Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon for Real People

Okay, I like French cuisine just as much as the next gal (actually, a little less), but seriously, Julia Childs? Really?
Here is my interpretation of what Julia tells us we should do. Obviously we have to remember that this cookbook was written when women who would make this kind of thing were NOT working and also probably only made it for some kind of big dinner party (or wine club, like me). But even so, the four plus hours this took....might have been worth it, because I'm only doing it once? Maybe.

1. A 6 ounce chunk of bacon: what is 6 ounces? Can't things just come in fractions of pounds? I mean, 8th grade was SO long ago. But, this did give me the chance to go to Tony Caputos and visit the extremely handsome men who work there and say intelligent things like: Do you have the kind of bacon that comes in chunks? Can I have some? You're cute.
2. Cut bacon into "lardons." Okay, Julia, I get it. You're "French." But what the fuck is a "lardon"? And if you have to say, (parenthetically) that it's a stick, can't you just say stick in the first fucking place? I mean, can't you?
3. "Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water." Why boil bacon in water? I'm sure there's a good reason, but can't you tell me what it is?
4. Why does my casserole dish have to be enameled and fireproof? Am I in danger of catching something on fire? What? A dish?
5. How many dishes do I need? Why so much with the "remove to a side dish"? Have you seen the extremely petite kitchen in which I am working? Julia Child, have you seen my kitchen?
6. 3 lbs. lean stewing beef cut into 2 inch cubes. I get the whole cubing thing, I really do, but you know what? I have no idea what an inch is. Here's what I do: hold up my finger and go, how much of this is an inch? And then I use that as a guide. But Julia Child probably had huge hands, like, Shaquille O'Neal hands, so she couldn't just say, half a pinkie, because, you know, of her fucking huge hands. 
7. "Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp." This is what we call Spa for Beef. Seriously? Dry it? Like, get out a towel and pat it down? Oh Julia, what would Freud say?
8. So you're browning the beef and the bacon and then taking it out of the pan and then putting it back in the pan and then putting all that in the oven and then taking it out and turning the oven down. Woosh! Who needs a drink?
9. "Stir in the wine." About time! Now I can really get behind French cuisine that calls for 3 cups of wine, which leaves some left over for you know who. Yeah, me.
10. So you stir all this stuff in and then put it in the oven for 2 to 3 hours. Okay! Finally, a break! I can sit and drink my "leftover wine" and do something else for a few minutes. What? There are two other recipes embedded in this recipe? Fuck!
11. Brown-braised onions: I'm not sure who invented these tiny little onions that need to be skinned and treated as if they, too, deserve a day at the spa (hot tubbing in beef stock & herbs which have to be wrapped in tiny blankets, i.e. cheesecloth), but I'm pretty sure it was the devil.  By the way, this is one of those whole other recipes embedded in this recipe, but you don't know it until you are halfway down the page.
12. Sauteed mushrooms: yeah, that sounds easy, but first you have to clean them, and then they, too, need to be treated with kid gloves, which means you can't "crowd" them in the pan, or else then they feel like they are on the subway in Paris and then, you know, they get mad. 
13. Okay, here's the fun part: "pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it." In layman's terms what this means is that you dump the entire contents of the casserole (beef, bacon, carrots, onions, sauce) out, and then, in my terms, paw through the mushy carrots and onions to find the bits of beef and bacon (gold!). Try not to burn your hands. Don't swear, the kids will hear. Don't put your finger in your mouth (gross!), but get every bit of beef. Did you?
14. Also, who washes a pan and then puts the shit back in there? I wiped the gross bits off the top and then put the meat back in. Julia Child must have had a maid to do that part.
15. Then there's this whole bit about skimming fat off the top, which I did, for awhile, and then I was like, Done! And I just poured the sauce over the meat and put the top on.
16. Then I looked at the clock and I was all, when is wine club? Because I need a drink of wine, stat.
17. I told my wine compatriots not to tell me if it wasn't the most delicious thing ever. And they didn't.
18. (Actually, it was damn good. Julia sure knows her shit, but I'm not sure I'll be delving into that experience again soon.)

