A happy, lazy, rainy day

For much of the day today, the skies dumped on us--calm, usually slow rain that soaks in. We are blessed. The cat demanded I get up and feed her this morning about seven, but I crawled right back into bed, grateful that Jacob sleeps until eight or beyond. It was one of those mornings when you just wanted to stay burrowed under the covers. I didn't, of course, and got up in time to brush my teeth, wash my hair, and bring in the paper before Jacob woke up. I peeked at him a little after eight, and he was eyeing me, a big smile on his face. From then until his mom came at ten, the morning was his, not mine, but that was fine with me. We had breakfast--waffles, of course--and we talked, rough-housed, made beds, and generally had a good time.
After he left, I got ready for dinner--the table was set, but I seasoned ground lamb with paprika, cinnamon, and chopped fresh mint from my front porch. And I laid serving dishes out. I had appetizers left from earlier in the week and, without shame, recycled them. Dinner featured ground lamburgers with two salads--Jordan made a terrific Greek salad (her specialty) as an accompaniment, and I mixed spinach, feta, red onions, olive oil and wine vinegar to go on top of the lamburgers in whole wheat buns. I had thought of making a French potato salad--no mayo, only white wine, vinegar, and oil--but Jordan thought we didn't need it And she was right--most of us couldn't even finish the lamburger.
But we had the happiest, liveliest cocktail and dinner hour ever. My neighbors from both sides--Jay, Susan and Sue--joined us, along with Jacob, Jordan and Christian. Although I'd seen each of them over the last few weeks, they figured out they hadn't all been together since late June, so it was like a joyous reunion. Laughter, talk, and lots of wine--too much! And a good dinner. It was absolutely one of the most fun dinner parties I've given in a long time. Jordan not only made the salad, she helped greatly with the kitchen, and Susan and Jay stayed after the others left to see what they could do. The final cleanup didn't take long at all and was well worth it for the evening we had. So was my menu switch--I had intended to fix a tuna/pasta/vegetable dish, heavy with anchovies in both the dish and the sauce. When Jordan called and said they were coming--after first cancelling--I had to change the menu. Neither of them would touch anything with anchovies (though maybe it would do them good to try it). I went prowling through my recipes and decided on ground lamb, which both of them like. I'll serve the anchovy dish to my neighbors another night--and may try to improvise a single serving for myself some night soon. Thought I would do it tomorrow night, but I have this half of a lamb pattie left over. Plus a whole one I think Ill freeze.
Tonight was sort of proof of why I like to cook and entertain--interesting people coming together in a great spirit of happiness, conviviality, joy, whatever. I am so fortunate! And now, having had more than my share of wine--I've really been watching it lately--I am soooo sleepy. May read a while and then to bed early. A busy week looms, starting with taking my car in tomorrow morning to see if they can fix the top. Yuck!

