Road Trip

I awoke at 5:00 AM. I tried going back to sleep but I was too uncomfortable. So, I got up. I warmed up the last cup of coffee and drank it sitting on the front porch, watching the day dawn.

I still didn't feel like "breakfast," so I ate a peach.

Now you may remember from yesterday's post, I have a great cream of asparagus soup for my Mother (if she ever eats it). But, I realized yesterday that sort of short-changed Luanne and Kathy who are also out there at the cottage. I thought for a moment on what they might both like and it came to me: Hummus

So, I went to my go-to guide for fool-proof recipes (PBS' American Test Kitchen) and got a (hopefully) fool-proof recipe. Now, I doubled the recipe, but here's what I did for the original one:

I combined three tablespoons of fresh lemon juice with 1/4 cup of water in a measuring cup and beat it together to mix it. I set that aside. Then I mixed 6 tablespoons of tahini (I used imported Mediterranean roasted tahini, BTW) with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in another measuring cup and set that aside as well.

I drained and rinsed a 14-ounce can of chickpeas. I reserved two tablespoons of chickpeas for my garnish.

I ran the remaining chickpeas, a clove of minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper through the food processor until almost fully ground (about 15 seconds). I scraped down the sides of the food processor and, while letting it run, added the lemon-water mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. I scraped down the bowl again and let it process for another minute.

With the machine still running, I added the oil-tahini mixture (again in a steady stream) and processed until the hummus was smooth and creamy (scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed).

I transferred the mixture to a Glad container, added the reserved chickpeas (for presentation and texture contrast) and sprinkled the top with minced flat leaf parsley from my herb garden (cilantro would have been better, but I didn't have any and parsley's an acceptable substitution). I covered it with a lid and stuck it in the fridge (a minimum of 30 minutes before serving). One thing I didn't do was to add a drizzle of olive oil on top (I figured that would be a total turnoff for those two).

BTW, according to America's Test Kitchen (and they do test the crap out of every ingredient) the best tasting chickpeas were made by Pastene. And the odds-on favorite tahini was either Joyva or Krinos. However, Westborn didn't carry any of those, so I settled on Progresso chickpeas and Sahtein tahini.

Since I am going to be traveling for many a mile, I didn't dare take a pain pill. Instead I hopped into the shower (shaving seemed like too much work today) and, afterwards, brushed my teeth. I got dressed (no easy matter) and was ready to leave at 11:30 AM.

I loaded up the soup, the hummus and two packages of pita bread and hit the road. The trip was uneventful until I got to Square Lake Road. Here, due to construction, the normal four lanes of traffic were squeezed into two lanes, all the way from Telegraph, (where I got on) and I-75, (where I got off). Cost me a lot of time and aggravation.

It still hadn't started raining (we were supposed to get occasional showers and thunderstorms today) until just before I got to the cottage. So, I carefully mounted the back steps, accepting I was getting doused and went upstairs.

Kathy and Lu were both there and my Mom was still sleeping. Kathy had to leave for a dental appointment shortly thereafter, so Lu and I sat in the living room and caught each other up on our lives. About 1:30 PM, my brother Carl showed up.

Oh, before I forget, Carl mentioned he was upset I hadn't talked about his tattoos in the Blog. So, lets: His original two koi on his left bicep have been joined by two or four more and now circles his entire arm. It is quite attractive (if you are into tattoos that is) but, as I've said before, with all my medical history, I've had quite enough of people sticking me with needles. So, tats are not in my near future.

The hospice nurse came by to check on Mom and she said Mom seemed to be quite comfortable. After she left, my brother Joe, his grandson Devon and Boomer (their little white dog) showed up. It was now raining off and on, BTW.

At everyone's urging, I tried to wake my Mom up (they all said she would feel bad if she heard I'd been there, but hadn't had a chance to see me). Finally she did wake up. In a rather one-way conversation, I told her I'd made her some soup whenever she was hungry. Carl came in and was talking to her for a bit, but she kept dozing off. It wasn't until Carl picked up Boomer and held him (two feet on the bed and two on his lap) when she really engaged. She kept petting Boomer (yeah, I was upstaged by a dog, and he didn't even bring soup!)

I wanted to get home before rush hour traffic (especially that Square Lake Road stretch), so I left just after 3:00 PM. But, just before I did, Devon said he was hungry and Lu told him about the hummus.

Now, I must point out that I know his Grandma Kathy likes hummus and even drives across town to get it at a favorite restaurant (the one her daughter Julie had her wedding reception in). That reception was actually the first time I ever had hummus that I liked, BTW. So, even though he might be young, I figure he would know good hummus from bad, so I waited until he tried some. He said it was really good, so I left, pleased with myself!

Back through the traffic and the road construction, I got home before 4:30 PM. I took off my pants and put some shorts on, took off my sling and let my arm dangle (bliss), filled some of this in and then went out to wash the dishes (kitchen's a cream of asparagus soup and hummus hot mess!) Before I got started, I checked the rain gauge. In spite of the large puddles here and there on my street, there was only about 1/8 inch of rain in the gauge.

I got the kitchen cleaned up and most of the Blog filled in when a friend called. We talked for along time, but I think we solved most of the world's problems. I ate leftovers (two hot dogs) for dinner and then watched TV until bedtime.