Black Beans and Flan

Retrieving what I loved but abandoned: Poetry for its own sake. Ballet. Luckily, there's a beginners' class nearby, with Juliana -- such an ennobling teacher. (I wanted to take ballet when I was 10, but my parents said they couldn't afford lessons for all 5 of us, so none could have them. Made sense then.) I also loved to read, & loved color. And meditating -- call it resting!! I've been sitting peacefully for 10-20 minutes a day in the New Year. Oddly, it makes me more jumpy than before. I'm guessing it's a phase.

Also: casual hospitality. Last night, with 4 friends. They brought salad & fruit. Clark smoked meat & I made black beans. Here's the recipe, but first you must promise to sort the beans. I love the sound of them plinking into a white plate, then sliding into a pot to be rinsed. Yesterday I caught two bean-sized stones.

Black Beans

2 C. dry black beans

2 tsp. salt

olive oil

4 medium onions, finely chopped (or 2 bags of frozen, chopped onions.)

1 green pepper, chopped (or 1 bag of frozen, chopped green pepper. You can also mix red & green pepper.)

3 cloves garlic, mashed

1 tsp. cumin seed, crushed (Ground cumin, is OK, but for sharper flavor grind whole seeds with mortar & pestle. Last night I used ground.)

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

juice of 1/2 lemon

Pick over, rinse, soak & cook the black beans in water with 2 tsp. salt.

Sauté the onion & pepper in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic & cook a minute more. Add cumin, oregano, & mustard, & cook another minute or 2, stirring so the spices don't burn. Salt it a little. Add the tomatoes & simmer for a while, stirring occasionally & adding water if it's getting dry. Yesterday I cooked it about an hour, but you can cook it much less. Just simmer until you like it or until the time runs out. Then add the stewed black beans with a little of their cooking liquid & salt. If you add more liquid you have black bean soup. Cook until you like the way it tastes -- sometimes just 5 minutes; yesterday was about an hour. You can go slow or fast. After you add the beans, mash some of them so you have a thick soup. You can use a potato masher, but I recommend an immersion blender. Before serving, add lemon juice to taste. Serve with rice & chopped onions. Some people also like sour cream &/or chopped cilantro.

I was going to make a chocolate dessert, but something stopped me. Made flan instead. This recipe is from Margarita Zayas, who was our neighbor in Miami.

Margarita's Flan

Make a caramel by melting 1/2 C. sugar with 2 1/2 T. water in a small pan over medium heat. Be patient! Wait until it's brown, but not burnt. Pour that into a bread pan,* tilting it to cover the entire bottom. Then mix 1 can evaporated milk, 3 C. whole milk, 3/4 C. sugar, dash salt, 4 beaten eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour that over the carmel. Put the pan into a larger pan with water in it that goes halfway up the bread pan. Bake at 350° an hour or more, until the custard is set. Chill thoroughly, then turn the pan upside down on a platter so the custard is surrounded by carmel.

*I used glass custard cups instead, & did not turn them upside down for serving. It's comforting to have your own cup of custard, I think.

Delicious days: week 2

Delicious and simple

Saturday

Chicken

I've made this before and should make it often. It's easy, delicious.

Buy chicken breasts with bread crumbs and Parmesan already on them. Brown in olive oil. Pour some good Italian sauce from the store over them. Cook over low-medium heat until the pink center is gone. 10-15 minutes. Serve with noodles and spinach sauteéd with garlic and olive oil.

Sunday

I forget!

Monday

Salmon

I made salmon from week #1. It's great -- want to be able to make it by heart. It's fine. I had it with stir-fried rice: olive oil, one red pepper (from Costco today), two green onions, chopped. First sauté pepper until soft. Then add green onions. Then rice and a cube of NYTimes special green sauce. My favorite stir-fry so far. Could eat it once a week.

Tuesday

Chicken and polenta

Leftovers 

I cut the leftover chicken breast from Saturday into bite-sized pieces and mixed this with leftover polenta. Topped it with Parmesan and, since I had some cream in the refrigerator, poured some cream over. Cover with foil and warm in 350 oven.  With frozen spinach.

Delicious days: week 1

Delicious and simple

Sunday

Pasta

Quick polenta. Don't forget salt. Stir in smoked mozzarella at the end.
Roasted tomatoes -- little red tomatoes and chopped garlic, olive oil, salt. 425° until crinkled. Add chopped fresh basil.

