the hot days of summer
lots of my coworkers are out of office, finally taking vacations and sabbaticals after the pandemic didn't allow so many of them to do so. I'm just happy to stay in air conditioning out of the energy-sapping heat we're having here in the capital region. another one of my attorney colleagues is producing another training session and has asked me to again lend my voice talents! word is spreading throughout the department it seems.
I started rehearsals for Pride and Prejudice! I also made points with the director and the costumer when I offered my services in taking notes and making alterations, so I spent a good amount of time working with them both on costumes :-) they were especially thrilled when I told them about our company donation matching program where all the hours I put in on a theater production - from rehearsals to sewing to performances - are matched with real money! for the small amount of time they had to put in filling out the forms, I'm sure the return will be substantial!
on evenings when I wasn't at rehearsal I was cooking, of course. on a shopping excursion - most times I pre-order online and do pickup but this time I went into the store - I saw a bag of Hatch chilis in the front of the veggies aisle so I brought those home for Craig to grill. I made my favorite chicken mole, layered them over a grilled chili, and served that with cilantro lime rice, and an appropriate brew.
when I am in the bay area for work I like to stop at a nearby Chinese restaurant for their honey pecan shrimp - usually it's made with walnuts which I can't eat. I decided I wanted to make this at home so I found a recipe online and it turned out just like the restaurant version. I served it up with our garden's first zucchini in a light stir fry.
one of my "easy" meals is to make my bayou chili (from a packet), and I paired it with Texas style brioche bread toast and more garden veggies. hiding under the cheese, onions and sour cream is the chili, and another grilled hatch chili. and because there was leftover mole sauce, that meant I could make chicken mole for a quick meal before rehearsal, with a garden cucumbers and tomatoes salad.
somehow I accidentally got two Shuffle meals delivered on one weekend. luckily they were the two different days, but it definitely is a lot of work for each one, so this was double the food and kitchen time! it was additionally challenging because I wanted to go to the local quilt faire on the morning of the "unexpected" meal, so I had to squeeze everything in, scheduling my day with military precision. the faire was quite enjoyable and I saw lots of ideas for new projects, so I'm really glad I invested the time. here were some playful dolphins that made me think of Joyce.
first I made a really delicious Ukrainian inspired cabbage roll meal with their Chef Anna (who pronounces it like me.) we finally cracked open the watermelon, and that made a delicious light dessert.
for my next Shuffle class, I was surprised and delighted to hear that Chef Janet - yes my Janet! - was in the studio kitchen! this was the most involved recipe and it took two and a half hours to prepare, but it was worth it. we made a bavette (or flank) steak, grilled peaches with vinaigrette on endive, and a barley salad with grilled corn and blistered tomatoes. Chef Tyler was cooking on an outdoor grill, but I did all my grilling on the stove-top with my cast iron grill pan. I even got a shout-out from Chef for my excellent grill marks.
in the garden the sunflowers are smiling over the garden fence away from our view (I had to stand on the planter back edge to get this photo!) and my Scarlett O'Hara morning glory finally bloomed a rich red blossom for me!
I get so many emails now with recipe suggestions that I can't make them all ... but I can try. the next one I saw was a sort of helper for hamburger, which was for a Mongolian style ground beef served over white rice. I paired it with a Moroccan watermelon salad that used some of our garden's items. these simple meals are perfect when I have to dash out for a rehearsal right after I make dinner.
another online recipe was for this puff pastry pizza with a pesto ricotta topping that was really delicious too. Craig was craving baguette so I paired that with olive oil and balsamic dipping sauce.
another quick and easy meal was teriyaki salmon with air-fried brussels sprouts and our garden chard, sprinkled with blue cheese crumbles.
and I love this Mexican corn salad - so easy to prepare, so I paired it with easy reheated Jack Daniels brisket slices and air-fried sweet potato waffle fries; and then I served it on paper plates picnic-style for easy cleanup.
for the last two weeks of the month I started a really time intensive project; our last corned beef from the store was truly awful, so I wanted to make my own. from scratch. I found recipes online not only for corned beef but also for the pickling spices so I could eliminate the ones that I know are problematic! so, from the spice blend, to the brine; to the 2-gallon bag with brisket in the fridge, to a taste-test at the first week; to the cooking in an instant pot for more hours than the recipe said it would need; and finally to the finished corned beef, here are the pictures.
by the end of the month we were ready to load in to the theater. as I was waiting to get my mic-pack assigned to me, I sat in this lovely chair in the green room - I call it the queen's chair - and one of my fellow actors snapped this pic of me. by the end of the month I had logged 52 hours of rehearsals, sewing, and note-taking for the director!
I really miss the ladies who cut my hair for 25 years in the bay area. they styled Joyce's hair for some of her momentous school functions. they gave me my signature haircut when I decided to cut it all off and go natural in 2012. they were part of our lives, and knew and always asked about Nana, after I took her there for a mani/pedi on one of our outings. covid ruined their business and they eventually retired or moved to other locations; I had lost track when I moved away. when I found out that a very famous salon had a beauty school within three miles of our home, I made an appointment to get my hair cut there instead of the local 15-minutes-buzz-buzz-you're-done shop. it's inexpensive and the teacher said my hair style is a good one for the students to learn many techniques. so, a win-win!
