Some Things for Mid-Week

I love this time of year for the crisp crunchy apples that are at the farmers’ market every weekend. And my favourite breakfast thing to do is make apple crisp. Since I am a quick-type cook, I cheat a little bit with my recipe. Yes, I love the steel-cut McCann’s Irish Oats, but they take too long to cook in this recipe and have a raw sort of taste to them. So, I cheat and eliminate a couple of steps by using quick cook packets of flavoured oatmeal, like Quaker Oats Maple or Cinnamon. I just cut in a little butter to bind it, chop some apples (after I’ve peeled them with my new handy-dandy peeler from Williams-Sonoma!) and pop this into the oven for 40 minutes. By the time I’ve walked Connor, it’s piping hot and is a great start to the day. I put the leftovers in the fridge and then microwave them the next day.

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I just finished Sam Irvin’s 2010 biography of Kay Thompson, who is best known for her books, Eloise. She’s a fascinating character in so many ways, and did so much in her life…

She went to school with Tennessee Williams, auditioned for Henry Ford, got her first big break from Bing Crosby, trained Marilyn Monroe, channeled Elvis Presley, rejected Andy Warhol, rebuffed Federico Fellini, got fired by Howard Hughes, and snubbed Donald Trump.

Kay Thompson is also known as the editor in the 1950’s movie, Funny Face, with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. She’s the one who exhorts everyone to Think Pink!Her character is based on Diana Vreeland, with whom she did some work at Bazaar Magazine. The character’s name was originally Dana Prescott, but Vreeland asked her to change it, so she’s Maggie Prescott. You can read a great review of the movie over at Tom & Lorenzo, here. And here’s a video of Think Pink.

First person who wants the book, gets it! E-mail or comment.