The dining room at the Turnblad Mansion at the American Swedish Institute
Snowy or not, one of the best places to go in in Minnesota for some Christmas cheer is the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. I just finished reading Michael Booth’s clever and insightful book about the Scandinavians,Almost Nearly Perfect People, so I was particularly motivated for an encounter with a place that offers a chance to rub elbows with so many fair-haired folks in intricately patterned sweaters.
This time of year, the Institute’s gorgeous Turnblad Mansion is festooned with trees, trolls, yule goats, and young women dressed as Lucia, flaming candles in their hair and all.
Six of the mansion’s 33 rooms are decorated each according to the Christmas customs of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and this year Minneapolis’s Museum of Russian Art, too. All these countries seem to have a fascination with mischief making trolls or elves, called variously tomte, nisse, jelasvieran, and joulupukki. (According to Booth, 54 percent of Icelanders believe in elves.) Whatever you call them, they’re great fun.
Another draw at ASI any time of year is its terrific restaurant Fika with some of the best meatballs you’ll ever have, and no lutefisk in sight. Gone are the days of tasteless white Scandinavian food. Chefs such as Sweden’s Magnus Nilsson have changed all that. Check him out at his restaurant Faviken in Sweden on Netflix’s “Mind of a Chef.”
Finally, the ASI gift shop will make you want to be a Scandinavian even if you’re not.
A trio of souvenir spoons, each a gift from a guest at Spoon and Stable restaurant in Minneapolis.
Chef Gavin Kaysen has a reputation, not only for his cuisine and his award-winning new restaurant Spoon and Stable in his hometown, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s also known for his collection of spoons—and how he obtains them. His collection was the inspiration for the the name of the new restaurant (along with the fact that it’s located in a former horse stable built in 1904), which was a 2015 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant.
He scours second-hand shops for spoons, others he has received as gifts from friends and from other restaurants because of his spoon-loving reputation. Others he has, well, pocketed. Sterling to to wrought iron, for Kaysen, it’s not just a collection of spoons, it’s “a collection of memories.”
The lure of spoons began for Kaysen when he was a 21-year-old pastry chef in Lausanne, Switzerland, learning to make the perfect quenelle of ice cream. On his days off, he used beef fat to practice making the elegant oval scoops. When he finally mastered the technique he kept the spoon he was using as a memento.
Kaysen continued that habit of spoon pilfering. For him, they offer a tangible memory of an experience whether is was a great meal, outstanding service or a beautiful dining space.
Knowing his penchant for spoons, guests in his restaurant now bring in spoons from their own collections to give Kaysen and they tell him the tales behind them. “I love their family stories,” he says. https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/trio/
My fellow readers and travelers—what do you suggest for a 2016 must-read list?
I’ve been chugging my way through Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings, which won the Man Booker Prize earlier this year.I look to such awards as one way to compose my reading list for each
new year. I’ll add to that the books nominated for the 2015 National Book Award.
The winners were announced last night: for fiction Adam Johnson, Fortune Smiles; for nonfiction,Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me; for poetry, Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus; and for Young Peoples Literature, Neal Shusterman, Challenger Deep. The list of other National Book Award nominees is listed below.
As I assemble my 2016 reading list, book awards are a great way to find books and authors I may not have heard of, with sort of a “best of the year” stamp of approval. I like to blend in few classics, too, especially those Victorian-era novels by authors such as Hardy, Dickens, the Brontes of which I’m a fanatical fan. New on that list for me, the works of Elizabeth Gaskell. (I’m embarrassed to admit I never heard of her until I saw North and South on Netflix.) And, I toss in a little non-fiction for good measure.
Send me your ideas and look for my final list.
Other Contenders for the National Book Award 2015 FictionKaren E. Bender, Refund , Angela Flournoy, The Turner House; Lauren Groff, Fates and Furies; Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
Non Fiction Sally Mann, Hold Still; Sy Montgomery, The Soul of an Octopus ; Carla Power, If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship; and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran; Tracy K. Smith, Ordinary Light
Poetry
Ross Gay, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude ; Terrance Hayes, How to Be Drawn; Ada Limón, Bright Dead Things ; Patrick Phillips, Elegy for a Broken Machine
Young People’s Literature
Ali Benjamin, The Thing About Jellyfish; Laura Ruby, Bone Gap ; Steve Sheinkin, Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War ; Noelle Stevenson, Nimona
Architecture was the theme of this window at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.