Weekend Consumption Log

Friday:

• Sushi at Yellowfin, with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• Fancy vodka drink & a glass of red wine, pommes frite & some chicken pot pie at The Metropolitan
• Ice cream at the Jazz game
• Tea with whiskey at home

Saturday:

• Butternut Squash Soup with Cinnamon Crema (oh! my! god!) and Spicy Beef Salad at Chow Truck
• Cava at the Monaco wine tasting, Prosseco in E & K's room after
• Tapas & Sangria at Martine: trout with lentils, duck!, Spanish tortilla, something with chorizo, lamb; then a glass of Rioja; chocolate decadence & grilled gringerbread & porto
• A drink in The Vault at Bambara: Old Fashioned & some calamari & shrimp
• The rest of the Prosseco in E & K's room

Sunday:

• Free coffee in the lobby of the Monaco
• Brunch at Bambara: tomato & roasted pepper omelette, fresh orange juice, complimentary fruit plate
• Curry Chicken Soup (I made): chicken, coconut milk, ginger, sweet potatoes, carrots, rice noodles
• Pear-Apple-Berry Crisp (I made): delicious! Turns out pears are a delicious addition to any crisp!

It's always gratifying to return home after a long stint of good eating out and to remind oneself that one can, when pressed, make a good soup based loosely on a recipe and top it off with a crisp made from the over ripe fruit at hand. All in all, a successful culinary weekend. 

Chowder for a Snowy Sunday

Fortuitously, we purchased some Snook at the local fish market yesterday. We thought we might grill it. HA! Today we awoke to a blizzard, so chowder seemed more fitting. I made this Cod Chowder, with the Snook of course.
I used more potatoes, some of which I mashed up to make the broth creamier. I used half-n-half instead of whipping cream. I added two cans of chopped clams with their broth and used only two bottles of clam juice. The Snook is still cooking, but it smells delicious.
I think the keys are: bacon and saffron.
Enjoy!
*we ate it...and it was not only the best chowder I ever made, it was the best chowder we've ever had!!*

What I've Done

1. Started school
2. Taught 4 classes
3. Added too many students to my comp classes
   
4. Swam at 6 a.m.
5. Ran 6 miles
6. Played tennis
7. Made pizza in my small kitchen
8. Made chicken rice soup from homemade broth
9. Made a pot roast
10. Read a book
11. Watched the Golden Globes (and blogged about it at TWIT)
12. Went to an OC Meeting
13. Ate chocolate
14. Went out to a "the semester's starting, let's have a margarita" dinner with a colleague
15. Went to bed early and got a good night's sleep
16. Had coffee with a newly-laid-off colleague
17. Walked and had tea with a friend I haven't seen in a long time
18. Hung out with Son on his sick day and watched a terrible movie on Netflix
19. Put away (most of) the piles of paper that filled our living room
20. Reorganized some stuff

Okay. That's what I did.

Deciding to be Happy: The Small Kitchen

If you know me, and you do, you know I often lament the size of our tiny house (I feel I can call it tiny, as those who advocate living in the "small" house are often talking about 2,000 square feet, and our house is much smaller). Foremost among my complaints is the size of the kitchen.
Leave it to The Minimalist to shame me into satisfaction. This morning I read "So Your Kitchen Is Tiny, So What?" which is a great column about how he makes all his amazing meals in a tiny, NYC-apartment-sized kitchen (click on the link to the picture and be amazed).
I got to that column via today's column, "Fresh Start for the New Year? Let's Start in the Kitchen." It's a great list of must-haves for your pantry. (Pantry? Do I have a pantry? No.) I was pleased that many things on his list were already in my possession. Also, that I understood a lot of his tossed off recipes ("just steam this and throw in that" etc.). I have to admit that I do have the spray oil, (and packaged broth!) which I will use until gone and not replace (I may be a health freak, but I don't like to waste). But I also have real maple syrup, tomato paste in a tube, quinoa, and three kinds of rice.
I set out to find Mark Bittman because he wrote a book that extends Michael Pollan's argument (from In Defense of Food) called Food Matters, which includes recipes. I read about it on Salon. I've also wanted How To Cook Everything for awhile.
So, my first lesson in happiness this year comes from The Minimalist. It's not the size of the kitchen, it's the imagination of the chef.

Year-End Wrap Up: Last Post for 2008

I guess I need to post before the clock strikes midnight. I am inspired by everyone's year end/ best of lists, but I'm not sure I can review the whole year right now, given that I am only one cup of coffee into what will surely prove to be a two cup day (at least...it may be a three cup day...).
So, in my muddled way, I will try to remember the highlights, best ofs, etc.