Also made pesto. Chopped basil leaves tiny. Chopped garlic cloves. Mixed together with olive oil and salt. Next time might try mortar and pestle... 

I froze this in ice cube tray.

Monday

Chicken

chicken curry 

I planned to marinate chicken in tandoori spices, but decided to go with the simpler chicken curry recipe from NYTimes cooking app. I used a bit more curry powder than called for, also didn’t use tomatoes but added frozen chopped spinach instead. It’s good and worth jazzing up a bit, but next time I’ll: 

*marinate the chicken pieces in tandoori spices mixed with a cup of yogurt

*Sauté some garlic with the onions. 

* cook the chicken BEFORE adding  coconut milk

*add some other vegetables

*top with herbs, as suggested. 

Good with brown rice 

Tuesday 

kale

Surprise! this was delicious. But I like kale. I almost thought it would be my entire dinner, but then I fried a little sliced chicken sausage and leftover polenta in my iron skillet. That was enough.

Kale
Heat up 1/4 C. olive oil in hot skillet. Add 3 cloves garlic. Cook one minute or until light brown. Add kale, ribs removed and coarsely chopped, and chicken broth. Cook. Stir in red wine vinegar. Salt to taste. Cook a little more, until not crisp.

Wednesday

Sopa de calabaza*

The hard part is peeling a pumpkin. But it's worth the trouble.  Soup alone wasn't quite enough, so I finished with chocolate and roasted almonds. I mean I ate them later, but writing this now makes me think almonds might be good with the soup. Chocolate too!

Place in soup pot:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pie pumpkin, peeled and chopped
chopped up celery, carrot, and onion( I use the kind you buy pre-chopped at Trader Joe's)
A box or can of chopped tomatoes, either large or small -- depends on how tomato-y you want the soup
garlic, parsley, bay leaf,
chicken broth and water,  to make 5 cups
3 ounces white wine
1 T. honey
1 T. cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste

Cook until pumpkin is soft.
Mash or blend with immersion blender.
Add 1 cup heavy cream.

*based on a recipe from Goya products

Thursday

Eat out

Friday

Eat out

Saturday

Salmon

Thaw frozen salmon. (I used Sockeye.)
Rub with olive oil, seasoned salt, and pepper if you want. Put on parchment paper. Bake at 450° about 12 minutes per inch of thickness,
Recipe says make a sauce: Mix 3 T. olive oil with herbs to equal 1 T., and 1 T. lemon juice and some lemon zest. pour sauce n top of fish and tent it with foil and let it rest 5 minutes.
Also made brown rice (Trader Joe's frozen)
and salad of mixed greens with olive oil, vinegar and mustard.

Nothing-special Fridays are my favorite

Dear Friends,

A nothing-special Friday. I think this might be my favorite kind. I went to the gym, bought markers on sale at the art store made rice pudding, cleaned house. And walked Zing! 

Love,

k

Notes from Elizabeth St. Hilaire's painted paper collage workshop

Things I want to remember from Elizabeth St. Hilaire's September 

painted paper collage 

workshop in Sacramento

1. Make an underpainting
Elizabeth's YouTube on how to paint an apple is great. I used it to make my underpainting, and liked the result so much that I really didn't want to collage on top of it.
Google Elizabeth St Hillaire. Go to videos. It’s her longest one, about 25 minutes.

2. Paint paper
Elizabeth's technique involves torn paper. She likes rice paper and deli paper --  plus all kinds of other paper -- book pages, music, letters, etc. Print, stencil, paint these to match your underpainting. She does not use magazine or other shiny paper.

3. Rip the paper to mimic paint strokes 
Directional ripping: Pull toward yourself with your dominant hand. The dominant hand will hold the piece with no white fringe.
Tear pieces in shapes like brush strokes.
Vary size and shape.
Make the pieces follow the form of the apple -- curved one way on the left and another on the right. (not too big, though. Elizabeth says anything bigger than a 50¢ piece will wrinkle.)

4. Glue with Liquitex Gloss Gel Medium
Press glued pieces down three times. in one minute,
Lay  background first -- at least around the main object. Work back to front. Overlap as you come forward.
Work from both sides to the center.
Thick, chunky paper comes forward.
Use bigger shapes as you get to the center.
Use papers that relate to your subject matter.
Layer with tissue to mute.
For a mosaic effect leave a little of the base color around the torn paper.
You can have a painted background and only collage the main subject. (That's what I did with my apple.)

