Monthly Archives: June 2010

Terry Pratchett: why I’m addicted, and why you will be too

Terry Pratchett is like candy. But candy that gives you a sugar rush in your intellectual funny bone. I could find his books at the library instead of hauling them around every time we move—but I love just grabbing them off my shelf when I’m in need of some snorts, cackles, and chortles. I need at least two dozen snorts, half a dozen cackles, and three solid chortles per day. And Terry helps me exceed my quota—every time.

My stash

My reading of Terry Pratchett goes in spurts—I’ll read about 4 or 5 of his novels in a row, and then I hit some kind of hilarity-induced state of mental madness and I need a break for about 6 months. And then the whole messy cycle starts again.

He writes about a made-up world called “Discworld”, which (as anyone will tell you) is a flat world that rides on the back of four elephants who in turn stand on a giganto-turtle who swims through space.

It is much like our world. And that’s the gist of the funniness. Terry Pratchett loves drawing out the absurd and comical aspects of our life here on earth by showing us its image in the distorted mirror of his fictional world. As an example, Terry Pratchett will chronicle the advent of a new technology—such as banking, or newspapers/printing, or the Postal service—and show us an alternate history of how it came into being, highlighting how strange and fascinating these systems we’ve developed really are—if you stop and think. And he will make you stop and think. Wait—does that make his books sound boring? Because they’re not! I liken the experience to going to those Fun-Fun-Mirror things at a fair that make your nose strangely bulbous and your legs really bendy and your head oddly egg-shaped—and you’re like “Whoa, the human body is hilariously freakish! [cackle cackle] [snort]” Terry Pratchett is witty and sarcastic, and I probably laugh more with his books than any others.

Within his Discworld novels, there are different character groups: the witches (Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Wyrd Sisters, Equal Rites), Death (Mort, Hogfather, Thief of Time), the Watch (Men at Arms, The Truth, Guards! Guards!), Rincewind the wizard (The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic)…I could go on and on. This man is nothing if not prolific. And hilarious. Or did I already say he was hilarious? (I did, but if I repeat it enough I will subliminally brainwash you) “Pyramids” could be a good random one to start with … or maybe you should dive into the witches with “Wyrd Sisters”, which I am reading right now along with “Mort”. Either way, give him a little time, get used to his style, and then go into a dark sound-proof closet where you can laugh your head off without someone asking you “what’s so funny?” every five seconds. Not that anyone I know does that. My husband for the record is very good about letting me read and laugh uninterruptedly. I’m just sayin’.

Any Pratchett lovers out there? Any recommendations that will give a first-time reader some good ole laughing whiplash?

Bananas Foster Crêpes

 

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Virginia with my Paris girls, Sarah and Vessie. We met while studying abroad in Paris, and . . . well, we just love each other. More on that in another post. We went to a little café where they served crêpes . . . but opted for the chocolate fondue instead. It was the right thing to do at the time. However, this engendered a longing in my heart for some amazing crêpes. So the next morning, we made ‘em for breakfast! We used a simple batter recipe that you can make in the blender (from tastykitchen.com), and did a little imitation of bananas foster with some liqueur modifications. Sarah even lit the pan on fire. We folded the bananas inside the crêpes, and topped it all with whipped cream and sugared pecans. Oh my!!!!! Definitely eat these with coffee to cut the sweetness—but they are spectacular! Plus, I learned how to flip a crêpe, which I can tell is going to be one of the major achievements of my life. I’m sure those skills will come in handy in the heavenly realms as well.

CRÊPE BATTER

4 eggs

1 cup flour

½ cup milk

½ cups water

½ teaspoons salt

2 TBS sugar

2 TBS melted butter

Toss ingredients in a blender or bowl. Blend for around 30 seconds, or hand mix for a minute or two (that’s what we did after discovering the blender was broken). Let the batter sit for a while on the counter (covered)—ideally an hour, but we were impatient and only waited 20 minutes.

Now I always mess up the first crêpe, so please don’t be discouraged if that happens to you.

Messing up the first crêpe

It’s important to get the heat just right, and that might mean one sacrificial lamb/crêpe. But don’t worry! Let’s forge ahead.

Get out a medium sized non-stick skillet (or a crêpe pan if you’re too cool for school) with a flat bottom.  If your pan is warped at all, it’s really going to mess up your game. Start the heat on medium to medium high, and melt some butter in the bottom as if you were making pancakes. You want a thin coating of butter all over the pan. Now it’s time to pour in the batter. I think I used somewhat less than ¼ cup batter for each crêpe, but depending on the size of your pan that could vary—the idea is to coat the bottom of the pan with the thinnest layer possible of batter. So as soon as you pour some batter in, immediately tilt the pan back and forth so that the batter runs all about. Then, let it sit. After a few minutes, I try to put my spatula under a side and lift the whole little pancake up—if you can do this, you can flip it at this point. Don’t be jealous of Sarah’s skills:

Master crêpe flipper!

She’s airborne, folks!

You want a few brown spots on each side of the crêpe (in my opinion), and I flipped each one back and forth a couple times to get it where I wanted it (probably breaking 15 French cooking rules while I was at it). Does this sound complicated? If so, please just think of it as making pancakes. It’s exactly the same thing! Except these are really thin. And French.

SPECIAL FOSTER-ESQUE BANANA FILLING

¼ cup (½ stick) butter

1 cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup Grand Marnier (orange flavored liqueur)

4 bananas (cut lengthwise and then in half)

¼ cup rum

Whipped cream

Sugared pecans

Combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a non-stick skillet. Stir over low heat until it’s all melty and bubbly. Add the Grand Marnier (or get creative and switch up the liqueur flavor!) and stir; immediately, add the bananas flat side down. Cook over low heat until the bananas start to get a little soft.

Getting bubbly

Then, add the rum. If you’re brave like Sarah, ignite the rum … if not, let the alcohol burn off for a few minutes.

Lighting up

And the flames leap higher . . .

Now it’s time to assemble! Lay a crêpe on a plate. Spoon a banana and some sauce inside, and fold. Top with whipped cream, more sauce, and sugared pecans. Don’t skimp on the pecans! The contrast of the soft crêpe with the crunchy pecans is amazing.

Have fun with crêpes—the things you can put in them are only as limited as your imagination (or your grocery budget as some of us may have it). Piles of fresh strawberries … the traditional butter and sugar … and all sorts of savory goodness! I’m envisioning something with blue cheese. And spinach. Sarah and I ate a couple with bacon and melted cheese inside. Make them this weekend and you’ll be thanking yourself.

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