It’s the time of year when retailers ramp up for the holidays with ornate holiday displays. Nowhere in the U.S. is the holiday decor more fantastic than in New York City. And, in New York you’ll find the most fabulous of all in the windows of Bergdorf Goodman.
I’ve been lucky enough for the last several years to be in New York during the holiday season. The corner of 5th and 58th is always my first destination to see what wonders they’ve come up with for the year. (I also enjoy touring the wonders inside the store, but window gazing is much more economical.)
Fabulously ornate windows at Bergdorf Goodman. The subject of this window: Literature. How many authors can you find?
The theme for last year’s windows was the arts, including architecture, theater, painting, music, and my favorite, literature–all absolutely and delightfully over the top. The Creators Project blog has an article about last year’s windows.
Polar explorers Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft. Now, they’re adventuring in India.
Need a little travel inspiration? This explorer, teacher and environmentalist’s example will get you out on your next adventure.
Ann Bancroft became the first woman to arrive at the North Pole on
foot and by sled in a 1986 expedition with Will Steger, six other men and 49 male dogs. After that, she tallied other firsts, including being the first woman to cross both polar ice caps to reach the North and South Poles and was part of the first group of American women to ski across Greenland.
I had the fun of interviewing Bancroft for an article as she was about to set out on a new expedition, a surprising trip for someone who is typically associated with cold and ice. She and her frequent expedition partner Norway’s Liv Arnesen, are leading an international posse of women who are paddling the length of the Ganges River, from the source of the river in the Himalaya Mountains to the Bay of Bengal. They’re doing it to to call attention to the crisis of fresh water around the world.
Bancroft is an inspiration for anyone who yearns to get outdoors for some adventure travel. You don’t have to go to the polar regions or the Ganges, but she encourages everyone to push themselves for new adventures and experiences. “We’re all on a journey,” she says. “What’s your expedition?”
Sometimes you need to set your own boundaries, know your limitations. That’s especially the case with chilis.
They may merely add flavor to cooking or set your mouth ablaze in a manner that will send you running for the icewater (and have other repercussions, too, if you know what I mean.)
I was in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago where chilis–red and green–are in just about everything you eat. Fall is the height of chili season there and you’ll find them piled in farmers’ markets and smell them roasting, “New Mexico aromatherapy,” at the market or on the roadside. You’ll find them in restaurants any time of year. When ordering, your server may ask, “Red or green?” By that she means the color of chilis you want. If the answer in both, it’s common to say “Christmas.”
Some chilis hot, some not. In some cases it’s like playing roulette–one in ten is hot, you just don’t know until you eat it. Either way, they’re beautiful to look at.
I’ve done a lot of traveling this summer, but I’ve been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, so I have plenty stored up to tell you about.
The winner of the 2014 pumpkin weigh off in Half Moon Bay, California. Photo courtesy of Miramar events.
I’ll start by sharing my new article on the USA Today travel web site. It’s about the pulchritudinous pumpkins of Half Moon Bay, California, and all the food-related activities there are to do there even after all the orange orbs have been made into pie.
Ann Bancroft (right) and Liv Arnesen are know for their adventure in cold climates, but on their next trip, they navigate the Ganges.
Speaking of travel, I also had a great time interviewing Ann Bancroft, the famous polar explorer, for the Minnesota Women’s Press. She’s off on a new adventure in October, this time to India where she and Liv Arnesen and their team will navigate the length of the Ganges River. This hot, dirty, overpopulated trip seems an unlikely choice for someone who is used to the isolation and the pure, crisp air of the frozen poles. Yet, the more we discussed the perils of such a trip, the more her eyes lit up with anticipation of the challenge. The trip is part of a series she plans to undertake that will bring attention to the crisis of fresh water around the world. Find out more about the expedition at yourexpedition.com
Last week was a big one for literary events here in Minneapolis. I attended Pen Pals, an author series presented by the Friends of the Hennepin County Library, in which famed librarian Nancy Pearl interviewed Judy Blume about her new novel, In the Unlikely Event. Blume is chiefly known for her middle grade girls’ novels such as Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. The new book for adults is fiction based on the true story of the series of three commercial plane crashes that occurred in her home town in 1952. I haven’t read the book yet, but it sounds like it could put me off air travel for a while.
