gratitude

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.

Our family is growing

I have a new grandchild! I’m heading to San Francisco on Friday to meet Zoraya Lilou Elias. Isn’t she beautiful?

Excitement, gratitude, hope, fear – I’m feeling all the big feelings this week.

Plotting and Planning

I didn’t really understand how much would have to be deconstructed to get the space ready for my new kitchen. And how much behind-the-scenes work would be needed. The dumpster decorating the driveway. Making the floor level (in our 100-year old house, it may be the only level surface). Creating a space for a hood, which will definitely be an improvement over the downdraft vent in my old stove. The upgrades to “mechanicals”, aka plumbing and electric. Instead of the old track lighting, we now have “wafers” and I”m already thrilled with the increased light and the decreased clutter.

I’m a lot less thrilled with “cooking” being limited to a microwave and a toaster oven. Worse, using disposable dishes or “washing” dishes in our tiny bathroom sink or even upstairs. I put a few things in the freezer in anticipation, we’ve gone out a lot, and my friends have fed us generously.

I also had lost track of just how much stuff I had accumulated. Forty years ago I wanted a lot of detail. Grooved doors on the cabinets, open on both sides. A second sink. Two ovens. Extra burners, because somehow the stove wasn’t enough. In the years since, I’ve added everything I ever wanted and subtracted almost nothing. And all of it, even things I use once or twice a year, close at hand. This time I’m aiming for less chaos. Everything I need and more, but organized.

The first kitchen was designed for just me, because no one else cooked. Someone called it a “power kitchen.” This one, I think, will better accommodate some (admittedly limited) sharing. BUT it will include one workspace designed to be comfortable for me, at my not-quite-five-foot height.

That’s just one thing being plotted and planned with the help of Taylor Billings at WS. I appreciate having the chance to work with a designer who has helped me see what’s possible beyond my own ideas. I LOVE having a plan. And with John Schmalzried, whose Kolina Construction has kept things moving along while implementing the plan and handling the surprises.

So far, so good….

June is busting out all over

It finally feels like summer and, post-vaccination, we’re appreciating the creatures close to home without worrying where they came from or where they are going. At Loi’s pod kindergarten, seven goslings provided lots of joy during the last days of the school year before becoming farm geese nearby.

Closer to home, the ecosystem in our tiny backyard pond is changing day by day. I bought the fantails and a few mosquito fish, but the tadpoles appeared as if by magic after a few warm nights when we heard frog (or maybe toad) song through the open window. Yesterday a couple of toad visitors were a major attraction, and Solomon, a painted turtle that Loi discovered in the wild, will be introduced soon.

Not all is quite so idyllic, however; after sleeping most of the winter Claudia Cupcake has transformed into a highly efficient hunter and the mourning doves chose a particularly poor nesting place in the cherry tree. A small pile of feathers in the driveway was our only clue to the outcome.

I’m grateful for the chance to experience these moments.

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.

Thank you, Steve Sando

My bean club order came today, a homely quarterly treat.

I’m fascinated by that word, homely, and how it has two almost-opposite meanings:

home·ly/ˈhōmlē/adjective

home·ly/ˈhōmlē / adjective

1.NORTH AMERICAN unattractive in appearance. Similar: unattractive plain plain-featured plain-looking plain as a pikestaff ordinary-looking unprepossessing unlovely ill-favored ugly …Opposite: attractive
BRITISH(of a place or surroundings) simple but cozy and comfortable, as in one’s own home.”a modern hotel with a homely atmosphere “Similar: cozy home-like homey comfortable snug welcoming friendly

Although we are by no means vegetarian, for so many reasons, I frequently cook meat-free meals. Since I discovered Rancho Gordo that often means beans. Beans bubbling in a clay pot is certainly a familiar sight in my kitchen. I value cozy and comfortable, but actually I think beans are often beautiful as well.

Besides the beans, I appreciate the whimsy of Rancho Gordo. Old Mexican movie posters. Annual calendars that make me smile all year. And Stardust which is calling out to me: “Make margaritas.”

I can’t wait to use this on the rim of a glass!

I met RG’s owner, Steve Sando, once at a farmers market. He was on hand when I visited the store, too. Most of my interaction with RG is on line, but even there it’s easy to recognize that this is a special company. Great customer service. A bean club. A special facebook group for bean club members. I feel that I belong.

Food isn’t just food. Shopping isn’t just shopping. I REALLY dislike big grocery stores, and I avoid them as much as possible. I’m grateful for farmers and vendors of real food.

