We had so much fun together at the shoot. Notice how nice my mom’s pasties look in the photo below. Then, look how long and weird mine looks.

And now, look at the gorgeous one the food stylists made.

I guess the great thing about the pasty, much like the great thing about pies or really any homecooked meal, is that it doesn’t really matter how pretty it looks. It  always tastes good. I like poking a little hole in the top of my pasty and pouring in some melted butter before eating it.

A few days after the issue came out, I got this sweet email through facebook from a woman named Gail Higgins Ledin. Here’s what she wrote:

“I am on my lunch hour in Minnesota, picked up the REAL SIMPLE magazine to read, as I saw “Just Like Mom Made” on the cover. I was so curious what the recipes were… Pasties are one of my BEST childhood memories with my grandmother. My grandfather came from Cornwall to Michigan, and then lived in Northern Minnesota. He and his father were both Miners, and of course Pasties were eaten during their lunches. How fun to read your article!…When you know about pasties, you LOVE them!”

So true! Here’s the pasty recipe, if you’d like to try it tonight. What recipes have been passed down through your family? Do tell!

xo,

Erin

I’ve been thinking about this book for a while now. When I was doing publicity for How to Sew a Button, almost every interviewer, including The Today Show’s Ann Curry and WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, asked me, “What about the grandfathers? What can we learn from them?” Well, the way I see it, the list is long and varied. It includes everything from the basic (how to change a flat tire), to the sweet (how to make homemade ice cream), to the serious (how to be brave), to the celebratory (how to play the harmonica). As members of The Greatest Generation, our grandfathers were not only defined by the Depression, but also by their heroic service to the country in World War II. Courageous, responsible and involved, they understand sacrifice, hard work and how to do whatever is necessary to take care of their loved ones.

I only knew one of my grandfathers, and though I loved him, I didn’t know him well enough. When my family managed to make the two-hour car trip to visit him, my older sister and I would greet him with hugs and kisses and then dash to his two-tiered electric organ, where we’d plug in the giant head phones, bang away at the keys and toy with the rumba beats until it was time to leave. When I think about my memories of him, only two really stand out: When I was little, he let me occasionally “shine” his bald head with a rag, and when I was in college, he taught me to play a few chords on his guitar. In what I now realize was an act of supreme generosity, he even let me borrow his beloved Gibson, so I could practice. I still have it. I still play it. And I still wonder what else he would’ve taught me, if only I’d asked.

The fact is, for whatever reason, many of us didn’t ask (or didn’t even think of asking) our grandfathers about their lives. And had we started these conversations, we’d all be stronger, smarter and richer for it.

So, that’s exactly what I’m going to set out to do this spring, and I need your help. Over the next few months, I’ll interview ten grandfathers nationwide to collect their practical advice, sweet stories and hard-earned wisdom that’ll help us all save money, build confidence and get back to what’s really important in life. If you have or know a sharp-minded grandfather, age 80 or up, who lives in the United States and who would be willing to share his stories with me, please shoot me an email at eebried (at) gmail (dot) com and tell me a little bit about him. All of the grandmothers I interviewed for How to Sew a Button seemed to have a good time with it, and some were featured in their local newspapers. One grandmother’s family even threw her a party, where she signed copies of the book!

I can’t wait to get started on How to Build a Fire. There are so many new things I’m excited to learn. I hope you’ll stick with me as I share some of these new adventures!

xo,
Erin

You might’ve noticed that I haven’t blogged for a few weeks. I guess I was hibernating (or, more specifically, watching Season 1 and 2 of Damages). After a few months of doing interviews, readings, and television appearances for the book, I wanted to be quiet for a while (it’s my nature), and honestly, I just felt like I didn’t have anything left to say.

Now, I feel like I’m waking up again. H and I went to the park this morning for our daily 5-mile trek (run 2, walk 3) and I brought my camera along.

We stopped by the Boathouse and stood on the dock, where we tried to recall our wedding vows. We got married in that very spot almost two years ago now. (Click here to see two of the biggest smiles in the world.)

Then, we stopped and watched the swans for a while. I think they’re as happy as we are to see the ice finally melting away.

We climbed on the rocks by the waterfall, which is finally rushing again.

The Snowdrops are blooming like crazy, which means the crocuses aren’t too far behind.

Now that I’ve admired the first signs of spring outside, I guess I should start the annual ritual of cleaning inside. Key word: Should. There’s no way I’m going to do that on a day as beautiful as this. Instead, I think I’ll keep celebrating. Hope you enjoy the warm sunshine, too!

xo,

Erin

]]> http://www.howtosewabutton.com/archives/320/feed 0 http://www.howtosewabutton.com/archives/304 http://www.howtosewabutton.com/archives/304#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:45:52 +0000 admin http://www.howtosewabutton.com/?p=304 This past weekend, I watched my favorite movie, Love Actually for, oh, probably about the bazillionth time. Every time I watch it, I tear up during the opening monologue, where Hugh Grant talks about seeing love all around (but especially at the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport). I love the wedding scene, when the choir starts singing. The whole Liam Neeson story line is, of course, a heart breaker. The part where Hugh Grant finally finds Natalie? Water works.

