Day 37 Small Pleasures and Little Treats

 

 

 

 

Small Pleasures and Little Treats

 

Small Pleasures

There is an inevitability about the ending of Clare Chambers’ Small Pleasures. It is signalled with little ambiguity by the structure of the novel. The one thing that isn’t clear is who’s destiny we are foreseeing.

The story is set in 1957 mostly in southeast London, in genteel suburbia, peopled by the sort of people the 50s always brings to mind, the conservative (with a small c) lower middle classes in their between-the-wars semis. It's a good, pitch perfect late 50s setting.

Jean is a reporter on the local paper. She is fast approaching forty, single, looking after her difficult and sickly mother. Her sister has escaped to Kenya with her family. Jean feels abandoned. Life isn’t exactly a struggle, but it’s confined and small, getting by, making ends meet, not miserable but with no room for joy.

It always amuses me how people want to recall the community spirit of the 40s and 50s. My memory is that keeping yourself to yourself and minding your own business were the watchwords of UK life until well on into the 60s. There was no 'sharing'. You just struggled on, stiff upper lips well to the fore with only the cleanest linen on show. Jean’s life exemplifies this.

A letter comes to the newspaper from a woman who claims to have a ten year old daughter who is the result of a virgin birth. Jean is sent to investigate her claim and, inevitably gets involved with the family – Gretchen, with her nipped-in waist and the Deanna Durbin hair, her daughter Margaret, the treasure and her image, and her husband, Howard, thin, stooped and balding always dressed in ‘a tweed jacket, flannel trousers, hand-knitted pullover, shirt and tie and, in all probability, full-length combinations underneath’ regardless of whether he was at work or doing his garden.

Of course, appearances are never as they seem and as Jean investigates Gretchen’s story, everything changes – or it seems to – for Jean and Gretchen and her family. But we know that we are hurtling towards an inevitable catastrophe. The only mystery is how it involves the characters – directly or indirectly? All of them? None of them?

I enjoyed this book, even though it made me feel sad. It brought back aspects of my childhood and made me very glad, pandemic notwithstanding, that things have changed. The spectre of the war still loomed large in people’s lives restricting and constraining their hopes and expectations and, having survived, they were prepared to accept it. We see Jean’s dawning realisation that perhaps she can have more . . .

 

Little Treats – how to banish the November Blues

I find November a very difficult month. The beautiful golden days of October dissolve instantly into the dreariness of November – beautiful, mysterious mists solidify into low cloud and fog; mellow fruitfulness decomposes into a noxious, slippery death trap – and it is four long months before lovely, gusty, March arrives.

Usually the horrors of November are mitigated by the coming of the Christmas season. Even though I get irritated when the hype gets too much – I used to tell my kids if it was advertised on the telly, then they weren’t going to get it – there is a delightful sense of expectation.

This year will be different, because even if we manage to have a celebration of sorts, the anticipation won’t be the same because it will be tempered by anxiety – on the one hand, in case it is all cancelled, on the other, that unwittingly we could be spreading the virus to our nearest and dearest.

How can we get round this?

1.    We need treats to look forward to, little markers on the timeline to carry us onwards. Things that make us happy, even if only for a short time. These are very idiosyncratic. My idea of a treat may not be yours but here are a few things I have planned. The main thing is to make a night of it. Make it special.

                               I.            Online Christmas concerts. There are lots about, some free, some you pay for, but none is exorbitant. I have signed up for Voces8’s Live from London Christmas concerts. There are, I think, sixteen online concerts (they keep adding to them) and you can buy tickets for individual concerts or a season ticket which gives a reasonable discount. This gives you access to the concerts from the date of broadcast until 15^th January, 2021.
https://voces8.foundation/livefromlondon-christmas
Each concert last about an hour and I shall try to turn it into an event – possibly not a posh frock, but certainly drinks and nibbles and I shall light the fire.

                             II.            Online tours of favourite museums and galleries. This is the great bonus of the pandemic. Many museums and galleries have opened up tours online, some with a lecturer, some with notes. I know it doesn’t have the atmosphere of the real thing but, often you get a much better view of exhibits than you would if you were there in person being jostled by the crowds, or having your view blocked by someone, taped tour guide jammed against their ear, who insists on standing in front of the exhibit until the recording has finished.
Here are some that the Royal Academy are doing:
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/articles/tag/virtual-tour?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LM_Solus_Families_NovNewsletter_monthly_d_Families_17.11.20&utm_content=version_A&sourceNumber=629980

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna also does online tours:
(Virtual museum tours with our app – also available for kids!
Download our art education app KHM Stories to your phone and enjoy virtual tours of the Kunsthistorisches Museum while staying at home. There are many tours especially for children, too!)

The Louvre has two pages of online tours!
https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

                         III.            Online theatre – You can go to the theatre online. WhatsOnStage
(https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/stage-shows-musicals-opera-free-stream-online_51198.html)
has lots of information on what’s available for free.
I have also signed up for Marquee TV https://www.marquee.tv/
which has theatre, ballet and opera. You have to subscribe to it but at the moment there’s a 14 day free trial with 50% off the first year, which considering how much it costs to go to the theatre or cinema these days, is a bargain.
The National Theatre and the Royal Opera House are also streaming productions, some free, some you have to pay for.
You can also explore what’s on YouTube.

                         IV.            If you don’t fancy the theatre, go to the cinema. Stream from Sky, Virgin, Amazon or Netflix or play a DVD.

