Brookes’ Bytes

Mail: I love getting snail mail. I like opening the mailbox (or mail flap in our case) and seeing a non-bill related piece of post. It’s nice to break up the bills with non-bills. My friend Lauren and I have been sending journals with letters back and forth since we both went to college. Sometimes it’s a month (or two, or four) before I send it. But it always makes my day when I see that big puffy envelope with Lauren’s handwriting on it. I know that email is much easier and quicker as a method of correspondence. But there’s something elegant about a piece of paper with someone’s handwriting on it. The time that it takes me to hand-write anything is much greater than the time it takes me to type it, so on the surface, a hand-written letter means a larger investment of time into the recipient. I also like to hold things in my hand while I read them. That’s probably why people like me will continue to frequent libraries and buy books and write letters, even when e-cards, e-mail and e-books dominant the market. Snail mail may be old school, but it’s cool!

Molasses cookies: My mom gave me this fantastic cookie cookbook that I cherish. It’d probably be something I’d put in a fireproof box, if we had one. Mostly cause you can’t freakin find it on amazon…and whatever you can’t find on amazon.com is pretty unfindable. This cookie cookbook contains some of the best recipes I’ve ever tried. And it’s nice when you try recipes that turn out right the first time you risk the ingredients! My molasses cookie recipe hails from this wonderful cookbook. To tell you that my molasses cookies are unbelievably good would seem arrogant, but it’s true. They are DELICIOUS. Imagine a ginger snap that’s four times bigger than a ginger snap and SOFT. Imagine a fresh, warm batch cooling on a sheet of aluminum foil while you pour yourself a glass of milk…imagine taking a bite into a fresh, hot cookie that tastes like a spicy burst of heaven and you would begin to understand why I love this recipe. Mmmmmm. Maybe I should go make some right now!

Moms: There’s something about moms: they know just the right words to say when you feel like a loser, they are the best comforters when you’re sick, they know your favorite things and remember the parts of your history that you forget. No matter how old I am, when I’m sick, I wish my mom were with me to take care of me. The last time I was really sick, I was actually at her house. She rubbed my back while I puked into a toilet and when I was upset cause I HATE throwing up, she said, “I know, Jes. This is awful.” She didn’t sugar-coat stuff, she just agreed that it’s miserable to be sick. Oddly enough, that made me feel better. Moms change nasty diapers, handle backtalk and kids leaving the nest. Moms are creative. They pour themselves into their children. I know my mom is special to me, cause she’s good at making me feel like it’s ok to express myself. I want to be a mom like my mom.

Musicals: “There’s no business like show business like no business I know!” Name THAT musical. The first musical I ever saw was The Sound of Music. My Uncle Water and Aunt Leah bought me that Anniversary edition that was two videocassettes with a cassette tape of the songs as a bonus. I think I was 7 or 8. I remember only watching the first part and then being so disappointed that the second tape was mostly Nazi stuff. I loved the beginning, with the mountains and the orchestra and the swells until that moment at the clearing where Julie Andrews is spinning around and sings: “The hills are alive…” Man, you can’t beat that. All those Rodgers and Hammerstein movies were GREAT. I remember Mom liking the heroine in State Fair, cause she was an alto. And Shirley Jones in Oklahoma and Carousel; Dad used to make fun of the way she sang with her mouth REALLY wide open. Musicals combined two of my favorite things: stories and music. To a kid, people flailing around to music in the middle of Saltzburg seems perfectly normal. My sister and I danced and sang in the Fircrest grocery store all the time! Even now, when I go to a musical, my heart starts beating faster when the orchestra swells and the curtains part and the chorus comes in. It doesn’t have to be something serious. Legally Blond was pretty entertaining. And don’t get me started on Les Miserables, or Wicked, or Ragtime…musicals allow me to embrace two parts of my self: reader and singer. So, turn up the showtunes so I can prance around my house!