I had another lovely day today -- whatever it is that I'm doing in terms of balancing writing/socializing/procrastinating, it seems to be working. Today wasn't in perfect balance; I didn't go to the gym, after all, which means I need to go this weekend. But, I did manage to write, hang out with friends, and make a totally kickass French dinner, so that isn't all bad, right?
I also managed to drag myself out of bed at eight a.m., which is utterly shocking considering that I had nowhere to be and no houseguests to attend to. I thought I would go to the gym then, but after making some oatmeal, catching up on twitter, and typing up the stuff that I wrote out in my notebook yesterday, it was suddenly ten a.m. So, I took a quick shower, went to BevMo and Whole Foods to pick up ingredients for dinner, came home, and ate a delicious Amy's enchilada -- the fact that I was cooking tonight made eating frozen food in the middle of the day seem perfectly acceptable. Then, I set out on my cooking odyssey -- the dish in question was a chicken bouillabaisse from one of the two Barefoot Contessa cookbooks sitting on my cooking shelf. Bouillabaisse is usually made with seafood, but the chicken dish is a) cheaper, b) easier, and c) better suited for someone who doesn't eat shrimp. I'd been meaning to try the recipe and had never gotten around to it, but tonight offered a perfect opportunity -- Katrina is allergic to both gluten and dairy, and every single other recipe I go to for entertaining purposes contains either flour, butter, milk or cheese. The bouillabaisse was the only one that did not, but thank goodness that she now eats meat -- if I had been looking for a recipe without gluten, dairy, or meat, we might have been staring at a big bowl of steamed green beans for supper.
So the recipe was extremely straightforward -- brown some chicken, create a sauce of pureed tomato, a ton of garlic, fennel seeds, saffron, a cup of white wine, and a few tablespoons of Pernod (a licorice-flavored liquor), add the chicken back in with some potatoes, and cook. But, the peeling of the garlic was not quick, and I had to finish trimming the chicken as the butcher left some ribs attached to the breasts. I also had to make the garnish that goes with the dish, which is a sort of mayonnaise (called rouille) -- I'd never made mayonnaise before and was quite nervous about it, but it turned out v. well and didn't break or collapse. The rouille was not just mayonnaise; it was flavored with garlic, saffron and crushed red peppers, and while it tasted too salty when I made it, it turned out to be an absolutely awesome addition to the bouillabaisse when it was served.
Anyway, after I finished the preparations and cleaned the kitchen, I rewarded myself with a nap. Then, I managed to churn out three or four pages before my guests arrived; Ferguson is proposing to Madeleine in a most awkward way, so I'm struggling to get it right. But eventually, my dinner party started -- it consisted of Katrina, as mentioned above, plus this girl named Kirstin, whom I have been casually acquainted with for many years but have never really hung out with much in person [note: I'm still trying to play the link game, and the most obvious thing to link Kirstin to would be a story she had published in the New Yorker, but as I usually try to grant those who are given guest appearances on the blog partial anonymity, I'm not linking to it - instead, we had an entertaining conversation about sex in romance novels, so that will have to suffice].
We had an absolutely lovely time; my dinner parties are usually larger, but it was nice that the three of us could sit around the table comfortably without crowding and discuss a variety of tings over the course of four hours or so. Katrina brought dip and crackers, Kirstin brought flowers and some mini cupcakes for dessert (for me and her, at least, since they were off-limits to Katrina), and the bouillabaisse turned out to be a total winner that I will make again for future events (particularly since I now have a bottle of Pernod that I only used three tablespoons of). Kirstin only lives four blocks away from me and is doing a creative writing fellowship at our alma mater, so hopefully I'll run into her at some readings on campus this winter.
And the whole point of the evening was almost avoided, but we did succeed in putting makeup on Katrina -- she wanted a lesson in putting on makeup, since she never wears it and so feels like she looks ridiculous when someone else puts it on for her at a wedding. As longtime readers know, I have what might be called a "problem" in terms of my addiction to Sephora, and so my linen closet actually has a shelf organized like a little miniature Sephora kiosk -- it was like taking her for a makeover in the comfort of my own home. I was concerned that I would screw up and turn her off makeup forever, but more than my fair share of a couple of bottles of wine gave me the courage to come after her with brushes, glosses, and wands -- nothing out of hand, but instead perfectly suited to her minimalist approach. I know, it was a miracle to find minimalist makeup in the land of glitter and shine that is my makeup collection, but somehow it was done, and I think that she was quite pleased with the result. If she wasn't, she surely hid it well, although perhaps she was so scared of my glee/excitement that she would have done anything to get me to put down the mascara.
Anyway, they left a little before midnight, I cleaned up (which was super easy, since I had already done all the cooking dishes before they arrived -- I basically dumped everything in the dishwasher), and now I should really think about getting some sleep. This is the latest I've stayed up all week, and I have some massive writing goals to accomplish this weekend; I'm also meeting up with some people for brunch tomorrow, so I should get some rest before that happens. And Adit is apparently in town; he castigated me for not inviting him to dinner, even though a) he didn't tell me he was coming and b) he was on a plane during dinner anyway. But, that means I'll probably have to drop everything to see him at some point, since that's what people do when Adit returns, right? And so, goodnight!
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