Beet Read: The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry

TheSharperYourKnife

Written by Rachel Clark

In the best tradition of cozy, armchair cooking memoir, The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn taps culinary gold. Part diary, part travelogue, part love story—all marinating in the thick, heady fumes of the Cordon Bleu cooking school — this book might send you off to Paris. Or at least off to pour another cup of steaming hot cider as you nestle down under your blanket, all cozied up with this wonderful memoir.

Now that the gardens are put to bed, and the days are shortening, it’s the perfect time for the kind of book that tempts you with dreams. Flinn was a corporate workhouse for many years…she was, that is, until she lost her job. When a new friend asked her, “What do you really want to do with your life?” her answer was almost immediate: “Move to Paris and attend the Cordon Bleu cooking school.” Except she knew almost no French, and she’d hardly cooked in her life. But she allowed the possibility of the dream, inquired into how one applies to the school, and before she knew it, she was slaving under a fierce French chef — “The Gray Chef” she nicknamed him, for his  tempestuous moods — attempting to endure his anger when he shouts her down after tasting her overly sweet sauce: “You’re wasting your time!”

A popular and delightful memoir that some have compared to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love — but more mature, wise, and well-crafted — The Sharper Your Knife is the perfect book to cozy up with this November. Please join us to discuss The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry (Viking Books 2006) by Kathleen Flinn on

Sunday, November 30 from 6:00-7:30 pm

. Remember to email

bookclub@moscowfood.coop

for the meeting location and directions and/or to receive email reminders about the Good Food Book Club. The Sharper Your Knife by Kathleen Flinn is available through your local library.  If you are interested in buying the book, check out the area’s local used book stores or visit Book People of Moscow where Book Club members receive a discount. For more information about the Good Food Book Club, check out the Outreach section of the MFC website at

www.moscowfood.coop

.

Food for Thought Film: Blackfish

This month the Co-op is partnering with the University of Idaho Department of Fish & Wildlife Sciences to present the award winning film Blackfish. Blackfish is a 2013 documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in January 2013, and was later picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films. The documentary focuses on the captivity of Tilikum, an orca involved in the deaths of three individuals, and the consequences of keeping orcas in captivity. The film includes shocking footage and emotional interviews that examine orcas’ unique personalities and behaviors, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the impacts of sea parks that capitalize on training marine wildlife to perform for audiences.http://youtu.be/G93beiYiE74 We are pleased to announce that several former SeaWorld trainers from the film will be attending our screening and hosting a question and answer session immediately following the movie. Although this will be an open forum, there will be a focus on the impacts of the film and how viewers can get involved if they’re interested. Discussion will continue the following day with events taking place on the University of Idaho campus.

Blackfish will be shown on Thursday October 16th at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center with doors opening at 6:30 PM. Screening is FREE!

UI Events open to the public Friday, October 17th:

• Panel Discussion & Workshop w/ former SeaWorld Trainers 9:30 – 11:30 AM in the UI Law School Courtroom

• Research seminar "Emerging Science on the Effects of Captivity on Orcas" with Dr.s Jeff Ventre and John Jett, at Fish & Wildlife Sciences from 12:30 - 1:30 PM