The chowder was a success. I am happy to say, it was 6 hours of love and attention well worth it. “Out of this world, delicious” was what David just offered as a way to describe the chowder.
Thinking back to the earliest parts of the base, I put two drops of liquid smoke in with the olive oil and butter. I think that had something to do with it. The curry sweetness balanced with the most delicate half a minced jalapeno and fresh thyme. I used this pretentious half and half toward the end. After the potatoes and base got along just fine, I brought it all to boil and simmered for a solid twenty before letting it sit back down so I could stir in the cream.
We ate it with lemony oven friend pork chops. Nothing special there but they were *good*. I have been craving pork chops for awhile – and I think it is the lemony crunch that happens when you cook them up just right that I was really hoping for…
We digested a bit and then went over to the park. I sat and worked on some fiction writing while David walked with two of our girls around “the duck pond”. Kara, our 11 year old, came and found me and I ran ideas by her – we got excited about creepy shop keepers and lost keys and alternate realities – I wrote a little more, called our 12 year old Lucy and low and behold we landed on the name of the main character. A working way to refer to her, at least.
It’s almost 7:30pm and I have done nothing but cook and write and support our family with selling things on Facebook all day. It feels good. I am so glad for this day – that it was so beautiful and real jobs didn’t take our focus. I am grateful for time to write and for David playing the guitar while the sun starts to get low behind him.
I am grateful for the chowder and for lemons and for local cream sold in thick glass bottles. I am grateful for expensive pork chops cut from pigs who learned how to watercolor first and for the experimental self discovery that occurs when you cook and create. There is really simply nothing like it.
Maybe music and writing are similar, actually. The common denominator for me in all three is how excited I get to share. :)
Frozen Spaghetti 