Friday Find: Letters of Note

You've likely heard about the recent passing of one of the greats, Mr. Gene Wilder. As happens when a famous person shuffles off this mortal coil, condolences and memories flooded the web. One of them was touching in its own right, but also reminded me of a website I hadn't visited in a while: Letters of Note.

This post features a letter from Wilder to Willy Wonka director Gene Stuart, detailing the way he wanted to portray Wonka in the film. Some of the iconic bits of the role, from his entrance to details of his suit, came from Wilder's own mind. This is some lovely insight into the spirit of a lovely man.

When you've got a few moments, be sure to check out the rest of Letters of Note.

Photo from lettersofnote.com.

Friday Find: 15 Years

It's hard to know how to talk about an event like September 11, 2001 in a forum like this. It's hard to do it justice or make clear that it's not something I'm doing for clicks, and frankly, it's hard for it to feel real for me. It's just something I feel compelled to write about today, so that's what I am doing. Everyone knows where they were that day. I was out of the country, having just begun my junior year of college studying abroad, in Seville, Spain. I had arrived exactly one week earlier, on Tuesday, September 4, having flown out of New York City. My parents and my boyfriend walked me to my gate to say goodbye, because you could still do that.

I've never felt more removed or isolated than I did when I watched all this unfold in Spanish while eating lunch on the couch of my homestay, wondering if I'd ever make it home and if I was in danger and what on earth I should do next. (What I did was park myself at an Irish Pub with my new American friends from my program, and watch the BBC's coverage for 9 hours.) It was truly a surreal thing to be out of the country for—both during, and for the whole year that followed. I felt then, and still feel, that everything I read about what happened that day is a way to decipher what it was really like to experience this event in America. I still seek out articles and information where I can, because I feel oddly disconnected from it, yet of course, can never be disconnected from it. I've never felt more American than I did being out of the country during one of the worst events in our country's history. Everyone has their story, and that's a little of mine.

As we approach the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, I'm thinking about all these things and wanted to share a few articles and bits I've come across that have stuck out to me and/or stuck with me.

First, the sky. The sky that day is something I'll never forget. Even on TV thousands of miles away, it stuck out to me. It was so blue. I know that blue. I'm from the northeast. I know that early fall, late summer, crisp air sky. I will never forget the blue of the sky that day. I'm not alone. It's even captured at the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

This article about the Falling Man photo. It's tough but important. I encourage you to watch the video. Per the photographer, Richard Drew, "It was the only picture that was like that, of anybody falling from the building. It was the only picture that showed any kind of human interaction like that. ...I've never regretted taking that photograph at all. It's probably one of the only photographs that actually shows someone dying that day. We have a terrorist attack on our own soil and we still don't see pictures of our people dying. And this is a photograph of someone dying."

This 12-minute piece from the tenth anniversary, narrated by Tom Hanks, about some of the helpers that day. Always look for the helpers.

Tom Hanks narrates the epic story of the 9/11 boatlift that evacuated half a million people from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan. Produced and directed by Eddie Rosenstein. Eyepop Productions, Inc. BOATLIFT was executive produced by Stephen Flynn and Sean Burke and premiered on September 8th at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit: Remembrance/Renewal/Resilience in Washington.

Cheater Pasta e Fagioli

Listen, when I say "pasta e fagioli", I'm picturing Italian soup with beans and pasta and parm and lots of freshly ground black pepper, some kind of tomatoes, and maybe some meat. I'm not sure what the traditional version is, though I remember as a kid my beloved aunt with Italian roots serving us a broth-based soup piled high with white beans, ditalini pasta, parmesan cheese, and fresh pepper, with breaded chicken cutlets on the side. This is sort of inspired by that, and sort of inspired by what I had on hand.

I was thinking about what meals to bring to some friends who are recovering from a medical situation, and threw this together based on what I had lying around, plus a few things I snagged at the grocery store. It was super easy, relatively quick, and quite tasty. Definitely putting this in our winter rotation!

I also brought a version of my favorite quinoa salad, to which I added a lot of my favorite easy veggies.

Cheater Pasta e Fagioli

(Recommend reading through the whole recipe first.)

1 large onion, diced

1 x 10 ounce container cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size

1 x 15 ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

8 cups chicken stock (Not broth. But broth will do if it's what you have.)

2-4 cups water

8 ounces orzo pasta, uncooked

8 meatballs (Frozen is fine. I used Trader Joe's turkey meatballs from the freezer section.)

parmesan rind

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Pull your meatballs out of the freezer, and let sit on a plate covered with a paper towel. By the time you finish chopping your other vegetables, they should be thawed enough to cut easily. You want to cut them into eights: cut them in half, cut them in quarters, cut the quarters in half. This isn't rocket surgery.

Saute chopped onion and a pinch of salt in olive oil over low-medium heat until translucent, about 8-10 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and beans to the pot with the onions, and stir around for a minute or two. Add parmesan rind, stock, and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer 30-60 minutes to thicken a bit. Bring to a boil once more. Add orzo and meatballs. Set your timer for about 7 minutes to allow the orzo to cook. Once the orzo is cooked, you can eat or keep cooking. Read on for more.

A couple of notes:

- Once the orzo is cooked, taste the soup for seasoning. You might need a bit of salt, but keep in mind the meatballs will let some salt out as the soup sits and the flavors meld. Best to have a light hand with the salt here and add more at the table if needed.

In short: if you have time, don't salt it yet. Give it all another 30 minutes or so and see how salty it is. If you don't have time, don't salt it.

- The soup will thicken as it sits because of the orzo. A purist (my husband) would cook the orzo seaparately and add it to each bowl when serving so it never gets waterlogged. I don't mind a waterlogged orzo in this application, and I don't want to dirty more dishes. Add more water as needed to thin it out and/or balance the salt.

You can store it with the parmesan rind still in, but be careful not to scoop it into anyone's bowl.

Serve with salad, crusty bread, and a big ole glass of wine.