CertainSeason

Tom and Diane Visit

Had the nicest time with my brother Tom and his wife, Diane. They are on a nationwide wedding tour, starting with their own daughter's the end of July and with a new one practically every week thereafter it sounded like. It almost made me feel like I should propose to Bill and get married while they were here!

They arrived on Wednesday evening and left Friday afternoon. A nice relaxed visit...it rained one night and we stayed home. Ran around to the Pember and to Roy Egg's studio, down to Gardenworks and to Patty and Mark's where Patty graciously took Diane out for a carriage ride. The weather turned cool while they were here, which was nice.

Diane and I keep threatening to paint together, but there just wasn't time this trip. Hoping she comes back for a longer stay so we can do that.

Dinner for Tom and Diane

My brother Tom and his wife are driving up from NYC enroute to a wedding this weekend in Connecticut. It's the first time they've visited us here, so I wanted to make a nice dinner. The menu:

Individual Cherry Tomato Tarts

Lemon-Garlic Marinated Chicken Breasts stuffed with Chicken and Spinach Sausage

served on a bed of

Creamy Stovetop Corn with Poblano Chiles and Creme Fraiche

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Gilded Raspberries

 

Monsoon Season and Visitors

Lots and lots of rain and lots and lots of visitors. Mary and Emma (sister and niece) were here ever so briefly (alas) and Bev and Clinton and Bob Rigdon from L.A. was supposed to get here, but Irene foiled his plans. Bev ended up stuck with us for three or four extra days. Mary and Emma...in and out! And I'm not just sucking up here...but don't they look like sisters rather than daughter and mother?

We went to the Southern Vermont Garlic Festival, which was tasty and fun. We cooked up a storm (an unnamed storm) including Billy's lovely rice pudding pie with the prune puree layer. We didn't have prunes, so this time he used apricots to good effect. We made tomato puddings and tomato tarts and homemade pasta with cherry tomatoes (noticing a theme here?)...hard to remember all the food we've done, but there were some merguez sausages with homegrown peppers and onions in there somewhere (that was transformed into Chicken cacciatore last night). But all I got pictures of was the garlic festival and Gramma Billy's Rice Custard Pie (renamed for the occasion.)

And it has been raining and raining and raining...my gauge (which I can't show because my computer is doing weird things) shows three inches in the last 48 hours. It's been more. It's a small gauge. The ground is soggy.

Picking Up The Pace

I feel like we've had a steady stream of houseguests since Memorial Day...mostly because it pretty much has been a steady stream of houseguests since Memorial Day.

Or maybe I'm just getting old and tired.

Toby and Kip were up two weeks ago, visiting from Texas. They had been at Easton Mountain and dropped by for lunch on Monday. Then Ron and Jiyoung and Bodin and Reese came up with Rudy (seen demonstrating the finer points of slingshot usage in the photo at the left.)

And before you know it, First Friday is upon us again and this batch of artists was...how do I put this?...stressful. At least that was the excuse they gave me every time they reneged or backed out or didn't bother to show up when they said they would. They were stressed and just couldn't....[fill in the blank]. They were the most unprofessional group of artists I have yet to work with and I would never work with any of them again.

So I was most relieved when Bill told me it was OK with him if I didn't get up Saturday morning and drive down to Connecticut with him to spend the Fourth with all our loving friends there. I just couldn't. And of course that made it possible for Bill to take off early, after work on Friday, which gave him extra time with everyone. And it made it all the easier for me to sit back and realize that I was coming down with a cold and sleep most of Saturday away.

Starve a fever, feed a cold...and I got a taste for a good old-fashioned burger. Stuffed it with cheese and grilled it like any good Fourth of July. It was a gorgeous Saturday night, even if I was feeling under the weather. It was sunny and warm, but not too warm nor too muggy (that may change with the thunderstorms that rumbled through last night.)

The garden is happy...got a little warmth this week, more rain. Some tomatoes are making a go of it. And the fennel and sorrel are taking root. Even got some marina di chioggia's to sprout. Maybe this year we'll actually eat them!

Lunch with Toby and Kip

Toby Johnson and Kip Dollar were in the area, visiting from Texas, so it was a nice opportunity to have them to lunch.

