First Fridays wuth friends

Dear family and friends,

Ilona picked me up to go to the Jolly Fisherman for lunch with a group that meets regularly on the 1st Friday of the month, about 10 women but usually no more than 6-7 at a time. Very lovely day today and nice meal as always. When we first moved to this area in 1954 we noticed lots of grey- and white-haired people entering this Roslyn restaurant, and we said, "This is not a place for us." Now we say, "This is a good place for us!" Ann, Joan, Rita, Ilona, Gladys and I were the happy group.

Yesterday, I tried to recreate my mother's recipe for what she called chicken fricassee. I made mine with ground turkey instead of chicken, mixed with egg substitute, matzoh meal (very little), and spices: Mint-Chutney, an Indian condiment according to the jar label, and ground pepper. I made a broth with chicken cubes, the liquid from a can of beets, flavored with honey and lemon. I added lentils, because Merwin likes them a lot, the turkey balls (one layer at a time), and simmered gently till the lentils were soft, adding the beets at the very end, . He liked this enough to have some again for his dinner today (at about 2 p.m.). Was this like what my mother made? Well, she certainly did not use Mint Chutney spice. But it may have been close. Since I don't eat meat, I can only guess.

I heard this a.m. that Obama's approval rating is 37%. This is unbelievable to me. I approve of him about 90%. He is intelligent, funny, calm, far-seeing, eager for bi-partisanship (Good Luck!), moving forward on many fronts. He inherited a dreadful financial situation (thank you, Reagan for letting Wall Street do whatever it wishes) and an ugly war (I don't think he made the right decision there). There are so many lies. Ann mentioned at lunch that one of the health workers where her husband is recuperating told her, "In 5 years, we will all have numbers tattooed on our arms: it's part of the health plan to put us into categories that will be treated or not." Can you believe this nonsense? This is a health worker. When Ann demurred, the person said, "Have you read the bill?" "No," said Ann, "have you?" "No," was the response, "but someone who has read it told me." Oh, my.

One outing is about all I can manage; then fatigue takes over. I am happy to be home while Merwin goes to his book group. Tomorrow will be a big day: first trip to NYC since the broken bone.

Lovely weather today!
I hope it brings joy to all of you.
Love,
Bernice