Coffee Musings - 011508

My boss' birthday is today, and I just happened to have a package of chocolate chips. This is a new way of living for me. For many years I have been pretentious, and rightfully so, because I would only buy the hightest quality ingredients that I can - that means Callebut or El Rey or Guittard chocolates, and organic flour, sugar, butter, eggs etc. Well, finances being what they are that's not the case anymore. My recipe is directly from the back of the chocolate chip package, and it's not that bad. A little too much salt that I have to remember next time I make the cookies. Sometimes even a standard good is better than nothing at all. Also, I never get complaints :)

I've read full length novels from E. Annie Proulx, Tim O'Brien, and Zora Neal Hurston, and these short story volumes add to the best of their best. I would recommend those 3 and the Robert Olen Butler if you need a quick source of inspiration. Tim O'Brien's book may not seem like a series of short stories, but to me it is. They weave between each other. It's just phenomenal. E. Annie Proulx's volume contains the story that inspired BrokeBack Mountain. I read this volume over 10 years ago. It makes complete sense to me that it would catch movie writers. That story just doesn't let go of a reader. Very well done. I would also recommend Isak Dinesen's Anecdotes of Destiny, which contain Babette's Feast, and is probably one of my favorite stories of all time.