Our "go to" recipe for special guests...tourte Milanese from Baking with Julia. A showstopper to be sure.

Tourte Milanese (with a deep bow to Julia and Michel Richard)

1 pound puff pastry
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 pound fresh spinach (blanched, chopped, and drained very well)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ t freshly grated nutmeg
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 large roasted red bell peppers
10 extra large eggs
2 t chopped chives
2 t chopped flat leaf parsley
1 t chopped fresh tarragon
salt, to taste
2 T butter
½ pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese
½ pound thinly sliced ham
soft butter to grease pan
1 beaten egg for egg wash

1. Generously grease an 8-inch spring form pan with soft butter. Roll out ¾ of the puff pastry ¼ inch thick and line bottom and sides of pan leaving a 1-inch overhang. Roll out the remaining pastry into ¼ inch thick and cut out 8-inch circle. Transfer into a plate. Keep both pastries refrigerated while preparing the filling.
2. To roast peppers: If you have a gas stove, turn one burner on low to medium and place pepper directly on the flame to char the outside skin and soften the pepper. Keep turning the pepper until all sides are charred. Put the peppers in a paper or plastic bag to steam then peel the charred skin from the pepper and remove the stem and seeds.
3. The peppers can be roasted the same way on an outdoor gas or charcoal grill or in an electric oven set to broil.
4. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet. Add spinach and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat, set aside. I like to add either 1/4 C of cream or creme fraiche to make this layer more delicious.
5. To make the eggs, whisk four eggs in a bowl then add herbs and salt to taste. Melt 1 T of butter in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat, coating the bottom of skillet evenly. Pour the egg mixture and stir briefly. As eggs start to set, lift edges so liquid can run under. When eggs are completely set but still moist, transfer omelet onto a plate. .
6. Remove the lined pan from the refrigerator. Layer ingredients in this order: half the eggs, half the spinach, half the cheese, half the ham, all of the red bell peppers. Repeat layering in reverse order using the remaining ingredients.
7. Remove the 8-inch pastry round from refrigerator and place over omelet. Brush the edges of the folded over pastry lining the pan with egg wash and lay the round over that, pressing it to seal it and evening out the top. With tip of knife, draw desired number of slices directly on the pastry. Make a small hole in the center of the pastry. Brush all over with beaten egg. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes.
8. Position rack in lower third of oven, preheat to 350˚.
9. Brush pastry one more time with beaten egg. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 1 hour and ten minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes.

10.  Cool for 30 minutes, release from pan. Slice and serve warm or room temp with simple green salad.

A Weekend In the City...

Took the train down to NYC for some scheduled medical check ups...clean bill of health.  I love traveling by train and this particular route is one of the most beautiful, virtually the length of the Hudson River Valley.

Managed to do a good deal while I was there.  In addition to medical ministrations, I got a much needed haircut. Covelo and I took in Tony Kushner's new play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. A mouthful...and to be candid, a mess. But like Sondheim, Kushner messes up on an entirely different level than other mere mortals. Dense and wide-ranging in language and ideas -- like I said, it's Kushner -- it never quite  takes off; it never seems to come together in a "grand idea" in the way the Angels in America did. In fact it is a mish mash of ideas. The play looks at the life of retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio, a 20th-century thinker, who's feeling confused and defeated by the 21st century. In summer 2007, his sister, who has been staying with him for a year, invites Gus' three children (who in turn bring along spouses, ex-spouses, lovers and more) to a most unusual family reunion in their Brooklyn brownstone. Intimations of O'Neill, the writing is compelling even if the story is scattered.

But at least I got to sit next to Diane Wiest.

After theater cocktails and a bite with Robert and with Constance Rodgers, who I haven't seen in almost two years (or more.) A lot of catching up in too little time.

And while the theater was stimulating and the friends were warm and close, I have to say the thing I loved best was walking the High Line. It opened just as we were leaving the city and it was one of those "too good to be true" things that I had the highest of hopes for...all of which were met and exceeded. Just a beautiful urban experience. A breath of fresh New York City.

Sunday, Bodin and I went out for sushi and  walked back through Central Park in all it's spring glory. Hopped in the car late afternoon and drove back north with Ron and Bodin and Reese and we all went fishin'.

