Dog, dinners, and an almost ordinary couple of days

 

Ragmuffin Sophie before grooming

Sophie after haircut

Yesterday, Sophie had her first bath and grooming since her prolonged illness (two months, folks, at least two weeks of it in the veterinary clinic). When the groomer and I talked, his main concern was making her comfortable. He says she does not like being brushed at all, especially sensitive areas like her ears. And oh boy, were her ears and face matted. He also said he’d take her coat down a bit so there wasn’t the dramatic contrast between the shaved and unshaved areas. Still, I was not quite prepared for her to come back looking like—oh, I don’t know—maybe a rat terrier.

I am afraid she’s a bit self-conscious. And when Jordan first saw her, she exclaimed, “Oh, how pretty you look” all the while rolling her eyes at me. But I will say Soph’s coat is silky smooth, and she feels and smells better. Inspires a lot more love. She had a vet visit earlier this week and was pronounced in fine full health. The vet calls her a miracle dog. And I agree. She is all the things she was before Christmas—demanding, ravenous, adorable. Tonight I had a guest for dinner who fortunately cleaned her plate but forgot to pick it up off the coffee table when she went to the kitchen for something. I caught Sophie licking the plate.

Who can blame her? We had the salmon Central Market gave me by mistake. It was a lovely one pound filet, with a butter lemon dressing on it. I called the market for cooking directions because I thought the metal container was ovenproof but wasn’t sure. And I wondered about temperature and time. Whoever I talked to assured me it was already cooked. I have cooked and eaten enough salmon—roasted, grilled, smoked, and yes raw as in sashimi—that I know raw salmon. And this was not cooked. We roasted it at a lower temperature than my guest suggested—and it was perfect. I prefer it a bit underdone rather than dry.

I also made a casserole out of the squash that Central Market gifted me with—a sauce of butter, sour cream, Parmesan, paprika, and an egg yolk. Steamed the sliced squash just a bit. Topped it with Panko and Parmesan, dotted it with butter. We each ate two helpings and boom! Two large squash, gone! So good. I’ll do that one again.

I don’t mean this to be a food blog, but tonight I had another guest, and I made a real mid-century meal—creamed salmon in pastry shells. Long story about why I have pastry shells in my freezer, but now they are gone. I have a new case of Alaskan salmon I wanted to try. Renee raved over it, said her mom used to make creamed tuna, and she loved it, So it’s been a good cooking two days.

And a good work two days, except I can’t tell you what I did. It took me all morning today to read through emails. Granted, I stop and read what I consider reliable posts on politics and world affairs—sometimes the news is so depressing, like the horrendous earthquake in Turkey and Syria or military coups in various countries. But sometimes it’s encouraging, like a poll that shows Americans are tired of election deniers.

Today I filled out a questionnaire for an activist group called Red Wine and Blue. When they asked what issues were hot-button for me, I almost checked every box. But I remembered a wise man who told me to choose my battles, because I’m not going to win them all. So here are my hot-button issues: book banning, degrading public education, LGBTQ rights, censorship of education such as Florida’s ban on teaching African American history, the climate, reproductive rights, trans rights and parents’ rights to raise their children without state interference. Kind of a long list, but I remain hopeful we’ll win on most of them.

I am appalled at the cruelty and blind refusal to think, to accept logic that motivates so much of today’s white nationalistic movement. What underlies the thinking on most of those issues is a conviction that if you aren’t a white Christian male, you are somewhat secondary, not as entitled. I hardly know what to say in response, except to quote the Bible: “And of these, love is the greatest.”

My computer has gone wonky and won’t search for things. At first it was Edge, but now Chrome won’t search either—so I can’t quote the Bible chapter and verse, because my memory is not that good. Second Corinthians something. Meantime I am hoping my oldest son will come up with a solution to my computer problem.

I think it’s late, and it’s time for me to retire from the field. Sweet dreams, everyone.