The Body in the Ivy (31 page)
Read The Body in the Ivy Online
Authors: Katherine Hall Page
I wrote the first author's note at the end of
The Body in the Cast,
the fifth in the series, to explain why I was including recipes for food mentioned in the book and why I hadn't done so earlier. Since that first note, I have enjoyed stepping from behind the curtain and speaking directly to readers. In the case of this particular book, I want to make it clear that, although some of my characters weren't happy at Pelham College, this in no way reflects my opinion of similar institutions of higher learning. I attended a women's college during roughly the same time period described here and have been forever grateful both for the education I received and the lasting friendships I madeâand for all sorts of other experiences, which have provided such rich fodder for conversation over the years.
My class was a class on the cusp. When we arrived as freshmen, the rules were essentially unchanged from a time when young women were thought to need stringent regulations lest they wittingly or unwittingly run amok. By the time I graduated, sign-outs had been abolished, as well as many of the other carryovers (current students at my alma mater are the most shocked by the fact that we couldn't have cars on campus: “How did you get anywhere?”). The dress I wore for my admissions interview was demureâa Lanz navy blue cap-sleeved wool sheath with a white linen collar. It ended exactly in the middle of my knee. By senior year, we were all in microminis and bold Marimekko prints from Finland. We wore our hair as long and as straight as possible, forsaking the rigid rollersâthe worst had brushes insideâthat we slept on in our teens for ever more unusual techniquesâsome of us would ask a friend to iron her locks. And one girl had her fifteen minutes of fame as the inventor of a method that involved using your own head as a giant roller, swirling the wet hair close to the skull, securing it with clips until it dried, almost perfectly straight. We wanted to lookâand soundâlike Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez.
I loved those four years. My classroom experiences where every woman had a voice and used it empowered us. It was all right to be smart. We had wonderful mentors in both female and male professors. There was an extraordinary greenhouse, and yes, the century plant did bloom our freshman year, providing us with a symbol of both the transitory and enduring nature of life. We wouldn't be around for the next show of blos
soms, but another group of young women, probably not unlike us, would.
The student body today is a diverse one in all waysâa vast improvement. Accents are not erased, nor are students assigned rooms on the basis of religion or ethnicity.
“Gracious Living” was stifling at times, but even then we treasured those sit-down dinners (most of us kept a “dinner skirt” within easy reach, one that could be donned quickly after shedding our jeans). We were forced to stop whatever we were doing, break bread, and talk to each other. Having been used to family dinners, I grew to treasure my new family, a family of friends. And over forty years later, the topics have changed, but not the act of conversingâespecially the helpless laughter and, on occasion, the tears. When I applied to college, the mother of a friend of mine encouraged me to apply to a women's college, saying, “You will mostly be with women all your life, so you need to learn how wonderful and strong they are.” I didn't really understand what she was getting at then, but I know it now, just as Faith does. I hope I've been able to convey how important her female friendships are to her, as well as the close tie she enjoys with her sister.
As I wrote this book, which depicts the way a group of friends is destroyed by the pathology of one member, I was concerned that readers might assume, incorrectly, that I think this is what happens when you isolate women in a college setting, or any other one, for that matter. This is why I made such a point at the end of the book of rekindling the friendships that were so horribly disrupted by Prin's actions. I like to imagine that Barbara
Bailey Bishop sells her island and finds someplace on the mainland where they all gather again in the futureâwith Faith in the kitchen, of course.
P.S. I hope you Christie fans have been having fun picking out all the
And Then There Were None
references!
8 ounces rice stick or
cellophane noodles
1
/
4
cup scallions, sliced thin
8 ounces crabmeat,
preferably fresh
1
/
4
cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Following the directions for amount on the noodle package, bring a pot of water to a good boil. When the water is close to the boil, sauté the scallions. Add the noodles to the now boiling water. They will cook very quickly. Be sure to stir with a pasta muddler or a wooden spoon. As soon as you have started the noodles, add the crab and white wine to the scallions. Be careful not to overcook any of the ingredients. This is extremely fast food.
Drain the noodles and place a portion on four heated plates. Divide the crab/scallion mixture among them, adding a few uncooked sliced scallions on top. Serve immediately. Faith likes to serve steamed sugar snap peas or peapods with this dish. Serves four.
