Cooking And Comfort And Cats And Caladiums And Fish

Aaaannndddd- We're back! 
So yeah, that's the caladium plate/platter/tray. 
Not wildly exciting, is it? Dadgummit! Nor is it shaped properly to be very useful as any of those things except possibly a tray and even then, not really. But here's what it looks like with persimmons on it. 

As you can see, it is rather large. Also, I think, a little too tidy for my style. I followed the lines way too closely. This is not who I am.
By the way, the persimmons came from Jessie and Vergil's persimmon tree. They have a dang orchard now. 

My fish plate/platter/tray is well begun now. 

I believe we could safely say she's a Lady Fish. See why I'm calling her Dottie? I have no idea what inspired me to go with a polka dot theme but who needs a reason with a fish like this? It took me the entire two and a half hours to get that much done on her. I really, really want to work on her at home this week. I can hear her calling me from the canvas bag she's in, wrapped in newspapers. 
"Make me beautiful!" she is saying. "I long for my transformation!"

Oh! And as for the little fish...sigh.

Due to the fact that I got glaze on the bottom of it and didn't wax over it, the firer put what they call a cookie underneath it and now she's stuck to the cookie. Which broke. Gail told me to try freezing it and then running hot water over it to see if they'll come apart. 
Ummm...not so far. 

Here's another thing I learned today- if you freeze whipping cream and then thaw it and try to whip it, well, it won't. Not really. You'd think at the age of 72 I'd already know this, wouldn't you? 
The reason I wanted to whip some cream is because I made a peach cobbler. And the reason I made the peach cobbler is because I had some peaches and nectarines I'd bought which weren't fit to eat fresh as they were hard and mealy but I didn't want to waste them so I peeled them and cut them up and made Granny Mathew's recipe which is exactly the same recipe Dolly Parton quotes in Steel Magnolias, only she uses fruit cocktail instead of canned peaches. 
You know- the cuppa, cuppa, cuppa recipe?

Although as you can see, if you use fresh fruit, it's a cuppa, cuppa, cuppa, cuppa peach cobbler. I did use fresh fruit but I did not use another cup of sugar. Instead, I mixed in some of this stuff.

Since it is sweetened ONLY with fruit juice, it is so much healthier for us, right?  Let us not kid ourselves. Sugar is sugar and fruit juice has tons of it. But, the cherries will be a little surprise for Mr. Moon when he goes to eat it. 
And just as Dolly says in the movie that she serves this dessert with ice cream to cut the sweet, I wanted some whipped cream for the same purpose but, oh well. If Mr. Moon wants some ice cream he can run up to the GDDG to get some. 

Oh! Here's what the cobbler looked like, right out of the oven.

I tried to talk myself out of buying that pretty little green casserole dish at some thrift store (and it came with a nice lid) because I did not need yet another pretty little casserole dish but I am so glad I did not. I have used it so many times in the past few months. It's such a good size for two people. 

I also made some chili crisp today as I am almost out of it but it ain't right. I don't know what I did wrong but it's just not right. I don't really use a recipe which has now come back to bite me in the ass. 
It may taste good enough to eat anyway. We'll see. 

AND, I am cooking a Boston butt pork roast in the slow cooker to make pulled pork sandwiches with. I have obviously spent a great deal of time in the kitchen today. I now have a small pot of field peas cooking to go with the sandwiches and will make some cole slaw.
Phew! 

I am trying, I think, to offer comfort food to my husband. The news is not good for his friend. I'm not sure they have a specific diagnosis yet which could be hindering the proper treatment but are waiting on lab results from a lumbar puncture. Many, many tests and scans have been done. He is still very much in the ICU. 
Again, I don't want to go into detail but it's devastating to those who love him and Glen is one of those. This man has big feelings. I realized that soon after I met him and it's one of the things that made me take him seriously as a suitor. And it's still something I very much respect and love about him. 
And get this- Maurice, who for the last few months has been treating him like he's scarier than Frankenstein's monster, just spent a very long time, completely relaxed, sleeping on his lap. 

She knows. She knows he needs that comfort and indeed, that did comfort him. Crazy as she is, she is a very fine nurse kitty. 

We got some really good rain today. Not for a long time but far better than nothing. There was some of the loudest thunder going on I've ever heard. It was glorious. 

And oh- look at this.

Gail was right. I froze the little fish and then actually soaked her and the cookie in hot water and she slid right off. 
A tiny thing, but hell, I'll take whatever I can get right now in this world of ours as it appears to be falling into complete and utter frightening chaos.
A fish, that became free of its cookie. Yes. Thank you.

And hey, y'all- tell the ones you love that you love them. Life is far more tenuous than we can possibly imagine. 

Love...Ms. Moon