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SUNDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2001
Squash again - it's definitely fall. (The Indian Summer kind of fall, though, at last. I thought I was never going to see the sun again!) This time butternut squash, in risotto, with sage, homemade chicken stock, and some teleme cheese that was so ripe that I had to pour it into the pot. A very creamy and melty and delicious dinner.
Also, Catherine went grocery shopping today and bought an entire case of our new favorite wine. (Note that this link is only so you can see what the label looks like. We're currently drinking the 1999; I don't know how different it is from other years.) It made her feel a little like a lush, but it made me feel like a bargain hunter. 10% case discount means that you get one bottle for free! If you drink wine on a regular basis, and have a little free closet space, buying by the case seems like a great idea. You can stack shoes or sweaters on top of the boxes. Just be sure to turn the boxes so the open part is in front instead of on top; wine should lay sideways when stored so that the cork doesn't dry out.
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THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2001
Dinner tonight: Spaghetti squash, but the orange kind called Hasta la Pasta. Have you ever had this? It's good - has much more flavor than the regular yellow kind. Had that with garlic and butter. Also: lamb chops, marinated in more garlic and rosemary then sauteéd until nice and brown. Some escarole - with garlic, what a surprise. (Catherine is sick, and I think garlic makes you healthy.) On top of the lamb was a tomato thing - call it salsa cruda, call it a salad, whatever - that was chopped tomatoes, diced red onion, LOTS of italian parsley, with olive oil, a tiny bit of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
Too many pans to wash, but other than that, a completely successful dinner. Tell me what you had!
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SUNDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2001
RANDOM UNCONNECTED THOUGHTS AND MEMORIES...
My dad used to put ketchup in his lentil soup.
If you have one zucchini plant and one tomato plant, for the whole summer you shouldn't have to worry about forgetting to go to the grocery store or farmer's market - you'll always have something to eat.
"Cheese is the corpse of milk." Who said that?
A very good combination: a mystery novel, a hot cup of tea with milk and sugar, some cookies, and an orange. Especially good on a rainy day.
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SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2001
I highly recommend this to read. It is written by a New Yorker and is the story of going out to eat last week. Very poignant, and very real. If you haven't stopped already, it's time to stop watching Terrorist TV 2001. Seek out and listen to true stories by real people. Please.
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THURSDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2001
ROAD FOOD
When I was little we used to take car trips. Camping a lot, or to visit relatives in Lake Tahoe or New Mexico - we hardly ever flew anywhere. We ate food in the car that we would never eat at home. That was the only time we got sugared cereal - I remember Alpha Bits and Fruity Pebbles as the ones that I liked - and that's what we'd have for breakfast by the campfire or in the hotel room before we got back on the road. My mom would always pack a cooler to go in the car, and that was the only time that she'd buy the Oscar Meyer lunch meat that had four different kinds in one package. One slice of Home Pride white bread with one slice of cotto salami or honey ham folded in half - not cut. That was a car sandwich.
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MONDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2001
OK, it's time to ask for some help. I've been thinking of ways to improve this website, and I'd love to hear from you.
First, let me tell you my goals for myself and vision for Nobody's Fool. One of my main goals is to be able to financially support myself by writing, and this means selling subscriptions to my newsletter as well as selling freelance articles to other publications.
As far as the Nobody's Fool site, I think the first thing that has to change is to make it clear that there is a print newsletter for sale. I also have to make it much easier to subscribe. This is a business, after all. (And one day it will be a successful one! ) I've got nine paid subscribers so far, and my immediate goal is to increase that to 150 - enough to break even on printing costs. (Right now, my friend Son is printing for me, but I don't feel good about accepting that favor more than twice.) Eventual goal, I'm not sure. 1500? 2500? I don't want to limit myself, but I also want to break it down into realistic interim goals.
Next, I'd like this site to be more interactive. One thing I find slightly eerie about having a weblog is that there are people out there reading my words (I know you're out there, I get logs and reports!), but I don't know who. I'd love to have a more back-and-forth exchange with readers.
I'm having a hard time finding the line between selling a cow and giving away the milk for free. With that in mind, I've made suggestion page so that I can pull together a bunch of new ideas. Please give me your input so I can add it to the list. Thanks!
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SUNDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2001
I've been trying to pull my thoughts together, turn emotion into cohesive sentences. Other people are doing that better than I am, and I'll give you their links. The overall feeling that I'm coming up with is to ask everyone please to remember not to oversimplify the situation that we are getting into. And to remember what the Buddhist monk said in the memorial service in St. Peter's Cathedral in New York today "Hatred is not the way to end hatred. Only the absence of hatred brings peace." (I'm probably misquoting - please correct me if you know more accurately what he said.)
When a tragedy like this happens, it is a good time to remember how lucky we are and to be grateful for what we have. Anyone who reads these words has access to (or even owns) a computer. A simple enough thing in America in 2001, but look at and realize all that implies, from top to bottom. Technology, money, a stable infrastructure, phone lines, electricity, education. . . and then think of all the people in the world that do not have that luxury.
I don't mean to feel guilty for having these things when others don't. I mean that we should actively and consciously cultivate gratitude. When we realize what we have, and realize that we are lucky, I think and hope that the result will be that we will all do what we can to share our bounty and to correct the unfairness that exists when everyone does not have what we have.
