1. I waited around the house for a while in case Brock called to say he could look at our washing machine. Early in the afternoon, I texted him and learned he had to stay home today. No problem. I gathered the big pieces of cardboard that held a couple pieces of furniture that Debbie is assembling along with three or four bags of packing material and made a quick trip to the Transfer Station.
Honestly, every time I load up the Sube and dispose of stuff, keeping the garage pretty much cleared out, I feel mild ecstasy.
2. Paul, Carol, Molly, Debbie, and I invaded Christy's house this evening for a superb family dinner. Christy planned our menu, drawing upon recipes from Erin French's recipe book, The Lost Kitchen. It turns out that Erin French has an inspiring biography and runs a unique restaurant, called The Lost Kitchen, in Freedom, Maine and Christy gave a brief talk about Erin French's philosophy of cooking, how she runs her restaurant, and her creative ideas for connecting her enterprise with other farmers and small businesses in the area where she lives.
We started dinner what I would call appetizers -- olives and crackers -- but Erin French calls them "nibbles", so we did, too! I used an Erin French recipe to mix George Dickel rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, maple syrup, and aromatic bitters in a carafe and we all enjoyed a Maple Manhattan.
The heart of our dinner was the meatloaf Christy prepared and the parsnip mash she fixed. I contributed an approximation of Erin French's Root Cellar Slaw, a combination of grated beets, carrots, and purple cabbage dressed with Macerated Shallot Vinaigrette. We all enjoyed the way the meatloaf and the sides complimented each other. For dessert, Carol baked gingerbread in what I would call the form of a sheet cake and she made a salted caramel whipped cream topping to sit on the gingerbread.
Our conversations tonight were especially far-ranging. Christy told us about the KHS Class of 73's 50th year reunion plans. Their committee met on Sunday. We decided to participate in the Elks Crab Feed this year by purchasing four dinners to go and having a crab dinner at Carol and Paul's house on Friday, February 17th. We also talked about growing up in and living in the Silver Valley, a fascinating topic that stretched us into talking about Leah Sottile's podcasts and the number of anti-government people who have settled in North Idaho and in Christy's former stomping grounds, Stevens and Ferry counties.
3. Debbie and I returned home from family dinner and started to watch an episode of Perry Mason but, believe it or not, we weren't in the mood. We turned it off and, until it was time for Debbie to go to bed, continued the stimulating discussions we'd been having at family dinner. I will admit it. Having a great discussion with Debbie is better than any episode of Perry Mason!
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