“Adventures in Cooking”
Kenny was in the neighborhood on Monday morning and stopped in for a coffee and a chat. Always a good way to kick of the week.
We visited the New Orleans Athletic Club (NOAC) for a workout later in the morning and then worked on a summer salad with watermelon for dinner. We’ve decided to try and cook at home much more and to focus initially on recipes from the Mediterranean diet – I started researching some ideas for the rest of the week.
A walk down the streetcar tracks to Jefferson avenue kicked off our Tuesday. It was starting to get pretty hot as we walked home and were facing directly East and into the sun. Nonetheless we covered close to 4 miles.
Tuesday dinner was our first dive into the Mediterranean stuff and consisted of jambalaya stuffed peppers and bang bang cauliflower. I chose the jambalaya version as we had some leftovers in the freezer that eliminated most of the preparation steps. The bang bang sauce for the cauliflower was made with sriracha, sweet chile sauce, mayonnaise and lime juice. Both dishes were very tasty and we enjoyed making them.
After dinner, I headed over to Dat Dog for trivia with the guys. It was the usual krewe plus a kid whose name started with an “M” – I can’t remember what it was – geez. Mitchell, Maxwell, Matthew? None of those seem right. Anyway, Mr. M had studied AP English at Jesuit High and came in handy on a couple of questions – one about “Beowulf” and then on a Jane Austen related question about the English ten pound note. We were in 3rd place going into the final round and then wagered too much on a question we did not know the answer too (always a bad strategy), and dropped to 4th. Ugh! Here was the final question:
Put the following in order from largest to smallest:
1 Number of mirrors in the Versailles hall of mirrors (I thought they were very large mirrors and this would be a small number – completely wrong)
2. Number of steps in the Statue of Liberty
3. Number of members of the House of Representatives (I did know that one)
4. Number of doors in the White House – ridiculous, even if you knew the prior 3, nobody knows this
I would challenge you to take a shot at the answer, but just like with Mr. M, I can’t remember the correct order. I do know that all the answers were between 300 and 400 – one of the more difficult final questions that we’ve experienced.
A NOAC workout kicked off our Wednesday. On starting the car to drive home, I noticed the low tire pressure warning light – the rear left tire had an issue. On arrival home, Diana checked the pressure – around 20 lbs versus the 36 recommended. I finally got the tire repaired on Thursday afternoon. A real local character who runs the Park Place repair shop on Tchoupitoulas found a piece of sheetrock on the internal wall. He had it repaired and sent me on my way in a few minutes.
This was the sad day when we learned that Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame had died – more in the music section below. The Beach Boys always make me think back to a Neil Young Bridge School Benefit concert at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. There was a lady police officer in front of us that was growling at anyone trying to go up the wrong set of stairs in a very officious and negative manner. As soon as the Beach Boys started their set, she turned into a completely different person – dancing with folks walking past – the power of good music!
Dinner on Wednesday was planned to be mango shrimp. I visited Breaux Mart for mangoes. Unfortunately I’ve never bought them before and wasn’t exactly sure what to look for – something yellow with an oval shape? No. I finally asked and found them. I was glad that the recipe gave helpful instructions on how to peel and dice a mango – it would have been quite an ordeal otherwise. This was another tasty and healthy meal.
After dinner we watched an episode of “Swing” with Owen Wilson. We find this golf related comedy entertaining so far.
And after that, we finished “The Brutalist”. The last 3o minutes of this movie are very “artsy.” I’ll leave it at that. I think I would have been pretty peeved if I’d been at the cinema house and sat through 3 and a half hours to get to those last 30 minutes.
Dinner on Thursday was taco stuffed avocados. The taco stuffing consisting of ground turkey, black beans and onions. Poor Diana ultimately visited three grocery stores to get the necessary ingredients. Whole Foods and Breaux Mart after her physical therapy session. She did get some delicious avocados at Whole Foods, but reported that the shelves were mostly bare – must be restocking day. Then she visited Rouses (the big grocery store) in the afternoon to get the last ingredients. I really enjoyed this meal and will make it again soon, perhaps with a different stuffing.
I read this article by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker on Thursday evening. A very interesting analysis of what causes violent crime reduction and I’m not sure you would guess correctly:
Malcolm Gladwell New Yorker article on violent crime reduction
It had been a long time since we’d been to the movies and so, with it being so hot outside, we decided to go and see “The Materialists” at the Broad Theater on Friday afternoon. This was opening day for the film so we didn’t really have much to go on .
