A couple of shots from semi-recent(ish) stuff that either didn't have reason for a full-out post, or I didn't have the time at the time to give it the attention I wanted.
The wall in a coffee shop near home. Hung yakking for hours with a good bud. The light and the wall-fountain on the right were irresistible at that moment.
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This photo could/should have had its own post ... or two ... or three; I got to see Anne Lamott do a reading in a bookstore in Princeton. She was fabulous. My friend Jamie did a great preview article on her for the paper, and she snagged the tickets for us. Lamott was brilliant: funny, pissed off, quirky and inspiring; I started a post about it soon after, but never finished, perhaps I'll get back to it one of these moons. As Jamie says in her article, Lamott's sort of a rock star in the world of writers, so seeing her was kinda like getting to see Bruce (springsteen, for those of you not from jersey) in an intimate setting. It was really something.
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I've recently gotten into the habit of having Sunday Dinner if nothing else is on the books; I take some time to purposely chill-out, reflect and slow down ... a sweet way to end the weekend. I start by hanging in the kitchen late Sunday afternoon listening to music and cooking like a wild woman. I double or triple recipies, making way more than I need for any one meal; I freeze some, pack up some to share w/Dad, and make up a couple individual servings to bring to work that week. When I'm done, I do a little tasting of whatever I've pulled together. Last week I made white bean & olive soup (a variation on a theme from moosewood), and ratatouille
w/pasta. Tonight I made African Peanut soup (a wild mix of ingredients combine to make the most seductive soup - i highly recommend it. recipe below ...), and fruit juice sweetened carrot muffins. (it's been a while since i made these and forgot that i should have added walnuts; so it goes.)
The dinner spread (w/brussel sprouts and vino added). Mmm.
2 cups chopped onions
1 tablespoon peanut or veggie oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon fresh (peeled) grated ginger
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
4 cups water
up to 2 cups tomato juice or V8
1 cup natural (smooth) peanut butter (no sugar/salt is best)
chopped scallions
Saute onions in oil until translucent. Stir in the cayenne and ginger. Add carrots and saute a couple more minutes. Mix in water and potatoes and bring to a boil. Then simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes until the veggies are tender.
Puree the soup with one of those cool hand blender things (have one, love it), or transfer to a food processor, and then back to the pot. Add about a cup of the tomato/V8 juice and the peanut butter. Reheat and add more tomato/V8 if you like a thinner soup. Serve with some chopped scallion. YUM.
I STILL haven't seen Annie live...someday. (I think she, like me, lived a long time ago on a houseboat in Sausalito.)
Posted by: Marilyn | June 29, 2008 at 08:43 AM
Hey---we got to see Annie a few months back, too. The wife and I were on a rare date and we grabbed the 'happenings' rag at the place we were eating, and while thumbing through it we came across an article that said she was coming.
Due to some controversy with an original engagement, she was coming back to a different venue and, wonder of wonders, she was going to do the show with no admission price! So we could actually go! And we did!
There must have been about 1500 or more people in this concert hall that was secured for her. When my wife and I finally got there it was starting to fill up pretty good so I was thinking we go up and see if there was room in the balconies. But the wife said no, let's see what's down front. So I humored her and as we walked closer and closer to the stage the crowd got denser and denser. Then when we turned the corner at the front row to come around and go back the back, and there they were---two seats right in the very front and center! I couldn't believe it. Like they had been saved for us or something. We asked around to see if they were reserved or taken, but they weren't. We were like 10 feel from her for the performance.
The wife had such an intense introspective experience that she cried on the way home with all that was churning around in her head. It was quite a night.
Posted by: WILL | May 03, 2008 at 09:42 AM