By doing 23 & Me, Rachael found she had a half-sister, who came to visit while Rach was here, thus the houseguest weekend. Which had before it a long, but actually short week, I mean, considering that the work week was only Tuesday through Friday, it sure was long.
Speaking of Tuesday, meaning the Tuesday after Memorial Day, I went and helped to serve the pantry breakfast. The meal was cheesy hashbrowns (the casserole served at every WI potluck, hockey brunch, and many holiday dinners: frozen hashbrowns, cream of chicken or mushroom or whatever, soup, cheese, and buttered cornflakes on top) bacon, salad with eggs and walnuts, and rhubarb cake. We were able to get in to prep the day before, even though it was Memorial Day, when the community center is closed, because Terese is friends with the Director, and can work her magic. (Although today I found out that I have been a long-standing enough volunteer that I am going to get my own set of keys to things, to make it easier to come in and prep. Whoohoo!)
The rhubarb cake was from this old Richard Sax recipe that Terese dredged up. I swear I used to own the book, but I must’ve de-accessioned it at some point – I can’t find it in my current collection of cookbooks.
Anyways, I made the cake wrong. Wondering why the brown sugar and nuts were all the way at the bottom of the ingredients list, I mixed them into the batter instead of sprinkling on top. Everyone said it tasted good anyhow. I was thinking about the book, because I’d like to make the cake the right way. And I have a bunch of rhubarb from the Saturday Farmers Market in the fridge. Maybe I never owned the book way back when (it was published in 1986); only borrowed it from the library. The public library has only one copy and you can’t put a hold on, but I found it at UW’s Ag library, where their cookbook collection is, so maybe I’ll go get a copy tomorrow.
That Tuesday I did everything by car, because after the breakfast, I had to rush into work for a meeting, and then at the end of the day, after another meeting, I had to make it back to the east side to sign the garage remodel contract. It wasn’t so bad to be a car commuter anyways, because it cold and rainy, and I made egg noodles cooked in turkey broth for dinner, and leftover asparagus quiche, although nobody ate that but me. Rach is doing low acid and the quiche had onion-y things in it, ramps and a shallot, and Anna never liked it in the first place. She cooked herself some frozen chicken tenders because she was still hungry after dinner.
Wednesday I went to the bank in the morning to apply for a loan for part of the cost of the garage. Then it was pretty much a normal work day, including the annual employee appreciation ice cream social, with ice cream scooped by upper level admin. I brought a smallish lunch, and then went over to see what was up, but the line for the ice cream was way too long to wait in, especially because the end of the line was near some noisy construction, part of the Bascom Hill reconstruction project that’s ongoing this summer. I’ve run into the fencing and blockages several times while trying not to be late to meetings.
I went to the Union and bought my own cone, malted milk ball ice cream. Because of the ice cream, and because I snacked when I got home, handful of nuts, dried apricots, chocolate, etc., and then had an online meeting, I never made dinner that night.
Thursday Rach and I walked and after, I started my work day in the basement at the main library, unpacking boxes of books, and sorting them for the Friends of the Libraries book sale, one of my newer volunteer gigs. Mark was home for dinner, so I made some chicken tenders, using this recipe where you fry the crumbs and bake the meat after dunking it in mayonnaise. Which oddly just appeared again in print June/July 2019 Bon Appetit, smaller amount, different author, plus a dipping sauce, even though this online version says 2017.
Friday Rach’s sis arrived, and they went out for dinner & girl time. The rest of us had BLTs for dinner watched the Deadwood movie. I liked it, think I’ll have to watch it again, soon.
Saturday was cows on the concourse and us four adults went to the Farmers Market to see. We bought asparagus and eggs and potatoes and bacon and Canadian bacon for Sunday brunch, and baby carrots and kale and rhubarb and hoop house heirloom tomatoes because they looked so pretty. Rachael’s sister bought me a big bunch of tulips & irises.
Then it was my volunteer stint at Burgers & Brew, followed by sushi dinner so more of Rachael’s Madison friends could meet her sister. Fun, but exhausting.
Sunday I think I made the perfect brunch: Build-your-own benny, English muffins, poached eggs, choice of bacon, roasted asparagus, and blender Hollandaise. I think I am a new convert to blender Hollandaise. At least I am going to buy more asparagus at next Saturday’s market to go with the leftovers, or I might get asparagus in my Thursday CSA box. I think of how many Thanksgivingses I struggled to make the real thing and had it break in the too-hot kitchen, when I could’ve done the blender thing. Live and Learn. We also had roasted herbed potatoes, thyme & rosemary, and fruit – melon and grapes – and Violet Bakery cimmy buns.
I just had one of the last of the buns for lunch today, when it’s already Tuesday again