1. It would be fun to be a classical music expert and be able to write out musically knowledgeable reasons why I loved keeping J. S. Bach on Spotify all day today, why I loved listening to pianists playing one Prelude and Fugue after another, to one Bach Violin Concerto after another, to one String Quartet after another, and to the Brandenburg Concertos. I can say, but these are hardly the words of a music critic, that I have scores of sweet memories and stirring emotions associated with J. S. Bach's compositions. Today, I didn't even play the pieces that I have the most memory and feeling invested in, the Goldberg Variations and Bach's Cello Suites, two pieces that were, at one time, central to some of the writing courses I taught at LCC as I tried to help students write better by not writing, but, in this case, by listening to Bach and what his music stirred in them.
2. I know the early signs of when either of my big toes is starting a protest and might be on the verge of flaming up. The last time I felt these preliminary twinges in my left big toe, I ignored them out of stupidity and laziness. Well, today, I felt those twinges, those preliminary sensations that warn me that my left big toe might be getting ready to swell and stiffen up.
In response, I did not take a walk today.
Instead, I iced my toe once in the afternoon and again in the evening before I went to bed, hoping (as I have done before) to successfully stem the tide and not go through another long round of inflammation and immobility.
As I write this post on Thursday morning, my toe feels good. I'm going to ice it again pretty soon. I've been out for a very short walk this morning and my toe felt fine.
I'm optimistic.
3. For the second time since we started our subscription, our HelloFresh box included the ingredients for making pizza-like flatbreads.
Today's meal was especially delicious.
I started by trimming and halving a handful of Brussels sprouts and chopping the halves into small pieces.
I put the oven rack on the top slot and turned the temperature to 450 degrees.
I drizzled olive oil and salt and pepper on the two flatbreads and put them on a baking sheet and into the oven until they were golden.
In a small bowl, I combined ricotta cheese, fresh lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and olive oil.
On the stovetop, I seasoned the Brussels sprouts with Italian seasoning and cooked them in olive oil until they were tender.
Once the flatbreads were golden, I removed them from the oven and spread the ricotta cheese mixture on each one and topped this mixture with the tender Brussels sprouts pieces. I topped each flatbread with Parmesan cheese and a blend of grated Italian cheeses.
I returned the flatbreads to the oven until the cheeses melted, removed them, cut each flatbread into six smaller rectangles, and topped them with more Parmesan and grated Italian cheeses.
Last of all, I drizzled Mike's hot honey (spicy hot, not temperature hot) on each slice.
Debbie and I loved the layers of flavor, the crispness of these flatbreads, and the sweet heat the honey added to each slice.
We both remarked that we enjoyed how this meal transported us back to 2014 and the (now closed) Old Line Bistro in Beltsville, MD, our favorite watering hole near where we lived, and where we ordered flatbreads on several occasions and liked them a lot.
It was heartwarming and fun for me to go on an imaginary flight back to the Old Line Bistro. That place always made us happy with its excellent food, splendid tap lists, superb servers, and its fascinating clientele. It was, along with the DC Brau tasting room, at the heart of what made me so happy to live in Greenbelt, MD.
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