Two Beautiful Things and A Solemn One 03-01-2026: Hospice Care for Bruce, Braising and Blanching, Asian Family Dinner

 1. I'm writing this blog post about Sunday, March 1st on Monday morning. 

On this Monday morning, Stu learned from Sally that Bruce Larsen will now be under hospice care. 

2. Bruce's condition occupied my mind and spirit all day.

Simultaneously, Carol had given me a family dinner assignment and I did my best to do it well. 

Carol asked me to turn a recipe called Braised Shiitake Mushrooms with Baby Bok Choy into an acceptable side dish. 

The only requirement of this recipe I had ever done before was make a stir fry sauce. 

I had never worked with dried Shiitake mushrooms. 

I had never blanched bok choy. 

I gave myself plenty of time for things to go wrong and got going on this. 

I started out by soaking the dried mushroom pieces I'd ordered from Amazon in warm water until they were soft.

I let them soak for about 45 minutes. I quickly sauteed minced garlic and ginger in the wok and then added the mushrooms and stir fried them for a little more than a minute.

I poured the sauce over the mushrooms, covered the wok, and slow cooked the mushrooms for about 45 minutes, stirring the mushroom pieces every fifteen minutes. Later, I made another cup of sauce (I did this outside the recipe) and after it heated up, I added corn starch and water. That thickened the sauce. 

While the mushrooms and sauce bubbled, I cut six baby bok choys in half, dropped them in boiling water for about two minutes and then bathed them in ice water for another minute.

I laid out the blanched bok choy in a baking dish and poured the mushrooms and sauce on top and my contribution was ready. 

(It worked.)

3. Carol planned tonight's dinner as an Asian meal. We didn't focus on the food of any one country. Carol prepared a superb Miso Congee with Honey-Miso Squash. She topped the congee with two medium boiled eggs. Congee was a new dish for all of us and I Ihope we'll bring it back. I know I want to make it at home. Carol also seasoned and air fried tofu and Christy brought a generous plate of pickled vegetables. Our dessert was All-American! Carol baked banana bread and it, too, was terrific. 

We had a lot to talk about: memory, developments at the Kellogg Public Library, PEO bookkeeping, classical music, and more. 

We ate at 3:00 in the afternoon. 

I liked this change from how we usually do things.