Cook beans with me?

so far so good

Ten days or so ago, the weather was miserable and John was getting a cold. We got a call from a friend/relative urging us to visit him in southwest Florida in February. The timing was just right, and we said let’s make it happen. Then I realized that I had a companion ticket ready to expire at the end of January, and our plans accelerated. We planned several days with our friend and then some time on our own.

We enjoyed exploring with Steve including a river tour, watching manatees, a kite festival and a visit to a holocaust museum (not fun but we’re glad we did it).

Here’s where the gratitude comes in: when we got ready to pick up a rental car for the next phase of our vacation, we discovered that John’s driver’s license has expired and mine had disappeared. No rental car for us! But it turns out that using LYFT to get where we wanted to go, get around for a few days, and back to the airport actually is going to be cheaper than the anticipated cost of the car rental. And since we’re carrying all other kinds of ID, although it may take some extra time we can probably get home in a few days.

So here’s the current situation:

Grateful, for sure….

When we gather…

Our first celebration of the new year was a few days ago, a small family-and-friends party for John’s birthday. We ate, we drank, and all the guests went home before the storm hit.

In 2020 I’m going to enjoy life and share the enjoyment. The existential threat of climate change is always in the background but it doesn’t have to always be the focus.

Do you think Nancy Pelosi is enjoying life? What about Greta Thunberg? Alice Waters is another one of my sheroes; I’m pretty sure she is.

I crossed paths with Alice once, years ago, at an amazing Slow Food event in the mountains outside of Puebla, Mexico. Lots of mezcal and tequila, chocolate being stirred in a big vat, delicious food and, after dark, the spine-tingling surprise appearance of animal-costumed musician/priests making otherworldly music. It’s a nice memory.

For a few weeks I think I’ll jump on the gratitude bandwagon and write about it here. I’m grateful for the satisfaction it gives me to gather people together around a table, to connect people who enjoy each other, to share food and wine and conversation. I’m grateful when other people include me in their gatherings.

Here’s to 2020.

My car was towed tonight. Actually not my car; I was driving Johanna’s car since she was driving mine. It was my own fault. I know better than to park in the Ferdo’s lot, even though it was empty and the Stubborn Brother lot was overflowing. I couldn’t miss the chance to celebrate with Sam Melden; his primary performance was outstanding.

Lindsey gave me a ride home and John drove me to the tow lot, where I paid $165 to retrieve the car I had parked not 2 hours earlier. Actually, since the tow truck drive/lot attendant didn’t have $5 in change he gave me a $20 so I only paid $150. I suspect that this is a rather loose operation.

Today was CSA pickup. My CSA bucket was in my car, which was in Akron with Jo, so I bundled the fruits and vegetable into an assortment of bags. It was also the night I picked up the 15 chickens (about 50 pounds) which we will enjoy throughout the winter. Fifty pounds of chickens is a lot to carry.

I am grateful for Sam’s willingness to serve. I am grateful to Lindsey for giving me a ride. I am grateful to be a customer of Shared Legacy Farms and to receive beautiful fruits and vegetables every week. I am grateful to Weber Ranch for pasture-raised chickens.

I am grateful that even after a surprise expenditure of $150 we will all sleep indoors tonight and no one will go hungry.

It’s 11:05 pm on September 10th and all is well.

Ready for August

The last day of July. FB is reminding me that it’s Sue Wuest’s birthday. I’m sorry that she won’t be celebrating it with us. I lost Sue’s friendship long before she died, and it’s always painful to be reminded of the finality of that loss.

We have travel plans in August (lake house in Michigan) and in September (time share in the Berkshires). It’s looking like I may miss most of our our modest tomato crop and probably a couple of great CSA boxes. But in return I get a week with all my kids together and a pontoon boat on a nice little lake. I’ll take it. Traveling to western Massachusetts will take us through parts of New York State that hold great memories for us. Maybe we’ll even schedule a visit to Ithaca and lunch at Moosewood. With the (over) abundance of kale (from my CSA) and carrots (overenthusiastic Costco purchase) in my refrigerator, I’ve been turning to Moosewood lately for inspiration. Try their carrot salads!

Middle Eastern Carrot salad with mint. Dressed with lemon, oil, and maple syrup.

Last night I finished reading The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. If you love history or if you love philosophy or if you just enjoy a good mystery, read this book!!! Especially if you like reading about strong women.

The bulk blueberry order I picked up last night is helping me think about the end of summer. I’ve put most of them in the freezer. But I haven’t given up yet. David Lebovitz’s recipe for blueberry cobbler is waiting for me this afternoon.

The warm sunny days have been great, but today’s clouds are motivating me to be out and about. I’m grateful for all the choices before me.