1. Saturday night I dropped in on Christy and Everett. The Zag game was a blow out and was winding down. The game did not require our rapt attention. At one point, Christy casually asked me, "Are you looking forward to hosting family dinner tomorrow?"
"It's at my house? It's not at Carol's?"
My mouth went dry. Low grade panic built inside me.
Christy replied, "I'm sure it's at your house. Let me check."
She looked on her phone or her hard copy calendar and confirmed it: yes, I was in charge of family dinner on 1-26.
Let's see, I thought, the house needs vacuuming, the sink is full of dishes to be washed, the dishwasher is full, and I don't have the ingredients at home to fix a dinner for five. In fact, I've been spending time over the last week planning, in my head, alternatives for hosting family dinner in February.
I put on my courage face and faked confidence, replying, "OK. I'll work out something."
Last Sunday at family dinner, we had talked about how when Christy, Carol, and I were children, we rarely had casseroles. Dad had a strong bias against casseroles. Once in a while, Mom fixed us the tuna casserole from the recipe found on the back of a Nalley's potato chip box, but, I think, only if Dad wasn't having dinner with us -- which was rare. (I might have this wrong, but somehow we had this casserole once in while, you know, with the ground potato chips on top.)
So I returned home. I thought about casseroles and about a macaroni with ground beef and tomato dish Mom used to make and I pondered comments I'd made one night at another get together about my general dissatisfaction with Mexican restaurants near and far. I plunged into Pinterest. I looked at taco casserole recipes, saw that there were enchilada and burrito casseroles, and then I saw a link to -- I'm trying to remember -- 30 was it? -- simple Mexican casserole recipes.
I clicked on it and scrolled through a handful of recipes and one called Chili Mac Casserole caught my eye. It was kind of a TexMex recipe, I suppose, akin to that macaroni dish Mom used to make, and looked to me like it would fit my desire to cook up some comfort food.
2. So, I made a commitment to Chili Mac Casserole and decided I'd put put more cumin and chili powder in it than the recipe called for. I also decided I'd go beyond the recipe and add chopped olives to the top of it as well as a layer of tortilla chips. The recipe is here. If I make it again, I won't use as much tomato paste as the recipe calls for -- or I'll just bag the tomato paste altogether. Christy suggested subbing tomato sauce. I'll look into that idea and ponder it. My version today doubled the amount of beans (I used black beans, not kidney) and cut the amount of ground beef in half.
For appetizers, I put four flour tortillas on a baking sheet, covered half the tortilla with grated Mexican cheese and salsa, folded the tortilla over, and put the half circles under the broiler until one side was brown, flipped them, and gave the cheese time to melt. Later on, I returned them to the oven on a low heat and warmed them up. I cut these quesadillas into wedges and served them.
I also made a rice salad, combining jasmine rice, a chopped red pepper, black beans seasoned with cumin, avocado bits, and halved cherry tomatoes. I dressed it with olive oil and rice vinegar. I wish I'd put olives in it and I wish I'd remembered to buy cilantro. Next time.
I also made margaritas. I was determined not to buy mix at the store, but I didn't like the look of the limes at Yoke's so I bought a handful of those plastic limes with lime juice in them and mixed tequila, triple sec, and lime juice together. I am going to start reading up on different homemade margarita mixes. I wish I knew what Billy McCallum's margarita mix recipe is at Billy Macs in Eugene. I'll just have to experiment and see if I can make something like it.
3. Starting at 1 o'clock, I did my best to prepare dinner and watch today's Civil War basketball game between the Ducks and Beavers, the women's teams, in Corvallis. I brought cans into the Vizio room to open while I watched the game. I went to the kitchen during commercial breaks and at half time to brown ground beef, saute onions and garlic, boil macaroni, and keep things moving along.
Today's game was shot through with fresh grief. Not long before tip off, both teams learned about the death of Kobe Bryant.
For women basketball players, losing Kobe Bryant was especially devastating. After his retirement from the Lakers, unlike any other NBA player I'm aware of, Kobe became an impassioned advocate for and supporter of women's basketball.
In particular, he had developed a close relationship, as a mentor and a friend, with Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu. He visited Oregon's team. He and Ionescu texted and talked every week. It was no secret that Sabrina Ionescu, in many ways, patterned her competitiveness and the way she plays after the example of Kobe Bryant.
Maybe you've seen pictures or video of how the Ducks and Beavers responded to the news of Bryant's death, how about an hour before game time the members of both teams gathered at half court in Gill Coliseum and formed a circle, held hands, some opponents with arms around each other's shoulders, and prayed and wept.
As game time approached, Ionsecu's eyes were red and her face was swollen from crying. She used a Sharpie and inscribed "Forever 24" with a heart symbol on her basketball shoes.
Honestly (and I know those in charge of things couldn't do it), but I think if the Athletic Directors had decided to postpone this game, it would have been understandable.
Instead, the Ducks and Beavers played a brisk and very competitive basketball game.
Once underway, these women did what all of us who follow sports have seen many athletes do over the years. They focused on the task at hand and played a great game.
To me, this one was decided in the second half when Oregon found a way to put the defensive clamps on the Beavers. They figured out ways to stop the Beaver's Mikalya Pivec's drive and cuts to the hoop; they closed off the inside, severely limiting Taylor Jones' effectiveness, and they hounded the Beavers shooters from beyond the three point line. The Ducks forced turnovers. They kept the Beavers off the boards, often limiting the Beaver's offense to a single shot. Steadily, the Ducks built a lead that swelled to over ten points and, in the end, triumphed, 66-57.
None of these Ducks had ever won a game at OSU before. Neither had Coach Kelly Graves. I enjoyed how the Ducks not only got plenty of points from their three best players, Ionsescu, Hebard, and Sabbaly, but, off the bench both Taylor Chavez and Jaz Shelley hit shots at key times that helped the Ducks significantly.
After the game, Sabrina Ionsescu consented to a brief on court interview. It ended when she stated, (and I might not have words exactly right), "Everything I do is for Kobe" and walked away, grieving.
No comments:
Post a Comment