The milk vinaigrette made me in the mood for more things along this line. After dinner I made a cocktail of milk, whiskey, a few dashes of bitters, and some white sugar. I thought it was very tasty.

I was on a little pizza making kick for a few days.

“Last night I had a dinner party. Me and Justin started cooking the night before though. Mixing dough for bread. The next morning we picked some wild blueberries behind the house for a cake. We made three cakes. Ritchi came over late to do his fish. The people who came were:

• Ryan and his girlfriend Christine
• Shane and Victoria
• Ritchi and his brother Mike
• Ava Roy
• Me and Justin

Three or four more people were invited but they didn’t show up. The table had two glasses of ferns on it and it was arranged quite nice. We started off with a Vichyssoise that I made, followed by a salad. It had prosciutto, blue cheese, and olives in it and was only mediocre. Next was a baked and grilled bass with a very delicious white sauce with asparagus on the side. This was truly delicious thanks to Ritchi. Next was leg of lamb in a wine marinade with grilled vegetables. Justin was running the grill outside. Oh yes, people who didn’t want the fish had a grilled portobello mushroom. And for people who didn’t want the meat there was pasta with Ritchis white sauce. Also on the side was a Risotto done by Ritchi that was pretty good, although it ended up sitting around for an hour and by the time it was served was a bit old, but still good. Now between the fish and the meat was a palate cleanser. A pear sorbet, the only item not made in our kitchen, although it was made by Justin at Bev’s, the ice cream store he now works at. That was a pear sorbet and two slices of pear on top. There was a cheese plate but at this point most people were so full they went out on the porch to have a cigarette or two. Se we brought out tea and coffee and the three cakes. The first was the blackberry cake, then a failed sponge cake by Justin. It never rose so it was very flat. The third cake was a chocolate extravaganza, basically fudge. All that was in it was chocolate, eggs, and cream. It was quite good.

After this people slowly departed. Ritchi and his brother left first I believe. Then Ryan and Christine. Shane and Victoria went upstairs for a nap. Then at about eleven or so it started to rain and Ava and Justin were hopping around and Ava ran into the woods and Justin the little satyr ran after her. They came back half naked, sopping wet, having gone swimming. They ran up to the bathroom to change. I followed their example and decided to go for a swim myself.”

I’m getting my old sourdough active again. The yeast has become soporific but some heat and carbohydrates has enlivened it. For dinner: brussel sprouts with celery and red wine, arugula and beef.

For dinner with Ben I seared hanger steak, simmered cauliflower in butter, and sauteed broccoli rabe with pepper and onions. I’ve been in South Africa, Botswana, and San Francisco for 3 weeks, so nothing has happened on the cart. I have lots of stories, and I’ll write about those in the next few days.

Chocolate chip and brown sugar cookie dough.

The shutters have been stained umber, like the rest of the windows. I’ve just given them their first coat of petrochemical preservative.

For me and Ben last night I made a spinach quiche with celery salad.

The cats thought the quiche was edible but only barely so.

I’ve been feeding the squirrels in my backyard since the beginning of winter. The feeder used to be only 8 feet up the tree, but Tigger would chase the squirrels up into it then take a nap. Now it’s about 18 feet up.

Friday night me and Martha went out to a Chinese restaurant and ate some very good Sichuan cooking. Well, on Saturday we decided to cook a similar meal for ourselves and we made BBQ short ribs, a simple ginger pickled napa cabbage, two dipping sauces, and salad rolls with mint, basil, and romaine. For breakfast the next day we heated up the ribs, added a pile of cilantro, and threw together a little smorgasbord.

Then we went on a little picnic to Billy Goat Hill park. This reminded me of when I was 16 and went on picnics with Beth-Marie and Justin.

Lunch today was polenta, scallops, and grapefruit. I sauteed onions in a pot with olive oil and then added the dry polenta and roasting it by turning up the heat all the way. It began to smell sweet like pop corn. Perhaps some enzymes were deconstructing starch chains?