Dakota Johnson plays a New York based matchmaker who is caught between a previous relationship with an actor who is broke, and a very successful financier. It gave us a good bit to talk about after we left.
Here’s what the New Yorker had to say about things:
New Yorker review of the Materialists
We stopped by to visit with Kenny and Nina, and ultimately Kara when she got off work, on the way home from the movie. They were planning to go to the free Friday concert at Tipitinas and we had talked about going to see the Joe Krown trio at Dos Jefes.
On the way to Dos Jefes, we stopped into Rouses to pick up supplies for our Saturday brunch recipe. Kenny, his youngest brother Tommy, Kara, and after a while Pepperoni (Michael Azzano), joined us at Dos Jefes for some of Joe Krown and then headed back to Tips for Eric Johanssen. Krown played as amazingly as ever – hands just dancing across the keys. We need to make the effort to visit this bar more often.
I watched “Hitchcock” on Netflix to wind down from all of the excitement of the day. I thought this was really well done with a great performance from Anthony Hopkins as Hitch. Helen Mirren and Scarlet Johanss0n also turned in strong performances. The focus was on the movie “Psycho” and the struggles of making it something that an audience would want to go and see.
Diana joined Julia for a walk in Audubon park to start her Saturday, while I read the newspaper and worked on the blog. We made tomato and parmesan mini quiches for brunch, using a new muffin tray that we bought at Rouses on Friday night. Diana had decided not to move hers to New Orleans, having not made muffins in many years.
The petite quiches turned out very well and I’m looking forward to making them with all kinds of fillings. Using slices of ham as a “crust” was a great idea.
I spent the afternoon reading with various sports on TV in the background – US Open golf and LSU baseball.
I’m about half way through “Everybody’s Fool” by Richard Russo, the second in the North Bath trilogy. Russo is best known for the Pulitzer prize winning “Empire Falls”, made into a movie that I enjoyed.
I like what Entertainment Weekly had to say: “A crowning achievement—“like hopping on the last empty barstool surrounded by old friends” —from one of the greatest storytellers of our time.”
Some passages that I enjoyed from my reading so far:
“His heart went out to the kid. Imagine having her for a mother, your whole life a giant margin for her to ask her impossible questions.”
“A giant margin” – what a great simile.
“Maybe it was time, not love, they’d run out of. It was pretty to think so.”
Do you think this is a nod to the last sentence of Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”, when Jack says to Brett “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”
“”You gonna get in?” “I’m still thinking.” “There’s your problem right there,” Jerome said. Like his sister, he spent far too much time diagnosing Raymer’s problems. “Best nip that in the bud, bud. Man starts thinking this late in life, no previous experience or proper guidance, there’s no telling where it could lead.””
A great example of the typical dialogue between Russo’s characters.
I’m pleased that I have half of this book and another two books in the trilogy to look forward to.
Earlier this week I was playing an Earth Wind and Fire album. On returning it to the alphabetically filed album collection, I noticed a very old Duke Ellington Album that I hadn’t heard – must have come from McD.
“Mood Indigo” is on this album – such a wonderful piece.
I came across a number of entertaining covers:
We lost two massively influential musicians this week – Sly Stone and Brian Wilson. Here’s my favourite from Sly and the family Stone:
Depending on when you ask about my all time favourite songs, the answer could well be “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys – a Brian Wilson masterpiece of composition, arrangement and production:
I was reading a newspaper article about the local band, Better Than Ezra, and The Kingsway studio was mentioned. This was Daniel Lanois’ studio at the corner of Charters and Esplanade – 544 Esplanade to be exact. Nicholas Cage bought the house after Lanois and it is now owned by the Cumming guy who has the boutique hotels.
The albums that Lanois produced in that building are legendary: “Oh Mercy” by Bob Dylan, “Automatic for the People” by R.E.M., “Achtung Baby” by U2, “Us” by Peter Gabriel, and “Yellow Moon” by the Neville Brothers, to name just a few. Unbelievably productive and wonderful sounding place.
We’re flying to Dallas tomorrow afternoon and so I’m going to go ahead and publish this post a day early – much better than a month late like the last few.
Coexist peacefully, with kindness and patience for all!