Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Three Beautiful Things 09/30/19: Shakespeare Tickets, Cleaning, Making Fish Chowder

1. I made sure that Charly could go over to Carol and Paul's on October 12th. Once assured that could work out, I ordered myself a ticket to see the Whitworth University Theater Department perform a Saturday matinee of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane on the 12th. In the spirit of trying to take in more of Whitworth's offereings, I am going to a Whitworth event this Friday. Bob Woodward is speaking at a luncheon in downtown Spokane. I am also thinking of going to a lecture on campus on Thursday and a faculty member's art show out in Kendall Yards on late Friday afternoon.

2. I got stuck working on a crossword puzzle this morning and closed my eyes to try to let possible words that would fit surface and I fell asleep. A rap on the front door awakened me. It was Mike Stafford! I invited him in. I fixed us each a cup of coffee and we had a great talk for over an hour about the fishing trip he was traveling home from, dogs, mobility, retirement, and other things. I was mildly embarrassed by how cluttered the house was and how badly it needed vacuuming. House cleaning was on my agenda today, so when Mike departed, I got busy. I vacuumed the living room and kitchen rugs and floors, decluttered things, and did a couple loads of laundry -- meaning I could look forward to sleeping under fresh bedding tonight.

3. I thawed two quarts of crab stock and the last of the shrimp and salmon on hand and about four pieces of mahi-mahi In the Dutch oven, I cooked chopped onion, tiny sweet peppers (instead of carrots), and celery in butter until tender and then added four cloves of chopped garlic and cooked it for a minute or so. I sprinkled flour over the vegetables, cooked that mixture for a while, and then gradually poured the crab stock over the vegetables. Instead of chopped potatoes, I then added a chopped head of cauliflower to the soup and seasoned it with Old Bay, salt, and pepper. I slow boiled the soup until the cauliflower was tender and then I folded in the fish pieces. I let them cook for a short time and then I added just over a cup of whole milk. After a bit, I served myself a bowl of this warming fish chowder and put the rest in containers in the refrigerator to eat in the next couple of days. I love the crab stock I made from shells from the annual Elks Crab Feed so much that I almost hate to use it because I don't want it to disappear! The crab stock provided a delicious and sturdy backbone for this chowder.

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