master and commander: the far side of the world
...or, as i insist on referring to it, that boat movie:
i have changed my mind once and for all about joining the british navy.
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November 30, 2003
November 25, 2003
holiday cookie #4
these dainty lovelies are a combination of nick malgieri's dark chocolate sabl�s and his french vanilla sabl�s spiked with peppermint.
if i had them to do over again, i'd make them much smaller. i didn't take the spread of the dough into account, so they're much larger than i'd intended. a good lesson to learn when monkeying with other people's recipes.
holiday cookie #3
these are the much-vaunted citrus slices. mom first made these, oh, about a century ago, and i've loved them ever since. the recipe comes from the december 1983 issue of good housekeeping, if that's any kind of clue.
i made an innovation of my own this year: i rolled the "rind" in colored sugar. another alteration i made was to this instruction from the recipe:
Into half of dough, knead orange extract, grated orange peel and enough yellow and red food color to tint a pretty orange color.
i, uh, added approximately three times as much red and yellow food coloring as i should have. the orange cookies are, how you say, vivid.
they're a nice companion, though, to the lemon cookies, which look suspiciously like slices of hard-boiled egg.
November 24, 2003
holiday cookie #2
on a whirlwind visit to terry's, i was introduced to the finest cookie in the universe.
cuccidati. buttery, tender dough wrapped around a filling of figs macerated in strong spirits, smeared with an anise-spiked glaze and sprinkled with those tiny, colorful nonpareils. magnificent.
it must be said that terry did the lion's share of the work while i sat at her kitchen table and watched. and ate the rejects.
two down, ten to go!
lunch left in lurch
poor beleaguered lunch came back from his stay at the hospital with his forepaws partly shaved. i can't be sure, but i think i heard thermos snickering at the spectacle. (click the tiny picture to bask in lunch's shame.)
this is not lunch's first such episode. about five years ago he had...some kind of cerebral event...that left him lurching unsteadily, with his head tilting slightly to the right. the lurch went away and he regained most of his agility, but the tilt has persisted, giving him a charming inquisitive look. we think it was a stroke, but can't be sure.
now his tilt is decidedly more pronounced.
November 21, 2003
the cat came back
lunch came home yesterday afternoon, with shaved forepaws and a decidedly pronounced head tilt.
he ate some stinky canned food, let himself be patted, and walked all around getting used to the place again.
this morning he talked to me as i groggily stirred my coffee-flavored beverage, then purred loudly as i patted him.
he is still rather wobbly and requires six pills twice daily. could be a brain tumor. could be a stroke. the only way to tell just now is time. (well, time or an mri.)
but he's feeling friendly and doesn't seem to be hurting. i'm glad to have him back.
November 19, 2003
okay, okay, i'll take some
today at the co-op the lady behind the cheese counter greeted us exuberantly: "my favorite customers!"
we hadn't planned to buy any, but it seemed churlish to disappoint her.
a new cat
this morning's word from the vet is that lunch is like a brand new cat.
he's eating, moving around, and even raising hell inside his cage — this morning he'd trashed the place.
our manx cat is back and he's ready to rumble.
they think they'll send him home tomorrow morning. we planned to go visit him, forgetting that the vet closes early on wednesdays, so we'll have to wait to see him when we pick him up.
a brand new cat!
November 18, 2003
them's good eatin'
from the message boards at work, in response to a claim that gay people insist on being "in everyone's face":
You're right, gays are invading your life, your home, and even raiding your fridge for food. Probably making themselves "gay sandwiches" in your kitchen when you're not home.
manxwatch
the last few days have been really, really rough. i didn't write about this the other day, but when lunch went in to the cat hospital on friday, he seemed to be in dire straits: he wasn't eating, he seemed to have gone blind, and he was exhibiting this alarming tendency to walk only around the contours of a room, hugging the walls, walking through whatever obstacles were in his way (food bowl, water dish).
it was terrifying.
the news throughout the weekend wasn't good. he still wasn't eating and had lost his ability to walk and control his bladder. paul and i expected to have to make a very hard decision this week.
and we still may have to. but lunch has shown a marked improvement from yesterday. overnight he ate on his own, and today he was sitting up and moving around in his cage. he walked down the hall without major incident.
this was the best news i've heard in days.
the vet suspects he may have an infection of the central nervous system that is responding to the new antibiotics and steroids he's being given. it could also be that he had a brain bleed that's now resolving itself.
he has a long way to go if he's going to recover. we are only cautiously optimistic and trying to stay realistic about his prognosis, but it sure beats the hell out of preparing to say goodbye.
