We had one last weekend. And I'm only now getting around to writing about it. It was great to have 3 days off. We stayed home for most of it and I cooked a great deal. Which was super fun.
It all started with a project. We finally had the guys show up to fix our ceiling in the foyer. All those snow storms meant we had a leak which turned into a mini "the sky is falling" moment, when parts of the ceiling fell in from the weight of all the water. And then it kept snowing, so it was always wet at they couldn't fix it. Or at least that's the reason I gave myself for why it took so long to come back and fix it. So Saturday morning we had to empty the contents of our front hall closet, because there was water damage in there too and definitely a mold situation. Now, like most city dwellers, our front hall closet is our major storage area in the apartment. It serves as Geoff's closet, a coat closet, tool shed, Christmas decoration storage, home for luggage and and all Geoff's film gear. So cleaning it out is an undertaking. But we did. And they fixed it. Probably not to Holmes on Homes standard, but there is no longer a gaping hole in my ceiling. There is however, still half the contents of this closet lined up against a wall in the living room, as there has been no time to put it all back yet. I guess that's what this weekend is for.
I promise my living room doesn't always look like this.
But while they were doing that, I was doing this.
Breakfast time was lovely. Blogging and recipe searching and coffee with toast and jam. Yes please. In pulling all the stuff out of the closet, a few boxes had gotten wet. They were boxes full of old letters, my journals from high school and college, old playbills, photos etc. It was kinda really fun to look through them as I set them up on the kitchen table to dry out in the sun. Some of you should recognize some of these things....
A letter from my dad when I was 6. We were living in England and he must've been away for training because there were references to "I know you're being such a big help to your mommy and being a good girl". I hope I was, if mom was holding down the fort with 2 kids in a foreign country. Mom, I hope I wasn't a brat. At least not all the time. I loved finding this again.
Journals, a picture from my baptism, the playbill from a very *special* (and by that I mean bad) production of Sweet Charity I was in after college and good old middle school class photos. Nothin' like 'em. is there? I actually still remember nearly everyone's first and last name. Possibly because I am now friends with at least half of them on Facebook.
When we were kids my brother and I both had one of these cases with our names on them.
They were for holding your cassette tape collection. When I opened it, there were mostly tapes from All-County Chorus and other such middle school adventures. But there was definitely my old favorites in there too - a Jan and Dean "Surfin' Hits" that I played all the time for some reason, a mix tape that just says "Oldies" and the original cast album of Worzel Gumidge, a 1981 British musical about a scarecrow who comes to life. Or at least I assume that's what it's about. I never actually saw the show, I just listened to the tape, so I was never quite sure of the whole story. I played that tape so often that i wore out some of the songs from fast forwarding to my favorites and then rewinding them and playing them over again. Just like my Annie tape. Gosh. Remember TAPES? Remember having to rewind and fast forward to get to your favorite song? Please. That seems like the dark ages.
I also found a note written from a friend after my senior recital in college. All music majors had to give a recital their senior year, and in mine, my last number was "Paris Original" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It's a song about a girl who shows up at a party hoping to make the guy fall in love with her, only to find that there are multiple other girls at the party wearing the same dress. So I hauled 3 of my friends up on stage with me, having all bought the same cheap black dress at Deb or Express or some such place, and pulled off the number to great applause. After the recital my parents threw a little punch and dessert party at the Barn House, where I lived, and Mom left these little booklets out for my friends to write a note to me if they wanted.
This particular note that I found was written by my friend EJ. He later went on to marry my friend and fellow Barn girl Ali and they have 3 amazing boys. Now, for most of college, EJ was a little quiet. He was a really nice guy, hung out with the boys mostly and (at least in my experience) didn't seem as.....tuned in (for lack of a better way to describe it) to cultivating friendships with girls. After he and Ali started dating however, it was like a switch had been thrown. We all talked about how thoughtful he was, how he'd come over to see Ali and would just sit down and talk to the rest of us about our days, how we were doing. He seemed to really care about us and want to know us better. Not that he didn't like us before, but he became intentional about it, and interested in us because we were important to Ali. And it wasn't a "Oh, I've got to hang out with her friends so she'll like me more and think I'm a good guy" It was just a natural, genuine thing. Ah, the love of a good woman.
This is the note he wrote me.
"Kate - Great job on your singing thing. It was truly one of the best performances I have ever seen. Love, EJ. PS-You definitely looked the best in that dress."
First of all, it's just awesome. On a number of levels. And so "EJ" of him. My "singing thing". Amazing. Now, keep in mind, I was up on that stage with three gorgeous, skinny women. Having always been just a little heavier or curvier than most of my friends and certainly more so than 95% of performers at my school, a compliment about how I looked in comparison with the" pretty people", was one of the kindest things he could've said to my little 21 year old self. He won me over for life. :-)
As my memories dried out in the sun, I cooked. And grocery shopped.
I came home from grocery shopping intent on cleaning out the fridge, but then I realized it was after 3pm and I hadn't eaten lunch. So, on a whim, I made a Quinoa "Risotto" with Mushroom and Thyme - which happened to just be the latest recipe I had saved on my phone from Epicurious and I happened to have all the ingredients. It was surprisingly quick and pretty darn good! Not as creamy as an actual risotto, but I don't mind that.
For dinner I also made my homemade salsa and a mexican salad. The salsa I've been making for years and I don't really have a recipe. I just make up the proportions as I go. Chopped tomatoes, about half a jalepeno, a shallot, some lime juice, cilantro and salt and pepper.
Just what my countertop looks like when cooking is in progress. And I know I've said it before, but this is my only actual countertop space that came with the apartment. Immediately to the left of that bowl of salsa is the sink. Who is jealous? Butcher blocks are my friend.
Mexican salad with honey lime dressing. I didn't have corn, bell pepper or jicama and it was still good. And I added avocado. The dressing was just ok. I made it a few nights later with just a cilantro lime vinaigrette that I liked better.
And we made these amazing cookies for dessert. I even whipped them up on the coffee table while we were watching a movie. They have no flour, butter, eggs or added sugar at all. And they are amazing. Bananas, almond meal (just grind almonds in a blender or coffee grinder) and coconut oil hold them together. Add oats, shredded unsweetened coconut and dark chocolate or chocolate chips.
I also made Banana Blueberry muffins (pictured at top of this post - with skim milk and a combo of whole wheat and buckwheat flour) and a Brown Butter Soda bread with rosemary and black pepper (also with whole wheat flour). The rosemary and the black pepper made it really good. And Alison and her beau and her dog Rupert came over on Monday night for a VERY impromptu dinner party, where we made my kale salad and a mushroom pasta that I now can't find the recipe for. I have pictures of all that, but my camera is being fussy. But a good time and good food was had by all.
Could someone see about making 3 day weekend happen more often?