If you haven’t figured this out yet, I’m a romantic. A sap, really. So when I was interviewing grandmothers for How to Sew a Button, in addition to asking them about cooking and entertaining, I made sure to also ask them about love. Since Valentine’s Day is only a few weeks away, I collected their best advice on how to make love last. Here’s what they told me.

Bottom line: If you’re lucky enough to find love, hold onto it. Oh, and if you have any love advice to share, please type your heart out below.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

xo, Erin

PS. If you’d like to embed this video on your own site, please feel free! You can get the html code right here. Please just give credit to howtosewabutton.com.

Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited on The Today Show to talk about How to Sew a Button and demonstrate some of the simpler tips in the book, which were previously excerpted in Self magazine in a story cleverly called, “Learn to Dance and Eight Other Things Every Woman Needs to Know.” SELF’s editor-in-chief, Lucy Danziger, presented with me. In case you missed it, here’s the segment. (Notice how I’m wringing my hands in the beginning. Nope, not nervous at all.)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It all went so quickly, but I had so much fun! I even got to hang out with the lovely Ann Curry for a little while after my bit. (Also, got to say hi to the other hosts, Matt, Al and Natalie, too!) When I got back home, my Sweetie took me out for a delicious champagne brunch. (I’m so lucky!)

I had emails from old friends from high school and college, who found me on Facebook. My Twitter friends were so happy for me. And then, I noticed a few tweets that honestly sort of surprised me. They said, “GE/NBC’s @todayshow wants 1950’s gender roles – ‘9 things every woman should know.’” Wha? Really?

I guess I need to address this, even though I’m more of a learn-it-do-it-enjoy-it type, rather than a talk-about-it type. So, here goes: There are 110 tips in my book, including everything from how to make a pie to how to brew your own beer, from how to speak out at a town hall meeting to how to build a fire, from how to dance a waltz to how to defend yourself from danger. Yes, I firmly believe that women could benefit from knowing how to do all of these things. And you know what? Men could, too.

One of the grandmothers I interviewed for the book, Lucile Frisbee, told me something interesting. She said, “During the Depression, there was no men’s work or women’s work. There was just work, and anybody who was around was expected to chip in.” When the laundry needed to be done, whoever was available did it. When the fire needed to be stoked, whoever happened to be closest to the wood pile would split the logs. They knew how to do these things because their lives (or, at least, the quality of their lives) depended on it. I sensed from my interviews that the gender divide–and the subsequent devaluing of so-called “women’s work”–came a little later. And, evidently, it still persists. If there were really a sense that “women’s work” was as valuable as men’s, would we even be having this discussion?

Equality stems from having the ability to make free choices in your life. Learning a new skill, whether it’s sewing a button, unclogging a drain or learning how to negotiate a better price, can only empower you, right?

Anyway, I think I’ll leave this discussion to the theorists. I’m going to go bake a pie, or maybe hang some drywall, or go snowboarding, or whatever the heck I feel like doing. I hope you all do whatever you want to do, too!

xo,

Erin

On the morning the piece ran, my phone rang. It was Bea. Her first words to me: “You’ve made me a personality! All of my friends are calling!” She was really happy, which made me so happy, too. She, like so many other grandmothers, has lived an extraordinary life, and yet this is the first newspaper story about her. I mean, she’s been volunteering at the Kennedy Center for thirty years! Thirty years! Can you imagine?

Aside from the Washington Post, other great reviews came in, too. How to Sew a Button was reviewed in The Boston Globe, The Detroit Free Press and Library Journal and on a few blogs, too, including My Sister’s Farmhouse, Gladys Tells All, Green LA Girl, Outblush, Non-Toxic Kids, Granny Su, Atlanta Bargain Hunter, Henna’s Place, Well Preserved, To The Max, Magpie Housekeeping, Shore Chic and Umami Girl. Whew!

All of this is absolutely thrilling, of course, but the reviews I’m most proud of came in the form of handwritten notes, delivered to my mailbox. Over the holidays, I sent each of the grandmothers I interviewed a hot-off-the-presses copy of the book, and much to my delight, some have written back.

Sue Ransohoff, who just turned 90, typed her letter and said (hilariously), “I’m sometimes fed up with ‘how to’ books, as though no one could make a decision on her own. But yours is different; it’s light hearted and it doesn’t run on and on. Well done!”

Alice Loft said, “I thank you so very much for sending me your (our?) oh-so-delightful book. One is inclined to read and enjoy the chuckles, instead of cooking. What fun! Love, Alice”

And Beatrice signs her cards (I’ve gotten three of them now), “Love, Bea xoxo”

While seeing my name in print in major newspapers or on new friends’ blogs makes my heart beat faster (OMG, what did they say?), seeing my name in carefully penned cursive on an envelope makes my heart fill with joy. There is a lesson in this correspondence. As 95-year-old Ruth Rowen told me, “Sending a card makes people feel good. There is such a thing as doing something just to make someone feel good.”

So, this is my first resolution of 2010: Buy stamps. Send cards. Most importantly, do something everyday just to make someone else feel good.

Love,

Erin

xoxo