for the adventurous and definitely the culinary experienced.

Samuelsson is known for his big, bold flavors in the kitchen and his cookbooks are no exception.  New American Table is full of Hispanic, Asian, Caribbean,
and African recipes, that are easy to follow and enjoy at home.  But what really makes it a good bedtime read is that with each recipe there is short essay, along with beautiful pictures of the food and related thoughts.  This is a book that will carry you away to peaceful sleep and gastronomic heaven. 

Well, there you have it.  It seems that the Colored Man will be quite busy this winter season trying out these bed-warmers, and I guarantee you that I will enjoy each and every moment of the audition process.