Friday, May 6, 2016

Three Beautiful Things 05/05/16: Finishing *Unbroken*, Unexpected Trip to DC Brau, Debut of Banh Pho Noodles

1. Over coffee and a bagel at Panera in Beltsville, I almost finished the book Unbroken and then I came home and did finish reading it. I closed the book astonished by Louie Zamperini's capacity for forgiveness which I experienced as also a more general human capacity for forgiveness.  I would never title this book this, but I thought it could be titled, An Anatomy of Forgiveness because the story so beautifully portrays both Zamperini's forgiveness of those abused him and the way this forgiveness is rooted in experience from earlier in his life, especially a mystical experience he had while casting about on the ocean on a raft for over six weeks.

2. When I picked up the Deke from school this afternoon, she surprised me by suggesting we drive south into Washington, D. C. and have a beer at DC Brau, a brewery we both love. Normally, I'm hesitant about driving to D. C. at 5 in the afternoon, but I have discovered a route that is usually uncongested and that was the case late this afternoon. We arrived in under twenty minutes.  The tasting room at DC Brau was quiet, we enjoyed sampling some of their 5th Anniversary beers, and had a good talk.

3. Back at our apartment home, I mixed together soy sauce, a little water, sesame oil, juice from two limes, ginger, garlic, honey, and red pepper flakes and poured it over stir fried eggplant, onion, and red pepper and then combined this mixture with banh pho noodles and it turned out beautifully.  I'm very happy to have discovered the recipe for the sauce and to have imagined that it would taste great over stir fried vegetables. This was the first time I cooked with banh pho noodles and, as I thought she would, the Deke loved them.

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