It has been a good four months since I've posted, and I apologize for my absence. But, little Ms. Iz and I went to Paris for five wonderful weeks this summer which took a lot of prep beforehand and a bunch of reorientation afterward. And, so, now that back-to-school mania has calmed down, I am back.
I did chronicle our trip on a separate blog, which you can access here at Summer Jet Setter. There are a few days missing on the end of the trip, but all of Paris is there in all it's glory.
To the left, you will see the most amazing Baked Egg dish I have ever experienced. We managed a lot of eating in Paris, but this was the best for me. Half a dozen eggs, half a pound of bacon, some cream and lots of potatoes, and you have yourself a fabulous dish. The pan it was cooked in was brought to the table. I managed to eat almost the whole thing myself, but in hindsight, I wonder if this was meant for more than one person.
My good friend Fred went to Paris a few weeks after me. Before he left, he asked for explicit instructions on how to find the holy grail of baked eggs. I gave him the info, he missed the restaurant several times, finally found it, and sent me a lovely picture of his meal. Worth going half way around the world for these eggs, we both agreed.
Last night, I had a lovely, homey evening with my daughter, Ms. Iz. We ate linguine with butter. This does not sound spectacular, but it was because it gave us a meal fast and simple and satisfying enough to fill us, and left us with plenty of snuggle time.
To be honest, I hadn't had pasta with butter until very recent times. Gran Fran thought it a sin to use anything other than olive oil on all things pasta. As a matter of fact, she cooks her scrambled eggs in olive oil, too, so to this day, I gag at the taste of eggs cooked in butter. While Gran Fran just about passes out when she hears of said atrocity.
The butter pasta was a direct result of Julie & Julia. You know, how the butter is the queen in all of her recipes. As the movie progressed, Ms. Iz asked for a bowl of pasta. Whilst making it, I asked her if she prefered butter to olive oil (which I rarely do). She said, well, since Julia is using butter let's have butter. And, I'd also like to point out, this was her second viewing of the movie, and that she has proclaimed it her new favorite movie.
For anyone who has read my blog in the past, you know about the love affair I've had with Julia for pretty much my whole life. And, so, to be able to see the movie once again, have my daughter love it, and get to eat a bowl of butter pasta (mine with walnuts, red pepper flakes and garlic), it turned out to be a very nifty evening.
As for this evening. I'm back on romance (see previous post) as well as a childhood favorite. First in the queue was Love Actually. A sappy and beautiful movie about 7 different love stories in Britain that are somewhat intertwined. Lovley characterization of all kinds of love...first love, broken love, unrequitted love...and all perfect. The best part is when the little 10 year old girl is singing "All I Want For Christmas is You". Apparently, I 'm a sucker for a good romance.
Right now, it's High Society. There is no way to describe the beauty of this film. It is funny, sweet, smart and best of all a musical! You get Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Celeste Holmes. Cocktails are in order (many mixed drinks and much champagne is consumed), but I can't do that when I'm on my own, so I'll just watch and imagine.
Somehow, before VCRs or DVDs, we watched this movie many atime when I was little. Maybe it wasn't as often as I thought. More likely, it's due to the soundtrack being played over and over again.
All 5 of us (and Gran Fran and Joe, as well) can still sing every song in this movie. I remember putting on shows with my sisters and brother (5 of us in 7 years, we had enough voices fora pretty good chorus) in the living room. We used a piece of drywall (who knows where it came from) as a dance floor. There are Super 8 movies of this somewhere, I think.
Thanks to Joe, there was plenty of Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Gran Fran leaned more towards Motown and Latin music. And both of them love a good musical. So we had quite a variety, always singing along, no matter if you knew the words, just get out there and sing it!
So, my friends, here is the recipe for my butter pasta, and please do make yourselves some and watch a couple of my faves along with a nice glass of wine!
Linguine with Butter and Walnuts serves 4
Ingredients
1 lb best quality Linguine 1 large pot of salted boiling water 3 Tbsps Butter 3 Tbsps Olive Oil 1/4 cup chopped Walnuts
2 cloves Garlic, minced 1 leaf fresh Sage, minced To Taste: Salt, Red Pepper and Pepper
Method
Boil Linguine to your liking (I prefer mine a little on the soft side for this recipe).
While pasta is cooking, heat a small non-reactive saucepan over medium heat.
