You Are So Sorry You Didn't Have Supper Here

Durwood got the latest issue of Food Network Magazine the other day and put a blizzard of post-its on recipes.  Only one of them demanded to be made at once--Lemon-Basil Chicken with Zucchini Noodles.  Oh. My. God.  So good.  It's a pain in the keester to spiralize three zucchinis but spending less than $2 for 1 1/4# of them at Aldi is far preferable to spending $10 for pre-spiralized ones at Pick 'N Save.  So I spiralized.  I also got smart and only cooked half of the zoodles and bagged the other half to cook on Monday when we have the second half of the recipe.  I also made rhubarb-strawberry sauce from the same magazine to serve over angel food cake with whipped cream but that disappeared so fast there are no pictures.

This morning I realized that today was 2 weeks since I'd made the Italian Semolina bread dough and 2 weeks is its fridge shelf life so I had to bake bread today.  (what a pity)  It gave me a chance to try out my new baking stone (it worked great) and now we have 2 loaves of yummy bread all sliced and ready to devour.  One loaf, the smaller one, is in the freezer so we don't just sit at the table with a pound of butter and two knives and eat it all.  Actually Durwood would be standing at the toaster with his butter knife because, well, because toast is important.  Once we scoured every store in Bonaire for a toaster when our efficiency didn't have one.  We found one for $17 at the Eastern Store and there was much rejoicing especially from the Bearded One.  Let's be serious, what do you do with a jar of guava jelly if you don't have toast?  I rest my case.

I really meant to spend the day knitting and not accomplishing much but we all know how incapable I am of performing that feat.  I made it almost until 11:00 sitting and knitting on the couch while watching mindless DIY network TV when I remembered about the bread dough so I had to leap up to form the loaves, make the cornstarch wash so the sesame seeds stick to the crust, and preheat the oven while the dough rose for an hour.  In that hour I finished Montparnasse sleeve #1, took it downstairs and set it to soaking.  After supper I squeezed out the water and patted and pinned it into shape.  Now I have to wind the next color I plan to use for the next part.  I think I'll make one of the fronts, just for variety.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get all the rest of the colors of yarn wound into balls so I don't have to pause between parts.  Maybe if I do that I'll actually get this sweater done before it turns cold enough to wear a wool sweater again.  (oh, I probably shouldn't have written that; it'll probably make it snow again)

A goldfinch slammed into the patio door this morning and spent some time lying on his back on top of the charcoal hob on the patio.  We could see it breathing so we left it alone just in case it was only stunned.  It must have been because within an hour it was gone.  This cardinal came for its daily ration of seed.  I swear it poses in the sunshine on purpose.  (the other day I wondered whether the bird was named after the Catholic Cardinals or the priest was named for the bird.  I looked it up, the Catholic Cardinals have been around since the 1400s and the cardinal bird is native to North America so it's named for the Cardinals in Rome due to its color. Who says you don't learn things on my blog?)

April 28--Felix Edouard Vallotton, At the Market.  

Matrons jostle,
squeeze melons,
sniff tomatoes,
pinch peaches,
debate a chicken's merits with the butcher.
Baguette under one arm,
string bag over the other--
familiar ritual
essential part of the day--
part adventure, part drudgery,
dreaded but enjoyed.
~~~~~

I'm not going to make any rash promises or predictions about how I'm going to spend tomorrow.  I'll take it as it comes and try, no, work at taking it slow-er.
--Barbara