March 18

John Hoyer Updike's Birthday

John Updike's most famous novels are his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Both Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest received the Pulitzer Prize. The Rabbit novels in particular can be viewed as, according to Julian Barnes, "a distraction from, and a glittering confirmation of, the vast bustling ordinariness of American life. But as Updike saw a certain gorgeousness in everyday America, he also saw its decline: at times, he was "so clearly disturbed by the downward spin of America.

Heavy on mortality, but light on morbidity, Updike wrote about American small town, Protestant, middle-class life .Updike was recognized for his careful craftsmanship, stylistic prose, and his prolific output, He was wrote more than twenty novels and more than a dozen short story collections, as well as poetry, art criticism, literary criticism and children's books. Updike often explored adultery in many of his novels, especially in a suburban, middle class setting, most famously in Couples (1968).

As a testament to Updike's popular cultural importance, in an episode titled "Insane Clown Poppy" of TV's The Simpsons, John Updike is the ghost writer of a book that Krusty the Clown is promoting. The book's title is "Your Shoe's Too Big To Kickbox God," a 20-page book written entirely by John Updike as a money-making scam. With the success of the Rabbit novels, there is only one possible food to prepare to celebrate Updike's birthday. The following recipe may be most appropriate for the book that Updike didn't write - Rabbit, Run Faster.

Rabbit is a very bony meat. Either have a your butcher bone the rabbit or remove the bones yourself after cooking the casserole. Enjoy it while watching John in The Century: America's Time (1999).

Rabbit Casserole

Ingredients
2 rabbits, skinned and jointed 1/4 cup vegetable oil flour salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 medium onions, sliced thick 1/2 lb bacon, sliced think and cut into 2" pieces 1/4 cup chopped parsley	1/2 cup brandy 1 cup red wine 2 cups chicken stock 4 carrots cut into 2" pieces 2 red peppers cut into strips 4 tomatoes, cut into large chunks
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180°F. 2. Coat the rabbit portions in the flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Sauté onion and bacon a large pan for about three minutes. Then add floured rabbit until browned all over. Remove and place ingredients in an ovenproof casserole 3. Transfer the onion and rabbit to a casserole dish and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. 4. Bake for 2 hours and stir occasionally. Serve immediately.

Serves 4