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There are times in my life when I think I recognize the world. Things feel familiar. People feel familiar. I feel familiar. There are times in my life when I do not know anything at all. Familiar things transform. People are surprisingly nasty and surprisingly kind. I can only watch and wait, learn and adapt. Mostly I live in familiar times. Occasionally my knowledge of the world, my understanding of me, proves to be inadequate. Today I cling to the familiar, as I must in times of trouble. I will weave the familiar into the strands of the unpleasant present and the unknown future. Familiar are flakes of sunlight drifting to the ground, softly, slowly. Yellow leaves waving their last good-bye as gravity claims their loyalty. The familiar is black and mauve and shaped like a bean. Scarlet Runner seeds as beautiful as the blooms that produced them. The familiar is the hum of Freon pulsing through the veins of the mechanical horn of plenty. Every kitchen I have known has had a refrigerator. I will rest on the shoulder of the familiar as I duck and dive, twist and parry, with events that are beyond my control and beyond my comprehension. Each, and every, time I am confronted with an act of malice, I am shocked. I am horrified. I am disgusted. I am not overwhelmed. My inner world will always revolve around the genuine smile.
Soon Attila will have a day off. He will sleep. He will eat. He will sleep again. Then Attila will have a second day off. He will sleep. He will eat. We will spend time together. Simplicity is satisfying.
The week has passed well enough. I continue to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. The Mincemeat is at last tucked away in the freezer. Last winter the demand was greater than the supply, so I shall peel more apples and prepare a second batch. Our Jack O Lantern suffered dismemberment on Halloween night. We peeled him, and chopped him, and put him in the crockpot overnight. The next morning he was pureed for pies, and frozen in one-pie packets. This year I have saved the seeds for next spring's planting, rather than roasting them. I have found replacement parts for my Pressure Cooker. It was new in 1970. I have wanted to get away from using canned beans, as they are high in salt. I have had little success in cooking beans on the top of the stove. I follow the instructions for soaking, and rinsing, and cooking; but they are always too firm in the middle. I thought I would try the Pressure Cooker method of cooking. The results were excellent. The results were so good that I cooked two recipes of beans that first day. We buy dried beans in 25-kilogram bags. Beans are terrific prepared in a variety of ways. One of our favorite dishes is Arroz Con Queso. Arroz Con Queso Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Then mix thoroughly all ingredients except 1 cup of the grated cheese. Pour mixture into well-greased casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 7 servings. -------- Per serving (excluding unknown items): 740 Calories; 63g Fat (76% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 3mg Cholesterol; 135mg Sodium. |
RECIPES :: Cast Worldly Distractions  Beautiful Beans By the Easy Chair The Powerbook by Jeanette Winterson On the Screen Agnes Browne Weather 4:19 PM EST Temp: 11` C Humidity: 65% Wind: SW 13 km/h Barometric:102.2 kPaSunrise 7:05 AM EST Sunset 5:10 PM EST  A Victim of Circumstance |
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