Recipes and Recommendations for Imbibing Beauty through Books and Beverages
By Annie Nardone
Pages, Pints, and Pours wants us all to go home and sit with a wise elder, in this case Wendell Berry, the farmer, novelist, and thinker whose honest writings call us to slow down and witness miracles. The addition of an Old Fashioned might aid the process.
THE PAGES: PTHE WORLD-ENDING FIRE: THE ESSENTIAL WENDELL BERRY Selected by Paul Kingsnorth
With the uproar of the water still in our ears, we had as we entered the house the sense of having been utterly outside the lives we live as usual.
—Wendell Berry, “The Rise,” The World-Ending Fire
Many years ago, a friend walked into my classroom with her child, looked at me, and asked somewhat breathlessly, “Have you ever read Jayber Crow? I can’t stop thinking about it!” I hadn’t, but I’ll never turn down a good book recommendation, so I replied, “Who’s the author?” She said, “Wendell Berry! You haven’t read his work? I can’t believe it, but you must read Berry. I finished his novel in two days and no other writer grips your heart or transports you like he does.”
Well, after this strong recommendation, I felt a bit sheepish. There were no Wendell Berry texts among the hundreds of books on my shelves. Days later, I set out to my local bookshop coffeehouse to track down the novel, Jayber Crow. The clerk informed me it was sold out. She pulled The World-Ending Fire from the shelf and suggested that I start with this collection of 31 essays while I waited. I was pleased. An anthology is an easy (and time efficient!) introduction to the work by a new author.
My friend was correct. Few writers craft words with such gentleness and honesty. The World-Ending Fire was the gateway book to my love of Berry and a perfect introduction to the wonderful generosity of his writing. The first essay I read, entitled “The Rise,” inspired my imagination as Berry described a canoe trip down the rain-swollen Kentucky River that flowed a short distance from his home. “In Defense of Literacy” challenged me to reflect on the media’s “premeditated language” and the destruction of literary understanding. “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer” (Berry does not own one) honestly caused me to question the necessity of most electronics. A lengthier text called “The Work of Local Culture” muses over the creation of soil and tightly knit communities that “had each other’s comfort when they needed it, and they had their stories, their history together in that place.”
What Wendell Berry teaches us is to meet every day with a sense of awe. He shows us through his measured storytelling that there is great importance in the small things: an unplugged life journaled with pencil and paper, basic pleasures of a simple meal and good company, a slower pace, and witnessing miracles. Reading his essays feels like going home and sitting with a wise family elder who shares how past generations lived as a matter of course—the goodness of a simple life and honest work, the truth of our responsibility to tend the plot of land we are given, and the beauty of a new calf born in the middle of the night. Berry masterfully reminds us of the significance of simplicity.
Wendell Berry’s formula for a good life and a good community is simple and pleasingly unoriginal. Slow down. Pay attention. Do good work. Love your neighbours. Love your place. Stay in your place. Settle for less, enjoy it more. (—Paul Kingsnorth, Introduction to The World-Ending Fire)
(All quotes from The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry, Selected and with an Introduction by Paul Kingsnorth (Counterpoint, 2018).
PINTS AND POURS
Reminiscing while you rest in Wendell Berry’s beautiful, Americana-esque writing calls for the classic American mixed drink, the Old Fashioned Cocktail. There are two hotly-contested versions, so I include both recipes and leave the decision to you!
MUDDLED OLD FASHIONED
1 tsp. Luxardo maraschino cherry syrup
1 thin slice orange
2 ½ shots bourbon whiskey
¼ shot pure cane syrup
2-3 dashes aromatic orange bitters
1 Luxardo cherry
Muddle the orange slice and cherry syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add bourbon, cane syrup, and bitters. Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with cherry.
CLASSIC OLD FASHIONED
1 shot bourbon
1 shot rye whiskey
1/3 shot white or brown sugar syrup
2 dashes bitters, your choice of flavor
1 strip of orange peel
Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass. Add one large ice chunk. Twist orange peel over the glass then stir into the drink.
KENTUCKY SUNRISE
Mix this non-alcoholic version of an Old Fashioned and serve with a hearty farm breakfast!\
Thick slice of fresh orange
Thick slice of lemon
1 tsp. honey
Assorted berries or sliced strawberries
Cold seltzer
Gently muddle the orange and lemon slice with honey in a tall glass. Add ice cubes and berries, then pour seltzer over to fill. Garnish with another slice of lemon or orange.
Annie Nardone is a lifelong bibliophile with a special devotion to the Inklings and medieval authors. She is a Fellow with the C.S. Lewis Institute and holds an M.A. in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Christian University. Annie is a writer for Cultivating Oaks Press and An Unexpected Journal. Her writing can also be found at Square Halo Press, Rabbit Room Press, Clarendon Press U.K., Calla Press, and Poetica. Annie is a Master Teacher with HSLDA and Kepler Education and strives to help her students see holiness in everyday life and art. She lives in Florida with her husband and six cats, appreciates the perfect cup of tea, an expansive library, and the beach with family.
