Rain

The weather changed from snow to sleet to rain… a bit messy, especially with the snow banks still piled high on sidewalks and the occasional parking lot.  We had an appointment with our family doctor today — it’s so nice to be able to say that! — and we went through my blood work.  It’s generally good, within normal range, with a few exceptions.  He recommended that I increase my vitamin D intake, since it’s rather low.  We agreed that a month in the tropics would probably help correct that 😆 but as a long term solution, a supplement would be better.  There’s general rejoicing that my condition is fairly stable, and for that I am profoundly thankful; I would really like for this to continue for many more years.  I had a giggle at the doctor trying to persuade Don to quit smoking; although when he calculated that Don has been smoking for 78 years, he said that stopping would probably be more harmful than beneficial, so we’ll leave it at that.  I rather like having him around, so I won’t encourage anything that might endanger him.  Jerry napped on me all afternoon, sat on my lap in the car, and is now guarding my toes… his latest habit is that he tries burrowing under me at night if he can’t cuddle as he’d like.  I’m not comfortable, but that doesn’t bother him!

My cousin’s husband continues to respond well to treatment, but is still in ICU.  He’s now asking to be allowed to go home because he’s bored.  I’m thrilled with that news, although he still has some time in the hospital as he continues with several tests and evaluations.  

I mentioned that I have several historical cookbooks, and how much I enjoy reading through them.  My childhood favourite— which I recently repaired — is one that I happily reopened as was reading last night.  I found some of the “classic” recipes that I’d tried from this, and which are now part of my standard rotation, so I’ve since modified them to my taste.  This book was originally published in 1963, surprisingly 60 years ago, and the selection of ingredients is more limited than currently available.  So I compared a recipe for fried chicken, which called for “seasoned flour” which meant adding salt to the flour before dredging the joints.  My idea of seasoned flour now includes about 10 dried herbs and spices, many of which are not used in the book at all.  For instance, I use sumac and cilantro, neither of which were popular in the early 60s.  Many books still suggest removing the seeds from peppers to “reduce the heat,” which I think is silly.  Use fewer peppers, rather than removing the seeds!  The book also referred to rice as an unusual ingredient, but it’s a staple for me, so I found that entertaining.

I’d like to know what you think about food photography.  I mean, we’re societally obsessed with posting pictures of our meals, but I think that sometimes we do a disservice by doing that.  I mean, food stylists set an impossible standard with their tricks of modelling food (like using shaving cream for whipped cream, or painting grill marks on food or painting styrofoam to look like ice cream) so when we take pictures of home prepared meals they often don’t capture an appealing image.  I saw, this week, photos of homemade meals from a particular province, but I found them unappetizing— in fairness, though, someone looking at home cooking from Trinidad might have the same reaction to some of our dishes.  Sometimes I think that we should edit our photos to give the best possible image, but then I think that there would be so much editing and filtering that they’d be completely unbelievable.

I’m actually hungry again, although I am still struggling to eat.  Reading cookbooks and skimming food pictures on social media help a little with making me want to eat.  Next step, getting food onto plates and into my mouth!  I’ll keep working on it.  I’ve got to get to my puppy duties, so I’ll bid you good night!