Campaign Kickoff and Critters

This is the table for my Grassroots Campaign Kickoff party for gubernatorial candidate Bill White tonight. I was actually rather proud of the table arrangement, though it doesn't look as good in the picture as it did in reality. But I liked the idea of scattering bumper sticks as table decorations--Jordan arrived a bit late with a sign that said, "Please take the table decorations home," and people did. I gave out lots of stickers and bumper stickers, as well as yard signs, and I got a list of about twenty guests--of course one works for the White campaign and another, longtime friend Lon Burnam, is a Democratic state rep who told people he was here as a surrogate candidate. Nobody watched the video; nobody looked at the editorial from the Nacogdoches paper that I had up on my computer, in which the reporter, usually a conservative, declared that Bill White was the genuine article, not just a politician talking the talk. I've heard that a lot, and I'm impressed by the energy of the campaign. I keep telling people if they're on Facebook to friend Bill White--he posts daily, sometimes several times, and his local office tells me he writes the posts himself rather than letting a staff member do it. His main focus is on education, and I think he'd be a good governor. I hope he has the momentum to oust the current governor, and I'm willing to do what I can.

Of course I made too much food--chili/Velveeta queso, cheese queso (Jordan's recipe calls for Velveeta, cream cheese, and Rotel), a corn dip (more cream cheese--this was an artery-clogging menu), hummus and pita rounds, Megan's Texas caviar recipe (really good--I used Paul Newman's lime vinaigrette--very tasty), and the bourbon hot dogs which are almost a tradition at my parties. Now what to do with the leftovers? I think I can freeze the bourbon hot dogs, and I'll eat the hummus, but the dips---hmmmmm.

Jacob is spending the night again, full of good spirits after being a bit shy at the party. But for him, the highlight came when his mother was leaving to go to another party. She stepped out on the porch and screamed--a garter or garden snake was right there by the door. New neighbor Brian leapt to the rescue and threw the critter into the bushes, but then of course Jacob wanted to see it, so he and Brian spent long times leaning over the railing looking. Much later in the evening Jacob wanted to go back to see the snake, but it was gone.

Now I've had possums, raccoons, and a snake. I also have geckos all over the front porch and on the windows in the playroom in the back. When the outdoor light is on at night, their little bodies are almost translucent. Jordan just doesn't like creepy crawly things, and I remember once when she was living in this house years ago and found a gecko in the shower with her. She freaked, as she did tonight. Sometimes a gecko makes its way into the house, but the cat often goes after it with glee. Jacob and I had a long talk about some snakes, like this one, are our friends.

Most of my day was consumed with the party--and my evening was certainly consumed with cleaning up. But I did read a lot of Frank X Tolbert's 1953 book, A Bowl of Red, a history of chili, and found it most interesting. Chili really is a Texas dish--it did not, contrary to many beliefs, originate in Mexico. We can rightly claim it.

Now it's late, I'm tired, and I'm waiting for Jacob to go to sleep, so I too can sleep. Last night, he was asleep by 10:15, but that mean he was a cheerful earful by 7:15 this morning. I'm hoping he'll sleep later tomorrow.