And if that wasn't fine enough...Bill announced he'd been offered a job.

Steele in Snow

Mark Wesner's birthday is Valentine's Day, so we all gathered to celebrate last night. Starting with a snowy almost-a-sleigh-ride. I say "amost a sleigh ride" because, believe it or not, there wasn't sufficient snow for the sleigh. runners..at least not the right kind of snow, in the right place, i.e. on the road. But almost as soon as we got on the cart behind Steele, Patty's marvelous Percheron, we were engulfed in a snowglobe world.

Martini's were in order and duly served.  Other friends arrived and comestibles and dips and crackers and such were consumed and dinner...lovely pork loins roasted with pears and apples and onions in sauerkraut accompanied by German potato salad...was enjoyed by a roaring fire.

And yes, a certain blue ribbon chocolate cake with fine gilding was enjoyed again.

And since we're all old, the party broke up about 9:00 and everyone hit the road to get home to hit the hay.

Steele too.

Rockwell Kent - The Exquisite Line

hough in no way am I a COLLECTOR collector of Rockwell Kent, I have, for a very long time, picked up a piece or two of his work along the way, rummaging through junk shops and the occasional estate sale. I have most all of his original books and a few of the classics he illustrated...Moby Dick, Canterbury Tales, Leaves of Grass.... I have a few nice prints, a litho, all signed...and the plate at the right (and whoever stole the collection of six Vernon Kiln Moby Dick plates from me -- may you rot in hell!)...and I have continued to enjoy them as much now as the day I found them.

I have always wanted to visit SUNY Plattsburgh where he left a large portion of his artistic estate (other than the bulf of paintings which went to The Hermitage in St. Petersburgh...long story.) And yesterday we did. As a holiday gift to Mark and Patty, Bill and I hosted them to a daytrip up to Plattsburgh for lunch and a visit to the Rockwell Kent Gallery at SUNY Plattsburgh. (and then back home for dinner) .We drove up through the snowy Adirondack peaks to the frozen shores of Lake Champlain and had lunch at a nice little sandwich place there and then found the gallery.

It was worth the wait and the two hour drive. His work is as stunning as ever and even more so in person. 

 

[left: "Godspeed" 1931 woodcut  / upper left "T" illumination R. Kent / right: Rockwell Kent "Our America"  series charger Vernon Kilns (from the Young-Foote Collection)]

It was the fulfillment of a lifelong wish to see this collection and it did not disappoint. And it was made all the more sweet by the company with which it was shared. Now to plan a trip to The Hermitage...

 

January Gray

I have decided that I really do love winter. For one thing, it is the first season I recall after having moved into this new home a little over a year ago (it was really Autumn...Halloween to be precise...but it was all such a blur and a tumult it wasn't until December, when we actually closed, and Bill actually joined me here that the memories begin to clarify.)

I like how the landscape is utterly changed...more things become visible...it's spare and clean (well...when it isn't muddy after a thaw) and I like down comforters and boots and scarves and chamois shirts.

As always we reveled, ever so briefly, on New Year's Eve at Al and Sue's in Easton Connecticut. Pat and Barb were waylayed by Pat's bad back, but managed to come for breakfast New Year's Day (I keep wanting to write "Sunday"...that New Year's fell on a Friday this year really threw me.) We had to leave Missy at home and I fretted about her virtually every minute we were away. We raced home Saturday, getting back about 6 p.m. and threw open the doors of the house, hoping she was inside (where we'd asked not one, but two neighbors to put her if they saw her running around, as she is wont to do.) Alas...no Missy, but moments later, after calling her name off into the fields she came racing down the road out of the dusk. Safe and happy to see us.

The next morning, I got up and went to the store to get the paper. When I returned, Brewster greeted me at the car door per usual...and there was blood on his head! Bill was standing in the door and when I asked if he knew that Brewster had blood on him, he replied saying that Missy had been hit by a truck!...and had taken off up the road. The blood on Brewsie's head had been from his trying to comfort (I know, I know...I'm anthropomorphizing...but it sure seems like tenderness) Missy right after the accident.

