Juicy Peaches and Bitter Nuts

Reading Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls (VotD) is similar to eating a juicy peach. We get to enjoy the fruity celebrity personalities while sucking on the juice of a few tantalizing sex scenes. Here are the celebrity inspirations for each of the characters we are about to meet:
Carol Landis = Jennifer North
Dean Martin = Tony Polar
Judy Garland/Betty Hutton = Neely O’hara
Ethel Merman = Helen Lawson
After we devour the celebrity bits and slurp up all of the good juiciness we are left with the story’s remains… the hard, wrinkled shell that contains the bitter nut; the message that getting old in Hollywood sucks.

With her introductory poem, Jacqueline Susann warns us about the journeys we are about to witness while reading VotD yet our desire for celebrity gossip and sex overwhelm us and we dive right in, letting the story wash over us in waves of hope only to battle a vicious riptide of the reality of beautiful, ambitious, naive young women in 1960’s New York:
“You’ve got to climb to the top of Mount Everest
to reach the Valley of the Dolls
You stand there, waiting for
the rush of exhilaration you thought you’d feel – but
it doesn’t come.
You’re too far away to hear the applause
and take your bows.
And there’s no place left to climb...

…Anne Welles had never meant to start the climb.
Yet, unwittingly, she took her first step
the day she looked around
and said to herself,
‘This is not enough – I want something more.’”…

This “something more” is a common thread that binds the three main characters, Anne Welles, Jennifer North and Neely O’Hara into friendship. Outside of their ambitious career aspirations the pressure to find and marry “the one” is intense and adding to the intensity is the introduction of Helen Lawson. Helen is divorced, loud, brash, and overconfident. At the age of 32, she is considered old and decidedly unsexy by the successful men that surround her. Helen is inserted into the story by Susann like a threat to Anne, Jennifer and Neely that beauty fades with age and if you choose to be independent and don’t marry a successful man by the age of 25 you may end up with a nickname such as Old Ironsides.

Here are some book club questions to ponder as you read through VotD:

• What type is “the one” for Anne? For Neely? For Jennifer? How does the type you chose for them compare to the men they chose for themselves?
• Go back to your youthful early 20’s for this question: which character did you most relate to Anne, Jennifer, Neely or Old Ironsides?
• Could you relate to Anne’s sexual awakening? What was the first time like for you? Was it as awkward and immature as Anne’s? Or was it everything you ever dreamed of?
• What did you think/hope about Allen and Anne?
• What are your thoughts about the evolution of Neely?
• What did you think about the relationship between Maria and Jennifer North?
• While reading VotD are you longing for the simpler requirements of the women in the 1960’s? Or are you grateful for all the opportunity women have today?
• What did you think of Lawrenceville? And Anne’s picturesque house in Lawrenceville? Do you think Anne will change her mind about Lawrenceville as she matures?

Returning to our topic of juicy peaches and bitter nuts, we are working on the potluck list for Nicole’s brunch on February 13th. If you know what you’re going to bring then comment here or post on Facebook. We’ll post the potluck details on the blog next week.

Reboot Post ~ January and February Meetings

Our January meeting is this Saturday the 22nd at Scotty's in Vallejo, 11am!

We haven't caught up to books 5-6 of the Sookie series so this meeting will be all about breakfast, future meeting topics and exchanging books. Bring a book or two that you would like to exchange and another book or two that you would like to discuss for future topics. We are on the hunt for fun/interesting books centering around the following topics:

Pirates (June meeting)
Resurrection/Religion (our theme for Spring)
Horse Racing (August meeting)

Here are the RSVP's we have for Scotty's:
Dalila, Angela, Melissa, Gloria, Alice, Ivy, Darla, Gemma
we'll be holding a table so let us know if you are not on the list or if your name is on the list but you can't make it.

Potluck Brunch at Nicole's place is now scheduled for February 13th at 1pm.
Arrange a designated driver and bring your Valley of the Dolls inspired dish/cocktail. We'll start a potluck list within the next week and everyone that RSVP'd will receive the address to Nicole's place too. We are arranging a carpool caravan from Angela's house in Vallejo, here's the list we currently have for the carpool :
Alice, Gloria, Gemma, Melissa, Angela, Jenny

If you don't have time for reading we found the Valley of the Dolls movie on Netflix!

Hope to see you on Saturday at Scotty's!

2011 Meeting Dates Refresher

This post is quick refresher for everyone recovering from the Holiday excess.

Return to Sookie
11am on Saturday January 22, 2011 ~ Sookie Stackhouse, by Charlaine Harris, books 5-6
Hope you like apple fritters!
Scotty's Cafe
1645 Tennessee St
Vallejo, CA 94590
RSVP on FB

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Dish over Brunch at Nicole's place
1pm on February 13
Oakland, CA
RSVP on FB and we'll email you the address

Stay warm and hydrated and we'll see you soon!

Octowieny Is the Wiener! At-Attention Lemons!