November 16, 2003
pied beauty
today i made a pie. an apple pie. an apple pie with a peek-a-boo top.
it is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. or rather a joy for the next three hours, which is how long i predict it will last around here.
louisiana redeems itself
louisiana has elected its first woman governor, democrat kathleen blanco. this is a big relief, because her opponent was a hard-right republican who opposed, among other things, abortion in all cases.
i imagine some of louisiana's more neanderthal voters were confused by the choice: elect either a white woman or a non-white man. (blanco's opponent is indian — "and not the cowboy kind," according to aunt betty.)
November 15, 2003
i miss our cat
lunch is staying at the vet's this weekend getting fluids intravenously. he has no interest in eating — not even chicken, his favorite food — so it's a relief to know he's at least getting some nourishment via needle.
the most important lab numbers came back normal, so we know it's not kidney or liver failure. his thyroid level is elevated again, which is expected; we'd stopped the thyroid meds on the theory that he was having a bad reaction to them.
he may just be depressed. i am, too. i miss lunch.
November 14, 2003
paul r. is 35 today
happy birthday, big bro.
everyone knows it's windy
the weather forecast for last night called for gusts up to 60 mph. naturally i was terrified that we would wake to find the woodpile crashed to flinders — so worried that i woke several times in the night just to check.
i am happy to report that the stacks stood firm in the onslaught. we did, however, experience several weird power outages; about a foot of snow accumulation; and one of the neighbors' trees falling across our driveway. angry mr. plow called at, oh, 5 am to tell us he couldn't get his truck past it.
until the tree is removed and the driveway plowed, we are housebound. normally i would be overjoyed, but because the cat needs to go back to the vet again today, i'm stewing a bit.
and watching it continue to snow through my office window. check the webcam to enjoy it vicariously.
November 13, 2003
i hope i didn't speak too soon.
for those of you hanging on every word i post about my cat, i have a troubling update.
the vet said yesterday that the elevated pancreatic enzyme in lunch's blood was nothing to worry about, and his other test results were encouraging. but yesterday and today lunch has been extremely lethargic, hiding in the alcove behind the washer and dryer, obviously nauseated and unhappy.
he's going back to the vet this afternoon, if we can pry him out of his inaccessible little cave. my guess is that they'll keep him there for a few days — the treatment for pancreatic problems is to rest the pancreas by keeping the cat off food and water taken orally, keeping him hydrated intravenuously or subcutaneously.
wish us luck in getting him into the box, and wish him luck in feeling better very soon.
November 12, 2003
manx, convalescent
i am happy to report that lunch's bloodwork results are encouraging!
his thyroid levels are back down to normal. his kidney and liver function, which can be affected by the medication, are fine. his red blood cell count is a bit high, which can be explained by the repeated blood draws. his pancreatic function is still a matter of some concern, but the vet explained that the tests for that enzyme are often of questionable value. he'll be calling — get this — an internal medicine specialist to discuss lunch's pancreas.
he came back from his weekend at the vet's with a new shaved patch on his throat. when i touch it, it feels like warm suede. (i guess it is warm suede.)
not only has the medication improved his thyroid condition, it's helped him return to his former friendliness. although he's not quite as affectionate as usual, he's improved greatly — even after i pilled him last night he circled back around for more patting.
since he is well on his way to recovery, i guess i can throw away this ad i found in the local paper:
holiday cookie #1
last night i baked a batch of almond shortbread from fine cooking's holiday baking issue. they're delicious, if a bit less almondy than i'd hoped — that's what i get for using last year's almonds (which i had hermetically sealed and stowed in the freezer). to remedy that, i dipped each cookie in callebaut semi-sweet, then sprinkled with chopped almonds. if i'd had almond oil on hand i would have added a few drops to the chocolate.
i experimented a little bit with the dipping. i like the dipped corner better than the dipped half, but that required a very deep pool of chocolate. so the first half of the cookies got the corner, and, as the depth of chocolate in my bowl decreased, i moved to the half. (click the tiny picture to compare.)
one cookie down, eleven to go.
November 11, 2003
a snack for mom and betty
i think dr. atkins would be tickled to death — if he weren't already dead, that is.
