Waking up to cotton balls on the trees

Dear Friends and family,

Woke up at 5 a.m. as usual today, but looking out the window in the dark I decided it would not be a good day to go to the SPIN class. The driveway had only about 2 " of snow at that time, so I was sure to get up the driveway into the street, but the snow was still coming down and I thought better of it. Ah, a couple of hours to myself. Just as well after a rather strenuous couple of days with company to take a bit of time off before going to Dr. K this afternoon.

Yesterday, after a breakfast of bagels, lox, ricotta, yogurt, frozen blueberries, coffee, etc., José Ramón and I spent a lot of time sobre mesa, i.e. hanging out at the table. JR had not had his usual bagels in DC because of the unusual snow all week and was very happy with our petite mini-bagels. Dawn, who was not teaching because of the holiday, phoned and asked if she could come for a brief visit. When she arrived she and JR realized they had met before and had had a Passover Seder together here (with Jesús), which she had virtually led. We chatted away happily about this and that.

JR very kindly downloaded reviews of the book Latin American Shakespeares that Rick and I had co-edited a few years ago; the first sentence of one published in Brazil says “This is an extraordinary book that compiles various approaches to the influences of Shakespeare in Latin American literary, dramatic and performance acts ranging from the nineteenth century to the present.” Whoopie! Nice to be appreciated. And I enjoy so much working with friends.

We discussed JR's impressive bibliographic works: he is demand all over for his meticulous research into and description of Shakespearean works on film and criticism of those films. The organizers of the biennial conference (this year in Le Harve) on particular plays always want him to participate, both as a critic of a particular film (often a rare film) and as a compiler of filmographies. The good news for my work is that this year the conference is on Hamlet, and as I may have mentioned already I have submitted a paper to be read for me by Michèle and a fuller version to be published in the conference volume. And even better, JR is compiling an enormous filmography and bib of Hamlet on film. We discussed the possibility of his having our website hamletworks.org publish his work for the le Harve conference. It will be somewhat expanded, possibly, and have a somewhat different format from the version in the conference book. But I will confer with Sarah and Nathalie, the conference organizers, to see what they say.

Eating generally takes place at different times during the day as hunger rises, so JR and Dawn ate the soup I had prepared for lunch, while Merwin and I had it later. Dawn wanted to know how I made it, and I am trying to reconstruct it. Soup changes all the time, from day to day, and from pot to pot. Here is this one as near as I can recall:

1. Ahead of time. Preheat oven to 450; pan roast 5 or 6 red peppers and 1 large but lightweight eggplant (to minimize the number of bitter seeds). Turn occasionally to char the skin and soften the flesh. I think this usually takes about 20 minutes: watch carefully so as not to burn. When the veggies are charred, remove them carefully into a firm paper bag, and close them in. When the veggies are cool enough to handle but still warm, remove the skin and seeds and stems from the peppers, and scrape the flesh from the eggplant skin.

2. Puree the vegetable pulp. This goes into the freezer as a base for soup or can be used right away of course.

3. I always start a soup pot with heated olive oil, to which I add chopped onions, carrots, and celery, especially the green tops if I have them. Saute very slowly so as to almost melt the onions. I chopped up a little bit of ginger too and added it to the pot at this stage.

4. Add the pepper puree. This is very thick, so you need to thin it with a lot of vegetable broth. There can be various kinds. I use low-sodium versions sold in boxes or sometimes a tablet dissolved in water.

5. Add about 1/2 large can of whole plum tomatoes, chopped up a bit, with their juices. I also added a cooked veggie burger, broken into bits.

6. Separately, make any fine pasta that will be added to each bowl as you serve it.

7. Pass grated cheese to be sprinkled on top. Serve with crusty bread.

I am sure I have forgotten something. When I make soup, I look into the fridge and freezer to see what is available, and add accordingly. Dawn and JR added some basil leaves (I keep herbs in the freezer) as a garnish. Lemon juice squeezed in is also good.

I was able to relax with my good friends, Dawn and JR, lying down whenever necessary, and yet participating in conversation, both personal and professional.

When JR left with Merwin for the airport at about 5:15 p.m., I went to bed, falling asleep while watching the "News Report" on ch. 21. Oh, if only I knew how to fall asleep at will! I woke right at the end: so it was really about a 30-min. nap. When Merwin arrived for dinner (a sandwich of leftover Chicken Francaise from the freezer and fresh vegetables on the side), I joined him in watching the "News Hour" on ch. 13.

On another note, I asked The Shakespeare Newsletter editor John Mahon if he'd like me to review the Measure for Measure that Laury and I saw on Sunday. He was enthusiastic, very positive. So I'll try to fit that in somewhere.

Friends, family, work, play—to say nothing of my surroundings—make life precious and meaningful. I like to share these pleasures with you.

Love,
Bernice