5. Varnish finished piece with Satin
Matte dulls colors.
Varnish two coats-- wait 6 hours between applications.
        Brush slowly
        Brush evenly
        Don't shake the varnish
        Don't over-brush-- it will either get cloudy or bubbly.

Materials Elizabeth recommends
Clean brushes with Murphy's oil soap.
Utrecht mixed synthetic brushes
Frames she recommends (wood gallery frames)
https://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-essentials-wood-gallery-frames/
Take plexiglass off and don't use it.

Collage artists she recommends:
Derek Gores (magazine collage)
Sean Callahan (Key West artist with his own gallery there)
Ellen Lindner, Florida quilt artist

Elizabeth St. Hilaire

My underpainting

My finished, framed collage

Comfortable day

Written last night:

Dear Friends,
Today I caught up and relaxed. I made rice pudding because it is my comfort food, and now sweet potatoes roasting smell delicious. (Also comfort food.) It is dark out and I am going to close the living room shades. Up above, on the 14th floor (we skip 13) there is scraping and bumping and the drop and bounce of little hard things. I think someone is arranging furniture. It was a speedy day.
Love,
k

Rice grows here too

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

Today was warm and gorgeous, drawing people to sidewalk restaurants and coffee shops all over midtown. I couldn’t resist, so Zing and I went out too, but we drove to a place that was sure to be quiet. I’ve been meaning to check out the West Sacramento rice docks, and I figured no one would be there on the weekend. Not long ago I took a wrong turn and saw them — big white silo-things that said RICE. But I had to watch the road and was driving too fast to appreciate them. A lot of rice is grown around Sacramento. The fine print on my Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice  says it comes from the Sacramento Valley.

Today the industrial area along the Sacramento River was indeed quiet -- big rigs parked along the road, gates to warehouses locked up, no traffic, silence everywhere. We couldn’t get past the gate to the rice docks, but we did see the white silos and the river beyond. In a strange way it was fun.

Then we drove up and down a few streets, stopping at a dead end where a few cars were parked by the fence; there was a grassy strip and then a short, steep hill. You could only see the sky over it. It was a levee. Zing and I went up, and, yes, it was a canal where people sat fishing in small groups or alone, and farther on a placid green and blue marsh.

Love, 

k

Not too boring after all

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

Two things happened today.

1. The HOA meeting. Booooooring, right? But tonight I decided to ask questions about the boring stuff, and other people spoke their minds too, and it was about as fun as a meeting can get. Then: 

2. Two friends who live here, came for dinner after the meeting. (Don’t tell them, but it was leftover chili from Saturday.) We rehashed the meeting over the chili, topped with avocado, onions (soak chopped onions for an hour in ice water to reduce their odor), grated cheese, and chopped cilantro. Rice pudding with cinnamon and lemon zest for dessert.

Then Zing and I went for a walk and on the sidewalk we met someone from the building and again we rehashed the meeting. It reminds me of city politics, but extremely local. I had fun.

Here’s the dinner table after my friends left. Pellegrino water, wine, white napkins, and Zing!

Love,

k

Day by day

Written the last few days:

Wednesday

Dear Friends,

Let’s discuss toilets.  

My toilet took so long to flush. I had to hold the handle down forever. I thought it was a California thing to save water. Every time I visited elsewhere I couldn’t help envying their rapid flush. 

So I asked the plumber who installed my new washer. “Just normal,” he said.

A month later I asked the plumber who installed the new sinks. “It’s not a problem,” he said.

Tonight I asked Randall, the handyman who hung some pictures and steadied my wobbly table legs. “The chain is too long,” he said. And in 30 seconds he fixed it. Now my toilet flushes as fast as they do in Ohio.

“But why didn’t the professional plumbers tell me?” I asked Randall.

“They didn’t care,” he said.

After he left, I made Chicken Tikka Masala with meat from a bird I roasted a couple of days ago. I’ll freeze half for later this month. It’s good with rice and yogurt with cucumber, garlic, green onions and olive oil. My leftover chicken was good, but it’s even better if you marinate and grill or bake the meat the way the recipe tells you. Be sure to use lime juice (I used lemon and it was't as good.)

Love, 

k

Thursday

Dear Friends,

Today small things didn’t turn out as planned. Certainly you’ve had days like this — we are not in control!

