The Sandwich Life

Random Notes from the Sandwich Life

1.  Did you know that if you toast sesame seeds and then pour them immediately into a plastic bag because you're trying to be efficient, that they will melt through the bag and end up all over your floor and counter?  Yup.

2.  We all know I'm a total David Olney geek.  So the question is, should I be embarrassed at HOW delighted I was with the little shout out I got last night in his Fireside Chat?  Granted it was a reprimand but it still did my heart good.  Good lord but I love him.  The two songs he did were great last night too.  He did "Basketball" in honor of the lock-out - and the classic "Contender" in memory of Joe Frazier.  Listen through to Contender---it will get your energy boosted way up there....

3. I don't as if I've ever seen the Japanese maples at Japan House SO red.  They won't be here long....they're in the walled tea garden---open dawn to dusk.  In a few weeks the tea garden will be closed for the winter so you should visit now.

4.  Don't forget to RSVP for the Rod Picott/Amanda Shires show.  You can use the link at the top right of this page to pay up.  $20 ahead of time, $25 that night.

Here's Amanda on Letterman the other night...

 

Random Notes from the Sandwich Life

1.  When we got our iPhones I let Owen have my beloved iPod touch that we used every evening to listen to music upstairs.  He was very excited.  A few days later he had a friend over, a new friend that had only been over a few times.  They played with it some and then went downstairs.  Then the other kid said he'd forgotten something upstairs.   When he came back down he suddenly felt ill and wanted Ernie to drive him home.  Now the iPod is missing.  I hate to suspect this kid.  Ernie, who is our official finder of missing things, has searched and searched.  Owen is very sad...he loved to play XTC videos on it.  Sigh.  And they start at $200 bucks so I can't go buy him another one.  All in all, whatever happened, it makes me sad.  I miss it.

2.  The gingkos along Lincoln Avenue are turning a blinding gold.

3.  I think the only thing I've ever done with celery root is combine it with mashed potatoes.  Any other ideas?

4.  ROD PICOTT!  Can't wait....remember....if YOU are reading this....then YOU are invited.

 

5.  O.k., o.k., now you must watch this one.  It's Rod and Amanda doing Angels and Acrobats---watch til the end though when Rod goes into his story about Amanda's dress.  This will be a VERY entertaining evening all....

 

6.  By the way...continuing in the house concert vein....have I told you all that we have set the date for our 3rd ANNUAL KRISTI ROSE AND FATS KAPLIN CHRISTMAS SHOW?  Woo-hooooooo!  You are all invited.  I'm making cassoulet again....  Oh, and for those of you that have a harder time with Fridays...this one is on a Saturday....December 17, 2011 to be exact....

7.  I started this post earlier this week but yesterday I was felled with some bug.  I think I slept something like 19 and a half hours out of 24.  I kid you not, and yet I feel like I could go to sleep again.

8.  Our house is more of a disaster than it ever has been.  We're going to get our bathroom redone so the contents of the bathroom and its closet are spread over the dining room as we figure out what to keep and what to get rid of.  Ernie's been painting the media room so all the furniture...and more importantly...all the CDs are spread all over our living room.  Our kitchen is always a bit of a mess.  So that leaves every single room on the first floor of the house a disaster.  Oh, and yeah, and part of our patio fence blew down a week or so when we had high winds.  Evidently it's all rotting at the base.  And fences are so cheap to replace don't you know.

9.  HowEVER....our new couch is being delivered today.  Oh, and the media room?  Guess what color we painted it? 

You'll never guess! 

White. 

Yes, I know, it's shocking.  Owen did not approve, he says he's going to miss the green a lot.  When I mentioned to Leo that I thought it made it look bigger he said, "well, the furniture out of the room makes it look bigger, the white just makes it look brighter."  Yes Leo.  I do think it makes it look bigger though.  It's kind of a dark room except for in the morning and it's small (it's just the old porch that was turned into a room) so I thought the white would help.  I'm hoping the couch will look good in there.....  I'll let you know.

10.  And that is all for now. 

 

Not A Bad Evening

Dinner last night:  I ground some dried shiitake mushrooms up and mixed them with flour and a bit of salt.  I used that to dust the cod and then sauteed it in a bit of olive oil.  Roasted the golden cauliflower and wilted/sauteed some fresh spinach.  Lovely if I do say so myself.

