The one camellia that is blooming, a sasangua variety, has the stage all to herself and I believe she is up for the challenge. I honestly don't remember this one blooming before but surely it must have. The plant is quite mature. It's a Red Yuletide sasangua and you can have all your frilly, multi-layered, multi-shaded blossoms you want but this simple one truly knocks me out.
And I know red is not supposed to go with pink but I strongly disagree, at least in this instance.
Yesterday's weeding did me no favors as I noted last night. I had thought it would be good for the strain/sprain/pain/whatever because on Friday I was fairly active, carrying moderately heavy things and hanging out the laundry and sweeping and so forth and I felt markedly better when I got up yesterday. I guess plunging a trowel repeatedly into the ground was a different matter though. And, since I pull weeds with my left hand (trowel with the right, weed with the left), my wrist didn't feel that great either.
I am not bitching tonight, however. I am, instead, being a whiny baby.
Okay. I'll stop now.
Glen did bring fish home. Tonight I am going to cook some triggerfish which I don't think I've ever cooked before. I'm not even sure I've ever eaten it before but it's supposed to be a delicious fish, being described as having a sweet, crab-like flavor. I find that the secret to cooking most fish is to just not ruin it. And by "ruin" I mean trying to get all gourmet with it instead of keeping it as simple as possible. Ruin can also mean overcooking it. Or of course undercooking it but with thinner filets, the danger of that is slim. I used to try and get all fancy with my salmon but May taught me that the best way to cook it is to simply set it in a hot skillet with some oil or butter, put salt and pepper and lemon juice and dill on it, cook until it's getting done, flip it, add more of what you put on the other side. The skin will loosen in the hot pan and peel right off. The fish is done when it's flaky and not wet. Our dog Pearl loved salmon skin more than anything else. On her last night before we let her go on to no more pain or confusion, I cooked salmon and gave her the skin and she loved it.
Since we're talking about fish, I would like to mention the best fish I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a lot of fish) which was in Cozumel seven years ago at Christmas.
I wrote about one of the days Mr. Moon and I were so incredibly lucky to have eaten red snapper on the beach there and that link is HERE. The shrimp ceviche was not to be forgotten either.
We have got to do that again. I owe to myself.
Good Lord. I've spent an hour discussing almost nothing but cooking fish and my boo-boo's and who needs to hear about cooking fish? Or my boo-boo's either, for that matter.
Overall it's been a sweet day except for the part where I had to do an online pre-check-in for my Friday appointment with the urologist. I HATE those things. They ask the most personal questions. Are you married? How much do you drink? How much caffeine do you consume? Have you ever done recreational drugs? Do you have mental illness? Do you ever wet your pants?
Fuck!
And there were about twenty (not kidding) documents I had to docu-sign giving them or not giving them permission to discuss my details with anyone and if so, who would that be? What are their phone numbers? What is your relation to them? Also- do I have a living will? Do they think I'm going to fall down dead in a consult with a urologist?
What kind of a world do we live in?
This kind.
I shall now go cook some stone-ground grits which take an hour. And some fish. And a salad from lettuces that look like this.
Who knows?
Not me.
On my to-do list, for about the past six months, is to set up an acct. for my health provider so i can ‘talk’ to them through the portal. So i can be frustrated when they don’t answer my questions. I had an acct. but i’m sure it’s probably dead from inactivity. Same for my SS acct. I need my head to be in a certain space to put myself through the headache and in six months it hasn’t been. All that to say, i feel your frustration! gah! I hate the internet! (Sometimes.) I hope your fish was divine.
ReplyDeleteI an SO with you when it comes to online "patient portals" and SS accounts. No! No, no, NO! Glen actually checks his patient portal to see the results of his blood tests before the exam. I'm like, "Why would you do that? What if something's really off and you need an explanation right that second and when you look it up online it says you're going to die?
DeleteThis is how my brain works.
The fish, however, was very good.
I tested positive for Flu A using a handy self testing kit that tests for Flu A+B and Covid 19 all in one test kit! Science is so handy! I think one of my sweet grandchildren gave me Flu A for Christmas but they left yesterday so I was able to just lay in bed in my pjs all day today! Hoping to feel better tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to eat fish when I can see the bones - a life-long phobia of mine! :)
I saw those test kits in a Walgreens today! Very, very handy.
DeleteI'm so sorry you got the flu from a grandchild. They are so generous with their illnesses, aren't they? You take care of yourself.
That's funny about seeing the bones. Glen's really good at getting the bones out of his filets when he cleans them.
What a great snapper photo...my mouth is watering for fresh fish. Mmm, I've a frozen salmon to consider however. Just the word shrimp makes me smile. Maybe tomorrow. So far I haven't left home for 3 days, except to check for mail on Sat. Feel fine though, just not interested in more than blogs and TV shows. Lazy me! Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why we jump to calling ourselves lazy when we simply do not have any reason to go out into the world. We're not lazy. We're content.
DeleteYour red and pink flower arrangement is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteFresh caught fish makes a great meal.
My fish cooking is limited to only a few varieties: Cod, salmon and swordfish. Everything else, I order at a good seafood restaurant especially if I want fried fish. I've never figured out how to fry fish with the lovely crispy (not to crispy) batter.
Nobody I know is happy with medical appointments. The bureaucracy of it all and inefficiency drives me nuts. Forms galore. Signing releases. Lots of CYA going on.
I have cooked salmon but never cod or swordfish. Those are more northern fish, right?
DeleteRestaurants do indeed know how to get a good crispy crust on a fish.
That's what I thought too- how many things does this office fear that someone will sue them for? Holy shit!
