Monday, September 14, 2015

Three Beautiful Things 09/13/15: Fall Food Shopping, Gin and Beer and Stir Fry, Grandpa Popcorn Strikes Again

1.  The temperatures dipped a bit today. I'd nearly forgotten how good it felt to walk outside late in the morning and feel refreshed by the air, not pressed down by it. Then I had a thought! Cooler temperatures mean one fun thing for me:  time to get out the electric frying pan and fix some cooked food. My oil supply was down, so after I picked up some produce staples at Costco (where I also picked up the cards I had made featuring a picture I took of the Kellogg YMCA), I went to the Co-op and restocked the cupboard with canola oil, sesame oil, and peanut oil, as well as rice vinegar, eggplant (my fast is over), and other stuff.  Now, I'm ready. When the weather really cools off I can cut back on the cold dinner salads and get back into the world of stir fry, curries, and soup.

2. The Deke and I knew we were going to the Diaz house in the afternoon and I volunteered to make dinner. I hummed "Hail to the Chief" as I took the electric frying pan out of the lower cupboard and poured myself a little gin with lime twist over ice and cooked up some stir fry:  sweet onions, garlic, EGGPLANT, broccoli, and sweet peppers.  I toasted some sesame seeds. I made a peanut sauce --with plenty of lime juice. Somewhere in there I poured myself a glass (well, two glasses) of Little Sumpin' Sumpin'. I fried a batch of rice in sesame oil. I put all the food in containers, got out a box, loaded it up, took it to chez Diaz, and I'm happy to report that our family loved this dinner -- and, I'm happy to report, I loved all the boiling, chopping, frying, toasting, blending, tasting, and drinking.

3.  For a while Olivia wasn't sure she wanted to leave her house and she was still whimpering as we pulled out of the driveway to head to Greenbelt for a sleepover.  Soon, though, her tears dried up, we settled into our apartment home.  I cleaned up the mess I made in the kitchen fixing dinner and immediately became Grandpa Popcorn and made Olivia, David, the Deke, and me a big batch of buttery, salty Jolly Time fun.

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