The Old Neighborhood Grill

Somehow I ate two meals at the Old Neighborhood Grill today. The Grill is about two blocks from my house, a concrete block building that years ago was Rick's Locker Room which always looked dark and smoky to me and I avoided it. For several years now it's been the Grill under Peter's ownership--in the mornings and at noon he is there to greet everyone personally, and he seems to know a lot of us.
This morning I went for breakfast with the Book Ladies, a group of women whose careers have involved books--authors, librarians, booksellers, and a few readers. We've been meeting for probably twenty years now, and our numbers are dwindling--people retiring and moving away, we've lost a few to death including one of my dearest friends, and then there are some who don't want to get up that early or come that far. But we still have a core--six of us this morning, one out because of illness. Sometimes we talk books, a lot of the time we talk politics--we are all liberals and without meaning to drove off the one conservative who used to join us. And sometime we talk about aging, health, grandchildren, traffic, what have you, and books never come up. Peter knows we meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 8 a.m., and he always has a big table waiting for us. Breakfasts at the grill are wonderful, particularly the hash browns if you ask for them extra crispy. But I confine myself to one egg over easy and a piece of wheat toast. The oatmeal is pretty good too. A nice way to start the day even if a bit early for me.
On Tuesdy nights some of my Berkeley neighbors gather at the Grill for dinner, and Joe and Mary Dulle have been kind enough to pick me up a couple of nights to join them. Tonight my mind was on a turkey burger--and it was as good as I anticipated. I had no sides with it--no fries or beans or whatever. Conversation ranged from family get-togethers to cooking--Mary's nephew who is in training at Central Market, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, joined us, so it was fun to hear his tales of food. I didn't catch much of the neighborhood news from the other end of the table, but it was fine to enjoy a good dinner and visit with people, both some I knew and some I didn't. I do live in a great neighborhood--wait! Have I said that before?
Tomorrow, ice and snow and probably a housebound day again. Sunday, when I went out for the first time in six days, I realized that I felt like an invalid emerging from a long seclusion--a bit tentative about being out in the world. By yesterday and today I was scooting around the streets and in and out of stores like always. Now we have to start all over again. It's supposed to be horrendously cold tomorrow and Thursday, but  sunny on Thursday, and thaw Friday. Good thing, because all my chickens are coming home again Sat. Meantime I have lots of work on my desk, and a day at home will be good for me.

The day after

A mother-daughter picture I treasure: Megan and me at the stock show. Courtesy of Jordan who then tried to turn around a take a picture of herself with us. It didn't work.
The Houston Alters pulled out of the driveway at eight this morning--I barely made it up to say goodbye. Austin contingent was gone by ten, and Jamie and his girls left about eleven, after he helped me clean up the playroom. Jordan and Christian came for lunch, collected Jacob, and were gone. Tonight, the house is quiet, three loads of laundry done, most folded, one bed re-made, dishwasher run, house pretty much back to normal. I am lonely but my dog and cat are grateful to have the house back--the cat particularly hates those intruders and hasn't been eating all weekend.
This morning when I went to fix breakfast I discovered I didn't have as many eggs as I thought. I asked Megan, and she said, "Your son." I wondered why Jamie was hosing down the whole front yard last night--apparently he instigated an egg fight with the grandchildren. I was obliviously sitting on the front porch with a glass of wine, visiting with the adult children (except Jamie, which goes without saying) and Sue, my former neighbor. Talk about oblivious! I told Maddie this morning that the first day after she was born I was holding her on a couch in the hospital room and Jamie was jumping up and down on the couch, calling to her. All I could say was, "Darlin', it's going to be this way the rest of your life." And it is--Jamie and his girls have such a bond and such a good time together. But then, so do all my kids and their children. I am truly blessed with family, and I'm feeling it more than ever tonight. My consolation: they'll all be back in two weeks for a party for their cousin who is deploying to Iraq. Hate the reason, celebrate the getting-together with extended family.
Colin says my blog is obsessed with food, but I pointed out it has three subjects and one is cooking. So here goes: This morning I didn't need the eggs because the dish I made was so filling: soft polenta with corn (I overcooked it and it wasn't as soft as I wished--also I should have made it with chicken broth instead of water, and I forgot in my haste to salt and pepper it). Top individual servings with chorizo (removed from casings, sauteed and then topped with cherry tomatoes until they release their juices--smash a few with a fork and cook it to make a sauce). Then top each serving with a mixture of feta and chopped cilantro. Really good, though the chorizo was a bit spicy for me. This evening I used the feta/cilanto mix to top a hamburger. So good.
So tonight I'm back at it--reading a manuscript for the Guppies critiquing partners program. Under that, a coordinator matches manuscripts and asks the authors if they're interested. I was, so I'm reading one about a designer/single mother in a small town outside Dallas, and I sent the author No Neighborhood for Old Women. I'm really having fun doing this, and I like the mystery.
Arctic temperatures in the teens (is this Omaha?), freezing drizzle, even snow are forecast this week. Ah, North Texas. Yesterday it was close to 80 and we were soooo hot in the sun at the stock show. I plan to get supplies tomorrow so I can spend Tuesday indoors, cooking. I'll be so glad when March comes. Good news is that I hve flowers--my orchid and my Christmas cactus are blooming. Pictures to come.

