Happy holidays.
Isn't it a holiday period for nearly all of humanity? Regardless
of faith, function or flock, it's a holiday season: Christian of all
flavor, Jew, Muslim, Wiccan, Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh. Southern
and Northern hemisphere alike, we celebrate this longest night/longest day
seasonal apogee once again, with festivals and fasts and feelings
of fleeting human form. Life is short, a few precious decades,
made of years, made of seasons. And holidays.
My dear wife finally got the proper holiday festival she so wanted
and deserves this recent Thanksgiving. When we met in 1999, I'm afraid I
stole the holidays from her that year with the whirlwind activities
surrounding our courtship and marriage on Dec. 22. And last year, we
were moving. Today, a year ago today as a matter of fact, Liz and
I moved cats and luggage, having spent most of November packing.
And Christmas, which at least sported a tree, was nevertheless
constrained by moving-moving in considerations.
But this year, we are settled. Sure, we still have a garage muddled
with boxes and lots of what-not, but we are in our home, we are
both actually in town and both free to take simply the normal
Thanksgiving weekend - 4 days - to ourselves; a break both of
us sorely needed. I think at one point we came to the realization
that we'd both been busy as the proverbial whatever since we married.
So we needed it. And coming up for air meant food. Lots and lots of food.
Did I mention Liz can cook? Did I mention she hails from Mississippi?
Put those to facts together and you may have some idea as to the
scope and magnitude of the fare upon which we did feast this
Holiday season.
Speaking of food, I am obliged to share a recipe here. I'm not generally
one to share recipes, unless asked, nor am I generally one to follow
them -- I've noticed that most cooking involves ingredients more
than a recipe, although occasionaly process awareness is
required.
If you are ever in Madrid, a wonderful city which I would recommend seeing,
and you are in need of sustenance, something besides McDonald's or
Burger King, where I most often seek nutritional solace when I'm abroad,
please consider stopping by Meson TXiSTL (or something like that)
at Infata Mercedes, 79, tel: 91 579 08 71- 91 579 6264.
It's country Basque cooking and the Sopa Castilla there will heal whatever
weary road ills may befall the world traveler. I've been nourished
twice now by that soup, which I believe is the best soup I have ever
eaten. The first time I had it was a business trip last year, I think.
I chanced to have the soup again during my recent trip for
the second stop on the
Sun Tech Days tour.
I was once again convinced it was the best soup I had ever eaten, so
I begged Juliette LaCoste, who works for Sun and lives in Paris,
but who also happens to speak a bit of Spanish and was willing to
help, to help me procure the recipe for said soup, which I share now
as a recipe for whatever ails you. If you need sustenance, guidance,
peace or healing, cook some of this soup. Eat it. You will be healed.
(Note: the pork in the soup recipe could probably be replaced by
some well-fried bits of pinon pine nuts, for the pork-fearing and
vegetarian crowd...).
The ingredients for the Sopa Castilla, as given to me by the chef
at said bistro and translated by Spanish scholars in the employ of
the world's greatest media conglomerates are as follows:
Smoked Ham
Garlic
Bread
Egg
Olive Oil
Crushed Red Pepper
Water
For those recipe bound, do what we did when we tried this at home:
Heat 3/8 cup olive oil in a large saucepan
Add 1/4 cup crushed garlic, 1/2 cup minced smoked ham
Let cook on low heat for a while...till it smells quite good
Add 2 cups of broken up bread: plain white
Let cook for a five minutes
Add 4 cups water and 1/16 cup crushed red pepper
Bring to a mild boil - let simmer 5 minutes
With heat on low, add two eggs (do not break yolks)
Poach eggs in soup until yolks just begin to solidify
Serve immediately. Makes two decent servings, unless you're quite piggy
like me and require all of it for yourself...in which case, you may
wish to increase the amount of smoked ham or whatever.
This recipe for Sopa Castilla will rock your world, change your
sex life, and bring great prosperity and honor to your household.
It will also ensure long life and good health and make you very
wise as you grow older. There is one ingredient I neglected to
mention, however, that must be added for the recipe to work
properly and deliver all the benefits promised: love. You must
add love, as my sweet Liz has done to all the holiday cooking
we've enjoyed. That one key ingredient ensures proper nutrition
as well as all the other benefits promised by said soup...or any
other recipe for that matter.
...
Speaking of recipes, Liz and I moved here a year ago today. We left our
little Bohemian-loft, which was one flight up over the most killer fruit
stand on 9th avenue in Manhattan's sweltering midtown. One year ago today
we awoke in an achey fog, too tired to think or even hesitate. We'd
been through hell, until 3:00am with the movers, 20 hours plus loading
everything we'd managed to burrow and pack into nearly 1500 square feet of
midtown. It's been a year.
God bless you, happy holidays, live long and prosper.
It's good to be home.
If
there's hope for humanity it's in software