[Lunch, August 2008.]
Last night I dashed home from the gallery, where I’d had two (small!) glasses of sparkling wine in quick succession at a closing party, so I could meet my friend for a late dinner. We made: a shallot, broccoli, and potato soup simmered in a bit of vegetable broth and seasoned with fresh basil and pepper and then whirled into dairy-free silkiness with my trusty hand blender. Along with a green salad, lots of toasted bread piled high with brie and avocado slices, and a piece of still-warm chocolate cake it was a simple and satisfying supper.
This morning dawned grey and cool and though the sun struggled, it was unable to make an appearance; now, at 5.30, I don’t think I’ll see it today. I made the rounds at the market (haul: 5-grain bread, corn on the cob, lots of little potatoes, a cauliflower, strawberries, summer squash, delicate and spindly green beans), drank a lot of coffee, went for a 6-miler in the park, and turned up home around lunchtime chilly and starving. I kept thinking about that avocado from the night before: perfectly ripe, creamy and melting. Since I had two more on the counter that felt just as perfectly ripe there was nothing for it but to attempt a reprise.
So I sawed off a piece of bread from my new loaf and toasted it for about a minute (I like it just a bit crispy but never hard enough to shatter), smeared it with butter, and stacked it with as many slices of avocado as could fit.
I read New York magazine, listened to the Thistle and Shamrock on NPR for the first time in much, much too long, remembered how nice it is to steal an hour of an afternoon to eat lunch, properly, at the table with a glass of cold orange juice and the wind rattling the windows just enough to make you notice but not enough to be annoying.
After, of course, a bit of leftover cake and finally reading the New Yorker article about marathoner Ryan Hall (and about distance running in general, really; did you know there weren’t even speciality running clothes until the 1970s?). It was a good thing I’d already done my run for the day because I wanted to get right out there and run at least 20 miles even though it’s been almost three years since i’ve run that long. However, it definitely galvanized me for the November half for which I’ve registered; it will be good to run across the Gloden Gate Bridge again in the early morning.
And now I think a cup of tea will ease me into the rest of the evening …
I thought I commented on this already… but anyhow, I have wanted avocado since I read this the first time. I just thought you should know.
Good grief, I think you stole my day. I went for a six-miler in Marin, came home and streamed WNCW bluegrass, baked 12-grain bread, and read the Ryan Hall article in Runners World (cues soundtrack from Twilight Zone).
Total bliss. Although to be honest, the bread was not as interesting as I’d hoped. I need a better recipe.
Which race are you doing?
“a bit of leftover cake and finally reading the New Yorker” ummmm…. perfection?!