I took Friday off to get an extra long weekend for Memorial Day, and have been doing pretty good at not working, although I did check email everyday, and did reply to few messages on Friday and today (Sunday).
Saturday we had friends over for a driveway cookout. I kept thinking there were going to be 8 people, and Saturday morning I carefully divided the 2 pounds of hamburger meat I’d thawed into 1 1/2 pounds to make into sliders (with bacon jam and a fancy pimento cheese that has gochujang in it) and a half pound to put back into the freezer…. and then remember I’d invited five couples so there should’ve been 10 …. and in the end, two women couldn’t make so there were 8 after all. And now I have 4 uncooked slider patties and a pack of mini pretzel buns in the freezer. We (of course) ate all the bacon jam.
Buns for the sliders, with pots of the pimento cheese & bacon jam
I also made Unky Dave’s potato salad, Ottolenghi salad using Tipi kale in lieu of spinach, and my own sourdough naan in lieu of pita, and a taco dip with the last of the filling from the turkey chorizo tacos, layered up with cheese, avocado, tomato, and sourc cream and scallions on top. Our friends brought two more kinds of potato salad, and wine and beer and corn nuts.
I also made cookie ice cream sandwiches with these big oatmeal cookies and snickerdoodles, from 100 Cookies.
It was warm on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and then it got really cold on Thursday, and rained basically all day Thursday and especially Friday. We lucked out for our cookout with cool sunny weather on Saturday.
Monday was Dylan’s 80th birthday and I listened to a recording Robyn Hitchcock made, singing Desolation Row.
On Tuesday I listened to the Dead doing Desolation Row at a show at Alpine Valley in 1989. I must’ve been there; can’t remember who babysat the kids. Jenny says not her.
On Wednesday evening I watched Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift doing a show of all animal songs, instead of from their couch in Nashville, they were at Crouch End Studios in London, recorded before Emma went on tour in Australia.
They are talking about their Scottish fold cats, Tubby & Ringo, between songs
On Thursday morning, because it got so cold, I heated the coffee that I’d saved the day before to drink iced, and I wore my new sweatshirt dress.
Dinners were mostly leftovers although one night I made a pasta with leftover fresh lasagna noodles cut into strips, and a tomato sauce made from a bit of thawed out roasted vegetable sauce from last summer, thickened up with a kind of sun dried tomato pesto, roasted red peppers from a jar, walnuts, and tomato paste. Sides below.
Last Sunday’s dessert – when it was hot – was rhubarb hand pies. Which I seem to make every year at this time; like 2018 – last year I made them round. I wanted this year’s to be more substantial, but the dough was too fragile, due to the heat.
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This week we’re having rice pudding, with rhubarb puree, if I get it together soon enough. Maybe we’ll have cookies and there are still some ice cream sammiches.
This Sunday I made challah, halvah-stuffed (with the sesame seeds) and plain. I wanted to try Molly Yeh’s challah recipe. In my recipe for 2 loaves, I used two eggs, and butter. Molly’s recipe has four eggs and oil. I like it; it’s a nice feeling dough and it tastes good.
Wednesday I worked in my office and the cleaners came. There was some bird’s egg smashed in the driveway on Wednesday morning, but it got all washed away with all the rain. Saturday while we were sitting in the driveway for the cookout, Andy pointed out the nest in the bush by the window. Today I stood on the window seat and raised the blinds, and looked but I don’t see anyone in there.
