Friday

Finally, a sunny day! They are still predicting occasional showers this afternoon, but I am hoping that my grass dries out enough to cut this evening, before they come.

I had to do some shopping in Westland at lunch, so I stopped at my old friends, the Newburgh Grille, for lunch. I had a bowl of clam chowder and a mini-Greek salad.

It was much cloudier at 5:00 PM when I headed home, but still not raining. With treating the cats, changing clothes, opening the mail, checking email, etc., it was almost 6:00 PM before I got outside. But, I filled up the push mower with gasoline and checked the oil. I fired it up and cut the front lawn.

Side note: I was walking next to the wild raspberries when I had an intense pain in my ankle. I assumed I'd come in contact with the raspberry thorns until I looked down. That's when I saw a little yellow and black banded wasp, energetically stinging me. I dispatched him (or her) at once, but the damage was done...

It was about 7:00 PM when I finished. I got the tractor key and opened up the back gate. But, I realized when I opened the gate that, without water, the grass has just not gown that much. So, I decided to let it go until Monday or Tuesday.

Back inside, I started on dinner: Scallop Piccata on Angel Hair. I took a pound of sea scallops and rinsed them, then dried them with paper towels and seasoned them on both sides.

Meanwhile, I filled my large pasta pot with water and set it to boil. I heated up a non-stick skillet with olive oil to medium-high temp. I turned it down to medium and the added the scallops. I turned them over after three minutes and seared the other side. I took them out of the pan and put them on a plate in the microwave to keep warm.

I boiled eight ounces of angel hair pasta, for four minutes (or until al dente) and then drained and rinsed it. I whisked together 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 cup clam juice and two teaspoons of cornstarch until smooth.

I added more olive oil to my skillet and tossed in 1/4 cup of chopped garlic. I saut�ed that until it softened (maybe one to two minutes). Then I added the wine mixture and brought it to a boil. I let it cook until it thickened (about two minutes) and then added three tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, one tablespoon of rinsed and chopped capers and two tablespoons of butter. I cooked that until the butter melted (another one or two minutes).

I returned the scallops to the pan, added the pasta and stirred it gently until everything was warmed through and coated with the sauce. I stirred in two tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley.
I plated it, topped it with some fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and went in to watch some TV.