I Knew Her When. . . Sort of

Meg Whitman of Ebay fame is running for governor of California. According to Tina Brown's blog, Meg is an arch conservative. Well, not my zebra, not my zoo.

I actually worked at the same company as Meg many moons ago. She was a divisional president and I was an IT dweeb, so we didn't interact. The company was forever trying to keep a human face (those days are gone forever) and one of the things it did was ask executives (maybe even the rank and file--I don't recall) to bring photos of themselves as a child. Meg's photo was her girlish self with a whopping big fish she had just landed. Cool kid. Cool photo.

One of my colleagues who did interact reported that she had a fantastic stragetic mind. Someone else reported that she was a revolving door for secretaries. Gee. Remember secretaries? How quaint. Maybe she was demanding, as one would expect.

Meg left to work for an internet florist, where she obviously learned a whole lot about net business. The next person to occupy her office had an Oriental rug and a white leather sofa which I promply put into a novel. This divisional president had a hissy fit when we cooked broccoli in the IT microwave. It did stink and we were on the same floor. I never cooked any, but some did. Actually fish in the microwave at lunch time is worse.

Speaking of food, and aren't we always, this week I made Chicken Piccata from Cook's Illustrated and it was a winner. The wonderful chocolate/mocca cookies are gone.

S.O. has a birthday and #2 son is arriving, so we're having a pork roast with creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and gravy, applesauce and for dessert- ta da! Chocolate panna cotta with portwine ice cream.

We ate tiny scoops of port wine ice cream in DC at Poste, and it was incredible. I found a recipe on the web. The ice cream tasted to divine with the dark chocolate. Haven't made panna cotta in ages. So we are in for a feast, and then the leftover pork will naturally be Roast Pork Fried Rice. We're doing all this in lieu of going out.

Have you seen the commercial that asks why spent $40 on a family dinner out when you can eat pizza on the cheap? My question is: where except a fast food establishment can you have a family dinner for $40? Certainly not with wine and tax and tip. Hell, you can barely eat lunch for that.

I submitted a memoir piece to an ezine and have one more submission to make, then everything I've written in the last five years will be out looking for a home. How cool is that?

Off to put the clothes in the dryer. The mundane always calls.

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Friday is Cat Blog Day. Pass It On!

Annie enjoying petting and adulation, to which a cat is innately entitled.

Our cats are very strange and don't eat "people food." You can leave shrimp, tuna, a whole fisherman's platter anyplace and they don't even sniff it. Thisbe, the younger more sentivie cat would eat table food as a kitten, but apparently Annie taught her that this simply wasn't done.

When I was a teenager, our neighbors had a cool Siamese that I let into the house sometimes. One day, I let the cat in and left again. Ye gods! The cat ate an entire leftover roast that my mom had out for out dinner. Cat and I both in the dog house big time.

We've been eating well this week: Sauteed chicken breast with a sauce of broth, lemon juice, capers and parsley for two days, and tonight a chicken salad with celery, Granny Smith apple, a few dried apricots and some walnuts. I made a dressing sour cream mayo, curry powder, ginger and just a wee sprinkle of cayenne. A tad of Equal, just a smidgeon. $6.00 worth of chicken breasts and 3 meals. Not bad, she said. I made a simple ratatouille which we eat as a salad or (tonight) appetizer. Tomorrow we'll have it with green beans and steak. Summer's fruits and veggies are rolling in. We have nectarines to eat. Do I make a nectarine fool or a pie?

May I share my quick dessert secret? A pillbury pie crust from the dairy case--comes 2 to a box. Unroll one on a rimmed cookie sheet. Use whatever fruit you want or a combination of fruits--berries are good. Peaches and berries--I've even used frozen cranberries and rhubarb. Combos are endless. So take the fruit and toss it with sugar to taste and a little cornstarch. You might want to add a bit of lemon, cinnamon or nutmeg depending on the fruit. A few nuts can be fun. Toss this altogether and put in the center of the crust, then turn up the crust, pinching together until you have a freeform tart, partially covered with crust, but with fruit exposed in the center. Bake in a 400 degree over until the crust turns brown, 35-40 minutes. Cool and serve with whipped or ice cream. Serves 4.

This is about as fast as you can hope to put a dessert together, and it always tastes first rate. You can brush the crust with beaten egg or not. Sometimes the fruit juices leak a bit, which is why you need a rimmed cookie sheet. A word to the wise. Really yummy. Idiot simple. What more do you want?

So I've shared my cat and my shabby little dessert secrets. Remember, today is Friday, so blog your cat.

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