We're going to have our downstairs bathroom redone (YAY!) so we're emptying out the big closet that is in there.  It's the only closet on the first floor of our house and it is packed to the gills with God knows what.  Ugh.  So I stared at the piles of junk for awhile, opened a package sent by my beloved Van DeLisle (thank you SO much Van), sat outside in the front yard for a bit, started cooking, made Leo take a shower (he finally seems to be better), thought about paint colors, listened to Owen practice his cello, cooked a little more, watched Peter Cooper and Eric Brace on StageIt, talked to my sister, finished dinner, watched some bad tv with Ernie and Owen, kissed Leo goodnight, sent Owen to bed, talked to Ernie, watched a little bit more bad tv, kissed him and went upstairs to read for awhile.

The windows were open and the rustling of the leaves outside made us keep getting up and looking out to see if it was raining.  It wasn't though.  One of those nights of soft air.

Not a bad evening.

 

 

Monday Gloom and Eggplant

Is it ever a Monday.  Owen is staying home with a sore throat.  I’m hoping he’s better tomorrow because he’s got a dentist appointment and his first cello lesson and Ernie and I are supposed to be going to see Steve Earle at the Castle Theater.  Worst-case scenario Ernie goes without me but I’d like to go.  This morning Leo couldn’t find his bike lock keys, leading to a mad search…then he couldn’t find his bike helmet, leading to more hysteria.  I ate the cinnamon rolls for breakfast that Owen didn’t want which means I will be hungry in an hour or two and no doubt will wish I’d stuck to my standard frozen onion bagel with peanut butter.

On the positive side, Ernie feels better and I made a really good dinner last night.  Leo was curled up in the living room looking at youtube videos on how to do God knows what on his new passion Minecraft.  Owen was laying on the media room couch trying to make us feel sorry for him.  We were watching the Emmy’s red carpet stuff and then the show itself.  As always, Owen’s comments on fashion, comedy, you name it….are spot on.  The boys had eaten earlier…I’d thrown together some ersatz chicken soup for Owen and Leo had his standard….so it was kind of late and I hadn’t planned dinner for Ernie and me.  I looked in the refrigerator and saw two eggplants that I should use so we ended up with Marcella Hazan’s Eggplant Sauce with Tomato and Red Chili Pepper.

I’ve pulled out Marcella Hazan’s cookbook several times of late and I’m reminded of how absolutely dependable her recipes are.  No doubt they’re even better if you follow them exactly but if nothing else I stay true to the spirit….  I will admit with this recipe that I did not peel the eggplant (I LIKE the peel) and I cut it into chunks, salted them and then microwaved per Cook’s Illustrated’s suggestion (supposed to keep it from absorbing as much oil).  I also didn’t have quite enough tomato but I was using some gorgeous juicy fresh ones.  Next time I would increase the tomato and probably up the hot pepper as mine was a bit too mild.  Regardless…it was absolutely wonderful.  Oh, and I used penne as that’s what we had.

 

Marcella Hazan’s Eggplant Sauce with Tomato and Red Chili Pepper
serves 4

1 large eggplant (about 1 pound)
salt
vegetable oil for frying

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 3/4 cups good quality Italian canned tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste (can sub dried chili flakes)
1 pound pasta

Trim ends off eggplant and peel it. Slice into 1/2-inch slices.

Set a colander in the kitchen sink or in a large bowl. Stand one layer of eggplant slices upright against the inside of the colander and sprinkle (not too generously, but not timidly either) with salt. Stand another layer of slices against the first layer, sprinkle that layer with salt, and continue until all eggplant has been salted. Let salted eggplant stand for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, blot eggplant slices thoroughly dry with paper or cloth towels.

Set a large frying pan with sides at least 2 1/2 inches high over high heat. Add enough vegetable oil to come 1 1/2 inches up the sides of the pan. Line a large plate with paper towels.

Test the oil by dipping one slice of dried eggplant into the oil. If it sizzles, the oil is ready for frying. Slip as many slices of eggplant into the pan as will fit in a single layer. Cook to a golden brown on one side, then turn them and cook the second side. When both sides are golden, use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer them to the towel-lined plate. Repeat until all eggplant is done. If the oil becomes so hot that the eggplant starts to burn, reduce it slightly.