Finally, Faith Sullivan launched her new book, Goodnight Mr. Wodehouse at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. I aspire to be like Faith, not just for her literary expertise, but for her vivacious personality, humor and grace. She alternated reading from her book with short pieces of music from the time played by her friend Michael Anthony.
Set in Minnesota around the turn of the last century, the book is the story of a woman who has more than her share of tragedy in life, but keeps on going, buoyed by the diversion and humor of British author P.G. Wodehouse. Readers will love her comments about the joys and life-saving aspects of reading:
“Life could toss your sanity about like a glass ball; books were a cushion. How on earth did nonreaders cope when they had nowhere to turn? How lonely such a nonreading world must be.”
And, on retiring from teaching, the heroine hopes she “left her charges with a love of reading, one of the few things they could count on in life. The years could rob them of friends and farms, of youth and health, but books would endure. She eased deeper into the chair and turned the page.”
When I’m done reading Faith Sullivan’s book, I’m stocking up on a few volumes by P.G. Wodehouse.
One of the best things about blogging is interaction with readers who share their stories, comments and their own travel experiences with me. Of course, I especially love hearing stories of their literature-inspired travel. Sometimes authors send books they’ve written that fit into that category for a review or a mention.
I recently received a couple of volumes from a former TV journalist and travel writer, Walt Christophersen. In A Temporary European and By Ship, Train, Bus, Plane and Sometimes Hitchhiking he recounts his adventures as a journalist in the 1960s and 70s and includes some of his articles from that period.
What I enjoyed most about Walt’s books is the look back they provide to a time when traveling seemed much simpler. Remember what traveling was like before 9/11, TSA screening and all the other hassles we now endure? The books made me think back to the days when flying was actually glamorous. I remember traveling as a child with my parents to visit my grandparents in Florida. I wore a spiffy little knit suit, my dad wore a suit and tie, and mom was glamorous in her mink stole, which was much more useful on the return trip to Michigan than trotting around Florida’s east coast. We had actual meals served to us—with cloth napkins and silverware! We had leg room! We checked our luggage—for free!
Walt’s books are a refresher on the days when adventurous travelers could go to places such as Afghanistan and Syria without too much danger, though as he reports, not without discomfort. (If you’re a freelance writer, the really depressing part is that from his account it appears that the wages for writers, particularly freelance travel writers, haven’t changed much since the 70s.) Still, his stories remind us of the lure and fascination of travel to exotic places.
In a lot of ways, those days of air travel weren’t as idyllic as they seem in my memory. People travel all over the world now, much more than in the 60s and 70s, despite the hassle. I ran across a fun article in Fast Company that compares travel in the 50s and 60s with the present. As it turns out, the skies weren’t quite as friendly as I remember.
For example, airfares were 40 percent higher, adjusted for inflation, with the average person in the 1950s paying up to five percent of his or her yearly salary for a chance to fly. There were no movies on long flights, but plenty of smoking, drinking and, ultimately quite a bit more vomiting en route. Stewardesses looked great but had to retire when they got married. I never saw a female pilot.
Despite the ups and downs of air travel, Walt certainly enjoyed the adventure and his readers do, too.
He says, “To borrow a modern cliche, it was a great ride.”
Fiction Meets Reality in Maude Hart Lovelace’s “Deep Valley”
Betsy’s House, the real-life home of Maud Hart Lovelace in Mankato, Minnesota
It’s hard to believe that a series of novels can still be popular with a heroine who neither Tweets nor Snapchats, a girl who lacks magical powers, a vampire boyfriend, or a fabulous assortment of weaponry. Yet, the beloved Betsy-Tacy series by Mankato, Minnesota, author Maud Hart Lovelace have been in continuous publication since the 1940s and inspire an almost fanatical devotion, even among readers who are used to consuming racier fare such as “Gossip Girl” or “The Vampire Diaries.”
