Friday, June 10, 2016

Three Beautiful Things 06/09/16: Mom is Improving, Finishing *Seabiscuit*, Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas

1. Because of the diuretic Mom is taking to help rid her system of excess liquid, she was up often Wednesday night, but the good news is that she has lost five watery pounds since seeing the doctor on Tuesday and this is great news. Christy's reports have been positive, that Mom is responding well to her treatment plan.  I deeply appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers on Mom's behalf.

2. This morning I buzzed up to Panera in Beltsville for a raisin cinnamon bagel and a cup of dark roast coffee, found a comfortable seat, and finished reading Seabiscuit. The book gave me great pleasure. Lauren Hillenbrand gathered a ton of documents and interviews -- I loved reading her acknowledgements at the end of the book -- and translated the records of this spirited horse and those who cared for and rode him into an elegantly written, beautifully plotted story. The book not only peers into the heart of Seabiscuit, but it also invites us to see one bit of cultural history of the USA during the Great Depression through the popularity of horse racing, a popularity difficult to imagine today as horse racing is, on the whole, a marginal interest that pops into public awareness primarily in the spring if a horse is making a run at winning the Triple Crown.

3. I love pulling the cookbook, Joie Warner's No-Cook Pasta Sauces off the shelf and reading recipes and deciding which one to prepare on any given day. Today, I decided to make Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and serve it over ziti rigati. It was simple: chop up tomatoes, put them in a bowl, stir in olive oil, fresh oregano, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, shredded Romano cheese, and chickpeas, warm the ingredients by placing the bowl atop the pot of water as the water nears boiling before putting in the pasta, boil the pasta, drain it, combine the pasta and sauce and heap generous amounts of fresh ribbons of basil and cilantro leaves into the mix. Once I served myself a bowl of this delicious meal, I added more pepper, Romano cheese, and lemon juice to the pasta and sauce. It worked.

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