When all eggplant has been cooked and is cooling on the plate, drain the pan and wipe it clean. Add olive oil and garlic to pan, and turn heat to medium. Cook and stir the garlic until it colors lightly. Add parsley, tomatoes, chili (start with a little, add to taste) and a pinch or two of salt, and stir thoroughly. Adjust heat so that the sauce simmers gently, and cook about 25 minutes, until oil separates from sauce and floats free.

Cut eggplant into strips about 1/2 an inch wide. Add to the sauce, cook another 2-3 minutes, and stir once or twice to incorporate. Taste and correct for salt and heat.

Cook pasta 1 minute less than package directions. Drain and add to sauce.  Serve immediately.

 

Rock Paper Scissors

Life has just been too busy to blog. I gotta say....I don't LIKE that!  The weekend flew by but despite the speed  has been quite lovely.  Friday evening we stopped by our friends' house to say happy birthday to our beloved Bob and toast him with champagne and Ann's wonderful strawberry  pie.  Good LORD but that woman can bake!

Saturday....I'm not quite sure what happened but somehow late morning I said to Ernie that we should go buy iPhones.  Now why I thought we could afford that I do not know but off we went.  Of course now we just sit and look at our gorgeous little iPhones (his is black with a black case, mine is white with a turquoise case)....staring at them in awe the way you do with a newborn infant.  Then our beloved friend Steve came over and attempted to figure out the mystery of why our electricity goes off and on in our bedroom (again I feel the need to say 'no jokes' although no one has ever made any humph).  They went up the stairs and down the stairs and then up the stairs and down the stairs.  So on and so forth.  No immediate solution although Steve has graciously come up with an idea that he has offered to implement.  He is so wonderful.  And Heather and Evaline even showed up so I could sit and smile at them just like they were new iPhones....

Then we took the boys to Fries and Peanuts for New School Lunch.  I know it wasn't lunch, it was dinner...and we were supposed to have taken them last Monday but stuff happens.  It was quite delightful despite the delay.

We came home and all indulged ourselves.  The boys played some video game with Parker and Dema until they had to leave, Ernie read the paper and patted his iPhone and I read my kindle and kept complaining about the light.  I know it was nice out but somehow it felt comforting to be inside and have it dark outside....the beginning of that fall shift I guess....

Eventually I went up to bed to read  and shone a flashlight on my kindle.  This morning Owen woke  me up and showed me that the power was back on.  Sigh.  Ernie made his biscuits.  I take mine with a bit of cheddar, a dash of mustard aoli and some bacon on the side.  He used half bread flour this morning and they were amazing.

Eventually we made our way upstairs and started on the great bedroom merge.  We did the bunkbeds last weekend so this weekend we moved furniture out of Leo's room and moved in Owen's desk and dresser.  This involved moving more Lego and train parts than I could possibly describe.  Suffice to say, we worked through an embarrassing amount of dust.  Yeesh.

The room looks great (although a tad crowded to say the least)  although the great Lego room switch has yet to take place.  We need another weekend for that....and God knows Leo has complicated plans for the whole thing......

At one point this morning, when Ernie and I walked into their room to get things moving, we found Leo and Owen looking like two little puppies, rolling around in the top bunk.  I asked them to start doing something and they immediately started doing umpteen rounds of RocksPaper Scissor to decide who was first.  Ernie stood there smiling and laughing up at them and they all looked so beautiful.  I just felt the moment click into my memory.  Just laughter...and then their squawks...."one more..........no, wait, three out of five" and Ernie just laughing and laughing and looking so beautiful.

Monday tomorrow....but I guess that's o.k.

Lazy Summer Times

Shoe shopping last night.  I hate shoe shopping.  Then clothes shopping.  Ugh. What did I buy?  Two black skirts.  I am nothing if not predictable.  This morning the boys have been looking long and hard at the shoes I bought, discussing how they look and which ones I should wear today,etc.  Lord but they amuse me.

Last night after shopping we came home and collapsed in the cool of our living room.  I was wound up and a bit tense.  Ernie gave me a glass of wine and talked me through everything.  At one point I said, “I just want to call my mom” and from the next room came Owen’s voice,  saying longingly “I know…I want to talk to her too.”  Leo came walking through the room looking more like a teen than ever and I told them both how much I loved them.  They just said “I love you too Mom” and went about their business.  Ernie put an older Rod Picott on to play and I sipped my wine and felt relaxed and good even without talking to my mother.  The evening went by fast.  I made everybody watch Rocco’s Dinner Party and they moaned.  I just giggled.  It IS truly terrible but it kind of amuses me.  Man I love my sweet peas.

