Friday ruminations

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As another full week comes to a close, I find myself even more tired than usual, looking ahead to the next two weeks with some trepidation as T will be out of town for about half that, but happy. I am flat on my back, in bed, computer on my thighs, only my head at a slight incline forced so by a strategic pillow I thought to position just before tumbling to prostrate. I am feeling inordinately grateful for the good babysitter that is downstairs, ever-patient with the boys' incessant yammering on about, at present, the fortresses they're building from a cool set of planks and connectors I bought them while in Charleston. They've enslaved all manner of plastic toy animal -purple poisonous spider and friends - and there is no end to the chastising of Percy. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for a proxy mom right now?

When Jack entered PK, two of his classmates' moms and I hosted a cocktail party for all the PK mothers. It was such a fun success that we made it an annual, grade-wide tradition, and last night was the third such get-together. Some of these women have become some of my dearest friends; all are so talented, bright, lovely, and I am grateful to be a part of this community. The food was terrific too which was the perfect buttercream on the proverbial cake. Lastly, it was a treat to be surrounded by ladies as, when I left my own home, there was entirely too much farting and other assorted male behavior going on. Dios.

Tonight I'm doing something with some beautiful Gulf shrimp I bought yesterday. I've been cold today so a stew of sorts sounds tantalizing- ooh, maybe I'll make my Shrimp Cassoulet! Oh, this reminds me... Friend LW, you can sub regular Pomi tomatoes for the tomato-basil variety. Just add some fresh basil if you can. Parsley is an option but an inferior one.

And we've got a few lemon-ricotta bars left... and I just found a glorious-looking recipe for a Ricotta Budino...so much to cook and enjoy!

Coconuts: delicious, a real pain

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Last night I had a nightmare that we'd had to give Percy and Nutmeg away even though we didn't want to (to be honest, I was more upset about the cat; I want to be more of a dog person, y'all, but I'm just not). I was really troubled by Nutmeg's absence: where was he? was he OK? So, when he flew into our bed at 5am, purring like a revved motorbike, I was surprised, thrilled and peeved. He was not gone, but he was sniffing my face and nipping at my wrists. Hungry, growing males are everywhere in my home it seems. Jesus. NIK_2318So I'm pretty gaga now and feeling very lucky that my first school pick-up is still three hours away. I'm also on complete pins and needles waiting for the postman to arrive because something I've been waiting for should land today or tomorrow. Otherwise I'm too tired to do or think about much else. So I decided to take a crack at opening a coconut -hah!- I bought last week because a smoothie sounded nice.

Out came my meat tenderizer because it's such a good whacking tool and to town I went. A full one hour later, I've finally got the whole coconut drained, peeled, chopped and in the freezer. ONE hour y'all. Dealing with coconuts is as time-consuming as supreming citrus fruit though it's slightly less irritating. I always buy them with big plans and enthusiasm and no sooner lay into it than swear never to do so again. They are so pretty though- such an intense white, and I love the grain.