T-Day +1 (R)

Gainesville

Many thanks for the blow-by-blow of your festival, Sandy! I really felt part of the action reading it, and especially loved all the details of your planning and execution. Great picture, too! Almost the same picture as last year, except Ben is obviously bigger and Julia a bit more somber. Mom is even cuter this year.

Thanks for the correction on the height markers on the door, Marty. What a nice thing to have. Of course I remember our marks in the cabin at The Farm. I've always been the shortest of this clan, but I'm willing to cede the honor. And key lime pie? Why child, you must have Florida blood in your veins.

I don't feel very righteous about cleaning up yesterday-- a dinner for two is quite different than one for seven! We were through earlier also. And that damn sink flywashing kicks in even when
dead tired.

I'm intrigued by the brining routine, but just no way I could pull it off here. Only one smallish fridge, and no possibility that it would ever be cold enough to just stick it out in the porch, even if I had a porch.

Glad you were able to make it despite the slow start yesterday, Mom. Silly of you to even think about being a ball of fire on a holiday anyhow-- what were you thinking?

I slept til 10 again today. Despite having nothing scheduled, normal routines required doing the bathroom floors, plus meal planning for next week, which in turn required purging the fridge, which I should have done pre-Tnx. It wasn't so bad-- nothing was gross, and the labels on things made it easy to decide what to keep and what to pitch. Having and idea of what needs to be used this week made the plans go easier, too.

Sandy suggested I look at Everyday Cooking #19, which I still have-- the very first one-- to see about buttermilk recipes. Great! And it was such a swell issue I ended up planning next week around things I found in there. And realize I let the subscription lapse and will renew post-haste.

I also put in 15 minutes sorting through a small heap of stuff in the big room. I now have cleared a small area of the marble-top coffee table. Another baby step, but progress nonetheless. What a good girl are you, Suze.

The Mashed Potato / Turkey Soup from the paper was so wonderful (and easy) I'm going to include here.

Mashed Potato and Turkey Soup

2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cups (8 oz) sliced mushrooms
1 medium carrot, coarsely grated
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 cups mashed potatoes
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan over a medium-high flame, melt the butter. Add the onion, mushrooms, carrot and thyme and saute until the onion is just translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, then gradually add the broth stirring until potatoes are mostly disolved and broth is smooth. Add the turkey and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes 6 servings.

My comments: at least part of its goodness must be attributed to the mashed potatoes being infused with buttermilk and chives, and the turkey being steeped in Marsala glaze. Also I had just under a cup of cooked peas and pearl onions which I tossed in at the very last minute. Still, it would undoubtedly be good even with less exotic ingredients.

Yesterday I alluded to a commercial I saw NFL Network. It was so wonderful that the next time it came on, I paused and rewound TiVo so Bill could see it too. Wish I could have recorded it. It was a beautifully composed combination of visual and spoken text and image, based on the following T.E. Lawrence quote:

All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.

Probably they'll rerun it to death, but meanwhile, it's the most striking ad I've seen since the infamous Mac "1984" pitch. Watch for it.