First Three from Memory

01.02.10 to 01.03.10

Evening

I remember running to the market for ingredients, determined to set the table… first Saturday, first Sabbath meal. I am pretty sure I cooked, but I can’t remember what I cooked three weeks later. Evelyn was at the table. We were seven. While it was the one of the busiest Saturdays I can remember (literal here), the dinner was an enormous luxury. Leisurely. I remember the banter, smiles etched in my mind all these weeks later. I remember a cake. Hannah and Evelyn baked a cake.

Morning

I remember two things:

1. From waking up to driving home, the mood was pleasant.

2. Every so often the pastor asks us to call out hymns to sing, in between songs asks people to call out prayer and praise. A woman sitting next to her husband said she was thankful that her son is clean from drugs and alcohol for six months. Sobering.

Evening

I remember thinking that I could not remember working as hard as I was working on this Sunday­– in the midst of processing 75+ student submissions for Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, getting ready to get back to teaching in a couple handful of hours, trying to formulate a plan to accomplish my MFA responsibilities (wondering why I volunteered to lead the January group discussion), laundry.

01.09.10 to 01.10.10

Evening

I remember running to the market for ingredients, determined to set the table… first Saturday, first Sabbath meal (yes, begins the same). Sara and Hannah cooked together in the kitchen while I, you guessed it, worked on the Sabbath. But listening to Sara and Hannah chat about music (Ear Candy was born from this conversation), knowing that dinner was coming, made the work bearable. Lemon-off-Sara’s-tree chicken, roasted Brussels sprouts with carrots and onions, mashed potatoes and butternut squash, wild salad (from a Fresh and Easy “ready” bag), and homemade caramel sauce on ice-cream for dessert. Sara was at the table. We were seven.

Morning

We didn’t make it to church. We needed to sleep. This day was consumed with more work made bearable by the promise of Sabbath pockets.

Evening

Made soup from broth that we simmered all night.

01.16.10 to 01.17.10

Liam and Tayor left for Mammoth. I think Søren stayed behind to enjoy the silence. Hannah is a responsible college student.

After six weeks of non-stop, I spent the day with Willie… camera shopping.

Evening

Søren set the table for three. We were three. Made a soup that Søren and I watched Giada prepare (I doubled the carrots and can’t imagine it with fewer).

Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

• 1 dried bay leaf

• 1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

• 1 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces, *see Cook's Note

• 2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat

• 1 cup grated Romano cheese

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

• Kosher salt

Directions

In a large stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind, if using, to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and simmer until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the broken pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and heat through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the Parmesan rind and discard. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

*Cook's Note: You can use any short pasta from your pantry as a substitute for spaghetti.

Morning

Did not make it to church. Got the shopping done. Went to the gym. Checked in with my MFA group, posted some comments on the discussion. Worked (as fast as I could hoping there would be time to spare to mix a palatte with Søren). Helped pack the Christmas fa la la into the red and green boxes.

Evening

Enjoyed leftover Giada soup in the living room next to a roaring pressed log fire.

And these are the events of the first three Sabbaths, to the best of my recollection.