Jenny Barker Devine reading: November 9

Head out to the Wonder of Words Festival in Des Moines tomorrow, November 9, to hear Jenny Barker Devine give a reading! Author of On Behalf of the Family Farm: Iowa Farm Women's Activism since 1945, Devine will be at the Des Moines Public Library tomorrow afternoon.

We hope to see you there!

Praise for On Behalf of the Family Farm
"Devine redefines midwestern farm women's activism after World War II by tracing the subtle and powerful shifts in gender relationships in rural America. On Behalf of the Family Farm brings a fresh look at the complexities of how farm women shaped their organizations, claimed public space, and redefined their identities."—Carolyn Sachs, Pennsylvania State University

On Behalf of the Family Farm: Iowa Farm Women's Activism since 1945 by Jenny Barker Devine

Chingri Maach Malai Curry (Shrimp Curry Cooked in Coconut Milk)

Check out this delicious recipe from Nina Furstenau's book, Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America's Heartland!

Serves 8

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
4–5 whole cloves
1 piece cinnamon stick, 1 1/2 inches long
4-5 cardamom pods
1 onion, cut in half lengthwise and then very finely sliced
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2–1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder (or to taste)
2 pounds shrimp peeled, and deveined
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
1/4 cups raisins
1/2 cup peas
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 inch fresh ginger, grated, or 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
garam masala (optional)

Heat oil in a heavy pot and add bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. Let the whole spices sizzle for 10 seconds. Add sliced onions and fry until light brown. Drain excess oil. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and a small amount of water to keep mixture from burning. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and peas and stir. Cover and cook for 3–4 minutes. Add coconut milk, raisins, salt, sugar, and ginger. Simmer until heated through. Sprinkle with garam masala if desired and serve.

Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America's Heartland, by Nina Mukerjee Furstenau

Nina Furstenau: reading and presentation

This event has been rescheduled for March 8.

Nina Furstenau will be reading and presenting from her book, Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America's Heartland, this Saturday at the Chicago Foodways Roundtable.

Reading
Date: Saturday, November 9
Time: 10:00 A.M.
Place: Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch Street, Chicago, Illinois

If you plan on attending, please join our Facebook Event!

Praise for Biting through the Skin
"A beautiful and sensitive memoir--with recipes!--about life in Kansas for a Bengali family."--Star Tribune

Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America's Heartland, by Nina Mukerjee Furstenau

Interview with Chris Baker: part 2

Chris Baker is the editor of Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa, with text written by his grandmother, Vetra Covert. The book was released in September and is available now. University of Iowa Press acquisitions editor Holly Carver asked him a few questions about the book.

HC: Given their hardscrabble upbringing, it’s amazing to me that Vetra and her brothers and sisters all survived childhood. I mean, really, cow manure poultices? Were Vetra and her siblings unusually tough or unusually lucky?
CB: Well, I always though they were a tough lot compared to me. But in conversations with family members, it's apparent that they approached their lives with acceptance, not necessarily resignation. If the only available remedy is a cow manure poultice and it works, well, so be it. Of course, a little luck never hurts.

HC: After her impoverished childhood, do you know how Vetra reacted to the telephones, radios, automobiles—to the miracle of electricity and indoor plumbing—of her adult years?

CB: I really don’t have a lot of insight into that. She does write about her excitement the first time she listened to a radio. The neighbors would invite the family over to listen to boxing matches and country music from Nashville. I can say that I never saw her behind the wheel of a car, and I don’t believe that she had the slightest interest in learning how to drive.

HC: Cinnamon rolls are one of the treasures of Iowa baking. What other culinary treats did your grandmother produce?

CB: Oh, beef and noodles, dinner rolls, soup beans and corn bread, fried morel mushrooms. Those were my favorites. She could also make quick work of any wild game brought to her house and fry up a tasty dinner with just a little lard, flour, and salt and pepper. Of course, her cinnamon rolls were the undeniable favorite.

HC: You’ve honored your grandmother’s life; indeed, you’ve extended it into the future. What do you wish you could ask her now?

