Monday, May 15, 2017

Three Beautiful Things 05/14/17: Mother's Day in Kellogg, Burrowing In, Marcella Hazan and Egg and Tuna Salad

1.  Early in the Maryland evening -- in Kellogg, it is known as late in the afternoon -- I got a text message from Carol telling me it was a good time to call Mom. Mom asked for Mother's Day dinner at Christy's house. Her hope had been to eat outside in the backyard, but it rained, so Christy, Everett, Mom, Carol, Paul, Molly, and Travis ate inside at Christy's. Mom requested ribs and Christy fulfilled the request along with corn on the cob, and fresh fruit salad, and she made a strawberry buttermilk cake with ice cream for dessert. Earlier in the day, Jody Robinson, Mom's childhood friend of at least eighty years, along with her daughter, my lifelong friend Jeri and her husband, another lifelong friend of mine, Don Windisch, visited Mom for about an hour at Kindred. By all reports, this visit made Mom very happy and, on the phone, it sounded like she and the rest of the family were having a lot of fun eating dinner. It's been encouraging to know Mom has been having better days after she had a rough patch last week.

2. The Deke and burrowed in and relaxed in our apartment home on this lovely Mother's Day. Adrienne, Molly, and Patrick all talked to the Deke. I made a quick trip to the Co-op. The Deke got materials ready to help her finish out the school year. First we listened to Jonathan Schwartz's Sunday program on WNYC-FM, here. Then, we listened to a couple of episodes of The Lonely Palette podcast, one on Jackson Pollock, here, and the other on Edward Hopper, here.  Later, I played episodes of Eat the World with Emeril Lagrasse on Amazon Prime. The Deke listened while I watched on my Chromebook and we learned more about food and cooking in Sweden, Spain, Cuba, and Shangai. I've watched the Marcus Samulesson/Sweden episode at least four times now and love it. Aaron Sanchez was a splendid companion for Emeril Lagrasse in the fascinating Cuba episode. I love watching Lagrasse and Mario Batali roam the streets of Shanghai, visiting soup dumpling shops. And, Jose Andres was absolutely on fire showing Chef Emeril the modernist food innovations in Spain.

3. While we were taking in all these superb programs, I made the ever reliably silky, rich, flavorful Marcella Hazan tomato sauce and we enjoyed in poured over penne, topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Later, I returned to my modest version of the test kitchen and made an egg and tuna salad for the Deke to eat at work with pita bread and bread and butter pickles. I haven't quite perfected the egg salad/tuna salad yet, but I am determined to come as close to perfection as possible.

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