Dinner Party Day

I am feeling the love. 

I was terribly worried about how I’d cope with winter—rather, with endless indoor life. Summer was so exhilarating; I was outdoors all day every day and could not imagine what I’d do when the weather changed. But I’m thrilled with how my days are rolling out, so far. I should have known. This is my third winter.

I’m rarely idle. I find lots of little things to do; I’m blissfully happy. It’s rather a miracle to me how well I do in rural solitude. I’ve really settled into being Chris.2 and absolutely life my life here. Tonight Eoin, François and Jay come for dinner. And next weekend, it’s Adrienne and Christian. 

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A friend sent this link: It’s MJ Rodriguez and John Salazar in a current LA (Pasadena Playhouse) production of Little Shop of Horrors. What lovely voices! And could these performers be more appealing? I absolutely love the song and show. Listen to the audience in the clip; they cheer mid-way through the song and again at the end. I feel why. More tears. I’ve watched it six times already. (Steve and Tim saw this show and sent photos.) Here is the link.

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I have a crush on a neighbour—one of those crushes that’ll never be realized and that I don’t want  realized because I’m a non-practicing homosexual who prefers a fantasy life. Well, yesterday he asked me when I was inviting him over for a hot tub. I couldn’t answer; I laughed. And I dream.

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I was in the kitchen all day yesterday, but working casually. I prepare my meals for guests over two days so that I’m not stressed during their visit. I made one of my favourite dishes: Crushed beets, soaked in browned ghee with toasted toast poppy seeds added to faro linguini that’s dark brown and readily absorbs the red of the beets. I serve it with a big dollop of goat cheese.

And I blind baked a tart shell and cooked three monstrous heads of garlic that will go into a quiche with spinach and lots of sharp white cheddar. And I baked a meringue bowl for the Pavlova. 

Today I’ve got to pull everything together, but François and Eoin are bringing the appetizers—and thank God; I hate making appies. And Jay is bringing me some of his home-grown excellent Marijuana.

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Big breakthrough: I discovered why I’ve been having trouble with my pastry. I did not know how to convert baking temperatures to convection temperatures, but now I do.