One of the chores I’ve been putting off is maintaining Rosa. Clark would always see that it was done, and he could answer any question that came up. He loved cars. But me — I just depend on them. (I love you, Rosa!) Recently Rosa has been flashing lights that say she needs oil. (What a great idea: I would like lights to flash when I need a hug or a glass of wine.) This morning Zing and I took her to the car wash; then we drove to Auburn Boulevard to get an idea of where the Mazda service center is. We wandered the surface roads around there, to get a feel for the neighborhood, which is full of trailer parks.  We got home, ate lunch, and then drove back like pros. Servicing would only take an hour, they said. Zing made lots of friends in the waiting room. Then I got the bad news (which Clark would have absorbed in a professional manner) that I need a new tire and I’m lucky Rosa didn’t split her wheel on the road. Not safe to drive home, they said. Come back tomorrow. To my amazement, Maita Mazda has a free driver service, and he got us home faster than I could have driven myself. Tomorrow afternoon we head back for Rosa, who narrowly missed a tire explosion. Clark would have been able to tell me just how close I actually came to disaster. Or maybe he used his next-world influence to keep me and Zing safe today. 

Love,
k

Friday
 

Dear Friends,

How to tell you’re not in Florida anymore: You learn that it's Cesar Chavez Day.

Maybe you need to renew your passport — only a few days left on the old one. You carefully plan: find the closest office (Yay! the library is only a few blocks away), download and fill out forms, grab checkbook (no credit cards accepted), even luck into a neighbor (Darrius) who wants to watch Zing. 

The sidewalks around state offices were nearly empty, my walk to the library strangely easy. 

The library door was locked. An apology in the window said sorry for the inconvenience. Closed for Cesar Chavez Day. 

State offices and schools were closed across California and several other states honor the farm labor leader too.

I’m kind of glad I was taken by surprise, because that means I’ll never forget March 31 is Cesar Chavez Day. I celebrated by walking around Chavez Park, down the street from the library. 

Saturday
Dear Friends,

Today I made a turn-around, from doing things the hard way to choosing the easy way. For one thing, at least.

Renewing my passport.

Clark and I were about to do that when he died, but since then I’ve forgotten about it -- and so much else. Now I’m kind of coming to life (although that seems disloyal sometimes) and the other day I discovered my passport expires this coming Saturday. So I freaked out today and drove round and round -- to three different post offices and one library -- only to be told over and over that they were already too booked to take me. Renewing your passport is not like renewing your driver’s license, which is hard enough. 

My plan, then, was to be first in line at the post office Monday. But that wouldn’t be a sure thing, either — I gathered this from today’s conversations, the details of which you do not want to know. 

Later, as Zing and I were taking our walk, we ran into Sandra, Zing’s friend who owns the gym. She told me she’d renewed her passport quickly (six weeks is quick!!) by mail, with no problem. (I know, Rachel, you told me the same thing … ) So as I was going to bed I glanced once again at the passport website. What had seemed a tangle before was simple now. I filled out the information, wrote the check, stapled my photo down, and it’s done. No need to spend Monday in an uncertain line. Monday I mail it — overnight delivery, just to be safe. 

I made this simple chore way too complicated. But I did learn how to drive to three post offices. 

Love,
k

Little gestures and a big celebration

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

Such an encouraging day! I connected with family and friends from here — and also there — helping,  laughing, nudging me on … Thank you! Your “little" gestures keep me going and make me want to pass them on.  

The day ended with dinner celebrating my friend Mary Kaye’s birthday at Mulvaney’s restaurant on 19th Street. We five had a private room, which generally means a nondescript spot on the edge of the fun. At Mulvaney's it was more of an adventure. We were led through the dining room, to a place where they were maybe slicing meat or some other food prep chore, then around a corner to a cozy room with golden light, walled with wine bottles floor to ceiling. Little candles flickered on the shelves. The special, intimate space encouraged conversation, and we covered everything from water protection to wind-up clocks and rattlesnakes. Dinner was charcuterie, cheeses from near the coast, salmon, cod, rice, and the best green salad I’ve tasted, with leaves so dangly and bitter. Napa wines. Green tea cheesecake. Chocolate whisky cake. Panna cotta. What a lovely celebration. 

