Day Five: Trees and Tofu

posted November 21, 2017

When times are dark, there are dogs and trees. I really am obsessed with trees this time of year. I am in love with that red maple. How many days in a row can I mention it in this blog? Should I post yet another picture of it?

Obligatory Red Maple photo

Someone from my Monday night writing group said, “Your blog isn’t really about your barn, is it?” And someone else said, “I thought you were going to give us tofu recipes!”

Tofu Recipe #1:

Get a bottle of Annie’s Organic Shiitake Mushroom salad dressing.
Pour it over a package of extra firm organic tofu (ALWAYS get organic tofu. Non organic will make you sick, and plus it negates anything you are trying to change in this country by eating tofu in the first place.)

Oh, wait, first, cut the tofu up into cubes. THEN marinate it in the salad dressing. After it’s saturated (could be 30 minutes, could be 5 days), put the desired amount of tofu cubes into a cast iron skillet  with plenty of lip, along with a good portion of the marinade, and maybe a bit extra olive oil (olive oil doesn’t need to be organic, in my opinion) and cook on medium to high heat. Toss the cubes frequently so they get crispy and brown. They should also get substantially lighter, so that they kind of float above the oil.

Serve over rice. with vegetables. Organic ones, for extra credit.

As for the barn, they are laying the first planks for the foundation!

Obligatory barn photo

 

Back to work on my book. I am excited about the suggestions from my beta-readers and working at it every day, along with going to doctors for various tests. Once you turn fifty, it seems your warranties all expire and you have to go to doctors constantly. Last Friday, I was naked on the table, about to get a bone density test, and the technician said, “Where’s your physical order?” And I remembered that I’d forgotten it at home. So I rescheduled for today, showed up with the order in hand, and the administrator behind the desk couldn’t find me in the computer. So I have to go back tomorrow.

Last Friday, as I was taking off my clothes for said procedure (which didn’t in fact happen), I removed my favorite necklace. It was a collage necklace, or a charm necklace, if you will. I’d hung various pieces that were special to me, collected over the years: a pearl given to me by my aunt Jenifer as a gift for being in her wedding in 1983. A tiny silver cross Katryna gave me when I was 19 and very sad. A golden image of the Buddha my friend Sheila gave me when she returned from Thailand. And a beautiful circle made out of an ivory nut of a guitar. The artist used a bent guitar string to attach the circle to the necklace. When I got back to the dressing room, mission NOT accomplished, I shoved the necklace into my backpack. A few days later, I found the remains in my newly crushed and destroyed yard. I salvaged the chain, the pearl and the cross. The circle was broken, and the Buddha has disappeared. I want to replace it right away, of course, but I have learned that necklaces like these need to come to their owners over time. So I will wear the pearl and cross, and I will see what my next circle will look like.

 

The Comments

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  1. The thought of marinating tofu for five days cracked me up. But trees and dogs–I’m in total agreement!

  2. Oh, that sounds like a marvelous recipe! Don’t forget to squeeze the tofu wrapped in organic cheese cloth pressed underneath your OED (wrap this in a reusable plastic bag first to protect it) for somewhere between 30 minutes to 5 days to get rid of the excess water, so that it will absorb the dressing better. It does wonders for the tofue texture. I would recommend extra extra extra virgin (i.e. never even heard of sex) organic olive oil. You’ll taste the difference.

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