cooking – Making it in Toledo

Grateful thoughts

Every year when I wake up on September 11th and no planes are hitting skyscrapers, I am grateful. That is among the least of the things I have to be grateful for today, but every year it’s a good place to start. Second on my list is Kamala Harris’ strong performance in last night’s debate. The next eight weeks will be long and tense, but I am hopeful. And third is the opportunity to make fresh tomato sauce from organic tomatoes and garden basil. Since we’re empty nesters again, I’ll be filling more pint jars than quarts.

tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil…

Empty nesting is an opportunity and a challenge. We have commenced Swedish death cleaning (It’s astounding how much one accumulates!) but are looking forward to lots more life in this house, where we have lived for 44 years. I’m hoping for cooking and gardening, dinners and parties (cocktail-, house-…) and sharing with both many old friends and always new ones. When our house was built more than a century ago, clearly it was intended for entertaining – the porches, the windows, the maid’s room… and now with our new kitchen it’s a joy to cook for guests. Again, I am grateful.

Yesterday we said goodbye to the ugly-but-fun pool that Jo has maintained for Loi’s enjoyment over many years. I”m not sure how long it will be until something grows there, but as Jo says, the pool had a good run. I feel the same about many of our plantings. Over time, I’ve lost the style thread and, too often, the gardening-conditions thread too. Yesterday I realized that I have WAY more wild ginger than makes sense. This year instead of planting I want to focus on soil-building.

I’m hoping to write here more regularly, and I invite your comments.

Resistance is futile

I admit it: along with millions of other Americans, last night we watched Red Notice. Sometimes pure escapism is okay, right?

But in books, as opposed to television, my standards are higher. I’ve begun the new Louise Erdrich novel, The Sentence, and I fully intend to finish it this week. Oddly, the last book I read was also about books.

Before I made my choice and downloaded the Erdrich book, I made a quick stop at B&N, expecting that, despite my intention to avoid adding clutter to my bookshelves, I would find something irresistible. It turns out that, post-pandemic, my stuff-resistance muscles have become stronger. The only thing I bought was a chocolate brownie, quickly consumed.

Since we were on our own for dinner, I turned to Melissa Clark’s menu for two . Because John felt like cooking and I had already thawed scallops and bought romaine (from a NYC greenhouse, oddly), I zeroed in on Melissa’s dessert recipe and made the pumpkin-and-date sticky toffee puddings. Perfect.

Clearly, two years of shopping only virtually have changed us. Who knows what’s next?

to a new year

I know it is cold outside this morning because the radiator in the bathroom is extra hot. And because the first thing I did when I woke up was to check “weather.com” on my phone. My computer screen tells me that today is Friday, and I believe it although it feels like Sunday, the day after a (very small) celebration and the day before a (as yet undefined) new week. Since the sky is cloudy, my sense of time is independent of the sun.

But when I make dinner today (a version of Marcus Samuelson’s BEP) https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/black-eyed-peas-coconut-milk-and-ethiopian-spices) I will use all my senses. Maybe that’s why I love cooking.

I hope that in 2021 I can cook for friends as well as family. I hope that in 2021 some of my meals will be inside restaurants, carefully prepared and served by other people.

I hope that in 2021 some of my days will begin with a different view, maybe not a view of far away places – I love being at home – but as grateful as I am to be sheltering in place, I miss other places.

This year has gone on for a LONG time. I’ve been undeservedly lucky and I am grateful. Always.