Caterina watched a sunset the other day, and felt sad for witnessing beauty when all those people had died so violently. This is what she came up with in response to the feeling of helplessness: "I can't think of a thing to do either, but all the things we always ought to do: be generous every day. Tell people you love them. Vote. Fight for your beliefs. Write to your Congressperson. Be kind. Save the Whales. Keep your heart and mind open. Give to whatever causes you believe in. Help the needy, feed the hungry, educate the children. Smell flowers, watch sunsets. Forgive. Remember to breathe. Do good. Be good." (Read the whole thing here.)
People I talk to have been very impressed by the writer on NPR who said that the World Trade Towers were not a symbol of America's power, they were buildings filled with people. Well, Afghanistan is not a country filled with terrorists, it is a country filled with people.
One letter from an Afghani-American says "When you think Taliban, think "Nazis." When you think Bin Laden, think "Hitler." And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps."
The best thing anyone can do now is to be as educated as possible about all sides of the conflict that we are entering. But again, don't oversimplify. Learn as much as possible. If you are reading this, then you have access to newspapers from around the country and around the world. The more we understand, the better off we are.
I have a mostly negative feeling about organized religion (the Taliban? Jerry Falwell? the Crusades? I think my feelings are justified.). But on the other hand, I'm having a reaction to this week that is drawing me towards spirituality.
Here is a Buddhist prayer for you:
May all beings be happy and may all beings be at peace.
May all be free from suffering, and may all be free from pain.
And, while we're at it, here's a hymn that is my answer to "Why can't we all just get along?"
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God as creator, human all are we.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.
With every step I take, let this be my joyous vow:
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
We are, each one of us, responsible for our own actions. The first step towards fixing the problems in the world is to start with yourself. Don't despair about us all not getting along - make a positive step toward getting along with the people that you meet.
I've renewed my resolution to do what I can to work for peace. Not to get mad at other drivers. Not to fight with Catherine. To let go of the things that don't matter, but to be angry at the things that I should be angry at: injustice, unrelieved pain, ignored suffering. And at the same time, to notice the beauty inherent in the world and in every person.
Apparently I have a lot to say, so more will come later...
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TUESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2001
My heart and my prayers go out to the families and friends of all those who have been killed - office workers, parents, firefighters and policemen, people who were on their way to somewhere else... I'm just so grateful that my sister is OK, especially when there are thousands of people who are not.
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SUNDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2001
If I ever have a big garden - right now we grow things in pots - then I want to grow escarole. I bought a big head of it from the Cokes yesterday and I'm cooking it right now. I love it so much I could eat it every day. Well, maybe that'd get to be a little boring, but two or three times a week easily. Tonight we're eating it plain, just sautéed in olive oil with salt and pepper, but I also love it with a poached egg on top or on a pizza. Or with a lot of lemon and garlic. Or in risotto made with a lot of asiago cheese. Yummy yummy vegetables...
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WEDNESDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2001
There was a brief time in my life when I had to live in a hotel. I think that there are a lot of people out there who have had this experience, and it's not usually a fun one. In my case, it was a very lonely and sad time, and I'm extremely glad it's over.
But I do have the ability to make any place I live into my home, and even living in a hotel I still managed to cook dinner for myself. It's pretty amazing what you can cook in a microwave. Vegetables steam quite nicely, so I ate a lot of green things. Zucchini, broccoli, artichokes... Luckily, I was working at Carried Away, so I could bring home leftovers. I heated up soup and whatever else we had made for lunch that day. I switched to tea instead of coffee for breakfast - easy to boil water in the microwave.
I think about that time almost every day lately, because at work I'm trying not to eat the junk that I could buy, and instead bring lunch from home. Here at work we have a toaster oven, which in combination with a microwave gives you pretty much all you need. Yesterday I cooked some sliced zucchini in the microwave, and then piled it onto a corn tortilla, topped the zucchini with sliced cheese, and toasted the whole thing in the toaster oven until the tortilla was crispy and the cheese was melted and starting to brown. Pretty delicious, and 100 times better, and better for me, than fast food.
Just goes to show that even in the most depressing of situations - like living in a hotel - there is something good to be gained, some helpful bit of knowledge to learn.
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TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2001
Jon Carroll's column is very funny today. Here's a sample: "Adults have a list of things they won't eat, but they also have reasons. It's the reasons that really take up the time. Kids could say things like 'Noodles are gross' -- yes, I knew a kid who didn't like noodles -- but adults can never just have a preference. They've got to have a world view."
Read the whole article here.
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MONDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2001
It's interesting the things that you buy at the grocery store when people are visiting - things that you wouldn't normally buy. Hot dogs are the thing in particular that I'm thinking of right now. I never buy them, but Catherine's little sister was here this weekend, and that's one of the things she eats.
When I was little, my mom used to take a hot dog, cut a slit lengthwise, and stuff the cut with cheese. Then she'd wrap the cheese-stuffed hot dog in a corn tortilla (heating it first to make it pliable), secure it with a toothpick, and fry the whole construction. My view of this dish is partly colored by nostalgia, but you can just imagine how delicious it is. Crispy corn tortilla, melty cheese, sweet-salt hot dog. . .
That's more or less what I'm eating for breakfast right now. My adult tastebuds dictated the addition of sliced red onion, and I'm lucky to have a jar of Duran's green chile, so it's slightly more elaborate than my mom's version. Mostly it's the same, though, and I'm glad that I had a reason to buy hot dogs so that I could remember to make it.
I'm pretty sure that potato pancakes and tuna casserole are going to find their way into my dinners in the next couple of weeks.
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