Friday Five: 5 Best Things Jamie Iredell Has Read Recently

Yesterday was a review of Prose. Poems. A Novel by Jamie Iredell, which contains stories from three chapbooks that he previously published. Jamie also designs books for C&R Press, blogs at jamieiredell.blogspot.com and from all hints and clues, lives in Atlanta. I asked Jamie to let us know the five best things he's read lately. This is what he sent back in mid-October:

5. The turning of the leaves in Georgia for fall. No, it's not as spectacular as New England; it's not particularly spectacular at all. But I'll take what I've got, and it's felt good this year to attempt to be very aware of how the planet changes as it goes through the seasons. I've been noting (a la Thoreau, even if not as formally) the dates when the sycamores and dogwoods first sprout buds in late March and when the blackgums start reddening in September, for example. I guess it makes me more here here.



4. Frank Stanford's The Singing Knives. There's really nothing to say about this book except that if you're not a reader of Frank Stanford you're not a reader.



3. I recently re-read Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and, for whatever reason--maybe I never noticed before, assuming he was just one of those "early American writers" who are boring--but, that guy (and that story in particular) has got some serious prose styling going on. I love this: "The revenue arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda." Any time you compare one's dilating powers to that of an anaconda--describing a human in such a way--you've got my attention.

2. I didn't really read this, but made it up, although there's probably a recipe out there for it, even if I didn't follow it. I've done this twice now, and it's awesome, that is: I am truly full of awe when eating.

Bourbon Steak Marinade & Sauce

1/2 cup Maker's Mark
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp back pepper

Marinate 4 tenderloin steaks for at least three hours in the refrigerator, turning once.

Grill the steaks on a charcoal grill, or over the embers of a wood fire. You can use a gas a grill, but I don't think you're grilling. You might as well just throw the steaks in the oven if you use a gas grill.

Save the leftover marinade, transferring it to a sauce pan. Heat over medium low and add 1 tbl of brown sugar, and two tbl of ketchup, and mix well. The marinade makes a great sauce to pour over the steaks. This is some of the best eating, if you're not a vegetarian.



1. The best thing ever (in the last week or so): Uncle Shuck's Pumpkin Patch and corn maze, where I took my sister (who's form California) and who said "no" when asked if--after visiting Uncle Shuck's--she wanted to move to Georgia. My wife also took this photo of me there.