Saturday Joy

1.  Yoga

Pamela, today's yoga teacher, suggested--as we stretched--that we think about New Years not as a time to resolve not-to-do but to resolve to have more joy every single day.  She told us about two things that bring her joy (her variegated lemon tree and her cats) and she asked us to think about the people and things that have brought joy into our lives this past year and look for more every day in 2018.  I like that idea!

2. Max and Louie's

I met Linda Kaufman for lunch at this New York Diner (new to me, an old favorite for her)  on Embassy Row--and had amazing cabbage rolls with red sweet and sour sauce.  I already can't wait to go back and order that again.  Everything looked good--Reuben sandwiches, macaroni, soups....

3. Central Market

Nathan and my tax accountant may not consider me "rich"--but going to Central Market makes me feel rich every time, especially on Saturday when the cooks are making delicious things and you get to taste and buy.  A chef from Germany insisted I buy duck fat to fry pork chops, and I just did.  Along with butterbeans and cornbread (recipe below), it was the best meal I've cooked in a long time.

4.  Books

A new book came in the mail that Linda Kot recommended: ON LIVING--which I'll read tonight.  I have always loved books.  I remember when my first grade teacher used to read to us from a big magazine before we could read.  I was fascinated when grownups looked at pages and read the words and took us into different worlds, and I've never gotten over it!

5.

Weather

We're expecting a hard freeze tomorrow night and many trees and plants in my neighborhood are all wrapped up for winter.  We rarely get a freeze, so everyone is kind of excited about the extreme change from today's spring-like weather to frosty air!

6.

Remembering Paris and Italy

One of our yoga class members is heading to Florence, another to Italy, and the teacher goes to France regularly--so I left yoga with a bit of Euro-lust.  When I got in the car,  Milk Street Radio was on NPR--and Lindsey Tramuta was being interviewed regarding her book, The New Paris.  When I went to Italy, Nellie was my excellent guide and traveling companion, along with her Rick Steve bible.  In France, Bob--the man I probably should have kept--was a savvy world traveler and epicurean, so we had the best of foods in Paris and small villages.  I'd like to find an Alpha Travel Guide as a travel companion and return to Europe before or during my big October birth-month!

"A perfect memory is never repeated, but it grows in memory to be more than it once was."  Christopher Kimball, Milk Street Radio

https://www.177milkstreet.com/radio/the-new-paris

When we savor these perfect memories, it's often food that makes you want to try to repeat the experience, right?

7

Cornbread

When I think of home and Georgia, I think of the best cornbread, never made with flour, that my parents used to make every other night or so.  They used self-rising cornmeal (easy to find in Georgia, hard to find here--I always bring some back with me), buttermilk, oil and eggs--and cooked it in a cast iron pan.

This is the way I cooked it tonight and it was delicious:  (As Carlene says when something tastes this good, "I could get up in the pan with it.")

Margaret Williams' recipe for "The best cornbread ever."

1 and 1/4 cup SELF RISING cornmeal
8 ounces nonfat plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 ounce cream corn
2 t. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1/4 cup safflower oil

Combine all the ingredients in bowl; mix well.  Pour into greased 8x8 inch pan--or cast iron skillet--or muffin tins.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.