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| Megan and sophie |
My
older daughter and her thirteen-year-old son arrived last night from Austin,
where they’ve been strictly quarantining to assure that they did not bring the
virus with them. We are observing distance and other precautions—no hugs, only
air kisses. Still it is a joy to have them here, and the girls and I stayed up
too late last night talking about everything and nothing.
If I
was happy to see Megan and Ford, Sophie was ecstatic. She has a wide circle of
admirers among my family and friends, but she somehow senses which ones are
family, and she is wildly crazy about each of my four kids. She could not stop
jumping on Megan, begging for her attention. Then she pulled her Border Collie
trick of running in circles at top speed. It’s what those energetic dogs do
sometimes to work off steam—and joy. When she was a puppy, Soph ran endless
wide circles in the back yard. Now, we have put in ground cover and some beds,
and the area for her to circle is smaller, but she has found that she can run a
loop in the cottage—down the bathroom hall, through the bedrom, and back
through the kitchen, out the patio door, and then do it all over again and
again and . . . all at top speed. Middle age in dog life has now slowed her
down. Woe to anyone who gets in her way!
They
didn’t arrive until we, out of hunger, had gone ahead with dinner. Jordan and I
planned an experimental menu—corn pudding, which I don’t think I’ve ever made before,
and Indian-ish nachos, a recipe from Sam Sifton at the New York Times. It
turned out to be sort of complicated, so we roped Christian in on what turned
out to be a truly collaborative meal. Afterward, I thought what fun it is for
me to cook with both of them, and how fortunate I am to be quarantined with
them.
The
nachos were a double layer of chips, smashed black beans, chopped tomato, red
onion, and shredded cheddar. It was the sauces that made it complicated—a chutney
made of cilantro, chillies, lime juice, sugar and salt; a tamarind sauce for
which we were instructed to add a bit of lime juice to maple syprup; and a chhonk—olive
oil heated with cumin and red pepper. These were drizzled over the nachos after
baking, in the order given. Once we did it, it didn’t seem so complicated, and
I’m sure we’ll keep the recipe—like a lot of things, the prep, chopping, was
the time-consuming part. I tasted an occasional bit of sweet, but I am not sure
the sauces were distinctive enough to add a whole lot. Then again, the entire
thing was delicious and might well have fallen flat without sauce. The corn
pudding was generous—four cans of corn—rich, and delicious. A great meal.
I am
taking a vacation while they’re here—pretty good trick during quarantine. It’s like
taking a vacation from a vacation. Megan, a lawyer who works from home these
days, had to spend her day at her computer, so I had my day to myself. But
knowing she’s here altered my sense of schedule. I caught up on emails, spent
too long reading about various political developments—don’t ask, today I feel
like the bad guys are winning—and finished the book I was reading about American
culinary figures in France and their changing attitudes, a la 1970, toward
French and American cooking. Enjoyed it thoroughly and learned a lot. I did not
work on my novel. I think anything I do now would be sporadic, so I’m on
vacation until Monday, when I will focus again.
Happy
days, everyone!
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