CB: Of course, the first time I interviewed her, I was around nineteen years old and, frankly, more concerned with all that comes with being twenty. I certainly missed a rare opportunity. After reading and absorbing her journal over the last few years, I do wish I had the opportunity to interview her one last time. At first glance, it is easy to miss the stories hidden between the lines in her journal. I certainly would like to know more about her relationship with her parents, especially her mother. I would also like to ask her about the early years of her marriage and how they managed to get by. At my own peril, I might even ask her to share any thoughts about me. 

Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa by Vetra Covert and Chris Baker

Hot off the Press: BETWEEN URBAN AND WILD: REFLECTIONS FROM COLORADO

The University of Iowa Press is proud to present our newest Bur Oak Book, Between Urban and Wild: Reflections from Colorado, by Andrea M. Jones!

Praise for Between Urban and Wild
"Andrea Jones's Between Urban and Wild is a touching account of her intimate connection with the natural world of central Colorado, a land that is, like her book, simultaneously severe and beautiful. Through a combination of flashbacks and present-day musings, she invites the reader to appreciate the joys, challenges, and sublimity of this landscape. She offers up a deeply personal, deeply affecting narrative of a life inseparable from the land."—Matthew Wynn Sivils

"Westerners have arrived at a Y in Nature's rocky road—a forked path littered with ethical questions. In Between Urban and Wild, Andrea Jones offers humble and probing answers to the question of whether it's too late for Westerners to find an integral way of being with the land, and not just on the land. Her book offers hope."—Page Lambert, author, In Search of Kinship: Modern Pioneering on the Western Landscape

Between Urban and Wild: Reflections from Colorado, by Andrea M. Jones

Interview with Chris Baker: part 1

Chris Baker is the editor of Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa, with text written by his grandmother, Vetra Covert. The book was released in September and is available now. University of Iowa Press acquisitions editor Holly Carver asked him a few questions about the book.

HC: Your grandmother wrote these words when she was over sixty, yet her voice seems so true to the spirit of the young girl she is writing about. How do you explain this?

CB: She was certainly a woman without pretense, and that’s reflected not only in her words but also in how she lived her life. My sense from reading her writing is that, for better or worse, she enjoyed the process of revisiting her childhood.  

HC: You’re a singer-songwriter. How did your love of music influence the chapters you have crafted here?

CB: Well, that may be an overstatement, but songwriting is certainly my passion, so I tend to view the world in that context. I am always looking for a good story, listening for a good line or a hook. In time, that becomes second nature, sometimes to the point of distraction. Once I began thinking about how to format my grandmother’s journal, it became obvious to me that her prose—simple, honest, and filled with great imagery—reads like verses from an Appalachian folk song. So, certainly, the section of the book with the journal entries has the feel of a song. At least I think it does. I hope it does. One of my favorite lines is, “They passed us like a freight train would a bum.” Lines like that make you reach for your guitar.

HC: You don’t attempt to romanticize Vetra’s childhood. How extreme were her family’s poverty and isolation?

CB: I took that cue from my grandmother. She was obviously forthright in telling her story, so how could I be otherwise? But looking in from the outside, it’s easy to cling to stereotypical perceptions about poverty and isolation. By today’s standards, hers was indeed a hard-knock existence—the reality of living in a log cabin riddled with holes in the roof and the floor, waking up with snow on your blankets, foraging for wild greens just to make a meal. It’s impossible to minimize those conditions. But folks from her generation tend to be rather stoic about those experiences. Sure, there were hard times, but there were good times as well. In the years leading up to the Great Depression, many families struggled to survive. Her family wasn’t alone. That may have lessened any sense of despair. To us, those conditions are unfathomable, but for those who actually lived that life I think it’s a matter of perspective. That is a difficult question to answer.

HC: Vetra’s father was a bootlegger. Was this seen as a shameful way to make a living, such as it was, or as a clever way around Prohibition?

CB: I suppose that’s also a matter of perspective, but I believe both apply. There’s a third consideration, survival, which in my mind is different from merely making a living through criminal activities. It’s not an excuse, but desperation often leads to questionable behaviors. How one reconciles or rationalizes those behaviors probably depends more upon circumstances and choices. But there’s always a price to pay. I think my grandmother felt that her father’s moonshining was, in part, due to his strong desire to drink, which he did to excess and to the detriment of the family’s well-being.

Check back Wednesday to read the conclusion!

Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa by Vetra Covert and Chris Baker