How full is your plate?

Earlier this week, over supper, I earnestly lectured a newly retired friend, reminding her she is now retired with all that implies and she should stop working so hard to build her free lance career. Spend more time doing what you want, I urged, as though I was the sage of retirement. Spend more time with your husband. She protested she was doing what she liked, and I said just too much of it.
Sometimes--frequently?--our words come back to bite us. Today I was feeling a bit better about the chili book but still struggling. I did make progress and could see it begin to take some shape But when I'm supposedly devoting my writing time to that project, I somehow got involved in not one but two new projects. A librarian friend sent me a piece soliciting articles about teaching women to write about their lives. A snap, I thought, and whisked off a proposal--it was accepted barring review and is due in 60 days. Aftr all I've done that class several times, thrice within the last year. Then someone asked me to present a paper on writing historical fiction for young adults at the annual meeting of the Texas State Historical Society in El Paso in early March--Alamo anniversary weekend. Getting to El Paso is beyond me for a lot of reasons, but since the programmers had a last-minute withdrawal and needed help I offered to write the paper and send it if someone else would read it. I expected "Thanks but no thanks." Instead the answer was "Great. I'll talk to Fran and get back to you." That one too should be a snap, but those things that you think are a snap never turn out to be so once you start on them. I'm not abandoning chili right away but when I get definitve word on these othr projects, I'll do just that. Maybe that will give me perspective.
Very cold in North Texas today--Scooby has been asleep in his bed all afternoon, and I can't get him to go out to eat his dinner. Yet he can't stay in all night without a potty trip outside--I'll work on that in a bit. Had a good lunch with Melinda at Nona Tata today--my favorite braseola with shaved grana cheese and a good vinaigrette and that spoonful of really good vinegar-style potato salad. Tonight was not, I decided, a night to settle for tuna salad and hummus, so I made chicken divan--turns out, since I'm eating small servings, I made two servings. But I simply roasted a half chicken breast, steamed some broccoli, and covered it with a white sauce--the requisite butter and flour paste, chicken broth, a touch of white wine, and a tiny tiny splash of whole cream. Then put Parmesan over it and baked it--delicious! I could have eaten the whole thing but I'm restraining myself.
Hmmm. Back to chili.

Collaborative Cooking

Tonight Elizabeth, Weldon, and I cooked collaboratively--Norwegian hamburgers and mashed potatoes, but both had to be gluten- and dairy-free. Elizabeth had experimented last week and was pleased that tonight our collaborative effort came out pretty much like hers had last week. But you learn things cooking with other people--she learned that adding milk to the meat pattie mixture lightened the texture of it (she uses almond milk but you couldn't taste the almond), and I learned from Weldon, who made the mashed potatoes, that a bit of olive oil lightens the texture of the potatoes. Part of the plan was to have Jacob cook with us. I thought at least he'd help me make salad dressing, which he did last week, but he announced when he walked in that he was "tired of cooking." He did however don his apron for the picture above. We had lots of fun cooking and then lingering at the table--with Star Trek in the background. And while Elizabeth and I were making the meat patties, Weldon and Jacob had a good visit about the latest Star Trek movie. Jacob has, sadly, forgotten all about poor Spiderman.

Elizabeth and I decided our next collaborative project will be venison sausage from the book Ratio. But we're searching out sausage stuffing equipment--I know I used to have it, but I think it's gone, and it's not cheap to buy. She is alsos intrigued by the instructions for homemade mayonnaise, and having made it some in the past I know it's vastly superior to the store-bought product. John and Cindy had homemade mayo at Hot Tubs in their tartar sauce and cole slaw and raved about it. So that goes on my list too.
Rain, sleet, snow, and ice predicted for tonight starting at 6 p.m. Now, at ten, it still hasn't happened, but I imagine it will during the night and tomorrow. I stocked up at the store today so I wouldn't have to go early in the week but forgot a major ingredient for my dinner for Three Women in Publishing on Wednesday, so I'll have to go back, weather permitting. I'm in a cooking phase, but I'm also enjoying editing the sequel to Skeleton in a Dead Space. Retirement is really great fun.