Odds and ends (Update)

Quote of the day:

Realization: Vivir es siempre habitar una tristeza. Never Neutral

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Over at Never Neutral today I checked out my Star Wars Horoscope and was delighted to find that I am like one of my favorite characters:

Like most Geminis, you are a playful little creature. You tend to be extremely curious, craving knowledge but sometimes having a short attention span. For the most part, you are charming and loveable. But at times, you can seem scattered and high-strung.

Star wars character you are most like: Ewoks

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This just in as an e-mail from a friend:

I like Ike!

"Should any political party attempt to abolish Social Security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are...a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54 (Whatever happened to Republicans like him?)

And a second e-mail from another friend re: the Ike quote:

There's an interesting discussion of this quote, and the battle over the center of the party, here.

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Roast Duck and Never-Never Land

There are one or two bloggers out there who might be interested in my duck cooking experience. And so I plan to tell the story here, after I have crossed off Number 8 on my Never list: never made roast duck. People, allow me to proclaim: yes indeed, I have, in fact, made roast duck!

Of course as you probably already know, it never is just the roast duck. There's the endive and watercress salad sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts and a honey, sesame oil, grainy mustard, orange and lime juice dressing; plus steamed sugar peas, and the apple, onion, blueberry, vinegar relish that go with it.

So, in fact, it starts out with the first trip to the supermarket to find all the correct ingredients like Astringent Vinegar, for goodness sake, and toasted hazelnuts. There were plenty of hazelnuts - just not toasted. The second and third trips to supermarkets came after I had checked out on the Internet what Astringent Vinegar was, and called around for the toasted hazelnuts, which I finally found in a store up the road.

And then the recipe suggests that one prepares the relish the day before "because a day's mellowing makes the sauce just a little better." So, now we are well into a two day deal!

Okay. Okay. All that done, yesterday afternoon, finally, I settled in to prepare the duck, salad and peas. I followed the instructions to the best of my ability although the recipe does not give any specific measurements: "some" sugar and spice; "some" grainy mustard, honey and "a touch" of sesame oil! This was particularly terrifying for me because I have not cooked anything more serious than chicken soup for the past seventeen years. How could I trust my sampling techniques? How would I know which was the right amount of "some" and "a touch" or "a sprinkling" of thus and such?

Half way through and as I heard the duck popping and sputtering vigorously in the oven, I became excited. The kitchen was full of dishes, chopped endives and watercress, relish bubbling away on the stove for a quick warm-up and some additional sugar, and Ada, head moving side to side as if watching a tennis match, was sitting high up on a stool observing this new and different scene - Tamar was cookin'! I pulled out fancy table mats, the special cutlery and crockery we only use for guests, and raced out to buy some wine.

When I returned everything was smelling really, really good. My mouth began to water. Chewing on some watercress to tide me over, I decided spontaneously to make a small soup out of the duck giblets, an onion, half a green pepper, a couple of tomatoes, three crushed cloves of garlic, "some" spice and "a touch of" salt and pepper.  I was on a roll. As I set the table with flowers and candles I started up a CD of Aimee Mann singing her songs from Magnolia (my favorite movie of all time).

Results? A perfectly crispy duck with soft, tender, delicious meat falling off the bones. A spicy sweet and sour relish and crunchy endive, watercress salad with the finest of citrus, sesame oil dressings. Sugar peas? Perfection!

As we clinked our glasses of red wine across the candle-lit table with perfume of the lilac bush out in the garden wafting through the dining room, I looked deeply into my awe-struck, extremely astonished life partner's face, and said softly, "Just don't get any ideas that this might ever happen again!"

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Talking of odds and ends, I just have to add this, which I found over at Sandhill Trek. And I know that some of you are going to be very mad at me for thinking this couldn't have been said any better.

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This e-mail just in from the life-partner in the Never-Never Land Duck Story:

Tamar: ... the duck piece is brilliant. I could enjoy the experience all over again. But one problem.

PLEASSEEEE MAKE IT SOME TIME AGAIN??????A!!!!!!!! Love, T

Comments

[david]

Now you've gone and made me hungry! And I just had breakfast!!

[Tamar]

I know how you feel, David!

As I was re-reading the piece for errors I became quite hungry myself. I had to run to the kitchen and hastily prepare myself a bowl of rasberry, blueberry, strawberry, apple, banana, dates, pine-nuts and orange juice salad with "a touch of" soy strawberry shake - as I completed the post!

[Jean]

Ah. Ah, I always have something (though often quite a difficult and complex thing) with other Geminis. I mean, I don't believe in that stuff, but...

[Tamar]

I also don't believe in that stuff, but ... so what's your sign?

[Jean]

I said 'other Geminis'...

[Tamar]

Oh my! Jean, I didn't see that! How fabulous! When are you? Or is that a secret?

[franchini]

I am a gemini too Tamar - my birthday is the day before yours. Not that I can be bothered with any of the astrology stuff. Unless of course my stars say I am due to come into serious good fortune.....but they never do, so I am sticking with my position on horoscopes. The meal you described sounds wonderful - so beautifully described that I could smell it cooking. The wine smelt good too, and such a lovely deep colour!

[Tamar]

Hurrah! Another one of the terrible twins! Not that we could be bothered with astrology stuff, I know. Yeah, it appears that the dinner was indeed scrumptious from the looks of the life-partner's latest e-mail! Thanks, franchini.

[nappy40]

I can just smell the duck cooking. This has to be my favorite.

[purple_kangaroo]

I am still waiting eagerly for the duck recipe, but, hmph! Nappy40 hasn't posted it as promised yet.

Your dinner sounds wonderful.

BTW, I found some measuring spoons that, instead of being in teaspoons, tablespoons, etc. are labeled "dash" "pinch" and "smidgen." You should get yourself some of those. :)