2 pounds chuck beef cut
into large cubes
Flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted
butter
Salt and freshly ground
pepper
1
/
3
cup cognac (optional)
1
/
4
pound bacon, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, sliced into
approximately 1-inch
pieces
1 leek, the white part,
cleaned and sliced
1 small yellow onion,
diced (approximately
1
1
/
2
cups)
1
/
2
pound mushrooms,
sliced
1 tablespoon minced
parsley
1
/
2
teaspoon thyme
1
/
2
bottle Burgundy or
similar red wine
Water
Dredge the beef cubes in flour (Faith does this the way her grandmother did by shaking the meat and flour in a brown paper bag). Melt the oil and butter in a large skillet and brown the meat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the cognac, if being used, on top and carefully ignite. When the flames die down, transfer the meat to a casserole with a lid using a slotted spoon.
Preheat the oven to 350º F.
Add the bacon, garlic, carrots, leek, onion, mushrooms, and parsley to the skillet. Sauté until the bacon is slightly crisp and the onion, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, and leek are soft. You should stir the mixture frequently.
Add the contents of the skillet to the meat.
Add the thyme, Burgundy, and just enough water to cover the stew.
Cover and place the casserole in the center of the oven. Bake for 1â1
1
/
2
hours. Serve with egg noodles and more parsley as a garnish. This dish tastes delicious the day it's madeâlet it rest for 10â15 minutes before servingâand even better if made a day ahead. Serves six.
1 large fennel bulb (about
1 pound)
1 large potato, peeled
and diced (Yukon
Golds are good)
1
/
2
medium yellow onion,
peeled and diced
1
/
4
teaspoon tarragon
4 cups chicken stock,
preferably unsalted
1
/
2
cup light cream or
half-and-half
Salt and
1
/
4
teaspoon
freshly ground pepper
Seeds from half a
pomegranate
Cut the tall stalks from the fennel bulb, saving some of the feathery fronds for a garnish, if desired. Cut the bulb into chunks.
Put the fennel, potato, onion, and tarragon into a heavy saucepan.
Add the chicken stock, bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer until the fennel, onion, and potato are soft.
Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor, return to the saucepan, and add the cream or half-and-half. Salt and pepper to taste.
This soup tastes best warm, not piping hot. The pomegranate seeds add flavor and texture. This is a good cold summer soup, too. Try shrimp instead of the pomegranate seeds. Serves six.
1
/
2
cup walnuts
1 cup flour
1
/
2
cup rolled oats
1
/
3
cup packed light
brown sugar
1
/
2
teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1
/
2
cup unsalted butter at
room temperature
2 pounds of rhubarb
3
/
4
to 1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons flour
Preheat the oven to 375º F. Toast the walnuts in a baking pan until lightly browned and aromatic. Let cool and coarsely chop.
Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and stir to mix. Working quickly with your hands or a pastry blender, add the butter until the mixture has a crumbly texture. Stir in the chopped walnuts and set aside.
Wash and trim the rhubarb and cut it into
1
/
2
-inch slices (about 6 cups).
Put the rhubarb in a large bowl and add the sugar and flour. Toss until the rhubarb is well coated. Spread the rhubarb evenly in a 12-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake until the rhubarb is tender and bubbling, approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Faith also makes this with strawberries, both fruits happily in season at the same time. You simply replace half or more of the rhubarb with halved berries.
4 squares unsweetened
chocolate (Faith likes
Scharffenberger)
1
/
2
cup water
2 cups sifted cake flour
1
1
/
2
teaspoons baking
powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 cup sour cream
2
/
3
cup unsalted butter
1
2
/
3
cups firmly packed
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Melt the chocolate in the water over low heat, mix well. Let cool.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350º F.
Add the sour cream to the thoroughly cooled chocolate.
Cream the butter and sugars together and then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Beat the vanilla into the butter, sugar, egg mixture. Now add the flour mixture and chocolate mixture alternately.
Divide the batter between two round cake pans greased with butter or sprayed with a product like PAM.
Bake in the center of the oven for 30â40 minutes, until a broom straw or cake tester comes out clean.
Fill and frost when cool using your favorite chocolate frosting recipe, adding
3
/
4
cup finely chopped walnuts. Faith likes to use a traditional chocolate butter cream frosting and sprinkles more walnuts on top of the layer cake.
As always, many thanks to my agent, Faith Hamlin; my editor, Sarah Durand; Jeanne Bracken, Lincoln Library reference librarian; Ethel Clifford; and David Fine for culinary expertise.
KATHERINE HALL PAGE
is the author of fifteen previous Faith Fairchild mysteries. Her first book,
The Body in the Belfry,
received the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel; her short story, "The Would-Be Widower," received the Agatha Award for Best Short Story; and
The Body in the Snowdrift
received the Agatha Award for Best Mystery Novel. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.
Visit her website at
www.katherinehallpage.com and
www.katherinehallpage.org
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