This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
From the opening notes of the musical score, you just know that Baby Boom is set in the 80s. It is New York in 1987. Career men and women have fast paced lives. They live to work, often from five till nine, and everything else takes second place. JC, played by Diane Keaton, is a management consultant. Her other half (Spengler from Ghostbusters) is an investment banker. They love their demanding jobs. (But do they love each other?)
JC's boss wants to make her partner. Though he expresses concerns that JC is going to settle down and want children. But oh no, JC says, she absolutely does not. Her boss makes the point that men can have it all (despite him later admitting he has no idea how many grandchildren he has). Women, he says, can't. But I don't want it all, says JC insistently.
Then she inherits a baby from some long lost relative in England.
Her boss then demonstrates that he was right and women cannot have it all. Largely because he and his male colleagues cannot and will not tolerate the fact that JC has had a child foisted on her with no say in the matter. And a male subordinate takes the chance, whilst JC's life is in freefall, to stick the boot in and nick her job. But I digress.
JC's priorities change but she is still giving as much as she can to both work and baby. Then a major account (that she won) is taken from her. All because she is looking after an orphan. She leaves the company and buys a house in Vermont with acres of land and a wonderful orchard. The house has one thing after another wrong with it. With no money left she starts selling baby apple sauce to recoup some of her expenditure. And with her business savvy brain, her business, Country Baby, specialising in gourmet baby food, starts to take off.
It comes around full circle when the account she used to manage wants to buy her out.
Re-watching this film last night, after having children of my own, was stressful. Even my husband felt stressed. How JC holds the baby, attempts to put on a nappy with duct tape, feeding her linguine with tomato sauce on a pottery plate then being surprised when the baby throws it all up the walls, all made me want to throw linguine up the walls. But I loved what JC did after moving to the country. Instead of giving up she made the most of something she had in abundance. A business savvy brain and apples. Bushels and bushels of apples. And so she found a gap in the market.
Right now it is apple season. We have a fantastic array of apples in this country. In my kitchen at this very moment I have one sharp but sweet sunrise, one bramley cooking apple (my apple trees are only two years old!), plus a bowl of russets and a plentiful supply of something I cannot identify! Many of you must know someone with an apple tree with more fruit than they know what to do with. If you do, grab a bagful, and make something like JC that will delight throughout the winter months. If you go to the supermarket buy British. We have wonderful apples in this country.Recipe for Apple Sauce
Equipment
Heavy based pan, jam jar
Ingredients
Apples
Sugar (to taste)
Nutmeg
Butter
Method
- Peel and core apples.
- Chop and place in heavy based pan and put over a low heat with lid on. Cut the eating apples into much smaller pieces. Cooking apples will turn into a lovely apple mush whereas eating apples will retain their shape. (I used my large bramley along with a couple of russets and another eating apple from my neighbour's tree. This made one jar of sauce.) Chopping the eating apples small will mean you don't have large chunks coming out the jar.
- Wash out jam jar, including lid. Sterilise both with boiling water, drain on kitchen paper then place the glass jar only (not lid) into the oven on 150 fan for ten minutes.
- Once the apples have cooked – the cooking apple will be mush – add sugar to your desired taste plus a small knob of butter and a pinch of nutmeg (to taste).
- Take the jar out of the oven and pour the sauce straight in.
- Place lid on carefully as jar will be very hot.
- Once cooled tighten lid and store in cool place.
- Serve with pork or use in crumbles, pies etc.