Add butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
Once the butter has melted, lower the heat to low-medium and all the garlic and walnuts.
Saute until the garlic is browned slightly and the walnuts glisten.
Remove from the heat and pour over the cooked pasta.
Sprinkle the sage and a bit more pepper and red pepper flakes over the pasta.
i know it's not even summer yet, but mark twain's comment is very fitting on this mid-May evening. and i quote: "the coldest winter i ever spent was summer in san francisco". preaching to the choir right now.
i've found that i am channeling gran-fran's best winter look tonight. down vest, tee-shirt, 2 sweaters, furry socks and a large blanket. oh, and i've managed to not only make myself some dinner, but to also put a pot of split pea soup on the stove as well.
it never fails, the smell of cloves, bay leaf, thyme and smoked ham make me calm and happy. i recall gran fran making this all the time, but maybe it wasn't quite as often as i tend to make it (once a month, at least). it has been a nice thing, making soup, since my little lady won't eat it, it's all for me. and when there is extra, i share it with my workmates, which makes me happy and them, too.
i've wathced "like water for chocolate" and am now into "amelie" both very beautiful films, both make me nostalgic for gran-fran. she gave me the book "like water for chocolate", but there is no firm reason why "amelie" also resonates as a gran-fran movie.
maybe it's the soundtrack. she and i both have a love for accordian music ("amarcord" anyone?). i even have two accordians that i have taught myself to play (not very well, but i love it). but, i think it has to do with the romantic nature of both of these movies. gran-fran, joe and all of us kids always watched movies that focused on romance. think fred & ginger, "singin' in the rain", woody allen's "purple rose of cairo (before his fall from my good graces).
it may also be the way it is shot. again, back to fellini, the cinematography on "amelie" is just stunning. the anles, the lighting, the setting and most of all the vivid colors.
so, in my 40-something degree-city in mid-May, i say, thank you, gran-fran, for giving me the split pea and a way to appreciate such great films.
The recipe appeared here originally, in October, 2009.
I have been sitting a lot lately. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. It just so happens that I fractured my foot three weeks ago (ignored it for a week, on crutches now), and so, cannot walk around freely. Let's not even mention the fact that I cannot dance, what with Carnaval around the corner, this has been quite a disappointment.
This has given me an interesting sense of the passage of time. On the first page of this article in the NY Times, one of the subjects tracks his concentration and output before he gave up coffee and after. The data conclusively proved that coffee was making him less focused. So, for me, I guess it's full mobility that pulls my focus....
Herewith, a few benefits of being much more sedentary (give me this gift of allowing me to find the positive aspects in this).
1. It no longer takes me an hour and a half to read a one page article. I can do so in a half an hour now. Without the constant pull of "I could be in the other room doing...(fill in the blank with whatever other activity I could be doing)".
2. Enjoy a quiet afternoon in the yard (to be fair, this was a gift of a neighbor's yard). I managed to practice French for two and a half hours and relax.
3. Depend on others. This may sound small, but as a single working parent, I feel the pull to be as self-sufficient as possible. Who knew that little Ms Iz (11 years old, I guess not so little), would throw down and walk the dog?
4. Day-to-day tasks take a lot of work. Ever try to mop a floor whilst on crutches? Jerry Lewis and Lucille Ball are not more comical than me attempting this. (Thanks to big sis, N, for coming by and getting the floors in order, thus keeping me from more serious harm).
5. Movies and TV are fun, to an extent. After day 4 of sitting at home, the TV had to be turned off, there are only so many episodes of "The Millionaire Matchmaker" and "16 and Pregnant" one person can watch without going over the edge. Instead, the library is your friend, and ours even has an elevator.
6. Weightlifting in a chair is almost as good as dancing (this is a lie, but again, help me out). With weights, pulleys and balance exercises that can be done seated, I am now a little more sane than I was last week, when, going on week two of no exercise, I found myself dancing in my car at a red light. The dancing in the chair will continue, but at home. Oh, and also, all 63 pounds of Ms Iz creates a good counter balance for some wacky seated push ups.
And so, as my friend T put it "Your foot seems to be telling you to slow down". Once I am up and running again (maybe another 3 to 4 weeks), I am going to try hard to keep the focus my one-footedness has given me.
Thank you to each and everyone of you that have been so helpful!
