Friday, November 23, 2012

Food And Love And So Forth

It has been a good, slow day. I finally got my ass in gear and took a smallish but fine walk and one of my neighbors was sitting in Ms. Liola's yard and as I passed, he said, "You're late today. Too much partying?" "No," I said. "I am just lazy."
I find it hysterical that people in my community take note of when I walk and when I am late in doing that and also think that it's a possibility that I would over-party.
Okay. Well. So maybe that does happen occasionally. But still. I am a GRANDMOTHER!

I went to town only to discover that all of the libraries were closed. Lord. Oh well. I went to Publix and bought fruit, which is the only thing I did not have in this house in huge abundance. And the mister and I had a restorative nap when I got home and now I am in the process of making sourdough bread.

When my friends Bill and Ruthie came to the party on Wednesday night, they brought me some of their  delicious hot sauce 



as well as about six ounces of sourdough starter from San Francisco.
They know me well.

I let the starter rest for a day and then fed it this morning and it got satisfactorily bubbly and grew in its little glass bowl and although I have worked with sourdough starter before and quite frequently, in fact, it has not been recently. And so I did a little research online (of course) and (of course) you can find every sort of suggestion and hint and command in the world concerning how best to maintain and use your sourdough starter and I am going to take some of those suggestions and hints and commands and then do what I want with them, intuitively, and see what happens. I have made a dough now and am letting it rest for a bit before I add the salt and then I'm going to put it in a bowl and cover it with a napkin and tuck it away in the refrigerator for the night and then go from there tomorrow.

I am very excited about this.

When I first met Bill and Ruthie, I was a young, budding hippie and I made lots of bread and here I am, forty years later almost and am an old hippie and still make lots of bread. I have no business whatsoever baking or cooking anything at this point when my refrigerator is so packed with party-leftovers and a few leftovers from last night (not to mention all of the cheese) but I could not wait. I had to try out my new starter. I am going to be patient with it and I am going to learn to begin my bread a day before I want to bake it and I am going to learn to make really, really good sourdough bread and I am going to keep this starter going for the rest of my life and I am going to pass it down to my children.

That, in fact, may be my New Year's Resolution. If so, it will be a more formal resolution than any I have made in many years except for the one I made a few years back to include the word "cocksucker" in my vocabulary more often.
I didn't even succeed at that.
BUT, I am serious about this sourdough starter.

I would go into a long narrative about Bill and Ruthie and their nurturing of so many people in Tallahassee in so many ways for so many years and me being one of them and that could and probably would lead to a whole entire thing about those days back in the seventies and what it was like and what the media has completely neglected and probably never knew about those times but I don't think I have the soul-energy tonight.
I will just say that these are two people whom I love with all of my heart and to whom I owe much.
And that if Bill Wharton, the Sauce Boss, ever comes to your town, go and see him play. He is one of the most unique and fine talents on this planet and I do not say that lightly or because I love him. It is the simple truth. Also, he will make you some awesome gumbo.

In the meantime, buy some of his hot sauce if you hanker after hot sauce because it is fucking awesome. There is a Sauce Boss blog which you can find here.  In it, Bill talks about his travels and his charity, Planet Gumbo, and recipes and other downhome topics.
Here's a picture I stole from there.



Is that a beautiful face or what?

So yeah, that's what I'm doing. I'm very, very excited about watching this Stones documentary tonight and if it takes coffee to keep me up for it, then coffee I will drink. I have no cocaine. Hahahahahahahahaha! Plus, I wouldn't do it if we had it and plus, why would we have it because we wouldn't do it if we did, so there you are. One does learn a few things as one ages. We are going to eat leftovers for supper including salad because for god's sake, man and woman do not live on casseroles alone. The leftover in the refrigerator which excites me the most, to be truthful, is a big ol' bowl of cranberry/orange relish which I made because I love it and no one else but May cares a thing about it and she ate with Matt's family for Thanksgiving so there's enough for weeks. Months, perhaps. I know I frequently end up making muffins with the stuff and they're pretty good too. Besides cranberries and oranges, there are also apples and pecans in it so you know it's good and why everyone doesn't love it is a mystery to me. But each to his or her own.