• Most surprisingly good movie: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Best vacation: I can't choose. Austin; Boulder, Utah; Pinetop/Flagstaff, AZ; Vegas
  
• Best Margarita: Mesa Grill, Las Vegas
• Best Martini: Four Seasons, Las Vegas
• Best New Drink: Watermelon Margarita (my backyard!)
• Favorite Book: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
• Best Gift Received: Keen boots (from MB) and coat/scarf (from my mom)
• Best Gift Given: The Best of Ogden Nash and NBA socks (to MB)
• Best Activity: Ragnar Wasatch Back (because of the bonding with my teammates)
• Best Rediscovered Activity: Tennis
• Movie that should receive an Oscar, but won't: Slumdog Millionaire
• Favorite TV show (on DVD): Battlestar Galatica
• Favorite TV show (on TV): The Office, 30 Rock, Lipstick Jungle, Samantha Who? (I can't choose! I suck at these lists!)
• Favorite activity: Lunch & a Movie (with Lisa B!)
  
• Favorite newly discovered restaurant: Tin Angel
• Favorite newly discovered divey restaurant: Victor's Tires & Tamales
• Favorite workout: Master's swimming
  
• Best Item I Made: Peach cake
• Best Item I Ate: (suffering from immediacy) stuffed peppers at Cafe Madrid; sweet potato tamale at Mesa Grill; Winter Green ravioli at Union Square Cafe; Mushroom Soup at Ems; Bread Pudding at Hell's Backbone; Conejo paella at Sylvia & Don's.

That's all I can think of. I'm sure I left something out...but if I remember, I'll mention it next year. See you all on the other side.

Christmas Stats

Here is some of what we did over the last few days:

• Last minute Christmas Gifts purchased: three (all for MB, all purchased on Christmas Eve!)
• Cookies baked: four (peanut butter cornflake chocolate bars, seven layer bars, peanut butter kiss cookies, sugar cookies)
• Other baking: cranberry maple cake for Christmas breakfast
• Meals cooked: One (Christmas, Caesar salad, baked potatoes, steaks on the grill, easy!)
• Other cooking: Spanish style shrimp, which included three parts, making the garlic oil, making garlic chips, then finally cooking the shrimp.
  
• Tamales consumed: um...four? five? we ate some the 23rd, the 24th, etc etc etc. We still have some left and will be eating them for dinner tonight.
• Bottles of wine polished off: please don't make me divulge this number!
  
• Christmas movies watched: Three (Christmas Carol, the George C. Scott one; It's A Wonderful Life; A Christmas Story)
• Presents Opened: A gajilion? All for Son, of course, who got the haul which included a Lego Star Wars ship from Santa, a spirograph, a puzzle, two games, a Rubik's cube, numerous art supplies including a sketching kit and some painting canvases, a spyology book, night vision goggles, and some Wimpy Kid books. I got him some shirts and a sweater and an orange for his stocking!
• Gifts given: I got MB the NBA socks he so wanted, also two sweaters and The Best of Ogden Nash and a moleskin notebook. He also received a Godzilla action figure from Son, but I'll let him report on that. I gave my sister a bunch of movies, and my mom a book she wanted. That's all. Oh, and various gifts for the neices and nephew.
• Gifts received: a great exercise shirt and sweater from MB, also the London moleskin, complete with maps, etc, a book from Son. My mother got me a coat and crocheted a scarf to match. Cute! Lip stuff, Luna bars, cocktail napkins.
• Books read: one, The Subtle Knife. Now I'm on to The Amber Spyglass. I need to finish this series before school starts again!
• Trips out of the house: in the last two days? None! Which is why I need to get off my fat (cookie) ass and at least go for a walk. I don't want to drive anywhere, even though the hardworking civil servants are plowing and salting, even as I write this.
  
• Further festivities: a dinner with Jason's retauntuer friend, a dinner with Otterbutt and Sylvia. Then maybe I can stop drinking for a month. Or at least a week.

Merry Christmas to all! I wish you a fabulous 2009. I hope I get to see you all real soon!!

