First, I was looking at how many people read the blogs over the past month or two and for one of them over 250 people read it! WHAT!!!! How could that be? I think it's the title because it had NYC in the title, and some robot searched for that and some robot algorithm sent it out to some searchers, blah, blah. Anyway, it was sort of amusing, just wanted to pass that on. So tell all your friends! From now on, starting tomorrow, I am going to have really catchy titles to each blog that will attract lots of robots and we'll see what happens. Titles like "Bourbon Based Babes" to appeal to bourbon drinkers and those who like wet t-shirt contests. Or "Cool Cukes for Cooking" for those who like cucumbers and are cool hipsters who like to cook. (What?) Or "Hillbilly Beans and Weenies" for those who are reading the "Hillbilly Elegy" memoir and who like beans and weenies, maybe at the same time or two different sort of people, some like beans and some like weenies of other sorts.
So you can see how this new strategy is going to totally open up my blog readership and attract new and interesting people and comments! I can hardly wait! "I like beans and hillbillies but where's the good stuff about hillbilly weenies?" That would be a stellar comment.
I have been reading a lot of trash lately, not sure why, but there you have it. However, I read two good books, one fiction and one fact. The non fiction is "A House in the Sky" by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett. Amanda was a somewhat naive and reckless traveler who was captured by renegade soldiers in Somalia in 2008, held for more than a year, raped, tortured, almost starved to death but she miraculously held on until she was released. It's a harrowing memoir, one that I don't really recommend because it is so sad, brutal and desperate. But if you want to read a memoir about a woman in captivity who finally gets free, check it out.
The fiction I just read is not a lot less brutal but a great story and the writing is incredible, images that stay with you for days. "The North Water" by Ian McGuire tells the tale of rogue sailors in the late 19th century traveling north for whale and seal blubber but the expedition goes wrong, the weather turns on them and survival is left to the fittest. The first half of the book was good but the second half is outstanding. It's not a pretty story but a couple of the characters are so vivid and honest, you can't help but marvel at McGuire's language. Unlike the above book, I would recommend "The North Water" to anyone who wants to be taken into a ship of thieves, wastrels, outlaws and misfits and sail north where the sea is frozen, food is naught and survival is the only thing to attempt. Sounds good, right? It is.
Food: in this hot weather, and it was 86 in my living room last week, who wants to cook? But one must eat. My new go-to meal is to cook some thin pasta, drain and toss with some sesame oil and it will last a couple of days in the fridge. Make some peanut sauce (recipes abound on the internet) and thin it a little with hot water. Toss it with a portion of the pasta, top it with all kinds of raw crunchy veggies: chopped snow peas, radishes, carrots, celery, seeded and peeled cucumbers, red bell peppers..... toss it all together, add some toasted sesame seeds or toasted almonds. It's cool, refreshing, lots of veggies means it's good for you. It's a departure from a regular salad (less greens, of course) and filling and not a ton of calories. Add some chicken (leftover, of course) or pork or shrimp if you want protein. It is good and filling and doesn't heat up the kitchen. A good cheap white wine, you are good to go.
Tonight, however, since it isn't 90 degrees outside right now, I am grilling a steak! Yes! Red meat! I have opened a delicious Gundlach Bundschu Merlot, which tastes like a Merlot (the noble grape from France) should taste: deep, complex, subtle tannins, distinct merlot fruit. It will be so lovely with my steak. Along side will be a small salad and a sauteed zucchini: first I take a handful of raw almonds, slice them in thirds (yes, it would be easier if I had sliced almonds but I don't so leave me alone) and saute them in a little olive oil. Once toasted, take out, toss in the pan with the now hot oil a zuke that is thinly sliced. It takes less than a minute to cook, salt and pepper, throw the almonds back in and that's it. Done. It can be done as the steak rests, of course.
Time to light the fire, my first bbq of the year. Let's hope I don't set the trees on fire. thanks for listening, more to follow soon. Stuff on work, the dead Mother's Day celebration, more food and wine, dog eccentricities, the plan to toss Mom's ashes over the cliff, neighbors and my winning the lottery. Stay tuned.
xo
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