Here you’ll find various comments by a number of folk chocolate, snow, new musical projects, and other subjects of a seasonal nature.
Cathrynne Valente
Pumpkin spice lattes, Symphony of Science, and borscht, korjiki (russian fried bread), and pickled red peppers.
Jennifer Stevenson, author of ‘Solstice’, and many other fine stories, has these comments
As the first snow starts swirling down, the food at my house gets thicker, spicier, and, well, more full of chocolate. Tump chili with chorizo, creamed corn, three beans, and chocolate. Hot chocolate. Triple chocolate brownies with whisky-soaked dried cherries and extra chocolate chips. Just plain chocolate, okay? Oranges may come from the sunshine tree, but when the sun gets small and dark, this rat presses the bar for those chemical goodies only available in chocolate.
In the cold, in the car, driving around with the rest of the lemmings in pre-holiday shopping traffic, I’m not listening to music, I’m listening to ZBS Media radio plays like Ruby IV: The Moon Coins of Santo Lore, in which Saint Nikola Tesla builds a vast fifth-dimensional machine for splitting Summa Nulla into third- and fourth-dimensional planets, a one-third-human-slash-two-thirds-lizard mutant named E Gad duels with the most famous archaeologist in the galaxy, only to be foiled by a French robot waiter, and much depends on how quickly Rodant Kapur can wriggle out of his pants.
OR Melling
Just had my first two mince pies today with hot apple punch made from organic apple juice plus a mulled wine sachet plus a peeled apple stippled with whole cloves.
I think it might be Christmas time.
And we have a load of snow here! Beautiful!
Gwyneth Jones
Elsewhere you’ll find her loving homage to chestnuts, but here we look at her choose for music this time of year
Music? Maddy Prior, A Tapestry Of Carols, Bruce Cockburn, Christmas & The Pogues.
Deborah Grabien
Winter being my least favourite season (such a summer baby!), I lean towards drawing in on myself, the same way the year does. I do cook a lot in winter – things that simmer for hours, things that bake and roast. Polpetti al forno is a favourite, as are bean soup and roast chicken. And winter is hot chocolate time. Music doesn’t change, although one favourite is from my own collection: Nicky Hopkins vamping the Jingle Bells Variations with the Jerry Garcia Band at Winterland Auditorium, San Francisco, 20 December 1975. Listen to Nicky wishing everyone happy holidays at the end of the piece.
Charles de Lint
Can’t think of a favourite food, Cat. But I like to watch Holiday Inn in
December (not strictly a Christmas movie, I know, but there is a Christmas
segment) and my favourite Christmas song after Bing’s White Christmas is The
Christmas Song by The Raveonettes.
He added
You’ll be happy to know that we’re finally working on our CD with a hopeful
March 2011 release. Sounds good so far. All originals this time; maybe
we’ll get some trad if we get to a 2nd.
Elizabeth Bear
Jethro Tull is my go-to band for seasonal… well, you can’t call them cheer. Right now I have ginger green tea; next time it might be Mexican hot chocolate. Pomegranates are the reason for the season, and my favorite part of it.
I asked about her Mexican hot chocolate recipe
I make a ganache with good chocolate and cream, then add cayenne, cinnamon and vanilla, and dilute it with milk until it’s thin enough to drink. *g*
[...] Seasonal musings by a number of folk [...]