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(article, Kim Carlson)
Last week's email brought me a nice gift: a menu from my longtime friend and occasional Culinate contributor [/user/Susan_Troccolo "Susan Troccolo."] It sounded so tasty, so cheering and satisfying, that I'm passing it along. Susan wrote: bq. A friend called the other day — she was getting ready to ride her horse in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. bq. “Wow, the day is fabulous here," she said. "Sparkling blue, bright sun. I can’t wait to ride in the mountains. What’s the weather like up your way?” bq. “You know, I think we are going to have a nice day," I told her. "There is a kind of dove gray in the eastern sky, with some shafts of white. In the west, it is still steely, but with a few soft bits of mauve. Nice.” bq. There was a silence. [%image feature-image float=right width=400 caption="Waiting for guests."] bq. “Let’s get this straight," she said. "A nice day is blue. A blue sky, a big yellow ball. Do you even remember the big yellow ball?” bq. “You see," I said, "this is the trouble with you California people — with your flashy governors, your blue-sky world, all endless summer and beach boys. Here in Oregon, we see the world in a more nuanced way. We are serious people. Complicated. Artistic.” bq. “I guess you're right,” she said. “I was thinking about just lounging in the sun today.” bq. “Well, there you have it. Here in Oregon, we understand shades of gray and profound melancholy, and it makes us more, well, dare I say it, righteous. Yes, that’s it. I’m more righteous than you because of the weather.” bq. “Yeah, you’re probably right, Susan," she said. "Anyway, I’ve got to get going. The sky is just so blue and I . . .” bq. “All right, all right. You know what you can do with your sun," I said, thus busting my righteousness. But I also decided in that moment that if the sky wasn’t going to produce it, I’d make my own “yellow ball” with a lemon-themed dinner party. A few fellow righteous Oregonians were in need of it right about now. [[block(sidebar). h1.Susan Troccolo's Lemon-Themed Dinner]] If spring is late arriving where you live, you might want to take this opportunity to whip up your own spontaneous sunny dinner party using Susan's menu, where lemons really shine.
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