Love,
k

Weekend report and rice pudding

Written over the weekend:

Saturday:

Dear Friends,

Today was full of phone calls and grocery shopping and cooking. I’m tweaking the beef burgundy recipe. Friends (Mary Kaye, who I met in the art quilt group, and her husband Leigh) are coming to dinner, but first we’re seeing a movie at the Tower Theater — a Sacramento landmark.

Yesterday I looked Clark’s photo straight in the eye, which I haven’t done since he died. He looked back at me and smiled. I think he motivated me to do this dinner thing. We used to have friends to dinner often. I even tried on a dress! (Not that I’ll be wearing it.)

I hope you are also having fun.

Oh, and I left Zing by himself for 5 minutes, with just one tiny bark. 

Love,

k

Sunday:

Dear Friends,

Today was busy, in a relaxed way. Zing was at Grateful Dog while I went with friends to a movie (The Red Turtle — animation with absolutely no words, just music and nature sounds. Different for these days that are so full of words.) and then we talked, had dinner and talked more. I “improved” the Beef Bourguignon with less wine, a different brand of bacon, and shredding the beef at the end. But the star was rice pudding perfect comfort food. The whole thing was delightful. As Mary Kaye said, it’s kind of rejuvenating to make new friends at this stage of life.

Just now as Zing and I walked, we turned the corner at 7th and N and heard a crash directly behind us. I turned and saw a red car swirling in the intersection. Then it stopped and a man got out yelling and waving his arms. A man got out of the other car. I think one of them ran the red light. No one seemed hurt. The police arrived almost immediately. 

And the streets were empty. Just those two cars.

Love!

k

Rice pudding

from the Columbus Dispatch ages ago

(from Louis Pappas' Famous Greek Recipes)

1/2 C. uncooked rice

1 quart milk 

1/2 C. sugar**

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T. cornstarch

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 T. butter

grated rind of one lemon (This is my addition -- not in the original recipe -- and you could also add

orange rind.)

cinnamon

Cook rice in 1 C. boiling water 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. (Don't cook too fast, as I did recently. Then the rice grains are a little too hard all the way through.) Add milk.* Return to boil, cooking gently over reduced heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sugar** and vanilla and lemon rind. Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tsp. (or more, if needed) water and add to rice mixture. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often; remove from heat. 

Add 1 C. of hot rice mixture to egg yolk, then return to pan. Add butter (I skipped the butter.)  Cook, stirring often, until mixture coats a wooden spoon. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and cool. Then refrigerate. Before serving, sprinkle with cinnamon.

* I was short 1/2 cup of milk, so I added 1/4 C. heavy cream and 1/4 C. water. I think this made it extra creamy this time.

** I usually taste it and add a little more sugar at the end. 

Weekend magic

Written last night:
Even when a person (me) does not have a M-F work-week anymore, Saturday can be delightfully off-track: Zing and I cherish the illusion that we have the streets mostly to ourselves then, along with a few others without schedules. Instead of hustling office-workers, we greet sunrise-loving joggers and bike-riders, dogs and their dog-walkers. This morning, though, was different: we ran into lots of workers — heads-down,  intent on beating schedules: Before 8 a.m. men in orange vests were running (literally) around the new Arena, which has a grand opening Oct. 1, and nearby on Capitol Mall scores of young people hustled to set up booths before the Farm to Fork festival opened later today. Zing and I swooped past this frenzy and headed to the Capitol, with its wide green park. There we edged past kids and parents and pets and people in scary-crazy costumes, all waiting for the start of a parade. I saw posters about infertility and hope, promoting infertility as a legitimate disease with possibilities for a cure that included acupuncture. More toward afternoon, walking home after a brunch with Patrick and Steph, I came upon the start of another parade. “What do we want?” the leader shouted to her straggling stalwarts.  “Justice for elephants!” they shouted back, and began to march.  

That brunch at the Porch (I had a shrimp po-boy and coffee in a big white cup) was golden. Clark, thank you! for leaving me with such treasures! P & S were going to the hills right after we ate, and I find myself even now reaching out to re-live this morning. Not to be dramatic — it’s just that death makes everyday moments like this matter. 

When I heard of the "Farm to Fork" festival to be held today around the corner from where I live, I couldn’t wait. Yesterday I scoped the blocks where it was being set up and took a photo of a lone old truck signifying the history of farming in this area. But when I finally strolled over this afternoon -- maybe I was tired out — I was disappointed. I guess I expected a giant farmers market and what I found was mostly promotional booths for everything from honey to rice to goat meat. I saw a monk in yellow robes and people with rainbow hair and many families with babies and dogs loving the food truck fare. Nothing tempted me, so I went home and made a grilled cheese sandwich with a slice of farmers market tomato. 