November 10, 2003
i bet disney is seething with envy.
in the little town of fort ann, new york, there is an attraction i have longed to visit for years.
we pass it about twice a year. it's usually closed when we're there, either because it's too early or late, or because it's locked up tight after the busy summer season.
it is called
not only does it offer an ice cream shop called the milken parlor, it features a miniature golf course: hillbilly holes.
i do not know what other wonders it offers. museum of regrettable dentistry? jailbreak jamboree? greased cousin races?
i may never know. but at least this time we stopped long enough to get a picture. (click the tiny image above.)
November 07, 2003
what's cooking, good looking?
things i have cooked in the last few days:
- a million meatballs. four pounds of meat and a one-inch scoop — you do the math. i told emily on the phone that i was making a million meatballs. "you can't do that," she said incredulously. "how many do you think i could make?" i asked. she thought. "maybe...ten?" i said, "more like 100." "you can't do that!" indeed i can; i counted 102 of the larger size and 36 tiny ones, marble-sized, for soup.
if i had made a million one-inch meatballs and lined them up single file, they would stretch almost 17 miles. the 102 i actually did make would only go about 8.5 feet.
- onion soup. the onion soup recipe in mark bittman's how to cook everything is sublime — props to terry for telling me about it. here's the basic idea:
- slice a bunch of onions thinly.
- cook them in butter until they're very soft and beginning to brown.
- add chicken stock, thyme, and a hit of cognac.
- drink by the gallon.
- pasta sauce. i don't usually bother, since we like barilla spicy pepper flavor just fine, but something came over me in the tomato aisle of the grocery store. i make no apologies, because the outcome is delicious.
- chicken stew. there is a chicken perched atop mirepoix in the crock pot even as we speak. i have plans to strip its carcass bare, then convert it to individual pies by way of frozen puff pastry sheets.
i'm not quite sure what i'll cook today, but it had better be something small — the freezer door is beginning to bulge in a very alarming way.
November 04, 2003
burn, baby, burn
at last! my recalcitrant burning bushes have finally consented to burn, about a month behind every other one in montpelier. i suspect they are simply lazy, just like their caretaker.
things fall apart
some things that have recently broken around here:
- the tivo.
the modem inside our tivo got fried in a big thunderstorm a couple of weeks ago. we decided against having it repaired for the second time. because i would sooner live without my right arm than tivo, we opted to buy a new one, a series 2 machine. truthfully, we'd been looking for an excuse to upgrade, but we can tell ourselves the new machine's wireless ethernet capabilities will protect us from future modem troubles, thereby justifying the purchase. (i can justify anything.)
- the car.
it's currently making a scary scraping noise when i apply the brakes or accelerate. since it's also due for its 50,000 mile routine maintenance, it's going into the shop early tomorrow morning. right now i am waiting for the rental car lady to pick me up so that we won't be entirely carless in its absence.
- my fingernail.
i got overenthusiastic this morning with the clippers and sheared off the nail on my right middle finger far below the quick. you don't realize how much you need your nails for protection until you lose a big hunk of one — even tying my shoes was agonizing.
November 03, 2003
dressed to kill
courtesy of my mother, here are david and thomas at their school's halloween parade.
funniest thing? tom's gq vampire pose. (i'm hoping to see matthew in his giraffe costume later today.)
tastes like chicken
last night i made this delicious thing for dinner: parmesan crusted chicken breasts in a white wine/butter/sage sauce. (click on the tiny picture for the centerfold.)
the recipe came from cuisine at home. it's a nice magazine — each issue includes an article about a basic technique (in this case, crusting chicken breasts) and then a couple of recipes that introduce variations. besides the parmesan, this issue also has pecan-crusted chicken breasts. think i'll be trying that one?
i hope the copyright police don't come after me as i reveal the secret to good crusting: you have to let the crusted meat dry for half an hour or so to help the crust set so that it doesn't fall off immediately upon meeting the pan.
the sauce was the result of serendipity. not only did i happen to have heavy cream — which, believe it or not, i don't usually — i had half a bottle of dry white wine and a brand-new log of sage butter in the freezer, made with the final yield from our backyard plant. i was able to make the sauce exactly as the recipe required, with no pre-planning necessary.
next time i do this, and there will be a next time, i'm going to scrap the mashed potatoes, which were the path of least resistance last night, and perhaps serve it with some kind of orzo-full-of-stuff.