From Nomad to Harvard Grad

In search of all books Africa in the library yesterday, amidst Out of Africa and Coetzee and the Lonely Planet, I found a slim book, meant for kids, called Facing the Lion. It's the story of Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, a Maasai warrior from Kenya. What a storyteller. It is humourous and humble and vivid; an hour of pure delight. He seems equally at home in his nomadic village and at Harvard, in worlds we like to call polar opposites.

I think I love Facing the Lion because you can tell Lekuton is happy because he appreciates what's in front of him, it has nothing to do with money and everything to do with the people and beauty of the world. Call me a sap, but I LOVE IT.

Christmas Family Dinner Menu

French Onion Soup

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Beef Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce & Caramelized Carrots

Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash

Green Beans with Roasted Almonds

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Pistachio-Rhubarb Trifle

Oh...it was a good meal.

Finally figured out how to upload photos! My boyfriend and I (tried to) play four-star chefs for Christmas, and treated my family to dinner above. It took A LOT of time, but it's easy enough to do and well worth the effort. Recipe links in the menu will take you to Epicurious, Williams-Sonoma and Martha Stewart. I swear by them for recipes that will knock people's socks off.

Some may remember the days (literally, two of them) when I wanted to BE Martha (ended when I found out she spends two whole days a year on fruitcake). Sigh...

The French Onion Soup is kickass if you can afford the time to make your own stock. And a special mention must be made of the BF's bordelaise sauce - he is quickly carving out a niche as a formidable saucier (all good sous-chefs need a specialty :) But it was the trifle that took first prize: 12+ servings of trifle gone in 2 days - my family fell hard for the tangy, nutty and not-too-sweet winter version. Rhubarb, pistachios, custard and cream - that's love on a plate.

And it doesn't even have chocolate in it!

Fortunes and the final word on 'The Navigator'

Happy new year!

I rejoice. After years of believing the fortunes of Chinese fortune cookies were obsolete, of thinking they had all been replaced by prosaic, faux Confucian sayings like "A wise man is one who keeps his mouth shut," I have been given hope. Taste of the Silk Road, on the Danforth, gives out fortune cookies with actual fortunes! And my fortune at dinner on Saturday: "Your present plans are going to succeed."

Music to the ears, when one plans on going to Africa for a year without a plan! Without a job! Flight to Cape Town to be booked tomorrow!!

So - last word on The Navigator of New York - I'm lukewarm on the book. What great settings: rough and raw Newfoundland, New York, the city of promise, and the isolation and purity of the Pole. But what a lack of character development. Devlin Stead acts as narrator, and he is used only to channel the story about Dr Frederick Cook's quest for the pole. Devlin, coming of age while besetted by the most trying of emotional situations; challenged constantly to define and redefine family, love, home and trust, and we learn so little of his growth and maturity. Good storyline, but a wasted opportunity to add a human dimension to the book.

My boyfriend's mother recommends Johnston's earlier book, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. Any good?