Tired Thursday...

The plate is empty (though I have yet to invoice the latest work), and the lingering accomplishment of the day was the use of the cliché "eyewash and window dressing" in a translation. (This, after struggling to remember the formulation to begin with.)

Galina dragged me out of the house to go look at things that we'll likely have to shell out for, and the stroll around the IKEA store in Hicksville was enough to well and truly tire me out. Among other things, the kitchen, which was supposed to be here on the 11th, will be here on Monday.

I am truly amazed at all the little things that need to be addressed in the house, all the more so if we're to rent it for the summer months. (Just as I'm getting used to the place... again.)

Last night, something was apparently prowling around the house, as Shiloh kept jumping on top of the couch in my office - the better to look out the window - and erupting in a short growl every few seconds. With the lights off and me helping look out the window, I could see nothing moving under the nearly full moon.

I ran across one of my mother's recipes, typed on a yellowing 3x5 index card, for "Lamb Hearts Chez Nous." It's a fairly simple recipe, except that neither supermarket in the area carries lamb hearts (heck, they barely carry beef heart), and in calling one of the few remaining independent butcher shops in the area, I was told they hadn't stocked lamb hearts in years. (I'm figuring I can probably replace the lamb with beef, but still...)

There's a second card, with a recipe for "My Own Clam Chowder," as follows:

12 to 18 large clams
2 or 3 large onions, sliced and fried lightly in butter
4 or 5 carrots, sliced and halved (large)
2 or 3 medium potatoes, cubed
1 leek, sliced
2 large green peppers, sliced
about 1/2 lb of fresh peas, shelled
a generous handful of string beans, cut
2 to 3 stalks of celery, sliced
3 tbsp chopped parsley
1 white turnip, cubed

Fry onions well, prepare vegetables and put all into a large pot. Cover with water just enough to cover. After 45 min, add clams, cut into halves. (The clams you steam open after washing them with a brush and putting them into a pot with about 1-1/2 in of water on the bottom.) Strain the clam juice through 4 layers of cheesecloth and some cotton. Add about 1 cup of clam juice to the chowder (not too much, or else it will be too strong). Melt the butter, add 4 tbsp of flour. Add 1/2 cup or so of milk or light cream. To that, add 1 can of tomato sauce. Let it cook a few minutes and then add it to the chowder. Cook for 10 more minutes.

I am thinking of making this soup this weekend, except that we've been eating a lot of soup lately, and may be, um, "souped out." We'll see.

One of these days I need to see about "capturing" Galina's recipe for borshch.

Cheers...