StephanieL

Finishing up "Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light". Am finding Tudor-era intrigue strangely fascinating.

Warriors squeaked through this round.

--Chicken thighs marinated in Nando's lemon-pepper sauce and grilled --South African-style curried rice salad: (brown) basmati rice, lots of curry powder, red onion, red pepper, raisins, canned peaches, and cilantro

Clams and mussels in white wine with sauteed peppers, tomatoes, and Spanish chorizo. Baguette on the side.

We have some asparagus in our garden. It's all N's, since I'm not a fan.

Working my way through the enormous Easter bread that N made. I love her, but the woman does not know how to scale portions down.

As much as I miss New York, I think I left at the right time (even though I'd never planned to leave).

Pink Gin, using up the last of our Plymouth gin.

I recently bought a bag of dried fruit "for compote", imported from Kyrgyzstan. I thought it had an odd smoky taste. Turns out, smoked dried fruit is a thing in Eastern Europe, and it is used for compote. Never knew about it.

Mine has been yogurt with compote or matzo with either cream cheese (plus cinnamon) or salted butter. Matzo brei tomorrow.

Not sure if this would be considered a gig, but N and I saw a brilliant SF Symphony concert conducted by Marin Alsop last week, making her SF Symphony debut if you can believe it. Alsop, like Gustavo Dudamel, is a conductor I've always wanted to see live, so I'm really glad I had the chance. It was one of the best classical concerts I've ever seen. Review here: Conductor Marin Alsop Makes High-Octane Debut With SF Symphony | San Francisco Classical Voice

Leftover Alubia Blancas with cod fillets en papillote and sauteed Swiss chard. Chocolate-covered macaroons and K for P rainbow cookies for dessert.

Yes, more from eGullet than here.

At least you're not hearing "cringe" everywhere (as an expression/reaction, not as a verb).

Passover work is done! Sponge cake that I made for my friends' seder came out nice, the compote is likewise done, and I've already cracked open some of the sweets I ordered from Zabar's (well in advance this year). I used a South African recipe for the compote, where you soak figs and prunes in port for 2 days first (finally, a good use for the Cockburn's my parents "discovered" in Portugal, and if it's not OK for Passover, I don't want to know). Last Sunday afternoon, completely out of the blue, the doorbell rang and I saw a teenage boy standing on my doorstep holding a small box of shmurah matzah. Complements of Chabad of Fremont, he said. I went to Rosh Hashanah services there a few years ago, so they must have my contact info. I'm bringing it to the seder. Considering that the Fremont branch has a lot more resources than the Castro Valley branch, I'm hoping this shmurah matzoh isn't quite as awful as last year's.

Thank you.

On Tuesday, N made sausage and peppers. Yesterday, she combined the leftover sauteed peppers and onions with bucatini and RG Alubia Blancas. We now have beans left over, so those will probably go into a fish dish on Sunday.

Me too! All I care about is that the place is clean and I can hear my dining companion.

All combined in a blender!

We have a still. Maybe N will fire it up again.

OTOH, the couple whose Austrian wedding we're going to have made a very complete wedding site on The Knot, complete with links to the RSVP page, hotel, venue, and travel information, and sightseeing tips.

A very British lunch: Heinz Baked Beans on toast topped with grated Scottish cheddar.

I've heard through the grapevine that MF member Maureen O'Reilly passed away yesterday. I can't remember what her screen name was, as there are many folks here whose real name (or full name) I've never learned.

A mixture of traditions: a bialy followed by a hot cross bun.

Almost 91.