Saturday, July 4, 2009
Back from the fireworks
Actually, they weren't bad, not as extravagant as previous years, especially the finale, but a lot more creative and new and splendid types of explosions. We got there at 830, way too early, but at least got a spot on the verge, across the freeway from where they let them off. So we walked over to Mexican place and bought a couple of fresh chicken fajitas and ate them back on the grass. Aah holidays and food, they go together so well.
The Beginning
It wasn't long before the sun baked the peppers. 105 degrees out today. That is a good water temperature to put yeast in when making bread. But if you turn the hose on to water the peppers, make sure not to splash yourself to cool down. It will burn like spitting oil from the frying pan.
You can't water during the day. Splash the leaves and they burn like bugs under a magnifying glass. So water in the evening, when the sun is settling behind the oak trees. After dinner. That time when good food digesting makes you want to sit and do nothing. Gardening, like walking dogs, has to be done. You can't just leave either one to their own devices. They both need our help and love. It makes a perfect end to the day, transitioning between the physical and the spiritual.
Baking bread is one of those immensely satisfying and rewarding activities. Proust rated it up there with penning great prose. There is also both an art and science to doing it well. Get the science wrong and you are throwing away a loaf with a rock hard crust and a doughy yeasty center. Get the art wrong, and at best it leaves you thinking that paying $4 at Whole Foods is worth every penny.
Done right, and the taste and pleasure and satisfaction of eating a buttered slice of home made bread spread with real fruit organic jam and a lump of good cheddar, is as good as it gets.
Today is July 4th and it is one of those days when eating good satisfying food is an all day affair. Dozing watching the golf. This is living the dog's life. Not bad at all. Later on we will go down to Georgetown, park somewhere near the freeway, take the folding chairs out of the trunk, and set up on a grassy verge to watch the fireworks. Then feeling that another year has gone by, like on all annual occasions, and slightly let down because they didn't seem as extravagant and dramatic as last year, trundle home for more food. Holidays and food, linked together in a soporific loaf of comfort.
You can't water during the day. Splash the leaves and they burn like bugs under a magnifying glass. So water in the evening, when the sun is settling behind the oak trees. After dinner. That time when good food digesting makes you want to sit and do nothing. Gardening, like walking dogs, has to be done. You can't just leave either one to their own devices. They both need our help and love. It makes a perfect end to the day, transitioning between the physical and the spiritual.
Baking bread is one of those immensely satisfying and rewarding activities. Proust rated it up there with penning great prose. There is also both an art and science to doing it well. Get the science wrong and you are throwing away a loaf with a rock hard crust and a doughy yeasty center. Get the art wrong, and at best it leaves you thinking that paying $4 at Whole Foods is worth every penny.
Done right, and the taste and pleasure and satisfaction of eating a buttered slice of home made bread spread with real fruit organic jam and a lump of good cheddar, is as good as it gets.
Today is July 4th and it is one of those days when eating good satisfying food is an all day affair. Dozing watching the golf. This is living the dog's life. Not bad at all. Later on we will go down to Georgetown, park somewhere near the freeway, take the folding chairs out of the trunk, and set up on a grassy verge to watch the fireworks. Then feeling that another year has gone by, like on all annual occasions, and slightly let down because they didn't seem as extravagant and dramatic as last year, trundle home for more food. Holidays and food, linked together in a soporific loaf of comfort.
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