BOOKS
Manhattan Beach
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach is a gritty mystery wrapped in a great historical novel. It begins in the midst of the Depression. Eddie Kerrigan is driving his eleven-year-old daughter, Anna, to Mr. Styles’ house on Manhattan Beach. Both men like their children near them when they are doing business, most of which is illegal.
The year Anna turns fourteen her father walks out of their apartment never to return. Five years later Anna has left Brooklyn College to work at the Naval Yard, helping to support her mother and her disabled sister, Lydia. The war has changed everything about the women’s lives; Anna wants to work as a salvage diver. Secretly she hopes to find her father. When she meets Dexter Styles in a Manhattan nightclub it seems possible that she might. A perfect read for February’s cold nights.
Request these books any month of the year at your local library or bookstore.
Article author Maureen Millea Smith is a librarian at the Edina Library and a Minnesota Book Award-winning novelist.
SIPS
Brash Higgins
One of my favorite things about being a sommelier and an educator of wine resides in the fact that I get to share other families’ stories, describe their properties from my own experiences and in turn, support the communities that raise the wines. One Australian winery that comes to mind when I think of supportive community is Brash Higgins. The winery’s owners Brad Hickey & Nicole Thorpe focus primarily on making wines that are terroir-based. Wines that tell the story of their property from soil to glass, which is why they hire a local potter to make amphoras from the clay of their vineyard space. The amphoras are then used for fermenting their wines. One of my favorites from their portfolio is Brash Higgins ‘FRNC’. A McLaren Vale Cabernet Franc that exudes delightfully clean notes of strawberry, raspberry and fresh garden herb. A perfect wine for pairing to your next occasion and one that will make you feel good about purchasing it.
Look for similar selections here at France 44 and Edina Liquor.
Article author Leslee Miller is a certified sommelier and owner of local wine consulting firm, Amusee and Sip Better Wine Club
PETS
Be careful with your Game-Day snacks!
Football fare can be irresistible to dogs and even cats can be tempted. But furry fans that intercept game day grub are likely to catch more than they bargained for. Super Bowl pet safety is possible with a few precautions.
- Beer: Just like people, animals can have a taste for beer. But think twice before pouring your pet a pint: even a nip can cause fatal respiratory depression. Or, get your dog some special beer that is safe for him to enjoy!
- Bones: Chicken wings have especially fine bones that can splinter and puncture the GI tract. And wing sauces are virtually guaranteed to cause an upset stomach.
- Onions: Onion rings are doubly dangerous: onions in any form are poisonous to pets and fried foods can cause diarrhea.
- Toothpicks: Toothpicks make a nice presentation for cubed meats, cheeses and other appetizers, but can cause severe and potentially fatal damage to pets’ GI tracts, if swallowed.
- Nuts: Many nut varieties can have a devastating effect on dogs’ nervous systems. Walnuts and macadamias are especially toxic and can cause vomiting, paralysis and even death.