Success on One Front

I roused Son from a deep slumber this morning at approximately 7:18 so that we could leave the house by 7:50 (yes! accomplished!) so that I could do my necessary, last minute Thanksgiving shopping. I plied him with promises of muffins and chocolate milk. We dashed to Whole Foods, purchased required WF things (cheese cloth, eggs, local whipping cream, local bread) along with the promised treats. Then, we dashed to Expensive Local Store where, it turns out, things are not as expensive as I once thought. Local turkeys, for example, were cheaper than the non-organic ones at WF. I also got (expensive) olives, inexpensive beets and parsnips, local apples (the owner assured me these locally grown Ida Reds would make me forget the Empires with which I made the best pie ever...), carrots, I can't remember what else. While there I saw the local bread delivery guy who I had just seen at WF. I bought my bread at WF, but does it matter? I got it from the local bread guy.
Then I got coffee and now I'm about to leave to get my hair cut and colored (for the first time ever!!!). Son was not happy last night about my getting my hair colored. He's afraid it's going to be ugly. Nothing like a little confidence from the loved ones.
I still need to get cheap, white bread for the stuffing just like grandma used to make. I'm dashing to the store across the street to get that on the way to my hair appointment.
So then I'll be done with shopping and the cooking can start. One of my favorite rituals is to hang out in the kitchen drinking wine while I toast bread.
Another favorite ritual is the night before Thanksgiving soup and salad dinner. I made Curried Pumpkin Soup last night and tonight I will serve it with my famous Ceasar Salad. And some more of that local bread. I got some white wine too.
And tonight I make pie. Which we have for breakfast tomorrow. (Another favorite ritual). Then we'll watch the parade and the dog show and cook all day. I told Son we could play Monopoly, because we always run out of time. But tomorrow, we have all day.
Blessed Turkey Day to you. May it be everything you need and want.

Instructions for a Saturday

1. Sleep in. With a 7-year-old, this means about 8. Ish.
2. Make coffee. Very important.
3. Make banana muffins.
4. While the muffins bake, grade a few papers. Let's say 2.
5. Eat a muffin and drink coffee. Participate in the festivities/argument going on in the living room about Son's inability to name any state and its capitol.
6. Take the on-line state location quiz. Get a respectable 80%. Ignore husband when he lords his 100% over you.
7. Take an on-line quiz about European capitols. Get stumped on San Marino, which, it turns out, is the capitol of San Marino, a practically non-existent little dot within Italy.
   
8. Grade a few more papers. One? Two?
9. Fight with son.
10. Stomp around the house while getting ready to take dog for a hike in off-leash canyon. Guilt son and husband into going with you, even though neither likes hiking or the outdoors. Not even a little.
11. Hike. Watch dog run about 20 times the distance covered by the humans.
12. Go out to lunch with family. Sit in the sun. Gorge yourself. Reminisce about the pickles of your youth.
13. Guilt husband into getting a new drum of propane by saying it seems like a "guy job."
14. Roast peppers from last week's farmers' market.
15. While peppers are roasting, read "The Awakening" for your lit class. Ahh! Multitasking!
    
16. Make delicious Chile Verde from Otterbutt's husband's recipe.
17. While it's simmering, grade a few more papers. Two. Three.
    
18. Taste the Chile Verde. Damn! That's hot. So. Hot.
19. Open the wine.
20. Grade another paper.
21. Call and sign up for tennis tomorrow.
    
22. Cut up some carrots. Eat carrots.
23. Read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle while waiting for husband and son to get back from movie.
24. Drink wine.
    
25. Add sexy, bald writer of Edgar Sawtelle to your Sexy Bald Men list.
    
26. Sit on couch, blog, think about making dinner, drink more wine.
27. Watch something on TV, then go to bed. Plan on that. Allow for surprise.
    

Off to AWP/NYC

Bright and early tomorrow I will be whisked away to NYC with Hightouchmegastore. There we will see Otterbutt and other great friends from Grad School. I have plans to meet up with a friend from High School and TommyZ from Grad School #1. I am excited to eat, drink and be merry! It turns out that it is warmer in NYC then it is here. Yeah!
But first I had to empty the camera. I found these gems. Enjoy.







Son likes his water!







The New Year's Day Soup I made on the 3rd or so. It was delicious! A yellow curry noodle soup. But don't eat those red peppers! They are dangerous! At least according to Middlebrow.















A few weeks ago, Son lost his top two front teeth when he collided with Gus the Wonder dog in the living room. There was lots of blood and crying but afterwards he said, "It didn't hurt." They were loose anyway. No sign of the replacements, though.
Also, he loves this black cherry soda. And I do too!

Pics & Things

Here are the delicious tamales that Middlebrow and I assembled with our own hands. It was labor intensive, but delicious. Also, these are the new plates my mom gave us for our birthdays.










We decorated the cookies! And they were the best Christmas cookies ever. Notice the kangaroo. We have two kinds of cookie cutters: Christmas and animals. We used both.


















The Cranberry Maple Pudding Cake. Delicious for Christmas breakfast.










Middlebrow is manly. He got an Ops Knife ("not a weapon. For use as a tool only.") and some binoculars. If you have any Special Ops, he's the man for the job.

















