This piece takes off with a great first sentence. A woman witnesses a peach pit that looks like Jesus, quits drinking and examines all of the peach pits she runs across for the look of Jesus. The author goes from seeing a picture of the peach pit Jesus lady to making her own batch of eight jars of (eventual) Peach Wine, the color of honey with blobs of peaches pushing up against the glass of the jars as it ferments.
This is a fun listen. I would have put "Light" as a tone, but if it had background music, it would have been all minor chords. It's not a sad piece, but it feels like a rainy day made happier by a glass of peach wine. I'm going to go google a recipe.
This piece isn't innovative or cutting edge--it doesn't need to be. It doesn't need any additional sound or music. It is a simple piece of good storytelling, plainly told. In describing a recipe for canning peaches, she describes the method for removing the fruit's skin as "like peeling skin off a sunburn." With language like that, any production aesthetic added to this piece would just get in the way of it's powerful words.
While this piece is a dead-ringer for the style of commentary you'd hear in an NPR magazine, it is refreshing to see a piece like this produced with the restraint necessary to highlight the natural beauty of the story.
A few other notes:
Seasonal: The producer indicates this would be good for August. I'd expand this to fall use as well. Even though it deals with a summer peach stand and canning--listening to it now (in October), it still feels topical. I'd see this as being a useful piece from mid-July though October.
Music: The description mentions theme music, but the piece is unscored.
Comments for A Cook's Notebook: Peach Pit Jesus
This piece belongs to the series "A Cook's Notebook"
Produced by Viki Merrick of APM and Steve Young of WCAI & WNAN
Other pieces by Ali Berlow
Rating Summary
2 comments
Hans Anderson
Posted on February 22, 2007 at 12:41 PM | Permalink
Review of A Cook's Notebook: Peach Pit Jesus
This piece takes off with a great first sentence. A woman witnesses a peach pit that looks like Jesus, quits drinking and examines all of the peach pits she runs across for the look of Jesus. The author goes from seeing a picture of the peach pit Jesus lady to making her own batch of eight jars of (eventual) Peach Wine, the color of honey with blobs of peaches pushing up against the glass of the jars as it ferments.
This is a fun listen. I would have put "Light" as a tone, but if it had background music, it would have been all minor chords. It's not a sad piece, but it feels like a rainy day made happier by a glass of peach wine. I'm going to go google a recipe.
Eric Nuzum
Posted on October 09, 2003 at 12:51 PM | Permalink
Review of A Cook's Notebook: Peach Pit Jesus
While this piece is a dead-ringer for the style of commentary you'd hear in an NPR magazine, it is refreshing to see a piece like this produced with the restraint necessary to highlight the natural beauty of the story.
A few other notes:
Seasonal: The producer indicates this would be good for August. I'd expand this to fall use as well. Even though it deals with a summer peach stand and canning--listening to it now (in October), it still feels topical. I'd see this as being a useful piece from mid-July though October.
Music: The description mentions theme music, but the piece is unscored.