For dinner today, I made pasta with pork chops. My mother told me the story that her mother used to make spaghetti with pork chops baked with pasta instead of meatballs or sausage. I made it before, and it is good, and so today I made Nadine’s Pork Chops Rigatoni. I cook the pasta and added Vodka sauce from a jar and then baked it all with pork chops that I first browned in a pan. I also drank a beer as Grandma drank a bit.
(A scan of a photo Grandma Nadine Bailey she sent me while I was in college, about 1987)
Yesterday I noticed that I still have the Marriott Hot Shoppe cookbook–five-six bucks for a used copy on Amazon delivered. There is a recipe for Bread Pudding that is exactly like the recipe that Grandma Wild loved. She asked me to make it for her when I was back from searching for a job in Washington, D.C. I will have to make this weekend. My sister would have me make two versions, Linda cannot eat raisins (someone convinced that they are like flies and she has never been able to eat them–don’t know who did that), so I would make one without raisins and one with.
(From one of the last times I saw Grandma Lee Wild in 2006)
This week food has brought back memories of cooking and Grandma’s. It is good sometimes to remember with food.
Work started as usual at about 6AM. Corwin was up this morning and had coffee made. We split a pot of coffee and then French Press after that. We are talking pretty fast by late morning!
I cleared the email and approvals and a few crises of the moment before getting a shower and cleaned up. I then did my first Zoom call at 8AM. I was triple booked. I did two of the meetings by leaving one early when they did not need my input.
After more email, Zoom meetings, messages, and a few more approvals, Corwin and I headed to the local Reedville Cafe. There I had halibut and chips, and Corwin had country fried steak, PNW comfort food! I noticed closer attention to masks and safety than last time. The customers appeared to take masks and cleaning more seriously this time. I felt safer.
I saw on a few suggestions that folks were binge-watching Foyle’s War from the BBC. I remember liking it, but I never had time for TV anymore. So I bought the first season from Apple and watched the first two episodes. It is really great and worth a watch if you like murder mysteries. These are set at the start of WW2 in Britain.
More than six-hundred, eighty Americans are reported to have died today from the virus. The infection rate continues to explode, but the New York Times is reporting that the death rate is stabilized or falling. As I suspected, they believe better treatments and the extreme lockdown for the elderly and immune system compromised people (no adventures for us) have prevented the death rate from again peeking. The first good news, I think, in a few weeks.
It is a favorite for me as I can sing this, and I found this newly produced version: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Vocal and Instrumental) – La Sierra University.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 