Monthly Archives: January 2008

menu plan Monday

I’m so thankful for good in-laws

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Monday: French onion soup
Chloe made French onion soup from scratch when we were at her house a few weeks ago. It was delicious. I have a no-fuss soup mix in the pantry; I’m hoping it measures up to Clo’s version!

Tuesday: Dinner with friends

Wednesday: Corn and red pepper chowder
This recipe is from the one and only issue of Bon Appetit magazine that I’ve ever purchased. The Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Pie — the reason I bought the magazine — was spectacular, so I have high hopes for the soup.

Thursday: Chicken pot pie
My mother-in-law made chicken pot pie last week for dinner. “If you’re making chicken pot pie, you might as well go ahead and make two.” That’s what she told me as she was handing me the second pot pie.

Friday: Pizza

Reading

"Bel Canto"

I’ve never seen or heard an opera before, and I’ve never really been inclined to do so. In Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto,” though, the author captures the potential opera has to move and alter a person. It made me want to run to the record store to steep myself in Maria Callas and Puccini.

Beyond Patchett’s proficiency for translating the music to the page, “Bel Canto” is a stunning story. The blurring of the line between good and evil is beautifully paced, and although there is a quite large cast of characters, most all of them are well drawn and memorable. The story is wonderfully romantic and tragic — just what I would imagine opera to be.