I went a bit crazy in Central Market yesterday and bought a lobster tail, a lamb shoulder chop, a pount of ground chicken, and chicken breasts (I had a coupon for those and they went right into FoodSaver bags and into the freezer). The lobster was for tonight, and I studied about how to fix it. Found recipes for deviled lobster and something called Lobster Fra Davolo--but in the end I settled for lobster salad, simply fixed with lemon, chopped celery, a bit of chives, and a tiny bit of mayo. (Christian was appalled this morning that I would cook the lobster and then wait until it was cool to eat it.) The salad was lovely and fresh, and it reminded me of the shrimp salad I used to eat with my mom as a child. On those rare occasions we'd go to downtown Chicago--to my father's office, to shop in Marshall Field's, to my uncle's dental office (how I hated that!)--she'd take me to a small restaurant hidden in the back of an office building next to my uncle's building. We always ate shrimp salad, and to the best of my memory it was made much like my lobster salad tonight, perhaps with a hardboiled egg. These days, I can't eat shrimp, and my budget can't often afford lobster, so this was a treat. I paired it with tiny asparagus tips (Central Market now sells tips so I don't have to buy a whole bunch and eat it all week) and a half ear of corn that wasn't great--corn off season should be avoided, and I know better. I'll probably succumb later to the siren call of a vanilla ice cream cup with chocolate sauce.
Tomorrow night, I'll bone the lamb chop, pound the pieces thin, and fix lamb piccata. And the ground chicken? I've never had a chicken burger. I want to try them the next time Jordan comes to supper. Meantime I froze it.
Today Jordan, Jacob, Christian and I had brunch at Joe T.'s--Christian was off, and he said it was a lovely treat to eat there instead of waiting tables. Yesterday afternoon Jordan, Jacob and I went to Frisco to celebrate Edie's fifth birthday--I can't believe she's five. The girls kept Jacob happily ammused at dinner, having straw "sword fights" with him and giving him crayons and then trying to take them away from him--he thought it was a great game. He ate ketchup and a couple of fries. He's not into eating these days. Unfortunately his grandmother is.
I've thought a lot about Letty Cottin Pogrebin's thoughts on the Obama/Clinton contest (see my last post) and lately I've heard echoes of what she said. Last night daughter-in-law Melanie said she visited her brother in New York City and got caught up in his Obama enthusiasm and that of his friends. But then she watched the Austin debate and decided Obama has no substance. Cokey Roberts, on the George Stephanopoulos show this morning, said it best: Clinton thought she was the front runner, and here comes this good-looking young man with words full of sweet nothing. I think the tide is turning against him--one overseas observer called his supporters "cult-like." But will it be in time for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas?
I think the Lord means me to write a mystery. I've been dreaming in mysteries. When I woke up this morning the plot was very clear in my head, but of course it's not now. I know that Uncle Jack, our neighbor when I was growing up, rescued me. I was in a complex of office buildings, but all around was a forest and an occasonal private home. And someone was blackmailing me. Wow! Don't give this to a dream interpreter. But tonight I think I'll go back to that mystery I've written and done nothing with. This afternoon I did some research about the history of Scots in Texas. There's something there, but I haven't found it yet. I guess that's part of the writing process.
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