December 2020

What did I order yo ask? Flour. But not just any flour. I ordered their 00 flour for making the most silky and luscious pizza dough. At one time I could buy 00 flour at several grocery stores, but no more.

You might think we are having pizza tonight, but au contraire! Tonight pizza rolls are on the menu.

When we lived in Florida we frequented a little family Italian restaurant named “Munchees”. Their Italian food was really good and my favorite appetizer was what they called ‘Munchee Rolls”. They were similar to mini calzones.

In actuality, I think most people refer to them as pizza rolls. So, tonight I am attempting to make our homegrown version of pizza rolls/munchee rolls.

Wish me luck. The dough is rising as we speak!

Blog

Monday Missive

12/28/2020 Maggie

I thought about writing a recap of the year, or posting some well liked post. Instead I went back and re-read some of my “Writing in the Pandemic”. We all lived it in our own way. We all found ways to cope with what fell at our feet. Maybe I will recap someday. Even though this is the last week of 2020, we still have hills to climb. Maybe when I reach the top of the last hill, I will recap then.

Bluegrass legend Tony Rice passed away unexpectedly on Christmas day. A legend, maybe not known by all, but a legend still. Yesterday I listed to tributes to his life and his music. His talent was far-reaching and his passing is a loss to the world of music.
One of my all time favorite country stars also passed away the Monday of Christmas week. K.T. Oslin had an amazing voice and I wore out her CD “This Woman”. She suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was in a care facility. Sadly she recently tested positive for Covid. It was hard to believe she was 78 years old. She was always that same, strong, beautiful woman to me.
We made our last trip to deliver Christmas gifts yesterday. Our eldest grandson is in college now, so seeing him, especially during this pandemic, is tough. We were all outside and masked and socially distanced as we watched him open his gifts. While it was wonderful to see him, it was hard not to give him a hug. Still, I am grateful.
I am contemplating taking a class from The Daily Om: A Year of Writing to Uncover the Authentic Self, by Rachel Astor. A friend suggested it and having an accountability partner would be good. The price is reasonable and it is weekly writing unlike NaNoWriMo which was a drive for word count in a very tight timeframe. I was contemplating another course for a similar cost, so I may do this one instead.
Today my goal is to catch up on chores and really prepare myself to transition out of holiday mode back into normal life. No more feeding frenzy around the cookie containers, either. I gave into all those food temptations this year.
I feel a pull. A pull to move forward. I am hopeful.

SLS

Song Lyric Sunday – A Taste of Honey

12/26/202007/20/2021 Maggie

This week we have sensory prompts:

Odor/Scent/Smell/Taste

In the 1960s it seems we had a lot more instrumental songs hit the charts. Dave Brubeck (Take Five), Al Hirt (Java), Hugh Masekela (Grazing in the Grass), Ferrante and Teicher (Exodus), Henry Mancini (A Time for Us), and of course Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (A Taste of Honey) were all familiar. This was a time when buying albums was as cool as the cover artwork.

A prime example was Herb Alpert’s “Whipped Cream and other Delights” album cover. It was very provocative at the time. The model used in the photograph was Dolores Erickson who was covered in shaving cream rather than whipped cream which would have melted under the lights. Underneath the shaving cream she wore a bikini and was draped in a blanket from the waist down. She was also three months pregnant at the time. (Lots of really interesting pop culture here but I am trying not to get too distracted.)

This album track included “A Taste of Honey”. This record was in my father’s collection which we played frequently. But Herb Alpert was definitely not the first to record this song.

”A Taste of Honey” was originally written as an instrumental track by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow for the 1960 Broadway production of the original 1958 British play by Shelagh Delaney. The play, also released as a film in 1961, covered a number of taboo subjects of the time. From Wikipedia:

A Taste of Honey is set in Salford in North West England in the 1950s. It tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl, and her mother, Helen, who is presented as crude and sexually indiscriminate. Helen leaves Jo alone in their new flat after she begins a relationship with Peter, a rich lover who is younger than her. At the same time Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor. He proposes marriage but then goes to sea, leaving Jo pregnant and alone. She finds lodgings with a homosexual acquaintance, Geoffrey, who assumes the role of surrogate father. Helen returns after leaving her lover and the future of Jo’s new home is put into question.

A Taste of Honey comments on, and puts into question, class, race, gender and sexual orientation in mid-twentieth-century Britain. It became known as a “kitchen sink” play, part of a genre revolutionising British theatre at the time.

The first lyrical recording of the song was made by Billy Dee Williams who was cast as Jimmie in the Broadway production.

The recording by Lenny Welch performed very well in the charts in 1962.

The iconic version by Herb Alpert with the controversial album cover.

The Beatles also covered Lenny Welch’s version.

I include this version by Julie London because I simply really enjoyed it and these iconic photographs.

“A Taste of Honey”
Lyrics from: Genius Lyrics

Winds may blow over the icy sea
I’ll take with me the warmth of thee
A taste of honey
A taste much sweeter than wine

I will return
I’ll return
I’ll come back for the honey and you

I’ll leave behind my heart to wear
And may it e’er remind you of
A taste of honey
A taste much sweeter than wine

I will return
I’ll return
I’ll come back for the honey and you

He ne’er came back to his love so fair
And so she died dreaming of his kiss
His kiss of honey
A taste more bitter than wine

I will return
I will return
I’ll come back for the honey and you
I’ll come back for the honey and you

While researching the song, I was really drawn in by the original play written by Shelagh Delaney written when she was only 18. The work at the time featured social issues underrepresented in theatre and film. The play was directed by Joan Littlewood, “The Mother of Modern Theatre” who was surveilled by MI5 for her involvement with the Communist Party. Quite an interesting group of people!

If you are curious (as I have been) about the play, you might find this revision guide interesting (looks like it is from a high school film study class).

Here’s a clip from the original movie as well.

Why not join in on this Sunday blogging ritual. Head over to Jim Adams’ blog to check out the rules and read some of the great responses to the weekly prompt.