Lemon Marmalade Wiki Wiki

 That's fast in Hawaiian.  Of course, faster would be just buying some.  However, as the lemons are dropping off our tree, home made marmalade is a really good thing.  This recently found recipe uses a mandolin and a pressure cooker to speed things up.  I'm going to do another batch today, Lord willing, and the creek don't rise.  It is raining right now, but may clear up later for picking fruit. And, just so you know, these are not Meyer lemons, they're full-bodied, flavorful real ones :) Sorry all you Meyer fans.  I had a friend ask for some of mine recently, as all she had were the other kind.

A Low Country Specialty, Duck Purloo, for Cook the Books Club

 I've had quite a Holiday blog break, finally getting back for our current Cook the Books Club selection,  A Place at the Table by Susan Rebecca White, which is the blended story of three main characters who live through forms of discrimination or betrayal.  Beginning with Alice and James, sister and brother who live in rural North Carolina; then Bobby from Georgia who is coming to terms with his sexuality; and Amelia, going through divorce and the discovery of her true ethnic heritage.  All three find friendship and careers through cooking.

Some of the book is engagingly written, and holds our interest for a time, however the plot stumbles as the various characters' trajectories become muddled in the overall story, sometimes stretching credulity.  Also, my opinion here, some of it was just offensive.

I think it goes without saying (or should) that compassion is important, that unkindness toward, and discrimination against homosexuals or anyone else is certainly wrong, however, including an accurate picture, or at least a hint, of causative background would be more honest.  Less of the "he made pink cupcakes" type references.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of authors, both in fiction and non-fiction, have adopted a PC point of view, misunderstanding the dynamics of homosexuality - at the root -  which in most cases is reaction to early sexual abuse.  We are meant to believe an inclination is just present at birth, which theory does a real disservice to those countless numbers, and going up every year, of women and children who are physically and or sexually abused, usually by someone close, though often in settings such as camp or day care.  A truth which powerful lobbies have shoved right under the rug of psychiatric jargon. According to Dr. Peter Breggin, in Toxic Psychiatry:

"A large proportion of sexual victimization takes place in infancy, often striking two year olds, and thus a great deal of it falls into the mental darkness of childhood amnesia.  Even when recalled it may not be reported."

Well, enough of that, and I do realize we're going against the flow here.  Not my favorite book, but as far as meal inspiration, I did enjoy White's descriptions of Cafe Andres, a fictional New York City restaurant featured in the lives of her various characters, and was caught by the mention of one specialty of Bobby's, duck with green olives.  No real description however, other than that.

Being as I do love duck, a bit of research led me to Duck Purloo (pronounced per-low), also spelled perloo and sometimes called pilau, a favorite in the Low Country of South Carolina similar to jambalaya or paella, with serious African and Caribbean influences at work in its creation.