Cat Blog Day and Other Pensees

Friday Is Cat Blog Day

Last Sunday not only did I give Thisbe a good brushing, but I combed her, especially down close to her tail where lumps appear in the summer. Thisbe is fat and can’t reach this in her daily bathing. She took exception and nailed me on the arm. No big deal, except that she hasn’t slept at the foot on the bed since, and I am bereft without my kitty. No amount of coaxing has helped. Cats can be so cruel. Sigh.

Tonight we’re having Cayman Island Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa. Doesn’t that sound enticing? The yellow, red, green and purple salsa will be so tasty and colorful. The recipe is from Steven Weber’s grilling email, which comes often enough but not too often. Now if it would only stop raining.

Wednesday’s New York Times food section had a telling-tales-out-of-school feature by Kim Severson. Recipe Deal Breakers. What makes you tear off your apron and throw down your whisk?

Of course for non-cooks, that would be the recipe itself, which would require greater effort than moving a package from freezer to microwave. And the plain cooks, who fry meat and boil potatoes. Give me good old salt and pepper for seasonings. Chop parsley? Go away.

Most real cooks are more adventurous, but only up to a point. Ingredients, according to the article, can be off-putting, for example, “fresh pick vine leaves,” or “two quarts of pig blood,” or my favorite, “wild board from the hills around Santa Fe.” My own turn-off is a host of ethnic ingredients that our supermarket doesn’t carry that would require a day and a tank of gas to round up. Remember I couldn’t even get poblano pepper this week, and S.O. had to go to two stores for jalapenos. This is Boston.

Unfamiliar techniques stop some cooks cold—sieving or pounding—“butterfly 12 4-inch fresh anchovies.” Sure thing. Stuffing small foodstuffs, e.g., cherry tomatoes, olives or squash blossoms makes some cooks quail, including moi.

And then there are each cook’s visceral reactions to certain recipe phrases. “Work quickly before it hardens.” “Have a helper.” “Remove all jewelry before proceeding.”
Perhaps do not proceed.

The most intimidating recipe I ever saw was for fresh strudel dough, which required a kitchen table to stretch it out on. Get serious. That’s why God gave us the frozen food section. Really.

What is your recipe deal breaker?

Last item of the day, again from the New York Times, was a front page article about a young German woman who has written a frank, racy novel, about, I am not making this up, feminine hygiene. A kind of tell-all, a combo orfporno and feminism. The title is “Wetlands.” Throat clearing heard. The author, Charlotte, Roche is cute and calls her profession, “circus pony.” The readings are for over-18 audiences only.

Do I see men smirking? Yup.

Last, last, item of the day. I have considered quitting this blog. There are approximately 30 readers per day on average, but no one ever comments, which means the blog remains mired in the deep bottom of blogdom. By now I’ve written enough words to populate a novel, and so I’m counting on some comments or the blog may die.

Onward to “real” writing.

Grapeshot