I'd like to share some excerpts from some of my PMs with Edwarda. I think this thread might need some of her wisdom, and it might be a comfort to some. Note the posting times. For those of you so inclined, Edwarda prided herself on her cooking so there are a couple of recipes here you might like to try...
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, May 12 2000 4:43AM ET
Yes, indeed, his mother joined SI and didn't tell him for a while. His discovery of her presence is the reason he abstained from kicking off a rowdy party at Beltane this year--for which I don't blame him a bit, LOL! This is her alias:
(SI Profile URL)
I've gotten to know him through PMs too. He's a really nice guy and a good friend. When I'm low, he goes out of his way to cheer me and he's been wonderfully supportive during my job hunt, bless him! I really look forward to meeting him when work brings him to New York: I owe him a hug for all the cyberhugs he has given me when I needed them.
I have to confess that I teased him mercilessly in PMs about his mother and the the postings with which I could blackmail him. <GGG>
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, May 12 2000 5:12AM ET
...I want to stay in NYC because of family (old persons who are dying so the time with them is precious) and because my "squeeze" works here. Our relationship has no "future" as such, but it is marvelous and has been for nearly four years--which is more than most people can enjoy...
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 13 2000 3:56AM ET
...What awakened me was thinking/dreaming about whether I and a cousin should do something for Mother's Day for our Aunt Marie. Laughing because none of us is a mother! (Life is like that....)
So, while I try to plan a menu that gives my cousin no room to knock herself out, I thought I'd share some laughter. It's a pity that I can't post some of the crazy animated ones I get in my e-mails! LOL!...
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 13 2000 4:01AM ET (proposed Mother's Day menu)
How does this sound:
Rack of lamb coated with a melange of mustard, fresh sage, pepper, and butter and then bread crumbs.
Baked vegetables: A baking dish with fennel providing the base, covered with alternating slices of eggplant and tomato and zucchini.
I think baked potato, don't you? I'd prefer gratineed potatoes, but it's too much in the oven and too much in baking dishes.
Fresh peas with apple mint?
Still working on dessert....
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 13 2000 4:27AM ET
Sounds lovely, but think of the kitchen stuff! My cousin tends to overdo and exhaust herself, not to mention her wallet! Mashed potatoes take time and loving attention, as does a chateaubriand. Asparagus requires--as do the other items on your proposed menu except for the pie--careful attention to time.
If I were hosting, I could do damned near anything. I have held wine tastings followed by buffet dinners in my studio apartment for over 25 people and served osso buco grilled leg of lamb or ragout of venison. I do my best to make it all look easy and minimize the stress on me when I am hostess.
My darling cousin simply cannot help herself from going crazy. At last Thanksgiving I had to forcibly prevent her from yet a fifth vegetable--we cousins had tried to make it easy on her by bringing the vegetables we could ready to cook, the stuffing made separately, the gravy, etc. She leaped at the free moments like Sea Biscuit out of the starting gate, LOL!
So the menu I was thinking about would minimize some of her ability to go nuts, I think. Giving it more thought, I could bring a ragout, which would limit her to noodles or some other pasta, a salad, and dessert....
BTW, I adore garlic mashed potatoes!
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 13 2000 4:41AM ET
Both my cousin and I have cash flow problems, LOL, although taking our aunt out is a possibility.
BTW, I do make my own sausage....
A quick and tasty sauce for ziti:
Saut? half lingui?a and half chorizo until thoroughly cooked with one onion coarsely chopped and two cloves of garlic minced. When the onion and garlic are soft, add one large can of plum tomatoes, undrained, and fresh basil. Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, stir, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve.
Yummy.
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 13 2000 4:50AM ET
This conversation is making me hungry! LOL!
If I could toss my cousin out of her own kitchen, I'd probably serve supr?mes de volailles archiduc:
Boneless chicken breasts lightly cooked in butter and minced onions and paprika, then covered with cream and baked for about 11 minutes. The cream is simply reduced and poured over the chicken. Garnish with parsley and serve with rice and peas and some French bread. Simple and very good and attractive on the table as well.
Or baked stuffed (with slamon and fresh chives) sole with the same presentation.
We have a logistics problem. My aunt and my cousin live in Queens. I live in Brooklyn, which is trip for them, you see.
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 13 2000 5:25AM ET (In this one, Edwarda was responding to my PM which described a college date from 30 years ago, in which I had taken this beautiful young lady of Italian ancestry to see Frank Valli and The Four Seasons. It was the date from Hell, as she was only interested in the band, not me. But at least I understand how Lyle Lovett must have felt when he was married to Julia. <g>)
For gorgeous girls/women of Italian ancestry, the place to look is Carroll Gardens. I'm in Brooklyn Heights; the next community south of me on the water is Cobble Hill; then it's Carroll Gardens, where I go to buy veal for obvious reasons. Problem is, LOL, so many of the men are short body building types and the area is a hotbed of bathtub Virgins.
Many years ago I learned that my secretary lived in Carroll Gardens. She and her boyfriend used to "park" on my street, a dead end, to neck. How embarrassing for both of us. <GGG>
How could a person with a name like yours be anything but personable? Huh?
Attention: I am a woman approaching her 49th birthday. I am carrying more avoirdupois than I wish (although not fat, just too much) and I have rosacea. And the men are coming out of the woodwork and over the transom. Never sell yourself short!
------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed the selections that I chose to post. I found it enjoyable reading through them again.
KJC |