And now I suppose I better go add the salt to that bread. Wish me luck. If it turns out nicely, I will put some pictures of it here which I know excites you more than words can say.

I feel very lucky tonight. Very blessed. And twenty-nine years ago on the Friday night after Thanksgiving, a very, VERY tall man in a bar asked me to dance and I did dance with him although it seemed absurd, given his height compared to mine and the next thing I knew he was trying to get me to invite him back to my place for a turkey sandwich which I did not do but three days later I seem to recall that I did have him over for turkey flautas and well...
one thing will lead to another.



Ah, nostalgia.

Enjoy your evening.

Much love...Ms. Moon













13 comments:

  1. Sweet sweet words and then that picture at the end! I like that memory about Mr. Moon asking you to dance for the first time.

    And your sarcasm about taking a bread picture! You crack me up. But hey - I think there is truth to all of that and if a picture isn't posted we will all have missed out.

    As always, your posts make me feel like I'm looking into your windows in a non-creepy way. In a way like you described the other day.

    Joy to you!

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  2. we made (and summarily chucked) cranberry orange relish because no one ate it at our thanksgiving- i wish i would of known to make muffins from it!

    so cool hearing how you met your mr.

    xxalainaxx

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  3. I had a sourdough starter going for a good long time until I got lazy and quit feeding it and then it soured beyond repair. King Arthur Flour Company has GREAT recipes and instructions for sourdough recipes -- all online.

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  4. Jill- That makes me happy. I only open the windows and doors I want people to be able to walk in. So you're good. I am so glad to have you.

    Mrs. A- Okay. Maybe a blue angora sweater that kept slipping off my shoulder was involved. And...NO BRA!
    I'm about to dive into some cranberry orange relish. With...relish.

    Elizabeth- My main experience with sourdough starter was the starter from King Arthur. And finally, I, too, let it go. But I swear to you (on my girl scout honor) I am going to nurture this starter. And yes, I've been checking out King Arthur's suggestions.

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  5. I love cranberry-orange relish! One year the food processor exploded while Mom was making it, though...we had red and orange pulp bits in the ceiling fan, the light fixtures, the wall sockets, and on every flat surface. Still a favorite family story. :)

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  6. I love that picture of Mr. Moon and baby Gibson. Well, it might be too precious, but still, i love it.

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  7. We've devoured our cranberries (made with port wine.)
    My project for the new year will be sourdough--I'm hoping to create my own starter & it will be gluten free. Pretty ambitious for me. I'm not really a bread baker.
    I also plan to learn to make sauerkraut and cheese.
    Quite a change from the years that I repeatedly resolved to stay up later and drink more. I had to work at it. I did it. Now I'm moving on.
    What a lovely post You have filled me with inspiration, Mrs. Moon.

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  8. Ach, I love the set up and the last picture. Nice :)

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  9. My mother made cranberry orange relish. Brings back a lot of memories.
    And you and the Mister danced about the time I was getting nervous about getting married. And yet, all of us are still together in our marriage. Amazing.

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  10. Mama D- Does everyone have a kitchen explosion story? Hank just told the story of when I was cooking black soybeans in a pressure cooker and...yes. They exploded. Everywhere. On the ceiling. It was very exciting.

    Ajax- I know. It's like fake it's so cute. I assure you, though, it was simply the way they were looking. It's impossible not to be thrilled when holding Gibson.

    Denise- Haha! I should resolve to drink LESS and stay up later. Cheese and sauerkraut, eh? Good luck!
    I think you might need some crocks.

    Jo- It just seemed to fit and flow.

    Syd- Crazy, huh? Crazy lucky.

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  11. I'm a grandmother too and the type of girl who loves that you resolved to use the word "cocksucker" more!

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  12. Heartinhand- Seemed like a damned good resolution to me.

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  13. Supposedly the Artisian Bread in five develops a very sourdough taste the longer you keep it in the fridge. But I don't know anything about sourdough starter except the way you and Elizabeth spoke of it, it sort of made me anxious. I couldn't keep my blog going and felt like it was the one thing I'd ever really been committed to, so I can't see myself keeping the sourdough alive. But if blogs are any indication, you will be sourdoughing forever!

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