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Food porn, and commentary
Apr. 5th, 2005 05:48 pmDespite my lack of being home this month (it seems I/we are averaging four days away, each week), I am the semi-domestic part of the trio.
I dislike dishes, but I've been doing them. I've also been tending the yard (to include the, inevitable result of feeding two large dogs, and uncounted rodents (which we reduce by something between 50 and 75 every week, but that's not more than straining for stasis).
I like the cooking and I've been doing it. Last year we (at my semi-instigation) revived a tradition of Maia's family... the weekly company. Her family, before her grandparents had to be retired to the home (various levels of dementia, exacerbated by alcohol and being from another age, where he didn't know how to cook, save it came from a can, and she was unable to remember anything more than playing the piano, and that she used to have more marbles. It was a cheerful decline, but hard to bear; the harder for being only couple of hundred yards away) used to invite all and sundry (not quite, but the door was open to guests of guests) to dinner and baroque (mostly; because Pat plays recorder) music.
So we'd eat, talk and then retire to the living room (my role was to stoke the fire in the winter) and either play, or listen, as was our ability, or wont. A cello, a violin, or two, a viola, the piano, a recorder, an oboe and clarinet were all possible. A french horn might chime in, if Maia elected to practice that week. Sometimes a second cello.
We don't have that many musical friends, but we can invite people over; converse, play games and enjoy a meal. It gives us a need to engage in regular housekeeping, so that we aren't in a permanent state of minor clutter.
Last night I did the second experiment in the menu planning for Passover, lamb on the barbeque (the host of the travelling seder likes lamb, can't abide the smell of its early cooking, so we have this compromise... I like the smell, from start to finish, and so we can all enjoy a meat we love). Timing is important so we are checking that.
I have a bit less than three lbs. of leftover leg. Chopped and browned, as the loaves (three, one with guiness, one with dill, one with a bit more molasses) were autolysing. Add a couple of tomatoes (to cook to nothing, and add juice and flavor, two onions, softened in bacon grease (from yesterday's breakfast) which was then used to make a blonde roux. During the time between the stretching of the dough I shelled peas.
Potatoes need to be chopped, I just put in the thyme and oregano. Asaparagus for the side dish, as well as a cuke, tomato and basil salad; with either basalmic, or lemon juice, and black pepper. Maia is threatening to use the sour milk to make cake.
The only concession we are making to the cost of feeding (as of the last poll returns) eight extra people is that drinks, other than water, juice, milk and coffee/tea are the guests responsibility.
We'll see how it all comes out.
I dislike dishes, but I've been doing them. I've also been tending the yard (to include the, inevitable result of feeding two large dogs, and uncounted rodents (which we reduce by something between 50 and 75 every week, but that's not more than straining for stasis).
I like the cooking and I've been doing it. Last year we (at my semi-instigation) revived a tradition of Maia's family... the weekly company. Her family, before her grandparents had to be retired to the home (various levels of dementia, exacerbated by alcohol and being from another age, where he didn't know how to cook, save it came from a can, and she was unable to remember anything more than playing the piano, and that she used to have more marbles. It was a cheerful decline, but hard to bear; the harder for being only couple of hundred yards away) used to invite all and sundry (not quite, but the door was open to guests of guests) to dinner and baroque (mostly; because Pat plays recorder) music.
So we'd eat, talk and then retire to the living room (my role was to stoke the fire in the winter) and either play, or listen, as was our ability, or wont. A cello, a violin, or two, a viola, the piano, a recorder, an oboe and clarinet were all possible. A french horn might chime in, if Maia elected to practice that week. Sometimes a second cello.
We don't have that many musical friends, but we can invite people over; converse, play games and enjoy a meal. It gives us a need to engage in regular housekeeping, so that we aren't in a permanent state of minor clutter.
Last night I did the second experiment in the menu planning for Passover, lamb on the barbeque (the host of the travelling seder likes lamb, can't abide the smell of its early cooking, so we have this compromise... I like the smell, from start to finish, and so we can all enjoy a meat we love). Timing is important so we are checking that.
I have a bit less than three lbs. of leftover leg. Chopped and browned, as the loaves (three, one with guiness, one with dill, one with a bit more molasses) were autolysing. Add a couple of tomatoes (to cook to nothing, and add juice and flavor, two onions, softened in bacon grease (from yesterday's breakfast) which was then used to make a blonde roux. During the time between the stretching of the dough I shelled peas.
Potatoes need to be chopped, I just put in the thyme and oregano. Asaparagus for the side dish, as well as a cuke, tomato and basil salad; with either basalmic, or lemon juice, and black pepper. Maia is threatening to use the sour milk to make cake.
The only concession we are making to the cost of feeding (as of the last poll returns) eight extra people is that drinks, other than water, juice, milk and coffee/tea are the guests responsibility.
We'll see how it all comes out.
