Valerie Bonham

If I didn’t like Richard Griffiths for his wonderfully-horrible depiction of Harry Potter’s Uncle Vernon, he’d be at the top of my list of admired people for breaking the fourth wall when a theatre-goer’s cell phone ring interrupted a performance.  Bravo, Mr. Griffiths.

Unfortunately, he won’t be doing that any longer.  I may just sit down for a Harry-fest in his memory.

In Praise of Richard Griffiths, 1947 – 2013

When a 2005 West End production he was starring in was interrupted by a ringtone, he halted the show and addressed the culprit from the stage: “Could the person whose mobile phone it is please leave? The 750 people here would be fully justified in suing you for ruining their afternoon.”

When it comes to the welfare of animals dumped by careless former-owners, do property values trump the creatures’ fate, or should they be allowed to carry on, controlled but still free? Concerning association meetings, does might make right, or will reason and compassion carry the day?

The short story, They Taste Like Chicken, was inspired by a couple of fellows and their behavior.  One incident was from the 1970s and the other from about twenty years later.  Both incidents were brief, but left a lasting impression.  I couldn’t do anything about either one of the occurrences, then.

I’m guessing that what I can do now, write a story, neither of them would care about, but just let me tell you that if you annoy someone who likes playing with words and making stuff up, and if you wind up in on of their stories, your character probably won’t have a very good time. Some people might get a kick out of knowing that, but it’s not a compliment.  Trust me.

While wandering around my email lists, I came across a discussion that sparked my imagination.  The question was, “One of your favorite characters from a mystery is fixing dinner for you.  Who is the character and what are they making?”

I read the question as “One of your characters …” and I immediately jumped to the one character of mine that I was sure would be able to cook — Lisette, a young German woman who lives with her widowed father and who has a sensible head on her shoulders.

Lisette Lenz  is a clerk in the Army civilian personnel office on (the fictional) Ganzer Barracks near the (equally fictional) town of Zwischenkuppeln, Germany. Lisette is putting together a lovely picnic supper to have after a hike in the hilly Rhön area of northern Bavaria and southern Hesse.

Lisette bought Aufschnitt (various kinds of lunchmeat), Mischbrot (brown German bread), Tilsiter, Emmenthaler and Muenster cheeses, and cultured cream butter for the sandwiches, as well as grapes and some little Cox Orange Pippen apples. Dessert is Bienenstich, a sturdy vanilla pudding-filled cake topped with almonds and honey. For drinking, she has some Gerolsteiner Sprudelwasser (fizzy mineral water) and a bottle of Riesling wine.

When I double-checked the question, I saw that it really asked for “one of your favorite characters from a mystery …”  Insert a deep sigh, here.  After imagining the supper I would have after the hike, nothing else sounded appetizing.  To make things worse, now I want a slice of Bienenstich (and that’s pronounced BEE-nen-stish).

As misery loves company, I will give you a glimpse of the cake, and provide a link to a recipe you can try.

(image courtesy of Wikipedia)

Mahlzeit!  (the German version of bon appetit!)