StephanieL

One of N's work colleagues gave her some homegrown tomatoes, so we had BAT sandwiches (A for arugula) on sourdough.

RG cassoulet beans and various roasted vegetables, baked in a cast-iron skillet with a tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella. Peaches & cream pie from a local restaurant for dessert.

We had a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes this year, so N made a kind of galette, with the tomatoes and a combination of gruyere and fresh mozzarella. The crust had fresh thyme, lemon zest, and Parmesan in it.

A fashion legend.

Butternut squash and ricotta ravioli purchased at the farmer's market, with a homemade pesto of pumpkin seeds, fresh thyme, garlic, and pumpkin seed oil.

Oh yeah--complete games by the starting pitcher were still routine. No damn metrics.

I'll give it a try with my Sipsmith gin, which is 83.2 proof (not a typo).

In the 90s in the East and South Bay. N and I lasted only 2 hours at the South Africans' Labor Day Weekend braai.

I've been a Spotify user for years. I "subscribe" to two playlists: Discover Weekly and Throwback Thursday. Every other playlist I listen to is from some other source, especially the New York Times and the Guardian. Because what I end up listening to is a mix of jazz, funk, oldies, and newer music, the Discover Weekly playlist serves me up a lot of that, and I've been getting some great deep cuts over the last few weeks. No fake AI bands.

Currently watching a 4-part 30 for 30 series on the 1986 New York Mets, called "Once Upon a Time in Queens". Most of the first episode was a run up to the 1986 season, complete with the awful history of the team until the early 1980s (except for the 1969 and 1973 seasons). I've always been a Yankees fan, but I remember that season well. Observations: Some teams were still wearing their double-knit, beltless uniforms from the 1970s, and the Pirates had their old-timey square caps Stirrups! No expansion teams (Marlins, Rockies, etc.) and no interleague play You could still barrel into the catcher as you ran into home plate In the age before social media, the players could really misbehave off the field

The Matador: equal parts tequila, Curacao, and dry vermouth, shaken and strained into a cocktail glass. What tequila to use is up to you.

I made the chicken and vegetable tagine recipe from 52 Shabbats--no chickpeas, lots of vegetables. I substituted yellow squash for eggplant to make it more "summery". Whole wheat couscous on the side.

We wandered into Omnivore Books yesterday before going to afternoon tea 2 blocks up, and found out by accident that one of their major sales was happening. Lots of books 50% off, especially those they'd bought for author readings. We got Faith Kramer's 52 Shabbats and Chef Freddie Bitsoie's New Native Kitchen (N is making dinner from the latter tonight). Plus, outside the store is a Little Free Cookbook Library, and I picked up the US edition of the companion volume to the 1982 BBC series "Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery".

"A cock, in a frock, on a rock." One of my favorite movie quotes.

How about some Midnight Oil? "Diesel and Dust" is very good.

At 87.

Disappointed that Helen Rosner didn't mention the North Jersey Sloppy Joe, which is basically a club sandwich. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-food-scene/the-sloppy-joe-makes-a-kicky-comeback

Have you seen the Kurosawa original?

A recipe that appeared at the end of one of Jamelle Bouie's columns: giant white beans with spinach, tomatoes, and feta. I used the newish RG Peruvian Limas. I thought the 1 1/2 pounds of spinach and 1/2 cup of dill were typos, but you really do need that much. Fussy recipe, but tasty.

There's no brand information on the two we have. I don't know where N got them, though I suspect they may have come from one of those big restaurant supply stores.

Dang. It was always good for a decent meal. NYC Restaurant Elephant and Castle Is Closing in West Village | Eater NY

That's exactly what N uses her chinois for--straining some of the fruit solids off (but not all) when she's making jam.

Lake Tahoe isn't a city per se, though you could have fun tootling around the lake and going into Reno and Truckee.

It's in the high 80s here, so of course my visiting MIL wanted goat stew with couscous last night. Since she and I are being kept apart while the in-laws are here, I had my portion after it had cooled down a little, which frankly wasn't so bad.

Head cold and not much appetite, so chicken noodle soup from our local fancy market.