Mostly cooking

Marcia from El Paso claims she's missing her Judy's Stew fix because I haven't blogged enough lately, and I replied that I didn't think I had much to say except trivia. But I promised to post something tonight, so this is mostly a cooking blog. Last night I had lovely dinner guests--two couples fairly far apart in age but most compatible in spirit, and talk ranged from a scholarly interest in the history of comic books to the art of collecting to politics--we are all of the same mind but the discussion still got lively. And we ended the evening recounting a series of cooking failures (I hope that was not a reflection on my dinner).
I served a recipe I've looked at in my "appalling collection" for years and never tried--and of course I didn't read it carefully enough so I goofed several times. It was roast pork loin stuffed with an apricot mixture: I gleefully bought pork tenderloins, came home and read the recipe again, and that was not at all what was meant--it called for a loin roast. I figured I just wouldn't cook them as long. Then I forgot the part about divided use in the molasses and probably put too much in the stuffing, though it was pretty good. Then I didn't read carefully enough to realize that you were supposed to pour chicken broth and bourbon over the meat, roast it, and then add cream to the pan drippings. I added it at the beginning. But what was really cool was that I cooked that mixture--broth, bourbon, and cream--and then flamed it without burning myself. And I was amazed at how long it flamed merrily away. The accompanying recipe was for "Thunderbolt Mashed Potatoes"--seasoned with corn, cumin, chili powder. They were good but I made them the day before and didn't think I got them hot enough for dinner. To my mind the best was the apple crisp for dessert, but my oh my! it had a lot of butter, and I served it with real whipped cream. One of the guests, a man, looked at me and said, "Is this the real thing?" And his wife said, "It's better for you than the other kind." He ate two helpings.
Alas and alack, this morning I could barely button a favorite pair of pants, so I'm off bread, potatoes, etc., had a vinaigrette salad dressing tonight instead of that wonderful mayo/sourcream/blue cheese one I've recently invented, and limited my chocolate intake this afternoon.
Tonight I fixed spicy chicken fingers. Megan called, and I asked if she remembered them, and she did. You dust chicken tenders in flour mixed with salt, pepper and oregano, brown them in butter and olive oil, and then add diced Roma tomatoes, diced basil, garlic and lime juice. Such fun to pick the fresh basil, but I never use my fresh thyme--it's too strong.
No much else new. Everyone in the neighborhood is losing their political signs--but it's bipartisan. Both Obama and McCain signs are being stolen. I wonder if its a teenage prank or people with serious political beliefs and a distorted sense of American freedom of expression. They left the signs in my yard for a state senator and a state representative, just took the Obama one.
I started a British Victorian mystery over the weekend. I have to be careful about identifying titles or authors, because many of those authors I've now "met" through the Sisters in Crime network. But I seriously considered putting this one down several times. I persevered, however, and now I'm drawn into it. I decided maybe that's a huge difference between British and American cozies--in American cozies there's usually a body in the first chapter; in British ones, it takes you a long time to get drawn into the story. It may be too that I prefer to read about people I can identify with--contemporaries. I read a blurb recently for a mystery set in churches in Rome, but the protagonist was an American journalist, and I thought I'd really like to read that book. Like many that I read about on the Agent Quest listserv, it's unpublished now. I found one author has a series of Travel Agent Mysteries, so since Jordan is a travel agent I rushed to amazon--no luck. And then I realized that author, like me, is unpublished. I am working away though--and finishing that Victorian mystery.
Huge author's program tomorrow night--at least 500 tickets out, maybe more, for a venue that seats 450. It will be an interesting and long evening. Don't be surprised if I don't blog. Sorry, Marcia.

What a day!

This morning just plain did not start out well. I could barely walk on my right foot, the one the doctor says is probably a slight sprain. Probably I was on it too much this weekend and have what the podiatrist called my Monday "footover" as opposed to a hangover. Then, out of the blue, standing at the sink, I had a rather persistent nosebleed--I've no idea where it came from unless I unconsciously sniffed wrong or something. Finally got that stopped, amidst my hurrying around to get to an early dentist appointment.

The dentist relieved my mind, telling me that yes, there is major work to be done in all four quadrants of my mouth but it's not the desperate case that the earlier dentists made it sound. And peridontal disease? I have a few pockets of minor problems, which they will treat. So while I'm not looking forward to all this work--or the out-of-pocket expense, I'm relieved that I don't have to have every filling in my head replaced.

Then it was on to the office where I tried to concentrate on great books and actually made some good headway--only the mail brought more manuscripts, more work to be considered. Lunch with my mentor cheered me a great deal, and then I slipped home to get ready for dinner guests and have a much-needed nap. I think I'm still a bit exhausted from my two big weekends. Megan and Brandon stayed all day yesterday, though we were pretty much lazy, and we all went out for Mexican food last night before they took off for Austin.

I've been laughing about the differences in housekeeping approaches. When Meg comes home she can always find two or three things that she pronounces "nasty" or "gross." For starters, she's opposed to the whole idea of a house cat, but this time it was the cup I used in the bathroom to brush my teeth--okay, I don't wash it as often as I should and it gets mineral deposits on it--and the rubber gasket lining the door to my washer. I am of course glad to try to meet her standards, but let's be real--this is the child who was rivalled only by her oldest brother for the messiest room in the house as a teenager. And she still doesn't pick up. The dining table may hold some electronics Brandon is working with; the breakfast table has purses, mail, whatever they carried when they came in; dishes may be in the sink, and laundry may be on the couch waiting to be folded. So I've decided Megan cleans and I pick up. We'd make an ideal team but I think we might kill each other before we got to that point. Good thing we love each other a lot.

My friends Kathie and Fran--both from university press publishing--came for supper. When I got up and scurried around this morning, I wondered why I'd planned that for the Monday night after a big weekend--I was so tired. But it was such a pleasant evening and they cheered me a lot. Supper was easy--a platter of chicken strips, grape tomatoes, avocado, sugar snap peas, and grilled nectarine slices (that was delicious). Dessert was Blue Bell ice cream cups and I set the jar of chocolate sauce on the table--really elegant. But we had a good time, laughed a lot, caught up on everyone's families, and talked politics. A lovely, relaxing evening.

Back to that novel! I'm going to be sad when I finish it.