Planted the last of the basil. The basil did surprisingly well this summer. The rest of the herbs not so much. But that’s okay — I love pesto far more than anyone should, so if only one herb was gonna survive, the right one did. Also on the domestic front, made granola from Mark Bittman’s recipe. I broke my own rule against using the oven when it’s 100 degrees out, but it was worth it.
Finally bought my mom the updated Scrabble dictionary. She had a 1970s edition that didn’t even have “zine” or “zin.” I ask you, how am I supposed to win at Scrabble without being able to use “zin?” It’s on, Mom!
I read one of the Navy SEALS meet the Vikings books by Sandra Hill. I am sad. It was not what I was hoping for. I wonder now if I have to write the books that I want to read? It worked for Karen Joy Fowler in “The Jane Austen Book Club.” (Obviously, I can’t write SEALS and Vikings because Hill pretty much owns the category, but still.)
Austin, Texas, is a Stella d’Oro free zone or something, so when I went to Connecticut I bought a couple of packages to remind me of the cookies of my youth. Well, my sister just sent me a care package of Stella d’Oro! Woo-hoo! We have the anisette cookies, and the madeleine-like ones, and these little fudge ones that I didn’t even know existed. What with the heat and the lack of Stella d’Oro, Austin was really losing its remaining cachet.
3 Comments
J, Cheney · July 29, 2009 at 8:47 pm
You read one of those SEALS books? Really?
I must go buy one! Everyone’s read one but me!
Bethe Bugbee · July 30, 2009 at 8:52 am
Ahh – cookies from home. My parents just visited my brother in Chicago and brought us back a large box of Salerno Butter Cookies. My mother and I reminisced about dunking them in milk – and that tricky part of holding them in just long enough for them to get a little bit softer without turning into a soggy mess that falls off and sinks to the bottom of the glass. The kids were eager to try the cookies, but both gave me one of those “What’s the big deal?” looks once they had bitten into them. Oh well, more for me.
Patrice Sarath · July 30, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I recommend the SEALS books for their genuine good humor. I just wanted more from them than I got. They are certainly fluffy, and God knows I don’t mind fluff, but they could also have been awesome, and I didn’t get awesomeness.
Bethe, my kids have the same reaction to Stella d’Oro — meh. But to me they are the very taste of childhood. Kids these days! Whataya gonna do?