Musings

And L came to brunch with this lovely seasonal decoration….

We brunched today at The Relatives’ and we brought fruit salad—and managed to forget the melon. Of course, with the whole pineapple in the mix, it was “super” without it!

Plus, I wanted to confess that I read Robert V. Camuto’s Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey (2010) and he says that Marsala that’s labeled fino is cooking wine (there), and that’s all there is here in my price range, so, I confess—I’ve been nipping on cooking wine. !!

Posted at 8:40 PM | 2 Comments »

Tonight we had our first summery meal of the season, the “Chinese” chicken salad I posted a while back…. The house is still redolent of star anise, orange, cinnamon, ginger, and sweetened soy. Yum!

Posted at 8:39 PM | Comments Off on Chicken salad season is upon us

I “populated” my day with miscellany—not so satisfying as the big accomplishments, but, in the end, assorted chores now are taken care of. Not sure what they are upon reflection, but, well, yea!

Mean-betwixt, SWAT teams were…um, getting some experience?…over in the Morningside area (let’s show that we’re alert by putting public schools on lockdown?). I heard hovering helicopters. Should I now feel safe?

Apologies for the ramble; I’m under the influence of a particularly tasty pot of F-chili (yum!).

Posted at 9:54 PM | 2 Comments »

Are these flowers…glowing?

The wee hours had all D&S characteristics: it was a dark and stormy night…and we were fine by morning when the rain had quit and there was daylight.

Mid-day we ventured out, under overcast skies and cool temps—cool for us these days. I found this flame azalea (I think) at Piedmont Park, where the lake is fu-u-ull, but not flooding.

On the way back, we stopped at George’s, a bar/restaurant in the neighborhood, because the Guru read a recent glowing review of their burgers. We had the standard burger, and enjoyed it, but didn’t quite feel the glowing part. Because of the non-perfect weather—yet fine for us—we had the patio to ourselves by the time our burgers arrived—unimpeded people-watching!

Posted at 5:38 PM | Comments Off on Post-rain stroll, plus burgers

An old variety of daffodil that came with our house. It’s in the lawn, not a flowerbed.

My new favorite breakfast is what I call oatmeal deluxe (with dried fruit and cinnamon/ginger)—and I didn’t eat oatmeal willingly for decades after a childhood encounter when I was in the hospital after having my tonsils removed. I remember I had a coloring book before I went in to introduce me to what would be happening, called Tommy’s Tonsillectomy. I liked that it had a big word in the title.

Anyway, I felt weird when I came out from under sedation. I don’t remember if Tommy discussed that much, but I was unprepared for the sense of altered reality.

I entered the hospital as an unenthusiastic oatmeal-eater, but when they brought me a bowl of light blue oatmeal* the morning after the surgery when my throat felt terrible, I felt skewered by reality and became a quiet non-fan of oatmeal. Besides, it was a gluey lump and not particularly warm.

I stayed a non-fan until sometime last fall, when I developed this recipe, with powdered cinnamon and ginger, and added dried fruit. Yum.

* Mom told me much later that someone at the hospital thought if they added food coloring kids would eat more readily. Not.

Posted at 3:46 PM | 4 Comments »

Yesterday’s fine chili makes finer leftovers, with the flavors more complex and slightly mellower. I put in three kinds of mushrooms and three kinds of beans, plus a nice teaspoon of smoked paprika. Mmmm.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Leftovers reign by late-week

On Friday when we were at the Real Market (one with lots of inexpensive fresh fresh fresh veg and fruit), the key limes were small but fine-looking. So I thought, hmm, key lime pie.

And today was the day!

Thankfully, the Guru helped me with the zesting (me) and juicing (him).

Posted at 6:46 PM | 2 Comments »

I had veggies on the brain today, and I happily wandered the aisles of Ye Olde (Not) Farmers Market (all-in-one store) until I gathered a fine selection of plant foods for stir-fry-ish-ness. Plus some other goodies for my fave-o-rite hummus, the kind with pine nuts and mint.

En route from the veggies to the Korean hot-food counter (I looked and bought nothing, but I lingered over the soy-saturated hard-boiled eggs, for their exoticism), I saw these leetle fishies, labeled “golden pomfret.” I didn’t know there was such a thing.

’Course, I dunno much about feesh.

Googling suggests that “golden pomfret” is a fairly newly named (late 1980s) species from down-under waters, a bramid species. Another new word. Ummmm. Okay, I’ve googled more, and I’ll stick with: here’s a fish photo, and, no, I didn’t Photoshop the color one bit.

Posted at 9:34 PM | 2 Comments »

Let’s see. First, Happy Valentine’s Day!

…although which Valetinius was meant to be honored—there were at least fourteen martyred saints of Rome with that name—remains a mystery….

So, bits.

The top photo: recycling at its best, this time from the flower shop. Pick up the petals that fall off the roses while they’re being packaged and otherwise handled, and box ’em up. Then, sell them—six bucks a box, and a modest box at that…. Some of these were a tad brown around the edges….

The vertical photo: we stopped for the first time (seemed like the right day for it!) at Sugar-Coated Radical—an unfancy shop with very nice chocolates—and selected some goodies. I can hardly wait until sundown to taste them!

And, I wanted to note, for the first time in almost/about six years, there’s no Grumbles* in the Sunday Paper. The Sunday Paper (a free weekly here in ATL) went defunct, and, pfft, no publication of Grumbles. I’m proud of my brother-in-law for his long-running weekly strip…. Check out more of his comics are here.

* No saint, no Grumbles…I don’t think there’s a connection….

Today is just an ellipses day….

Posted at 3:28 PM | 2 Comments »

Recognizing that today is Friday, maybe this’ll help you ease into a weekend mood—if you need any help!

To yodel is to swap between normal (chest) and falsetto (head) singing or calling, often holding notes for a while. Gouda is technically a cow’s-milk cheese, and usually is recognizably yellow. There’s plenty that’s confusing about this product.

Posted at 4:00 PM | 2 Comments »