Because it is fall, and everyone is caught up in the hustle-bustle of back to school...plus, because we all loved the idea of cooking up fair food, we read Charlotte's Web by E.B. White this month. Most of us had read it as kids, and it has been around so long that it was hard to tell if it was supposed to be nostalgic, or if it just simply captures the eternal charms of farm life.We talked about who raise farm animals growing up (none of us personally, but many have close relatives who did or do). We talked about our favorite foods to eat at the fair (corn dogs, scones, grilled onion burgers were high up on the list). And we talked about this wonderful book and its author.
Overall we were very charmed by what this book had to say about the value of friendship, and what it meant to be a good friend. We debated if this book made anyone want to be a vegetarian, and if it was meant to do so...and the conclusion was this would have been more effective to that end if Wilbur ended up being slaughtered, but since the reader is not traumatized by the events it isn't as strong a message in that direction. We talked about how much we loved the language and descriptions in this book (particularly the lengthy details about what was in Wilbur's slops). We also appreciated the value of being able to "just sit and listen, and be one with the barn."
The connection was made that E.B. White was same White who helped create The Elements of Style. Wikipedia revealed he also wrote a spoof called Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do which we found rather amusing.Carol brought in an amusing vegetarian title her neighbor gave her called Babe's Country Cookbook based on another fictional famous pig.
Alas for poor Babe, we did not stick to a vegetarian menu this meal, but did have a wonderful variety of flavors represented.
Julie made chicken fried steak, and Karen made Pigs in a Blanket:
Heather M. had a crock-pot tragedy, but still made scrumptious bochwurst sausage with sauerkraut.
Laura made delicious homemade pickles, caramel corn and yummy pasta salad.
I brought homegrown tomatoes (grown from plants I got from Prema) and store-bought veggie corn dogs.
Carol made a delicious "blue ribbon" strawberry rhubarb pie.
Katie W. brought perfectly soft homemade gingersnaps and raspberry soda.
And Katie S. made deep-fried fun-sized candy bars! 
Next month's book is Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. There are three copies behind the desk at the Mountlake Terrace Library for Foodie Book Group members. We will be meeting on Wednesday October 10, 2012 at 6:30pm at the Bethesda Lutheran Church.Can't wait to see what sorts of food will come out of this book! Hopefully it was be as tasty as it is resourceful.
