COOKING UP A MESS

Cooder in excelsis?

She is a good kitty. Mostly. J found her on the stairs once or twice yesterday, kind of wanting to come down, but kind of wanting to not run into Albert or some half-perceived semi-danger. Well, it has been a month for me, officially, yesterday. Cooder didn't come up to the country until the 3rd of July. Perhaps she will yet adjust and move around the house more comfortably. I often find her sitting peering down the stairs ... or sleeping in Emily's room.

Although it is 9:19 a.m., the Brewster house is still asleep. I am working on my second cup of coffee and contemplating what I need to take to Brooklyn for a three-night stay. I have a part-time job interview that I applied for in March. 

I am surprised that the news that Rick Santorum felt the Freeh Report and subsequent NCAA penalties against Penn State was not more widely publicized. I might have suspected that Santorum prioritized football above the safety of children, morality, justice, kindness, compassion, and some of those kinds of things. 'Tis a bit of another thing to have him say it. Seems to me this is the kind of thing one wants to know about a politician.

Now, several hours later, I have yet to finish this post and have lost the many trains of thought I started with.

On Sunday, all the Alcott chillun were home. A barbecue ensued. This was an occasion for me to try out a new recipe or two: Arugula, Golden Cherries, Marcona Almonds with Shaved Parmesan and hummus. The arugula salad was stellar. The hummus needs more work, but it is certainly edible.

Emily had brought home a humongous zucchini and we were neither able to prepare nor eat the whole thing, notwithstanding that there were eleven of us. (Well, there were other things to eat.) Last night, I guess not having satisfied my cooking jones, I made Marinated Zucchini with Mint and Scallions. There's so often something unexpected when you make a new recipe. The marinated zucchini recipe was just not well-written, and although the ingredients were good and harmonious, the amounts of things were too vague. Or maybe I am just too much of an amateur to have intuited the right combinations. At any rate, no more cooking for me for a few days.

As there were inexpensive but reasonably good looking tomatoes at the A&P, I made Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil and Chopped Vegetables, too. I won't be around to try that. It was fun too go kitchen crazy. M is rather astonished (I think) at the mess I can make in the kitchen. My sister-in-law in Oakland is always tried when I cook as she is not much of a mess-maker. I am more focussed on the food than on the floor. And I do clean up when all is said and done.