12/12/2009

Saturday - Wreath 4, Movie Night, Cooking like a Painter, King Arthur's Knights









Williamsburg Wreath

1. Movie Night at Home
Last night we watched the delightful film, "The Ladies no.1 Detective Agency" . Its charming, non-tinseled, and subtly amusing. The character of the No.1 Lady Detective is warm, wise and courageous. Her secretary keeps you laughing. The story is set in Botswana; I am not sure where it is filmed. The landscape, animals, and vibrant colors brought back wonderful memories for me of my 1985 trip to Kenya for the United Nations Conference on Women. FYI - We ordered the film from Netflix.

2. Cooking Like A Painter
Never thought I would cook and eat beef liver - but this week I have and I did. Ofcourse I had a powerful motivation to tackle cooking liver. When another patient at the Chemo Lab told me eating liver frequently helped keep her red blood count up I made a note in my book, "feed Jim liver."

Monica stopped at Shoppers and purchased a package of beef liver for me. I checked the internet for recipes and decided on liver and onions. Once the thin-sliced yellow onions were transparent and soft in the skillet I added the slippery slices of dark red liver. All seemed OK. I was hopeful. But once it was cooked the mixture looked blah and pathetic - well ugly. The cooked liver turned a hideous greyish brown. The look of the dish called out for help. So I let my painter's eye take over the recipe. I opened the cupboard. The first thing I saw was a can of red kidney beans. I drained and added them. Good color choice. But not enough. When a painting is floundering I give it a touch of red. Why not this? So I diced in a bright red fresh tomato. Served it over thick slices of toasted 5-grain bread. Perfect! Jim loved it.
The next day I gave the liver dish an encore with a side of bright yellow scrambled eggs. It looked and tasted good.
Frugal Tip: The package of liver Monica bought was huge. I divided it into four packages for the freezer as well as used one portion. All for $3.06. That's a lot of protein for pennies if you and your family develop a taste for it. And, if you do, remember to watch your colors.

3. Reading more King Arthur.
Earlier this year I read John Steinbeck's a version of Mallory's Knights of the Round Table and thoroughly enjoyed it. But the stories are still a bit distant for me to try to tell. And, that is what I want to do. To be able to tell something more than Dame Ragnell.

This week I discovered a series of Young Adult books written by Gerald Morris which take you through the stories of the Knights of the Round Table with his invention, Terence, Squire to Sir Gawain. I am thoroughly enjoying them. I recognize the stories from the Steinbeck telling but they are easier to enter and the repetition makes it easier for me to follow the progression of the myths. Morris includes a version of Ragnell. I am re-reading Steinbeck now to see how he made his changes. Fun. I love entering another world and hanging around in it for a while.

When I tire of all these male heroes I look forward to re-reading Zimmer's The Mists of Avalon.

4 comments:

BYRSTN said...

Ellouise,

I have discovered after a lifetime of hating liver, I like it. The only explanation I can come up with is that it is another chemo gift. So far, before BC (breast cancer and chemo) I disliked red wine, bleu cheese and liver (HATED). Now, whie wine tastes like vinegar to me, I adorn blue cheese and (yikes) like liver. I haven't tried making it yet. Tony loves it but it was forbidden in the house unless he fixed it and ate it all up. He has had it when dining out now in the last few months and I tasted it just to make sure it was still nasty. And it wasn't. Chemo - the gift that keeps giving.

Hugs to you and Jim. You are in my thoughts and prayers and eat that liver!

Betty

Dianne said...

Ellouise,

When Mamomma would come visit, she and I would occasionally go to the cafeteria and get liver and onions. Guess I developed a taste for it when I was young. My momma would fix it and I think 3 other children in my family it it as well. As for your brother.....that would be a big negative! Only fried chicken livers with gravy!

Mary said...

Just one caveat -- I have read that since liver concentrates toxins, it shouldn't be eaten too often -- once a week perhaps? It's been a while since I read that, though, so it may have all changed by now . . .
I think I'd still rather have someone else fix it. My mom did a good job with it, I think by browning it well at the beginning. . .

Anonymous said...

If you really want to eat liver- go organic. The liver functions as a filter, hmmm.