This was dinner last night.  Beautiful ripe summer tomatoes tossed with basil, some pasta water, and the drippings from a slice or two of bacon that had been cooked first in the pan.  We put it over some fusilli with a bit of parmesan as well.  A bowl of summer.

I love Ribbed Grape.  I found two of these plates in a junky antique mall.  They're rough in spots but they needed a home.  I kind of like the fact that the original name of this pattern was 'Raisin.'  You just can't beat good 1850-60s American glass.

Occasionally Owen lets Monkey come to work with me.  He helps out as needed.

 

Things I Did This Weekend

Went to lunch with my husband

Took a nap

Watched Owen mow the grass

 

Grilled chicken and cooked our first batch of Swiss Chard from the garden for dinner

Watched the first episode of  Treme

Went to the Farmers' Market

Got my eyes checked and ordered new glasses

Went on the garden walk with my husband

Sat at the table in the front yard with my kindle and a glass of wine

Harvested and ate some radishes

Ate a smoked burger along with a salad with radishes

Watched the King's Speech

Read the Sunday paper while eating Ernie's homemade biscuits with a little cheddar and some mustard aoli

Went to see Cars 2 with the family courtesy Owen who had turned in his 299 stickers he got in school for movie passes

Ate movie popcorn with Owen

Went to Sunday lunch with the boys and discussed the movie, allowance, savings accounts and charity

Went grocery shopping with the boys and ran into friends

Whimpered when Ernie accidentally broke my favorite 1850s salt dish we were using (Bulls Eye with Fleur-de-lys)

Looked for a Bulls Eye with Fleur-de-lys salt dish online to no avail

Sat outside in the front yard looking at cookbooks and pondering the yard

Sat and talked with our beloved neighbors Linda and Rob as all our kids ran around and played

Changed our mind on dinner and had bratwurst

Watched Next Food Network Star with Owen

Went upstairs to read while Ernie, Leo and Owen watched an episode of Ice Road Truckers

Got woken up by the storms and let Owen crawl in with us

The End

Regulation Summer Weekend

The few of you who ready this regularly will note that every Monday of late I write a post that says, "gee, I didn't accomplish much over the weekend but I enjoyed myself.  Well check off another one because that's exactly what we did. 

Friday afternoon the boys and I went out so they could buy their birthday present for Ernie---a new fancy coffee mug/thermos for the car.  Oh man they took it seriously.....we must have looked at a million of them.  Then Owen, who comes by the Voelkl excess gene quite directly, would wave his hand and say, "oh look at that....let's get him that too" so soon enough there was a shirt, a pair of shorts, etc...  We got to the register and Owen said "I bet it will cost $30."  Uh NO Owen.....just a little word of advice but NEVER expect to only spend $30 at Target.  Then we stopped at Schnuck's and as we were walking in Owen asked if they carried pens.  I did the automatic parent hedge where you say, "uh, I don't know.....why do you ask?"  He reminded me that Daddy really liked pens for his crossword puzzles so maybe we could get him one.  I thought that was a brilliant idea.  So we stood in the school/office supply aisle staring at pens.  Owen had brought one with him so they would each hold the pen up and look at it then look at each and every pen hanging there, comparing them.  They finally each picked one out and it just may have been the sweetest present ever....

That evening I attempted the fried chicken and although it was good I probably should have gone with Heather's offer of my favorite curry powder and done my curried oven fried chicken.  My flavoring was pretty damn good (flour, lots of salt and pepper, thyme, garlic powder, cayenne and paprika) but my frying technique needs a bit of work.  Not bad though....not bad.....and it was fun standing in the kitchen together watching it cook....

Saturday Ernie and I hit a steamy farmers' market...bought the last of the asparagus, a mountain of sugar snap peas, kale and peppered bacon.  We got home, put things away and then we went outside and thought hell....it's too hot to garden.  So we went back inside and actually were semi-productive---taking care of some paperwork/emails that had been on our to-do list for too long.  Late in the afternoon Parker and Dema were over playing Lego and their mother Linda called and mentioned swimming but I said that the boys were going out to dinner with us.  About five minutes later I called her back and said, "uh, did you say swimming?" because I knew the boys would have a wonderful time and we wouldn't have to worry about them saying "when are we going to leave?"  So we took our sugar snap peas and asparagus over to our friends Boo and Doug's house....Doug supplied amazing ribs, Boo made wonderful potato salad, their daughter Laura contributed great biscuits and our friends Val and Bob brought wonderful strawberry pie.  How much better could things be?  We giggled about how long we'd known Boo, talked about aging, talked about kids, talked about jobs and nothing and everything.  Then there was a huge flash of lightning.....and seconds later the phone rang with Owen saying, "uh Mom....where are you?"  I said, "on our way home baby, on our way home....just sit right next to Leo and we'll be right there."

