Dare

There’s something I dare not speak of.

You see that up there? And then do you see the other thing? I can’t, I just can’t. After last year, I just dare not speak of it.

And then there’s that other plant. You see that? You see all those?  Ugh, I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t talk about it.  I just sit and fret and chew on my nails and check the weather obsessively.  Ugggggh.  I can’t stand imagining another year of failure.

Stuff & Things

There’s been so much going on this May, that I haven’t been able to tell you about all the things I have wanted to.  So here we go!

First up: Eggplant Soup. Yes. Eggplant. Soup. If you thought squash soup was weird, you’re going to think eggplant soup is bonkers. But you’ll be wrong.  It is delicious.  I first tried it at Destino in Chatham, and then Mexican Radio in Hudson had a version of it, and then it was a special at Destino again.  And though it was different at the two Mexican restaurants, it was delicious at both.  It is silky and yummy and very, very easy to make at home.  Grill or roast a few eggplants, caramelize some onions, add some broth, puree and add creme fraiche, crema or heavy cream to your taste and garnish with a little salsa fresca and a squirt of lime.  Yum!

Next: Sifting. We’ve been doing a lot of this.  First I had to sift the compost pile.  Twice.  And then there was the tomato garden, which we’ve been sifting for weeks now. But it’s almost done, to the point where I was able to make some beds and plant some tomatoes (though I’m not sure they’re going to make it, they were all kind of weenie, and it has been hot Upstate this week). And then there was flour.  I made pancakes from scratch for the first time ever a few weekends ago, after an aerobic spate of dirt sifting.  I don’t know if I was just very hungry ofrif these really are the best pancakes ever, but I’m going with the latter.  Sadly, I left the recipe Upstate (it’s, naturally, from Amy Bess Miller’s The Best of Shaker Cooking) so if anyone has a copy laying around, email me the recipe for Apple Pancakes and I’ll post it here. *

Well Wed (And Fed)

Well, hi there everybody!

I’m back. Another year older and with a new prefix: Mrs.  It feels amazing! Can I say “Best Spring ever?” Yeah, I think I can.

I have no idea how much you want to hear about this whole wedding thing, so I’ll try to keep it to one thought: Getting married is awesome!  I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I was really dreading it. I have no idea why. I saw it as an ordeal that needed to be survived.  I was dreading our parents meeting. I was dreading the emotional bomb that the ceremony was going to be. I was dreading the reception and dinner.  Turns out, I’m a freak.

Our parents seem to genuinely like each other, and while I did find the whole thing incredibly emotional (I was so busy crying during the ceremony I have no idea if it was emotional for everyone else, but I think it was) I felt so light and bright and buoyant afterward. And then it was time to eat, drink and be merry. And eat and drink and laugh we did.

There was champagne and beautiful Burgundy. A pretty little salad, a perfect pea soup, lamb with ramps, mint pistou, spring vegetables and roasted potatoes and raspberry cake with lemon curd and buttercream frosting.  There were stories and tales and even a few toasts.  My bouquet was full of tulips, anemones, hydrangeas and sweet peas.  It was as springy as Spring can be. It was the perfect way to start a new life.

The Rollercoaster

I’m on furlough right now.

This means I get a week off from work, but no pay.  I’m quite happy with this arrangement if it means I get to keep my job, and those around me get to keep theirs, too.  Isaac and I are spending the week up at the house.

I had planned to mention this last week, but failed to finish that post, which I had planned to do over the weekend, and then on Monay and then on Tuesday and then on Wednesday, yet somehow I find myself at Thursday already!  Time has a way of slipping past me without my hardly noticing.

What I have noticed in the six days we’ve been here so far though, is the rain.  It has rained nearly everyday we’ve been here.  And then there was Monday. The day started bright and sullen with me discovering a deer had made its way into the garden and through my peas and sunflowers, and ended with 2 1/2 inches of rain and an inch of large pea-sized hail.

Like Herding Ducks

I fried some tomatoes last weekend.

Unfortunately, not in a culinary sense.  There was a frost warning Sunday and Monday nights, so my mom told me to put up-turned terra cotta pots over the two tomatoes I had planted.

But what turned out to be even worse than the frost was the two days of 90°+ heat on Wednesday and Thursday.  My poor helpless tomatoes fried in their own little pizza ovens.  By the time we woke up on Saturday morning they were shriveled and dead, dead, dead.

And then there were the beans.  Also dead (not sure if the frost or the heat got them), except for the ones that survived and are infested with aphids.  Where are all those ladybugs that lived in our house with us all winter long when I need them?

It’s kind of a relief though.  I knew something had to go wrong in the garden eventually, so I guess I’m hoping that this will be the extent of it.  For all my cranky, curmudgeonly complaints, I’m still a wide eyed optimist.