She's fine now, but it was a tough day of  monitoring her and trying to find an effective way to manage her pain. Nothing was broken, fortunately. The only wounds seemed to be minor...a cut on her lip, a small, almost invisible cut over her eye. She was limping and favoring her right side and she was clearly pretty shaken up by it. I think she did her usual dodging of cars, and wasn't paying attention and didn't factor in the trailer this particular car was towing...so when she dodged the car, she was caught by surprise by the trailer and that's what hit her (according to Bill.) It still chaps my ass that whoever it was didn't have the decency to stop and at least check and see if she was alright (we know it was a red truck, towing a snowmobile trailer...if I see that person I promise they will get a piece of my mind.)

Let's be clear here, too...Missy is partly to blame, too, since she thinks nothing of going up to the farm or the barn and taking the road to do so. We are forever trying to coax her out of the road, which she seems to see as her personal domain. It's how we initially came by her as a matter of fact...she brought the other neighbor dog, Teddy, the golden lab, down the road with her.

Right after she was hit, she did what dogs who are injured do....she ran off...up the road, to who-knows-where? So I got back in the car and drove up the hill calling for her and found her on the porch of the farmer (her actual owner, but who doesn't seem to care about her one way or the other). There was no one home. She was just lying there on the porch...so I went up and ran my hands over her...she seemed to be fine except for a little blood on her mouth and eye and even that wasn't so bad.

She was definitely dazed and a little confused. I started thinking about shock. She has never allowed me or anyone to pick her up and she has steadfastly refused to get in the car (which is why we had to leave her when we went down to Connecticut ...thank goodness this didn't happen while we were gone!) or allowed us to put a collar and ID tag on her so if something like this happened, at least she could be identified and someone could let us know (you hear that red-truck-with-trailer!?!?)

I had a coat in the car, so I went to get that to cover her and keep her warm to prevent shock. As soon as I approached her with it she stood and literally seemed to warm to the coat...so I decided to go for it and just try and pick her up and put her in the car. She didn't struggle at all and allowed me to carry her to the car, open the door and put her in the back, much to my amazement. I got her back home...she didn't know how to get out of the back of the car, so I had to lift her out, which was probably best for her anyway. She immediately went into the bedroom and got on our bed. I called the vet, but there was no one in except the emergency operator...it was, of course, not only Sunday, but January 2nd. She seemed fine so we weren't really too concerned about getting her over there. I had run my hands over her rather "roughly" so I could feel if there was anything broken (or to see if she reacted). And there was nothing like that. Her only tenderness seemed to be the right front paw, and even that she allowed me to handle rather firmly to see if I felt anything broken. She was so good...she was obviously in pain but she let me check her, and a couple of times actually hurt her inadvertently during the day. The two of us spent the day on the bed with her pretty much. Brewster circled around, licking at Missy's face, and we just watched her breathe. She looked a wreck, her entire coat suffering from what looked like "bed head"...and when she got up and moved around she was stiff and tentative and sad to watch.

No surprise, slowly over the day, she seemed to get more and more sensitive and more sore. We finally decided to give her a naproxen (we figured she is about 60 - 70 pounds...it was a 200 mg human dose) and it seemed to do the trick. Within the hour she was much more spry, able to move, started eating and drinking...and this morning all is back to normal, except she is still limping slightly. Bill opened the door for her to go pee ...and she immediately headed out on to the road, following the double yellow line all the way back up the hill to the barn, for a visit.

We don't think we'll take her to the vet. We would if we thought there might be even a slight chance there was something wrong we couldn't see. But a) she really isn't our dog, even though she lives with us, sleeps with us and is fed by us. She belongs to the farmer technically and legally. And b) it wouldn't be cheap to take her in...it would no doubt involve x-rays at a minimum and we would rather not go to that expense right now, as much as we love her. Be assured we would do so if there was the slightest indication that it would be in her best interests to get checked out.

She's running up and down the stairs today, jumping on and off the bed. Eating her usual meal and generally looking and feeling her old self. 

 

All is back to normal. Whatever that is. We have a full tank of oil and a fireplace that keeps us warm. The Yule tree is still up and sparkling but as soon as that comes down, the gray hard cold of January will prevail again.

A Happy and Prosperous 2011 to All!

Off to Easton Connecticut for the evening and a hurried trip back so Missy isn't alone too long...