More Home Cooking

I know I'm a florist and you would think I would be posting pics of all the beautiful flowers we have at the shop and some of the arrangements we've been doing. But forget that. Right now I'm into what we've been eating or are going to eat.



Tonight is Katsu-don, pork cutlet over rice. I have shown this dish before but minus recipe. I have by my side, a little stained piece of paper torn from The New York Times magazine, sometime ago. It calls for 4 lean boneless pork chops pounded 1/4 of an inch thin, dipped into egg and coated with panko. Actually they want you to dust with flour first but I skip that step. Then I chill the meat cutlets and apparently write a blog entry.


When ready to eat, I put on a pot of sticky rice and in a medium skillet place a thinly sliced yellow onion in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin(japanese rice wine) and 1/2 cup of water and simmer until onion is wilted.



While this is happening I cook the pork cutlets in batches until golden. Then when there is a little liquid left in the onion pan, pour 3 lightly beaten eggs atop and poach on the onion/soy mixture (do not stir).



When the egg has set a bit, scatter a handful of cooked peas over the egg. Divide the omelet into 4 pieces, place on top of steamed rice , slice the cutlets into slices and pour the pan juices over all this goodness. The original recipe adds pickled red ginger and crumbled, toasted nori. Maybe yes, maybe no, all depends what I have in the house.

With or without the garnishes, this is a delish dish.

And The Winner Is

I have done nothing today. For some people on a day off this is not unusual. For little Ms.Busy (me) it's a rarity. I went to Anthropologie and bought a glass knob for 6.00 to go on the lid of a green glass canister we got at the Goodwill for 3.49. Hmmm. There was also some clothes shopping, lunching, coffee drinking and laughing. Now I'm catching up on blog reading and debating what to cook for dinner.

Yesterday was busy. We grocery shopped, went Goodwill hunting, did laundry and a modicum of cleaning. A friend invited himself over to watch football and eat pizza. " Why not make pizza?" I said to myself while changing the sheets. I had saved a recipe posted by Heather of A Day In The Country and had fresh mozzarella and a can of tomatoes to make a sauce. We never got to watch the game but the 2 pizzas we made were consumed with gusto by 6 people. As advertised the dough was foolproof and rose to alarming heights. I doubled the recipe and next time will split the dough in half and make thinner pizza. And yes Virginia, there will be another time. This recipe is a winner. Thanks Heather.

Snow Flowers

Sunday morning cold. Yesterday's surprise snowstorm (to us at the flower shop who toil on without benefit of constant weather updates) is still piled up on the ground. The nicest part of the snowstorm was when we drove down our plowed (quel surprise) street and discovered a neighbor had shoveled both our driveway and a path to our door. And then Tini brought us Thai food for dinner and "Julie and Julia" to watch. Our life is good, very, very good.


When I leave the shop on Saturday I always grab a handful of flowers. By then I'm so tired I just want a few stems of something simple. Maybe a few roses, this time of year a flowering branch (cherry this week) and some spring things. I usually stick them in a water glass and fall into the bath. Sunday morning I put them in vases. An odd assortment of vases, may I say, some vintage coke bottles, a basalmic vinegar bottle and this week some que cute 1 shot tequilla bottles we begged from a New Years Eve party. A strange vessel for a non drinker but too cute not to keep. Tho' I must say cleaning them out on New Years Day was a experience I'm glad I don't have every morning.


Now breakfast and then grocery shopping. I dare anyone to watch "Julie and Julia" and not feel the need to cook something fabulous instantly.

Pokie Picks A Book

Re: previous post. Everybody and I mean everybody reads at my house.

A Perfect Day For Bananafish

What a perfect title. Rest In Peace J.D. Salinger. The bathtub scene in Franny And Zooey made me laugh out loud, every time I read it. Holden Caulfield's little sister Phoebe. Goddamn Phoebe I loved her. I loved Salinger. We didn't read him in school. I went to Catholic schools, not at all liberal or progressive. I was about as self destructive as Holden Caulfield and managed both an expulsion from boarding school myself, and one from all girls Catholic college too.

Reading saved my life. My grandmother taught me to read when I was 3. I read Gone With The Wind in 4th or 6th grade. What ever grade it was, the nuns did not approve. I was always in trouble, never studying, always a mouth on me, but boy could I read. Books showed me there was a larger world out there, different kinds of people, everybody didn't wear a uniform. I wore one for 12 years.

A big thank you to all the authors who opened doors to different rooms for me, who led me down different paths than the ones I was shown. Who provided a much needed escape hatch. Who continue to enrich my life every day. Let's hear it for the written word.

The Simple Things

Today Soul Aperture blog is sending 1.00 to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti for every blog that lists the simple things that make their souls sing.
Let me count the ways:


Sunshine. A summer day in June. Being at home cooking during a rain
or snow storm. Windows wide open with birds singing and a breeze blowing.
Discovering a new author who has written lots of books. Rereading a favorite
book. An iced grande skim latte, especially one drunk with friends all talking a
mile a minute. Laughing at work. Working in the garden. The first
snowdrop, lily of the valley, smell of lilac, fruit tree blossoms. Taking a cool
shower after many hot hours weeding. Feeding friends and family. Being fed
by friends and family. Finding a new blog that speaks to my heart. Exercising
my heart muscles. Loving, living every moment of my life, feeling gratitude.



From the garden: ripe tomatoes, juicy raspberries, fresh basil, the first fig.

At work: a sharp knife, fresh flowers, a beautiful arrangement by a coworker.

At home: flannel sheets in the winter, cool cotton in the summer, a cup of tea, walking barefoot on clean floors.

I'm Not A Modernist. Dammit.

I can't help it. I page through magazine after magazine. I read blog after blog. I love contemporary spaces, neutral colors, the perfect chair, painting, blackboard wall. Then, there I am, in a consignment shop on Sunday loving a little wingback chair. Only 25" wide, in a colorway I can't identify but I know will work with the couch. On Tuesday afternoon, after a tough 2 hours ordering the Valentine's Day flowers with my boss, I give in. Call the shop, it's closed, but the owner will meet us there. My boss and I rush over and collect chair. Triumphantly bring it home. All dreams of uncluttered living are put to rest.
It's here, it works, I am not a modernist. Fine.