We got home....Owen devoured the ribs Boo had kindly sent and then Owen and I headed up to bed.  Because there was lightning and thunder he got to sleep with us.  Even though I wasn't ready to sleep I couldn't read so we just laid there and listened to Rod Picott together in the dark.  Owen's new favorite song is Sheetrock Hanger.  Leo came in and I kissed and hugged him and thanked him for taking care of his brother.  He said, "yeah, I took him to bathroom once and there was such a big flash of lightning that everything outside was lit up and almost looked black and white."  I told him he was an awfully good big brother and Owen chimed in, "yeah, thank you Leo."  Just about makes up for when they squabble.

Sunday Owen woke me up to say that Daddy had the biscuits in the oven so I trotted downstairs only to be rewarded with my coffeemilk ready and waiting and biscuits with a side of Triple S' peppered bacon.  We read the paper and the sky darkened and it started pouring. I said, "uh....I think I might go upstairs and read."  I read for awhile as it poured outside, dozed on and off and listened to the sounds of the house.

The rest of the day was some shopping and such.....overall a lovely weekend. 

Summer.

the first of the nigella (love-in-a-mist) that reseeds everywhere each year.  This one popped up in the gravel of the alley:

the coneflowers are coming alone nicely...they're happy in this heat:

Summer.

Back to Springfield....

I'm off to Springfield this afternoon although it won't be as delightful as Saturday's house concert.  I'm going to speak (hopefully) at the hearing Naomi Jakobsson is holding regarding the change in insurance plans for the State.  Frankly, if the plan moves ahead as currently described.....we are...uh....screwed.  Travel to Springfield (an hour and a half) multiple times a month...or join an OAP and pay higher premiums and then 10-20% most likely of Ernie's treatment.  There's no way we could handle that financially.  No way at all.  Those infusions and injections don't come cheap.....

The boys are going to come with us.  Owen's excited because it sounds like a party and he gets out of school early (he campaigned long and hard for taking the whole day off school to he could 'prepare').  Leo is resigned and glad he gets to miss at least a little school.  We told them that it's important to stand up for what you believe and speaking at things like this is one way to do that.  Owen asked me if I'd be mentioning the time he burned his hand when he was 3 or 4 and I said no. I couldn't tell if he was disappointed or relieved.

So off our little family will go to Springfield today.....cross your fingers for me!

the Bedford's house concert the other night:

a fuzzy pic...but a nice one just the same of our host focusing on the music:

Living for the Weekend Despite Myself

I am so jealous.  Leo and Owen had their friend Jair sleep over last night.  So they just woke up, it's pouring rain outside and Ernie's going to go get them doughnuts.  How wonderful does that sound?  Jealous, jealous, jealous.  Not that I really want doughnuts but the idea of a treat on a rainy day and knowing they don't go back to school until Tuesday.....ahhhhh......

Oh well, it's Friday so I can't complain.  Yesterday evening I was WAY tired.  Oh, and let me just say I never realized the ENORMITY of the difference between Excel for mac and Excel for PC.  Oh good God in heaven...it is SO exciting.  I feel like a little pivot table myself!  Anyway....all that pivoting and a busy day left me tired.  We were happy to let Jair stay over though----we ordered pizza for them and retired upstairs early leaving them the run of the house.  It's rare that we curl up on our bed together and watch tv so it was actually delightful.

Oh, and speaking of tv, we do have power again in our bedroom.  It came back on in the night.  An electrician came out but found no problems so who the hell knows.....

Tonight we are going to feast on our first batch of local asparagus.  Perhaps just steamed with a poached egg on top?  Whaddya think?  Any ideas?  Got beautiful produce from Greg yesterday....

And here are four of my favorite people in the world doing what they should be doing at Euclid Records in St. Louis on Record Store Day.  The Jans Project.....and they'll be at Cowboy Monkey on May 21st...think I can stay up late enough???