The post-present mess. The table is filled with Son's presents. MB is wearing the Smartwool running shirt I gave him. We had a Smartwool Christmas at our house. I also gave him Smartwool running socks and he gave me a sweater. Warm and toasty, but soft.

Foodah Update

Well, yet again the cooking and baking brought me to the edge of a Nervous Breakdown. But, in talking to MB about why, I discovered it's not that I don't like doing it, it's that I want everyone to be as excited about it as I am. And they just can't be. But I convinced MB to help me with the tamales today, and to at least pretend that he was as into it as I was.
Son only likes cutting out, frosting and eating the cookies. Therefore he couldn't be bothered to help me mix yesterday. Also, his finger hurt. So I had to do the mixing myself, which made me testy. Why do I do it if no one cares? Later, of course, I realized they do care, but not about the same stages I do. Also, I'm the mom, which requires that I do the non-glamorous parts of the job.
Yesterday I also cooked the pork and made the red chile sauce for the tamales. Then today I shredded the pork, cooked and shredded the chicken, and prepared the chicken filling. MB did help with mixing the dough and making/rolling the tamales. He was a good sport.
Then we could finally relax while the tamales steamed. I made some rice. We bought refried beans at Rico yesterday, so we were prepared for the meal. I was going to make a salad, but I let that go.
Verdict: delicious! The fancy (golden raisins and sherry, olives, poblano chile) chicken filling was too much for MB, though he liked it. He preferred the more basic pork filling. Both were great, and we have about 29 tamales left, so I'm putting some in the freezer for our normal lives when we don't make such labor intensive meals. (I'll post some pics later)
But I'm glad we made tamales! And I'm glad we're done!
Tomorrow we eat leftovers and veggies and that salad. But now I have to make frosting so Son can do what he does best: frost his little heart out (and cover the breakfast nook in sugar, etc.).

My World

Today I did all kinds of pre-Christmas errands, and some things that are not covered by that name.

1. Ate breakfast at Over The Counter. Yum! A Spanish Omelet with home fries and sourdough toast. Delicious.
2. Bought Son some gifts (neither beer nor vodka).
3. Went to Toys R Us. Bad idea! It was the lunch hour and everyone else was there too. At least we weren't buying some $349 mini Ranger Rover (or whatever!) like the guy in front of us. I felt most sorry for the under-trained cashier. It's hard out there. You know.
   
4. Searched the house for my Christmas card list. Did not find it.
5. Wrote out a few Christmas cards.
6. Bought all the stuff to make Chex mix and 7 Layer Bars. Must choose which to make first. (I made the 7 Layer Bars and then the Chex mix, which is still in the oven. Two down!)
   
7. Saw two local figures at neighborhood Smiths (Ed Smart and Dooce. At least I think it was her.)
   
8. Bought fixings for healthy dinner to counteract the sugar and spice of Christmas season. This week we are eating rice and veggies. Really! Oh, and tofu.
9. Burned and ripped some CDs. On our new "simplifying" plan we are trying to rid the upstairs of CDs. I am ripping what we want (and we will store those downstairs) and the rest go to wherever obsolete technology goes to die (that would be in the basement with my cassette tapes!).
   
10. Found green wool blanket that will serve as tree skirt. Present count: Son 9 (not including stocking stuffers or unwrapped booty). Me: 1 stocking stuffer (from my mom!) and Middlebrow 1 (from his family gift exchange person). I can see how this Christmas is shaping up....
11. Weighed myself. (Big mistake!! Do not do this!! Wait until January 1!! or 2!!)

Well. I must finish my Christmas cards, rip more CDs, and make some rice for dinner. Happy shopping.

Cultural Diversity: Yes, it exists!