I'm fine reading about fish and how not to ruin it. Yes, simple is best. Bake, poach, fry, but whatever you do, not overcooking is the thing. It's really easy. I don't know why cookbooks go all elaborate about it.
ReplyDeleteWell, there are some very fabulous fish dishes that require more than just basic cooking and I've enjoyed some of those but when we're at home- I just give the fish enough respect to not meddle with it too much. ALTHOUGH, I do make a lovely snapper flakes au gratin. Sometimes.
DeleteFish is easy- Butter and maybe a sprinkle of some sort of spice. Fish is not my fave- having witness the worms in salmon pretty much made it lose its appeal. I would tell you, if you were my daughter, to not do things that hurt. Digging? Don't do it!
ReplyDeleteThose online forms piss me off so much that I donot answer them properly. On purpose- it gets their attention.
I know that fish can get worms and diseases too but I think they're far less apt to do that than mammals. I don't really know.
DeleteThe digging didn't hurt while I was doing it! It just waited a day.
The online forms can fuck right off.
That is a beautiful camellia! I never fill out those online forms, they are too confusing and I can never work out how to sign the damn things, so I get to appointments earlier and fill out the paper forms they hand me instead. They are far less complicated and I vcan answer any questions the doctor might ask me when I'm in the room with him/her. I don't eat enough fish, it's waaay expensive here. I buy a box of frozen fish fingers now and again and cans of tuna.
ReplyDeleteThese days, in doctors' offices if you haven't pre-checked in, they give you a tablet to fill out the same online forms on so forget the paper. It's all ridiculous.
DeleteWe call fish fingers fish "sticks." Not a very attractive name but then again- fish fingers isn't really either. And fish don't have fingers! Or sticks, for that matter.
Does the form really say do you wet your pants.😂
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteIt allows for people who aren't familiar with the word incontinence. It's kind of them, really.
DeleteThat pink and that red go together perfectly!
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise
My thought exactly.
DeleteI know they have to ask those questions but "do you ever wet your pants" made me laugh. I'd have to answer "no, but I do have to cross my legs when I laugh/sneeze"!
ReplyDeleteOh yes. Sneezing, coughing- dangerous things to do when you are a woman of a certain age.
DeleteI thought, No, it doesn’t really ask if you wet your pants, does it? Then I thought, well, it IS a urologist. Not such an odd question after all. But, yeah, I HATE some of those forms. I love the pink and red together no matter the rules. And I love the first shot on your flower plate. That simple camellia is elegant. The fish looks delicious. I sometimes have trouble looking at an entire fish on my plate.
ReplyDeleteOh yes they did, Mitchell! Explanation to follow.
DeleteThose flowers in that vase are making me so happy. So many things make me happy. You'd think I'd be a happier person.
It can be disconcerting to see an entire fish, ready to be eaten. We're so used to fish around here though that it isn't really shocking. Or troubling.
I just found my new motto: So many things make me happy. You'd think I'd be a happier person.
DeleteRight?
DeleteI'm not much of a fish eater and I should eat more, it's so healthy. My favourites are pickerel and arctic char.
ReplyDeleteI've never had either of those fish! I do not think they swim in our waters! I'm lucky to have a husband who goes out and catches fish. It is so expensive. Even here. And the bonus is- fishing is one of his favorite things to do.
DeleteSome of the best fish I ever ate was in Cozumel. We went out on a boat with two Mayan men, gave Marc and I fishing poles while they just tossed a line overboard with a hook and a spark plug for a weight, hold ing the line in their hands and pulled in fish after fish. I caught a parrotfish, so pretty seemed a shame to eat it. Then they took us to a little high spot just off the tip of the island, gave us warm coke while they made ceviche for us to eat and built a fire and grilled the other fish that we had just caught. So simple and so good.
ReplyDeleteYes! A thousand times YES. That sounds like the Cozumel I first went to before the cruise ships started docking there in huge numbers. When it was still a funky little fishing community for the most part. The restaurant we eat at in Chen Rio has a shrimp ceviche which is one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.
DeleteThose are stunning flowers
ReplyDeleteThey are quite dramatic in their own way, aren't they?
DeleteI am not a fan of fish and especially a fish that would come to my table, still looking like a fish with head and tail still attached. My fish must be battered and deep fried, like god intended:)
ReplyDeleteWe've had a lot of snow and a lot of wind but it's been too cold to spend much time outside. Yesterday it warmed up somewhat and I went outside to shovel the driveway, kind neighbors had already done the sidewalk. The snow was packed and it took about an hour of work to get most of the snow and ice off the driveway. Today I am stiff and sore. Sigh. I'll live.
Those flowers are gorgeous and look beautiful in that vase.
I had a friend who grew up in Florida and had never, ever peeled a shrimp in her life. She thought shrimp just came from freezer bags, de-headed, peeled, battered and fried. We used to go out to a place on Friday nights where they had all-you-can-eat shrimp and Glen would peel hers for her.
DeleteWe're just so used to seeing fish in their natural costumes. I mean- Roseland was a fishing village when I lived there. I've been around fish my whole life. I've never cleaned a fish though!
And hour of shoveling snow? I couldn't last ten minutes. I'm not kidding you. No doubt you're sore and stiff.
I agree with you about the camellias. I always prefer a single blossom to a more complex one. Some of the hibiscuses (hibisci?) we just bought for Dave's parents are doubles or triples, and I'm almost sad about it.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about fish -- the simpler the better. I'm not sure I've ever eaten triggerfish either. But I have a shirt with triggerfish on it. Does that count?
I have seen some beautiful many layered hibiscus but the most elegant, beautiful ones to my mind are the singles.
DeleteHmmm...
Not sure about the triggerfish T-shirt. It does show your interest in the fish. If you ever get a chance to eat some, I'd recommend that you do.