There’s more — the tedious stuff even invades the weekend — collecting papers for auto registration and reassuring myself that yes, maybe I will be able to pass the driving test, that I should just study the online materials and take the leap. "Bound to fail” is hardly the attitude I’d recommend to anyone else, but it’s hard to chase that irrational fear from my own heart. 

A lovely talk with Susan interjected my afternoon, and evening closed discussing free-motion quilting on the phone with Janis, just as if we were face to face with a piece of art between us. That’s weekend magic.
Love,
k

Above and below,
preparing for Farm to Fork

Farm to Fork display

Before the Infertility March for Hope
Capitol Park

Justice for Elephants and Rhinos march

Promoting honey,
Farm to Fork Festival

Monday is for laundry and luxury

Written last night:

Today was not lazy, but it was routine. I’m letting a new routine emerge. 

I did the laundry: uneventful, except that in the laundry room on the first floor (It’s got plenty of washers and dryers and looks onto the garden, so it’s only slightly inconvenient.) I did meet a woman who observed (complained) that the ceilings here are too low to properly hang her antique Japanese kimono, which she has framed like a picture. She had to put it in storage.  “Is it silk or cotton?” I asked. “Silk.” 

Of course there had to be an hour or two or three of unpacking and putting things away. This should be simple, but somehow I’ve lost my winter jackets and sweaters. I remember stashing them somewhere when I was numbly opening boxes in the dark last Friday. I hope I find them by December.

Then I treated myself to a manicure and pedicure at the Vietnamese shop around the corner from the grocery. I recently started doing this, at Clark’s insistence. He wanted to pamper me. The first couple of times, in the Tallahassee shop, near the Lake Ella Publix, I felt clumsy. It’s kind of like a dance and I didn’t know the moves: Someone greets you (rather abruptly) usually from a stool where he/she is polishing someone’s feet. “Hello,” but not just hello. There’s a gesture made, and I didn’t know what it means. But had I followed the hand I would have seen it pointing to a wall of polishes. I was to select a color immediately, or maybe two. But I don’t want polish. “No polish?” “No color?” Since that first time, I’ve gotten looks that were disapproving, or puzzled, or even relieved. Usually I get an extra finger massage for simplifying their work. 

On a roll with being good to myself, I followed with a pressure-point massage for my pained knee. (After the knee heals I’m going to continue massages anyway.)  I am breaking out of a rut — a deeply dug habit, part guilt and part righteous shunning of such luxuries. 

As I drove home, Patrick called and eventually I was able to pull over to talk. It’s hard to find a parking spot in Sacramento at rush hour. People are not just escaping to the suburbs; many are weaving around the “grid” as I was, stopping at shops and restaurants. Then, since I was two blocks from a small Thai restaurant called The Coconut  I went in and ordered Cashew Shrimp with brown rice to go. While I waited, I ordered four dining chairs from West Elm. “Oh, are you shopping online?” the waitress said, “I do all my shopping online; I never go to stores anymore,” she added. So she approved. Dinner was delicious. I will go to The Coconut a lot, I suspect. It is a plain couple of rooms decorated with original paintings by a local artist, and people of all ages enjoying straightforward deliciousness. I will feel comfortable eating there by myself. It was a perfect spot to finish my day of pampering.

Love,

K

Mortar and pestle

This is my birthday present to myself: a hulking mortar and pestle. I'm not sure why, but I need it. I love fresh-ground spices, and my little white china set seems puny. I don't like the clinking sound it makes. Yesterday I cooked Thai chicken and yellow rice, planning to use this for the coriander seed and cumin, but discovered it takes time to get it ready. You have to season it by scrubbing with wet white rice, grinding the rice to a pulp and then rinsing it away many times until the rice water finally runs clean. The inside of the mortar isn't dirty, exactly, just dusty. After the rice step is over, you do the same thing with salt. This could take a long time, so I decided to scrub it one step each day. It's worth the trouble.

 Here's lots more information on this primitive kitchen tool.

Diana Kennedy, in her book Mexican Regional Cooking, says, "No self-respecting cook in this hemisphere should be without this classic piece of kitchen equipment."(p. 254). I agree.