I love to go to the Asian Market in town. Mostly because I know that soon after I will be enjoying some delicious food.
Today at the Asian Market I had one of those experiences that made me do a double take. I was wandering around the aisles looking for curry paste and bamboo shoots when I heard a man ask, "Finito?" I looked up to see an older Asian gentleman talking to the young Latino boy who worked there. The boy gestured to the cart he was pushing and said, "Si, finito."
Sometimes I think I live in a place that is not all that diverse. Other times, like today, I'm amazed how much mixing of cultures takes place, in many small ways, every day. This experience made me feel nostalgic for all the times I traveled overseas: my first trip out of the US to Korea, my vacation in Thailand, backpacking around Europe, last Christmas in Spain.
There is something wonderfully alienating about being in a place where everything is new: the food, the language, the culture. There is also something awesome (in the literal sense) about being immersed in another world.
After I witnessed this exchange, I wandered the aisles just looking at everything. I love the unfamiliar smells: the sharp tang of unknown spices; the mixing (in the aisles) of food from many cultures, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian; the strange flavors of potato chips (shrimp!); the delightful confections (Pocky!).
When I first moved here, I drove all over town one day looking for ingredients for Thai food: galangal, lime leaves, Thai basil. Now I go to one place. The superstores of Asian markets. I haven't been there in awhile. I guess curry is really a winter food.
But this holiday season, I plan on trying to cook big meals from all the kinds of food I love: an Indian curry, Mexican tamales, and probably at least one more Thai curry.
I'm thankful I live in a city with such a diverse selection of food (and restaurants)!

The Actual Day

Somehow, Son managed to let us sleep until 8-ish. Then I had to bolt out of bed (okay, bolting may be a bit strong), eat something, drink some coffee, and somehow convince Middlebrow and Son to accompany me to the Race.
Well, they did. They dropped me off by the Capitol and went to get coffee before meeting me at the finish line. I liked this Thanksgiving Day race. Lots of families, running and walking, lots of groups taking pictures at the start. I especially liked the runners with turkey hats. I saw only one person I recognized, and I knew her from Son's school.
It was a jam packed race, and I was passing people the whole way, which made me feel good. Much of it was uphill (at least half) and the second half was downhill. Hooray! I felt pretty good about the race and when I checked the results, just now, I won the "Athena" category. For those of you not in the know, that means I weigh over 150 pounds! Crazy! Yes! But hey. At least I can win something. Though I have to say I felt like throwing up when I got to the finish. But then I had some water and a few bites of pumpkin bagel. All good.
We put the turkey in at 1, etc, etc, etc. Now I am boiling the carcass for all it's worth. I think I will make soup, though I can't say what kind. Maybe turkey with rice? turkey with noodles? unknown.
All the food was great: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce from a can, homemade pie with whipped cream. Delicious.
We are all thankful for many things: food, family, health. But son's list was my favorite: theaters, so we can see movies, our house, turkey drumsticks, and Harry Potter.
I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving, one and all.
Let the insane Holiday Season begin.

The Day Before the Day Before Thanksgiving

The day begins as most do, only earlier. For some reason, you feel compelled to get out of bed around 6:15-ish so that you can make it to the gym by 6:30-ish. Oh, that's right. It's all part of the go to bed earlier, get up earlier plan that will result in being able to get up in time to be at the pool at 6 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving. Like all plans, it begins a day early.
Even after swimming, there are things to do: papers to grade, crossword puzzles to complete, folders to lose and then find again, writing center hours.
Also: a friend from high school (high school!) to pick up at the airport with her significant other. Unlike many high school friends, she is crazy in a way that is familiar and comfortable. She is crazy in the same way you are crazy. The things you had in common then, you still have in common. You can talk about creativity and art and food. She took the photographs of your wedding. You take her and Man to a brew pub for lunch. You drink beer. You take her to one of the cool places in town for tea. She photographs everything in sight, including you doing a Serious Author face and the bookcases which are organized by color (red, green, etc). She finds a yellow one that says "Revolt" and places it in among the red. She is able to see things that are invisible to others. But you see the monkey holding two candles lamp. It seems important.
Picking up Son from school is different with Friend. You see the chaos for what it is: an intricately choreographed dance of attraction and avoidance, of deferral and intersection. The direction and energy of the children is inversely proportional to the direction and energy of the adults. You can see this now. You worry about the parents who worry too much. You want Son to move like a dervish through this hallway, to move out into the world without damage or care. Instead, he finds a turkey made from a pine cone on the playground. It is a treasure. You make him return it, imagining the child who misplaced it, distraught and unanchored, turkeyless.
There is more: the dog who jumps on all visiting strangers, the phone calls with directions, visits to the neighborhood bakery which is only open this one day because it is the day before the day before.
And then: good-bye to Friend and Man, the gift of a pumpkin, the roasting of pumpkins, eating of leftover chili, watching of wizard movies, the staying up too late, the inevitable fit, the sudden drop into noiseless sleep, instant and complete.
There is more to do, accomplish. The making of soup, the making of pie, the purchase of the turkey.
But first you must sleep. Tomorrow is the day the plan begins, and you must get up in seven hours, regardless of when you go to sleep. So sleep now.
Tomorrow is the day before.