The Mom Report

I would say that the pot is beginning its inevitable slow boil again. How do I know this? 

Went to visit the mama, and she really wanted me to take her somewhere in my car. Our household sheltering rule is that nobody goes in our cars but the two of us. Mom can't understand any of this. Our caregiver is the one who usually drives her places because the two of them are basically a household. But she lent her car to her son. So today a ride was not possible. Maybe tomorrow or the day after, when her son returns the car. And that should be ok with her. But it is not.

The litany of woe:

• You do not love me. Nobody loves me.
• If you loved me you would put me in your car.
• Prove to me that you love me by putting me in your car.
• When I come to your house tomorrow or the day after you will put me in your car? Why not? (Because I'll already be at my house, Woman. That's why.)
• Other family members put me in their car.
• You're just doing things because people tell you to.
• You used to think I was fun.
• I have done so much for you.
• If you're not taking me in your car today I'll just go back inside.
• Go home and have fun with my things and my money (a personal favorite.)

So that visit basically sucked, and I don't know what happens next.

I leave you with a pretty picture -- end paper from a mid 17th century autograph book:

Hollandaise

Made an insane recipe this morning, which I fed to mrguy. At one point I had a crisis of faith because my Hollandaise was too runny. I consulted a recipe and was just about to pull the trigger when the sauce firmed up.

I documented my success just in case the sauce broke.

Turned out fabulous.

Vacation food.

Ugly and Cute

The Drama of the Mackerel Mousse

When I was a teenager I found a recipe for mackerel mousse and made it. I was rather proud of myself. We happened to have my grandmother's individual fish-shaped jello molds and I'm *guessing* I would have used them? All I remember is that it was tasty.

So when I found a mackerel mousse recipe that needed claiming on a recipe card project that I'd heard about, I was all in. Yesterday was the day. You know how there's always a can of mackerel at your local store? It's cheap and comes in a dog food sized can. Not so down the street. It was available, but in teensy Italian $4.00 cans. I made up for it by using gelatin in my cupboard that expired 10 years ago. I got it all together and realized I didn't have enough mayo (2 tablespoons) for the recipe. Which is why I have a pineapple on the counter now. I spent $30 to get the mayo I needed! OK. Back in action.

Ingrediments (as Auntie Marialani would say):

Ancient gelatin firmed up like it should:

The resulting mousse was absolutely delicious:

I got really excited about presentation, so I started messing around with radishes and cucumbers, and a favorite pretty dish that belonged to my childhood neighbor, FX.

With molds, it's the dismount that's the hardest part. And I could not get this sucker out of the mold. I patted it and it wouldn't budge. Then I put it in a basin of warm water and it only liquefied the outer layer. So I put it back in the fridge. At the time I was listening to a Freakanomics podcast about creativity, and it was making me a little anxious. I wondered whether I should just scoop it out and abandon my plan. I went out and did a little gardening to clear my head and came back in. 

I finally decided that I should just give unmolding a try and if it failed it failed. I put plastic wrap on the bottom of the mold, put a pillow on the counter and a dish towel on that and thwocked the hell out of it. No go. I tried to introduce some air and break the vacuum by sliding a knife along the side. Nope. Finally I put mrguy's rice-filled sock in the microwave and gently heated the top of the mold. And slammed it down like hell on the pillow. Success.

It turned out amazing. I managed to fuss some more with garnish and took some pictures, which I sent to the project for their records. I posted to fb, and a friend said: "I'm getting a bit of a Judy Chicago vibe, here". 

Darn it!! Had to laugh.