                            V.            If you can’t go out to dinner, have dinner brought to you. Our local pubs have switched to doing take aways. A couple of them also do deliveries.
Or you can go to one of the online delivery services. I can recommend Pasta Evangelists https://pastaevangelists.com/
but there are loads of others to choose from.

If you look for them, there are lots of things you can do to amuse yourself and the research is quite fun too. The main thing (as I keep saying) is plan your treats in advance so that you have something to look forward to. Make it special.

Food

Sometimes the most ardent cook just can’t be bothered. You want something now, that you can eat this minute without any hassle. Most of them involve toast.

Three great comfort foods

·      Beans on toast
The secret of great beans on toast is lots of butter. Spread it thick and pour the hot beans over so it begins to melt. Try to eat it so that you have a mixture of unmelted butter and butter soaked toast. Divine.

·      Sardines on toast
If you are feeling really lazy, just place the sardines straight on the buttered toast (be sparing with the butter or it will all g et too greasy)
A small but delicious refinement is to mash the sardines with a drop or two of good wine vinegar – not too much – it lifts it onto  a different plane.

·      Cheese on toast
Straight cheese on toast is excellent – grated cheese onto buttered toast and grilled or bunged in the microwave for  1 minute, but there  are all sorts of variations.
Beat an egg into the grated cheese with salt, pepper and herbs, then grill. It will be fluffy and rich.

Spread the toast with chutney or pickle before adding the cheese.

Hide sliced tomatoes, apples or fried onions under the cheese.

Instant Soup

Most of these start with fry an onion but you can leave that stage out, if you really want quick food.

 

·    Pea Soup

(Basic) Put a cupful of peas in a cupful of stock and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and puree with a stick blender or food processor. Season to taste and serve with toast.

(Variations) Fry chopped onion, bacon or pancetta and garlic in butter until soft and golden. Add the peas and stock. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat and puree with a stick blender or food processor. Add a dollop of cream or Greek yoghurt. Season to taste and serve with toast

Liven it up with a drop of chilli sauce.

·      Mediterranean Soup (IOW tomato soup but not quite like Heinz)

Place a tin of tomatoes or a carton of passata in a saucepan. Add an onion, peeled and quartered (Chop it smaller to lessen the cooking time). Add a teaspoon of honey or sugar and a tablespoon of butter and as many peeled cloves of garlic as you fancy. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes. Puree with a stick blender or food processor and season to taste. You can vary the thickness of the soup by adding stock. Serve with fingers of toast, rubbed with garlic before they are buttered.

(Variations) Give it a kick by adding chilli sauce, Ras al Hanout and/or a couple of mashed anchovies.

Leave out the stock and you have an excellent pasta sauce.

·      Cream of vegetable soup

Place whatever vegetables you have, chopped small, in a saucepan. Add half a pint of milk per person and a stock cube. Bring slowly to the boil, being careful not to let it boil over. Simmer for 15 minutes (if you have chopped the vegetables small, this should be enough). Purée and season.

(Variations) Add pancetta or chopped bacon at the beginning of the cooking process. Add strips of bacon, fried until crisp, and sprinkle on top before serving. Add cream and/or grated cheese before serving.

Sometimes only a pudding will do

·      Baked apple. Take a largish apple and core it (Do not peel). Place in a microwavable bowl. Stuff the core hole with a mixture of dried fruit, honey, spices, brown sugar, butter, brandy, rum – whatever takes your fancy. Microwave for 1 minute. Serve with cream or yogurt.

·      Super porridge. Take a handful of oats and place in a microwavable bowl. Cover with cold milk and microwave for 1½ minutes. Serve with jam, dates, honey, cream . . .

I try to keep these staples in my cupboard/freezer for emergencies and lazy days:

·      Baked beans

·      Sardines

·      Tinned tomatoes

·      Passata

·      Butter

·      Cream

·      Greek yogurt

·      Peas

·      Chilli sauce

·      Spices

·      Dates

·      Jam

·      Oats

·      Milk

·      Pancetta

·      Stock cubes

 

A bit of Jake Thackray to make you feel good. (Sorry about the ads, but you can skip them)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZGTWLfY5g&list=OLAK5uy_kUCQyAa9a31oqiqxSD2MmSwAyQtF0w9q0

A Rainy Day in Paris (1877) 

by Gustave Caillebotte

 

I bet this was painted in November. It is very clever in the way it uses the position of the lamppost to balance our view of the rainy day – we have a close up of a couple walking in the rain, winter coats and umbrellas on the right hand side, while the left hand side pulls away so that we have a wider view of the wet Paris streets. The steep triangular shape of the shop show two of Haussmann’s boulevards stretching away into the distance.

We are so accustomed to this view of Paris – the wide boulevards bordered by identical classic terraces faced with cream coloured stone, elegant, graceful the epitome of all things Parisian. But in 1877, this was all new.

Napoleon III had decided that Paris must be modernised, because it was basically still a medieval city with narrow twisted streets, dark houses, rife with crime and disease. Napoleon III wanted a new, magnificent city with wide avenues, healthy buildings and light. (The wide avenues would also make moving his troops around the city a lot easier, maintaining civil order and keeping him safe on the throne.)

Building started in 1854. Most of the city centre was demolished and eighty kilometres of interconnecting boulevards were built. Incredibly the building was finished by 1871, just six years before this picture was painted.

Caillebotte was fascinated by these developments and the new Paris is the subject of many of his paintings.