Fele og ve

August 11, 2008

Today was another slow start; Anne and I aren't really morning people and Johan knows better than to wait for us. After examining my bunad (and many fine words of praise for my wonderful mother who made it), Anne and I headed to the marina where the supermarket is. It is about the size of a small grocery store in the US and also contains a restaurant. They are still a little bit in shock that it exists. We got almost everything we needed (which really means we forgot a couple things).

Upon our return, we made coffee and chocolate muffins with walnuts. We sat out in the sun and filled ourselves full. Then, I played for Anne and Johan. It's not often that I get to play for such an appreciative audience. I remember while I was playing a tune I learned when they visited Seattle that it was when they came that I had started playing folkmusic. Has it really been only fourteen years? Am I old enough to say 'only fourteen years'? I am so happy with the path my life has taken and am honored to know and count as friends so many wonderful through folk dance and music.

Once the wind had blown the last notes out of my fiddle, we remembered that vacations at an old house are all relaxing. Today, we bagged last years' wood and chopped what had been cut earlier in the summer. Ok, so by chopped, I mean placed on the electric log-splitter. It still took most of the afternoon and involved bending over to pick up the logs from the pile. Anything is fun when you're doing it in good company, though. While Anne and I worked on splitting logs, Johan was thinning the woods around the house so they will have wood ready for next winter; the pile we were working on was for this year.

Dinner tonight was cauliflower au gratin. One of the ingredients we forgot at the store was the bullion, but we made it work and it was delicious. I highly recommend it, unless, of course, you don't like cauliflower. It is very simple to make. Just boil the cauliflower florets (imagine how much you'll want to eat for an entree, probably one very small head or half a large head). Drain the liquid off, but keep some (a couple quarts) for the sauce. Make a white sauce using butter, flour, milk, cream, bullion, and the stock from the cauliflower; add salt, pepper, and other spices to taste. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower in a baking dish and top with (lots of) grated cheese. Stick it in the oven at a reasonably high temperature until the cheese on the top turns to a golden brown color. Anne served it with garlic bread. I think this was a splendid side dish; we also had a salad.

Anne and Johan are outside now, sawing the freshly cut wood into pieces that will dry by next summer. I think I'll go keep them company.