Food

Maybe I'm always a little bit hungry because of Weight Watchers, but my mind has sure been on food the last couple of days. Part of it is that I had this leftover meatloaf, which I adore. So yesterday went by in a blur (well, not really) because I was anticipating cold meatloaf (sob, no sandwich because the bread adds points) and marinated beets (no points). But I had a really great lunch at the Community Arts Center with Jean--what they call a salmontini. It was sort of a small soup bowl with lettuce in the bottom, four asparagus spears, a good-sized piece of poached salmon, and a cherry tomato decorating it. A good light refreshing lunch. Jean added ranch dressing to hers, but I forebore (is that a word?). Salmon, I found out, is not point-friendly, probably because it's a fatty fish. But as Jean said, "It's so good for you" and I would add, "It's so good!" So today, I had food on my mind again--specifically a tongue sandwich at Carshon's, which I had when I went to lunch with my friend Dick Hoban.
Tonight I had a meeting at the house, getting together a poet and the illustrator (my neighbor Susan) who's doing his book--she had pencil sketches and wanted input before she started on the irreversible color. Melinda was here with her superb technical knowledge of what would reproduce, etc. Because I'm on that great "cook with what you have" kick, I made a dip out of three cubes of pesto, a bit of yogurt, juice of half a lemon, sour cream,and salt and pepper. Pretty good, if I do say so. Then I made fromage fort, Jacques Pepin's recipe which he says came from his father who would use leftover bits of cheese, any kind, this way. Take about 8 oz. cheese, and blend with a garlic clove, 1/4 c. white wine, and a good grind of black pepper. I had a little blue cheese in mine, which of course dominates. But in retrospect, I think it would be best to grate cheddar, etc. I finally had to fish some lumps out--and I used a bit too much wine, so that it was more a dip than a spread, but still good with crackers and fresh vegetables--carrots, grape tomatoes, cucumber slices, and broccoli. I'll cook the leftover broccoli for Jacob on Saturday.
Even so, while we were drinking wine and nibbling, my mind was on the leftovers still in my fridge--a tiny tiny bit of meatloaf, a tiny bit of the pasta I fixed the other night, more marinated beets--I finally had a great dinner about 8:00. Now I have to go to wash the wine glasses, etc. To his credit, when I thanked the poet for carrying the wine glasses to the sink, he said, "I'll even wash them if you want," but I assured him that wasn't necessary."
Today was a good retirement day--got up fairly early but did my free writing, read the paper, did my yoga, showered and washed my hair and got ready for the day, made the dips, started on my email--and Dick was here for lunch. So I haven't accomplished a lot, but did start on a friend's memoir that he has brought me to edit. Now, I think it's time for a mystery after I do dishes, put the laundry in the dryer, scrub my face, and bring the dog in. Nice day.

Odd facts you didn't know you didn't know

I just finished reading a China Bayles mystery by Susan Wittig Albert--it's a great series. The one I just read is Chile Death and like all of Albert's herbalist mysteries it contains a lot of herbal information. In this one she opens every chapter with a discussion of some aspect of chile. The one that really caught my attention is about supertasters and nontasters. Those of us who can't eat the hot stuff--that's definitely me--have more taste buds than others. About a quarter of the population are supertasters and can't take the heat. Another quarter of the population are nontasters and can eat whole peppers, even habaneros, without blinking. I sort of like the explanation. Being a supertaster may give me a sense of superiority. Maybe it's why I'm so interested in flavors and cooking.
Tonight I mixed a can of Campbell's pepper pot soup with a can of tomatoes--my mom's old trick--and had a delicious dinner. Then it occurred to me to look it up on the web, and I found, as I knew, that the original version and Campbell's contains tripe, but you can make it with everything from chicken to venison to shrimp. Many recipes refer to it as native to Philadelphia, but there were a couple of Jamaican recipes. On a site called roadfood.com, I found that the Campbell's kind is hard to find and many people think they've stopped making it. Not so! There was a good supply in my newly opened, independent City Market in Fort Worth. Making it from scratch looks like a lot of trouble.
And then there's Gail Halvorsen. I had never heard of him, but we got a query about supposed event on the TCU campus where this WWII hero will speak, so naturally I went back to google. Halvorsen, author of two books, was known as "the candy bomber" because he used small parachutes to drop candy to the children of Berlin. He was also called (in German) Uncle Wiggle Wings because he told the children he would wiggle his wings so they could distinguish his plane from others. I'm kind of sorry he's not coing to TCU--he sounds like an interesting guy.
Oh, one more bit of trivia: did you know you should count on guests eating 10-14 appetizers (is that bites, actual appetizers, what?) and 5 cups of dip serves 8-10--if they're hungry gorillas, I guess. Not the guidelines I've gone by!
Enough trivia. Today I emerged from my 2-1/2 days at home alone. It was like coming out of a cocoon, but I burst forth, went to the doctor and got a flu shot, went to the office where my desk was awash in mail and "stuff," and did a large and expensive grocery shopping. Now I'm home, party planning and reading, and plan to write my annual Christmas letter. I know people get tired of Christmas letters, but my handwriting is so bad these days, this is easier for me. I'll try to be brief.
And a sad note. Shocked as we all were at the tragedy in Mumbai, my heart ached today when I saw pictures of Moshe, the little boy orphaned when his Jewish missionary parents were killed. He apparently kept crying for "Mommy, Mommy" during a memorial service and one picture showed him with eyes swollen from crying. He's just the age of Ford or Jacob, and I know how they cry when they want their mommies and no one else will do. The gunmen were apparently so ruthless and heartless it's a wonder and a blessing they left little Moshe untouched by the bodies of his parents. I wonder how the child will fare in life and send my prayers for him.