That kind of a day!

Woke up at 5:00 this morning and couldn't sleep, though I guess I did finally doze. My motor was running too fast, thinking of all the things I had to do--most of them self-imposed, none of them necessary to the well-being of the world or even my small world. But when I feel that way, my balance is off, my cheery self is off, etc. I finally worked it out, doing all the errands I had planned--vet for dog food, a fruitless search for empty atomizer bottles, bookstore, grocery times two (had to come home in between to put perishables up), and Clothes Carpenter to get them to repair the lining of a purse. With all that, I made it in time to pick up Jeannie at 11:30 for lox and bagels at Carshon's. And one final errand: we dropped off some boxes at the office. They can use them for mailing books, and I see no reason to just recycle them. Then home to write a thousand words, but I have a great puzzle. When I started I wrote down the number of words in the mss. to date, and when I finished, I'd lost almost a thousand words. Yet I did a word count on the new material and it was over a thousand. Not sure if I misread the first time or what, but it was discouraging. I  thought I'd hit 50,000, and I didn't. Hope to do another thousand tonight.
This is a cooking weekend. Four good friends are coming for supper Sunday, so I started tonight. Cooked the spinach and grated the gruyere that will go in the mashed potatoes; measured out the French bread I need for meatballs and sealed the rest to serve with dinner; washed all the lettuce for salad. Still have to get out the table settings and can't quite decide what plates to use--I'm leaning toward the red-and-green plaid, since the holiday season is upon us. I'm trying to get a jump start on it. Tomorrow morning I'll make meatballs with brown gravy--they should only get better sitting a day--and Sunday I'll make the mashed potatoes, which will leave only the salad for the last minute.
Tonight I also cooked myself a good dinner, abandoning tuna fish and hummus and hearts of palm, my usual last-minute fare. I sauteed two small filets of Dover sole I'd bought this morning, sliced about half a zucchini, topped the slices with salt, pepper, olive oil, and grated parmesan. A fine meal.
Okay, off to write another thousand words--I hope.

Hmmm--what's new?

Sometimes I start a blog post with no idea where it's going, and that's the case tonight. I think I'm still in recovery from my hectic birthday day. But my house is lovely and cool, and I can't believe I took a three-hour nap today but I did. Still, I'm sure I'll have no trouble sleeping tonight. I think yesterday wore me out.
Sometiimes lately I'm afraid this blog will turn into a chronicle of how I went gluten free. A friend called from El Paso tonight and asked how it was going--I said it was too soon to tell. I mean I don't expect to see results for months--but I'm sticking to it. Went to Central Market today and bought broccoli, asparagus, and spinach, chopped sirloin, a lamb chop (big treat), Dover sole, and salmon. Froze everything but the sole, which I had for dinner tonight, along with the mushrooms and zucchini I had on hand. Dover sole is probably my favorite fish, so delicate in taste. Usually I flour it to saute but tonight I just did it in butter and olive oil and squeezed a bit of lemon over it--delicious.
After my nap I found Elizabeth had left me a birthday present--a book titled Gluten Free Girl, which she says she bought before I decided to go gluten free just because she knows I enjoy good food writing. And she left a bonus--a box of gluten-free brownies. I'll eat one tomorrow, when Jacob eats his chocolate cake.
Work? No, I haven't done any, though I can report over the past week good progess on my food book. Did you know that Wolf Brand Chili is so named because the man who started it had a pet wolf--it used to be Lyman Davis' Wolf Brand Chili. Or that Dr Pepper (note there is no period after the Dr so as not to confuse it with medical advice) because the pharmacist who doubled as a soda jerk and who put together the formula was intrigued with the flavor of the fruit ices he made in the late 19th century but individually none tasted like the aroma he inhaled when making all of them. So he made a blend of fruit syrups. Another day we'll talk about Dublin, which is legendary in Texas for the oldest bottling plant and the only one who still puts DP into glass bottles.
Food writing is fun--to read and to write.

Cooking, eating, and blowing my diet

I've been cooking lately, experiments, some successful and some not so. Saturday night I sauteed Dover sole and poured a wine, lemon and butter sauce over it--I can't quite get the hang of cooking it until it's crisp but not overdone (darn electric stoves anyway). I did it a week ago and it was crisp and perfect, but this time I turned it too soon and it fell to pieces. Sure was good though, just not very attractive. Dover sole always makes me think of the time my boss included me on a dinner with a candidate for a major position. We went to an uspcale restaurant, and when I saw Dover sole on the menu, I immediately ordered it. It did unnerve me a bit that they cooked it tableside. The next day I mentioned in the office that I'd had it and Susan said yes, she had wanted to order it one night recently until she found out it cost $45. Of course I was mortified for ordering something that expensive on my boss's dime and apologized over and over. I can buy a satisfactory amount for myself for about six dollars and cook it at home. I've found the same thing about lox--I buy it at Central Market and fix it at home, and it's much cheaper.
Sunday night I fixed something that was meant to be served in a small squat mason jar--I just didn't have one handy. But the first layer was a salad made of roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon, olive oil; then a layer of tuna; then tonnato sauce (tuna with mayonnaise, anchovy, lemon and capers--wonderful!) and then halved cherry tomatoes. Well the eggplant was just too much. For the first time in weeks I succumbed and ate a bit of chocolate. It didn't kill the taste, so I brushed my teeth, hours before bedtime. Threw out the remaining eggplant; not something I'll buy again soon, though I do like it parmagiana.
Last night I fixed eggs purgatory for guests-I think I mentioned it here recently. A casserole of quartered baby new tomatoes, artichoke hearts, sauteed onion and thyme and red pepper, capers, and fire roasted tomato bits in sauce. Then you dig wells in it, crack eggs into them, and bake until the eggs are done (which takes twice as long as the recipe says). I like it best without the egg, but it was good and got raves. Kathie Lang Allen brought the richest ever chocolate creme bruelee--of course I wasn't going to eat any, and of course I ate the whole serving which fortunately was small. But it did blow my diet, and I didn't sleep well last night. I blame it less on wine (I really watched that carefully and continued to measure) than on that rich dessert.
Tonight I had leftover purgatory casserole (no egg)--like a lot of dishes, it gets stronger with sitting, and it was even more delicious. With it, I had some of the Sunday night tuna (it's that good albacore Sue and I ordered from a small family cannery in Oregon), and tonnato sauce on it. Maybe the best dinner I had in all these days of experimental cooking.
This afternoon I ended up keeping Jacob--he had a mild case of pink eye and couldn't go to school. He was so happy and content, I let him play with his toys and watch TV while I worked at my desk until about 3:15 when I got serious about naps. He and I both went down about 3:45 and slept a good two hours. But he was a sweet boy today, and I loved having him.