1. Ever since eating a polenta bowl for breakfast at the Milwaukie Cafe and Bottle Shop this past June in Oregon, I have, from time to time, experimented with making my own polenta bowls. This morning I fried some bacon, heated up some leftover polenta in the bacon grease, fried an egg, and wilted some red lettuce in more bacon grease and seasoned it with blueberry basil vinegar, made by Nancy Turner. I combined all this in a bowl and heated it up a bit with Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce. Then I wondered, what would it be like to top this off with fresh blueberries? They would be cool in contrast to the hot sauce and soft in contrast to the crunchy bacon and it might increase the blueberry effect of the vinegar I used. So, I dumped some blueberries into the bowl and the whole thing was awesome. I loved the variety of textures, the contrasts of heat and coolness, the fruit playing off of the salty bacon, and the hints of acidity and brightness throughout the bowl thanks to the blueberry basil vinegar.
2. Around four o'clock, Cousin Lura, Lyle, Christy, Everett, the Deke, and I met for dinner at Casa de Oro. I enjoyed drinking a margarita and, for the first time in my life, I ordered pork carnitas for dinner. I don't eat often at Mexican restaurants, but next time I do, I will order pork carnitas again (and again) because I'd like to learn the different ways this entree might be prepared. The pork carnitas I ate today will serve as a basis for learning what can be done with this dish. It's one I'm interested in making at home.
3. After dinner, the Deke and I enjoyed a drink at the Hill St. Depot. The Depot was nicely air conditioned and it was quiet and we chatted idly a little bit, but mostly just enjoyed the atmosphere. We had invited Lura, Lyle, Christy, and Everett to join us on our back deck. Everett was tired after a long day of working around the house, so stayed home, but the rest of us sat around the table back there starting about six o'clock and by seven or so it was cooling off beautifully. We yakked for a couple of hours, let the mountain air relax us, and, before long settled in for the night.
I watched North Carolina grillmasters compete against each other on Chopped and, while I don't have the equipment to grill food at home, I took a keen interest in the barbecue sauces these chefs made and, when I went to bed, I read up on vinegar based bbq sauce and began to imagine how I might use them in the kitchen -- and, well, if we ever decide to buy some kind of grill, the North Carolina style excited me more than than what I saw when the Kansas City grillmasters had their competition. Some time in the future, I'll watch the Memphis and the Texas grillmasters go at it on Chopped and see what I think of their styles.
Oh! By the way, my free MLB.TV game came on at nine this morning and featured the Mets and the Reds. I watched a lot of it, not all of it, and came away wondering how Jacob deGrom ever loses a game. He pitched six masterful innings, lowered his already very low ERA, and gave me reason to ponder how he could have more losses than wins -- I mean the Mets' run support for him this season has been really awful.
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