Saturday, June 26, 2010
Let's Lighten The Fuck Up
So anyone who knows me knows that one of the high points of my week happens on Saturday night when I drink a martini or two and cook dinner and listen to Prairie Home Companion.
And so it is tonight.
I'm making eggplant Parmesan with eggplants from the garden and everything from fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms, to a lovely fresh chev (I love you, Billy!) to fat-free cottage cheese and one of Miss Betty's eggs. Here are the eggplant slices, dipped in milk and egg and then panko, baking in the oven.
Mr. Moon says he does not like eggplant. I think he's going to change his mind on that tonight.
I'm also making bread. Mr. Moon and I went to the Tallahassee Downtown Market Place this afternoon and a very serious looking guy was selling home-made bread. I was looking at his gorgeous loaves and he said to me, "You look like you need some fresh bread."
Hmmmm????
I said, "No. I make my own bread. Thank-you, though. These are beautiful loaves."
And then he said, "Do you use a bread machine?"
Lord, that pissed me off.
And for dessert? A blackberry and mango buckle. Buckle? Crisp? Cobbler? Whatever. Blackberries that Mr. Moon and I have picked by hand and mangoes bought at Publix, three for $1.29.
AND, Hank called me earlier to say that he'd watched some of the World Cup on TV and that two of my favorite men had been together in the stands. He made me guess as to who they were.
"B.B. King and Brad Pitt?" I asked.
"No."
I was at a loss. And so he told me.
"Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger!"
I squealed with delight. He said they were joking, talking, taking pictures with their phones and were in a very obviously good mood.
Now that sort of shit just makes me happy.
To add to the sweetness of the evening, Lily just called to tell me that Owen, on this, his 9 month birthday, walked alone across the living room. My boy! He is a walking person! I told Lily that I remembered so well the night she learned she could walk. It was in Key West and we were the last people eating at a restaurant so we let her down on the floor and she took off. All of the people from the kitchen and all of the wait-staff came out and cheered her on. "Lily!" they cried. "You're walking!"
That was like five minutes ago. And now her son is walking at nine months. Just as she was.
Be still my heart.
And Garrison? Well, he talked about how there's a new Lutheran pastor in Lake Woebegone. Pastor Liz and she's something like they've never seen before- a HAPPY Lutheran. And she held a service in the woods and eighty-five people showed up. And she's working at the Side-Track Tap while the church reviews her resume.
I hope Pastor Liz gets hired. The world needs some damn happy Lutherans.
Obviously, the martinis are doing their job. I apologize to no one for that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Dont apologize -I love it.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
ReplyDeleteOh, Ms. Moon. I love you so.
ReplyDeleteI love the eggplant in the oven, and your righteous indignation about the bread machine (!) and Pastor Liz. I wish I had a martini glass that could magically cross the miles and clink with yours.
Love,
Angie
I'd like some eggplant fave recipes from you. I have mine grilled, in ratatouille, floured and with a dash of cinnamon then fried, and with parmesan. I really like eggplant and have an ass of them in the garden right now.
ReplyDeleteI love eggplant, cooked any old way. A friend of mine who is about to give a lecture on eggplant as it relates to India told me earlier today that Brahmins often don't eat it because there's some legend that it is--- oh well, never mind! I can't drink martinis but an equivalent would be nice....
ReplyDeleteI am a happy Lutheran!
ReplyDeleteOooo beautiful eggplant! I'll eat all the pieces that Mr Moon doesn't want. And berry/mango buckle for dessert? Yuumm, yumm!
ReplyDeleteI listen to Prairie Home Companion while making dinner on Saturday night, too, even when I am in France (I listen to the last week's show over the internet). Just another example of our parallel lives =o).
Imagining O-boy taking his first steps put a big smile on my face. Give him a squeeze for me. x0 N2
SJ- It has been a very fine evening. I have blackberry seeds stuck in my teeth and that is not bad.
ReplyDeleteMs. Trouble- And cheers back to you!
Angie C- We clinked. Did you notice?
Syd- I sliced these, dipped them in milk with egg, dredged them in panko, baked on a cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil until tender. Made a lovely red sauce, then layered the eggplant and sauce with a mixture of blended cottage cheese, goat cheese and egg with spices and cheeses. Like a lasagna but with eggplant instead of noodles.
It was heaven.
A-Whatever you want to drink. I feel sorry for the Brahmins.
Anna- Welcome back! Hot enough for you? I am so glad you are a happy Lutheran.
N2- Thank-you, fellow grandmother.
I am readjusting to the heat as well as can be expected, Ms. Moon. And the split leaf philodendron cutting you gave me last year has finally started growing like crazy in this jungle weather!
ReplyDeleteI listened to A Prairie Home Companion tonight, too. But I wish that I'd eaten eggplant parmesan for dinner instead of movie popcorn.
ReplyDeleteAnd I saw Bill and Mick in the stands on television today, too. We have yet another thing in common in that shared love.
Came over from Jaliya's blog--wonderful things you were cooking! I have a bread machine that I bought 16 years ago, but never use it. I love to knead that dough and make bread, but haven't for awhile because of my desire to slather pieces with lots of butter. Plus, it's hot here in TX.
ReplyDeleteI love your pictures with your grandbaby. I am excited that I'll be a grandmother in November!
i will take you
ReplyDeletelightened up or darkened down.
you came for me when you didn't even know i needed you.
that is heaven, any way you slice it.
Anna- I am glad the philodendron is happy but I know that YOU are not meant for this jungle weather. Move slowly. Swim a lot.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth- And now the Crocs! Ha!
Jan- Oh. Grandbabies are better than bread with butter! I am excited for you!
Rebecca- Your words and pictures are like another home to me. To think that I could have provided something YOU need makes me happier than you can imagine.
We are a Lutheran family and we're happy. We LOVE being Lutheran, I've tried other religions but they just didn't work for me.......not a bit.
ReplyDeleteWe FINALLY made it to the Lutheran Church near our house and LOVE the church. So glad we FINALLY made it to the church by our house instead of driving 45 minutes to our old church in our old neighborhood (the hood)
Ms Moon, I'd like to see a post sometime about the oil. How are things in Lloyd?
Rebecca- Well, Lutherans have as much right to happiness as anyone else, I would say. Glad you found a church that makes you happy.
ReplyDeleteThings in Lloyd are fine. We're sixty miles or so from the coast. Dog Island has booms ready in place to protect the mangrove swamps. It's coming. The oil is coming. I cannot bear to think about it.
I love listening to The Prairie Home Companion...love his voice :)
ReplyDeleteI love dirty martinis. Had a few myself on Saturday night.
ReplyDeleteThe damn Lutherans sing too much. Drives me nuts. I'm a Methodist. We do two or three short hymns tops.
Rebecca, there are not many Lutherans here in North Florida, but I also managed to find a Lutheran church that I really love. It sounds cheesy to say this, but my church is like a second home and another family to me.
ReplyDeleteSB, we do sing a lot. Bach was a Lutheran, maybe that explains it. For some of the really well-known hymns, people know their soprano/alto/tenor/bass part, from the time that practically all of us put in at one point or another on the church choir.