In December, our new found friend and possible (she has to pass our lengthy application process) honorary club member, Amy Sedaris, taught us the following about throwing a good party:
• Send crystal-clear invitations: mostly everyone understood when and where so I’m calling this category a success.
• Have a theme: ours was 70’s Housewife Potluck and we made it look sexy.
• Make a profit: I made $2.50 from the indoor garage sale (where we also sold 'lil porno bunny and a crusty clam!) Garage sale was suggested on page 33 of I Like You. Call me crazy but I’m spending the whole $2.50 on our next book club meeting.
• Feed your guests: we all did this, together, Potluck Style!
• Keep the conversation (and alcohol) flowing: we definitely had tons of laughs and great chemistry.

Potluck Dinner included:

What's Your Beef, Stew? pg 254, modified and made delicious by Gloria

Tasty Greek Beans pg 238 by Jenny

Lil' Smokey Cheese Ball pg 181 by Gina
Vegans-Need-Love-Too Stuffed Peppers by Kim

and the featured dishes of the evening:
The Real-Deal Tater-tot Casserole by Alice

Dick-tot Casserole by Jen W., and I challenge club members to post the puns for this dish on V-Town's FB page.

This hostess fell a bit short of her paparazzi duties and missed excellent photo opportunities of the awards and award ceremony, the complete potluck layout, the 70’s wear, the shoe plant with the trellis. So if you have photos post those on V-Town's FB page too! Well, I'm not one to dwell on excuses, time to reach into the Fuck it! Bucket and forge ahead.

After enjoying our bountiful potluck booty we held our first annual White Elephant Craft and Crap Exchange.

Crafts

Not only did we have Fuck it! Buckets, (thank you Jenny and Dalila!) we also held a White Elephant gift exchange of these featured items:

The Totem Pole (me)
Mrs. Ragsdale (Jenny)

Felt Discs (Nicole)

Lemon Nipples for that hard nipple look (Gina).

Not pictured is Ivy's plant in a sturdy pleather shoe that included a trellis! I'm still kicking myself for not keeping that one in the family. Mrs. Ragsdale and the Felt Discs have a new home nestled safely on my bookshelf.

Award Ceremony

After the Craft and Crap Exchange we presented awards for the Best Pot Luck Dish and the Best 70's Wear. *Drumroll* And the Wiener Is....! Dick-Tot Casserole winning for the ingenious use of hot dogs and for being one of the main centerpieces of attention for the entire evening. The other center of attention and winner of the prize for Best 70's Wear was Nicole in her cock print 70's short-shorts, frock and matching earrings.

In true potluck fashion there were so many winners from the Greek Beans, to The Real-Deal Tater Tot Casserole, the Vegans-Need-Love-Too Stuffed Peppers, the Forget-Me-Not Cosmos with the perfect amount of vodka and the Kick-Ass Pomegranate Sangria with the tasty pops of pomegranate and the one-two punch of Triple Sec. I was the real winner, not only because of my garage sale earnings but because I opened my fridge the next day I found that I was well stocked with tasty leftovers, cosmo mixer and a huge bottle of sangria!

Next year the Award Ceremony will have a category for inspirational culinary art because after this party my culinary art world expanded beyond Hello Kitty bento boxes and into hot dog octopuses and lemon nipples. The lemon nipples even inspired the favorite quote of the evening, "I've already been warped in my perception of zucchinis, bananas, and cucumbers but now I will never look at lemons the same...”

I’ll close this recap with a new Book Club tradition, our cocktail-of-the-month club recipe:

Gloria’s It's-Not-Punch but It-Will-Punch-You Pomegranate Sangria aka Kick-Ass Pomegranate Sangria:

1 bottle red wine (TJ Cabernet)

1 cup Triple Sec

1 cup grapefruit soda

sliced apple

fresh pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup sugar (optional)

leave @ room temperature overnight then refrigerate
Never add ice, ever, you will die.

~Party transmuted into post by Angela~

Potluck Recipe for Luscious 70’s Housewife Dish

V-Town Book Club Potluck
Friday, December 10th
Angela’s House, Vallejo
7:30pm

Favorite question of the week:
Is this a cocktail-of-the-month club?

Our V-Town Book Club Potluck is next week! We are so excited to see everyone and it appears that almost all book club members will attend! Make sure you wear your favorite 70’s housewife outfit to match the theme for the party. If you need inspiration, check out Amy Sedaris’ book “I Like You: Hospitality under the Influence”.

Our discussion topic is David Sedaris’ book “Holidays on Ice”.

We’ll update this potluck list as members RSVP:
Kim – Quinoa stuffed peppers
Angela – Vodka, spanokopita, apple pie
Dalila – Stabrous' Tzatziki Sauce with Pita Scoops (p. 50) and Mediterranean potatoes
Jen W. – Fruit punch (drink it straight or mix with vodka)
Gina – Smokey Cheese Ball
Nicole – Snowy Balls (and maybe some ambrosia salad)
Gloria - Beef stew and sangria
Jenny - Greek Beans (or Coleslaw of the Dunes)
Melissa - Veggie Tray

BYOB if you prefer wine, beer, or soda.
You may leave a note on the Facebook wall for this event or email Angela.