Docent Kathryn Hansen shows a Lois Lenski illustration of the Betsy-Tacy books and compares it to the neighborhood today.
If you need proof, you need only show up in Mankato on a Friday or Saturday afternoon in summer. You’ll find Betsy-Tacy fans who’ve come from around the world to visit the trim little Victorian houses on Center Street, “Betsy’s House” and “Tacy’s House,” where Hart Lovelace and her real best friend, Frances Kenney, grew up right across the street from each other. Little girls and their grandmothers, mother and daughters, and adult “gals on getaways” line up for a tour of the real-life houses that are the setting of the beloved book series. The houses have been lovingly restored and designated as national literary landmarks.
A Calming Oasis
A step into Betsy-Tacy world is a step back into a slower, more peaceful era.The first of the series’ 10 books, Betsy-Tacy, begins in 1897, when Betsy is about to turn five, and the series continues through Betsy’s Wedding during World War I, all based on Hart Lovelace’s own girlhood. The lack of technology, fighting and fast-paced action may be the secret for the books’ enduring appeal. Linda Lee, an adult Betsy-Tacy fan visiting from Claremont, California, says of the books, “I re-read them even now. They’re about family, friendship and fun in doing simple things. Reading them brings a sense of calm to my frenzied life.”
The houses are open on weekends year-round but Betsy-Tacy fans show up en masse each June for the Deep Valley Homecoming—this year from June 26-30— like a children’s book Coachella. (Deep Valley is the name Hart Lovelace gave her hometown in the books.) Activities include Betsy & Tacy home and neighborhood tours, narrated horse-drawn trolley rides, a Victorian Tea, Deep Valley Book Festival*, fashion show, living history actors, speakers and re-enactments, a vintage car show and more.
The old fashioned kitchen at Betsy’s house offers a view of life in the early 1900s, straight from the Betsy-Tacy books.
Inspiration for Modern Girls
Enthusiastic docents regularly lead tours of the houses and point out how the homes and the neighborhood compare to the books’ illustrations by Lois Lenski. From the old-fashioned kitchen, to the lace curtains and fine china, to the books and Maude Hart Lovelace memorabilia, tours furnish a cultural snapshot of the era, a chance to experience what it was like to live in a Midwestern town when the first automobile arrived and homes got their first telephones.
But beyond a nostalgic connection to a fictional world or a look at old houses with creaky floors and Victorian furniture, a visit to the Betsy-Tacy houses offers a look at the lives and friendships children, the aspirations of women at the turn of the last century, and celebrates girls who are, while old-fashioned, strikingly independent and adventurous.
While old telephones may be the highest tech you’ll experience on the tour, Betsy and Tacy aren’t totally off the grid. You’ll find constant discussion about them on Twitter and Pinterest.
*I’ll be at the Deep Valley Book Festival this year, signing copies of Off The Beaten Page: The Best Trips for Lit Lovers, Book Clubs and Girls on Getaways.
If you go:
Mankato is about an hour and a half south of the Twin Cities via I-169. The houses are open this summer on Friday and Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children (under 5 free).
We picked up bagels at Tandem Bagels, 200 E Walnut St., for a picnic in Lincoln Park, which figures in the books and is set amidst a gorgeous grouping of Victorian homes.
Travel to the places you read about. Read about the places you travel.
Six of the mansion’s 33 rooms are decorated each according to the Christmas customs of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and this year Minneapolis’s Museum of Russian Art, too. All these countries seem to have a fascination with mischief making trolls or elves, called variously tomte, nisse, jelasvieran, and joulupukki. (According to Booth, 54 percent of Icelanders believe in elves.) Whatever you call them, they’re great fun.
Another draw at ASI any time of year is its terrific restaurant Fika with some of the best meatballs you’ll ever have, and no lutefisk in sight. Gone are the days of tasteless white Scandinavian food. Chefs such as Sweden’s Magnus Nilsson have changed all that. Check him out at his restaurant Faviken in Sweden on Netflix’s “Mind of a Chef.”
Off The Beaten Page Travel 