A slow and easy day, followed by a cooking disaster and a porch party

Cool weather, really cool today. Jacob and I sort of wiled away the morning--we sat on the porch and looked for rolypolys--at one point he was intently watching one crawl up his arm, and I went for my camera. When I came back the rolypoly fell off and he stomped on it. When I protested, he said, "It was a bad rolypoly." I tried to explain about insects being our friends but it fell on deaf ears--he stepped on two more. We had an early lunch and "body rest"--his name for resting but not napping. I was napping, and I told him to come get me only if it was something important. The first time it was: the cat somehow made it up to the kitchen counter (and he makes me believe he's too old to jump!). The second time, Jacob said urgently, "Come on, Juju, come on." Led me into the kitchen and asked, "Doesn't dinner smell good?" I was cooking a pot of beans on the stove and a brisket in the oven.

The brisket was my disaster--my roasting pan was too shallow, and yesterday everytime I moved the darn thing anywhere, I dripped marinade. Tonight when I took it out of the oven, cooked to a faretheewell, it dripped greast and made a slippery mess of the kitchen floor. Fortunately I had the foresight to roll the kilim rug back out of the way. I mopped, I dried, I took the jell-foam thing out to the porch and hosed it down. I dry mopped the kitchen floor. Jacob, whose body rest apparently hadn't been enough, slept through the whole thing. And when his mother arrived she said, "We have to clean this up." I seriously considered throwing the mop at her, but good sense overcame me.

Sixteen people to welcome the new neighbors, who are really nice young people. We all vary in age, so it was a neat mixture. I fixed brisket and beans; others brought rolls, cole slaw, potato salad, salsa, queso, and dessert--chocolate chip cookies with Reese peanut butter cups baked into them--a huge hit. Dealing with the brisket was a huge problem, but Greg managed it, got it out of the juice, let it sit, and carved it masterfully after protesting he was no good at that.

Cleanup tonight took me longer than usual even if Jordan and Sue started on it while I lounged on the porch visiting and Susan stayed to help. This morning, when Jacob and I sat out it was chilly enough I thought it might be too cool for a porch supper, but it was just perfect. Fun listening to all the chatter.  I didn't get the pictures isn the right place and am not sure how to fix them but the first is Jacob in a contemplative mood, studying a rolypoly and the second is him searching for a new one.

Mostly food--and a lot of rain

This morning was a lovely day to be inside--almost dark, constant rain, thunder and lightning. I piddled, had to put the dog out for nature's call, but only stuck my own head out enough to empty garbage and get the paper. Christian and I planned to take Jacob to the deli for  lunch, but I didn't want to get out, didn't want to put make-up on. I said I had lunches for Jacob (pbj or grilled cheese) but I didn't have much that would appeal to Christian--my lunch supply consists of gravlax and salmon, tuna, liverwurst, hummus, and hearts of palm. Christian was quick to say not to worry about him--he'd eat a bigger meal just before he goes to work because it's a long time then until he can eat again. I laughed, because I knew none of what he calls my odd tastes would appearl to him. He did stop and get a Happy Meal for Jacob and the accoutrements have kept him busy all day. He actually fell asleep watching TV when I was prepared to think the best I could hope for was a "body rest," as he calls it.
Jacob and I had kosher hot dogs and baked beans for dinner, but I spent some time today cooking for tomorrow. I'm going to make pinto beans the old-fashioned way that I learned probably 30 or more years ago. You soak them overnight, then fry salt pork and onion together (that brown from frying really adds to the taste), and then throw in five bouillion cubes while the beans are cooking. I fried the salt pork and onions tonight. I had a hard time finding salt pork in the grocery--I guess in this health-conscious age we don't cook with it.
I also made a marinade of beef broth, low sodium soy, lemon juisce and garlic for the brisket--which is really too big for the pan. When I first put it in the fridge to marinate I had marinade all over the floor and the inside of the fridge. I opted out of adding the liquid smoke--just want the pure beef taste. Sounds good to me. I'll cook it a lot longer than the recipe said.
Just looked up and the child I thought I had put to bed was sitting on the couch watching me. I hustled him back to bed. He'd had a stomach problem much of the day and occasionally cried that he wanted his daddy to fix his bottom. A big poop took care of that. But the downside is now, at almost ten o'clock, he's feeling wide awake and frisky. I'm not.